The People's Record

An ongoing chronicle of communities of resistance around the world: anti-racism, anti-zionism, anti-imperialism, the Arab Spring, anti-austerity protests in Greece and across Europe, student movements all around the world, the Occupy Movement, anti-capitalist movements, anarchist movements, socialist movements, leftist communities and other relevant international news.

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The French left hold socialist President Hollande accountable, march through Paris to protest his selling out & becoming an austerity puppet for capitalists Brussels & Berlin
May 6, 2013

At least tens of thousands of far-left protesters have marched through Paris, to vent their anger over economic austerity. Sunday’s demonstration came on the eve of the first anniversary of Francois Hollande’s election as French President.

The crowd were fired up by far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon. “We don’t want the financial sector in power,” he told the crowds.“We do not accept austerity policies that usher in endless suffering for our people, like all others in Europe.”

The protest highlighted fierce opposition on the left to the Socialist president’s market-friendly reforms.- and the loosening of labor rules which makes hiring and firing slightly easier.

“A number of economists, whose thoughts are well regarded, have recently said that this policy of austerity is driving us into the wall. The people of the world are getting poorer and poorer,” said one demonstrator.

France is on the edge of recession and unemployment is at an all time high. Hollande has suffered the sharpest fall in popularity of any president in more than half a century.

Source

The protesters held brooms to symbolize the need to clean the government of it’s dependence on the capitalist financial sector.

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The film TOGETHER available to watch free online!

October 29, 2012

The documentary “TOGETHER -  how cooperatives show resilience to the crisis” is officially launched and you can watch the full version in English and French here!

The film shows the resilience of cooperatives to the crisis through testimonies of staff of four European cooperative stories located in France, Poland, Italy and Spain. CECOP-CECOP Europe is producing also both Italian and Spanish versions that will be available by the end of October.

The examples filmed include a mineral water factory in Poland founded more than 60 years ago (Muszynianka), a French company in crisis acquired by its workers and transformed into a worker cooperative (Fonderie de l’Aisne), a consortium of social cooperatives in Milan providing labor inclusion to disadvantaged people and social services to thousands of citizens (Consorzio SIS) and an industrial cooperative group which is one of Spain’s largest business groups (MONDRAGON Corporation). 

Source

For more about the growing movement to build cooperatives to confront capitalism in crisis, read our write up about Red Emma’s in Baltimore and our write up about Democracy at Work based out of New York. 

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80,000 Parisians rally over austerity measuresSeptember 30, 2012 Thousands of people have taken to the streets in the French capital Paris to express their outrage at the European Union’s fiscal pact and government’s plans for further spending cuts. More than 80,000 protesters marched through central Paris on Sunday, chanting slogans against imposed austerity and belt-tightening policies. The demonstration comes before the French parliament’s debate this week on a European fiscal treaty. The treaty will help the establishment of European Stability Mechanism bailout fund. European leaders expect the fund to appease the on-going Eurozone sovereign debt crisis, which has shaken financial markets both within and outside the monetary union. France’s main conservative opposition party and most Socialist lawmakers support the treaty. Far-left parties, the Greens and some dissident Socialists, however, oppose it. Socialist President Francois Hollande — who was elected in the spring — suffers a great deal of political pressure and his popularity has been declining according to recent surveys. Source

80,000 Parisians rally over austerity measures
September 30, 2012

Thousands of people have taken to the streets in the French capital Paris to express their outrage at the European Union’s fiscal pact and government’s plans for further spending cuts.

More than 80,000 protesters marched through central Paris on Sunday, chanting slogans against imposed austerity and belt-tightening policies. 

The demonstration comes before the French parliament’s debate this week on a European fiscal treaty. 

The treaty will help the establishment of European Stability Mechanism bailout fund. 

European leaders expect the fund to appease the on-going Eurozone sovereign debt crisis, which has shaken financial markets both within and outside the monetary union.

France’s main conservative opposition party and most Socialist lawmakers support the treaty. Far-left parties, the Greens and some dissident Socialists, however, oppose it. 

Socialist President Francois Hollande — who was elected in the spring — suffers a great deal of political pressure and his popularity has been declining according to recent surveys.

