info
Anti-capitalist protesters are taking inspiration from Mexican revolutionaries ahead of the G8 summit
May 17, 2013
No one can accuse the anti-capitalist protesters planning to disrupt the runup to next month’s G8 meeting in Northern Ireland of not being thoroughly up to date. The online call has gone out for a carnival against capitalism – curiously illustrated by a century-old photo of Mexican revolutionaries in sombreros, sitting on horseback – in London on 11 June. It’s some way away from Fermanagh where the world leaders will actually be gathering, but that isn’t going to stop them: a map pointing out “the dens of the rich” in central London has helpfully been published to assist the anti-capitalist activists in finding their way around the capital. It includes Buckingham Palace, Fortnum & Mason, “supermarket of the ruling class”, Mahiki, “cocktail bar of the feral rich” and the headquarters of Vogue magazine on the map for telling women how to look and act.
![amodernmanifesto:
A Daring Future by ~Party9999999
From Wikipedia: Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara (December 21, 1949 – October 15, 1987) was a Burkinabé military captain, Marxist revolutionary, Pan-Africanist theorist, and President of Burkina Faso from 1983 to 1987.[1][2] Viewed as a charismatic and iconic figure of revolution, he is commonly referred to as “Africa’s Che Guevara”.[1][3][4][5]
His revolutionary programs for African self-reliance made him an icon to many of Africa’s poor.[6] Sankara remained popular with most of his country’s impoverished citizens. However his policies alienated and antagonised the vested interests of an array of groups, which included the small but powerful Burkinabé middle class, the tribal leaders whom he stripped of the long-held traditional right to forced labour and tributepayments, and France and its ally the Ivory Coast.[1][8] As a result, he was overthrown and assassinated in acoup d’état led by the French-backed Blaise Compaoré on October 15, 1987. A week before his murder, he declared: “While revolutionaries as individuals can be murdered, you cannot kill ideas.”[1]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/b7048315bbd3656352661b2bf52b5e0b/tumblr_mmpexuRRrf1qf5sgyo1_500.png)
From Wikipedia: Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara (December 21, 1949 – October 15, 1987) was a Burkinabé military captain, Marxist revolutionary, Pan-Africanist theorist, and President of Burkina Faso from 1983 to 1987.[1][2] Viewed as a charismatic and iconic figure of revolution, he is commonly referred to as “Africa’s Che Guevara”.[1][3][4][5]
His revolutionary programs for African self-reliance made him an icon to many of Africa’s poor.[6] Sankara remained popular with most of his country’s impoverished citizens. However his policies alienated and antagonised the vested interests of an array of groups, which included the small but powerful Burkinabé middle class, the tribal leaders whom he stripped of the long-held traditional right to forced labour and tributepayments, and France and its ally the Ivory Coast.[1][8] As a result, he was overthrown and assassinated in acoup d’état led by the French-backed Blaise Compaoré on October 15, 1987. A week before his murder, he declared: “While revolutionaries as individuals can be murdered, you cannot kill ideas.”[1]
UGH - viral posts are the worst.
Because they go out into the larger tumblr sphere & get shat on with dismissive comments from people who are either unwilling or unprepared to challenge their problematic ideologies & behaviors.
It makes me sad & it reminds me of how much more work we have to do to prepare our human society for fundamental transformation.
Genuine question/concern: How could a revolution (fundamental transformation of the way we organize ourselves) be successful when there are SO many unapologetic racists hiding behind color-blind ideology?
Syria Cuts Off Internet As Civil War Continues
Internet connections between Syria and the outside world were cut off on Tuesday, according to data from Google Inc and other global Internet companies.
Google’s Transparency Report pages showed traffic to Google services pages from the country, embroiled in a civil war that has lasted more than two years, suddenly stopping shortly before 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT). Google traffic reports continued to show no activity there about four hours after the drop-off.
“We’ve seen this twice before,” said Christine Chen, Google’s senior manager for free expression. “This happened in Syria last November and in Egypt during the Arab Spring.”
It is virtually impossible to definitely determine the cause of such disruptions unless a party claims responsibility, experts said. In the past, Syria’s government and the rebels fighting to topple it have traded blame.
