Sun

SUN

Our cover this issue commemorates the second anniversary of the Watergate break-in. Two years later, Nixon is still trying to shift attention from his obvious guilt, now using the ploy of a phony, temporary “peace” non-settlement in the Middle East, which came about only after Henry bribed several governments with massive “aid” and the gift of faulty nuclear power plants leaking radiation poison. The very day Nixon left the Mid-East fighting broke out again.

The media gimmick is clear: “Don’t come after me, Congress, or you’ll be messing with the ‘world peace’ I’ve single-handedly fashioned.” A vile. twisted “peace” which sustains a despotic, despised South Vietnamese government only with American dollars, keeping a hundred thousand political prisoners in cages, in clear violation of the much lauded Vietnam “peace settlement.” In TV-brainwash land, Nixon is molding consciousness to accept war as “peace,” and accept him as world savior, instead of the chief corporate/criminal syndicate front man and Waterbugger.

Impeachment, meanwhile, crawls on, apparently because the Judiciary Committee is striving to meticulously develop an airtight case that will pass the rigors of the reactionary Senate. The Committee will be releasing all their evidence on Nixon next week, including tape transcripts which vary from the White House version at key incriminating points. All the while Nixon’s henchmen continually act to stir up factionalism on the Committee to discredit it.

And as for those Nixonites who have been indicted and sentenced (see our centerfold for the full lineup), they’re all getting incredibly light prison minimum security terms. Egil Krogh, convicted for his role in the Ellsberg break-in, was sentenced to 6 months and is already out, having only served three! Hypocrisy is stripped stark naked when you consider the tens of thousands in jail for decades for the relatively minor, next to perverting an election, crime of stealing automobiles or cash register greenbacks out of economic desperation.

Closer to home, speaking of economics, the battle over the rapidly escalating out-of-sight utility rate increases continues. Bell Telephone, which is asking for its biggest rate hike ever (½ of it will admittedly go to increase profits for shareholders), is waging warfare on the State Public Service Commission, which has the power to grant or deny increases. The Bell monopoly has embarked on an “austerity” blackmail program of laying off workers and curtailing service to get what they want, or else. Consumers Power and Detroit Edison are also asking for whopping hikes; they claim they need more revenue to invest in more oil sources and nuclear power. Of course they never talk about the absurdity of continued reliance on oil, which is running out, the proven danger of their expensive nuclear generating program, and the easy availability of cheaper (thus less profitable) sources of energy. They never mention their incredible levels of waste and outrageous executive salaries ...utility corporations throughout the land are propagandizing in slicko magazine ads and on TV to obfuscate and hide the greatest robbery of all time.

Closer still, on a more positive note, the Ypsilanti City Council has voted to endorse the Michigan Marijuana Initiative, which has until July 8 to gain enough signatures to appear on the ballot. This doesn’t mean, however, that the whole council wants you to smoke weed – just that “it should be presented to the people for a vote”, which is a lot better than 1969, anyway...On a more sour note, the Ann Arbor Police have blatantly violated the new $5 marijuana law for the first time. It’s not clear, though, that this represents a total police subversion of the law, as the arrest of the woman on Ann Street is complicated by the fact she had an unauthorized gun in her possession... Still, like the cops say, a law is a law is a law, so why don’t they follow it uniformly and lay off the state version? In Detroit Recorder’s Court, Judge Justin Ravitz, once John Sinclair’s attorney, has threatened to arrest a police officer himself if the prosecutor’s office refuses to act on an incident involving the cop in clear brutality. In response, the Detroit Police Officer’s Association has threatened to stage a walkout if Ravitz goes ahead ...Washtenaw County is faced with a lawsuit against intolerable jail conditions, filed on behalf of the County Jail Inmates which, if it goes to court, will cost a huge bundle if the inmates win. So instead the County Commissioners have authorized $S,000 worth of temporary jail repairs, and have also decided to build a new confinement facility for $9 million dollars.

LOCAL HAPS: Catch some Poetry in the Park from now on every Saturday this summer, starting at 2 pm, with readings by local poets. If you want to schedule a reading call 769-1633... July 13th will bring the Co-ops Care Festival in West Park, featuring a pot-luck picnic, poetry, mime, folk singing, mystics, karate demonstration, square dancing and more. The festivities go from 2-9 – it’s to celebrate 150 years of Ann Arbor co-ops which jointly run and own large cooperative housing and other positive projects... Want to stare into deep space? The U-M Exhibit Museum Planetarium is now offering a three hour show, directed by audience participation, every Saturday and Sunday, beginning at 3 pm. It only seats 50, so get there early...A group of women has been meeting to form a Women’s Community Center, on which we’ll report more next issue...No word yet on the fate of Tribal Funding’s lawsuit to recover stolen People’s Ballroom and Community Center money from the Republican Council…The American Indian Movement is sponsoring a demonstration and rally on July 13 in Monroe, Mich., a community which helped boost boost General Custer’s career, and hosts a big statue in his memory...

MUSIC NEWS: The Grateful Dead/Eric Clapton outdoor concert scheduled for July 4th in Grover City, Ohio has been cancelled by a local judge, after 25,000 tickets had already been sold. The next two Zenta dances are June 30th, Sunday night, with the Mojo Boogie Band & Zoom, and then again Friday night, July 5th, with three sets from the Rockets. The Zenta services are held at Carpenter Hall in Ypsi...The price of 45 rpm records, list price that is, is going up from $.98 to $1.29...Luther Allison will play an upcoming free park concert...The concerts, by the way, are still facing a big deficit, so bring your spare change to Otis Spann for the bucket drive...

The journey into downtown Detroit is well worth it to hear Charles Mingus at the Rainbow Room in the Shelby Hotel this week. Next acts will be the Mojo Boogie Band, Luther Allison, Howlin’ Wolf, James Cotton and other greats... The opening of the Rainbow Room led the media to distort reality by heralding that John Sinclair had now “sold out” and become a capitalist. Nothing could be further from the truth. Find out yourself next issue, which will feature a probe of Sinclair’s recent activities...The SUN would like to apologize to all those offended by our back cover on David decadent Bowie last ish. We are highly critical of sleazy glitter music like Bowie’s, but are not at a point where we can afford to lose money by turning down ads, except those blatantly sexist or racist in character...The Blind Pig will host two great and relatively unknown Chicago blues artists. July 5th and 6th it’s Fenton Robinson in his first performance before anything but an all black audience. July 12-13 will bring Son Seals, who’s toured with Albert King, Sonny Boy Williamson and other geniuses... Due to lack of space, the Ellen Frank movie review doesn’t appear in this issue. Sorry folks!