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Chinese human rights activist Chen arrives in U.S. By the CNN Wire Staff May 20, 2012 — Updated 0230 GMT (1030 HKT)

Chinese activist has “mixed feelings” STORY HIGHLIGHTS * Chen expresses gratitude, asks for justice in China * Actor Christian Bale, who tried to visit Chen in China, wants to meet him in U.S. * Chen will be able to pursue his studies in the U.S. * Chen’s escape from house arrest and refuge in the U.S. Embassy caused diplomatic tensions (CNN) — Chinese human rights activist Chen Guangcheng arrived Saturday evening in the United States, bringing an end to a diplomatic firestorm that erupted after he escaped from house arrest and took to YouTube to complain about abuse he said his family suffered at the hands of authorities. United Airlines Flight 88 landed at New York/Newark Liberty International Airport to little fanfare after the U.S. State Department prohibited public and media access. Traveling with Chen were his wife and two children. Less than two hours later, Chen, 40, spoke from New York University, where he will participate in a fellowship. “I am very grateful to the assistance of the American Embassy and the promise of the Chinese government for protection of my rights as a citizen over the long term,” Chen said to a mob of reporters and onlookers. “I am very gratified to see the Chinese government has been dealing with the situation with restraint and calm.” The activist indicated through a translator that the U.S. government granted him partial citizenship rights. He asked people to work with him to “promote justice and fairness in China.” And Chen said he was looking forward to recuperating in “body and spirit.” Chen Timeline Reporters traveling with him were denied access to Chen for much of the 13-hour flight from Beijing until he agreed to talk to one member of the media. Chen leaves China on flight bound for US Chen expressed mixed feelings about arriving in the United States, saying he has unfinished business at home, according to CNN’s Steven Jiang, who was on board the flight. Activist Chen Guangchen flies to NY Chen’s ‘concrete’ steps to leaving China Chinese activist at Beijing airport Chinese-speaking diplomats from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing traveled with the family, according to two senior State Department officials. Chen had neither passport nor visa in hand when he was abruptly shuttled to the Beijing airport for the flight. At the airport, Chen waited with his wife and two children in a secure location. He was in a wheelchair, dark glasses over his eyes — Chen is blind. Chen had been in a Chinese hospital for the past few weeks, awaiting the documents to travel to the United States. The self-taught legal activist angered Chinese officials with his fight against alleged forced abortions under China’s one-child policy. Chen spent four years in prison, and was then held under constant lockdown in his village. In his April video after his escape, Chen addressed the Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao, detailing alleged abuses during the family’s 18 months of heavily guarded detention at home. “They broke into my house and more than a dozen men assaulted my wife,” he said. “They pinned her down and wrapped her in a comforter, beating and kicking her for hours. They also similarly violently assaulted me.” On Saturday, Chen said he was confident officials will conduct a thorough investigation of the abuse and treatment toward him. “I don’t believe the central government will lie to me,” he said. Journalists and supporters were prevented from visiting Chen during his house arrest. One of those supporters is Hollywood actor Christian Bale, who was roughed up by security guards while attempting a visit in December. Chen indicated Saturday he would like to meet Bale. Bale, in an e-mail Saturday to CNN, said, “Please shake Chen’s hand, and give him and his family a hug from me upon their arrival in the U.S. They must be overwhelmed with relief at being together, and finally, safe; but also worried about their family who remain in Shandong. I would love to meet with Chen when he has the time.” Chinese activists family suffers reprisals, he tells U.S. lawmakers Clinton: China will let Chen come to U.S. Bob Fu, president of ChinaAid, a Texas-based Christian human rights organization that has been campaigning for Chen’s freedom, said the activist was deeply grateful to the international community’s efforts to secure his freedom — efforts that tested U.S. relations with the Communist giant. China cracks down on Chen’s supporters Chen spent six days in the U.S. Embassy after he escaped house arrest ahead of a visit to Beijing by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The move infuriated Chinese authorities. Part 1: Advising Chen Guangcheng The one thing Chen could not leave behind was fear of reprisals for the rest of his extended family at the hands of the authorities in Shandong Province in eastern China. “My elder brother was taken away by these thugs without any reasoning and then they came back and started beating up my nephew, and they used stakes and violently beat him up,” Chen told the House Foreign Affairs Committee in a telephone call from his hospital room earlier this week. Chen added that his relatives’ homes had been broken into and they had been beaten by people working for the government. Chen said his nephew Chen Kegui tried to defend himself and now faces a “totally trumped-up” charge of attempted homicide. “After my nephew was beaten up, he actually was waiting to surrender himself and the police come back again and violently beat up my sister-in-law,” Chen said. Hillary Clinton talks China, Chen in wide-ranging interview The authorities in Linyi, the city that oversees Chen’s village, had issued a statement accusing Chen Kegui of injuring government officials with a knife and saying he would be dealt with according to the law. They have declined to comment on the matter since. ChinaAid urged the international community to continue to monitor the situation for Chen’s extended family in China, amid concerns over possible reprisals by the authorities. Amnesty International echoed that concern. “Chen’s journey to the United States would not have been possible without his own valiant character, the courageous support of his family and friends and the robust voice of the international community that never stopped working on his behalf,” said Frank Jannuzi, head of Amnesty International’s Washington office. “But while Chen and his immediate family are safe, Amnesty International continues to be concerned about those in China who share his quest for justice, for they remain in serious jeopardy,” he said. “Countless people, known and unknown, are subject to arbitrary detention, beatings and other forms of repression. For Chen, whose escape from authorities in Shandong played out like a Hollywood thriller — a persecuted blind man who climbed over a high wall and hid in a pig sty — Saturday’s sudden journey over an ocean and a continent was perhaps a fitting chapter in his story. Sunday morning, Chen will begin a new life in America, calm and resolute as always. New York University law professor Jerome Cohen first met Chen when the activist traveled to the United States as part of a State Department program in 2004. “You got the feeling you were in the presence of some Chinese equivalent of Gandhi or something,” Cohen said. “He had this gentle but steely moral force.” Chen never sought out to be a rabble-rouser, Cohen said, though he will always be thought of as one. CNN’s Steven Jiang contributed to this report.

