Category: workers


What happened to the Occupy movement?

 Although media coverage has dwindled, Occupy cells are alive and well all over the United States – and beyond.
Occupy Wall Street was at the pinnacle of its power in October 2011, when thousands of people converged at Zuccotti Park and successfully foiled the plans of billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg to sweep away the occupation on grounds of public health. From that vantage point, the Occupy movement appears to have tumbled off a cliff, having failed to organise anything like a general strike on May Day – despite months of rumblings of mass walkouts, blockades and shutdowns…………

“Compared to a year ago, the level of activity is amazing today. There is a whole new generation of high school and college students being radicalised.”

Others note that protests did take place in more than 110 cities on May Day in recognition of worker resistance and solidarity, no mean feat given the hostility to labour among the ruling elite i the US. At the same time, only shameless partisans would deny that the Occupy movement is struggling to reclaim the heights it had last year, and many activists admit this in private. Some argue that police and media hostility act as a one-two punch that can knock out movements such as Occupy, and this is all too true, as explained below. But other movements surmount these obstacles. North of the US-Canada border, hundreds of thousands of university students in Quebec have maintained a militant strike for three months against tuition increases in defiance of whip-cracking politicians, pundits and police……….

One can debate whether or not Occupy is still effective, but there is no way to deny income and wealth inequalities have reached historical extremes or that two-thirds of all in the US – and 55 per cent of Republicans – say “there are ‘very strong’ or ‘strong’ conflicts between the rich and the poor,” according to the Pew Research Center.

“Coverage of the Occupy movement has dwindled to a trickle… despite hundreds of active Occupy groups… Newspaper coverage of inequality has shrunk by nearly 70 per cent since last fall.

The media indifference extends to downplaying state repression. Ironically, force is a measure of success because it’s recognition that the movement is a threat:

  • In Oakland, police rolled out a tank on May Day
  • Chicago has increased penalties for protests and made it more difficult to secure permits in advance of the anti-NATO protests
  • University of California officials are pushing for charges against 11 students and one poetry professor that carry 11 years of prison time and million-dollar fines for nonviolent sit-down protests against Bank of America
  • Most ominously, the FBI, which was forged in the crucible of the post-World War I Red Scare, is up to its old tricks. Relying on the same techniques it uses to ensnare Muslims in “terrorism” plots, the FBI arrested five anarchists in Cleveland for allegedly plotting to blow up a bridge
  • Most recently, one activist in Salt Lake City claimed three FBI agents showed up at his home, unannounced, asking for names of people planning on attending the anti-NATO protests in Chicago

The repression is aimed at preventing Occupy from reclaiming a space, which novelist Arundhati Roy predicted months ago: “Holding territory may not be something the [Occupy] movement will be allowed to do in a state as powerful and violent as the United States.” Since March, Occupy Wall Street has tried to retake public spaces in Lower Manhattan four times, and four times the police have cracked down. The most recent attempt, the night of May Day, was met by a massive police presence in Wall Street, with cops threatening anyone who looked like a protester with arrest.

“Cinematic” is the only way to convey the image of public sidewalks and streets blanketed with thousands of riot police, surveillance units, snatch squads, detectives, beat cops, community police, white-shirted commanders, phalanxes of scooter police, four police helicopters overhead and cars, SUVs, buses, trucks and command vehicles flashing emergency lights. All to clear out a few thousand people, mainly youths, who gathered for a democratic assembly and the faint hope they could recreate the magic of Occupy Wall Street. 

read full article HERE

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/05/2012521151225452634.ht

Hi there.. I see on Farcebook we are now more than 2000 Friends of ‘The Free’ the new novel set in an Occupy style social revolution, during the COLLAPSE of capitalism due to Climate Chaos. If you haven’t seen it yet you can read online or free download, or even order a paper edition  HERE: thefreeonline.wordpress.com

In reality only a tiny handful of those who’d like it have even heard of ‘The Free’..It has no commercial distribution for one thing, and most folks are put off by words like REVOLUTION..

Can you help please..? by re-posting, sharing, or re-blogging this letter, or asking your bookshop or library to stock it.

Best wishes and LOTS of luck………mikegilli

#caixarolada i #claxonada cada dia a #occupymordor

in English below

Què: #caixarolada i #claxonada
Quan:Cada dia de 17h a 20h #caixarolada i #claxonada
20h : Assemblea   On: Torres de Mordor (Metro Maria Cristina)
Acta d’Assemblea 2012.05.17 a OccupyMordor
L’Equip de dinamització suggereix la metodologia a seguir:
  • Recull de les propostes per consensuar i executar-les si es consensuen….etc
  • View full article »

Una ola de represión golpea a los anarquistas de Turquía después de las manifestaciones del Primero de Mayo

Ayer por la noche, el estado turco organizó una redada nocturna en varias casas y centros sociales anarquistas durante la noche en Estambul. 60 personas fueron detenidas. Aún no está muy claro si algunas de estas personas son anarquistas o simplemente parientes o amigos que estaban en esos lugares. View full article »
Según afirma Plataforma Usuaris Treballadors hasta ocho furgones de la Polícia Nacional se han apostado en la sede central de Bankia ante la masiva respuesta de la iniativa #Cerramosbankia. Cientos de personas han respondido al llamamiento. Eso no ha gustado al estado que ha mandado a sus esbirros.
The National Police in Madrid DNI asks for identity papers from those who want to close their account at Bankia, which is being ‘rescued with up to 20.000m euros of public money
The platform ‘Usuaris Treballadors’ asserts that eight police vans were stationed at National Headquarters Bankia to the massive response iniative # Cerramosbankia. Hundreds of people have responded to the call. That has not pleased the state which has sent its minions.

Esta Plataforma además afirma que los policías allí apostados están pidiendo el DNI a todos aquellos ciudadanos que

this bank deceives with criminal tricks
and people from their homes evicts

quieren cerrar su cuenta en Bankia. Preguntándose acto seguido en su cuenta de facebook ¿A quién defiente el estado democrático?.

This Platform further states that police officers stationed there are asking for the ID card to all citizens who want to close their account at Bankia. So who Defends the democratic state?.

View full article »

Están desalojando la Universitat Lliure la Rimaia.. …+++por cuarta vez!

Desde las 6:45h de la mañana dos unidades de la Brigada Móvil de los Mossos d’Esquadra (catorce furgonetas) están desalojando el edificio de la Universitat Lliure La Rimaia, en la ronda de Sant Pau 12, en Barcelona. Los agentes han entrado con escaleras por los balcones y han reventado la puerta del edificio ante la sorpresa de la gente que vive allí, ya que el juzgado de instrucción 22 de Barcelona ordenó el archivo de la causa penal hace dos años entendiendo que se trataba de un edificio abandonado desde hace dos décadas y, por tanto, no estaba cometiendo ningún delito penal contra la promotora inmobiliaria Camat, titular de la finca. View full article »

Llibertat immediata per a la Laura! Ja n’ni ha prou de repressió!

Laura Gomez, of the anarchist CGT union is still being held for burning symbolic ‘money’ in front of the Stock Exchange

Immediate freedom for Laura! Enough of repression! in English below

Les persones i organitzacions sotasignades ens adherim al següent manifest i ens solidaritzem amb la companya Laura Gómez exigint la seva immediata posada en llibertat.

El 25 d’abril la Jutgessa del Jutjat d’Instrucció núm. 23 de Barcelona va decretar presó sense fiança per a la Secretària d’Organització de la CGT-Barcelona amb els càrrecs d’incendi i subsidiàriament de danys, coaccions, delicte de desordres públics i delicte contra els drets fonamentals.

Els i les adherents considerem que han donat resultat les pressions polítiques, tant al jutjat com a la fiscalia, ja que consideren que una persona sense antecedents penals, amb domicili i treball fix i amb una filla, té risc de fugida i de reincidir abans fins i tot de ser jutjada i condemnada. Aquests barems no s’apliquen als banquers, ni als polítics investigats per la fiscalia anticorrupció als quals es deixa en llibertat. Realment ens qüestionem l’anomenada “independència” del poder judicial pel que fa a la resta de poders dins d’un mal anomenat “estat de dret”. View full article »

A mediados de Mayo de 1936 aparecía el primer número de la revista Mujeres Libres.

Un año después, en Agosto de 1937, se celebraba en Valencia el primer congreso estatal de la Federación Nacional de Mujeres Libres, una organización feminista de corte anarquista que tenía como objetivo que las mujeres se liberasen por ellas mismas de la cruel servidumbre de la ignorancia.

 Trailer de la pelicula que presentaremel proper dia 17al centre civic del pla de Palau de Girona.http://logofobia.wordpress.com/2012/05/05/una-historia-de-mujeres-libres/

Related articles  Barcelona: The Barcafems (2ndcouncilhouse.co.uk)

Olvidadas hasta por sus propios compañeros Mujeres Libres llegó a contar con más de 20000 afiliadas. La vorágine de la guerra no les permitió desarrollar su programa en “la paz”, pero nada ni nadie pudo impedir que germinase la semilla que portaban en sus entrañas.

El objetivo de este trabajo es, a parte de rescatar del olvido a estas mujeres, es denunciar (no me gusta el termino) la invisibilización a la que se someten, no solo a Mujeres Libres sino a otras mujeres y grupos de mujeres que por coherencia llevan hasta el final su disidencia y se mantienen al margen de estructuras pre-establecidas.

DVD disponibble de   http://www.lamalatesta.net/product_info.php/products_id/4467  62 mins.

 

DemocracyNow.org – As Occupy Wall Street plans nationwide protests marking International Workers Day, or May Day, we discuss the movement with Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, Chris Hedges; Amin Husain, editor of Tidal Magazine and a key facilitator of the Occupy movement; Marina Sitrin, author of “Horizontalism: Voices of Popular Power in Argentina” and a member of Occupy’s legal working group; and Teresa Gutierrez, of the May 1st Coalition for Worker and Immigrant Rights. We also get an update from protests on the streets of New York City from Ryan Devereaux, former Democracy Now! correspondent, now with The Guardian. View full article »

26 abr 2012
GOOGLE TRANSLATION FROM CATALAN    
  laura gomez jailed
The instruction judge 23 in Barcelona, Rosa Maria Berenguer Agulló, has issued an order of remand without bail against Laura Gomez, 46, current Secretary of Organization of the CGT in Barcelona. The judge's decision was preceded by a request from the prosecutor on duty, who had received prior orders of the Attorney General of Catalonia, Teresa Account. It has often been the modus operandi of Saturday, when the prosecution asked for prison for three .. Operation 'witch hunt' by Felip Puig
 The two young men arrested CCOO and UGT delegates by the Seat of the general strike pickets
 Jesus Rodriguez | 25.04.2012
 The news ran like wildfire for a time among the staff of SEAT. Two known stewards have been arrested this morning by agents of the police. This is Javier Jimenez Oya (CCOO) and Javier Espin (UGT), both for many years that are union representatives at the company. The agents have been removed from the factory, they are handcuffed and put in a vehicle of loaders that have led to the dungeons of the ... View full article »

FASH, BANG, WALLOP

Yesterday’s counter-protest against the March for England exceeded all expectations. Although the fascists did march they did so inside a mobile police kettle continuously surrounded and occasionally bombarded by counter-protestors. Their march route was cut short and for once the chant “Police protect the fascists” was 100% accurate.

Last year the police successfully kettled most of the anti-fascists, allowing the MfE free rein through the city. They took full advantage of the opportunity to hand out racist abuse and attack alternative looking types. Brighton anti-fascists were determined to avoid a repeat.

Aware that the cops plan was to push the march straight down the road from the railway station to the sea front, the anti-crowd was encouraged to spread themselves thinly along the route. This prevented a pre-emptive kettle.

For a while it looked as if the cops were going to throw the towel in and refuse to allow the MfE out of the station. At half-twelve jogging lines of cops and the arrival of horses let everyone know that the fash were on the move.

