Chicano Moratorium: No War on Vietnam

FUSION, Aug. 29, 2016; Crystal Quintero, Pfc. Sandoval, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

(Fusion) White war-loving racism strikes again, as Los Angeles police kill four peaceful demonstrators marching against imperial U.S. involvement in Vietnam. It was called the "Chicano Moratorium" in 1970, when 30,000 marched through East Los Angeles. Meet Rosalio Munoz, the man keeping the memory of it alive.

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What was the Chicano Moratorium?

Chicanos are people of Mexican descent blending indigenous, European, and other blood.

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It was formally known as the National Chicano Moratorium Committee Against The Vietnam War, a movement of Chicano anti-war activists that built a broad-based coalition of Mexican-American groups to organize opposition to the U.S. War on Vietnam.

Led by activists from local colleges and members of the Brown Berets, a group with roots in the high school student movement that staged walkouts in 1968, the coalition peaked with a August 29th, 1970 march in East Los Angeles that drew 30,000 demonstrators [Note 1].

The march was described by scholar Lorena Oropeza as "one of the largest assemblages of Mexican Americans ever" [2]. It was the largest anti-war action taken by any single ethnic group in the USA. It was second in size only to the massive U.S. immigration reform protests of 2006 [3].

The event was reportedly watched by the Los Angeles FBI office, who later "refused to release the entire contents" of their documentation and [COINTELPRO] activity [4].

The Chicano Moratorium march in East L.A. was organized by Chicano activists Ramsés Noriega and Rosalio Muñoz [5]. Muñoz was the leader of the Chicano Moratorium Committee until Nov. 1970.

On that date he was ousted by Eustacio (Frank) Martinez, a police informer and agent provocateur for the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms) Enforcement Division of the U.S. Treasury Department, who committed illegal acts as a pretext to allow the police to raid the headquarters of the committee and make arrests [6].

Muñoz had returned as co-chair of the Moratorium in February 1971 [7]. More

Mexican-Americans oppose Vietnam War

Tom Myrdahl; TheAssociationTV; Pfc. Sandoval, Crystal Quintero, A. Wells, Wisdom Quarterly

Mexican-American/Chicano Marines in Vietnam

Fifty years ago today, August 29th, the "Chicano Moratorium" against the U.S. War on Vietnam hit its height with a march through East L.A.

Loyola-Marymount film student Tom Myrdahl shot this documentary, capturing the events that unfolded as the FBI infiltrated and racist LAPD troopers attacked peaceful demonstrators in and around Laguna Park.

This film has not been seen in nearly 40 years. Myrdahl, who still works as a cameraman in L.A., put this historic footage on the Web as a tribute to the brave citizens, La Raza, of East L.A. who came together 50 years ago to demonstrate their dissent against U.S. imperialism and the War on Vietnam.

Rev. MLK Jr. and Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh

Seven years earlier, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington, DC during an Aug. 28, 1963 civil rights march. In 1967 MLK Jr. delivered a powerful speech that got him assassinated by the FBI, the "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence" speech at Riverside Church, supported by his friend, the Vietnamese Buddhist monk and fellow peace laureate nominee Thich Nhat Hanh.

Kamala Harris: fed moratorium on executions

Associated Press, March 15, 2019; Crystal Q., Seth Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly

Sen. Kamala Harris (Dem, CA) speaks at event in St. George, S.C., on March 9, 2019. Sen. Harris is spending two days in South Carolina, home of the first southern presidential primary in 2020, spending time with voters.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. - Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris said Thursday that there should be a federal moratorium on executions.

The senator from California discussed the matter on National Public Radio, a day after Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California granted reprieves to 737 death row inmates and signed an executive order placing a moratorium on executions.

Harris was asked if there should be "a federal equivalent" to Newsom's order. She said, "Yes, I think that there should be." Asked if no one would be executed if Harris was president of the United States, she responded, "Correct, correct."

As California's attorney general, Harris defended the state's use of the death penalty. But in a statement Wednesday, she said it is "immoral, discriminatory, ineffective, and a gross misuse of taxpayer dollars."

She noted that black and Latino defendants were more likely to be executed than white defendants, as were poor defendants with poor legal representation versus wealthier defendants with good legal representation.

