Now, Old Billy Ayers has had a very warm and close relationship with UIC where SEIU Chief Steward Joe Iosbaker leads the cheers for Solidarity. Billy Ayers has had a very warm relationship with Hugo Chavez and has lectured on Bolivarista Agenda against Columbia. Billy Boy is a FARCer. You see FARC* is a terrorst group supported by and in Solidarity with SEIU. FARC is now linked to anti-Israeli Terror and some activists who call themselves Peace Activists. In Solidarity with the gutless Media of course.
Click my post titlefor many more photos from SEIU Local 73 Rally for Higher Education.
Also pictured at the Local 73 Rally is an old pal of Billy!
SEIU Pal Bill Ayers and the guy who hired him at UIC? Is that Stan Ikenberry? Stanley!
Some people are made uncomfortable to have their assumptions rattled. It was perfectly wonderful that the F.B.I. arrested a deranged goof who wanted to make the world a better place by putting a bomb in front of the Cubby Bear Lounge in Wrigleville.
However, when the same scrutiny into the network that actively supports terror in the name of Peace makes hand-wringers sad.
Two people, on an instructor at Wright College and her husband a Chief Steward for SEIU at University of Illinois at Chicago (UICC), has made some people with warm relations to the media most prickly - in fact they plan two days of protests.
Activists are gearing up for demonstrations against recent FBI raids on the homes of anti-war activists in Minneapolis and Chicago.
Maureen Murphy is a member of the Palestine Solidarity Group in Chicago. She and others met Sunday afternoon in what they called an ''emergency meeting'' to plan demonstrations today and Tuesday.
On Friday the FBI searched eight addresses in Minneapolis and Chicago. Warrants suggest agents were looking for links between anti-war activists and terrorist groups in Colombia and the Middle East.
But Murphy claims the government is trying to quiet activists.
Iosbaker and Weiner declined to discuss their relationship with any groups abroad, citing their upcoming testimony before a grand jury on Oct. 5.
Prickly, they are downright chilled.
Brrrrr. Chilled in Post-Bush America?
You see, there are uncomfortable connections. SEIU, which is the twin of ACORN, is a Political Action Committee that the Media calls Big Labor. SEIU gives oodles of money to politicians who will tow the line. SEIU gives news copy and advertising to Media icons and outlets that tow the line. SEIU has wonderful ties to Academia, because its leadership grew, not from laboring men and women, but from Academia. SEIU leaders are fashionably schooled academics.
Skilled Trades Unions, real labor, is lead by Tradesmen.
SEIU is a Marxist/Leninist operative with ties to every leftist advocacy agenda in America.
This is not some mystery. SEIU hides in plain site. All it requires is for the Media do as it is bidden by SEIU.
The Media is more than compliant; it is positively in the tank.
"These raids, searches and grand jury investigations are nothing more than an attempt to intimidate us and to intimidate the anti-war movement," Iosbaker said. "We have done nothing wrong."
FBI spokesman Paul Bresson said Saturday that the bureau's investigations "are predicated on criminal violations, not First Amendment protected activities."
The spin provided by the Media for SEIU scrubs the association of an SEIU Leader to the FBI probe of terror that has linked anti-Israeli Terror to Columbia's FARC.
There was a great deal news concerning FARC and Bernardine Dorhn and Bill Ayers in Spring and early summer of 2008 - that was when "guilt by association" linking candidate Barack Obama to domestic terrorists Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn. It got well scrubbed by the Media. Hey, it was in all the papers . . .for a little while.
Bill Ayers was denied emeritus statues bu University of Illinois following the impassioned statement by Chris Kennedy. Only hours later the FBI were searching the homes of people who just might be linked to terror. Odd that.
Bill Ayers and Joseph IosBakker of SEIU are comrades. Links to terror are not intimidation, but they will make many folks uncomfortable.
Now, that is an uncomfortable truth.
