The secretary of the Seattle/Cuba Friendship committee has beenaccused by the federal government of "organizing and promoting" aconference having to do with the sister city relationship between aprovince of Cuba and Seattle, says Tom Warner, head of the friendshipgroup. Warner says he, the head of the Church Council of GreaterSeattle and Dwight Pelz, King County Councilman, received lettersabout this at the same time. "Apparently what triggered it was a Bushattempt to prevent King County from becoming a sister region withGran'ma Province in Cuba--which they were successful at." The vote was7-6.

Warner says "I may have the dubious honor of being the first personwho has been attacked by the Bush administration for using theinternet to oppose the policies of the government. What I have beenaccused of is using the internet and the website of the Seattle/CubaFriendship Committee to 'organize and promote' a trip to Cuba withouta license. I regularly do publicize trips to Cuba, both licensed andunlicensed. I have had to engage attorneys on my behalf to representme in this matter."

Warner continues, "I am concerned that this assault on the freedom ofspeech and expression--especially through the internet--be stanchedbefore it chills people's free expression and their ability to respondto objectionable behavior by the government or other powers inauthority. Failure on my part to respond in a timely manner to theseaccusations can result in a penalty of thousands of dollars. As afirst step in fighting against this undemocratic act by the TreasuryDepartment, I would like... concerned citizens to publicize this attackon free speech." Warner's lawyer responded to the Treasury Departmentsaying, in part, "it is our position that people have the right inthis country even to urge others to travel to Cuba without a TreasuryDepartment license, notably, nothing on the Internet posting urgespeople to break the law in order to attend the conference.... There isno indication that someone posting information on an Internet websiteabout a conference in Cuba would expect that people reading thewebsite would not be eligible for a specific or general license,issued by the Treasury Department under one of these varioussections."

Supporters can contact Warner and the Seattle/Cuba FriendshipCommittee at 8923 2nd Ave. NE, Seattle, WA, 98115, (206) 523-1720,warner@scn.org, www.seattlecuba.org.

FCC Raids Berkeley Liberation Radio
On Dec. 11, 2002, agents of the Federal Communications Commisionconfiscated the broadcast equipment of Berkeley Liberation Radio 104.1FM. Using a little known legal tactic, the FCC acquired an arrestwarrant for the transmitting devices. "This is a free speech issue andthe FCC is trying to prevent us from exercising our First Amendmentright," said Bryan Smith (BPM Smith), a Berkeley Liberation Radio DJ. "If more people ran radio stations without their endorsement then theFCC would lose power. That makes them attack us but the FCC cannotgovern us and they cannot extort money from us by way of fines." Thestation has been on the air since the summer of 1999 providing musicand information to the San Francisco Bay Area. Operating without alicense, BLR has defied the media monopoly and federal government byexceeding the one tenth of a watt power limit imposed by the FCC. Byexercising our right to free speech guaranteed by the US Constitutionand the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights, we challenge theFCC's authority and demand that they return our community property.Beyond the confiscation itself, we question the timing of this act ofrepression, as the US government prepares for war. It cannot be ourmusic that the government fears, but our speech. The last thing agovernment bent on war wants is a vocal opposition, and the last thingwe can afford to lose is that - our voice. The only barrier to endlesswar is endless reason. We, the volunteers of BLR, vow to return to theairwaves, with the support of free speech lovers everywhere. We refuseto surrender our rights to any bureaucrats. Berkeley Liberation Radioexists to provide a voice for the diverse community within theBerkeley/Oakland area and beyond. Further, it is a vehicle...to bringabout social change. Consistent with a vision of creating analternative diverse hybrid society free of sexism, homophobia, racism,and all other forms of oppression, programming on Berkeley LiberationRadio will be reflective of those goals and ideals. For moreinformation write to ampb@global.california.com

Seattle's Radical Radio Voice
The radio waves are dominated by right-wing talk and news that isn't,but in Seattle you can tune in to Mike Webb, who broadcasts his "liveand local" talk show M-F from around 10pm to 1am weeknights on AM 710KIRO. Mike is against the war in Iraq, against the Patriot Act, theHomeland Security Act and more. He brings experts on to talk about theissues, takes calls from listeners and is an expert in popular music.Go to mikewebb.org to get his exact schedule.

The Washington Free Press
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