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By Aislinn Simpson Independent.ie Monday July 20, 2009 The doctor who attempted to revive legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix on the night he died has said it is "plausible" that he was murdered.  John Bannister, the on-call registrar at the now closed St Mary Abbots Hospital in Kensington, said in an interview that the patient seemed to have "drowned" in a large amount of red wine.The account fits with one given by James "Tappy" Wright, a 65-year-old former road manager who worked for Hendrix's manager Mike Jeffrey. Jimi Hendrix Wright has claimed in a new book that indebted Jeffrey had taken out a $2m (€1.4m) life-insurance policy on the star amid concerns about his increased drug-taking, and that he told him Hendrix was "worth more to him dead than alive". He alleges that Jeffrey confessed to him that he had ordered the killing a month before his death in a plane crash. The official version of Hendrix's death at the age of 27 is that he died from choking on vomit after a drugs overdose. Wright's version is that Hendrix was killed on the orders of Jeffrey by a gang who broke into his hotel room and forced wine and painkillers down his throat until he drowned. Mr Bannister, 67, said he had no idea who Hendrix was when he arrived early on the morning of September 18, 1970, but remembers being perplexed by his height. “He was hanging over the table we had him on by about ten inches,” he told The Times newspaper. He said he fought to resuciate him but there was no hope of survival. "We worked very hard for about half an hour but there was no response at all. It really was an exercise in futility,” he said. “Somebody said to me ‘You know who that was? That was Jimi Hendrix,’ and, of course, I said, ‘Who’s Jimi Hendrix?’” He said that Wright's description, in his memoir Rock Roadster, of Hendrix's demise "sounded plausible because of the volume of wine”. “The amount of wine that was over him was just extraordinary. Not only was it saturated right through his hair and shirt but his lungs and stomach were absolutely full of wine," he said. "I have never seen so much wine. We had a sucker that you put down into his trachea, the entrance to his lungs and to the whole of the back of his throat. “We kept sucking him out and it kept surging and surging. He had already vomited up masses of red wine and I would have thought there was half a bottle of wine in his hair. He had really drowned in a massive amount of red wine.” Bannister now lives in Sydney and worked as a doctor until 1992 when he was deregistered for fraudulent conduct. | ||||||||||
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 sadBy RINKER BUCK, The Hartford Courant Baltimore Sun July 19, 2009 Frank McCourt, the Irish-American storyteller who parlayed the miseries of a Limerick upbringing into an extraordinary late-life literary blooming, died of cancer Sunday in New York City.  McCourt, 78, had spent the past 13 years buoyantly touring the globe on reading tours and writing two sequels to his 1996 best-seller, "Angela's Ashes," which sold more than 5 million copies and was translated into more than 20 languages.He had been undergoing treatment for skin cancer in recent years and been released in early June from New York's Memorial Sloan Kettering Center to recuperate at his Roxbury home. Two weeks ago he was diagnosed with meningitis, a frequent complication of patients whose immune systems are compromised by cancer treatment, and McCourt was moved to a New York hospice where over the past few days family and friends from around the world had gathered at his bedside. During the past decade McCourt had become a familiar, popular figure and a kind of permanent cultural resource around Connecticut. In 1999 he spent $1.2 million of his "Angela's Ashes" proceeds on a converted, eight-room barn on Roxbury's Tophet Road, in the heart of the Litchfield County arts community, comfortably settling in and making friends with neighbors such as Bill and Rose Styron, Arthur Miller and Candace Bushnell. At Marty's Café in nearby Washington Depot, McCourt loved to dawdle over coffee and swap tales with friends, astonishing tourists who dropped in and saw the famous writer holding court. He considered his public speaking prowess inseparable from his role as a writer and accepted several invitations a year to appear at charitable fund-raisers and writing workshops at Connecticut's community college campuses. His name on the marquee of the Warner Theater in Torrington or Hartford's Bushnell guaranteed a sellout audience. ( >>Continue reading ) | ||||||||||
