Online Makinist

2011-10-12T11:16:00.000-07:00

#OCCUPYWALLSTREET is a people powered movement for democracy that began in America on September 17 with an encampment in the financial district of New York City. Inspired by the Egyptian Tahrir Square uprising and the Spanish acampadas, we vow to end the monied corruption of our democracy … join us!

Liberty Plaza; Visit from Slavoj Zizek;

Oct. 09, 2011

…2008 financial crash more hard earned private property was destroyed than if all of us here were to be destroying it night and day for weeks. They tell you we are dreamers. The true dreamers are those who think things can go on indefinitely the way they are. We are not dreamers. We are awakening from a dream which is tuning into a nightmare. We are not destroying anything. We are only witnessing how the system is destroying itself. We all know the classic scenes from cartoons. The cart reaches a precipice. But it goes on walking. Ignoring the fact that there is nothing beneath. Only when it looks down and notices it, it falls down. This is what we are doing here. We are telling the guys there on Wall Street – Hey, look down! (cheering).
In April 2011, the Chinese government prohibited on TV and films and in novels all stories that contain alternate reality or time travel. This is a good sign for China. It means that people still dream about alternatives, so you have to prohibit this dream. Here we don’t think of prohibition. Because the ruling system has even suppressed our capacity to dream. Look at the movies that we see all the time. It’s easy to imagine the end of the world. An asteroid destroying all life and so on. But you cannot imagine the end of capitalism. So what are we doing here? Let me tell you a wonderful old joke from communist times.
A guy was sent from East Germany to work in Siberia. He knew his mail would be read by censors. So he told his friends: Let’s establish a code. If the letter you get from me is written in blue ink ,it is true what I said. If it is written in red ink, it is false. After a month his friends get a first letter. Everything is in blue. It says, this letter: everything is wonderful here. Stores are full of good food. Movie theaters show good films from the West. Apartments are large and luxurious. The only thing you cannot buy is red ink.
This is how we live. We have all the freedoms we want. But what we are missing is red ink. The language to articulate our non-freedom. The way we are taught to speak about freedom war and terrorism and so on falsifies freedom. And this is what you are doing here: You are giving all of us red ink.
There is a danger. Don’t fall in love with yourselves. We have a nice time here. But remember: carnivals come cheap. What matters is the day after. When we will have to return to normal life. Will there be any changes then. I don’t want you to remember these days, you know, like - oh, we were young, it was beautiful. Remember that our basic message is: We are allowed to think about alternatives. The rule is broken. We do not live in the best possible world. But there is a long road ahead. There are truly difficult questions that confront us. We know what we do not want. But what do we want? What social organization can replace capitalism? What type of new leaders do we want?
Remember: the problem is not corruption or greed. The problem is the system that pushes you to give up. Beware not only of the enemies. But also of false friends who are already working to dilute this process. In the same way you get coffee without caffeine, beer without alcohol, ice cream without fat. They will try to make this into a harmless moral protest. They think (??? unintelligible). But the reason we are here is that we have enough of the world where to recycle coke cans…

Part Two

….Starbucks cappuccino. Where 1% goes to the world’s starving children. It is enough to make us feel good. After outsourcing work and torture. After the marriage agencies are now outsourcing even our love life, daily.
Mic check
We can see that for a long time we allowed our political engagement also to be outsourced. We want it back. We are not communists. If communism means the system which collapsed in 1990, remember that today those communists are the most efficient ruthless capitalists. In China today we have capitalism which is even more dynamic than your American capitalism but doesn’t need democracy. Which means when you criticize capitalism, don’t allow yourselves to be blackmailed that you are against democracy. The marriage between democracy and capitalism is over.
The change is possible. So, what do we consider today possible? Just follow the media. On the one hand in technology and sexuality everything seems to be possible. You can travel to the moon. You can become immortal by biogenetics. You can have sex with animals or whatever. But look at the fields of society and economy. There almost everything is considered impossible. You want to raise taxes a little bit for the rich, they tell you it’s impossible, we lose competitivitiy. You want more money for healthcare: they tell you impossible, this means a totalitarian state. There is something wrong in the world where you are promised to be immortal but cannot spend a little bit more for health care. Maybe that ??? set our priorities straight here. We don’t want higher standards of living. We want better standards of living. The only sense in which we are communists is that we care for the commons. The commons of nature. The commons of what is privatized by intellectual property. The commons of biogenetics. For this and only for this we should fight.
Communism failed absolutely. But the problems of the commons are here. They are telling you we are not Americans here. But the conservative fundamentalists who claim they are really American have to be reminded of something. What is Christianity? It’s the Holy Spirit. What’s the Holy Spirit? It’s an egalitarian community of believers who are linked by love for each other. And who only have their own freedom and responsibility to do it. In this sense the Holy Spirit is here now. And down there on Wall Street there are pagans who are worshipping blasphemous idols. So all we need is patience. The only thing I’m afraid of is that we will someday just go home and then we will meet once a year, drinking beer, and nostalgically remembering what a nice time we had here. Promise ourselves that this will not be the case.
We know that people often desire something but do not really want it. Don’t be afraid to really want what you desire. Thank you very much!

Last Note

This is only a part of the entire speech he gave today, and if it was recorded in its entirety we'd be very glad to have a copy for transcription purposes.
(Thank you to everyone who offered transcripts, we had multiple offers)

2011-07-17T15:19:00.000-07:00

Appel to World

http://real-democracy.gr/en

Dear friends, brothers and sisters,

We are the ones that have fought for a month at Syntagma square in Athens. We organize ourselves with direct democracy excluding all political parties. Our voice is our everyday people´s assembly.

We are indignant because others decide for us without us and mortgage our future; they impose loans that do not benefit the people but the banks and governments’ interests. We are indignant because they terrify us using the deterrent of bankruptcy. Not only do they try to scare us but they also try to set people against each other.

