Dick Gregory Heads Local DC Protest of British Petroleum Stalling on More Than 10,000 Compensation Claims

Handcuffed Art Rocker (center) and Dick Gregory (left) are led to a paddy wagon during a protest of the

BP Deepwater Horizon Disaster Victim Compensation Fund./Photo by Shevry Lassiter.

SHEVRY LASSITER AND SHANTELLA Y. SHERMAN-WI STAFF WRITERS

THURSDAY, 08 SEPTEMBER 2011

Comedian-activist Dick Gregory, along with a handful of protesters, recently demonstrated outside the Northwest offices of settlement attorney Ken Feinberg, accusing him of dragging his feet in resolving the more than 10,000 compensation claims brought by victims' families and survivors of the April 2010 British Petroleum (BP) Gulf Coast oil spill.

This is not the first time Feinberg has come under scrutiny for poor dissemination of victim funds. Feinberg, 65, said in an interview earlier this year that he was using the same eligibility process with oil spill claimants as he did with claims after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He said he received 15 claims from 9/11 victims about a year after the attacks saying they had developed lung or colon cancer from exposure to carcinogens in the World Trade Center. Feinberg took those claims to two scientists at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, who said it wasn't possible to develop cancer in that amount of time, so he rejected those claims.

In the Wake of 9/11: 33 of 50 States Are Actively Spying on Americans

Anthony Freda - "Liberty Groped"

Activist Post

The weekend of the 10th Anniversary of 9/11, has caused many to reflect on the event itself, as well as the decade that we have experienced since.  There have indeed been many casualties to recall.  One of the saddest casualties is the First Amendment to the nation's founding document; it is effectively dead in 33 states according to a  ACLU compilation of incident reports across America.  A targeted program of surveillance and harassment has become fully centered on the population itself.

This was first made evident in the 2009 MIAC report, which cited supporters of prominent political candidates like Ron Paul, as well as an assortment of other activists who support peace, freedom and liberty, as potential threats. Law enforcement has been directed to treat such "dangers" with suspicion and extreme caution.

The ACLU has compiled an interactive map of those states which have logged incidents of police harassment and surveillance of Americans engaging in other apparently un-American activities, namely: peaceful protest, photographing public servants while on duty, questioning American leadership and policy, recording one's surroundings while in public, and having certain religious or political affiliations that could apparently be tied to extremism.

Here are just a few examples among dozens of incident reports cited by the ACLU that show the range of First Amendment violations.

Former Congressman: ‘I Saw NATO Troops Behead Libyans’

Inset: Former U.S. Congressman Walter Fauntroy. Larger photo: AP
Photo, Gaia Anderson - Rebel fighters take control of a military
vehicle, centre, positioned to defend what used to be Gadhafi's 32nd
infantry regiment's base at Mardun, some 10 kilometers from the
outskirts of Ban Walid, Libya, Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2011. (Courtesy
Photo) 

Source: AFRO 

Former U.S. Congressman Walter Fauntroy, who recently returned from a self-sanctioned peace mission to Libya, said he went into hiding for about a month in Libya after witnessing horrifying events in Libya's bloody civil war -- a war that Fauntroy claims is backed by European forces.

Fauntroy's sudden disappearance prompted rumors and news reports that he had been killed.

In an interview inside his Northwest D.C. home last week, the noted civil rights leader, told the Afro that he watched French and Danish troops storm small villages late at night beheading, maiming and killing rebels and loyalists to show them who was in control.

"'What the hell' I'm thinking to myself. I'm getting out of here. So I went in hiding," Fauntroy said. The rebels told Fauntroy they had been told by the European forces to stay inside. According to Fauntroy, the European forces would tell the rebels, "'Look at what you did.' In other words, the French and Danish were ordering the bombings and killings, and giving credit to the rebels.

"The truth about all this will come out later," Fauntroy said.