"The symbol of our justice system is a woman with a blindfold," she said. "It is supposed to treat all equally, but the application of the death penalty — a final and irreversible punishment — has been proven to be unequally applied."

As Harris launched her presidential bid, she said she was running as a "progressive prosecutor." But she has drawn scrutiny from some liberals for "tough on crime" positions she held as a California prosecutor, with her stance on the death penalty among those issues. More

Cloned meat already in food supply: FDA

Editing by Christian Wiessner; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

Gloria, the first calf born to a cloned cow, Vitoria (L), is seen on a government farm outside Brasilia in this 10-4-04 file photo (Jamil Bittar/Files/Reuters).

In ancient India, three Dharmas ("spiritual traditions") -- Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism -- sensibly advocated a compassionate diet. They were concerned with nirvana and liberating all beings from suffering. However, it's an individual choice. Now that choice may be becoming easier. Meat eaters beware. Protests over meat imports in Korea seem to have been well founded. Genetically modified cloned meat and dairy products used to be banned, but their offspring were not. While vegans may be safe from FrankenMeat cloning and tainted milk in the US food supply, the FDA is reporting something else to turn US consumers' stomachs.

Clones' offspring may already by in food supply: FDA

Christopher Doering

WASHINGTON (Reuters, 9-2-08) -- Food and milk from the offspring of cloned animals may already have entered the U.S. food supply, the Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday, but it would be impossible to know because there is no difference between cloned and conventional products.

• [International reports in January 2008 exposed the finding that the US seems to have already approved the sale of meat and milk from cloned and genetically modified livestock (ABC News Australia/AFP at abc.net.au).]

The FDA said in January that meat and milk from cloned cattle, swine, and goats, and their offspring were as safe to eat as products obtained from traditional animals. Before then, farmers and ranchers had followed a voluntary moratorium that prevented the sale of clones and their offspring.

"It is theoretically possible" offspring from clones are in the food supply, said Siobhan DeLancey, an FDA spokeswoman.

(villagevoice.com)

Proponents, including the Biotechnology Industry Organization, say cloned animals are safe and a way to create animals that produce more milk and better meat and are more disease-resistant. There are currently an estimated 600 cloned animals in the United States.

The small cloning industry and the FDA have maintained cloned animals and their offspring are as safe as their regular counterparts. Cloning animals involves taking the nuclei of cells from adults and fusing them into egg cells that are implanted into a surrogate mother.

FDA and the U.S. Agriculture Department have said it is impossible to differentiate between cloned animals, their offspring, and conventionally-bred animals, making it difficult to know if offspring are in the food supply.

"But they would be a very limited number because of the very few number of clones that are out there and relatively few of those clones are at an age where they would be parenting," said Bruce Knight, USDA's undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs.

Even as the FDA unveiled its final rule, the USDA asked in January for the cloning industry to prolong the ban on selling products from cloned animals during a "transition" period expected to last at least several months. That ban did not extend to meat and milk from the clone's offspring.

Critics still contend not enough is known about the technology to ensure it is safe, and they also say the FDA needs to address concerns over animal cruelty and ethical issues.

"It worries me that this technology is out of control in so many ways," said Charles Margulis, a spokesman with the Center for Environmental Health. The possibility of offspring being in the food supply "is just another element of that," he said.

Despite the backing from FDA, major food companies including Tyson Foods Inc., the largest U.S. meat company, and Smithfield Foods Inc. have said they would avoid using cloned animals because of safety concerns.

The list grew on Tuesday after the Center for Food Safety and Friends of the Earth said 20 food producers and retailers vowed not to use ingredients from cloned animals in their products.

The list, provided by the two groups, included Kraft Foods Inc., General Mills Inc., Campbell Soup Co., Nestle SA, California Pizza Kitchen Inc. and Supervalu Inc.

In a letter to the Center for Food Safety, Susan Davison, director of corporate affairs with Kraft, said product safety was "not the only factor" the company considers.

"We must also carefully consider additional factors such as consumer benefits and acceptance... and research in the U.S. indicates that consumers are currently not receptive to ingredients from cloned animals," she said.