Source

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An investigation into the potential poisoning of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat may become reality September 5, 2012 Palestinians on Wednesday welcomed news that a delegation of French judges investigating suspicions that Yasser Arafat was poisoned may travel to the West Bank. “We welcome the visit of the French committee that was formed to look into the late president Arafat’s death,” a statement from Tawfiq Tirawi, head of the Palestinian committee investigating the circumstances of the veteran leader’s death in November 2004, said. His remarks came just hours after Arafat’s widow Suha said three investigative magistrates were making plans to travel to Ramallah following claims the late leader may have succumbed to poisoning by the radioactive substance polonium. No date has been given for the trip which would involve forensic officers exhuming the body and taking samples for laboratory testing, she said in a statement released by her lawyer. Source

An investigation into the potential poisoning of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat may become reality

September 5, 2012

Palestinians on Wednesday welcomed news that a delegation of French judges investigating suspicions that Yasser Arafat was poisoned may travel to the West Bank.

“We welcome the visit of the French committee that was formed to look into the late president Arafat’s death,” a statement from Tawfiq Tirawi, head of the Palestinian committee investigating the circumstances of the veteran leader’s death in November 2004, said.

His remarks came just hours after Arafat’s widow Suha said three investigative magistrates were making plans to travel to Ramallah following claims the late leader may have succumbed to poisoning by the radioactive substance polonium.

No date has been given for the trip which would involve forensic officers exhuming the body and taking samples for laboratory testing, she said in a statement released by her lawyer.

Source

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Anonymous attacks shirt chain over trademark claim August 5, 2012 A French T-shirt maker said on Saturday he would relinquish his claim to the trademark of the Anonymous logo and slogan after the international hacking group attacked his online business. Apollinaire Auffret, who manages the Early Flicker T-shirt firm, drew the ire of Anonymous after he filed a trademark claim with France’s National Institute of Industrial Property to use the notorious group’s visual tags in various forms, including on clothing, bags or dishes. The Anonymous logo features a suited figure with a question mark instead of a head. Though the application was filed 16 February, it was only made public this week in a story in the Parisien newspaper. Immediately after, Anonymous posted a grainy video on YouTube in which a synthesised voice says Anonymous will attack Early Flicker’s online presence. “Their arrogance and ignorance of what they have done will not go unpunished,” intones the voice, as a masked person holds a statement. “Anonymous will take down any business they have going on the internet.” Auffret told AFP on Saturday that he had been in contact with someone from Anonymous and resolved the dispute by pledging to relinquish his claim to the logo and slogan. Source Anonymous is the last group on earth I would try to exploit for profit. Seriously.

Anonymous attacks shirt chain over trademark claim

August 5, 2012

A French T-shirt maker said on Saturday he would relinquish his claim to the trademark of the Anonymous logo and slogan after the international hacking group attacked his online business.

Apollinaire Auffret, who manages the Early Flicker T-shirt firm, drew the ire of Anonymous after he filed a trademark claim with France’s National Institute of Industrial Property to use the notorious group’s visual tags in various forms, including on clothing, bags or dishes.

The Anonymous logo features a suited figure with a question mark instead of a head.

Though the application was filed 16 February, it was only made public this week in a story in the Parisien newspaper.

Immediately after, Anonymous posted a grainy video on YouTube in which a synthesised voice says Anonymous will attack Early Flicker’s online presence.

“Their arrogance and ignorance of what they have done will not go unpunished,” intones the voice, as a masked person holds a statement. “Anonymous will take down any business they have going on the internet.”

Auffret told AFP on Saturday that he had been in contact with someone from Anonymous and resolved the dispute by pledging to relinquish his claim to the logo and slogan.

Source

Anonymous is the last group on earth I would try to exploit for profit. Seriously.

