https://bit.ly/2JBSee1

WASHINGTON, May 12 (Xinhua) — A U.S. expert famous for his study on Asian history and culture said that he hopes Asia could promote the co-existence and development of peoples throughout the world on the basis of its historical and cultural experiences.

“Asian civilization has contributed to the technological and cultural development of the world in many ways for thousands of years,” Charles K. Armstrong, professor of the Department of History of Columbia University, said in an interview with Xinhua through email ahead of an international conference on dialogue of Asian civilizations to be held in Beijing.

Specializing in East Asian and international history, Armstrong used four keywords to define his impression of the Asian civilizations — history, innovation, harmony and connection.

“Asia has the world’s oldest continuous civilizations, from the ancient Middle East to India and China, which have made unsurpassed contributions to world civilization as a whole,” the expert said. “Many of the world’s greatest inventions came out of Asia, in both material and intellectual fields such as agriculture, technology, writing, religion, philosophy, literature, and the arts.”

Armstrong explained Asian cultures’ emphasis on harmony, saying that “because Asia has a long history of densely populated and complex societies, Asian cultures have tended to stress social harmony and cooperation over individual competition and conflict.”

The expert also highlighted the idea of “connection” among Asian cultures.

“Asian societies have been linked through transportation networks, trade, and cultural exchanges since ancient times,” he said. “The trading networks we now call the ‘Silk Road’ linked all of Eurasia, from East Asia to Europe.”

“Asia is the source of the earliest continuous long-distance human connections and is once again a leader in international trade and transportation technology … Moreover, large Asian societies such as China have been places where people of many different beliefs and backgrounds have co-existed for many centuries,” the expert noted.

“Therefore Asia can build on its historical experience to promote development, cooperation, mutual respect and co-existence of peoples throughout the world,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, Armstrong spoke highly of China’s role in the development of Asia civilizations and the world at large through history, and in contemporary times.

“China has been the leading economy and strongest state for most of world history over the past 2,000 years,” he said. “Its technological innovations, such as the compass, paper, and gunpowder, have changed the course of world history.”

China’s interactions with South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Central Asia have led to the development of great artistic and religious achievements, he added.

In contemporary times, “China is contributing enormously to the global economy and new technological developments,” the U.S. expert noted. “It has become a catalyst for connection and exchange throughout Eurasia and beyond, in the spirit of pluralism and peaceful co-existence of different political, economic and social systems.”

Aerial photo taken on July 11, 2018 shows the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge in south China. (Xinhua/Liang Xu)

https://bit.ly/2HhwZwz

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A political analyst in Detroit highlighted the US government’s role in recent developments in Sudan, saying Washington is trying to control events so that the North African country is firmly returned to the Western camp.

“In all likelihood, the US is playing a role within the opposition and government,” Abayomi Azikiwe, editor at the Pan-African News Wire, said in an interview with the Tasnim News Agency.

“Washington and Wall Street want to control events so that Sudan is firmly returned to the Western camp and sheds any semblance of anti-imperialism or independent domestic and foreign policy, as it exemplified in the past,” the analyst added.

Abayomi Azikiwe is the editor of the Pan-African News Wire and a co-founder of the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice (MECAWI) and the Moratorium NOW! Coalition, both based in Detroit. Azikiwe has published numerous articles, pamphlets, and books on African affairs along with working as a consultant for various satellite television news networks throughout the world. He has traveled extensively in Africa conducting field research on political economy and history.

Waukesha Membership Meeting / Junta de membresía de Waukesha

ENGLISH BELOW

Junta de membresía del capítulo de Waukesha
Cada otro viernes, 6pm
305 E Main St, Waukesha

¡Acompáñanos para la próxima junta de membresía de nuestro capítulo en Waukesha! Platicaremos sobre nuestros esfuerzos para luchar por las licencias de conducir y contra las políticas anti-inmigrantes como el 287g. Tendremos las juntas de membresía cada 2 semanas.
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Waukesha Chapter Membership Meeting
Every other Friday, 6pm
305 E Main St, Waukesha

Join us for the next membership meeting of our chapter in Waukesha! We will discuss our efforts to restore access to driver’s licenses to immigrants and the fight against anti-immigrant policies like 287g. We have membership meetings every two weeks.

