FROM THE NEWSWIRE: Students for a Democratic Society call for any and all student and youth based organizations that are opposed to the war in Iraq to mobilize their memberships, their campus, their community and hit the streets for the week of March 17-21, with March 20, the fifth anniversary of the war, as the focal point.

NATIONAL DAYS OF STUDENT ACTION AGAINST THE IRAQ WAR
ALL OUT FOR MARCH 20, 2008

This March will mark a grim milestone - the fifth anniversary of the illegal and immoral invasion of Iraq. Despite the clear mandate from the American people to end the occupation, the U.S. government continues to wage war upon the Iraqi people. Bush’s mocking response to dwindling public support for the war has been the “troop surge,� or simply more of the same, while simultaneously threatening neighboring countries like Iran. For their part, the Democrats refuse to commit to a clear anti-war stance, even as they try to posture as the opposition party. Meanwhile, the threat of domestic recession looms, racist attacks increase, and millions lack decent housing, jobs, education, and health-care.

The war will drag on for many more years–draining billions of dollars and resulting in thousands of more causalities, both American and Iraqi, on top of the hundreds of thousands already killed, injured, and displaced–unless the people stand up and fight for change.

Friday evening presentation on the connections between
mountaintop removal, the coal rush, and climate change

FROM THE NEWSWIRE: Third annual Mountain Justice Summer Camp held May 20-28 amidst the rolling hills, large meadows, and expansive forests of northeast Tennessee.

Mountaintop Removal Activists Converge in East Tennessee

The third annual Mountain Justice Summer Camp was held May 20-28 at Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center amidst the rolling hills, large meadows, and expansive forests of northeast Tennessee. The camp brought together more than 120 people to kick off the third Mountain Justice Summer (MJS). MJS is a broad campaign to stop mountaintop removal and all forms of destructive surface coal mining in Central Appalachia.

Mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining is a destructive method used widely in Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, and southwestern Virginia. It is also referred to as strip mining, contour mining, steep slope strip mining, and even strip mining on steroids. MTR begins with clear cutting of some of the most diverse forest ecosystems in the United States and is followed by massive explosions. The crumbled mountain layers ("overburden") are shoved into valleys ("valley fills"), and the coal, which lies deep in horizontal seams through the mountains, is scooped up. This process often takes place just uphill from communities, where slopes keep mining hidden from public view.