Google’s data showed traffic disruptions limited to Syria and spanning the entire country. Shutting an entire nation from the Internet is possible because IP addresses, individual connections established by each device, are geographically specific and the government has control over the country’s Internet service providers.
From Anonymous: #OpSyria DialUp Access: User: telecomix | Password: telecomix +46850009990 +492317299993 +4953160941030
OR: +33172890150 | login: toto | password: toto
pipperipembo asked: i'm sitting at my desk, laughing. thanks for the people's mic use of your blog to amplify my words. i love watching what happens when my mind reacts with other minds. tumblr is such a great social chemistry lab.
That’s a lovely way to think of it.
The internet really is something like a social laboratory - and particularly on Tumblr, I think conversations are had that are really important, that drive ideological conversations & debates which in turn affects the ideology of individuals and ideological conversations in general. Particularly I’m optimistic about how many young(ish) people engage in these meaningful conversations on Tumblr. I can think of few things more necessary to collectively prepare for the many crises produced by capitalism.
Here’s to trying to make this blog a binding agent in said social/societal laboratory!
MAY 1 LOS ANGELES SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
12:00pm: Long Beach Revolutionaries : Back in Actions @ Pershing Square
2:00pm: Occupy LA Meet @ Pershing Square
2:30pm: March to Olympic and Figueroa
3:00pm: Join with Occupy Fights Foreclosures to SHUT DOWN Wells Fargo
4:00pm: Join the SCIC march @ Broadway & Olympic to march for FULL legalization for all!
7:30pm OLA General Assembly @ Pershing Square
Neighboring Occupations are also holding their own events this year! For more information, please visit their Facebook pages:
Additional Information:
- http://occupylosangeles.org/
- http://www.immigrationcoalition.org/
- http://www.occupyfightsforeclosures.org/
This was all from that first link that was posted after the question. The other two links were for these Facebook pages:
Thank you to everyone who submitted links to answer this person’s questions!
Chicago is having a busy, revolutionary day today. From worker walkouts due to the terrible working conditions in the service-industry sector to this:
HAPPENING NOW! Hundeds of Chicago Public School students walk-out of testing day in protest of over-testing and the impending mass school closures to happen the beginning of next school year.
SOLIDARITY!
Kurdish men in Iran have launched a cross-dressing campaign to redress outmoded concepts of masculinity & femininity and outlandish, sexist punishment administered by the government.
April 24, 2013
Over the last week, over 150 Kurdish men have posted photographs of themselves in women’s clothing to campaign against the sexist nature of a court sentence which led to the public humiliation of a man by dressing him in women’s clothing.
The campaign, entitled Kurd Men for Equality is a response to a sentence given to a convicted man by the Marivan County tribunal court on 15 April. The campaign’s tagline reads: ‘Being a woman is not a way for humiliation or punishment.’ According to Saman Rasoulpour, the convicted man was paraded down the streets of Marivan in a red tchador (traditional Kurdish women’s clothing).
Rasoulpour stated that public humiliation is a common punishment for troublemakers. Rasoulpour told us: ‘[In] this way, authorities are able to both demean the accused and deliver a warning to the public.’ However, Rasoulpour emphasized: ‘This is the first time in Iran that an accused is paraded in women’s clothes in the streets to humiliate him. It is unprecedented anywhere in Iran.’
In response to the judge’s sentence, a local feminist organization of Marivan called the Marivan Womens’ Community held a protest against the misogynistic punishment. The protest brought one hundred women on the streets of Marivan in a civil resistance campaign for gender equality.
In solidarity with the women’s protest, a man named Massoud Fathipour posted a photograph of himself dressed in women’s clothing. According to Rasoulpour, ‘he ignited the spark’. Since the Kurd Men for Equality campaign has been launched on 18 April, it has quickly gained an international following of over 7,000 fans. Over 150 men have submitted photographs of themselves in women’s clothing to emphasize the message that being a woman should not be considered humiliating.
In parliament 17 Iranian MPs have signed a petition addressed to the Justice Ministry which decries this sentence as ‘humiliating to Muslim women’. Supporters of the campaign have written messages in support of the gender equality on the Facebook wall.
