Anthony Sampson, Anatomist of Political Power, Dies at 78

Margalit Fox, New York Times

Anthony Sampson, a British investigative journalist who was Nelson Mandela's authorized biographer, died on Saturday at his home in Wiltshire, England. He was 78 and also resided in London. No cause of death was made public, but his wife, Sally, said that Mr. Sampson had had heart trouble in the past.

The author of more than 20 books on political and social issues, Mr. Sampson was concerned throughout his career with examining imbalances of political power, both in Britain and South Africa. He was a weekly columnist for The Independent of London; his most recent column, published the day he died, condemned what he saw as the threat to civil liberties posed by the expanded power of Britain's Home Office since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

'Fred Hampton Day' Declared by Chicago City Council

Monica Moorehead

Thirty-five years ago, on Dec. 4, 1969, Fred Hampton, deputy chair
of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party, was brutally
assassinated by members of the Chicago Police Department as he
lay sleeping. Hampton was only 21 years old.

Mark Clark, a member of the Black Panther Party's Peoria, Ill., chapter,

was also killed. Other Panther members were injured during these
shootings, including Hampton's companion, Akua Njeri, who was nine
months pregnant.

These cowardly killings were coordinated in conjunction with the FBI's
repressive Counter Intelligence Program (Cointelpro), which targeted
leaders of national liberation movements like the Panthers inside the
United States. Not one Chicago police officer was ever prosecuted
for this terrible crime.

Today Hampton's son, Fred Hampton Jr., champions the release of
U.S. political prisoners such as Mumia Abu-Jamal. Hampton is himself
a former political prisoner.

The Chicago City Council unanimously approved a resolution introduced
by former Alderwoman Marlene C. Carter commemorating Dec. 4, 2004, as
"Fred Hampton Day in Chicago."

The resolution reads in part: "Fred Hampton, who was only 21 years
old, made his mark in Chicago history not so much by his death as by
the heroic efforts of his life and by his goals of empowering the most
oppressed sector of Chicago's Black community, bringing people into
political life through participation in their own freedom fighting
organization."

Hampton was one of the most dynamic, inspiring freedom fighters
of any generation. One of his most notable quotes was, "You can
kill a revolutionary but you can never kill the revolution."

midwest unrest writes:

"Chicago Anarchists Want Transit Free-For-All"
Crane's Business Journal 

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) on Tuesday said that an “anarchist group” opposed to pending CTA service cuts issued a phony news release saying fares would be free Wednesday for all riders.

The email message, sent to several Chicago media, promised a “day of free transit” and offered a false, yet sincere, apology from CTA president Frank Kruesi about possible future service cuts.

Anonymous Comrade writes:

"Poll: Over 50% of Germans Equate Israeli Defense Force with Nazi
Army"
Etgar Lefkovits, Jerusalam Post"

Six decades after the mass extermination of six million Jews in the Holocaust by Nazi Germany, more than 50 percent of Germans believe that
Israel's present-day treatment of the Palestinians is similar to what the
Nazis did to the Jews during World War II, a German survey released this
weekend shows.