*- We do not want any more support loans.*

*- We do not want public property *to be sold off.

*- We do not want the medium-term program *to pass.

*- We do not want the socialization of losses and privatization of gains.

*Unite your voice with ours.*

They are using our sacrifices and yours so that few acquire wealth.

We are here today, you will be here tomorrow.

We take to the streets everyday.

Every Sunday hundreds of thousands of citizens gather at the squares of all Greece, Syntagma being the core.

*The medium-term austerity *program will not pass.

Journalists hush, we do not.

We urge all the people of Europe and all trade unions to organize solidarity and mutual support actions on the day of the medium-term program vote.

*All together, so that we take our lives in our hands*

*A WARNING TO TROIKA, BANKS AND LOCAL OR FOREIGN PROSPECTIVE INVESTORS *

*WHO DREAM OF OBTAINING GREEK PUBLIC PROPERTY*

A revoked and dictatorial government that doesn’t represent the people of this country has just passed bills (Midterm Agreement, Implementation law) to sell up Greek public property and land, against the will of the vast majority of the people.

We inform those who look forward to an investing opportunity that we will, in a very short time, overthrow this government and all responsible will answer for their crimes against the people and the country. Their bills and signatures are not valid. They have not been validated by the Greek people and they will not be recognized by the people.

We warn any investor not to even think of coming near an auction or sale of our public property or land and furthermore not to purchase them. When we will regain the sovereignty of our country, they will lose whatever they purchased, and the money they paid in that illegal transaction will not be refunded.

Moreover we warn them that until we regain control of the country, in the process of defending our rights, as they are mentioned in the Greek Constitution and in the internationally recognized Peoples’ Rights, we will proceed to all necessary actions (through our self-organization) to annul and sabotage their investment

No prospective investor should, therefore, dare to go on with any bargain shopping of public property and land in Greece, unless they realize the high risk of their investment. In this case, their investment will be “welcomed” in the country where any time someone takes away the freedom of

the people, someone like Kanaris is born or a bridge is blown up, like that over Gorgopotamos river.

*The People’s Assembly Syntagma 3/7/2011*

- As the march reached parliament, about 200 leftists attacked former conservative minister Kostis Hatzidakis with their fists, stones and sticks, shouting: “Thieves! Shame on you!” -

Greek Revolution 25th May 2011

2011-05-31T18:38:00.000-07:00

27/05/2011

Greece’s economic crisis deepens – along with Ireland, Portugal and Spain

Lynn Walsh, editor of Socialism Today, magazine of the Socialist Party (CWI England & Wales)

Thessaloniki, White Tower

Divisions between EU politicians are widening. If the much discussed possibility of a Greek default is realised, it would shake the entire eurozone, and trigger further global financial turmoil. Over two articles, LYNN WALSH assesses the situation.