Ala M writes: ‘For many years, women in my country have been side-by-side with men, wearing men’s clothes, struggling. Tonight I am happy and honored to wear women’s clothes and be even a small part of the rightful struggle of people to express gratitude and excellence to the women of my country.’
Another supporter, Namo Kurdistani writes: ‘We should gather together and condemn this stupidity, brutality and inhumanity against women. This is the least I can do to support women.’
In one of the protest images posted on Facebook, two LGBT rainbow flags can be seen on the wall in the background. People have commented on the image supporting homosexuality. Women have also supported the campaign by posting photographs of themselves wearing men’s clothing.
Iran claims it treats transgender people well but an expert told GSN the punishment in this case also indicates the stigma and discrimination trans people still face in the country as well as being a sign of simple sexism. According to Rasoulpour, no public apology has been made by authorities and security forces in Iran have strongly criticized the campaign.
Chicago fast food, retail workers strike today - workers walk out at some McDonald’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, Macy’s in push for higher wages, union
April 24, 2013
Community organizers said they expect hundreds of fast food and retail workers in Chicago to walk off the job Wednesday in a campaign to push for higher wages.
The Fight for $15 campaign, named for its goal of securing $15 an hour for workers, said it expects McDonald’s, Subway, Dunkin Donuts, Macy’s, Sears and Victoria’s Secret store in the Loop and Magnificent Mile to be affected.
The rolling strikes began at 5:30 a.m. as workers walked off the job at some McDonald’s restaurants and Dunkin’ Donuts. Strikes are expected later this morning at some retailers. A rally is planned for 4 p.m. at the St. James Cathedral near Huron and Rush streets. A McDonald’s spokeswoman said that while the company believes “a few workers may have walked off the job,” it was “not a high number at all.” Basically, they are daring you to boycott them and daring their workers to strike because they feel like they can do anything they want to their workers and have no consequences. Let’s call their bluff.
“Our downtown restaurants remain open, and it remains business as usual for us,” she said.
Representatives for Dunkin Donuts and Subway said that hourly wages are set at the discretion of franchisees who operate their restaurants.
“Fight for 15, seeks to put money back in the pockets of the 275,000 men and women who work hard in the city’s fast food and retail outlets, but still can’t afford basic necessities,” the group said in a release. “If workers were paid more, they’d spend more, helping to get Chicago’s economy moving again.”
Wednesday’s action follows a nationwide Black Friday strike by Walmart workers and comes just weeks after 400 fast-food workers walked off their jobs in New York City.
“Fast food and retail workers bring more than $4 billion a year into the cash registers of the Magnificent Mile and the Loop, yet most of these workers earn Illinois’ minimum wage of $8.25, or just above it,” the group said.
In addition to higher pay, Fight for 15 says it is pushing to organize a union for workers. Among those participating will be Aimee Crawford, 56, who said she has worked for 14 months at a downtown Protein Bar restaurant for $8.75 an hour.
“I’m using my retirement funds and my savings to bridge the gap between what I bring home and what I need to survive,” Crawford said.
Article segment: Why the left must support Syria’s revolution
April 9, 2013
BEYOND THOSE who support the Syrian regime as a progressive opponent of imperialism, there are those who are justly suspicious of the motives of the U.S. and other powerful governments—and who fear that Syrians are doomed to a civil war between a bloodthirsty dictator and groups of intolerant little tyrants sustained by the U.S. and other powers.
What these pictures of the situation miss—intentionally or not—is the fact that Syria is in the grips of more than a civil war. What is taking place is a popular revolution, with an armed component. There are a wide variety of groups involved and at least as many strategies and ideas about what the struggle is about—including those that are not left wing and that will make accommodations with imperialism.
But the uprising is also a very dynamic process that has involved millions of people becoming active in public life for the first time. There are political advances and retreats, and moments of triumph and disappointment, just as there are military victories and defeats. But it would be wrong to reduce the Syrian Revolution to the question of the armed struggle and the role of imperialist powers in trying to shape and co-opt that armed struggle.