It didn’t take long after the march set off before the first few antis were in the road behind a banner. From then on the march became a rugby scrum as the cops used horses, truncheons and pepper spray to force the MfE through. Every time the cops broke through an anti-fascist line, another would form ten or twenty metres down the road.

BATTLE OF CHURCH ST

The pressure only intensified as the police decided to abandon the planned high-profile route and try to smuggle the nationalists down the back-streets. Anti-fascists got ahead of the game and running around the side got in front of the march on Church St to build barricades. Fascists and police came under attack with bottles. It was at this point that some-one set a bin on fire, irritating everyone, right and left, with the acrid smoke.

What was totally remarkable was the level of solidarity for the counter-demo by folk from all walks of life in Brighton. There was no support for the MfE. Pensioners and kids shouted abuse at the fash. The UAF stood shoulder to shoulder with Antifa punks.

Final word to Brighton Anti-fascists “Brighton showed the racists today that their brand of hatred isn’t welcome in our city. Brighton has always historically seen off the fascists, in the the thirties , the seventies and now today. Big thanks to all who turned out! – Up the punks!”

As far as SchNEWS knows no-one on our team got nicked- If you were arrested and require support then please contact stopmfe@ymail.com

For more http://brightonantifascists.wordpress.com/

and check out..http://www.schnews.org.uk/stories/FASH%2c-BANG%2c-WALLOP/

Detenida Laura Gomez de la CGT por su presunta participación en los disturbios del 29M en Barcelona. Se trata de una detención más con cara a la toma policial por la Cumbre del BCE el 2 de mayo..

They claim she burnt a box of fake money outside the Stock Exchange.

Arrested a leader of the CGT for alleged involvement in riots in Barcelona General Strike  29M. This is one of many arrests leading up to the police takeover for the European bank Summit on 2nd May. There are now daily demonstrations.
A Laura Gómez, secretaria de Organización de la Federación Local de Barcelona del sindicato anarquista, se le imputan los delitos de desórdenes públicos, incendio, coacciones y un delito relativo al ejercicio de los derechos fundamentales y las libertades públicas.
Laura Gomez, Secretary of Organization of Local Federation of Anarchist union Barcelona, is charged with public disorder offenses, arson, extortion or an offense concerning the exercise of fundamental rights and civil liberties.

Demonstration in support of the CGT leader Barcelona Laura Gomez held on Tuesday at the police station in the Catalan police in Les Corts (photo: CGT).
Manifestación de apoyo a la dirigente de la CGT de Barcelona Laura Gómez celebrada este martes ante la comisaría de los Mossos d’Esquadra de Les Corts (foto: CGT).


The Police have arrested Tuesday at the Organizing Secretary of the Barcelona Local Federation of the CGT, Laura Gomez, for his alleged involvement in the burning and destruction caused to the building of the Barcelona Stock Exchange during the day general strike on March 29. Wednesday is scheduled to go to court.

Los Mossos d’Esquadra han detenido este martes a la secretaria de Organización de la Federación Local de Barcelona de la CGT, Laura Gómez, por su presunta participación en la quema y los destrozos causados en el edificio de la Bolsa de Barcelona durante la jornada de huelga general del pasado 29 de marzo. Está previsto que este miércoles pase a disposición judicial.
Carlos Navarro, a spokesman for the CGT, explained that the action took place before the stock was to burn a box containing money and papers that had symbolized a message against capital, and is unrelated to the union of the destruction occurred. In his opinion, the detention serves the objective of “clear that people can protest through organizations and unions not officially controlled.”

Demonstration in defense of the arrested

Carlos Navarro, portavoz de la CGT, ha explicado que la acción que se llevó a cabo ante la Bolsa consistió en quemar una caja que contenía papeles que simbolizaban dinero y que llevaba un mensaje contra el capital, y ha desvinculado al sindicato de los destrozos que se produjeron. En su opinión, la detención responde al objetivo de “desactivar que la gente pueda protestar a través de organizaciones y sindicatos no controlados oficialmente”.

Manifestación en defensa de la detenida

Un grupo de militantes y simpatizantes de la CGT se han manifestado durante este martes por la tarde ante la comisaría de los Mossos d’Esquadra de Les Corts, en Barcelona, para exigir la puesta en libertad de Gómez.

A group of militants and sympathizers of the CGT have emerged during this Tuesday afternoon at the police station of the Autonomous Police of Les Corts in Barcelona, to demand the release of Gomez.

CONCENTRACIÓ DIMECRES 25 D’ABRIL a les 8.30h.

a la Ciutat de la Justícia, entrada per Gran Via.

Si ens toquen a una, ens toquen a totes. Solidaritat.

mès informaciò akì..http://www.kaosenlared.net/compone….

 

http://cdn.livestream.com/grid/LSPlayer.swf?channel=globalrevolution&color=0xb342bc&autoPlay=false&mute=false&iconColorOver=0xffffff&iconColor=0xfcd9ff

Watch live streaming video from globalrevolution at livestream.com

Global Revolution brings you live stream video coverage from independent journalists on the ground at nonviolent protests around the world. The channel officially started on September 17, 2011 with occupation of Liberty Square in downtown Manhattan, NYC and was the first livestream channel to cover occupy wall street protests. Since then the global revolution tv collective helped start countless of live streaming channels in all the
occupations worldwide with technical livestreaming assistance, rebroadcas

Live video coverage of worldwide revolution for equality. from #tahrir to #15m to #ows Join us live & support our work bringing live resistance video from the streets to the entire worldspreading around the world.

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Sunday, April 15 2012   Occupy Wall Street
First they silenced our uprising with a media blackout… then they smashed our encampments with midnight paramilitary raids… and now they’re threatening to neutralize our insurgency with an insidious campaign of donor money and co-optation. This counter-strategy worked to kill off the Tea Party’s outrage and turn it into a puppet of the Republican Party. Will the same happen with Occupy Wall Street? Will our insurgency turn into the Democrats’ Tea Party pet?
Tactical Briefing #29 – Battle for the Soul of Occupy

Alright you jammers, occupiers and Springtime dreamers,

It’s up to you to decide if our movement goes the way of Paris ’68, the dust bin of could-have-been-insurrections, or something more daring, more inspiring, something not yet dreamed.

Will you allow Occupy to become a project of the old left, the same cabal of old world thinkers who have blunted the possibility of revolution for decades? Will you allow MoveOn, The Nation and Ben & Jerry to put the brakes on our Spring Offensive and turn our struggle into a “99% Spring” reelection campaign for President Obama?

We are now in a battle for the soul of Occupy… a fight to the finish between the impotent old left and the new vibrant, horizontal left who launched Occupy Wall Street from the bottom-up and who dreams of real democracy and another world.

Whatever you do, don’t allow our revolutionary struggle to fizzle out into another lefty whine and clicktivist campaign like has happened so many times in the past. Let’s Occupy the clicktivists and crash the MoveOn party. Let’s #DEFENDOCCUPY and stop the derailment of our movement that looms ahead.

for the wild,    Culture Jammers HQ

OccupyWallStreet.org / Tactical Briefing #25, #26, #27 and #28 / Check out Oakland occupier Mike King’s take on MoveOn’s 99% Spring

P.S. For Adbusters #102, we’re looking for intimate portraits of life inside art/activist/visionary communes worldwide. Also, a lucid, incisive critique of the continuing anti-Palestine bias at the NY Times. Plus inspiring, strategic takes on the future of Occupy. Send to editor@adbusters.org.

SHARE URL: http://www.adbusters.org/blogs/adbusters-blog/jump.html

Away from its busy capital city and famous canal, Panama is one of the world’s most ecologically diverse nations.

Yet huge new hydroelectric dam projects now underway are seeing pristine rivers damned and virgin rainforest flooded.
The government says it is vital for economic growth, big business is cashing in and even the UN has awarded carbon credits on the basis that the resultant energy will be ‘sustainably’ produced.

But for the indigenous Ngabe people – whose homes are vanishing under water – it is a catastrophe. So they have been fighting back. Filmmaker Glenn Elis went to Panama for People & Power to find out more.

View full article »

Iceland ”partly forgives Mortgage Debt ”

This is awesome. It shows when the people DO STAND UP they have more power and win against the corrupt bankers and politicians of a country. Iceland is forgiving and erasing the mortgage debt of the population. They are putting the bankers and politicians on the “Bench of the Accused.” Which means I assume they are putting them on trial for corruption.

Now the rest of people of the world need to start doing the same thing. We all need to stand up and against all the corruption and fraud of the banks and politicians that are puppets of the banks and corporations.”  Sherrie

The country’s banks forgave loans equivalent to 13% of gross domestic product, according to a Bloomberg article Richard cites. The equivalent in the United States would be about $1.95 trillion of mortgage debt writedowns. Icelandic banks agreed to forgive all mortgage debt over 110% of a home’s value. “I think I may have been one of the first commentators with a wide audience to point out how relatively well Iceland was doing.” What he didn’t mention, though his commentator “iInfoliner” did, is that the credit rating agency Fitch upgraded Iceland’s debt to investment grade last week. Moreover, according to the Business Week story, the country can now borrow in U.S. dollars at a mere 4.77%. Compare this to Greece at 35.98% and Portugal at 12.77%; even Spain and Italy are a little over 5% (the FT link has no rates listed for Ireland, which has no 10-year bond).The moral of the story is that a different approach to dealing with the banks is necessary. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/02/24/1067831/-Iceland-Solves-Banking-Crisis-by-Indicting-Bankers-Forcing-Mortgage-Relief

C0rrection., Iceland had to forgive just a part of mortgage debt

The romantic view on Iceland

There is one misunderstanding apparent when Iceland and Ireland are compared. People seem to sometimes think that Icelandic people said “Oh, hell no! We’re not going to save your arses, you just have to go bankrupt and that’s the end of it” to the banks. Some people make a gesture to Icesave referendum to justify that point of view. Furthermore, the “splendid” 110% debt write-off that was passed by the parliament is considered to a fantastic success and shows on top of that the will of the people to simply get the banks to understand that debts that cannot or should not be repaid, won’t be repaid.

Sorry, there is a bit of romanticism in this story.

First, the Icelandic government tried absolutely everything it could possibly do in 2008 to save the banks. It was Iceland’s “fool’s luck” to have allowed the banks to grow up to 1,000% of GDP that made the government rescue impossible. There was no other choice than to let the banks go bankrupt, even though it has been painted in the foreign media as “Iceland chose to let the banks go bankrupt instead of shoring up their broken pieces.”

Second, the Icesave agreement was forcibly passed through the parliament by the government. It was the president that stopped the bill to become a law after the world of bloggers had been on fire for months while the public anger against the government ascended day by day. More importantly, the Icesave dispute had nothing to do with Icelandic “banksters” as they were called by that time. It was and is an international quarrel regarding how to interpret the EU/EEA treaty concerning deposit insurance schemes and passport-banking within the EU. Icesave wasn’t and isn’t a question of bailing out the banks.

Third, the 110% debt write-off that was introduced by the government hasn’t been that successful and certainly not very influencing in the overall scheme of things.

Hanged-Man-Project! :-summary of the Icelandic revolution:
 -resignation of the whole government
 -nationalization of the bank.
 -referendum so that the people can decide over the economic decisions.
 -incarcerating the responsible parties
 -rewriting of the constitution by its people

 Have we been informed of this through the media?
 Has any political program in radio or TV commented on this?
 No! The Icelandic people have been able to show that there is a way to beat the system and has given a democracy lesson to the world
 ...See More

Wall Photos ICELAND. No news from Iceland?… why? How come we hear everything that happens in..
By: RePeace

 

ICELAND. No news from Iceland?… why? How come we hear everything that happens in Egypt but no news about what’s happening in Iceland:

In Iceland, the people has made the government resign, the primary banks have been nationalized, it was decided to not pay the debt that these created with Great Britain and Holland due to their bad financial politics and a public assembly has been created to rewrite the constitution.

And all of this in a peaceful way. A whole revolution against the powers that have created the current global crisis. This is why there hasn’t been any publicity during the last two years: What would happen if the rest of the EU citizens took this as an example? What would happen if the US citizens took this as an example.