GREECE IS TEETERING on the edge of a default on its government (‘sovereign’) debt, most of which is owed to European banks and financial institutions. Eurozone leaders are desperately trying to find a way of preventing a default, which would have a devastating effect on the European and world economies. A default by Greece – in effect, bankruptcy under which the Greek government would not be able to pay its debts – would trigger a new banking crisis, probably as severe as 2008. At the same time, a Greek default could trigger the breakup of the eurozone, with the emergence of two or more currency areas, if not a complete disintegration.
Greece, moreover, is far from being an isolated case. Ireland and Portugal have only avoided bankruptcy through massive eurozone/IMF loans on condition of devastating austerity measures. Spain, a much bigger economy, faces similar problems. The massive demonstrations before the municipal elections – against 40% youth unemployment and savage government cuts – are a further indication of the deep revolt that is developing throughout Europe against the ravages of finance capital and the bankruptcy of the system.
Since the sovereign debt crisis erupted early last year, eurozone leaders have scrambled to improvise stop-gap measures. They appear to be acting on the basis that countries like Greece, Ireland and Portugal are facing a temporary liquidity crisis, an inability to finance their debts because of the recession. The eurozone leaders refuse to accept (at least publicly) that these countries face a solvency crisis: they are effectively bankrupt. They have no strategy for dealing effectively with this crisis. At the same time, the rating agencies which act for big investors, like Moody’s and S&P, have downgraded Greek bonds to ‘junk’ status. The big banks are demanding that eurozone governments step in to guarantee the debts of Greece and other floundering states, effectively transferring the massive potential losses from private banks to official agencies and governments.
Whichever policy is followed by the eurozone capitalists, the working class faces a prospect of savage austerity. New loans will only be granted to the Greek government on the basis of even more drastic austerity measures. The Financial Times made this clear in an editorial (9 May): “Greece must do more to salvage its solvency. Athens last year enacted tax increases and spending cuts amounting to 8% of gross domestic output, cutting the deficit from 15.4 to 10.5% of GDP in a single year and pushing the economy to its knees. This tightening is extraordinary. It is also not enough”. The editorial was under the headline: ‘Athens must be put under the gun’!
On the other hand, some commentators now see a Greek default as inevitable, including Financial Times columnist, Samuel Brittan: “A severe debt write-off by Greece and Portugal is a forgone conclusion; and in my view both countries would be better off without the euro”. (12 May) However, a default and exit from the eurozone would also lead, on a capitalist basis, to a further degradation of living standards.
The colossal cost of bailouts
THE GREEK BAILOUT implemented last year has not worked. The Greek government was granted €110 billion of loans on condition that it carried out drastic attacks on the working class: welfare spending cuts, wage cuts, pension cuts, and increased taxes. However, it is estimated that Greece will require around €50 to €80 billion of new loans in 2012 to cover its borrowing needs. There is no way that Greece will be able to raise this on international financial markets. The main reason Greece has not met its economic targets is that the austerity measures have prolonged the economic slump.
Without sustained growth, there is no way Greece will be able to reduce its indebtedness. The Greek economy contracted by -4.4% last year and is expected to contract by -3.5% this year. In reality, the ‘rescue’ by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), European Central Bank (ECB) and eurozone has only increased the indebtedness of Greek capitalism and undermined its ability to pay off its debts. Greece is currently forced to pay around 14% interest on its ten-year bonds, while Germany pays only around 3%. This shows that bond investors are already pricing in the risk of a substantial default.
Eurozone leaders are discussing a further €30 billion loan to Greece, but only on condition that the government rapidly carries out a further €50 billion of privatisation of state industries and utilities. It has even been proposed that the privatisations should actually be supervised by the IMF, which would mean a complete loss of economic sovereignty for Greece. Another proposal is that the revenue from privatisation should be handed over to the IMF and European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF) as collateral for new loans. This is reminiscent of 1923, when French forces occupied the Ruhr to seize coal after Germany fell behind with reparation payments imposed after the first world war.
Capitalist leaders are deeply divided. The ECB, German government and others favour more loans to Greece, on condition of further austerity measures and privatisation. Apart from its impact on the euro, a default would force eurozone governments to bail out the banks taking the losses. Leaders like Angela Merkel in Germany fear an electoral backlash against further bailouts. There is fear of the eurozone becoming a so-called ‘transfer union’ in which the stronger economies are effectively financing the weak economies.
This position was spelled out by Otmar Issing, former chief economist of the ECB: “The present seemingly unstoppable process towards further financial transfers will generate tensions of an economic and especially political kind. The longer this process is characterised by unsound conduct of individual member countries, the more these tensions will endanger the existence of EMU [economic and monetary union]”. (Financial Times, 11 January)
Praying for an orderly default
OTHER SECTIONS OF the capitalists, particularly in the finance sector, now believe that a default is inevitable. They recognise there is a limit to the austerity that can be imposed on the Greek people without provoking greater social conflict and uprisings. Last year, for instance, Hans-Werner Sinn, head of the German IFO Institute, warned a policy forum: “The policy of forced ‘internal devaluation’, deflation, and depression could risk driving Greece to the edge of a civil war. It is impossible to cut wages and prices by 30% without major riots… Greece would have been bankrupt without the rescue measures. All the alternatives are terrible but the least terrible is for the country to get out of the eurozone, even if this kills the Greek banks”. (Daily Telegraph, 3 September 2010)
It would be better, in the view of many financial strategists, to carry out an orderly default. This would involve the exchange of existing Greek government bonds for new bonds, guaranteed by the IMF/ECB, etc, that modified their terms. This could mean longer periods of repayment and possibly a lower interest rate. This ‘haircut’ for the bondholders would be regarded as a ‘soft’ restructuring, or ‘re-profiling’ of bonds.
But the most contentious issue is whether there should be a reduction in the face value of the bonds, which would hit bondholders much harder. Many commentators now regard this as unavoidable. A soft re-profiling, they argue, would not sufficiently relieve the debt burden of countries like Greece, which would require yet another bailout package – or default. To be effective, a reduction of the face value of bonds would have to be at least 50% - a serious default for Greece’s creditors.
Greek government bonds are already trading on the secondary bond market at about 60 cents in the euro, effectively a 40% devaluation of the debt. However, an official reduction of the face value of sovereign bonds would be regarded as a ‘credit event’. This would require financial traders to mark down the value of the bonds on their books, and would trigger claims on credit default swaps (CDSs, used to insure bonds and other securities from losses). As with the crisis with Lehmans and the American International Group in 2008, this could trigger massive losses for big investment banks trading in CDSs.
The main motive of these finance capitalists is to secure an effective rescue of the banks. Overall, foreign banks, mainly in northern Europe, have loaned $2.5 trillion to the four heavily indebted eurozone countries, Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain. There are $170 billion bank loans to Greece. Domestic banks also hold billions of euros of government bonds. A forced default, or a panic-driven rescheduling, could trigger a banking crisis on the scale of 2008. There would be huge losses for the banks, not only on government bonds but also on the various ‘derivatives’ linked to the bonds.
There is certainly the potential for Greece – or Ireland or Portugal – to become another ‘Lehmans’. Even if the EU leaders were able to agree on a course of action, there is no guarantee that they will be able to carry through an ‘orderly’ rescheduling. Such is the volatility of financial markets, the leaders’ efforts may be overtaken by events, with the unfolding of an uncontrolled, chaotic debt crisis.
The euro under threat
AT THE MOMENT, the Greek government is clinging to the euro (despite rumours early in May that it was considering withdrawal from the eurozone). It calculates that if it is part of the eurozone then the stronger eurozone governments will be forced to bail out the Greek economy.
However, at a certain point the conditions of such a bailout will become unsustainable. Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard points to a downward spiral: “An ominous pattern has emerged across much of the eurozone periphery: tax revenue keeps falling short of what was hoped. Austerity measures are eating deeper into the economy than expected, forcing further fiscal cuts”. (1 November 2010) This process will actually increase the indebtedness of the already bankrupt countries.
The conditions attached to new loans would make them intolerable, making withdrawal from the eurozone preferable. Then, countries like Greece and most likely Ireland and Portugal (and possibly Spain) would at least have the option of devaluing their new national currencies and boosting exports, as well as encouraging inflation which would reduce the real (inflation-adjusted) value of their debts. In any case, they would almost certainly re-denominate their foreign-held debt in their new national currencies (thus reducing its value in euro terms), which would mean devastating losses for the bond-holding banks.
The euro may or may not survive this crisis. Its short-term fate depends on the direction of the world economy (a new recession could prove fatal for the euro) and the strength of the working-class movement against the austerity measures being imposed to ‘save the euro’ – and the big banks which financed the debt-driven bubbles that have now collapsed.
But, in the next few years, the eurozone will be wrecked on the rocks of insurmountable economic problems and the conflict of national interests between the member states. Until the present crisis, ‘exit’ from the eurozone was considered unthinkable. An EU working paper even declared that unilateral withdrawal by a eurozone member would be illegal under international treaties, though they accepted that, in practice, the major EU powers could do little about it. Today, the prospects of a eurozone breakup are being openly discussed by financial strategists and media commentators – and no doubt are being intensely discussed behind the scenes by EU leaders.
Austerity-fuelled fury
HORRENDOUS AUSTERITY measures have provoked massive resistance from the working class throughout Europe, especially in the countries facing the most acute debt crisis. Workers are furious that they are being forced to pay for a crisis triggered by the banks and other predatory speculators. The real bailout is the rescue of the banks and big business by the working class.
In Greece there have been nine general strikes and seemingly endless protests against cuts. There has been resistance in Ireland, Portugal and Spain. Commentators, however, have noted that there appears to be a lull in the strikes and protest action, a certain ‘protest fatigue’. Any such pause, however, will be purely temporary. It arises because the leaders of the workers’ organisations, while calling strikes under pressure from below, have no alternative to the policy of bailouts and austerity measures.
Faced with this deep, long-term crisis of capitalism, the working class needs a bold alternative. This should be based on a clear refusal to pay the debts run up by capitalist governments, from which banks and other speculators hugely profited when the going was good. Repudiation of debts, however, is not in itself a solution. On the basis of capitalism, bankruptcy of the state would mean a period of prolonged poverty and suffering for the working class.
Control of the banks and the commanding heights of the economy – the major industrial and commercial companies – must be taken out of the hands of the capitalist class, which is responsible for the present global crisis. The economy should be planned and managed in the interests of working people, controlled by elected representatives of workers, trade unions, consumers, community organisations, and so on. This would be the beginnings of a socialist planned economy, which would have to be developed on an all-European and international scale.
POSTCRIPT: Reports confirm that European leaders are planning to take direct control of Greek state assets to force through privatisation to raise at least €50 billion. These plans were discussed at a secret meeting of some EU leaders held in Luxembourg on 6 May. According to the Financial Times (24 May), there are proposals to put Greek assets into a fund controlled by ‘international experts’. According to one unnamed diplomat, this is because “the [Greek] state is not functioning”. Some EU leaders, led by Netherlands, want to go much further than €50 billion. “Officials involved in the discussions believe far more than €50 billion could be raised in sales of state-owned assets, with estimates ranging from €250 billion to €300 billion – or almost all of Greece’s outstanding debt”. The Netherlands finance minister, Jan Kees de Jager, arrogantly brushed aside warnings that a seizure of Greek assets would provoke massive opposition in Greece. “Mr De Jager said such considerations should be set aside. ‘Right now, we’re beyond sensitivities’.” (FT, 24 May) Such measures, however, recall the French seizure of assets in the Ruhr in 1923 or imperialist expropriations in colonial lands. If there is an attempt to implement these plans, they will not only provoke parliamentary opposition to the Papandreou government but will arouse the fury of the Greek working class.