Take the role of women in the uprising—something that is not widely appreciated anywhere, and especially not in the mainstream media. Women have been very active participants and leaders from the beginning. They have played a role not just as victims and mothers and sisters of the martyrs and detainees, but also in demonstrations, on the front in field hospitals, in citizen reporting, and in the distribution of medicine and humanitarian supplies.
As a group of women activists in Aleppo wrote, “We will not wait until the regime falls for women to become active.” At the same time, they write, the “militarization of the revolution” has overshadowed the role of women—so in early March, the revolutionary local council of Aleppo was elected and didn’t include a single woman, despite some well-known female activists being nominated.
So there is—like everywhere in the world—some distance to go before women have equality in Syria. But the role they have played in the struggle so far—and will in the future—underlines how the uprising has opened up many different fronts in the battle against the Assad regime. As Ghayath Naisse said in an interview published by SocialistWorker.org:
The popular masses have invented many forms of struggles, including massive popular demonstrations that we saw in July of last year in Hama and Deir Ezzour; fast demonstrations (like flash mobs) that only last for several minutes; and demonstrations in neighborhoods with narrow streets in order to prevent the security forces from finding and cornering them, thus allowing protesters to disperse in narrow alleys when faced with repression.
Other actions include night demonstrations, releasing balloons carrying revolutionary slogans, dyeing the fountains red in major city squares, raising the flags of the revolution in streets and balconies, renaming streets with names of the revolution’s martyrs and, of course, a series of general strikes. The most recent one, in December 2012, was called the Strike of Dignity and lasted two days.
Every Friday, the masses raise their slogans, most of them united, in response to specific situations or to express their opinion regarding any matter of concern to the revolution. These are also a means to form a common mass consciousness and to generalize revolutionary experiences.
—
I WANT to leave the last word to a brave revolutionary, leftist writer Nahed Badawiyya, speaking from inside Syria:
The Arab Revolutions have come to put an end to the traditional left, and especially the traditional Communist Parties, which have been ineffective for a long time. They have become conservative, reactionary structures, devoid of members. In Syria, these Communist Parties gravitated towards the murderous regime and become accomplices to its crimes.
Therefore, much of their base, especially the youth, abandoned them and took to the streets to join their generation in protest. You will notice this phenomenon in all the traditional political movements in Syria. The youths of the Palestinian, Arab and Kurdish political movements have all separated from their leadership and joined the revolution. In all these political movements, the party leaderships were an obstacle and a brake on the revolutionary Syrian youth. At the same time, however, new Leftist youth formations emerged from within the revolution giving voice to its essence. I hope they grow and proliferate.
Full article here in which Yusef Khalil answers the objections of those on the left who reject the Syrian uprising against dictatorship—and demands to know which side they’re on.
As Sherry Wolf put it on her Facebook: “Don’t reduce the Syrian Revolution to the question of the armed struggle and the role of imperialist powers in trying to shape and co-opt that armed struggle. Read this thoughtful and nuanced piece by Yusef Khalil. If you want to comment, please read the article. For some reason the Syrian Revolution inspires radicals to talk out of their ass.”
This picture is so interesting: he’s being flanked by identical twins, the two people on the left seem to be looking either at him or past him with something akin to skepticism, and the sign is really poignant & right on!
(Source: anonopsmob, via pragnacious)
Hi P.R., Could I get you to blog this? A call to action by Adbusters at Goldman Sachs. I really want this effort to take off. Thank you!
http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/goldman
—
I got the email with this campaign this morning, glad you’re excited about it too. It sounds like it could be great, although it’s really hit or miss with Adbusters. I’ll publish a prettier, more reblog-inspiring version in a little bit as well. Thanks for submitting.
Thousands of opponents & supporters of Egypt’s powerful Muslim Brotherhood clashed Friday near the group’s Cairo headquarters, where riot police guarded the building, and the corrupt politicians inside of it.
April 2, 2013
In another Cairo neighborhood, young protesters broke into the Brotherhood party’s office in Manial and stole some items, according to security officials. More than a dozen such attacks on the Islamists’ offices took place late last year across the country during violent protests over the drafting of the constitution and temporary power-grabbing decrees by the president.
The opposition charges that the Brotherhood’s leadership is influencing Morsi, and that they are trying to monopolize power through the presidency. The Brotherhood, from which Morsi hails, denies that.