Madison Membership Meeting / Junta de membresía de Madison

ENGLISH BELOW

Junta de Membresía
Centro Hispano
810 W Badger Rd
Madison, WI 53713
Abierta al público

Acompáñanos para nuestra junta de membresía mensual. Hablaremos sobre los próximos pasos en la lucha por las licencias de conducir.
———
Membership Meeting
Centro Hispano
810 W Badger Rd
Madison, WI 53713
Open to the public

Join us for our monthly membership meeting! We’ll discuss the next steps in the fight to restore driver licenses for all in Wisconsin.

CLOSEmsdf Coalition Meeting

2821 N Vel R. Phillips Ave., Suite 108, Milwaukee, 6-7 P.M.

Join us on Tuesday, May 21th at 6 pm to get involved with the efforts to decarcerate Milwaukee, #CLOSEmsdf, and #buildCOMMUNITIES. The #CLOSEmsdf Campaign is now over 50 organizations strong. Visit https://closemsdf.org/ for information.

Sign the #CLOSEmsdf petition at https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/its-time-to-close-milwaukee-secure-detention-facility-msdf.

Like us on facebook at CLOSEmsdf. Follow us on twitter at https://twitter.com/CLOSEmsdf.

Demands from the #CLOSEmsdf Campaign Based on Newly Released Parole & Probation Report from Justice Lab at Columbia University:

The Wisconsin Community Corrections Story

On January 22, 2019, the Justice Lab at Columbia University released a scathing report commissioned by #CLOSEmsdf Campaign partner JustLeadershipUSA, entitled The Wisconsin Community Corrections Story. This vital report adds quantitative and qualitative analysis to support what directly impacted people and low income and people of color, especially Black and Native American, have known for decades: there is deep harm, and racial and economic injustice embedded in Wisconsin’s probation and parole policies which exemplify and fuel incarceration.

10 KEY FINDINGS FROM JUSTICE LAB AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

In Wisconsin:

*1-in-8 Black men, and 1-in-11 Native American men, are under supervision.
*Black women are supervised at 3 times the rate of white women.
*Native American women are supervised at 6 times the rate of white women.
*MSDF imprisons white people 12 percentage points lower, and Black people 24 percentage points higher, than the Wisconsin average.
*Wisconsin incarcerates Black people at 11.5 times the rate of white people, ranking Wisconsin’s imprisonment racial disparities fifth in the nation.
*Wisconsin’s post-prison supervision rates, average lengths of stay on post-prison supervision, and rates of incarceration for technical violations are much higher than the national average and set Wisconsin as an outlier in the Great Lakes region.
*Across the country and particularly in Wisconsin, mass supervision fuels mass incarceration. As of 2017, people who had previously been under community supervision made up over half of the total adult incarcerated population in Wisconsin.
*Over one-fifth of all adults incarcerated in Wisconsin prisons were incarcerated without a new conviction.
*This massive expansion of Wisconsin’s criminal legal system resulted from truth in sentencing laws that cost Wisconsin taxpayers $1.8 billion.
*All of this harm is the product of deliberate policy choices over the past three decades.

#CLOSEmsdf DEMANDS SUPPORTED BY REPORT FINDINGS

Independent of the Columbia University Report, the following are demands to Wisconsin’s elected officials, from communities directly impacted by parole and probation organizing with the #CLOSEmsdf campaign:

DEMAND 1: Stop incarcerating people for violations of supervision,
transfer “Alternative to Revocation” beds into the community, and end probation and parole holds. Governor Evers must appoint agency directors who are committed to ending supervision-driven incarceration.

DEMAND 2: Depopulate and close the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility, and demolish it so that it can never again be used to cage a human being. The Legislature must introduce legislation to defund and close MSDF and must support efforts to demolish the facility.

Demand 3: Repeal Truth in Sentencing, reduce probation and parole terms, cap the maximum length of those terms, drastically reduce the number of conditions of probation and parole supervision, and eliminate all supervision fees. In addition to repealing damaging laws, the Legislature must also pass laws that cap the maximum length of supervision, limit conditions to the least restrictive conditions necessary to help someone successfully complete their supervision, and eliminate all supervision fees.

Demand 4: Reinvest the money wasted on MSDF back into communities. Wisconsin must reinvest the excessive corrections spending into workforce development training for formerly incarcerated people, into expanded mental health services that are easily accessible, and into community-based organizations like Project RETURN that connect formerly incarcerated people with jobs, housing, peer support, treatment programs and other needed services.