This is a re-posting of a story from 2007.

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Crop to Cup Coffee Company imports high quality coffee from Uganda to the United States. Read story below.

They are actively seeking sales partners throughout the United States.

UK ‘may never fully recover’ if Greece exits euro

Top forecaster says Britain would face long recession as key Greek politician frames crisis as people v capitalism

* Andrew Sparrow , Helena Smith and Larry Elliott

Description: Alexis Tsipras

Alexis Tsipras, who is said to hold the future of the euro in his hands, photographed in northern Greece as a student

A Greek exit from the single currency threatens to plunge Britain into a second recession equal in ferocity to the record postwar slump of 2008-09, according to the expert responsible for the government’s economic forecasting.

Robert Chote, chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility , who was speaking to the Guardian as world financial markets staggered to the end of a week that rekindled memories of the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, warned that there was risk that a fresh downturn would do irreparable damage to the UK. Britain has made up less than half the ground lost when output plunged by more than 7% in 2008-09, and Chote said there was a risk that “you go down and you never quite get back up to where you started”.

In a separate exclusive interview , Alexis Tsipras, the increasingly powerful 37-year-old Greek politician now regarded by many as holding the future of the euro in his hands, told the Guardian that he was determined “to stop the experiment” with austerity policies imposed by Germany. He described the tax increases and spending cuts as a “crime against the Greek people”.

The leader of the Syriza party, whose success in last month’s general election has led to political paralysis in Athens and a second general election, said he wanted Greece to stay in the euro, but was fighting capitalism. “On the one side there are workers and a majority of people, and on the other are global capitalists, bankers, profiteers on stock exchanges, the big funds. It’s a war between peoples and capitalism … it is the international financial system, and more especially banks, that are gaining most”.

The head of the UK’s OBR said the deepening crisis in the eurozone could force him to tear up his forecasts, made only two months ago, that Britain would post modest growth of 0.8% this year. “The concern is that you end up with an outcome in the eurozone that creates the same sort of structural difficulties in the financial system and in the economy that we saw in the past recession, and that has consequences both for hitting economic activity in the economy, but also its underlying potential,” said Chote.