This is a summary of the facts:

2008. The main bank of the country is nationalized.
The Krona, the currency of Iceland devaluates and the stock market stops. The country is in bankruptcy

2008. The citizens protest in front of parliament and manage to get new elections that make the resignation of the prime minister and his whole government.
The country is in bad economic situation.
A law proposes paying back the debt to Great Britain and Holland through the payment of 3,500 million euros, which will be paid by the people of Iceland monthly during the next 15 years, with a 5.5% interest.

2010. The people go out in the streets and demand a referendum. In January 2010 the president denies the approval and announces a popular meeting.
In March the referendum and the denial of payment is voted in by 93%. Meanwhile the government has initiated an investigation to bring to justice those responsible for the crisis, and many high level executives and bankers are arrested. The Interpol dictates an order that make all the implicated parties leave the country.

In this crisis an assembly is elected to rewrite a new Constitution which can include the lessons learned from this, and which will substitute the current one (a copy of the Danish Constitution).
25 citizens are chosen, with no political affiliation, out of the 522 candidates. For candidacy all that was needed was to be an adult and have the support of 30 people. The constitutional assembly starts in February of 2011 to present the ‘carta magna’ from the recommendations given by the different assemblies happening throughout the country. It must be approved by the current Parliament and by the one constituted through the next legislative elections.

Debt write off was only partial

The 110% debt write-off was simply a measure that was offered to over-indebted households. It was very simple on the surface: if your mortgage was higher than 110% of the estimated market value of the property, you could have the debt written off down to the 110% mark.

The total debt that was written off based on this jubilee was 43.6 billion krona. On top of that came 6.2 billion due to “special measures”. In comparison, the debt that was written off due to illegal foreign-exchange-linked loans was 146.5 billion krona. In September 2008 (the last point in time where it is known how high the face value of household debt was) the debt of households was 1,890 billion krona (128% of GDP). The government induced debt write-off has been roughly 2.5% of the total debt of households. Is that meant to be a huge turning point? Give me a break! The indexed debt of households has in the meanwhile risen by a rough estimation of 200 billion ISK due to rise in consumer prices since 2008. This is not a typo.

Longer term view

The debt dynamics in the Icelandic economy are scary! The mortgage and financial system is built to collapse, it is an unmissable feature of the organisation of the system.

http://icelandicecon.blogspot.com.es/search?updated-max=2012-03-06T11:44:00Z&max-results=5&start=5&by-date=false

Shit on the system!  
  Tögg: english
When Elections took place in Iceland one voter decided to use his rights to vote. Showed up at the voting station and literally took a dump on the political party system, the power abuse and the general democracy distortion, wiped his ass on the ballot, neatly folded it and slipped into the ballot box.
  HEHEHE
The video is here http://aftaka.rusl.org/tag/english/

All the pain in Spain… Millions refuse to lie down and see their lives smashed for the benefit of a few bankers, says Escobar.
Zaragoza, Spain – Make no mistake; the future of the euro is being played in Spain. The euro may win – but at a price; millions of Spaniards as “collateral damage”.

It took less than 100 days in power for the right-wing Popular Party (PP) government led by Mariano Rajoy to face its first general strike, on March 29.

The strike was mostly called by minority unions; the major ones, the opportunistic and bureaucratic CCOO and UGT, have been in bed with the powers that be for years.

The strike was a response to Rajoy’s EU-imposed labour market reforms that, according to Antonio Carretero from the CGT union, are “a counter-reformation that erases with a single stroke many labour and union rights acquired by the working class in decades and generations”. That includes extremely harsh cuts in health, education and social services.

Predictably, the spin war was relentless. Madrid insisted “only” 800,000 workers took part in over 100 demonstrations nationally. According to unions, 900,000 people marched in Madrid, 800,000 in Barcelona and hundreds of thousands more in 111 cities, especially Valencia and in the Basque country (the unionist vanguard in Spain). In Zaragoza, a city of 700,000, at least 150,000 people may have been in the streets; it certainly looked like it by late afternoon.

Spain strikes over austerity measures

The country virtually stopped – at a 77 per cent overall rate (much higher than the 18 per cent predicted by corporate media). In the manufacturing sector, it was 80 per cent; in mining and construction, a whopping 97 per cent. Only 30 per cent of the national transportation system was active. And even though scores of cities kept the streetlights on all day – or used other tricks to bump up the numbers – consumption of electricity in Catalunya, for instance, fell by 24 per cent.

Austerity ergo sum

The catalogue of Spain’s “austerity” is the usual catalogue of neoliberalism in trouble. A previous, nominally socialist and now an ultra-conservative government have furiously decimated unemployment, retirement and severance benefits; turned virtually all labour contracts into precariousness hell; steeply raised fees for education and transportation; vastly militarised the police; and spent fortunes to bail out banks.

Spain inevitably follows the post-modernist mantra that democracy controls protest and rebellion by managing it – sort of. That’s where the cooption of those unions, CCOO and UGT, fits in; as they had already tamed rebellion in exchange for funds from Madrid, they called the strike virtually at the last minute.

Corporate media – and Spain is a small market run by monopolies – also fit in with the usual script. There will be violence by “anarchists”. The strike will be bad for tourists. Everyone has the right to work. No one will show up for this strike.

In Zaragoza, repression was harsher in the dead of the night and in suburbs, with no cameras watching. Morning pickets concentrated on banks across its mini Wall Street, driven by Brazilian-style samba drums and demonstrators dressed up as bankers. That sparked an internal debate among the protesters; with many shouting that this was not a party, in the end the samba drums were sent packing.

By late afternoon, during the massive main demonstration that crisscrossed the city centre, everyone and his neighbour seemed to be there – immigrants, whole middle-class families, the unemployed, the precariously employed, anarchists, socialists, progressives, and every indignado in town.

In powerhouse Barcelona, there were riots but mainly sparked by people’s rage against infiltrated cops [SP], some of them chased down and beaten up.

Significantly, more people in Barcelona took part in a spontaneous protest in landmark Catalunya square than in the official union protest. In Barcelona, and to some extent in Zaragoza as well, it was clear that the strike was not a union thing, but a collective effort of a loose network; neighbourhood assemblies; workers’ assemblies; smaller anti-authoritarian unions like the CNT and CGT; groups that sprang up out of the indignados movement – the precursor of Occupy Wall Street.

In Zaragoza and Barcelona, there were flyers, posters and stickers all over town. Neighbourhood assemblies and average workers went door to door – and shop to shop – to talk about the strike; and crucially, there was as much criticism of the major unions as criticism of the government………
“Your debt – we won’t pay it.” The mood during the March 29 Spanish general strike [Al Jazeera/Pepe Escobar]

The Harpies are coming to get you

The destruction of Greece may eventually be seen as an Aristophanes comedy compared to the Sophocles tragedy in store for Spain. Spain is the fourth largest economy in the eurozone. If it goes down, the EU goes down.

The infernal mechanism is the same; more “austerity” is followed by steeper Wall Street-engineered interests rates on Spain’s debt so every single euro in budget cutting is diverted to higher interest payments – and then some.

Of course Madrid will never have the guts to tell Spaniards that this budget-cut hysteria has less than zero chances of improving their lives. For 2012, Madrid has budgeted a whopping 29 billion euros for interest payments alone; that’s 30 per cent more than in 2011.

On top of it Rajoy offered an “amnesty” for major tax cheaters – thus encouraging future tax cheating.

And this in a country with a staggering 6 million unemployed. The official unemployment rate is 24 per cent – higher than Greece and the highest in Europe. In reality it’s more like 30 per cent. Among young people, it’s between 45 per cent and 50 per cent. An extra 600,000 Spaniards will definitely lose their jobs in 2012.
…..

The US has a budget deficit of 10 per cent of GDP. Its colossal $4 trillion-plus national debt is already 100 per cent of GDP. Compare it with Spain a few points above the EU’s debt ceiling of 3 per cent of GDP, and a national debt of 79.8 per cent of GDP. Of course, if you are Washington/Wall Street you can get away with anything.

But even if Spain is now a barely disguised protectorate, still elections, strikes and a powerful concept of citizenship are kept alive. There’s serious talk of organising a European general strike. After all, the indignados started their movement in Spain, in May 2011 – the inspiration for Occupy Wall Street, a new, self-organised push for a global solidarity culture, way beyond the old, tired institutions of the organised Left, and the washed-up categories of Left and Right, East and West, North and South.

The future may be grim, but a global ola of rebellion may still be at hand. As I left Barcelona’s airport back to Asia I couldn’t help erase the verse of a classic Echo and the Bunnymen song ringing in my head: “See you in the barricades, babe.”

Pepe Escobar is the roving correspondent for Asia Times. His latest book is Obama Does Globalistan (Nimble Books, 2009).

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/04/20124712153186201.html Full article HERE

This video is a bit deceptive on the reasons behind this great farm.

It’s because it’s next to the Donaña Park that the owners had to be sustainable, in general all Spanish enterprises are the exact opposite. Another question is that the location is pretty unique, between 2 big rivers by the sea. That said it”s an inspiring project.

Uploaded by http://www.youtube.com/user/AlJazeeraEnglish AlJazeeraEnglish on Apr 6, 2012


Wow, haven’t seen such a beautiful piece of work regarding the environment in such a long time. Amazing filmography and message. Gives hope to the future regarding sustainable development. Hope I could go there some time. Great job AlJazeera!
earthtojanson 1 day ago

great video mate .. and btw most of the indian are vegetarian .. greetings from india :D
simonjack0071 1 day ago

love this
tajpapa 2 days ago

Great stuff, Russell Beard and the Al Jazeera team.
Really nice to see a positive initiative environmental report.
julianchosun 2 days ago

Such a Powerful way of creating food and without harming a thing but instead improving it! We should give bonuses to those improving like this farm. Simply Awesome!
BrianJFanslau 2 days ago 5

By Joel Poindexter   Much has been written about The Hunger Games and the underlying libertarian themes in that story.

Jeffrey Tucker recently described the similarity between the fictional games and voting. Brent Railey noted just the other day the realities of the black market springing up to provide what the state can’t, or won’t, and the futility in relying on political figures for salvation. I’d like to draw attention to the allegory of the games and the modern warfare state….

A co-worker of mine suggested that another lesson is that when fighting one evil, it’s important not to become just as evil yourself; a lesson from later in the series.

…So right off the bat it’s pretty clear: An impoverished underclass, already forced to pay tribute to the government, has its youth pressed into violent service by the wealthy and politically powerful, for the entertainment and enrichment of this ruling elite. This pretty well describes the nation-state in virtually all times and all places, but it goes far beyond this.

The next similarity one finds is the way in which children are selected for the games: a draft. Each child’s name is placed in a bowl, and a representative from the Capitol draws the “winner.” There is a slight twist, one that makes the process even more similar to the actual draft. Each child may be entered additional times in exchange for greater food rations for their family.

The obvious effect is that poorer families are at greater odds of having their children selected for the games. In similar fashion, special rules applied during the draft allowed wealthy draftees to receive deferments, effectively allowing them to avoid military service. In modern times the ranks of the military are almost exclusively made up of the middle class and poor, who are promised better-paying jobs and opportunities otherwise not available at home.

While the people of most districts generally dread the “reaping,” in others, participation in the games is a coveted experience. In these districts, children, known as “Careers,” volunteer to go after training their whole lives. In very much the same way, military service is a generational endeavor. There are many soldiers now serving who can trace their family’s participation in wars going back many generations. It’s not uncommon for recruits to explain that their reason for joining was, at least in part, because their fathers and grandfathers served; “it’s just what we do.”

It continues.

The games are of course a spectacle. The players are paraded in front of adoring crowds; politicians make grand speeches, the Capitol showers praise on the children, who are costumed and trained before being sent to their deaths. Those who die have their portraits broadcast at the end of each day, in memoriam, not at all unlike the nightly news here when troops are killed in overseas combat.