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 I have been collecting some good links on David Carradine today and putting them in my diary, but I would like to share them with you because I am tired of all the disrespectful things being said about him by people who dun know for sure what they are talking about or by people who have ulterior motives for being so blatantly vocal. Judging from the many, many comments by fans I have read about him, David's life and work had a profoundly positive effect on a lot of people the world over. I would like to offer these links in that spirit. The video is short but very good. The Bill in Kill Bill discusses death, comic books, and more. -- IGN.com 'I blow people's minds with my performances' -- AV Interview with David Parallax View: Interview - David Carradine -- parallax-view.org David's own website: The Official David Carradine Website And this short video where David talks about his life [YouTube video with a TinyUrl]: 'Interview with the Late David Carradine'   | ||||||||||
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 I am not much of a celebrity follower. There are, however, a few people whose performances I enjoy or whose lives I am interested in simply because they are good at what they do, which is to take us out of our sphere and put us into the middle of another one. When they pass from this life, I note it and re-animate my interest and then consign them to the other side. 'Tis one reason I post notable obituaries. It is a way of marking history, and I love history.When David Carradine passed, I noted it with sadness because I had watched shows wherein as a young man, he had been a romantic lead to a young Jill Ireland on 'Shane'. Many of you willna have seen that show, but my mum and grand mum were television buffs, and they watched and heard about all kinds of things that I became familiar with. My American cousins also introduced us to things that they enjoyed, just as they did with music. It is with much regret that I receive all the news and blog postings concerning David which attempt to desecrate his memory. I can understand that his family must be going crazy. 'Tis hard when a man who is a celebrity has had so many wives because they all have nasty tales to tell--the same ones they used in court in attempts to gain his money during messy divorces. Shame on them for stepping forward now and running their mouths in public about him. I personally dun care if he engaged in deadly sexual practices or not. That is his business. If he committed suicide, that is also his business. It is also for the coroner to inform his family, not for everyone and his dog to speak with such misguided certainty. Allow the family some privacy. Do I believe that the first death photo published in Thailand was David? No. Is David's hair black? Did that look like a luxury hotel suite to you? I dun think so. If it is him, then whoever posted it should grow a brain. Is it David on the autopsy table in the other picture? Yes, most likely. Did the world need that posted before his family ever even received his body? Definitely not. Who gains from this grusomeness? Do I think David could have been murdered in a set up? Yes, I think it is very possible. But whatever has happened, when a man dies, celebrate his spirit. Speak the truth but do not be insensitive to loved ones. They are having a hard enough time with their grief. | ||||||||||
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**Every day I have need to call upon St Anthony for help when I lose things, which I do constantly. As soon as I ask this blessed saint to help me, the article I was unable to find previously becomes visible. It happens every time. You dun have to believe me, because I know many of you are sceptical. I know that if St Anthony cares enough about me to help me find my lost keys, then he is my special saint to also ask for bigger help, and this I do. I ask him to watch over certain of my loved ones and to make sure they stay safe. He always comes through for me. This is not to say he is a god, for those of you not familiar with Catholic theology, but to illustrate that God's power works through St Anthony. If anyone is interested in Catholic stuff, I have another journal I have kept for years, and I will be happy to show it to you. :) St Anthony Shrine  Nearly everywhere St. Anthony is asked to intercede with God for the return of things lost or stolen. Those who feel very familiar with him may pray, “Tony, Tony, turn around. Something’s lost and must be found.”The reason for invoking St. Anthony’s help in finding lost or stolen things is traced back to an incident in his own life. As the story goes, Anthony had a book of psalms that was very important to him. Besides the value of any book before the invention of printing, the psalter had the notes and comments he had made to use in teaching students in his Franciscan Order. A novice who had already grown tired