With economic output in the UK still 4% below its peak level when the recession began in early 2008, the prime minister and the governor of the Bank of England, Sir Mervyn King, have expressed concern in recent days about the vulnerability of Britain to the eurozone.

Chote said he was particularly concerned about the possibility that a second deep recession would leave permanent scars. “That means not just that the economy weakens and then strengthens again – it goes into a hole and comes out – but that you go down and you never quite get back up to where you started.”

Shares in London closed down for a third week, with the jittery mood in financial markets pushing the FTSE 100 below 5,400 for the first time this year. German and French stock markets were also depressed, with even the much-anticipated stock market debut of Facebook in New York failing to lift spirits.

Greece’s caretaker prime minister, Panagiotis Pikramenos, said the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, had suggested in a phone call to the Greek president, Karolos Papoulias, on Friday that Greece hold a referendum on its continued membership of the single currency alongside next month’s elections, in an apparent attempt to encourage voters to back mainstream parties who support the current austerity programme.

The German government said that no suggestion of the kind had been made. But the Greek government was insistent, and said that Pikramenos had rejected the suggestion because he does not have the power to call a referendum.

Merkel’s finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, said the eurozone crisis could last two more years, while financial market speculation that Greece’s days in the euro were numbered cast a shadow over the annual gathering of leaders of the G8 western industrial nations at Camp David. Canada’s prime minister, Stephen Harper, voiced his frustration at Europe ‘s leaders, demanding tough action to tackle the crisis.

In Brussels, the European commission denied comments by Europe’s trade minister, Karel de Gucht, that preparations were being made for Greece’s departure from the single currency.

Meanwhile, analysts at Deutsche Bank predicted that the weak state of Ireland’s banks could result in the former Celtic tiger requiring a second bailout, and in Spain there were reports that the government would call in Goldman Sachs to help sort out its banks after 16 suffered credit downgrades on Thursday.

In an echo of the months leading up to the Lehmans collapse, Mike Smith, chief executive of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, said the turmoil in the eurozone meant Australian banks were being frozen out of money markets when seeking funds.

Chote said there were so many uncertainties around what might happen with Greece and the eurozone that trying to produce firm predictions was not “particularly helpful”.

But the OBR has tried to quantify the impact of a disorderly sovereign debt restructuring in the eurozone on Britain – and the figures make grim reading. Britain would be plunged into recession for two years, according to the OBR analysis, published in its most recent economic and fiscal outlook report. There would also be deflation and unemployment would reach almost 11% by 2013-14, with debt subsequently reaching more than 90% of GDP.

Chote said these projections were of limited value because the eurozone crisis could develop in so many different ways. “For example, one issue would be, do difficulties in the eurozone make it cheaper or more expensive for the UK government to borrow?” he said. “If it makes investors more nervous about risk in general, it might make it more expensive. If they see the UK as more of a safe haven, it might make it less expensive.”

Thé Mulindwas Communication Group “With Yoweri Museveni and Dr. Kiiza Besigye Uganda is in anarchy” Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi “Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni na Dk. Kiiza Besigye Uganda ni katika machafuko”

Chicago Militarized For NATO By Stephen Lendman 5-19-12

Ready or not, NATO arrived on May 19 and 20. Chicago’s in virtual lockdown. Residents feel occupied. Building occupants got special instructions.

This writer’s residence advised “leaving town between May 18 – 22.” Otherwise limit city travel. Have essentials on hand, including food and water. Consider working at home. Avoid certain parts of the city. Observe curfew and other mandates.

No large deliveries will be allowed. Special precautions are being taken. Visitors must have verifying photo IDs. Vehicular restrictions will be enforced. Portions of the building will be locked and inaccessible. Avoid large gatherings if at all possible. Stay close to home.

In early May, CBS local affiliate Channel 2 reported that “the government is informing small plane pilots that if they enter (a restricted) no-fly zone during the summit, they might be shot down.”

“This is no joke,” the report continued. “It will be enforced from May 19 to May 21.”

The FAA established flight advisory rules. Non-commercial aircraft are prohibited from flying within 10 nautical miles of downtown at altitudes below 18,000 feet.

