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#OcupaLosPinos: Mexican protesters clash with riot police on the way to protest at President Enrique Peña Nieto’s residence
Yesterday (June 1) at the Tacubaya subway station in Mexico City, a group of police confronted about 100 protesters who were heading to occupy Los Pinos President Enrique Peña Nieto resides.
This occupation, according to local reports, was part of a civil disobedience movement formed by #MéxicoSOS in response to the last year’s presidential election.
Mexico has seen an increase in youth uprisings with the Yo Soy 132 movement, a growing student/teacher mobilization calling for accessible education & recent protests against media giant Televisa’s corrupt political ties & negative social influence.
Activists outside L.A. Times protest co-opting, capitalist Kochs
May 29, 2013
About 200 protesters rallied Wednesday outside the headquarters of the Los Angeles Times to protest a potential sale of the newspaper to the politically conservative Koch brothers.
The rally was one of a dozen nationwide at media properties owned by Tribune Co., which is considering selling The Times and seven other daily newspapers after emerging from bankruptcy late last year. Activists are seeking to pressure Tribune not to sell the papers to Charles and David Koch, billionaire siblings who fund a range of conservative causes.
Wednesday’s marked the third major protest in L.A. this month by unions, environmentalists, subscribers and others. As in earlier rallies, the protesters illuminated the truth about the Koch brothers – that they’re radical ideologues who would use the paper as a mouthpiece to advance their political objectives.
“Honest, credible journalism is the keystone of our democracy,” Kathay Feng, executive director of California Common Cause, told the crowd. “The Koch brothers have an agenda and they are willing to spend their billions of dollars on it.”
Protesters chanted and carried signs with slogans such as “Keep the L.A. Times out of the Kochs’ clutches.”
“Here’s the headline I want to see tomorrow in the L.A. Times – ‘L.A. to Koch Brothers: Drop Dead,’ ” said Sean McGrady, regional director of Greenpeace.
Other potential capitalists bidding for the propaganda resource include Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. as well as a group of wealthy Southern Californians headed by Austin Beutner, a former investment banker and ex-deputy mayor of Los Angeles.
The Courage Campaign, an activist group that spearheaded the rally, handed a box to Times security guards with what it said were signatures from almost 500,000 people nationwide opposing a sale to the Kochs. The group requested that the signatures be delivered to Times publisher Eddy Hartenstein.
Last week, about 100 activists gathered in Beverly Hills in a demonstration targeted at Bruce Karsh, Tribune chairman and co-founder of Oaktree Capital Management, a Los Angeles investment firm that is the largest single holder of Tribune stock. The protesters focused on Karsh because Oaktree manages pension investments on behalf of unionized government employees, including those in the California Public Employees’ Retirement System. Unions have opposed selling The Times to the Koch brothers, who unapologetically want to skew the paper’s coverage to favor anti-union objectives.
Koch Industries Inc., based in Wichita, Kan., is one of the nation’s largest privately owned businesses, with interests in energy, fertilizers and building products. The company is a major contributor to political groups that advocate less regulation, less safety and a wider disparity of wealth between the elite super-rich and the growing group of impoverished people in the world. The brothers have been prominent backers of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, whose high-profile battle with that state’s public-sector unions drew nationwide attention.
Photos are from several demonstrations against the Kochs’ purchasing of various aspects of our democracy.
Still more fatal is the crime of turning the producer into a mere particle of a machine, with less will and decision than his master of steel and iron. Man is being robbed not merely of the products of his labor, but of the power of free initiative, of originality, and the interest in, or desire for, the things he is making. Real wealth consists in things of utility and beauty, in things that help to create strong, beautiful bodies and surroundings inspiring to live in. But if man is doomed to wind cotton around a spool, or dig coal, or build roads for thirty years of his life, there can be no talk of wealth. What he gives to the world is only gray and hideous things, reflecting a dull and hideous existence,—too weak to live, too cowardly to die. Strange to say, there are people who extol this deadening method of centralized production as the proudest achievement of our age. They fail utterly to realize that if we are to continue in machine subserviency, our slavery is more complete than was our bondage to the King. They do not want to know that centralization is not only the death-knell of liberty, but also of health and beauty, of art and science, all these being impossible in a clock-like, mechanical atmosphere.