Let's get the Media to do its job and not what it is bidden to do by SEIU.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/2747598,CST-NWS-fbi27.articlehttp://www.seiu73.org/your_job/higher_ed/Default.aspx*Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia - FARC
Description
Established in 1964 as the military wing of the Colombian Communist Party, the FARC is Colombia’s oldest, largest, most capable, and best-equipped Marxist insurgency. The FARC is governed by a secretariat, led by septuagenarian Manuel Marulanda (a.k.a. “Tirofijo”) and six others, including senior military commander Jorge Briceno (a.k.a. “Mono Jojoy”). The FARC is organized along military lines and includes several urban fronts.
In February 2002, the group’s slow-moving peace negotiation process with President Andres Pastrana's administration was terminated by Bogota following the FARC's plane hijacking and kidnapping of a Colombian Senator from the aircraft. On 7 August, the FARC launched a large-scale mortar attack on the Presidential Palace where President Alvaro Uribe was being inaugurated. High-level foreign delegations—including the United States—attending the inauguration were not injured, but 21 residents of a poor neighborhood nearby were killed by stray rounds in the attack.
Strength
Approximately 9,000 to 12,000 armed combatants and several thousand more supporters, mostly in rural areas.
Location/Area of Operation
Colombia, with some activities—extortion, kidnapping, logistics, and R&R—in Venezuela, Panama, and Ecuador.
External Aid
Cuba provides some medical care and political consultation. A trial is currently underway in Bogota to determine whether three members of the Irish Republican Army—arrested in Colombia in 2001 upon exiting the FARC-controlled demilitarized zone (despeje)—provided advanced explosives training to the FARC.
Although the FARC-controlled safe haven, or "despeje" -- which is situated between two of Colombia's largest coca cultivation areas -- is not considered a major area for coca cultivation or drug trafficking, many FARC units throughout southern Colombia raise funds through the extortion ("taxation") of both legal and illegal businesses, the latter including the drug trade. Some insurgent units raise funds through extortion or by protecting laboratory operations. In return for cash payments, or possibly in exchange for weapons, the insurgents protect cocaine laboratories in southern Colombia. Some FARC and ELN units are independently involved in limited cocaine laboratory operations. Some FARC units in southern Colombia are reported to be directly involved in drug trafficking activities, such as controlling local cocaine base markets.
Activities
Bombings, murder, mortar attacks, kidnapping, extortion, hijacking, as well as guerrilla and conventional military action against Colombian political, military, and economic targets. In March 1999, the FARC executed three US Indian rights activists on Venezuelan territory after it kidnapped them in Colombia. Foreign citizens often are targets of FARC kidnapping for ransom.
Although the Colombian government has given the FARC political status and has attempted to negotiate with this terrorist organization to stop the recruitment of minors, the FARC has refused. The Colombian government's Family Welfare Institute estimates that at least 30 percent of the FARC's fighters are younger than 18, compared to about 15 percent a decade ago. However, international and Colombia agencies that track the use of child fighters now think the FARC's numbers may be higher. During recent skirmishes between the Army and a FARC column, 32 of the 77 fighters captured by army troops were under 18 years old, and 19 of those were 15 and under. Of the 46 FARC fighters who were killed in the skirmishes, 20 were children. The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimates that there were about 6,000 minors serving in the FARC and AUC terrorist groups last year.
The FARC broke off negotiations with the government in October 2001, protesting government security measures around the zone and military flights over the territory. On 12 January 2002, President Pastrana gave the FARC 48 hours to come up with a new proposal for talks, or, he said, he would abolish the safe zone he had granted them three years earlier as a condition for talks. Colombian army units took up positions around the zone and many people here feared a major escalation of the war was imminent. That crisis was averted on 14 January 2002, when the FARC agreed to immediate talks, and dropped the complaint about government security measures. The resulting agreement on a timetable for talks represents the most significant advance toward peace in Colombia in nearly four decades of war.
