Tuesday, July 6, 2004
By: TOM PFINGSTEN - For the North County Times
VISTA ---- With a noticeable lack of fireworks and fanfare, North County Forum held its third annual Alternative Independence Day and Activists Fair on Monday, providing a venue for peace and human rights groups to celebrate a nonmilitary-oriented Fourth of July holiday.
Vendors and representatives from many of North County's progressive activist groups were on hand, selling T-shirts and bumper stickers and handing out literature.
(snip)
In one of the church's rooms, organizers played political videos for the duration of the event, which started at 1 p.m. and continued into the evening, culminating with a talk by keynote speaker Chalmers Johnson, an outspoken critic of the Bush administration's foreign policy. A specialist in Asian politics, Johnson is a former UC professor and CIA analyst whose latest book, "The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy and the End of the Republic," was published this year.
Some of the activist groups represented at the Alternative Independence Day included the San Diego chapter of Veterans for Peace, the North County Coalition for Peace and Justice, and the human rights organization Amnesty International, which campaigns for the release of "prisoners of conscience" around the world.
More...
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/07/06/news/inland/7_5_0420_25_47.txt