One point that stands out, as Tucker notes, is that none of the participants would have any real reason to fight one another outside the arena. They are forced to do so, to adopt a base mentality and become uncivilized animals in order to survive. This is also true in virtually all wars. The people of at least one side, if not both, are pressed into service and sent to kill other people they’ve never met, and have no real quarrel with.

As with all contemporary conflicts, the games are televised, and huge profits are realized for those who organize them. Cameras are set up everywhere, ensuring that no detail goes unnoticed. Highlights are routinely played, not just of current games, but of those past…..

….There is one major deviation, to be sure. “Winners” are treated to special accommodations and never want for any material thing, unlike many of the troops who return from war with broken minds, bodies, and souls. A staggering number of returning veterans are often unable to function in normal society. Having been used up by their government, unfit to continue fighting, they’re no longer valuable and may be left and forgotten.

It’s no surprise that so many parallels exist, given that the series’ author, Suzanne Collins, was inspired when watching news reports about the wars. The two are so strikingly similar I can only hope that the millions of people, mostly teenagers, will make the same connection.

see full article HERE  http://www.stopwar.org.uk…

Following Wednesday’s National Day of Action for Public Transit that saw Occupiers and unions take part in coordinated actions across dozens of cities, Occupiers in Boston flooded the state capitol and have now set up an encampment outside in protest of fare hikes and service cuts to mass transit. Occupy Boston says they will occupy the area for 10 days, or until the state government agrees to revise the budget for transit.

from Occupy Boston:   This evening, Occupy the MBTA, a working group of Occupy Boston, launched Camp Charlie, a ten day occupation of the State House steps to protest fare-hikes and service cutbacks on the MBTA. Having survived the depths of the recession, the 99% now faces additional taxes in the

State House yesterday

form of escalating T fares and the loss of essential transport routes. This is a further transfer of public wealth to the banks. These are the same institutions that were bailed out by the American taxpayer after being rendered insolvent by their own, criminal recklessness. The only debt in need of servicing is their debt to us.

In a country that lavishes four billion dollars in subsidies on the oil companies, the relentless assault on public transport could not make less sense – ethically, environmentally, or otherwise.

Camp Charlie will be a place for public debate, conversation, and outreach – a living testament to the refusal of the people to be further abused by a clutch of corporate interests, multinational banking cartels and consolidated oil interests.

All those in Boston are encouraged to join or stop by Camp Charlie! Follow @Occupy_Bostonhttps://twitter.com/#!/Occupy_Boston and @OccupyMBTAhttps://twitter.com/#!/OccupyMBTA for updates.

No service cuts!
No fare hikes!
No layoffs!
No privatization of our treasured public transit system!
A comprehensive plan for affordable and sustainable transportation that works for the 99%!

http://occupywallst.org/article/occupy-boston-builds-camp-charlie-state-house-step/

¿Hay razones para la huelga?
SÍ: Sindicatos, partidos, indignados…
todos tienen motivos para ir el 29-M

1) Despido más barato y fácil. La reforma abarata el despido objetivo a 20 días por año y amplía los supuestos de aplicación (basta una simple previsión de caída de ingresos). Además, ahora es el trabajador el que ha de demostrar que un despido es improcedente, y no al revés.

2) ERE a funcionarios. La nueva legislación perjudica seriamente a millones de empleados públicos: permite los expedientes de regulación de empleo en entidades públicas con ajustes presupuestarios.

3) La precariedad se hace “crónica”. La nueva reforma crea un nuevo contrato de “apoyo al empleo” que posibilita ser despedido sin indemnización el primer año; además, ahora los jóvenes pueden encadenar contratos temporales hasta los 30 años, y la empresa puede modificar unilateralmente las condiciones –sueldo, horario, jornada…– de sus empleados indefinidos.

4) Los parados, a trabajar gratis. Afecta también a los más de 5 millones de parados: desde febrero pueden obligarlos a desempeñar labores a favor de la comunidad si perciben alguna prestación y no están apuntados a ningún curso de formación.

5) Ni rastro de las medidas en el programa electoral. La reforma laboral de Rajoy era apenas una vaga propuesta en el programa electoral. Durante la campaña no dejó entrever que fuera a aprobar algo así. Además, pese a que durante meses se urgió a patronal y sindicatos a llegar a un acuerdo, el Ejecutivo presentó su reforma sin consenso por parte de los trabajadores.

6) Expertos alertan: no creará empleo. Ya lo reconocieron miembros del Gobierno y lo han suscrito economistas y expertos: la reforma no ayudará a crear empleo. “No aborda la dualidad”, sostienen en la fundación Fedea; la consultora PwC cree que por sí sola no servirá: “Son necesarias otras reformas que impulsen el consumo y la actividad”.

7) La situación es excepcional. Con cinco millones de parados, recortes en todo tipo de servicios y subidas en tasas e impuestos, España sufre una situación inédita en su historia reciente. No parece descabellado convocar la que sería solo la sexta huelga general de la historia española.

8) Es un derecho fundamental. Aunque denostado en los últimos tiempos, el de huelga es un derecho fundamental de la Constitución (art. 28), que se ejerce cuando cada ciudadano lo estime.

9) Despidos incluso con baja médica. La reforma legitima los despidos procedentes para aquellos trabajadores que acumulan nueve días de baja en un mes, aunque sea justificada.

10) Las huelgas a veces funcionan. Ya ocurrió en 2002, con la huelga general que sufrió el expresidente Aznar; entonces, se logró dar marcha atrás a la reforma laboral, aun ya aprobada.

During an international meeting in December 2011 in Frankfurt am Main, several left wing organisations and grassroots unions from Greece, Spain, Poland, Austria and Germany decided to launch a joint effort against capitalist reforms under the current crisis. On march 31st, there will be a “European Day of Action … http://march31.net……Continue Reading]

EUROPE: M31-member …umsGanze! has released their Clip for March 31st. It’s entirely in English, and might be useful in other countries, too. M31 – The Movie will be re-released in English this Sunday.

See the MOVIE HERE  http://vimeo.com/38600136

 

M31 in Spain

View full article »

By Rebecca Solnit   Violence is what the police use. It’s what the state uses. If we want a revolution, it’s because we want a better world, because we think we have a bigger imagination, a more beautiful vision. So we’re not violent; we’re not like them in crucial ways.

When I see a New .York City policeman pepper-spray already captive young women in the face, I am disgusted; I want things to be different. And that pepper-spraying incident, terrible though it was for the individuals, did not succeed in any larger way.

In fact, seen on Youtube (704,737 times for one posted version) and widely spread, it helped make Occupy Wall Street visible and sympathetic to mainstream viewers. The movement grew tremendously after that. The incident demonstrated the moral failure of the police and demonstrated that violence is also weak. It can injure, damage, destroy, kill, but it can’t coerce the will of the people, whether it’s a policeman assaulting unarmed young women or the US Army in Vietnam or Iraq…..

We Are Already Winning

The powers that be are already scared of the Occupy movement and not because of tiny acts of violence. They are scared because right now we speak pretty well for the 99%. And because we set out to change the world and it’s working…..

This movement is winning. It’s winning by being broad and inclusive, by emphasizing what we have in common and bridging differences between the homeless, the poor, those in freefall, the fiscally thriving but outraged, between generations, races  and nationalities and between longtime activists and never-demonstrated-before newcomers. It’s winning by keeping its eyes on the prize, which is economic justice and direct democracy, and by living out that direct democracy through assemblies and other means right now.

It’s winning through people power direct-action tactics, from global marches to blockades to many hundreds of Occupations.  It’s winning through the creativity of the young, from the 22-year-old who launched Move Your Money Day to the 26-year-old who started the We Are the 99% website. And by tactics learned from Argentina’s 2001 revolution of general assemblies and politica afectiva, the politics of affection. It’s winning by becoming the space in which we are civil society: of human beings in the aggegate, living in public and with trust and love for one another. Violence is not going to be one of the tools that works in this movement.

What Actually Works

The language of Crimethinc is empty machismo peppered with insults. And just in this tiny snippet, incoherent. People who don’t like violence are not necessarily fearful or obedient; people power and nonviolence are strategies that are not the same as the ideology pacifism. To shut down the whole central city of Seattle and the World Trade Organization ministerial meeting on November 30, 1999,  or the business district of San Francisco for three days in March of 2003, or the Port of Oakland on November 2, 2011—through people power—is one hell of a great way to stand up. It works. And it brings great joy and sense of power to those who do it. It’s how the world gets changed these days.

Crimethinc, whose logo is its name inside a bullet, doesn’t actually cite examples of violence achieving anything in our recent history. Can you name any? The anonymous writers don’t seem prepared to act, just tell others to (as do the two most high-profile advocates of violence on the left). And despite the smear quoted above that privileged people oppose them, theirs is the language of privilege. White kids can do crazy shit and get slapped on the wrist or maybe slapped around for it; I have for a quarter century walked through police lines like they were tall grass; people of color face far more dire consequences. When white youth try to bring the police down on a racially diverse movement—well, it’s not exactly what the word solidarity means to most of us……………….

Another Occupy Oakland witness, a female street medic, wrote of the ill-conceived November 2 late-night antics, “watching black bloc-ers run from the cops and not protect the camp their actions had endangered, an action which ultimately left behind many mentally ill people, sick people, street kids, and homeless folks to defend themselves against the police onslaught was disturbing and disgusting in ways I can’t even articulate because I am still so angry at the empty bravado and cowardice that I saw.” She adds, “I want those kids to be held accountable to the damage that they did, damage made possible by their class and race privilege.” And physical fitness; Occupy Oakland’s camp includes children, older people, wheelchair users and a lot of other people less ready to run………….-

Read much more here... WITH THANKS  http://occupy.infoshop.org/blogs-mu/2011/12/01/throwing-out-the-master%E2%80%99s-tools-and-building-a-better-house/

29M. HUELGA GENERAL. NI TRABAJES, NI CONSUMAS

29M. GENERAL STRIKE  Lets not work or consume

Todos los sindicatos de clase y combativos, así como los colectivos, partidos o movimientos sociales de base CONVOCAN a la HUELGA GENERAL DEL 29 DE MARZO contra este nuevo ataque brutal a l@s trabajador@s y parad@s que significa la Reforma Laboral.
All class and militant unions and groups, parties or social movements based CALL to GENERAL STRIKE FROM 29 MARCH against this brutal new attack the worker @ s @ s @ s parad means the Labor Reform.

CGT

http://www.rojoynegro.info/articulo/accion-sindical/cgt-convoca-huelga-general-el-29-m-la-reforma-laboral-el-pacto-sociall

CNT

http://www.cnt.es/noticias/la-cnt-convoca-huelga-general-el-pr%C3%B3ximo-29-de-marzo

Manifestaciones preparativos

Ayer se celebraron 57 manifestaciones en toda España contra la reforma laboral, en vigor desde el pasado 12 de febrero. En la comunidad aragonesa hubo dos principales: en Zaragoza y en Huesca, aunque también hubo concentraciones en otros núcleos como en Benasque. las protestas de ayer escenificó un salto cuantitativo, por la multitudinaria asistencia, y cualitativo, por el hartazgo de jóvenes, parados y trabajadores que se sienten los únicos paganos de una crisis que parece no tener fin. “Se puede y se debe hacer lo que haga falta para no morir de rabia”, comentaba Soledad, de 61 años, que junto a Paqui –de 44 años y que encadena más de 30 contratos eventuales en los últimos once años– encarnaban la viva imagen del inconformismo.

Cada vez somos más las personas que exigimos compaginar la Huelga General del 29 de marzo con una HUELGA DE CONSUMO. La Reforma Laboral del desPPido ha supuesto el mayor atentado a los derechos laborales de la historia reciente, a lo que debemos sumar el retraso en la edad de jubilación a los 67 años, la subida de impuestos a los que menos tenemos y los recortes a la sanidad y la enseñanza, mientras que bancos, multinacionales, políticos y especuladores en general, los mismos que han causado esta crisis, siguen enriqueciéndose a nuestra costa y para ello no les importa llevar al planeta al borde del desastre ecológico.