Spanish Revolution - 15-M Movement

2011-05-22T13:54:00.000-07:00

The 2011 May Spanish protests, also referred to as the 15-M Movement, Spanish revolution or Indignados (Spanish for "Outraged") are a series of demonstrations inSpain whose origin can be traced to social networks and the ¡Democracia Real Ya!(Real Democracy Now!) civilian digital platform, along with 200 other small associations.

Starting on 15 May 2011 with an initial call in 58 Spanish cities, the series of peaceful protests demands a radical change in Spanish politics, as protesters do not consider themselves to be represented by any party nor favoured by the measures approved by politicians. The protests have been staged close to the municipal elections, to be held on 22 May. The press has related them to the economic crisis,Stéphane Hessel's Time for Outrage!, the NEET troubled generation and currentprotests in the Middle East and North Africa, Greece, Portugal as well as the Icelandic protest and riots.

Even though protesters form a heterogeneous and ambiguous group, they share a strong rejection of Spanish politicians, the current two-party system in Spain between the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and the People's Party (PP) and political corruption and firmly support basic rights: home, work, culture, health and education.

These protests have also appeared at a critical moment: According to the protesters, Spanish youths are more academically qualified than ever before, but face a 50% youth unemployment rate and 89% of Spaniards think political parties only care about themselves, according to Metroscopia. The protesters' plan had been to camp in the main squares of cities until 22 May, but on 22 May they extended it another week until 29 May.

15 May
The march in Madrid that day brought together, according to the National Police, about 20,000 protestors. It is estimated that the protestors that day were followed by about 130,000 people throughout Spain. The protests, against all expectation, spread greatly through the press. The Washington Post mentioned the news that same day.The first protest, on 15 May, was focused on opposition to what the protestors called "antisocial means in the hands of bankers", which referred to the changes Spain made in 2010 to contain the European financial crisis through bailout of the banks that society saw as responsible for the crisis, while at the same time announcing social program cutbacks. Protests took place in Madrid, Barcelona, Murcia, Granada, Malaga, Santiago de Compostela, Alicante and Valencia. Only in Madrid did the protests result in violent incidents which, according to the protestors were not connected to the protests. Protestors momentarily cut off traffic on Gran Via, the main street of Madrid, but were rapidly dispersed by a group of anti-riot police officers.

In Granada, up to 5,000 protestors showed up, according to the newspaper Ideal and the protest took place without incident, except for an exchange of insults between some protesters and members of the Fraternity of the Virgin of Rosario, whose procession overlapped with the end of the protest after the latter had gone on longer than expected.