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French Parliamentary Elections Go to Hollande’s Socialists June 17, 2012 French President Francois Hollande’s Socialists won an absolute parliamentary majority on Sunday, strengthening his hand as he presses Germany to support debt-laden euro zone states hit by austerity cuts and ailing banks. The Socialist bloc secured between 296 and 320 seats in the parliamentary election runoff, according to reliable projections from a partial vote count, comfortably more than the 289 needed for a majority in the 577-seat National Assembly. The result means Hollande won’t need to rely on the environmentalist Greens, projected to win 20 seats, or the Communist-dominated Left Front, likely to have just 10 deputies, to pass laws. The centre-left already controls the upper house of parliament, the Senate. Source Follow thepeoplesrecord.com for more news on June 17, 2012 for election results in important elections today in Greece, France and Egypt.

French Parliamentary Elections Go to Hollande’s Socialists

June 17, 2012

French President Francois Hollande’s Socialists won an absolute parliamentary majority on Sunday, strengthening his hand as he presses Germany to support debt-laden euro zone states hit by austerity cuts and ailing banks.

The Socialist bloc secured between 296 and 320 seats in the parliamentary election runoff, according to reliable projections from a partial vote count, comfortably more than the 289 needed for a majority in the 577-seat National Assembly.

The result means Hollande won’t need to rely on the environmentalist Greens, projected to win 20 seats, or the Communist-dominated Left Front, likely to have just 10 deputies, to pass laws. The centre-left already controls the upper house of parliament, the Senate.

Source

Follow thepeoplesrecord.com for more news on June 17, 2012 for election results in important elections today in Greece, France and Egypt.

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Op-Ed: WikiLeaks exposes corruption as France bans Monsanto’s GMO maize Article originally posted June 04, 2012 Coming soon after France bans GMO maize, WikiLeaks cables expose details of ‘military-style trade wars’ against countries who reject Monsanto GMOs.France banned the Monsanto MON 810 “Yieldgard” maize due to environmental and health concerns. And now the European Union is stepping in to re-secure Monsanto’s presence in that country, against the will of the nation itself. Back in 2007, the U.S. ambassador to France, Craig Stapleton, who is a business partner of George W. Bush, stated that nationals who do not accept Monsanto’s GMO crops will be “penalized”. He stated that the nations should be threatened with “military-styled trade wars”. So it is no surprise that the move to maintain Monsanto’s grip on France is all about the fact that the U.S. and other nations are continually pushing Monsanto’s agenda. Monsanto has major (and most likely financial) connections with political heads that have actually threatened to use these trade wars. In January, WikiLeaks cables came to light revealing the information concerning the deep involvement of Monsanto in political circles. In this cable, is a statement made by Craig Stapleton:“Country team Paris recommends that we calibrate a target retaliation list that causes some pain across the EU since this is a collective responsibility, but that also focuses in part on the worst culprits. The list should be measured rather than vicious and must be sustainable over the long term, since we should not expect an early victory. Moving to retaliation will make clear that the current path has real costs to EU interests and could help strengthen European pro-biotech voices.”

Op-Ed: WikiLeaks exposes corruption as France bans Monsanto’s GMO maize

Article originally posted June 04, 2012


Coming soon after France bans GMO maize, WikiLeaks cables expose details of ‘military-style trade wars’ against countries who reject Monsanto GMOs.

France banned the Monsanto MON 810 “Yieldgard” maize due to environmental and health concerns. And now the European Union is stepping in to re-secure Monsanto’s presence in that country, against the will of the nation itself. Back in 2007, the U.S. ambassador to France, Craig Stapleton, who is a business partner of George W. Bush, stated that nationals who do not accept Monsanto’s GMO crops will be “penalized”. He stated that the nations should be threatened with “military-styled trade wars”. So it is no surprise that the move to maintain Monsanto’s grip on France is all about the fact that the U.S. and other nations are continually pushing Monsanto’s agenda. Monsanto has major (and most likely financial) connections with political heads that have actually threatened to use these trade wars. In January, WikiLeaks cables came to light revealing the information concerning the deep involvement of Monsanto in political circles. In this cable, is a statement made by Craig Stapleton:

“Country team Paris recommends that we calibrate a target retaliation list that causes some pain across the EU since this is a collective responsibility, but that also focuses in part on the worst culprits. The list should be measured rather than vicious and must be sustainable over the long term, since we should not expect an early victory. Moving to retaliation will make clear that the current path has real costs to EU interests and could help strengthen European pro-biotech voices.”

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