Huelga de Consumo  Vs  Huelga General
El derecho a la huelga es algo  legítimo  que ejerce libremente la clase trabajadora para demostrar al empresariado que se está en desacuerdo con su gestión. Lo cierto es que la idea principal de la huelga es conseguir que el empresario pierda dinero. La huelga es el mejor  mecanismo de presión en procesos productivos industriales y algunos servicios. Si no se produce o no se vende  el empresario deja de ganar un dinero.
Sin embargo en parte del sector de servicios y empleados públicos, una huelga no tiene tanto efecto sobre el empresario, ya que si el trabajo hoy no se hace, no sucederá nada especialmente grave, en ocasiones por los abusivos servicios mínimos o el miedo al despido. El retraso que se acumule se irá recuperando poco a poco.
En definitiva en una sociedad industrial la huelga general es la mejor medida de presión. Pero ese escenario ha ido cambiado con el tiempo, pasando a una sociedad basada en el consumo, donde lo que de verdad hace daño a todas las empresas es no consumir.
Imagina un día de huelga general y de consumo, de paro absoluto. Sin apenas consumo, sin compra de alimentos, prensa, tabaco, sin uso del transporte privado ni colectivo, sin movimientos bancarios, sin llamadas, sin gestiones con la administración, un día de total retiro del mundanal ruido. Bancos, centros comerciales, supermercados, gasolineras, comercios, centros de atención al cliente, todos ellos sin clientela. Si algún trabajador no secunda la huelga general por miedo al despido estaría cruzado de brazos.

29 de marzo de 2012: HUELGA GENERAL Y DE CONSUMO
29M: No trabajes, No consumas
Publicado por TINTA NEGRA, anARTchist blog

 

March 2012

Happy to let you know ‘The Free’ is now IN PRINT, on request,  as a real ‘dead tree’ book… Just in time to take part in the ‘Occupy 2012’ movements planet wide!!


Available here: https://www.createspace.com/3702134    costs 10€, or $14, + post. (postage may be cheaper from Amazon here http://www.amazon…. )

..one lonely, abused schoolgirl occupies her own life..and sets off an explosive social and economic revolution


Also it’s Out Now as a free download for Ipad, iPhone, Sony, Kobo, Nook,, etc. Available here:http://www.mediafire.com/?9sdkp1dyhtjbiym for ePub (colour) costs nothing.


Also it’s in Kindle Stores (costs 3€)› US  › UK  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007EHCF14


And still a free pdf download from its website here: http://thefreeonline.wordpress.com/testing-downloads/ 362 page colour 100 illustrations +all info.


Hope you enjoy the adventure, and build on its ideas to exploit the inevitably coming collapse of capitalism

Best of luck to you all…..mike gilli

Would you like to HELP DISTRIBUTE the printed book? You could just tell your friends.. or ask your local bookstore to stock it by ordering through them. Or ask a library to get it.  Trade stocking details ’The Free’ ISBN 978-1466409323                   .CreateSpace. Direct Reseller Application https://www.createspace.com/pub/l/createspacedirect.do?rewrite=true Also trade distributors like http://www.ingrambook.com/retailers/orderingi.aspx(from April 2012) which unlike Createspace should take returns.  For Libraries the agent is http://www.btol.com/ts3/ 

by Phil Dickens  The CNT rejects any kind of negotiation over the rights conquered by the working class through years of struggle. We call for this strike with the primary objective of immediately repealing the the labor reform that was approved yesterday by the Parliament, which we consider a head-on assault against the working class. This reform continues the measures started by the previous government, such as the labor reform of 2010 and the cuts to public employee salaries, to pensions, and to public services, cuts which are being deepened by the current government.

bloggers note..This article misleads a little. The big unions finally and reluctantly confirmed the General Strike for March 29th 3 days ago and the CNT is joining in.

The CNT demands the end of an economic policy designed to make the workers pay for the crisis of the banks and the employers. This policy has led to an unacceptable number of unemployed workers, a number which does not stop growing, as well as to an impoverishment and worsening of the working class’s living conditions.

The CNT also calls this strike against the cuts. The strike will happen the day before the setting of the General State Budget which will incorporate a brutal attack against public services and social rights.
The CNT rejects the agreement reached in February between the CCOO and UGT unions and the employers’ confederation, the CEOE, as well as the amendments that those unions have presented to the parliamentary process of the labor reform. The CNT rejects these amendments as a valid alternative, since they share the spirit of the reform and assume the logic of the employers and the government, who suppose that the only escape from their crisis must come through the workers surrendering their rights, placing the working class into a position of weakness from the start. The same logic has already led these unions to accept the raising of the retirement age to 67, even after the general strike of September 29, 2010.

For the CNT, the strike on March 29 must be only the beginning of a growing and sustained process of mobilization, one which includes the entire working class and the sectors that are most disadvantaged and affected by the capitalist crisis. This mobilization must put the brakes on the dynamic of constant assaults on our rights, while laying the bases for the recovery and conquest of new social rights with the goal of a deep social transformation.

All of these reasons have led the CNT to make this call for March 29 on its own account. With this call the CNT wants to give coverage to everyone who is taking up positions for a real and continued confrontation that will pay back the assaults on the working class with the same force with which we are receiving them, together with all workers’ organizations that share these objectives and reject the policies of agreement and social peace……

….,It’s time for all workers – unemployed or employed, retired, on the black market, students, and the precarious – to say “Enough!” We must seize the streets rather than abandon them in order to impose our strength and our demands.

March 29 – everyone in the street, everyone on the strike.

http://cnt.es/en/news/cnt-calls-general-strike-march-29

Most Important Video of the Year? Asahi TV: “Unbelievable”

View the video and transcript here Published: March 10th, 2012 at 3:47 am ET By ENENews

— If Unit 4 pool gets a crack from quake and leaks, it would be end for Tokyo -Expert — Doesn’t have to be large tremor, already shaken many times

Most discussion of the No. 4 spent fuel pool has focused on an earthquake causing the pool to collapse. This video is different because it reveals: A crack, rather than the collapse of the pool itself, can be the end of Tokyo The quake that could put a crack in the pool and be the end of Tokyo does not have to be a large one….

They are talking about resuming the operation of nuclear plants. [...] But is the accident over? Is it really over? For example, Unit 4. In fact, Dr. Koide of Kyoto University is worried about it most. The present conditions of Unit 4 are like this. You see, almost no walls. They were blown off, and honestly speaking, the Unit 4 is a wreck. A wreck. [...]

Now, what if an earthquake occurred right now and the water in the pool started to leak? I asked this question to Dr. Koide. Please watch this video. [...] If a large aftershock occurred and the wall here collapsed, the water in the pool would leak out and the spent fuel would not be cooled any more. Then, they would start to melt, probably completely. And huge amount of radiation contained in the spend fuel would be released outside, with no walls to block it. We’ll never know when an earthquake comes. [...] the fuel rods, which are probably damaged to some degree [...]

What if a destructive earthquake occurred during those years? That would be the end. The end? Yes. You see, that would be the end. Unbelievable…unbelievable. This is a serious problem. TEPCO knows dealing with this problem is most important for now. [...]

So if a large earthquake should occur from now until that January… No, it doesn’t have to be large. Unit 4 has been shaken many times already. If the pool got cracks after another earthquake and the water started to leak out, Dr. Koide said that would be the end. The end for a wide area including Tokyo. Oh my, and they are talking about resuming nuclear plant operation.

I think resuming the operation is out of the question at least until the results from the investigation by NAIIC come out. [...] I want them to let us vote again. They talk about resuming the operation after gaining understanding from local communities. But for this issue, I think the whole country of Japan, or the whole area including the neighboring countries, is a “local community” that would be affected. We should keep in mind that it’s not only the sites of the plants that should be considered as “local communities.” We should recognize the accident is far from over and the crisis is still ongoing. Yes.

And excuse me, I have a correction to make. Retrieving the fuel rods is planned to start not from January, but from…when? December next year? (Yes.) December next year? No kidding! Sorry, I took a too-favorable view. The members of the Diet who want to resume, I want them to resign. We need to reconsider this issue.

I want to know the exact names of the members of the Diet who want to resume, and ask them for their opinions. [...]


The eviction of the Occupy Dame Street camp

A large force of Garda and council workers were deployed at 3.30am today, International Women’s Day, to clear Occupy Dame Street (ODS) camp. The camp was completely demolished in the course of the eviction, campers intimidated and their personal property stolen.

This was a level of force way out of proportion with the numbers in the camp (about 15 people) and stands in contrast with the lack of resources put into investigating what happened at Anglo, the collapse of which has left a debt of 26,000 Euro on every single person in the country.

The small Garda team ‘investigating’ what happened at Anglo only includes one forensic accountant. As far as anyone can tell they have yet to get into the computers that were encrypted and which the bank has refused to hand over the passwords for. This certainly tells us whose interests those in power protect and that the Garda will ‘just follow orders’ even if they are individually included amongst the 99% of us who have been screwed over.

Media coverage of the eviction suggests that it was a fairly low key affair with an overwhelming number of Garda (around 100) compared to campers (about 15) but commentary from the campers and a video interview published by the Irish Times suggests that a significant level of physical intimidation & force was used by Garda. Campers talked of pick axes being used to break into structures while they were still inside and of the seizure of mobile phones, lap tops, clothes, minutes & contact books and even bicycles that were chained on the square. This happened without warning, while people were sleeping. One of the campers said of the police that “they came like volatile bullies & terrorists .. they behaved like animals”

Updated 14.30: In a second video interview from this morning two women from ODS talked about how the Garda had arrived wearing balaclava’s, didn’t poduce the court order until they had dragged everyone off the site and had twisted their arms and stamped on their hands when they attempted to sit on the street.  Just before lunch a small group were forcibly prevented from putting up tents.  A number of witnesses have said that last night some of the Garda appeared to be carrying guns.

  Latest UPDATE
GARDAÍ IN DUBLIN city centre are preventing the protest group who had camped outside the Central Bank’s headquarters from 8 October until this morning from erecting any more tents at the property.

The camp was dismantled by dozens of gardaí at around 3.30am today and the area was subsequently cleaned by Dublin City Council workers.


[CAT] ¡Se va a armar la gorda! Jornades d’acció feminista autònoma per a dones, lesbianes i trans (MLT), sense partits, sindicats ni banderes)

barcelona..Per segon any consecutiu se celebren les jornades d’acció feminista autònoma al voltant del 8 de març, “Se va a armar la gorda” per a dones, lesbianes i trans (MLT), sense partits, sindicats ni banderes.

Perquè pensem que cal abandonar les pors, la passivitat i la submissió, us animem a que, durant aquests dies però també la resta de dies, feu accions, prengueu eel carrer agiteu el sistema, us autoorganizeu per a crear xarxes i destruir el que ens oprimeix, canalitzant la ràbia, i fent-nos protagonistes de les nostres vides i dels nostres desitjos per tots els mitjans.

En un context de progressiva precarització en tots els àmbits de les nostres vides, de polítiques de privatització i negació dels serveis més bàsics-llei de l’avortament, desnonaments i desallotjaments, explotació laboral, desmantellament salvatge del sistema sanitari i educatiu,nosaltres -invisibilitzades, minoritzades, deslegitimades-vam decidir continuar endavant amb les nostres lluites, amb aquesta lluita, colze a colze contra el poder.

Tornem a prendre el carrer, un cop més, sense demanar permís i organitzant unes jornades feministes al marge de les institucionals, on visibilitzar sense concessions els nostres cossos, les nostres lluites, les nostres sexualitats i la nostra capacitat d’acció;posant coneixements i pràctiques autogestionàries en comú i agitant l’espai públic que se’ns nega sistemàticament, prenent nostre costat a la barricada dels conflictes socials.

Se va a amar la gorda!