of living religious life decided to depart the community. Besides going AWOL he also took Anthony’s psalter! Upon realizing his psalter was missing, Anthony prayed it would be found or returned to him. And after his prayer the thieving novice was moved to return the psalter to Anthony and to return to the Order, which accepted him back. Legend has embroidered this story a bit. It has the novice stopped in his flight by a horrible devil, brandishing an ax and threatening to trample him underfoot if he did not immediately return the book. Obviously a devil would hardly command anyone to do something good. But the core of the story would seem to be true. And the stolen book is said to be preserved in the Franciscan friary in Bologna. In any event, shortly after his death people began praying through Anthony to find or recover lost and stolen articles. And the Responsory of St. Anthony composed by his contemporary, Julian of Spires, O.F.M., proclaims, “The sea obeys and fetters break...And lifeless limbs thou dost restore...While treasures lost are found again...When young or old thine aid implore.” St. Anthony and the Child Jesus St. Anthony has been pictured by artists and sculptors in all kinds of ways. He is depicted with a book in his hands, with a lily or torch. He has been painted preaching to fish, holding a monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament in front of a mule or preaching in the public square or from a nut tree.  But since the 17th century we most often find the saint shown with the child Jesus in his arm or even with the child standing on a book the saint holds. A story about St. Anthony related in the complete edition of Butler’s Lives of the Saints (edited, revised and supplemented by Herbert Anthony Thurston, S.J., and Donald Attwater) projects back into the past a visit of Anthony to the Lord of Chatenauneuf. Anthony was praying far into the night when suddenly the room was filled with light more brilliant than the sun. Jesus then appeared to St. Anthony under the form of a little child. Chatenauneuf, attracted by the brilliant light that filled his house, was drawn to witness the vision but promised to tell no one of it until after St. Anthony’s death.Some may see a similarity and connection between this story and the story in the life of St. Francis when he reenacted at Greccio the story of Jesus, and the Christ Child became alive in his arms. There are other accounts of appearances of the child Jesus to Francis and some companions. These stories link Anthony with Francis in a sense of wonder and awe concerning the mystery of Christ’s incarnation. They speak of a fascination with the humility and vulnerability of Christ who emptied himself to become one like us in all things except sin. For Anthony, like Francis, poverty was a way of imitating Jesus who was born in a stable and would have no place to lay his head. Patron of Sailors, Travelers and Fishermen In Portugal, Italy, France and Spain, St. Anthony is the patron saint of sailors and fishermen. According to some biographers his statue is sometimes placed in a shrine on the ship’s mast. And the sailors sometimes scold him if he doesn’t respond quickly enough to their prayers. Not only those who travel the seas but also other travelers and vacationers pray that they may be kept safe because of Anthony’s intercession. Several stories and legends may account for associating the saint with travelers and sailors. First, there is the very real fact of Anthony’s own travels in preaching the gospel, particularly his journey and mission to preach the gospel in Morocco, a mission cut short by severe illness. But after his recovery and return to Europe, he was a man always on the go, heralding the Good News. There is also a story of two Franciscan sisters who wished to make a pilgrimage to a shrine of our Lady but did not know the way. A young man is supposed to have volunteered to guide them. Upon their return from the pilgrimage one of the sisters announced that it was her patron saint, Anthony, who had guided them. Still another story says that in 1647 Father Erastius Villani of Padua was returning by ship to Italy from Amsterdam. The ship with its crew and passengers was caught in a violent storm. All seemed doomed. Father Erastius encouraged everyone to pray to St. Anthony. Then he threw some pieces of cloth that had touched a relic of St. Anthony into the heaving seas. At once, the storm ended, the winds stopped and the sea became calm. Teacher, Preacher, Doctor of the Scriptures Among the Franciscans themselves and in the liturgy of his feast, St. Anthony is celebrated as a teacher and preacher extraordinaire. He was the first teacher in the Franciscan Order, given the special approval and blessing of St. Francis to instruct his brother