16 May

In Puerta del Sol, protestors camped out during the night of 15 May; the campers were attacked during the early morning of 16 May. Altercations took place in a variety of neighborhoods in Madrid, far from the pacifistic spirit of the protest, whose core group of protestors deplored these actions. The violent protestors destroyed public spaces, cut off traffic on Gran Vía and confronted the police. 24 arrests took place along with 18 hearings and a few injuries, which in turn provoked a larger protest demanding their release. They were finally released on bail.

Various organisations, like Ecologists in Action, publicly condemned the escalation of the protests caused by the police.

17 May

rotests and nighttime camp-outs took place in 30 cities. The protests gained the support of people in the United Kingdom, who announced that they would sit outside of the Spanish embassy from the 18th until the 22 May. The protest in Plaza del Sol on the night of the 17th of May consisted of about 4,000 people according to the authorities. 300 of them stayed until the dawn of 18 May. Large groups of demonstrators returned to protest in various cities, standing apart from the group in Madrid in Puerta del Sol. This time the protests were not called together by ¡Democracia Real Ya!. In a few cities, the police permitted the protestors to camp out, as took place in A Coruña, where more than 1,000 people arrived on the 15th. In Madrid, about 200 protestors organized into an assembly, during which they decided to organize themselves for spending the night in Plaza del Sol, creating cleaning, communication, extension, materials and legal committees. Previously they had received a great deal of help from small businesses in the form of food. In the evening more than 12,000 people were gathered there.

18 May

In Madrid, the protestors put up a large carp canopy beneath which they passed out signs with the intention of spending the night there between the 17 and 18 May. According to a reporter from El País, many of them wore carnations, much as took place during the Portuguese Carnation Revolution. In addition, they organized a food stand which provided food donated by local businesses and set up a webcam to provide news from Plaza del Sol through the website Ustream.tv. The protestors were advised not to drink alcohol or to organize into groups of more than 20 people, as these acts could provoke a legal police crackdown.

The police ordered protestors to disperse in Valencia, Tenerife and Las Palmas. During the evacuation of the Plaza del Carmen in Granada there were 3 arrests. Speeches continued on throughout the afternoon. The protests grew to include León, Seville, where a camp out started as of 19 May, and in other provincial capitals and cities of Spain. Support groups were created on social networks for each camp out through the social network Twitter and other national and international networks. Google Docs and other servers began to receive download requests for documents needed to legally request permission for new protests.

In the morning, the Federación de Asociaciones de Vecinos de Barcelona (FAVB) announced their support of the protests in Barcelona. In Madrid, an activist created a flag that depicts a sun and a hand over a black background, which serves as an emblem for the protests, according to Belén Hernández at El País.

In addition to The Washington Post, which covered the protests on 15 May, news reports took place on the 18th in various media outlets, among them Le Monde, the most widely circulated newspaper in French, in an article which noted the rarity of such large scale protests in Spain. The German newspaper, Der Spiegel, noted the importance of the effects of what has been called "The Facebook Generation" and the youth on the protests. The Portuguese paper Jornal de Notícias, reported on the protests in Madrid on May 18 as soon as it was known that they had been prohibited. And The New York Times, which cited El País and noted the strong organization of the protestors, particularly the 200 people who had been placed in charge of security and the use of Twitter to ensure dissemination of their message.The Washington Post again reported on the protests in Puerta del Sol, giving them the name of a "revolution" and estimating the presence of 10,000 people on Wednesday afternoon's protest and comparing it with those in Cairo's Tahrir Square, which had recently ousted Egyptianpresident Hosni Mubarak. The BBC made reference to the peaceful nature of the protests in Puerta del Sol.

The various protests agreed to hold meetings between their organizing committees each day at 1pm and assemblies at 8pm.

In the evening, the President of the Regional Electoral Committee of Madrid issued a statement declaring the protests illegal because "calls for a responsible vote can change the results of the elections". Police units at Sol, however, received orders from the Government Delegation not to take out any further action.

20 May

United Left appealed the Electoral Board's decision to ban the protests before Spain's Supreme Court, to which the State Prosecution presented its arguments shortly after.According to Britain's The Guardian, "tens of thousands" had camped out in Madrid and throughout the country on the night of 19–20 May.

Appeal before the Supreme Court

Spain's public broadcaster, RTVE reported that the State Prosecutor upheld the decision taken by the Central Electoral Board to ban the rallies. Meanwhile, the police announced that they had been given instructions not to dissolve the crowd at Puerta del Sol on the condition that there was no disturbance of the peace.

Appeal before the Tribunal Constitucional

RTVE later reported that the country's Constitutional Court had been deliberating since 7.30pm whether to review an appeal against the decision of the Central Electoral Board. At 10.08 pm (local time), RTVE informed that the Constitutional had rejected the appeal on the formality that the appellant had not appealed first to the Supreme Court.

At 22:47 United Left announced it would appeal the Supreme Court's decision before the Tribunal Constitucional. They had until midnight.

At around 23:00, some 16,000 people (according to the police) and 19,000 (according to other sources) were gathered at and around Puerta del Sol.

21 May

In Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga and other cities 21 May started with a minute of silence followed by cheers and applause. Smaller cities, such as Granada, decided to start before midnight to avoid disturbing the neighbors. These protests occurred even though protests on the day before elections are banned.

Around 28,000 people, according to the police, crowded Puerta del Sol and the neighboring streets despite the prohibition. Other cities also gathered large numbers of people: 15,000 in Malaga, 10,000 in Valencia, 6,000 in Zaragoza, 4,000 in Seville, 1,500 in Granada, 800 in Almeria, 600 in Cadiz, 200 in Huelva, around 100 in Jaen. 8,000 people gathered in Barcelona, 1,000 in Vigo, 3,000 in Bilbao, 2,000 in Oviedo, 2,000 in Gijón, around 800 in Avilés, 3,000 in Palma.