+info
twitter @SE_VA_ARMAR #sevarmarlagorda

LEER MÁS AKÍ  http://acampadadebarcelona.org/index.php/ca/compo

The workers are demanding a national minimum wage, permanent jobs for contract labourers, social security for informal labourers, pensions for all workers, intervention by the government to stop the rising costs of living, and to end the sell off of publicly owned companies amongst other demands.

http://libcom.org/blog/world%E2%80%99s-biggest-ever-strike-

Transport, postal services and banking have all been hit by the strike which involves around a dozen unions, with a ‘complete shutdown’ of banking in Mumbai being reported. Police have been deployed to try to prevent ‘unlawful’ picketing, with 100 arrests made this morning for obstructing traffic.

A day-long nation-wide strike staged by 11 trade unions may have been  followed by up to 100 million workers. Key sectors like banking and transport took a hit in various parts of the country.

Rajinder Khurana, a 36-year-old bank clerk working in the government-owned State Bank of India in the capital was up early on Tuesday. The previous night he and his colleagues had prepared elaborate placards demanding an amendment to the Minimum Wages Act and an increase in gratuity payout.

Job Security

Khurana was among the hundreds of employees who picketed the bank’s entrance dissuading employees from coming into office even as a tight police cordon ringed the bank premises. All clerical staff and non-supervisory staff were on strike, while officers reported for duty.

A driver rests on his yellow ambassador taxi during a country-wide strike in KolkataMany taxi drivers suspended their services to participate in the protests

“We have come together to voice our protest against price rise, breach of labour rights and the government’s free market policies like disinvestment in public sector companies,” Khurana told Deutsche Welle.

Millions of others like Khurana joined the call for tighter labor laws and a minimum wage in a strike that crippled banking services across the country and affected different modes of public transport.
A large number of rickshaw and taxi drivers kept their vehicles off the roads in many parts of the country to take part in the protest.
“I had to pay double the fare to take a rickshaw as most of the rickshaw drivers were on strike. They charged exorbitant rates,” exclaimed Swati Chandan, a daily commuter.
Read more here.. with thanks Author: Murali Krishnan
 http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,15774001,00.html?maca=en-aa-news-862-rdf

 

Financed by capitalist slush funds the rightwing press has fanned a wave of race hate against southern Europeans, blaming our lazy love of fiesta for their economic woes.
BUT OECD FIGURES PROVE THAT SPANISH, PORTUGUESE, ITALIAN AND GREEK WORKERS DO LONGER HOURS FOR LESS PAY, WORK IS MORE PRECARIOUS, HARDER WITH LESS MECANIZATION  AND UNEMPLOYMENT IS  HIGHER.

The eurozone crisis has sown divisions in the European family, and Greece in particular has often been singled out for criticism. Has Greece been living beyond its means? Are Greeks lazy? On this second point, the statistics tell a surprising story.

This week Greece is facing more spending cuts after agreeing to a deal of 130bn euros (£110bn, $175bn) to help it avoid bankruptcy.

But the statistics suggest the country has not lost its way due to laziness. If you look at the average annual hours worked by each worker, the Greeks seem very hard-working.

Figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) show that the average Greek worker toils away for 2,017 hours per year which is more than any other European country.

Out of the 34 members of the OECD, that is just two places behind the board leaders, South Korea.

On the other hand, the average German worker – normally thought of as the very epitome of industriousness – only manages 1,408 hours a year. source: BBC NEWS

Next solidarity protest on Saturday 25 February at the Greek Embassy

Φεβρουαρίου 19, 2012

After the success of the day of action on 18/2 in London and around Europe, we decided to continue our actions of solidarity! 13:00 at the Greek embassy, at 1A Holland Park W11 3TP. Facebook event:  http://www.facebook.com/events/396894816993798/ Με επισήμανση:, , , , Posted in: Δράσεις

GREEK anarchists have called for international solidarity efforts, as they endure a new brutal wave of repression from the state and its neo-fascists guard-dogs.

Says a statement posted on From the Greek Streets: “Greece is at a critical turning point, and many critical changes are taking place in a societal as well as a political and economic level.

“The disintegration and dissolution of the dominant – until recently – model of power and exploitation is more than evident, so it defines what is commonly called ‘crisis.’

“What we are experiencing now is the total failure of a system that is unable to secure any longer the social consensus, thereby is engaged in a frontal attack that is unconditional and with no pretext.

http://vastminority.blogspot.com/

We’ve counted some 140 ”Occupied Social Centers”  the Spanish state. (en castellano abajo)

 ”In every neighborhood an occupied social center… The movement is no longer so defensive, enclosed in a comfortable (and sometimes thankless) ghetto, and has begun to expand. It’s a good time to welcome without fear new people from other political traditions, and above all, people never politicized.”

In ‘A las Barricadas’ magazine we published a map some  months ago of social centers (squats or not), cultural associations, think tanks, foundations, social libraries, bookstores and other places of anti-authoritarian character.The very variety of the Iberian anarchism today, makes it difficult to categorize or locate many spaces.

The 15M  Occupy The Streets Movement

One of the results of the huge new assembly based movement of 15M, in 2011 ( an anti party and anti leader movement which is still spreading round the world), has been the number of occupations that its various assemblies have opened up.  Apart from Madrid and Barcelona, the squatters of 15M have occupied centers in  Zaragoza, Cuenca, Murcia, Vigo, Burgos, Oviedo, Palma and Leon. We can not deny that it is positive that they have adopted the practice of direct action.  (note.. this refers to the common complaint that the 15M ‘Take the Streets’ movement is much too pacifist.)

Some of these are squatting symbolically, a flower of one day, others are intended for housing, but some have become neighborhood social centers. Its easy for old activists to be critical of starry eyed kids. However the 15M  intentions of being a social center have identical demands to those of social centers in the  90′s. (Note.. many occupations are of public services threatened with closure.)

Squat the Basque Country

Speaking of the phenomenon of squatting we need to observe different contexts in the Spanish state. For example, it is known that all the comrades in Euskal Herriak play in another “League” as there are ‘gaztetxes okupados‘ squatted almost everywhere. In Bilbo city alone there are about a dozen. The idea is, more or less,  of a “social center in each neighborhood.” Strongly influenced by the political context, of course. In most of the gaztetxes leftwing nationalism is more or less open. In other cases they are more hippies, with less political content, and others are autonomous or even libertarian. Reflecting the strength of this movement is the huge response to the eviction of Kukutza III in Bilbo, easily the biggest rally in favour of squatting in recent years (probably) in Europe. On the other hand, in  Iruña (Pamplona) there has been a marked decline, from 10 to 1 (Zizur Nagusia) in recent years, the result of brutal continuous and long lasting repression.(represión.)

Revolutionary Barcelona and Catalunya

In the city of Barcelona is also fulfilled the phrase “in every neighborhood an occupied social center.” It is

La Carbonera. Barcelona 2012

possible that even in every neighborhood there are several. According to the weekly info-mural sheet ‘USURPER’ (Info Usurpa) in the city there are about 24 CSOs (Occupied Social centers), to which must be added those that carry out their activities from time to time and do not appear in InfoUsurpa. What’s more, we should add another dozen libraries and social ‘ateneos’ (autonomous workers centers) with more or less explicitly libertarian inspiration. In total at least  40 community centers (including Ateneos and others) in the city (but not all with daily activity). In the past decade the squatcenters have attracted many young (and not so young) who came to the city from all sides. In some neighborhoods the squatting has been endemic, as in Vallcarca or Poble Nou. Now there is a little everywhere, especially in Carmel, Sant Andreu, Sants, Horta, Clot, the Raval … It has lost the strong presence that it had in Gràcia in the past, but it has moved to other neighborhoods.

But the phenomenon of squatting has spread across the whole of Catalonia. CSOs can now be found in the industrial cities around Barcelona..  Molins de Rei, L’Hospitalet, Cornella, Vilamoura, Castelldefells, Santa Coloma, Badalona, etc.. There is also some displacement of squatters into neighboring Sierra Collserola mountains in the municipalities of Sant Cugat, Cerdanyola, Moncada, La Llagosta …  Kan Pasqual and Can Masdeu..  are rur-urban squatters, with one foot in the city and another in the field. This idea has spread to other CSOs around Barcelona.

And of course the rest of Catalonia, Tarragona, Reus, Baix Llobregat, Barcelona Nord, Sabadell, Terrassa, Manresa, Cerdanyola, Girona, Figueres, Lleida, and so on. There are probably as many CSOs outside as inside Barcelona city. Often there is a “squatter emigration” from Barcelona to the villages and smaller towns. In others it is the original people from the villages, that after participating in the Barcelona squatting movement, have decided to return home to OKKUPY.   Note.. The 15M Occupy movement is also strongly attracted back to the land.

A problem that may be associated  is the creation of certain “culture of the snack bar.” This means that the militant social circle in the center evolve a lack of communication with other social centers (of even their own neighborhood), without being coordinated to carry out common good politics. Sometimes more centers can mean more dispersal of social activists.. Managing an occupied social space can be difficult and exhausting. Especially if you enter into the dynamics of judgments, evictions, squatters, enabling space, student holidays … which can lead to disabling social activists for months until they have their own space underway again.

The 1930´s movement and Today

In the 30′s, according to Pere Solà, there were about 200 Ateneo centers run by Catalan workers. Today the number of social and cultural associations – although we may wonder – is not much less than this amount (about 70 between squatted social centers and cultural associations, some 50 of the Catalan independence movement and another 20 or 30 ideologically undefined). But whereas in the years ranging from 1910 to 1939, every Ateneo had 100, 200 or 500 people associated today in every community center there is an affinity group that is managed and how much some groups that give use . That is, if successful, the social center will have a dozen people running it, or if we include supporters who go through the CSO or Ateneo about 50 or 70 people (which is not bad, of course!). In short, if in the 30′s the phenomenon of labor ateneísmo figures moved tens of thousands of members and activists today are just a few hundred people and a few thousand supporters.

Among the short-term needs is the coordination of social centers belonging to the same ideological tradition (eg, CSOs more explicitly anarchist libertarians with the Athenians) and intergenerational generation of spaces in which knowledge is transmitted and take a policy formation process of the new generations (so you do not have to “reinvent the wheel” again and repeating the same mistakes that past generations).

As to what is known as “squatters’ movement” … In the Barcelona squatting no longer dominates the anarcho-punk atmosphere of the past, which made squatting had a certain aesthetic and ideological coherence, but now there are many variations with many political and aesthetic nuances, which makes it impossible to identify the new squatters politically as belonging to the same movement. Some are separatists, communists, autonomous anarchists, women, postmodern, queer, punk, counter-cultural, ravers, undefined, and so on. Is not the same Can Vies, as Kasa de la Muntanya, you can’t compare the series of Rimaia free university occupations with the District VI and the huge ‘circus squats’..

In Barcelona, today we should speak of “squatting” without more adjectives, iunstead of “squatters’ movement.” We believe that what really should matter is whether a social center falls within the libertarian movement or not, whether that’s part of its business or not. And if so, begin to create opportunities for mutual understanding and collaboration. We understand that the root cause of the malfunction la Assemblea d’Okupes of Barcelona is the very fact that the squatter movement is too dispersed. Otherwise, the generations go by without  libertarian practice  evolving ideologically, and centers burn out naturally over the years.

Madrid Squat movement taking off

By number, Madrid would be the third area of the state with more squats. Today there are about 15 in the capital and about 6 in the Community. This is a record. There has never been more occupied social centers. There are also other universities and community centers that complete the picture coming to be more than 40 social spaces. A similar situation occurs in the city of Barcelona, which is sometimes duplicated efforts, and collaborate rather than fall into certain excess of diversity. However, as there are fewer social centers in Barcelona, it is logical to occur later this numerical growth causes the subsequent referral to the various political movements that adhere to different centers (anarchists, communists, postmodern, and so on. .) Since then Madrid is still in growth phase, but at a pace that will squats in the city in a few years will be achieved or install an Athenian social center in each neighborhood.

And all over the place!!!