Emma Goldman (via sirloined)
(via criticallymisanthropic)
International Day of Action: March Against Monsanto
May, 25, 2013
Portland, Oregon
Maui, Hawaii
Washington, DC
Unknown march, PSL.org
Little Rock, Arkansas
San Francisco, California
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Washington, DC
Paris, France
Brisbane, Australia
Submit your photos of March Against Monsanto here.
Share the news: Our economy added 176,000 private-sector jobs last month, while unemployment dipped to its lowest rate since December 2008. http://at.wh.gov/kGdc9
Share the news - Barack Obama is a war criminal.
Share the news - poor people don’t know what you’re talking about, we’re still jobless or over-worked & underpaid and yes, poor.
Share the news - we want a private-sector DEATH. We want private-sector abolition!
Share the news - it was a really bad idea for the White House to get a Tumblr. You are not welcome here.
Share the news!
Why would you want to get rid of the private sector when that’s the sector that actually produces the majority of jobs and actually produces money rather than spends it?
Because of this silly little idea we value called democracy. Because in the private sector, driven not by the will of the public or the well-being of the people, but rather by the undemocratic profit-motive, terrible things happen.
A few examples from the last couple of weeks:
- Private fossil-fuels companies are able to literally high-jack our natural resources and destroy our air, water, and health without recourse. (Think Progress) If our productive sector was public, and not private (aka: capitalism was abolished), then we could vote at our workplaces to prevent these types of terrible decisions that are so bad for most of us but so good for just a few.
- Factory owners/capitalists are able to make unsafe decisions about work conditions, resulting in their over-worked, underpaid, exhausted, exploited wage-slaves dying by the hundreds as a direct result. (The Guardian)
- Media is purchased by corporate owners who prevent fair & honest coverage about the terrible decisions the ruling class makes for the public. (The Nation)
One of the many problems with a productive sector driven by competition, instead of democratic will, is that corporations eventually win those competitions. Competing businesses eat each other up, and then a few large corporations, led by a few capitalist oligarchs, purchase the democracy that their corporations exist in. So our private sector eats our public sector, we get 0 democracy, and the capitalist oligarchs get all the power, all the money, and everything they need to destroy everything that belongs to all of us.
Concentrating power in the hands of a few instead of the will of the many, is problematic. It leads to disaster. It leads to devastation. We HAVE to change the system. There isn’t another choice.
That’s why. Thanks for asking!
A few screenshots from some of the better portions of Richard Wolff’s q&a today on the Moyer’s & Company website (full-length record here).
Hungarians have protested by the thousands against proposed changes to their constitution that they believe will limit their democratic rights.
March 9, 2013
Opponents of the proposed constitutional changes say they fear they will curb citizens’ democratic rights. This led to two days of protests in Budapest, the first taking place on Thursday with dozens of protesters. On Saturday, thousands turned out to voice their concerns.
The parliament is to vote on the proposed amendments on Monday.
“A really worrying oppressive system is being built up here, like a dictatorship,” Milan Rozsa, a 25-year-old protester, told the AFP news agency.
Critics argue that the proposals seek to reinstate measures that Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government had previously introduced, but which were struck down by the country’s constitutional court in recent months.
They say the proposed changes would have restrictive implications for higher education, by requiring students who receive state grants to stay and work in Hungary after their studies.
Another provision would restrict election campaigning to state media, something critics say would damage Hungary’s democracy. Among the other proposals is a ban on sleeping on the streets.
The changes would also curb the powers of the constitutional court by rendering any of its decisions made before the current constitution came into force last year invalid.
International concern over the upcoming vote is growing.
The European Commission, the Council of Europe and human rights organizations have expressed concern over the upcoming vote.