Other European cities had their own demonstrations, gathering 300 attendants in London, 600 in Brussels, 200 in Lisbon and some minor ones in Athens, Milan, Budapest, Tangiers, París, Berlín, Vienna and Rome.

22 May

Just after 2pm on election day, the ‘indignados’ gathered at Puerta del Sol announced they had voted to stay at least another week, until noon on 29 May. Early analysis of the nationwide elections, won by the People's Party, suggested the protest movement could have contributed to losses for the ruling PSOE and to increased numbers of spoilt or blank votes, which reached record levels.

24 May

In Murcia, some 80 people gained access to the headquarters of the television channel 7 Región de Murcia, avoiding security staff, in order to read a manifesto denouncing media manipulation. Likewise, some 30 people gained unobstructed entry to the Tarragona office of the Ministry of Economy and Financeand shouted slogans against the political and economic systems, before moving to several financial sites in the city centre to do the same.

25 May

In Málaga, the Ministry of Defence decided to relocate various activities for Armed Forces Dayplanned for Friday 27. Protesters had already been occupying the Plaza de la Constitución, where the events were scheduled to take place, for eight days.

27 May

At approximately 7am on 27 May a more serious incident occurred when the city council ofBarcelona decided to send 350 police officers from the Mossos d'Esquadra and another one hundred or so from the Guàrdia Urbana to temporarily vacate Plaça de Catalunya so that it could be cleaned ahead of the final of the Champions League final on 28 May, in which FC Barcelonawere playing. The resulting violent clash ended in 121 light injuries and provoked new calls to protest in all squares still occupied across Spain. The majority of those injured suffered bruises and open wounds caused by police officers' truncheons, and one protester leaving with a broken arm. By shortly after midday those protesters vacated had already returned to the square.

Similar incidents also occurred in Lleida and Sabadell, where Mossos d'Esquadra officers dismantled the protesters' encampments. According to police figures, more than 12,000 people gathered in Barcelona through the course of the day, angry about the earlier actions of the police, painting their hands white and carrying flowers as symbols of protest. They demanded, among other things, the resignation of the head of the Mossos d'Esquadra, Felip Puig. They also claimed that following the incident the encampment would likely not be taken down on Sunday 28, as had previously been stated.

The clearing of the Barcelona camp was broadcast live by two Spanish television channels, including Antena 3, and was also widely dispersed through social networks such asTwitter.

The Catalan ombudsman opened an investigation into the incident to check if police action was disproportionate and if it violated citizens' rights.

Tyrants and Religions

2011-05-22T13:14:00.000-07:00

Role of religion in the Nazi state

Hitler was opposed to state atheism, which for example was part of the political system of the Soviet Union. He issued a statement saying that he wished to avoid factional disputes in Germany's churches. Hitler feared the political power that the churches had, and did not want to openly antagonize that political base until he had securely gained control of the country. Once in power Hitler showed his contempt for non-Aryan religion and sought to eliminate it from areas under his rule. Within Hitler's Nazi Party some atheists were quite vocal, especially Martin Bormann. Hitler often used religious speech and symbolism in his propaganda to promote Nazism to those that he feared would be disposed to act against him. He also used religion as a pretext in diplomacies. The Soviet Union feared that if they commenced a programme of persecution against religion in the western regions, Hitler would use that as a pretext for war.

In 1985 the Austrian author Wilfried Daim published a photograph of an alleged document signed by Hitler in 1943, which proposed the:

"Immediate and unconditional abolition of all religions after the final victory ('Endsieg') not only for the territory of Greater Germany but also for all released, occupied and annexed countries ..., proclaiming at the same time Hitler as the new messiah. Out of political considerations the Muslim, Buddhist and Shintoist religion will be spared for the present. The 'Führer' has to be presented as an intermediate between a redeemer and a liberator, yet surely as one sent by God, who has to get godly honour. The existing churches, chapels, temples and cult places of the different religions have to be changed into 'Adolf-Hitler-consecration places'. The theological faculties of the universities have to be transformed into the new faith. Special emphasis has to be lain on the education of missionaries and wandering preachers, who have to proclaim the teaching in Greater Germany and in the rest of the world and have to form religious bodies, which can be used as centres for further extension. (With this the problems with the abolition of monogamy will disappear, because polygamy can be included into the new teaching as one of the statements of faith.)"

to demolish: Turkey-Armenian ties

2011-04-25T12:59:00.000-07:00

ISTANBUL – A hulking sculpture meant to promote reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia became an accidental emblem of their historic enmity after workers erected scaffolding towers and began to demolish it this week.

Then, the mood soured further: a Turkish artist who championed the monument was stabbed. Bedri Baykam, a prominent critic of Turkey's government, was hospitalized after the assault Monday, which followed a speech in which he condemned plans to tear down the sculpture near the Armenian border.

It was an ominous conclusion to an artistic project linking two nations without diplomatic ties and whose relationship seems irrevocably defined by the mass killings of Armenians under Ottoman rule. On Sunday, Armenians mark the 96th anniversary of the start of what many international experts deem a genocide, a view that Turkey vigorously refutes.

The conciliatory message of the "Monument to Humanity" was also eclipsed by Turkey's polarized politics, which pit a two-term government led by pious Muslims against fiercely secular circles, both vying for nationalist votes ahead of elections in June.

The controversy began in January when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the unfinished monument by artist Mehmet Aksoy in the eastern city of Kars as a "freak," apparently in artistic terms, that overshadowed a nearby Islamic shrine. The 35-meter (115-foot) stone sculpture features a divided human figure, with one half extending a hand to the other half.