Friday’s protest is also symbolic because it followed a week of demonstrations outside Brotherhood’s doorstep en masse.
One sign held aloft by a protester outside the headquarters read: ‘‘Who is ruling Egypt?’’ The scene was reminiscent of clashes that took place late last year outside the presidential palace in Cairo between Morsi’s supporters and opponents. Ten people died in those clashes.
Protesters on Friday were demanding the Brotherhood apologize for an assault on journalists and activists last week outside the group’s headquarters. The Brotherhood says its guards were instigated by the protesters. The anti-Brotherhood protesters are also demanding the resignation of the attorney general and the interior minister, both appointed by Morsi. The interior minister authorized security forces to use excessive force against protesters. More than 70 people have been killed in protests with police since he was appointed in January.
Fatima Khalifa, 30, said she was demonstrating to send a message to the Brotherhood that they are the aggressors. ‘‘Morsi must be tried for killings of protesters just like Mubarak,’’ she said, referring to Morsi’s predecessor Hosni Mubarak who was ousted in a popular uprising in 2011 after nearly 30 years in power.
Clashes also broke out Friday in Egypt’s second largest city of Alexandria, when several thousand anti-Brotherhood protesters came under attack by unknown assailants who threw rocks and fired birdshot at them outside a military area in Sidi Gaber where anti-government protests often take place.
In the sprawling Cairo neighborhood of Muqattam, where the Brotherhood’s headquarters is based, roads were littered with rocks. There was no traffic and shops had been closed beforehand in preparation for the violent clashes.
An Associated Press correspondent saw members of the anti-Brotherhood camp beating with their fists people in the crowd suspected of being members of the Islamist group. The Brotherhood’s website claimed the incident, saying that ‘‘thugs’’ were attacking anyone heading toward the Brotherhood office.
Several anti-Brotherhood protesters were seen bloodied and being rushed to ambulances.
Clashes erupted at a nearby square after a large pro-Brotherhood march approached the headquarters. The protesters moved a few blocks away to Fountain Square after being hit with rocks from rooftops of nearby buildings. The square lies at the entrance of Muqattam, which overlooks the city.
It was not immediately clear how the clashes broke out around Fountain Square, but drops of blood marked the area. Some of the protesters covered their faces with black masks as ambulances evacuated the wounded from the site.
Anti-Brotherhood protester Hussein el-Sayyid said he saw three people with their faces slashed, suggesting some blades or knives were being used in the fighting.
‘‘We are Egyptians eating one another when we should be one hand,’’ he said.
Elsewhere in Egypt, protesters took to the streets to demand the dissolution of the Brotherhood, which has emerged as the most powerful political group in the country since the 2011 revolt.
Cypriot “no” inspires Greeks to rail against austerity
March 20, 2013
Greeks and opposition parties inspired by the Cypriot rejection of an unpopular bailout deal urged Athens on Wednesday to stand up to foreign lenders whose demands have resulted in repeated rounds of austerity that have made Greek life a misery.
Cyprus’s parliament on Tuesday rejected a levy on bank deposits demanded in return for aid, raising the spectre of a default for the island nation that could mean enduring wave after wave of spending cuts and tax rises, just like Greece.
“See what Cyprus did? We are proud of them,” said Fey Papadopoulou, 22, a university student. “They should be an example for our politicians, who have succumbed to every demand.”
Cyprus pleaded with Russia on Wednesday for a five-year extension and lower interest on an existing 2.5 billion euro ($3.22 billion) loan and 5 billion euros in new loans after voting down euro zone plan for a 10 billion euro bailout.
“The Cypriots set an example to follow,” left-leaning Eleftherotypia said in its leading editorial. “How can the Cypriots say ‘no’ and we can’t even reject a single property tax?”, ran a headline on Greek television channel Antenna.
Greece which first sought aid from European Union and the International Monetary Fund in 2010, has yielded to demands for harsh austerity measures that have slashed household income by almost a third and sent unemployment up to a record 26 percent.
“Cyprus said ‘No’ on our behalf too,” said Odysseas Panagiotou, a 45-year old clerk. “It’s about time that our traitors - politicians - say a big ‘No’ to the troika demands.”