Franciscans. His effectiveness as a preacher calling people back to the faith resulted in the title “Hammer of Heretics.” Just as important were his peacemaking and calls for justice. In canonizing Anthony in 1232, Pope Gregory IX spoke of him as the “Ark of the Testament” and the “Repository of Holy Scripture.” That explains why St. Anthony is frequently pictured with a burning light or a book of the Scriptures in his hands. In 1946 Pope Pius XII officially declared Anthony a Doctor of the Universal Church. It is in Anthony“s love of the word of God and his prayerful efforts to understand and apply it to the situations of everyday life that the Church especially wants us to imitate St. Anthony. While noting in the prayer of his feast Anthony’s effectiveness as an intercessor, the Church wants us to learn from Anthony, the teacher, the meaning of true wisdom and what it means to become like Jesus, who humbled and emptied himself for our sakes and went about doing good. Franciscan Father Norman Perry (1929-1999) served as editor-in-chief of 'St. Anthony Messenger' magazine for 18 years. He was the anonymous friar behind the publication’s popular “Wise Man” column for the 32 years he served on the magazine staff. This excerpt is from the book Saint Anthony of Padua: The Story of His Life and Popular Devotions, which was published in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of 'St. Anthony Messenger.' “The sea obeys and fetters break And lifeless limbs thou dost restore While treasures lost are found again When young or old thine aid implore.” —Responsory of St. Anthony | ||||||||||
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San Francisco Chronicle 04 February 2009  Patricia Campbell Hearst, heiress of the Hearst media empire, was unknown to the public as a sophomore at Berkeley. That changed the night of Feb. 4, 1974, when members of the Symbionese Liberation Army kidnapped her from her Berkeley apartment. The abduction launched what was then one of the most intensive searches in FBI history. Americans would follow the case with fascination and horror a saga that entailed letters and audio tapes sent to the media, Hearst joining the SLA, a fatal bank robbery and a nationally televised shootout in Los Angeles.  *Was she brainwashed or a willing accomplice? Click through the images and read the related story to see the 19 1/2-month odyssey of Patty Hearst and the demise of a violent group of radicals. (Hearst owned the Examiner at the time of the abduction. It now owns the Chronicle and SFGate). | ||||||||||
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Mood:
 calmThe Scotsman 31 January 2009 IT WAS a second home for one of the greats of 20th-century literature but, due to its frosty diplomatic relations with the United States, Ernest Hemingway's time in Cuba has remained something of a mystery. But now, in a rare break in the long-standing international feud, copies of a mostly unseen archive of Hemingway's years in Cuba, including thousands of letters, notes and other documents, have been sent to the US.  The documents, which have been delivered to the John F Kennedy Library in Massachusetts, include a tantalising, abandoned epilogue to For Whom the Bell Tolls, revealing whether Robert Jordan's warning message to a Spanish general ever got through.Ernest Hemingway (Photo) There are several pages discarded from the final manuscript, and a letter Hemingway wrote to the Casablanca actress Ingrid Bergman, telling her how he hoped she would get the part of Maria (she did). The papers provide extraordinary insight into Hemingway's years in Cuba. They run from notes to his Spanish cook and instructions on how he liked his carrots boiled to intimate letters to his fourth wife, Mary. The papers were long hidden away in the basement of Hemingway's estate at Finca Vigia, Cuba. "It's a wonderful treasure trove and it's wonderful it will be available," said Professor Sandra Spanier, editor of the Hemingway Letters Project at Pennsylvania State University. "There has never really been a biographer who had access to the materials of Hemingway's life in Cuba. "That was a third of his life, a half of his writing life, and this is tremendously important." The materials include corrected proofs of The Old Man and the Sea, a film script based on the novel and correspondence from fellow authors Sinclair Lewis and John Dos Passos. "There are letters among these documents that have been in Cuba since 1961," Prof Spanier added. "It is tremendously intriguing and exciting. This will enable us to fill in the picture of his correspondence."  