Galicia is an area that has experienced a remarkable growth occupied social centers, driven mainly by the independence movement there. In some ways trying to emulate their fellow Basques and Catalans, and to some extent have achieved success going from almost zero to twenty social centers in five years. In the more libertarian countryside there are 5 and about 3 ‘athenaeum’ squats and social libraries. There are also 5 other local initiatives which can classed as libertarian.

As for the rest of the peninsula, we have the case of Andalucia, which despite all its extension has little tradition  except in Granada, Seville and Malaga. In any case in recent years there have also been occupations (some failed to take) in Cordoba, Cadiz, Chiclana and Moron. Here its often squats of blocks of flats with neighbors, where social activists join in squatting and which become social centers occasionally (this also happens in Madrid and Barcelona).

There are also new CSOs on the island of Tenerife (2), Murcia (2), Cuenca (2), Burgos (2, 1 and evicted), Logroño, Salamanca, Valladolid, Leon, Salamanca, Oviedo, Palma, Zaragoza .. . and many places that years ago would have been unexpected as Arnedo, Badajoz, Plasencia or even Valdepeñas (who was evicted). And say nothing of smaller towns rhytm, Madrid and Catalonia, with squats (and some even more).

We conclude that the phenomenon of squatting, despite the laws, despite police repression and all the “bad reputation” associated with it, has remained over time, and has even spread throughout the Spanish state . Right now all regions except Cantabria have squatted social centers( although it had one three years ago and has some ‘Atheneos’. According to the map, there are some 140 CSOs counted statewide, but some are probably left out and others already lost.

For several years the libertarian movement has been complaining about the lack of anarchist Ateneos. (traditional workers social centers). Usually these Atheneos were linked with anarcho-syndicalist unions, but by the 70′s some were created in Catalonia which were autonomous anarchist organizations. With the advent of the crisis in the Iberian anarchism in the 80 and 90, the number of Ateneos remained very low and usually associated with anarcho-syndicalist unions who organised them.

Anyway, in the last 5 years or so, we are seeing an upturn,  with the creation of new explicitly libertarian cultural associations . The drive has several sources. On one side are the unions that create them, because they believe it is the line to be followed for the training of its members and to lead them cultural activity. On the other hand, we have different anarchist activists who, instead of creating a social center create an ideologically undefined libertarian ‘ateneo’ . Some of these activists have learned from their experiences in squatted environments , or being in assemblies too pluralistic for their point of view. The fact is that now there are about 50 libertarian cultural associations in the state and every month we hear of new ones.

The creation of free spaces, the generalization of these initiatives in particular areas (cities and districts with several social centers), and horizontal expansion (in terms of territory: new districts, new towns and cities which are receiving social activist groups) cause the spread of anti-authoritarian practices and are fairly widespread.

It is clear that this freedom movement of our time lacks an ideological coherence. Many people involved in these initiatives refuse to be labeled as anarchists. There is no self-consciousness of “liberation movement” out of the unions libertarian or the Athenians, and autonomous or anarchist insurrectionary groups. We need to change this dynamic and work together to include self-managed different libertarian initiatives in a social-political movement, coherent in terms of principles and objectives, while plural as to tactics. But that all members feel part of the project and see their initiatives as complementary.

We must begin to recognize that we are not so few as 15 years ago, and we need to change perspective. The movement is no longer so defensive, enclosed in a comfortable (and sometimes thankless) ghetto, and has begun to expand. It’s a good time to welcome without fear new people from other political traditions, and above all, people never politicized. The emergence of 15M reminds us of the need to be attentive to what happens in the street, not to despise any opportunity to let our message be heard, because after all “there is something left.” And above all, lets take every opportunity to continue building this libertarian infrastructure (spaces, own media, support groups, means of economic self-management, etc..) To be the basis of “parallel society”.

transalation by Google and corrected and slightly edited by this blogger. (one note. In Spanish ‘libertarian’ means ‘left wing anarchist’.

From  http://www.alasbarricadas.org/noticias/node/19600 with thanks


original Spanish version

Hay contabilizados unos 140 CSO en todo el estado, pero como siempre, “ni son todos los que están ni están todos los que son”.

En Alasbarricadas publicamos hace meses un mapaque hace las veces de directorio de centros sociales (okupados o no), ateneos, centros de estudios, fundaciones, bibliotecas sociales, librerías y otros espacios de carácter anti-autoritario. Se trata de crear un listado exhaustivo de iniciativas libertarias destinado a convertirse en una herramienta más del movimiento libertario (o de los diferentes movimientos anti-autoritarios). Es importante que la gente que comienza a tener curiosidad por el anarquismo o inquietudes sociales, tenga lugares de referencia en los que encontrar anarquistas. Sin embargo, la propia variedad del anarquismo ibérico actual, hace difícil catalogar o localizar muchos espacios. Por ello el directorio es lo más amplio posible, sin ánimo de excluir a nadie, intentando que cada persona pueda encontrar y desarrollar sus afinades.

Pero también estos mapas sirven para realizar análisis en base a los datos que aportan. Probablemente uno de los resultados colaterales del movimiento del 15M, del 2011, haya sido la cantidad de okupaciones que sus diferentes asambleas han llevado a cabo. Estas okupaciones han afectado incluso a territorios anteriormente libres de okupaciones, extendiendo esta práctica. Además de Madrid y Barcelona, las okupaciones del 15M se han desarrollado por Zaragoza, Cuenca, Murcia, Vigo, Burgos, Oviedo, Palma o León. No sabemos en qué pararán estas nuevas okupaciones, pero no podemos negar que es positivo que hayan adoptado la práctica de la acción directa.

Algunas son okupaciones simbólicas, flor de un día, otras están destinadas a viviendas, pero más de una se convertirá en centro social de barrio. Quienes llevamos ya años en temas políticos habremos leído otras veces comunicados sobre las intenciones de un centro social okupado cualquiera. Por muy del 15M que sean, las intenciones de ser un centro social de “barrio para el barrio”, que realice “actividades para lxs vecinxs”, así como que sea un “lugar de encuentro”… son idénticas a las de los centros sociales de los 90.

Hablando del fenómeno de la okupación observamos diferentes contextos en el estado español. Por ejemplo, de todxs es sabido que en Euskal Herriak juegan en otra “Liga” ya que hay gaztetxes okupados casi por todas partes. Solamente en Bilbo ciudad hay cerca de una decena. Se cumple, más o menos, la idea de un “centro social en cada barrio”. Influye mucho el contexto político, claro está. De hecho la mayoría de los gaztetxes orbitan en torno a la izquierda abertzale de una forma más o menos abierta. En otros casos son más hippies, con menos contenido político, y en otros incluso autónomos o libertarios. Como muestra de la fuerza de este movimiento okupa autóctono está la respuesta al desalojo de Kukutza III, en Bilbo, produciéndose la manifestación en favor de la okupación más grande de los últimos años (probablemente) de Europa. De todas formas en Iruña se ha dado un descenso acusado, pasando de 10 a 1 (el de Zizur Nagusia) en los últimos años, fruto de una brutal represión.

CATALUNYA

En la ciudad de Barcelona se cumple también esa frase de “en cada barrio un centro social”. Es posible que incluso en cada barrio existan varios. Según la hoja mural del Info Usurpa, en toda la ciudad hay unos 24 CSOs, a los que habría que sumar los que realizan actividades propias de vez en cuando y que no aparecen en el Usurpa. Por si fuera poco, habría que sumarle otra decena de ateneos y bibliotecas sociales de inspiración algo más explícitamente libertaria. Fácilmente habrá unos 40 centros sociales (incluyendo ateneos y demás) en la ciudad (pero no todos con actividad diaria). En la pasada década se ha consolidado la okupación, atrayendo a numerosos jóvenes (y no tan jóvenes) que venían a la ciudad de todas partes. En algunos barrios la okupación ha sido endémica, como en Vallcarca o Poble Nou. Ahora se da un poco por todas partes, en especial (además de en esos barrios) en el Carmelo, Sant Andreu, Sants, Horta, Clot, Raval… Se ha perdido la fuerte presencia que hubo en Gràcia en otros tiempos, pero ésta se ha trasladado a otros barrios.

Pero el fenómeno de la okupación se ha extendido por Cataluña entera. Predominan por número los CSOs de las ciudades industriales de los alrededores de Barcelona como Molins de Rei, L’Hospitalet, Cornellà, Viladecans, Castelldefells, Santa Coloma, Badalona, etc. Aunque también se observa cierto desplazamiento de okupas hacia la vecina Sierra de Collserola (a tiro de metro o tren) en los municipios de Sant Cugat, Cerdanyola, Montcada, La Llagosta… Kan Pasqual y Can Masdeu abrieron la veda de las okupas rur-urbanas, con un pie en la ciudad y otro en el campo. Esta idea se ha extendido a otros CSO de los alrededores de Barcelona.

Y por supuesto también en el resto de Cataluña, como en Tarragona, Reus, el Baix Llobregat, Barcelonès Nord, Sabadell, Terrassa, Manresa, Cerdanyola, Girona, Figueres, Lleida, y un largo etcétera. Probablemente existan ya tantos CSO activos fuera de Barcelona como dentro. Muchas veces se produce una “emigración okupa” desde Barcelona hacia los pueblos y ciudades más pequeñas. En otras es la propia gente emigrada desde estos pueblos, que al participar en el movimiento okupa de Barcelona, al retornar a casa decide okupar.

El problema que puede llevar asociado tanto centro social es la creación de cierta “cultura del chiringuito”. Es decir, que la militancia se encierre en su centro social produciéndose una incomunicación con los demás centros sociales (de incluso su propio barrio), sin llegar nunca a coordinarse para llevar a cabo una acción común efectiva políticamente. Así, se podría dar que, a más centros sociales más dispersión de la militancia. Y es que gestionar un espacio cuesta mucho esfuerzo. Especialmente si se entra en la dinámica de juicios, desalojos, okupación, habilitación del espacio, vacaciones estudiantiles… que puede llevar a desactivar militantes sociales durante meses hasta que tienen su espacio propio en marcha otra vez.

En los años 30, según datos de Pere Solà , había en Cataluña unos 200 ateneos obreros. Hoy en día el número de centros sociales y ateneos – aunque nos pueda sorprender – será no mucho menor de esta cifra (unos 70 entre centros sociales okupados y ateneos, otros 50 del movimiento independentista catalán y otros 20 o 30 sin definir ideológicamente). Pero mientras que en los años que iban desde 1910 al 1939, en cada ateneo había 100, 200 o 500 personas asociadas, hoy en día en cada centro social existe un grupo de afinidad que lo gestiona y como mucho algunos grupos más que le dan uso. Es decir, que si tiene éxito, el centro social tendrá una veintena de personas llevándolo, o si contamos los simpatizantes pasarán por el CSO u ateneo unas 50 o 70 personas (que no está mal, claro). En resumen, que si en los años 30 el fenómeno del ateneísmo obrero movía cifras de decenas de miles de socios y militantes, hoy en día son solo unos cuantos cientos de personas y algunas miles de simpatizantes.

Entre las necesidades a corto plazo está la coordinación de los centros sociales pertenecientes a la misma tradición ideológica (por ejemplo, los CSO más explícitamente libertarios con los ateneos anarquistas) y la generación de espacios comunes intergeneracionales en los que se transmitan conocimientos y se dé un proceso de formación política de las nuevas generaciones (para que no tengan que “reinventar la rueda” una vez más y caer en los mismos errores que las generaciones pasadas).

En tanto a lo que se conoce como “movimiento okupa”… En la okupación barcelonesa ya no predomina el ambiente anarko-punk del pasado, que hacía que la okupación tuviera una cierta coherencia estética e ideológica, sino que ahora se dan muchas variantes con muchos matices políticos y estéticos, que imposibilita que los nuevos okupas se identifiquen políticamente como pertenecientes al mismo movimiento. Las hay independentistas, comunistas, autónomas, anarquistas, de mujeres, posmodernas, queer, punks, contra-culturales, raveras, sin definir, etc. No es lo mismo Can Vies, que la Kasa de la Muntanya, ni que la Rimaia o el Distrito VI.