The city council promptly passed a motion to dismantle the monument. Arguably, the Turkish government has done much more than its predecessors to campaign for rapprochement with Armenia, but critics seized on the sculpture's fate as an example of intolerance.

"Turkey does not deserve this image," Aksoy said at the same news conference where Baykam gave his speech. "We will turn into the Taliban in the eyes of world art lovers and democratic society."

In his address, Baykam grandly compared the monument's demise to the Islamic militia's destruction of the ancient Buddha statues in Afghanistan in 2001. A flamboyant figure with frizzy hair, Baykam has railed against Islamic influence in politics and has close ties to the Republican People's Party, a champion of the secular order forged by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who led Turkey to independence in 1923.

Video images showed the aftermath of Baykam's stabbing in a parking lot outside a cultural center in Istanbul. He strides back and forth frantically, gesturing, pulling up his untucked shirt and clutching his abdomen as he shouts to motorists for help. No blood is visible in the footage.

"Quick, hospital. I have been stabbed. Help, take me to hospital. Quick, take me to hospital," Baykam shouts. "Open the door, I'm dying, hospital. Take me to hospital, man, quick."

Eventually, Baykam climbs into the back seat of a taxi that speeds off. His assistant, Tugba Kurtulmus, was also injured in the attack, and she was seen lying on the ground as people tended to her.

Baykam received emergency surgery, but both he and Kurtulmus were removed from intensive care on Tuesday. They were expected to stay in hospital for least four or five days, according to Turkey's Anatolia news agency. Culture and Tourism Minister Ertugrul Gunay called the hospital to express his wishes for their quick recovery.

Hurriyet newspaper said the alleged attacker, 35-year-old Mehmet Celikel, surrendered Monday evening. He reportedly told police that he had attended meetings at the cultural center in the past. Authorities were investigating whether he is mentally ill.

"I cannot stand Bedri Baykam. That's why I stabbed him. I don't like his opinions," Hurriyet quoted him as saying.

Turkey's progress toward democratic reform has yet to shed an authoritarian culture and a legacy of impunity sometimes fostered by the state. In such a climate of conspiracy, there was speculation about whether the attacker was operating on his own or had been directed to do so. In addition, theories swirled about whether the attack was in retaliation for Baykam's anti-government views, or an act of prov

ocation intended to stir opposition resolve ahead of the elections.

Baykam had not been known for promoting Turkish-Armenian reconciliation, a cause that is deeply unpopular among hardline nationalists in Turkey, but the monument controversy appeared to serve his anti-government agenda as well as his commitment to artistic expression.

Defne Ayas, an international curator who has represented many Turkish artists, described Baykam as a "relentless promoter of Turkish ultra-secularism" whose views seemed somewhat outdated to "progressive intellectual circles" and the younger, contemporary art scene.

"In the final analysis, our fundamentals require that no one is stabbed for their opinions," Ayas wrote in an email from Shanghai, her main base. "It gives me shivers to read on Twitter that some people think it is not a loss if he is dead."

The monument dispute also focused attention on the culture of personality politics in Turkey, where Erdogan's forceful style helped strip the military of political power and elevated Turkey's stature abroad, but drew criticism that his conduct was imperial in manner.

"The boss gave an instruction and they're trying to make that instruction come through," Kemal Koprulu, publisher of the Istanbul-based Turkish Policy Quarterly, said of the decision to dismantle the sculpture in Kars. "It's hurting the relationship between the two countries as a result."

A 2009 agreement between European Union candidate Turkey and Armenia, meant to open the way to diplomatic ties and the reopening of their border, foundered over Turkey's demand that Armenian troops withdraw from the Armenian-occupied enclave Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan. Turkey closed the border in 1993 to protest Armenia's war with Azerbaijan, an ally.

Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America, speculated that the scrapping of the monument was aimed at winning votes for Turkey's ruling party, whose halting reforms on Kurdish rights and other issues exposed it to a nationalist backlash.

Largely lost in the political debate was an examination of the quality of the monument, which was defaced by yellow, green and pink graffiti at its base. It will be cut into 18 pieces during the demolition, expected to last 10 days.

Ayas, the curator, suggested the art fit an old-fashioned mold.

"The Turkish state or municipalities are still stuck with notions of public sculpture that are more Soviet-influenced than reflective of our contemporary realities."

By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA, Associated Press – Tue Apr 19

Wage Slavery!

2011-04-12T06:04:00.000-07:00

The first articulate description of wage slavery was perhaps made by Simon Linguet in 1763:

"The slave was precious to his master because of the money he had cost him… They were worth
at least as much as they could be sold for in the market… It is the impossibility of living
by any other means that compels our farm labourers to till the soil whose fruits they will not eat…
It is want that compels them to go down on their knees to the rich man in order to get from him permission to enrich him… what effective gain has the suppression of slavery brought him?
He is free, you say. Ah! That is his misfortune… These men… [have] the most terrible,
the most imperious of masters, that is, need.
They must therefore find someone to hire them, or die of hunger.
Is that to be free?"

Chernobyl's radioactive cloud moving over Europe between April 26 and May 9, 1986

2011-04-11T13:23:00.000-07:00

"A ghost wanders through Europe"

Reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl power plant exploded on 26 April 1986. Radioactive

particles were released over 10 days. The resulting plume of smoke was blown in all

directions as the wind changed during this period.

ON 26 APRIL 1986, REACTOR NO. 4

AT THE CHERNOBYL POWER PLANT EXPLODED

Fragments of the reactor core were blown out through the roof of the reactor building.

A plume of smoke rose up into the air containing some of the core’s radioactive

material.

Helicopters quickly arrived at the scene to dump thousands of tons of sand, clay

and lead over the reactor to cover it. The releases stopped on 5 May. They lasted 10 days.