Hemingway's Cuban estate, Finca Vigia The Kennedy library deal was agreed between the Cuban government and US Congressman James McGovern, who is respected in the island for his prolonged campaign to lift American sanctions and ease relations. The papers will begin to be available to researchers in the spring. "It's a turning point toward a more rational, mature relationship between our two countries," Mr McGovern said. "I think Hemingway can be the bridge to help move both sides to a point where we can have a good, solid relationship." The papers include a letter to Hemingway's third wife, the legendary war correspondent Martha Gellhorn, which he wrote and never sent. There are pieces of letters that he cut out with scissors and curiosities such as a letter he wrote in Spanish to the family cook, ostensibly from fourth wife Mary – who spoke no Spanish – saying: "If you have any questions, ask me and don't bother my husband." Others specify what salads would be served on which day of the week to the Nobel Prize winner. There are also love letters written to Mary, also a reporter, in 1944, while Hemingway was still married to Gellhorn. However, the archive also features documents which make it clear Hemingway's Cuba was not all mojitos and marlin fishing. "A letter to Mary in 1953 outlines all the troubles of their marriage, lamenting how she has become so scalding," said Prof Spanier. "It is a document of a marriage in disintegration. "He wrote on it, 'Please read this and return to me'. There are these very intimate glimpses." The JFK Library already has an extensive collection of Hemingway material – 100,000 pages of writings and 10,000 photographs, paintings and personal objects such as his passports, flasks and wallet – thanks to a connection between the writer's wife Mary and the Kennedys. Where more than the writer's soul was left behind ERNEST Hemingway lived in Cuba for 21 years, half his writing life, at the famous Finca Vigia outside Havana from 1939 until 1960, where For Whom The Bell Tolls was partly written. He left the island in the summer of 1960 to follow bull-fights in Spain. When his health failed, he moved to the US for treatment at the Mayo Clinic. After the Bay of Pigs incident, in which the CIA tried to launch a counter-revolution in Cuba, it became clear Hemingway could not return. In July 1961, he shot himself at his home in Ketchum, Idaho. Mary Hemingway, his fourth wife and widow, then returned to the island. She was allowed to collect much of his archive, putting 200lb of papers on board a shrimp boat bound for Tampa, Florida. They included the posthumously published manuscript of A Moveable Feast. From the mid-1990s, American scholars became concerned over what remained in Cuba, and the effect the humid climate could have on it, without knowing exactly what remained there. The turning point came in 2001 when Jenny Phillips, granddaughter of Max Perkins, Hemingway's editor, visited the Finca. She learned there were letters in the basement from her grandfather, and negotiations to conserve and copy them began. | ||||||||||
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By Brenda Norrell narcosphere January 22, 2009  CANAAN, Penn. -- Leonard Peltier was jumped and severely beaten by a gang after being transferred from a prison in Lewisburg to Canaan on January 13. The family, however, was not notified by the prison and received the information by way of a letter from Peltier. Peltier, 64, was placed in solitary confinement. "Once Mr. Peltier arrived at the Canaan prison facility, he was jumped by younger inmates, severely beaten, put in solitary confinement and placed upon meal restrictions despite his having diabetes and other medical conditions," the Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee said in a statement. "The family has requested copies of the video tapes of that incident to no avail. It is as if the whole scenario was contrived to detract from the fact that Mr. Peltier has been a model prisoner having more than enough points to qualify for parole," LPDOC said. Peltier called his neice, Kari Ann Cowan, from the prison on Jan. 22. During the live online NAMAPAHH Blog Talk Radio hosted by Robin Carneen, Cowan relayed the information. It was Peltier's first phone call since the transfer and prison beating. During the call, Peltier said he will not be allowed "out of the hole" and in the general population. Peltier said Canaan is a tough place, where gangs are being brought in. "He is one of the oldest ones there," Cowan said. "He will not be allowed back in the general population or he will be jumped." Cowan said the FBI did tell Peltier that he was the victim in the attack, which she said was filmed on camera. Peltier said he was set up in the attack. "It was a cold blooded setup," Cowan said. She said he did not know his attackers. "He has never seen his attackers before." Peltier said he will be allowed only one phone call every 30 days. Cowan said she is hopeful that