Restrictions also include an outer perimeter extending 10 – 30 miles around Chicago. All aircraft violating flight restrictions will be intercepted. The advisory states:

“The United States Government may use deadly force against the airborne aircraft, if it is determined that the aircraft poses an imminent security threat.”

“Be advised that noncompliance with the published may result in the use of force.”

Violators face criminal penalties. For three days, no-fly zone enforcement extends from Lake County, IN to Lake County, IL. It includes Cook and DePage Counties as well as portions of Lake Michigan.

O’Hare and Midway Airports are affected. So are small suburban ones. Around a dozen overall face restrictions. When Obama arrives, he’ll be well protected downtown. So will other heads of state and their entourages.

Security is extremely tight. F-16s, Blackhawk helicopters, and drones patrol Chicago area skies. Elaborate barricades were erected in preparation.

Police may confront protesters violently. Local residents were warned to stay away. For many, conducting normal activities will be nightmarish. With dozens of motorcades coming, so will traffic.

Secret Service operatives head Operation Red Zone enforcement. They’ll direct federal, state and local law enforcement.

Militarized May Day was dress rehearsal preparation. Police patrolled streets in battle dress. McCormick Place is summit headquarters. Nonetheless, virtually the entire Loop and surrounding areas are locked down.

High police visibility began May 1. Protest groups were briefed. Marches require permits. Strict restrictions apply.

Occupy Chicago, other OWS participants, Veterans against War, immigrants and environmental rights groups, National Nurses United, CANG8, unions, and other organizations marched on May 1 under the slogan:

“We are Workers. We are Students. We are Documented. We are Undocumented. We are Occupiers.”

“They are Detaining Us. They are Shutting Down our Clinics. They are Closing our Schools. They are Taking our Wealth. They are Busting our Unions.”

“Come May 1st. We are on the March! Join Us!”

From May 19 – 21, they’re back.

On Monday, May 14, protesters began “A Week without Capitalism.” Dozens of Catholic Worker movement members demonstrated outside Obama’s campaign headquarters. Several were arrested.

On Tuesday, an anti-capitalist march took place near downtown from 6:30-PM to midnight. A same day Trinity Episcopal Church meeting discussed ways to stop police brutality and help victims recover.

On Wednesday, National Lawyers Guild and StreetMedics representatives held a nonviolence training seminar. Occupy Chicago and Communities United against Foreclosure and Eviction protested downtown. A Daley Plaza rally concluded it.

On Thursday, healthcare demonstrations were held. In addition, a protest march proceeded to Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s home.

On Friday, National Nurses United and Rage Against the Machine rallied downtown in Daley Plaza. At issue are medical service cuts and demands to tax Wall Street.

A same day Arts to Oppose NATO featured an evening of poetry, songs, information, and resistance against NATO war crimes. David Rovics and Outernational Unplugged participated.

Planned weekend events are numerous. Local groups, students, environmental activists, bikers, Planet over War, and other planned demonstrations will march, hold rallies, and feature local speakers. Participants have been briefed to maintain nonviolence no matter what confronts them.

The Chicago Tribune and Sun Times provide detailed coverage. On May 18, the Tribune headlined “Ready, set: Here comes NATO summit weekend,” saying:

Chicagoans are braced for “a little pomp, a little circumstance, a lot of inconvenience, a splash of spring colors, a maze of barricades, street and museum closings, and a loud exercise of that most American of rights guaranteed by the First Amendment.”

Some will take part in planned activities. Others will protest against a laundry list of crimes, abuses, and neglect nonviolently. Until Friday, demonstrations were small.

Through the weekend, the dynamic will change markedly. Tens of thousands on both sides converge on city streets, parks and plazas. Secret Service contingents were out in force. So were state police, National Guard forces, and thousands of Chicago cops.

America’s First Amendment will be sorely tested. It guarantees free expression and assembly rights.

Article I, Section 4 of Illinois’ Constitution affirms “FREEDOM OF SPEECH,” saying:

“All persons may speak, write and publish freely, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty. In trials for libel, both civil and criminal, the truth, when published with good motives and for justifiable ends, shall be a sufficient defense.”