In a phone call on Friday, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told Prime Minister Orban that his government and the parliament should address concerns “in accordance with EU democratic principles.”
Orban responded in writing to Barroso, pledging that Hungary would conform to the norms and rules of the European Union, but he failed to offer details.
The Council of Europe, the European institution responsible for defending human rights, also weighed in on the issue last week, urging Budapest to postpone the vote. The Hungarian government rejected the request.
Saturday’s protest was organized by various human rights organizations, including Amnesty International.
& check out that 99% sign in the background of the top picture! <3
Guinea protesters continue to clash with oppressive security forces
February 28, 2013
Guinea security forces fired live ammunition and tear gas at thousands of anti-government protesters in the seaside capital Conakry on Wednesday in clashes that wounded more than two dozen people, sources said.
The violence in the West African state is a result of soaring tensions ahead of a parliamentary election the opposition says is being rigged by the administration of President Alpha Conde.
“We don’t know how it started, but the security forces charged the crowd and fired tear gas,” said Ousmane Camara, a Conakry resident at the protest in the city’s Hamdallaye neighborhood, an opposition stronghold.
Another witness said security forces had wounded at least two people, including a child, with live rounds and were using truncheons to push back other demonstrators, who threw stones and chunks of concrete, and set fire to tires.
A security official told Reuters on condition of anonymity that 16 police and gendarmes had been admitted to hospital with wounds after the initial clashes. Sources said injuries among the protesters were likely higher.
It was unclear if there were any dead, and witnesses said demonstrations were ongoing.
Guinea’s opposition coalition had called for widespread protests in Conakry after announcing last week it would boycott preparations for long-delayed legislative polls, claiming the run up to the vote was flawed.
The election set for May 12 is intended to be the last step in Guinea’s transition to civilian rule after two years under a violent army junta following the death of long-time leader Lansana Conte in 2008.
President Alpha Conde won a 2010 presidential election in the world’s top supplier of bauxite, the raw material in aluminium, but delays in the legislative vote have deepened a political deadlock and led to intermittent violence.
The opposition says the elections commission chose the poll date unilaterally and that two companies contracted to update voter rolls have skewed the lists in Conde’s favor. They also want Guineans living abroad to be allowed to vote.
Thousands of people had participated in peaceful protests across Guinea last week in support of opposition demands. The parliamentary poll was originally due to be held in 2011 but has already been delayed four times.
Three Bahraini Shia protesters have died as the government continues to weaponize tear gas to extra-judicially kill opposition protesters.
Since February 14, which marked the 2nd anniversary of Bahrain’s pro-democracy movement, protesters have filled the streets of Bahraini cities. Police have tried to disperse rallies with teargas & firing guns into large crows.
Mahmood Al-Jazeeri, 20, was the third protester to be fatally injured when he was shot directly in the face by a teargas canister as close range. He was unarmed & died in the hospital on February 22. Sixteen-year-old Hussain Ali Ahmed Abrahim was also shot & killed by shotgun wounds on February 14. Another unnamed protester died the same day as a result of being hit with a teargas canister.
Pro-democracy protests around Bahrain have continued today.
(Source: bahrainrights.org)
On this week’s Moyers & Company, anti-capitalist economist Richard Wolff joins Bill to shine light on the disaster left behind in capitalism’s wake, and discusses how to battle for economic justice.
![Teenager dies during opposition protests in Bahrain on second anniversary of uprisingFebruary 14, 2013
Bahraini security forces have fired teargas, rubber bullets and birdshot at demonstrators hurling rocks and Molotov cocktails in street battles that left one teenager dead and dozens more people injured on the second anniversary of the country’s failed pro-democracy uprising.
The main opposition group, al-Wefaq, said 16-year-old Ali Ahmed Ibrahim Aljazeeri died from his injuries about an hour after being shot early in the morning in the village of Diya, near the capital Manama. “He was shot with three rounds from a birdshot gun and died of critical injuries to the upper body and lungs,” the group said. “Witnesses confirm he was posing no threat to any police officers at the time.”
