Τρίτη 6 Νοεμβρίου 2012

Greece flirts with tyranny and Europe looks away | Nick Cohen

Greek democracy is in peril and much of the fault lies with the EU's hard stance

When those madcap Scandinavian satirists awarded the Nobel peace prize to the European Union, they let everyone in on the joke by praising its commitment to "reconciliation, democracy and human rights". If the committee's 2012 citation were anything other than a spoof, you would have read denunciations of the rise of oppressive state power and neo-Nazism in Greece from concerned Euro commissioners long before now.

The EU denounces threats to freedom of speech in Viktor Orbán's Hungary with vigour. European politicians worry with good reason about the fate of independent institutions that stand in the way of the rabble-rousing regime. They notice the fascistic element in the new Hungarian right's flirtations with antisemitic and anti-Roma hatreds and its willingness to indulge the revanchist fantasy that Hungary can regain the lands it lost after the First World War.

On the fate of Greek democracy there is silence, however, although there is much that Europe's leaders might talk about.

You spot the pressure points of a failing state by looking at what it censors. In the case of Greece, the authorities' prosecution last week of Kostas Vaxevanis showed that he had hit a pressure point with the accuracy of a doctor sticking a needle into a nerve. While Greeks live with austerity without end, while Greek GDP has shrunk by 4.5% in 2010 and 6.9% in 2011, and will shrink by a predicted 6.5% this year and 4.5% in 2013, the list of the names of 2,000 Greeks with bank accounts in Switzerland Vaxevanis published, suggested that the well-connected were escaping the burdens that fall on the masses.

"Instead of arresting the tax evaders and the ministers who had the list in their hands," thundered Vaxevanis in a call to arms that stirred the blood, "they're trying to arrest the truth and freedom of the press."

His acquittal on privacy law charges, though welcome, was less important than it appeared. It did not mean that freedom of the press was secure in Greece. Even in good times, independent journalism has rarely been a force in the land. Most Greek TV stations and newspapers are owned by either the state or plutocratic corporations, neither of which likes seeing corruption exposed. The leftwing daily, Eleftherotypia, which for all its faults and flirtations with terrorism at least challenged the oligarchs, filed for bankruptcy last year.

Few of the employees of the remaining Greek news organisations reject the notion that they should keep quiet in the interests of holding on to their pay cheques. The state is hounding too many of those who do. "We still have freedom of expression recognised by the law at a theoretical level," said Asteris Masouras, one of the free speech monitors at Global Voices. "On a practical level, well..." And he proceeded to give me a list of instances of menacing forces intimidating reporters that would go on into the New Review section if I ran it in full.

Where to begin? How about the self-defeating austerity policies the troika of the European Central Bank, European Commission and International Monetary Fund have forced on Greece? The authorities used an old warrant to arrest Spiros Karatzaferis, after the journalist threatened to reveal confidential emails, that might have explained how the troika's alleged "rescue package" had pushed the country into depression.

Police brutality is another pressure point, undoubtedly. The Greek left makes persistent allegations of collaboration between the supposed forces of law and order and the thugs in the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn movement. The Guardian ran reports that the police had beaten up anti-fascist demonstrators after they had confronted Golden Dawn. Yes, I know leftists call everyone "fascists" from headteachers to their mums and dads, but as Golden Dawn is building a mass movement while marching under a swastika, the term is correct on this occasion. The following day, Greek state TV replaced Kostas Arvanitis and Marilena Katsimi, the presenters of its morning news show, after they told managers they planned to follow up the Guardian's claims. Another state TV reporter, Christos Dantis, has joined the ranks of the vanishing journalists. His editors assigned him to cover the celebrations of the centenary of the liberation of Thessaloniki from Ottoman rule. He was about to report on popular protests against the presence of the Greek prime minister and president in Greece's second city when his masters turned off the camera and cut to a more amenable hack.

All the Greek journalists I spoke to, emphasised that Athens was not Beijing or Tehran, but they described how the liberal certainties they once held now appeared flimsy. Helena Smith, our superb Athens correspondent, says that she feels as if she is standing on shifting sands. If the centrist coalition fails, and the troika's punitive demands have condemned it to failure, then the left opposition in Syrzia will probably take over. After that, Golden Dawn, maybe? No one knows. Nothing is unthinkable in a climate of fear and hopelessness.

One can say with certainty that old alliances between extreme political and extreme religious movements are reviving. Hence, last month Christian fanatics and neo-Nazis (and the difference between the two is fine) protested against a "blasphemous" play with a homosexual theme in Athens. The theatre's management duly pulled it. Greek television cut a scene from Downton Abbey that featured a gay kiss. No one can explain why but a country that censors Downton Abbey on any grounds other than literary taste is in grave trouble.