On 20 January 2002 representatives of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, signed an agreement with the government of President Andres Pastrana that sets a timetable for peace negotiations. Less than four hours before the deadline for an agreement set by President Pastrana was to expire, the rebels and government negotiators announced their timetable and plan for talks. The last-minute accord prevented what many feared would be an escalation of the 38-year civil conflict. The timetable included a number of target dates for completing discussions of such issues as a cease-fire, kidnappings and other action that harm civilians, and the dismantling of anti-rebel para-military groups. The timetable set 7 April 2002 as the deadline for reaching an accord on these issues.
On 12 February, 2003 a plane tasked to the program working on eradicating Colombia's coca plantations and flying on a routine reconnaissance mission, crash landed in FARC territory. The plane was carrying a Colombian sergeant and four American contractors. Once located it was discovered that the Colombian soldier and one of the American passengers had been shot by FARC rebels and the three other Americans were taken captive. The three American hostages were accused of being CIA spies and were used as bargaining leverage to negotiate a prisoner exchange with the Colombian government. As of July 2006, no exchange had been made. This event exemplifies the abduction and ransom tactics the FARC has used to extort money and power for their cause. The FARC are believed to be in possession of hundreds of kidnapping victims ranging from Colombian politicians, policemen and other prominent figures.
In 2004 President Uribe launched a large military operation called "Patriot Plan" involving 15,000 government soldiers who pushed into FARC controlled territory in an attempt to wrest part of the countryside from rebel hands and capture key Guerilla leaders. The plan was partially successful causing the FARC to retreat and lose territory they had controlled for decades. The Patriot Plan was limited in its success of capturing key FARC leaders producing few apprehensions and driving most of the group's top leaders into deeper hiding.
By 2005 President Uribe's efforts to increase pressure on FARC appeared to have some partial success, decreasing the intensity of attacks on Government forces. However, statistics demonstrated that while the intensity of attacks had decreased the frequency of clashes remained the same. There was a resurgence of violence in early 2005 when 50 Colombian soldiers were killed in the month of February. Also in 2005, 3 Irish Republican Army (IRA) members who were awaiting final sentencing for training the FARC on IRA bomb tactics fled Colombian parole and resurfaced in Ireland. They were detained and questioned by the Irish national police and released without charge. The Colombian government requested their extradition. Ireland does not have an extradition treaty with Colombia; the case remained under review and the three fugitives at large.
In August 2005, the Brazilian Federal Police arrested Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) "spokesman" Francisco Antonio Cadena Collazos under an international warrant. In August 2006, the Government of Brazil granted him political asylum and denied Colombia's extradition request.
On 3 September and 25 October 2007, Colombian authorities announced the deaths of commanders Tomas Medina Caracas "El Negro Acacio," and Gustavo Rueda Diaz, “Martin Caballero,” respectively, noting that they represented serious blows to the FARC.
In November 2007, President Alvaro Uribe agreed to a request of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Colombian Senator Piedad Cordoba, to act as intermediaries for a possible "humanitarian exchange" of FARC-held hostages for FARC prisoners in Colombian jails. The Colombian government-sanctioned effort ended in November after Chavez and Cordoba repeatedly failed to adhere to Colombia's guidelines. Nevertheless, Chavez continued his efforts to gain the release of hostages including a failed effort at year's end involving the promised release of three Colombian hostages (Clara Rojas, her son Emmanuel, and Consuelo Gonzales de Perdomo) to an international delegation that included former-Argentine President Nestor Kirchner. The Government of Colombia revealed that the FARC had turned over Emmanuel to a sympathizer, who had in turn placed the child in Colombian social services. Confusion over Emmanuel's whereabouts coupled with FARC allegations that the Colombian military was operating in the area led the FARC to temporarily call off the release. The FARC, under intense public pressure, eventually turned over Rojas and Gonzales to President Chavez.
In March 2008 Colombia forces mounted a raid against the FARC in Ecuador, leading to the capture of laptop computers and other intelligence. The raid resulted in an immediate regional crisis over the apparent Colombian violation of Ecuadoran sovereignty, with both Ecuador and Venezuela mobilizing military forces. The Colombian authorities intially suggested that the raid had been conducted with Ecuadoran approval, but later appeared to back away from this assertion. In return Colombian authorities claimed the intelligence recovered proved links between the governments of both Ecuador and Venezuela and the FARC. The crisis and potential military confrontation were later resolved, but an investigation continued into the allegations of regional support for the FARC.