President Obama will work "nation to nation" with the Turtle Mountain Chippewas to bring Peltier home to North Dakota. "We have to push for his transfer, he is not safe there." During the NAMAPAHH Radio program tonight, Peltier's attorney was called by the prison. The prison will not allow his attorney to speak to him tomorrow. "It is outrageous," said attorney Michael Kuzma of Buffalo, N.Y, concerning the co-counsel the prison has denied entry to speak with Peltier. "What are they hiding?" Kuzma said they have hidden documents before, but not Leonard. "Now they are hiding Leonard Peltier." Earlier, the report of the beating came by way of a letter from Peltier. "Once Mr. Peltier arrived at the Canaan prison facility, he was jumped by younger inmates, severely beaten, put in solitary confinement and placed upon meal restrictions despite his having diabetes and other medical conditions," the Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee said in a statement ."The family has requested copies of the video tapes of that incident to no avail. It is as if the whole scenario was contrived to detract from the fact that Mr. Peltier has been a model prisoner having more than enough points to qualify for parole," LPDOC said. Recently, the amount of hate mail circulated on the Internet regarding Peltier and appeals for his release has increased and could have played a role in the attack on Peltier. The LPDOC said, "Retired, former and actively employed FBI agents have taken action against the release and parole of Leonard Peltier time and again. While it is their right to speak their opinion, it is not right to do so on federal time and at the taxpayer's expense. Their letters, writings, articles, books, protests, outcries and interviews concerning Mr. Peltier are a conflict of interest and tip the scales against him unfairly. In addition, it is certainly questionable as to the timing of a letter written by a former FBI Agent to Representative John Conyers and the beating Mr. Peltier received at Canaan." The LPDOC said the attack on Peltier comes on the heels of the FBI's recent letter, prompting this attack by FBI supporters as an attempt to discredit Peltier as a model prisoner. "Anyone who has been in the prison system knows well that if you refuse to name your attackers or file charges against them, then you lose your status as a victim and/or given points against your possible parole and labeled as a perpetrator. It is not uncommon, in fact is quite common for the government to use Indian against Indian and they still operate under the old adage "it takes an Indian to catch an Indian," LPDOC said. In 1978, the US government made an attempt to assassinate Peltier, offering another Indian inmate at Marion prison with Leonard Peltier a chance at freedom. The man was Standing Deer. Standing Deer befriended Peltier in prison and exposed the plot to assassinate him. Standing Deer was murdered in Houston after his release from prison. LPDOC said, "Standing Deer chose to reveal the plot to Leonard instead of taking his life in exchange for a chance at freedom. When Standing Deer was released in 2001, he joined the former Leonard Peltier Defense Committee as a board member. He also began to speak on Leonard's behalf until his murder six years ago today. Prior to his murder, Standing Deer confided with close friends and associates that the same man who visited him in Marion to assassinate Peltier, had come to Houston and told him that he had better stay away from Peltier and anything to do with him," the LDPOC said. (An interview with Ben Carnes on Standing Deer and Peltier can be heard at Censored News Blog Radio or at Earthcycles on Longest Walk.) As of December, Peltier is eligible for a full parole hearing. The hearing will likely occur this year, but no date has been announced. Micheal Kuzma, an attorney for Leonard Peltier's defense, described the attack on Peltier in prison during an interview with American Indian Airwaves on Wednesday, Jan. 21. Kuzma said Peltier's sister Betty Peltier-Solano, executive coordinator of the Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee, received a letter from Peltier, but was never notified by prison officials of the attack. Peltier was transferred from Lewisburg to Canaan prison during the week of Jan. 12th and attacked on the 13th, by other inmates. Kuzma said, "According to the letter, he thinks he might have a concussion. His middle finger on his left hand is either broken or badly injured. He has a large bump near his right wrist. The right side of his rib cage and chest are in pain. He also has a bruise on the right side of his chest. He also has a bruise on his left knee, and is suffering from headaches. These headaches are a direct result of the Jan. 13 beating." Listen to Robin Carneen's