Radionuclides in the releases:

■ noble gases (xenon, krypton),

■ volatile particles (iodine, caesium, tellurium,

strontium, ruthenium),

■ heavy particles, such as plutonium, in

smaller quantities.

The heavy particles fell in the vicinity of the site.

The lighter particles were dispersed in the

atmosphere.

CHANGING WINDS PUSHED THE MASS OF POLLUTED AIR INTO SEVERAL

DIRECTIONS SO THAT MOST EUROPEAN COUNTRIES WERE CONTAMINATED

TO VARYING DEGREES

The ﬁrst plume of smoke released on 26 April

contained over 50% of the total radioactivity

released by the damaged reactor. It was

carried in a north-westerly direction.

On its arrival over the Scandinavian countries,

it turned east then south to release its

radioactive pollutants over Central Europe

and the Balkans

The releases from 27 April were driven

westwards. Those from the morning arrived

in France from the east (green arrow) and

those from the afternoon from the south

(blue arrow). They spread across the country

between 30 April and 5 May.

All releases after 27 April affected the eastern

and southern parts of Europe, sparing France.

Online IMDb Tops

2009-03-23T17:43:00.000-07:00

www.IMDbTops.com

IMDb Top 250 Movies Click To Watch Online

The Shawshank Redemption

The Godfather
The Godfather: Part II
Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo.
Pulp Fiction
Schindler's List
12 Angry Men
Inception
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
The Dark Knight
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Seven Samurai
Fight Club
Goodfellas
Star Wars
Casablanca
Cidade de Deus
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
C'era una volta il West
Rear Window
Raiders of the Lost Ark
The Matrix
Psycho
The Usual Suspects
The Silence of the Lambs
Se7en
It's a Wonderful Life
Memento
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Toy Story 3
Sunset Blvd.
Forrest Gump
Léon
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Apocalypse Now
Citizen Kane
North by Northwest
American Beauty
American History X
Taxi Driver
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Saving Private Ryan
Vertigo
Alien
Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain
WALL•E
Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi
The Shining
Paths of Glory
Lawrence of Arabia
The Pianist
Double Indemnity
City Lights
A Clockwork Orange
Das Leben der Anderen
M
The Departed
To Kill a Mockingbird
Aliens
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Requiem for a Dream
Das Boot
Black Swan
Reservoir Dogs
The Third Man
L.A. Confidential
Modern Times
Chinatown
La vita è bella
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Back to the Future
The Prestige
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Raging Bull
El laberinto del fauno
Nuovo Cinema Paradiso
Singin' in the Rain
Some Like It Hot
Rashômon
The Bridge on the River Kwai
The Green Mile
Once Upon a Time in America
Amadeus
All About Eve
Full Metal Jacket
The Great Dictator
Ladri di biciclette
2001: A Space Odyssey
Braveheart
Inglourious Basterds
The Apartment
Der Untergang
Up
Metropolis
Gladiator
Gran Torino
The Sting
The King's Speech
Unforgiven
Old Boy
The Elephant Man
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
The Maltese Falcon
On the Waterfront
Sin City
Rebecca
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Die Hard
The Great Escape
Mononoke-hime
Batman Begins
Det sjunde inseglet
Jaws
Hotel Rwanda
Blade Runner
Fargo
The General
No Country for Old Men
Heat
Per qualche dollaro in più
Slumdog Millionaire
The Wizard of Oz
Yôjinbô
Touch of Evil
Ran
Hotaru no haka
Witness for the Prosecution
Smultronstället
Snatch.
The Sixth Sense
The Deer Hunter
Annie Hall
The Big Lebowski
Donnie Darko
Cool Hand Luke
The Lion King
It Happened One Night
Strangers on a Train
High Noon
District 9
Kill Bill: Vol. 1
Platoon
Toy Story
Into the Wild
There Will Be Blood
Million Dollar Baby
Notorious
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
Trainspotting
Gone with the Wind
The Gold Rush
Scarface
Avatar
The Grapes of Wrath
Ben-Hur
Groundhog Day
The Big Sleep
The Wrestler
The Manchurian Candidate
The Graduate
Amores perros
Life of Brian
Finding Nemo
The Terminator
The Bourne Ultimatum
The Kid
The Best Years of Our Lives
Ikiru
El secreto de sus ojos
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Le salaire de la peur
Stand by Me
Casino
The Thing
Twelve Monkeys
How to Train Your Dragon
V for Vendetta
Dog Day Afternoon
Les diaboliques
Ratatouille
Gandhi
The Social Network
Tonari no Totoro
Judgment at Nuremberg
8½
The Night of the Hunter
Star Trek
The Princess Bride
Good Will Hunting
The Hustler
The Killing
Network
Les quatre cents coups
La strada
The Incredibles
La battaglia di Algeri
Le scaphandre et le papillon
In Bruges
A Streetcar Named Desire
The Exorcist
The Wild Bunch
Stalag 17
Persona
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Dial M for Murder
Mary and Max
Kind Hearts and Coronets
La passion de Jeanne d'Arc
All Quiet on the Western Front
Children of Men
Rocky
Fanny och Alexander
Ed Wood
Let the Right One In
Big Fish
Magnolia
Manhattan
Mystic River
Barry Lyndon
The Truman Show
Rosemary's Baby
Kill Bill: Vol. 2
Festen
Patton
Roman Holiday
Infernal Affairs
His Girl Friday
Hauru no ugoku shiro
Le notti di Cabiria
Sherlock Jr.
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Letters from Iwo Jima
Duck Soup
Arsenic and Old Lace
The Philadelphia Story
Harvey
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Sleuth
Rope
Trois couleurs: Rouge
Monsters, Inc.
In the Mood for Love
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
Crash
Hable con ella
Laputa
Beauty and the Beast

www.IMDbTops.com