Tacoma SDS

The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington on Wednesday published a raft of public documents related to statewide government surveillance of local political activity to its website. The ACLU states that the documents "reveal a disturbing abuse and misuse of government resources here in Washington state."

The documents describe surveillance activities from all over the state, including activities of Olympia-area people and groups. The documents were published as part of an ongoing research project by the ACLU.

The ACLU of Washington today called upon the University of Washington administration to take action to ensure that campus police prevent further surveillance of the lawful political activities of its students, faculty and staff. The ACLU said that incidents on campus point to the need for state legislation allowing political surveillance only when there is reasonable suspicion of criminal activity.

Hello all,
I write tonight both inspired and deeply disappointed. For those of you who weren't able to attend tonight's City Council meeting or watch it live, I am sad to deliver the news that the resolution did not pass. The new resolution # is 38035 and as Toby kindly posted for me earlier, it is no longer about a boycott but rather about announcing our opposition to 1070 and our support of and demand for comprehensive immigration reform. Even so, it failed, but it is not dead as you will see further on in this message.

WEST COAST SOLIDARITY AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY April 8-9th

ACTION TEAMS RED AND BLACK: The Streetlight is Green
ACTION TEAMS BLUE AND YELLOW: Find the missing Rake

All along the West Coast there is an eruption of anti-state and anti police actions happening in solidarity with Portland's increasingly active attack against the police. This is the emerging support network for anarchists and other anti-state/anti-capitalist revolutionaries to continue their vibrant struggle.

http://www.weeklyvolcano.com/mudroom/features/2010/04/Northwest-Detentio...

By Paul Schrag on April 1, 2010

Tacomans are responding with varying degrees of joy and outrage to news that the Northwest Detention Center will be moving from the Tacoma tide flats to Russell Investments headquarters in downtown Tacoma.

Israel's ambassador to the US has said that relations between the two countries are at their lowest point for 35 years, Israeli media have reported.

Last week Israeli officials announced the building of 1,600 new homes in occupied East Jerusalem while US Vice-President Joe Biden was visiting.

The move was seen as an insult to the US. Palestinian leaders say indirect talks with Israel are now "doubtful".

But Israel's PM said Jewish settlements did "not hurt" Arabs in East Jerusalem.

Activists protest in front of Northwest Detention Center on Feb. 13. lashing out at the legal limbo those locked up inside of it face, protesters demonstrated outside of Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) on Feb. 13. Activists object to facility conditions, and rally on the second Saturday of each month at noon. Food and beverages are provided to detainee visitors, while protestors picket the facility and provide information about NWDC to the public.

This is a link to the companion slideshow for the 4-Part KUOW Radio Special Between Worlds/Behind Bars airing next week. Transcipts available too.

The slideshow reveals for the first time a complete internal diagram of the Northwest Detention Center.

From the dark days of the Chinese Exclusion Act to post–September 11 crackdowns on undocumented immigrants, immigration detention has a controversial history in both our nation and in the Puget Sound region. "Between Worlds / Behind Bars" is a four–part series exploring immigration detention from its roots in the 1930s at "Seattle's Ellis Island" in the International District to today's privately–run Northwest Detention Center on the Tacoma Tideflats.