Dozens of other people were also hurt in the violence, al-Wefaq said, some by teargas and others more seriously. It posted pictures online of some of the wounded, including a photograph of the dead youth with bandages on his stomach.
It accused the Bahraini authorities of deploying “large numbers of armoured vehicles, police cars and buses, convoys of military vehicles and troops … to face peaceful protests demanding freedom and democracy”.
Dozens of videos posted by activists showed groups of youths setting up roadblocks and barricades and hurling stones and firebombs at security forces, who responded with teargas.
Bahrain’s chief of public security, Major General Tariq Hassan al-Hassan, said in a statement that the death came after a group of some 300 rioters attacked police “with rocks, steel rods and Molotov cocktails. Warning shots were fired but failed to disperse the advancing crowd who continued their attack. Officers discharged birdshot to defend themselves.”
Hassan confirmed “at least one protester was injured” and “a short time later, a young man was pronounced dead at [the country’s main hospital] Salmaniya Medical Complex”. He warned the public not to try to “exploit the death for political purposes, or as an excuse to engage in criminal or riotous behaviour” and insisted most areas of the country were calm and traffic was flowing freely in Manama.
Bahrain has seen almost daily protests since the mass protests of 14 February 2011. Demonstrators want greater rights for the country’s Shia majority and an end to the absolute power of the ruling Sunni al-Khalifa dynasty, which picks all key government and military posts. Opposition demands for far-reaching reform include a constitutional monarchy and an elected prime minister to replace Prince Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, who has held the job since independence in 1971 and is an uncle of King Hamad. The government denies discrimination against Shias.
The violence could derail reconciliation talks that resumed last weekend between al-Wefaq and other, mostly Shia Muslim, opposition groups and Sunni envoys. Alistair Burt, the UK foreign office minister, said on Twitter it was “important everyone remains committed to the national consensus dialogue – it’s the only way to promote peace and stability in Bahrain”.
But one prominent activist, Ala’a Shehabi, said the protests showed the irrelevance of the government’s dialogue initiative. “The majority of Bahrainis really just want to live in basic dignity and freedom,” Shehabi, founder of the campaign group Bahrain Watch, told the Guardian. “They don’t believe the current royal family is willing to deliver that.”
Shehabi said the opposition was sceptical about the national consensus dialogue because no senior members of the government or royal family are involved. “To the youth on the street, the dialogue initiative is irrelevant. Even opposition members who have taken part stress the importance of the street protest movement. There is so much scepticism about the sincerity by the government over these talks that no one is really taking them seriously.”
An international inquiry said 35 people died during Bahrain’s uprising; the opposition puts the toll at more than 80.
Amnesty International has called for the Bahraini authorities to release political prisoners, lift restrictions on freedom of expression and prosecute security force members responsible for human rights abuses.
Its Middle East and North Africa deputy director, Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, said the government “cannot carry on imprisoning people simply because it can’t take criticism. It’s time that people detained simply for exercising their right to freedom of expression be released and for the harassment of other activists to desist.”
Source](http://24.media.tumblr.com/a78636c1994ab5f6e1e0e168c36d59a3/tumblr_mi8g6txeAi1r6m2leo1_500.jpg)
Teenager dies during opposition protests in Bahrain on second anniversary of uprising
February 14, 2013
Bahraini security forces have fired teargas, rubber bullets and birdshot at demonstrators hurling rocks and Molotov cocktails in street battles that left one teenager dead and dozens more people injured on the second anniversary of the country’s failed pro-democracy uprising.
The main opposition group, al-Wefaq, said 16-year-old Ali Ahmed Ibrahim Aljazeeri died from his injuries about an hour after being shot early in the morning in the village of Diya, near the capital Manama. “He was shot with three rounds from a birdshot gun and died of critical injuries to the upper body and lungs,” the group said. “Witnesses confirm he was posing no threat to any police officers at the time.”
Dozens of other people were also hurt in the violence, al-Wefaq said, some by teargas and others more seriously. It posted pictures online of some of the wounded, including a photograph of the dead youth with bandages on his stomach.