Capture of Rodrigo Granda in Venezuela, 13 December 2004
The FARC found itself in late 2004 in the middle of a growing diplomatic crisis between Colombia and Venezuela. On 12 January 2005, Colombia's defense minister acknowledged that the Colombian government had paid bounty hunters to seize Rodrigo Granda, a member of the FARC, from neigboring Venezuela. President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela subsequently described the capture, which occured on the streets of Caracas, as a violation of his country's sovereignty and demanded an explanation.
The Colombian government refused to divulge any information pertaining to the capture. For weeks the government had claimed the capture had occured in the Colombian border city of Cucuta. Any details relating to who was involved in the operation and how much they were paid is still unknown. A Venezuelan lawmaker, Luis Tascon, claimed that the amount was $1.5 million-an amount the Colombian government later denied. Defense Minister Jorge Alberto Uribe has asserted that Colombian agents were not involved, while a close ally of President Alvaro Uribe has claimed that "Venezuelan agents" had carried out the operation.
Adding to the mystery was the detainment of four Colombian officers in Venezuela just days before the capture. The four officers were suspected of taking photographs of military installations in the central city of Maracay, but were later released without being charged.
In a 14 January 2005 communique, the Colombian government claimed "The United Nations prohibits member nations to provide safe haven to terrorists in an “active or passive” manner... Mr. Granda participated in a Bolivarian Congress held in Caracas on December 8 and 9 of 2004, in representation of the FARC."
Rodrigo Granda, a senior FARC member, was reportedly responsible for garnering international support for the FARC. This, in sum, could be described as the source of the current conflict between Colombia and Venezuela. Colombia has often complained about the lack of cooperation from the Chavez government in cracking down on leftist rebels.
On 16 January 2005, the Colombian government released this 9-point statement:
■1. The right of the people to be free of terrorists needs the efficient and resolute cooperation of all democratic governments.
■2. Colombia pays rewards to informants who allow the capture of terrorists. It does not bribe. Venezuela must present proof supporting the alleged bribe to government officials.
■3. We cannot be cynically deceived by the FARC which presents the capture of kidnappers like kidnapping.
■4. Colombia will present proof to the Venezuelan Government regarding the protection provided by officials of that country to Mr. Granda. The safe haven provided to terrorists violates the sovereignty of Colombia, an offended country, for it increases the risk of terror against its citizens.
■5. Colombia does not accept that representatives of terrorist organizations be admitted in a political event sponsored by official Venezuelan institutions. Political opposition is one thing, another very different one is terrorism.
■6. With surprise it is read in the Foreign Affairs Office in Venezuela communiqué, the intention of involving 4 Colombian police officers in the Granda case. The Venezuelan authorities timely new that it concerned another antinarcotics operation. They were investigated and released.
■7. Colombia has used the diplomatic and official channels. What is demanded is that such channels operate in an efficient manner. Once again, information will be delivered to that Government concerning the presence of Colombian terrorists on Venezuelan soil. The name of 7 high ranking terrorist leaders and the location of various camps will be included.
■8. The will of the Colombian Government to work in harmony with the Government of Venezuela is reiterated and according to the procedure defined by the Offices of Foreign Affairs.
■9. Terrorism cannot harm the unity of our nations.
As of 17 January 2005, the crisis between the two countries continued. President Hugo Chavez agreed to meet with President Alvaro Uribe in a bilateral meeting. By the end of January 2005 the diplomatic standoff between the two countries appeared to be improving. On January 28 representatives from Colombia and Venezuela met in Lima, Peru. Tensions with the countries reached even more serious levels, following a 2008 Colombian raid against the FARC in Ecuador, with President Hugo Chavez mobilizing military forces before a meeting with Alvaro Uribe appeared to defuse the situation. Major economic links between Colombia and Venezuela, as well as Colombia and Ecuador were said to be a factor in resolving the crisis.