British Eurosceptics do not understand that the European Union once offered an escape to a liberal future for the peoples of Europe. When I visited Athens in the early 1980s, the old could remember fighting the Nazi occupation and the young had grown up in and on occasion fought the military dictatorship the colonels imposed. Joining the European Union meant saying goodbye to all of that. Now poverty, fear, suppression and state intimidation are back.

You can blame the corruption Greek society tolerated.

You can blame the bankers for the crash. But you must also apportion blame to Europe's politicians and bureaucrats who accepted Greece (and the rest of southern Europe) into a single currency area that has put them at a permanent competitive disadvantage and refused to write off debts Greece can never repay.

No wonder they stay silent about the abuse of the human rights the Nobel prize committee insisted European integration guaranteed. Greece is the Eurocrats' very own Weimar on the Aegean. They helped build it.

Παρασκευή 2 Νοεμβρίου 2012

'I dont Pay' movement in action in Athens




The I Don't Pay movement against austerity measures "Den Plirono" was at Agioi Anargiroi region of Athens, in order to inform Greek people about the current political situation and our role in reversing it for the profit of the 99% of people, through political  disobedience actions.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Submitted by


 Giorgos Panagakis


Athens, Greece, Europe

Τρίτη 23 Οκτωβρίου 2012

Be a supporter of the “Save the homeland of Aristotle and the getaway to the Holy Mountain” campaign! Sign now!


LOGO

Be a supporter of the “Save the homeland of Aristotle and the getaway to the Holy Mountain” campaign! Sign now!

The “Save the homeland of Aristotle and the getaway to the Holy Mountain” campaign calls for citizens all over the world to raise their voice in condemnation against the development of mining activities and the installation of gold extraction heavy industry, chemical byproducts and toxic waste ponds in the holy land of the philosopher Aristotle, which is the natural gate to the monastic community of the Holy mountain.
In this unique environment, the Greek government has allocated 317000 acres of land to mining<!--more--> companies that aim to transform a highly valued ecological paradise to a huge mining center. Their target is to create numerous surface and underground mines, set up a sulfuric acid chemical plant, dig for gold, silver, copper and other metals and use an ancient forest ecosystem to place their toxic waste ponds.

If we allow this to happen, the result will be a non-reversible, of the first magnitude economic, ecological and cultural disaster of the area with our forests and rivers full of toxic waste, our sea contaminated with heavy metals and the air we breathe fouled by hazardous airborne particle dust while enormous reserves of water will be drained...

Δευτέρα 22 Οκτωβρίου 2012

Women stand up to the rioting police

The Greek women of Skouries in Northern Greece stand up to the rioting police who have been dispatched by the Greek government to attack the local citizens with chemical weapons, beatings and arrests at the behest of a private multinational gold mining company.

Athens: Social Meltdown


Athens: Social Meltdown - Greek subtitles from Ross Domoney on Vimeo.
Dr Dimitris Dalakoglou explains the social meltdown which took place in Greece between May 2010 & June 2012 that is on going. This film contains videos and photos shot on the streets, often containing violence and paints a portrait of widespread economic hardship endured by a cities inhabitants. This film is part of an ongoing research project, which looks at the rapid structural changes which Greece is undergoing. Produced & Directed by Ross Domoney Interview: Dimitris Dalakoglou Filmed, Photographed & Edited by Ross Domoney aletheiaphotos.com

Πέμπτη 11 Οκτωβρίου 2012

THE SQUAT FARMHOUSE CAN PIELLA COULD BE EVICTED NEXT WEEK...

ΚΑΛΕΣΜΑ ΓΙΑ ΑΛΛΗΛΕΓΓΎΗ ΕΝΑΝΤΙΑ ΣΤΟ ΚΛΕΙΣΙΜΟ ΤΗΣ ΟΙΚΟΚΟΙΝΟΤΗΤΑΣ CAN PIELLA ΣΤΗΝ ΒΑΡΚΕΛΩΝΗ.
ΥΠΟΓΡΑΨΤΕ ΚΑΙ ΔΙΑΔΩΣΤΕ ΕΔΏ (http://bit.ly/SygwGf ΚΑΙ http://bit.ly/T5U5Ct)


 THE SQUAT FARMHOUSE CAN PIELLA COULD BE EVICTED NEXT WEEK...