It accused the Bahraini authorities of deploying “large numbers of armoured vehicles, police cars and buses, convoys of military vehicles and troops … to face peaceful protests demanding freedom and democracy”.
Dozens of videos posted by activists showed groups of youths setting up roadblocks and barricades and hurling stones and firebombs at security forces, who responded with teargas.
Bahrain’s chief of public security, Major General Tariq Hassan al-Hassan, said in a statement that the death came after a group of some 300 rioters attacked police “with rocks, steel rods and Molotov cocktails. Warning shots were fired but failed to disperse the advancing crowd who continued their attack. Officers discharged birdshot to defend themselves.”
Hassan confirmed “at least one protester was injured” and “a short time later, a young man was pronounced dead at [the country’s main hospital] Salmaniya Medical Complex”. He warned the public not to try to “exploit the death for political purposes, or as an excuse to engage in criminal or riotous behaviour” and insisted most areas of the country were calm and traffic was flowing freely in Manama.
Bahrain has seen almost daily protests since the mass protests of 14 February 2011. Demonstrators want greater rights for the country’s Shia majority and an end to the absolute power of the ruling Sunni al-Khalifa dynasty, which picks all key government and military posts. Opposition demands for far-reaching reform include a constitutional monarchy and an elected prime minister to replace Prince Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, who has held the job since independence in 1971 and is an uncle of King Hamad. The government denies discrimination against Shias.
The violence could derail reconciliation talks that resumed last weekend between al-Wefaq and other, mostly Shia Muslim, opposition groups and Sunni envoys. Alistair Burt, the UK foreign office minister, said on Twitter it was “important everyone remains committed to the national consensus dialogue – it’s the only way to promote peace and stability in Bahrain”.
But one prominent activist, Ala’a Shehabi, said the protests showed the irrelevance of the government’s dialogue initiative. “The majority of Bahrainis really just want to live in basic dignity and freedom,” Shehabi, founder of the campaign group Bahrain Watch, told the Guardian. “They don’t believe the current royal family is willing to deliver that.”
Shehabi said the opposition was sceptical about the national consensus dialogue because no senior members of the government or royal family are involved. “To the youth on the street, the dialogue initiative is irrelevant. Even opposition members who have taken part stress the importance of the street protest movement. There is so much scepticism about the sincerity by the government over these talks that no one is really taking them seriously.”
An international inquiry said 35 people died during Bahrain’s uprising; the opposition puts the toll at more than 80.
Amnesty International has called for the Bahraini authorities to release political prisoners, lift restrictions on freedom of expression and prosecute security force members responsible for human rights abuses.
Its Middle East and North Africa deputy director, Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, said the government “cannot carry on imprisoning people simply because it can’t take criticism. It’s time that people detained simply for exercising their right to freedom of expression be released and for the harassment of other activists to desist.”
Egyptian protesters tear down barbed wire surrounding the presidential palace on night of February 11 as Cairo police get ready to deploy water cannons.
About 200 protesters also blocked a central subway station and main bridges near the presidential palace on Monday.
Demonstrations against President Mohamed Morsi have marked the second anniversary of the ongoing Egyptian revolution.
(Source: rightnow.io)
Our democracy is but a name. We vote? What does that mean? It means that we choose between two bodies of real, though not avowed, autocrats. We choose between Tweedledum and Tweedledee.… You ask for votes for women. What good can votes do when ten-elevenths of the land of Great Britain belongs to 200,000 and only one-eleventh to the rest of the 40,000,000? Have your men with their millions of votes freed themselves from this injustice?
Helen Keller in a letter published in the Manchester Advertiser (3 March 1911), quoted in Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States (1980) page 345.
Once poverty is gone, we’ll need to build museums to display its horrors to future generations. They’ll wonder why poverty continued so long in human society - how a few people could live in luxury while billions dwelt in misery, deprivation and despair.
Muhammad Yunus
(Source: thepeoplesrecord.com)