The “no” vote from Nicosia comes just days before Athens and its lenders resume delicate talks on the implementation of the country’s bailout, with creditors pushing Athens to respect past pledges to fire civil servants and stick to unpopular tax rises.
Merkel’s Strategy
Whether Athens - which in the past has ignored riots and mass protests to approve austerity packages and avert bankruptcy - will be swayed by the latest outcry depends on whether Cyprus ends up bankrupt or finds a solution elsewhere, analysts said.
“If Cyprus goes bankrupt, then the government’s argument that we must stay on the austerity path will be reinforced, but if it wins better bailout terms the main opposition’s arguments will be stronger,” said Thomas Gerakis, head of Marc pollsters.
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’s government - which has been scrambling to assure Greeks that their bank deposits are not at risk due to the Cypriot crisis - said late on Tuesday it supported Cyprus’s choices.
But Greece’s anti-bailout opposition, including the radical leftist Syriza party, rushed to accuse him and Finance Minister Yiannis Stournaras of bowing to the austerity demands of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“After the Cypriots’ proud ‘no’, Mr. Samaras and Mr. Stournaras are the most faithful adherents of Ms. Merkel’s strategy,” said a statement from Syriza, Greece’s most popular party according to a MARC/Alpha survey published on Tuesday.
“The Cypriot parliament shows the way of real negotiation, which no pro-bailout government in Greece even considered.”
Syriza also interpreted a statement late on Tuesday by the European Central Bank to continue funding Cypris banks within existing rules, as a sign of weakness on the part of creditors.
“And just like that, we found out that another way is possible,” Syriza deputy Rena Dourou tweeted a few minutes after the ECB statement was release.
Tunisia’s biggest protest since the Arab Spring
March 18, 2013
Thousands of people took to the streets of the Tunisian capital demanding to end the rule of the Islamist government, which they accuse of assassinating prominent secular politician, Chokri Belaid.
The March 16 demonstration is the biggest in a series of protest events, which took place in the country after Belaid was shot dead outside his home exactly 40 days ago.
The rallies already lead to Tunisian Prime Minister, Hamadi Jebali, resigning from his position on March 14. Fellow member of the ruling Islamist Ennahda party, Ali Larayedh, who came in as a replacement, has formed a new coalition government with independents in key ministries.
But the move wasn’t enough to calm the people as they chanted “Ennahda go”, “The people want a new revolution” and “The people want to bring down the regime” during their demonstration on Saturday.
Belaid’s family accuse Ennahda of murder, but the ruling Tunisian party denies any involvement. With nobody claiming responsibility for the crime, police are saying that the assassin was a radical Salafist Islamist.
”They killed Chokri but they cannot kill the values of freedom defended by him,” Belaid’s widow Basma said in front of her husband’s grave on Saturday.
Belaid’s liberal nine-party Popular Front bloc has only three seats in Tunisia’s parliament, but it speaks for many people, who fear that the religious radicals would deprive them of freedoms won in the Arab spring.
Despite not playing a major role in the Jasmine Revolution, which toppled president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011, it’s the Islamists, who took power in the country though a general election.
The protests didn’t prevent Ennahda party chairman, Rashid Ghannouchi, from holding talks with a visiting European Union delegation, headed by the European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy, Stefan Fule.
“Ennahda Movement supports the deepening of relations with the European Union on the basis of common interests and mutual respect,” Ghannouchi is cited as saying on the Muslim Brotherhood’s official website. “Ennahda Movement wants to take Tunisia out of this transitional period in the shortest time, after the approval of the country’s new Constitution which should establish democracy, uphold the rule of law and guarantee freedoms.”
For his part, Fule insisted that the EU are also ready for cooperation with Tunisia, adding that it supports the democratic transition process and legitimacy in the North-African country.
“The European Union (EU) remains confident in the capacity of the Tunisian political leaders to find efficient solutions to the political, economic and social challenges faced by Tunisia in this transition period”, he said.
Good relations with Europe are essential for Tunisia, which – unlike neighboring Libya and Algeria – lacks vast oil and gas resources, relying on tourism as one of the main sources of income.