NAMAPAHH First People's Radio on Blog Talk Radio: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/NAMAPAHH_Ra Listen to American Indian Airwaves (last 20 minutes of program) on Jan. 21 at: http://archive.kpfk.org/parchive/xml/ame AIM West plans a protest in solidarity with Peltier to draw attention to the attack and call for his release on Friday in San Francisco. http://www.aimwest.info/ For more information: LPDOC: http://www.whoisleonardpeltier.info/ Updates at Censored News: http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com ---------------------------------------- President Obama must free Leonard Peltier By Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman freepress.org January 23, 2009 The welcome news that President Obama is taking steps to shut Guantanamo and right other Bush-era human rights abuses must quickly be joined by a proclamation of freedom for Leonard Peltier. Peltier is the nation's best-known native activist and has become a global symbol of abject injustice and prison abuse. Imprisoned in the late 1970s for allegedly murdering two FBI agents, Peltier has never been given a fair trial. Federal authorities have quashed or destroyed thousands of pages of evidence that might have freed Peltier decades ago. The Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee points out that "Amnesty International considers Leonard Peltier to be a political prisoner whose avenues of redress have long been exhausted. ... Amnesty International recognizes that a retrial is no longer a feasible option and believes that Leonard Peltier should be immediately and unconditionally released." The committee adds that "Documents show that although the prosecution and government pointed the finger at Peltier for shooting FBI agents at close range during the trial in 1976, for three years the prosecution withheld critical ballistic test results proving that the fatal bullets could not have come from the gun tied to Leonard Peltier. This trial also denied evidence of self defense." The committee further states that: "the U.S. Prosecutor, during subsequent oral arguments, stated: "we can't prove who shot those agents." And that the Eighth Circuit found that "There is a possibility that the jury would have acquitted Leonard Peltier had the records and data improperly withheld from the defense been available to them in order to better exploit and reinforce the inconsistencies casting strong doubts upon the government's case." The committee also says that "Judge Heaney, who authored the denial, now supports Mr. Peltier's release, stating that the FBI used improper tactics to gain Mr. Peltier's conviction." Now 64 years old, Peltier is suffering from diabetes and a series of other serious ailments brought on by his decades in prison. He has great grandchildren he has never seen. His case is the centerpiece of the book IN THE SPIRIT OF CRAZY HORSE by Peter Matthiessen. Reports from Betty Peltier-Solano, Leonard's sister, now assert that Peltier was severely beaten during a recent transfer to the Canaan Federal Penitentiary. According to Peltier-Solano, he has been held in solitary confinement and limited to a single meal a day, a serious threat to his health due to his diabetes. Over the decades, Peltier has been a model prisoner, concentrating on his art and writing. His commitment to Native American rights has been consistent throughout the years, though he's been repeatedly denied media access. Peltier is eligible for parole in the near future. His supporters fear this latest round of abuse may be designed to discredit him. The FBI recently sent a letter accusing Peltier of prompting this latest attack. Given Peltier's age, poor health, imminent parole status and long-standing political commitments, this can be viewed as a calculated absurdity. His sister writes that "currently, the FBI is actively seeking support for his continued imprisonment." The political involvement of the FBI is itself an issue the President must address. At very least Peltier should be freed on bail pending a new trial, with a concerted effort on the part of the new Department of Justice to unearth all suppressed evidence in this case. Leonard Peltier has languished unjustly in prison far longer than those held in Guantanamo. It is time to set him free! To find out more, contact the Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee at http://www.whoisleonardpeltier.info. -- Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman have co-authored four books on election protection, which appear at http://freepress.org, along with Bob's FITRAKIS FILES. Harvey's HISTORY OF THE U.S. is at http://harveywasserman.com. This article was originally published by http://freepress.org. | ||||||||||
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