Jerry Koch’s Grand Jury Resistance Statement

Cross Posted from JerryResists.net

My name is Gerald Koch and I have been subpoenaed to a federal grand jury based in the Southern District of New York regarding the 2008 Times Square Military Recruitment Center bombing. This is my second subpoena concerning this matter; I was also subpoenaed in June of 2009. I refused to testify at that time based on the assertion of my First, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment rights, as I will be doing again for the duration of this grand jury. During the first grand jury, the government informed my lawyers that it was believed that I was at a bar in 2008 or 2009 where a patron indicated knowledge of who had committed the bombing. When I was first subpoenaed to the grand jury in 2009 I had no recollection of any such incident— a fact that I expressed publically. Now, almost 4 years later, I still do not recall the alleged situation.

Given that I publically made clear that I had no knowledge of this alleged event in 2009, the fact that I am being subpoenaed once again suggests that the FBI does not actually believe that I possess any information about the 2008 bombing, but rather that they are engaged in a ‘fishing expedition’ to gain information concerning my personal beliefs and political associations.

Environmental Defense Fund Gets Shamed by Fracktivists

by Susan Phillips, Cross Posted NPR

Discord over how to best protect the environment from impacts of natural gas drilling has led to a coalition of grassroots environmental groups shunning the Environmental Defense Fund. The groups plan to hold a conference call on Wednesday to “send a message…disapproving of [EDF's] willingness to be coopted by industry interests on the issue of hydraulic fracturing for shale gas.”

Portland’s Controversial, Popular Campaign Against Big Money

by Sockeye

As media outlets around the country lambasted the City of Portland, Oregon, for tinfoil hat wearing conspiracy theory mongering, a grassroots people’s campaign slowly and steadily advanced to victory over fluoride. News sources from the Daily Kos to Slate.com and even the Wall Street Journal weighed in on “medical science versus paranoia,” chortling at Portland’s super-protective stance on fresh water. But who’s laughing now?

Moss Point Moves to Stop “Negligent” Pipeline

Gators gettin’ ready for some fight back

by Vivian Austin, Cross Posted from Gulflive

The Moss Point Board of Aldermen agreed to allow attorney Amy St. Pe to examine its contract with Plains South Cap to determine if the city can stop the sale of city-owned property the company needs for its pipeline from Eight Mile, Ala., to Chevron USA.

The move came after Alderman Sherwood Bradford told the board that that the liquefied gas going through the pipelines will be tar sands.

“It’s dangerous, poisonous, and one bad leak could lead to an environmental problem,” he said.

Rebecca Rubin Has Been Moved

From Prison Books

Please send Rebecca Rubin a letter or note of encouragement, being transferred can be quite jarring. (Remember not to write to her about her case at all because she is pre-trial.)Rebecca is accused of being a member of the Earth Liberation Front. She is facing charges of arson and conspiracy for actions that occurred between 1996 and 2001.

Her new address is as follows:
Rebecca Rubin #2013001108
Columbia County Jail
901 Port Ave.
St. Helens, OR 97051

We Need Your Support to Mail Out the Earth First! Journal

by EF!J Collective

All you lovers of print media know we have been playing hard to get lately, leaving you longing for our touch, as it offers an escape from the cesspool of online media burning your retinas… Rest assured, we are ready to once again feel the caress of your filthy hands, as the ink of our pages stains your fingers, smearing with the dirt, sap, train grease and the incendiary fuel source of your preference…

The cover of the Brigid 2013 EF! Journal, which features 80 pages of stories on worldwide resistance to pipelines and mining, indigenous solidarity, the fusion of biocentrism and anti-oppression, sex and ecology, and so much more. Includes an original full-color poster of species impacted by the Quimbo Dam in Colombia.

The Brigid 2013 edition of the Earth First! Journal (which covers movement news and analysis between Nov 2012 and Feb 2013) is finally printed and ready to ship. And once we raise enough funds for the mailing, we think all you lucky subscribers won’t be disappointed.

What do you say? Can you spare a few bucks to help get us out into the world?

India Bans Captive Dolphin Shows as ‘Morally Unacceptable’

Cross Posted from ENS

India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests has decided to forbid the keeping of captive dolphins for public entertainment anywhere in the country.

In a policy statement released Friday, the ministry advised state governments to reject any proposal to establish a dolphinarium “by any person / persons, organizations, government agencies, private or public enterprises that involves import, capture of cetacean species to establish for commercial entertainment, private or public exhibition and interaction purposes whatsoever.”

Noting that India’s national aquatic animal, the Ganges River dolphin, as well as the snubfin dolphin are listed in Schedule-I and all cetacean species are listed in Schedule II part I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, the ministry said it is important to protect these endangered species from captivity and exploitation.

“Whereas cetaceans in general are highly intelligent and sensitive, and various scientists who have researched dolphin behavior have suggested that the unusually high intelligence; as compared to other animals means that dolphin should be seen as ‘non-human persons’ and as such should have their own specific rights and is morally unacceptable to keep them captive for entertainment purpose,” the ministry said.

FIAPO spokesperson Puja Mitra called the decision “a huge victory for the dolphins!”

“India has become a beacon of hope for the global movement to protect cetaceans from captivity, and we thank Minister Jayanthi Natarajan for setting the benchmark in animal protection for the world,” Mitra said.

FIAPO has been working with their partners Born Free Foundation, Global Green Grants Fund, Earth Island Institute’s Dolphin Project and Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation to bring about this prohibition in India for the past year.

Ric O’Barry, a former dolphin trainer who now serves as director of the U.S.-based Earth Island Institute’s Dolphin Project, applauded India’s new policy.

“This is a huge win for dolphins,” said O’Barry. Not only has the Indian government spoken out against cruelty, they have contributed to an emerging and vital dialogue about the ways we think about dolphins – as thinking, feeling beings rather than pieces of property to make money off of.”