Por ello, en tanto a Barcelona, hoy en día se debiera hablar de “okupación” sin más, sin adjetivos, renunciando a hablar de “movimiento okupa”. Creemos que lo que nos debe importar realmente es si un centro social entra dentro del movimiento libertario o no, si participa de su actividad o no. Y si es así, comenzar a generar espacios de entendimiento mutuo y de colaboración. Entendemos que la causa de fondo de que no funcione laAssemblea d’Okupes de Barcelona es el propio hecho de que el movimiento okupa es demasiado disperso. De otra manera, las generaciones van pasando sin profundizar en la práctica libertaria, sin evolucionar ideológicamente, quemándose de forma natural con los años.

Madrid..

Por número, Madrid sería la tercera zona con más okupaciones del estado. Hoy en día hay unas 15 en la capital y unas 6 en la Comunidad. Se trata de una cifra récord. Nunca ha habido más centros sociales okupados. Además existen otros ateneos y centros sociales que completan el panorama llegando a haber más de 40 espacios sociales. Ocurre una situación parecida a la de Barcelona ciudad, que en ocasiones se duplican esfuerzos, y que en vez de colaborar se cae en cierto exceso de diversidad. Sin embargo, al existir menos centros sociales que en la ciudad condal, es lógico que se produzca ese crecimiento numérico que posteriormente provoque la derivación posterior hacia los distintos movimientos políticos a los que se adhieren los diferentes centros (anarquistas, comunistas, posmodernos, etc.). Desde luego aún Madrid está en fase de crecimiento, pero al ritmo que van las okupaciones en la ciudad en pocos años se logrará instalar un ateneo o centro social en cada barrio.

GALIZA

Galiza, es una zona en la que se ha experimentando un crecimiento más notable de centros sociales, impulsados sobre todo por el movimiento independentista de allí. En algunos aspectos intentan emular a sus correligionarios vascos y catalanes, y de cierta manera han logrado un éxito al pasar de casi cero hasta la veintena de centros sociales en un lustro. En el campo máslibertario hay 5 okupaciones y unos 3 ateneos y bibliotecas sociales. Además hay otros 5 locales en los que pueden encontrarse iniciativas libertarias.

En tanto al resto de la península, tenemos el caso de Andalucía, que a pesar de toda su extensión y población la okupación política no tiene tradición más que en Granada, Sevilla y Málaga. De todas formas en los últimos años se han producido okupaciones (algunas no lograron durar) en Córdoba, Cádiz, Chiclana o Morón. Aquí se dan más las okupaciones de bloques de viviendas con vecinos, en los que también se meten a vivir activistas sociales, convirtiendo la okupación en un centro social ocasional (ocurre lo mismo en Madrid y Barcelona).

También se observan nuevos CSOs en la isla de Tenerife (2), Murcia (2), Cuenca (2), Burgos (2; 1 desalojado ya), Logroño, Salamanca, Valladolid, León, Salamanca, Oviedo, Palma, Zaragoza… y muchos lugares que hace años habría sido insospechado como Arnedo, Badajoz, Plasencia o incluso en Valdepeñas (que fue desalojada). Y esto sin hablar de pueblos más pequeños en Euskal Herria, Madrid o Cataluña, que tienen okupaciones (y algunos con incluso varias).

Se puede concluir que el fenómeno de las okupaciones, a pesar de las leyes, a pesar de la represión policial y de toda la “mala fama” que lleva asociado, ha permanecido en el tiempo, e incluso se ha extendido por todo el estado español. Ahora mismo todas las comunidades autónomas excepto Cantabria tienen centros sociales okupados, aunque ésta tuvo uno hace tres años y mantiene algunos ateneos. Según el mapa, hay contabilizados unos 140 CSO en todo el estado, pero como siempre, “ni son todos los que están ni están todos los que son”.

Desde hace varios años el movimiento libertario ha venido quejándose de la falta deAteneos Libertarios. Normalmente estos ateneos estaban vinculados con los sindicatos anarcosindicalistas, pero hacia los años 70 se crearon algunos en Cataluña que eran autónomos de las organizaciones anarquistas. Con la llegada de la crisis del anarquismo ibérico en los años 80 y los 90, el número de ateneos permaneció muy bajo, y generalmente ligados a los sindicatos anarcosindicalistas que los montaban.

De todas formas, desde hace unos 5 años, se está produciendo un repunte mediante la creación de nuevos ateneos explícitamente libertarios. El impulso tiene varios orígenes. Por un lado están los sindicatos que los crean, porque creen que es la línea que deben seguir para la formación de sus militantes y para derivar en ellos su actividad cultural. Por otro lado, tenemos a diferentes activistas anarquistas, que en lugar de crear un centro social sin definir ideológicamente crean un ateneo libertario debido a sus ideas previas. Algunos de estos activistas vienen quemados de sus experiencias en entornos okupados, o bien, de estar en asambleas demasiado plurales para su punto de vista. El caso es que ahora hay unos 50 ateneos libertarios en el estado y cada mes tenemos noticia de nuevos.

La creación de espacios liberados, la generalización de estas iniciativas en puntos concretos (ciudades y barrios con varios centros sociales), y su expansión en horizontal (en cuanto a territorio: nuevos barrios, nuevos pueblos y ciudades que van recibiendo grupos de activistas sociales) hacen que la difusión de las prácticas anti-autoritarias esté bastante generalizada.

Está claro que a este movimiento libertario de nuestro tiempo le falta una coherencia ideológica. Muchas personas que participan en estas iniciativas se niegan a etiquetarse como anarquistas. No existe una conciencia propia de “movimiento libertario” fuera de los sindicatos libertarios o los ateneos, y de los grupos insurreccionalistas o anarquistas autónomos. Es necesario cambiar esta dinámica y aunar esfuerzos para incluir las diferentes iniciativas libertarias autogestionarias en un movimiento político-social coherente en cuanto a principios y objetivos y a la vez plural en cuanto a tácticas. Pero que todos sus integrantes se sientan parte del mismo proyecto y quieran que sus iniciativas se complementen.

Tenemos que empezar a reconocer que ya no somos tan poca gente como hace 15 años, y que es necesario cambiar de perspectiva. El movimiento ya no está tan a la defensiva, encerrado en un cómodo (y a veces ingrato) ghetto, y comienza a expandirse, pero debe saber acoger sin miedo a nuevas gentes provenientes de otras tradiciones políticas, y, sobre todo, a personas nunca antes politizadas. La irrupción del 15M nos recuerda la necesidad de estar atentas a lo que ocurre en la calle, no despreciar ninguna oportunidad para que se escuche nuestro mensaje porque después de todo “algo queda”. Y sobre todo aprovechar cada situación para seguir construyendo esta infraestructura libertaria (espacios, medios de comunicación propios, grupos de apoyo mutuo, medios de autogestión económica, etc.) que será la base de la “sociedad paralela”.

http://www.alasbarricadas.org/noticias/node/19600

Icon_article Star Published: February 18, 2012 12:47 by make them pay | Share

NO to disguised slave labour!

Tagged as: boycottworkfare cuts solidarity tescos ukuncut workers_struggles workfare
Neighbourhoods: westminster

Right to Work and unemployed activists and supporters occupied Westminster Tesco on Saturday. Police issued warning over trespass and refused to answer why they weren’t arresting Tesco bosses for breaching minimum wage legislation. Defiant protesters demanded that Tesco withdraw immediately from all government schemes that force slave labour on the disabled and unemployed chanting: Tesco bosses hear us say, we won’t work if you won’t pay. And ‘first they stole our ema, now they want to steal our pay’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to the Spanish Slave State

Slave Britain

Arbeit Mach Frei, the Nazis proclaimed above their concentration camps. Well, in 21st century Britain we now have a government offering cheap or even completely free labour to employers using the most vulnerable people imagineable – prisoners, the unemployed, the physically disabled and the mentally ill. And the dying.

No, it is not a sick joke. Cameron and Clegg’s Britain has today seen three blows to what little civilised restraint remained among Coalition policymakers.

1. The “Justice” Secretary hosted a seminar for employers on his plans to create 10,000 new jobs in British prisons where employers of all shapes and sizes can boost companies’ profitability by in-sourcing their work to jails. Prisoners are exempted from the national minimum wage and have no employment rights. So, anything from call centres to finishing kitchen units will be carried out by prisoners earning less than £1 per hour.

2. Tescos in East Anglia had the audacity to advertise PERMANENT “jobs” paying out of work people – nothing! The jobs were advertised in partnership with the appropriately named “Monster” website. As part of a government workfare scheme, they will continue to get their unemployment benefit – Jobseekers’ Allowance – plus unquantified “expenses” in return for working all night. If they turn down the work, their benefits will be cut. Tescos made profits of £1,900,000,000 in the six months to October 2011.

3. And now, sneaking in behind the controversial Welfare Bill, the Government has briefed a range of charities that disabled people will be forced to work for free for charities, public bodies and high street retailers on open-ended work experience placements or face losing their disability benefits. This will include people who are terminally ill with cancer, but assessed as having more than six months left. 

Can this be the end of Murdoch's reign of terror at the SUN ??Five senior Sun newspaper employees were arrested this morning over the scandal of payments to police for information. As part of the ongoing police investigation Operation Elveden, which began after the News of the World phone-hacking scandal saw the Murdoch Sunday paper close, a number of high profile journalists were arrested in a series of early morning raids, along with senior police officers and Ministry of Defence employees and a member of the armed forces.

All five were arrested on suspicion of corruption under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 – aiding and abetting misconduct in a public office and conspiracy accroding to a police statement, which adding ‘It relates to suspected payments to police officers and public officials’.

The arrests come two weeks after four former and current Sun journalists and a serving Metropolitan police officer were arrested over alleged illegal police payments.

Sean Hoare's death let Murdoch and Cameron off the hook in the NOTW hacking scandal

It’s understood the paper itself is in jeopardy and Murdoch attempted to distance himself further from his UK employees and operation with a statement: “News Corporation remains committed to ensuring that unacceptable news gathering practices by individuals in the past will not be repeated and last summer authorised the MSC to co-operate with the relevant authorities”.

The NUJ on the other hand are less than impressed with Murdoch’s stance stating: “Journalists are reeling at seeing five more of their colleagues thrown to the wolves in what many sense to be a witch-hunt. They are furious at what they see as a monumental betrayal on the part of News International.”

It is also understood the scandal so far has cost the company $200 million in legal fees and compensation pay outs to people who had their phone illegally hacked by Murdoch’s papers.

http://www.freedompress.org.uk/news/2012/02/11/the-sun-goes-down-on-murdoch/

 

FAVELA RISING documents a man and a movement, a city divided and a favela (Brazilian squatter settlement) united.

Watch online: http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/favela_rising

Haunted by the murders of his family and many of his friends, Anderson Sá is a former drug-trafficker who turns social revolutionary in Rio de Janeiro’s most feared slum.

Download: http://fileserve.com/file/Dmz5acm/Favela.Rising.DVDRip.XviD-pedr1nho.avi

Through hip-hop music, the rhythms of the street, and Afro-Brazilian dance he rallies his community to counteract the violent oppression enforced by teenage drug armies and sustained by corrupt police.

Torrent: http://thepiratebay.se/search/favela%20rising/0/99/0

TRAILER  You Tube  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5_DnxeEkts

Subtitles:   Not found.
You might also like:Blowing Up Paradise (2005)The Shock Doctrine (2009)Many Straws Make A Nest (2010)Rachel Corrie: An American Conscience (2005)

See More HERE..(with thanks) http://fuckcopyright.blogspot.com/2012/02/favela-rising-2005.html

 

 
Global mobilization for May 2012
May 1: strike (in Latin America and the U.S.)
May 12: day global rally
May 15: Global Strike / day Transition
  info: Minutes of the meeting of the International via Mumble 28/01/2012
 
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