About #CLOSEmsdf

Led by WISDOM, EXPO (Ex-incarcerated People Organizing), IWOC (Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee), and JustLeadershipUSA, the campaign to close the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility(MSDF), #CLOSEmsdf, is a coalition of more than 40 organizations committed to ending crimeless revocation, closing MSDF, and reinvesting the money saved to build safer, stronger and healthier communities. MSDF is an irredeemable torture chamber. It represents how mass supervision fuels mass incarceration. It was built to warehouse people alleged to have violated rules of probation or parole – infractions like missing an appointment or being late for curfew. MSDF is taking lives and destroying communities. Individuals confined in MSDF are subjected to: Human rights violations; Unsafe and unsanitary living conditions; Overcrowding; Abuse; Lack of access to medical care.

To learn more about the campaign or to get involved, visit www.CLOSEmsdf.org or email sharyl@justleadershipusa.org.

Embassy Protection Collective

Venezuelan Embassy — Washington DC

To: US State DepartmentVenezuelan Foreign MinistryFrom: Embassy Protection CollectiveRe: Exiting the Venezuelan EmbassyDate: May 13, 2019

This is the 34th day of our living in the Venezuelan embassy in Washington, DC. We are prepared to stay another 34 days, or however long is needed to resolve the embassy dispute in a peaceful way consistent with international law.

This memo is being sent to the US and Venezuela as well as members of our Collective and allies. We are encouraging people to publish this memo as a transparent process is needed to prevent the US from making a unilateral decision that could impact the security of embassies around the world and lead to military conflict.

There are two ways to resolve the issues around the Venezuelan embassy in DC, which we will explain.

Before doing so, we reiterate that our collective is one of independent people and organizations not affiliated with any government. While we are all US citizens, we are not agents of the United States. While we are here with permission of the Venezuelan government, we are not their agents or representatives.

We are here in the embassy lawfully. We are breaking no laws. We did not unlawfully enter and we are not trespassing.

1. Exiting with a Protecting Power Agreement

The exit from the embassy that best resolves issues to the benefit of the United States and Venezuela is a mutual Protecting Power Agreement. The United States wants a Protecting Power for its embassy in Caracas. Venezuela wants a Protecting Power for its embassy in DC. Such agreements are not uncommon when diplomatic relations are severed.

A Protecting Power Agreement would avoid a military conflict that could lead to war. A war in Venezuela would be catastrophic for Venezuela, the United States, and for the region. It would lead to lives lost and mass migration from the chaos and conflict of war. It would cost the United States trillions of dollars and become a quagmire involving allied countries around the world.

We are serving as interim protectors in the hope that the two nations can negotiate this resolution. If this occurs we will take the banners off the building, pack our materials, and leave voluntarily. The electricity could be turned on and we will drive out.

We suggest a video walk-through with embassy officials to show that the Embassy Protection Collective did not damage the building. The only damage to the building has been inflicted by coup supporters in the course of their unprosecuted break-ins.

2. The United States violates the Vienna Convention, makes an illegal eviction and unlawful arrests

This approach will violate international law and is fraught with risks. The United States would have to cut the chains in the front door put up by embassy staff and violate the embassy. We have put up barriers there and at other entrances to protect us from constant break-ins and threats from the trespassers whom the police are permitting outside the embassy. The police’s failure to protect the embassy and the US citizens inside has forced us to take these actions.

The Embassy Protectors will not barricade ourselves, or hide in the embassy in the event of an unlawful entry by police. We will gather together and peacefully assert our rights to remain in the building and uphold international law.

Any order to vacate based on a request by coup conspirators that lack governing authority will not be a lawful order. The coup has failed multiple times in Venezuela. The elected government is recognized by the Venezuelan courts under Venezuelan law and by the United Nations under international law. An order by the US-appointed coup plotters would not be legal.

Such an entry would put embassies around the world and in the United States at risk. We are concerned about US embassies and personnel around the world if the Vienna Convention is violated at this embassy. It would set a dangerous precedent that would likely be used against US embassies.

If an illegal eviction and unlawful arrests are made, we will hold all decision-makers in the chain of command and all officers who enforce unlawful orders accountable.

If there is a notice that we are trespassing and need to vacate the premises, please provide it to our attorney Mara Verhayden-Hilliard, copied on this memo.

We have taken care of this embassy and request a video tour of the building before any arrests.

We hope a wise and calm solution to this issue can be achieved so escalation of this conflict can avoided.

There is no need for the United States and Venezuela to be enemies. Resolving this embassy dispute diplomatically should lead to negotiations over other issues between the nations.

The Embassy Protection CollectiveMay 13, 2019📷Sent via Action Network, a free online toolset anyone can use to organize. Click here to sign up and get started building an email list and creating online actions today.

Embassy Protection Collective