From the Brooklyn Paper via Albany Project comes a disturbing piece of news: apparently, four New York City residents have been arrested in Beijing for protesting against the Chinese occupation of Tibet.

The Chinese, who are hoping that their efficient oversight of the Beijing Games will wipe away memories of Tiananmen Square, have arrested one of Williamsburg’s best-known multi-media artists after discovering that he planned to project a pro-Tibet message on a building in the Chinese capital.

Artist James Powderly has been in a Chinese jail since Aug. 19 — though the official charges are unknown.[...]

Though Powderly was apprehended alone, he traveled to Beijing to collaborate with five activists from the group Students for a Free Tibet — including Brooklynites Samantha Corbin, Jacob Blumenfeld, and Lauren Valle — who were arrested later that day after unfurling a light-up “Free Tibet” banner in front of the famed “Bird’s Nest” stadium, the student organization said.

The whereabouts of Powderly and his American compatriots remain unclear. A spokesman from Beijing’s Municipal Publicity Security Bureau refused to comment on Powderly’s arrest, according to the Associated Press.

Bad things happen to people who wind up in the jails of authoritarian regimes. Please act today to start bringing pressure on China to free its prisoners. Call China's representatives here in the United States, and the Department of State to act quickly to get our citizens released.

Chinese Embassy, Washington: (202) 328-2500
Chinese Consulate General, New York: (212) 244-9456
United States Department of State, Washington: (202) 647-4000  read more »

On March 5, 1946, in a speech in Fulton, MO, Winston Churchill stated, "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent."

Recently, with the passage of the FISA bill, an iron curtain is descending over America. Churchill went on to say, "The Communist parties ... are seeking everywhere to obtain totalitarian control." Clearly, the neo-Communist parties in America -- known as Republicans and Democrats -- are seeking to obtain totalitarian control over us.

The time has come to discuss a second American Revolution.

Freedom is not lost overnight. Freedom is peeled away, layer by layer. Freedom is dissipated, just slowly enough that most people don't notice the difference.

And freedom, once lost, is extremely difficult to regain. But it is entirely worth the price. We can hope that the price will not be paid in the blood of Americans, with a full-fledged Civil War. But if such a war is to be avoided, we must spread the word.  read more »