Section 5 affirms the “RIGHT TO ASSEMBLE AND PETITION,” saying:

“The people have the right to assemble in a peaceable manner, to consult for the common good, to make known their opinions to their representatives and to apply for redress of grievances.”

Previous global justice, G8, G20, IMF, World Bank, and other protests elsewhere produced serious rights violations. Throughout the weekend, Chicago may replicate them.

During the 1968 Democrat national convention, extreme Chicago police violence confronted anti-war demonstrators. Chilling images still resonate.

A Los Angeles Police Department observer said:

“There is no question but that many officers acted without restraint and exerted force beyond that necessary under the circumstances.”

“The leadership at the point of conflict did little to prevent such conduct and the direct control of officers by first line supervisors was virtually non-existent.”

Residents with long memories fear weekend police violence may replicate that type extreme harshness. Played out on national television, millions watched and cringed. Brutality replaced restraint.

Mayor Richard J. Daley ordered police to “shoot to kill arsonists and shoot to maim looters….As long as I am mayor of this city, there’s going to be law and order in Chicago.”

On August 22, an unarmed protester was shot to death. Brutal beatings occurred all week. Journalists as well as protesters were attacked. Many dozens were treated at local hospitals. Hundreds were arrested.

Senator Abe Ribicoff interrupted his George McGovern nominating speech to denounce “Gestapo tactics on the streets of Chicago.” If anti-NATO violence occurs, expect no leading politician to replicate him.

Days after the convention ended, local residents remember Daley’s freudian slip, saying:

“The policeman isn’t there to create disorder. The policeman is there to preserve disorder.”

Chicago cops specialize in doing it violently. Their reputation is ugly and notorious.

On May 18, Chicago Sun Times columnist Lynn Sweet headlined “Whose drone is it? US Military providing support for Chicago NATO Summit,” saying:

Defense Department spokesman George Little said US military support will help summit security. NORTHCOM will be present, perhaps in force. Details weren’t provided.

Following the Camp David G8 Summit, Obama arrives Saturday night. On Sunday, meetings follow. War, occupation, and other strategies will be discussed. Expect Afghanistan, Syria, and Iran to get considerable attention.

On May 17, a National Lawyers Guild (NLG) press release condemned preemptive police raids and lawless searches, saying:

On Thursday, “a preemptive police raid took place at approximately 11:30pm Wednesday in the Bridgeport neighborhood, and instances of harassment on the street, in which Chicago police are unlawfully detaining, searching, and questioning NATO protesters.”

“The Bridgeport raid was apparently conducted by the Organized Crime Division of the Chicago Police Department and resulted in as many as 8 arrests.”

Witnesses said cops burst into a six-unit apartment building violently with no search warrant. Doing so is illegal. They entered an apartment guns drawn. One tenant was tackled in his kitchen. Two were handcuffed for two hours in their living room while police searched their apartment and a neighboring one.

Repeatedly they called one tenant a “Commie faggot.” A search warrant produced four hours later had no judicial authorizing signature. Beer-making supplies and one or more cell phones were seized.

NLG attorney Sarah Gelsomino said:

“Preemptive raids like this are a hallmark of National Special Security Events. The Chicago police and other law enforcement agencies should be aware that this behavior will not be tolerated and will result in real consequences for the city.”

Expect lawsuits to follow. What’s next is uncertain. Settlements may include monetary payments to plaintiffs.

In another downtown incident, three plainclothes cops lawlessly stopped, handcuffed, searched, detained, and interrogated a NATO protester. No probable cause justified it. The subject refused to answer all questions. Hours later he was released.

NLG got reports of at least 20 other arrests. Some remain in custody. Los Angeles immigrant rights activist Danny Johnson was accused of assaulting a police officer during a protest rally and arrested. Witnesses contradicted police accusations.

Throughout the weekend, NLG staff remain on call to provide legal services for anyone mistreated or arrested. Scores of NLG observers are deployed on streets. They’ll record police misconduct firsthand.

Past experience suggests considerable police violence before summit activities end. Committing it should make NATO participants feel right at home.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

Thé Mulindwas Communication Group “With Yoweri Museveni and Dr. Kiiza Besigye Uganda is in anarchy” Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi “Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni na Dk. Kiiza Besigye Uganda ni katika machafuko”