Can Piella is a squat, a XVII century farmhouse located in the Barcelona outskirts, occupied for 3 years, after being abandoned and inhabited during the last 10 years.
Tha farmhouse has been then rehabilited and the sourrounding field are now tilled.

Can Piella wants to build and to spread - by autonomy, collective work,
self-management - alternatives to the present model of society, in order to contribute to the social change that will lead us to a "better world, more altruistic, sustainable, ecological and solidary with a a clear restatement of consumption and where relations of domination will be a small imperfections and not the general trend".

As we can read in their web site : "the project integrates the residents of nearby towns, who wanted to start working the land collectively, groups of critical thinking, research initiatives in alternative energy systems, dens and leisure, among others". Can Piella is actually a space for reflection, debate and community work.

Now this place suffers an eviction threat: the Court has ordered that the occupies leave the farmhouse October 15th, even if the owner is not going to give any use to it.
In this case the procedure to evict Can Paiella has been started by an entreprise of the Real Estate Group Alcazar. His former owner has been protagonist during decades of several corruption investigations and accusation, and the actual one - his first-born - seem do not have any idea of what Can Piella is.

To fight and reply to this menace the Can Piella assembly called this saturday - October the 13th - to a march leaving the train station of Llagosta (the nearest town) at 5pm ending up in a resistence camp in the ground around Can Piella. The march is supported by the Aliança per la Sobirania Alimentària de Catalunya (http://asapcatalunya.wordpress.com/ ), la PAH de La Llagosta (http://on.fb.me/SLNL78 ), Reclaim the Fields (http://reclaimthefields.org/ ), l'Observatori del Deute en la Globalització (http://www.odg.cat/idioma.php ), Can Masdeu (http://www.canmasdeu.net/ ) i Repoblació Rural (http://www.repoblament.tk/ ).

At the same time two petitions have started to stop the eviction. Everyone could sign it in the web site of Can Piella (http://www.canpiella.cat/ )

"The problem recalls the evacuation Can Piella is a global problem in our society that constantly confronts the myth of progress with a social degenerates, in favor of a purely economistic"


LINKS
http://www.canpiella.cat/ [CAT, SP]
Petitions on line : http://bit.ly/SygwGf , http://bit.ly/T5U5Ct
Radio Interview - from min. 36: http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/audios/vida-verda/ [SP]

Collectivs and Groups supporting the march
Aliança per la Sobirania Alimentària de Catalunya - Alliance for food sovereignty of Catalonia blog: http://asapcatalunya.wordpress.com/ 
PAH - Plataform mortgage affected - of La Llagosta Facebook page: http://on.fb.me/SLNL78 Reclaim the Fields web page: http://reclaimthefields.org/
Observatori del Deute en la Globalització - Debt Observatory in the Globalization: http://www.odg.cat/idioma.php
Can Masdeu squat web page: http://www.canmasdeu.net/
Repoblació Rural - Rural repopulation web page: http://www.repoblament.tk/

Articles:
Can Piella is threatened with eviction: http://bit.ly/QNWKRw [CAT]
Eviction threat to a XVII century farmhouse in Barcelona environs: http://bit.ly/R7CdaJ [SP], http://bit.ly/RaYzf0 [CAT]
A multimilionary behind the Can Piella eviction: http://bit.ly/QcZJDB [CAT]
 
Ηλιόσποροι - δίκτυο πληροφόρησης και ενεργοποίησης νέων για την κοινωνική και πολιτική οικολογία /// www.iliosporoi.net /// www.myspace.com/iliosporoi /// iliosporoi facebook /// iliosporoi twitter

Τρίτη 9 Οκτωβρίου 2012

The Guardian: Greek anti-fascist protesters 'tortured by police' after Golden Dawn clash

Tuesday 9 October 2012

Fifteen people arrested in Athens says they were subjected to what their lawyer describes as an Abu Ghraib-style humiliation

Fifteen anti-fascist protesters arrested in Athens during a clash with supporters of the neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn have said they were tortured in the Attica General Police Directorate (GADA) – the Athens equivalent of Scotland Yard – and subjected to what their lawyer describes as an Abu Ghraib-style humiliation.
Members of a second group of 25 who were arrested after demonstrating in support of their fellow anti-fascists the next day said they were beaten and made to strip naked and bend over in front of officers and other protesters inside the same police station.
Protester injured during arrest in Greece
A protester shows his injuries
Several of the protesters arrested after the first demonstration on Sunday 30 September told the Guardian they were slapped and hit by a police officer while five or six others watched, were spat on and "used as ashtrays" because they "stank", and were kept awake all night with torches and lasers being shone in their eyes.
injuries fromth e Greek police
Bruising on the protester's leg
Some said they were burned on the arms with a cigarette lighter, and they said police officers videoed them on their mobile phones and threatened to post the pictures on the internet and give their home addresses to Golden Dawn, which has a track record of political violence.
Golden Dawn's popularity has surged since the June election, when it won 18 seats in parliament; it recently came third in several opinion polls, behind the conservative New Democracy and the leftwing party Syriza.
Last month the Guardian reported that victims of crime have been told by police officers to seek help from Golden Dawn, who then felt obliged to make donations to the group.
One of the two women among them said the officers used crude sexual insults and pulled her head back by the hair when she tried to avoid being filmed. The protesters said they were denied drinking water and access to lawyers for 19 hours. "We were so thirsty we drank water from the toilets," she said.
One man with a bleeding head wound and a broken arm that he said had been sustained during his arrest alleged the police continued to beat him in GADA and refused him medical treatment until the next morning. Another said the police forced his legs apart and kicked him in the testicles during the arrest.
"They spat on me and said we would die like our grandfathers in the civil war," he said.
A third said he was hit on the spine with a Taser as he tried to run away; the burn mark is still visible. "It's like an electric shock," he said. "My legs were paralysed for a few minutes and I fell. They handcuffed me behind my back and started hitting and kicking me in the ribs and the head. Then they told me to stand up, but I couldn't, so they pulled me up by the chain while standing on my shin. They kept kicking and punching me for five blocks to the patrol car."
The protesters asked that their names not be published, for fear of reprisals from the police or Golden Dawn.
A second group of protesters also said they were "tortured" at GADA. "We all had to go past an officer who made us strip naked in the corridor, bend over and open our back passage in front of everyone else who was there," one of them told the Guardian. "He did whatever he wanted with us – slapped us, hit us, told us not to look at him, not to sit cross-legged. Other officers who came by did nothing.
"All we could do was look at each other out of the corners of our eyes to give each other courage. He had us there for more than two hours. He would take phone calls on his mobile and say, 'I'm at work and I'm fucking them, I'm fucking them up well'. In the end only four of us were charged, with resisting arrest. It was a day out of the past, out of the colonels' junta."
In response to the allegations, Christos Manouras, press spokesman for the Hellenic police, said: "There was no use of force by police officers against anyone in GADA. The Greek police examine and investigate in depth every single report regarding the use of violence by police officers; if there are any responsibilities arising, the police take the imposed disciplinary action against the officers responsible. There is no doubt that the Greek police always respect human rights and don't use violence."
Sunday's protest was called after a Tanzanian community centre was vandalised by a group of 80-100 people in a central Athens neighbourhood near Aghios Panteleimon, a stronghold of Golden Dawn where there have been many violent attacks on immigrants.
According to protesters, about 150 people rode through the neighbourhood on motorcycles handing out leaflets. They said the front of the parade encountered two or three men in black Golden Dawn T-shirts, and a fight broke out. A large number of police immediately swooped on them from the surrounding streets.
According to Manouras: "During the motorcycle protest there were clashes between demonstrators and local residents. The police intervened to prevent the situation from deteriorating and restore public order. There might have been some minor injuries, during the clashes between residents, protesters and police."
Marina Daliani, a lawyer for one of the Athens 15, said they had been charged with "disturbing the peace with covered faces" (because they were wearing motorcycle helmets), and with grievous bodily harm against two people. But, she said, no evidence of such harm had so far been submitted. They have now been released on bail of €3,000 (£2,400) each.
According to Charis Ladis, a lawyer for another of the protesters, the sustained mistreatment of Greeks in police custody has been rare until this year: "This case shows that a page has been turned. Until now there was an assumption that someone who was arrested, even violently, would be safe in custody. But these young people have all said they lived through an interminable dark night.
Dimitris Katsaris, a lawyer for four of the protesters, said his clients had suffered Abu Ghraib-style humiliation, referring to the detention centre where Iraqi detainees were tortured by US soldiers during the Iraq war. "This is not just a case of police brutality of the kind you hear about now and then in every European country. This is happening daily. We have the pictures, we have the evidence of what happens to people getting arrested protesting against the rise of the neo-Nazi party in Greece. This is the new face of the police, with the collaboration of the justice system."
One of the arrested protesters, a quiet man in his 30s standing by himself, said: "Journalists here don't report these things. You have to tell them what's happening here, in this country that suffered so much from Nazism. No one will pay attention unless you report these things abroad."the guardian:

Κυριακή 7 Οκτωβρίου 2012

Earth Engine: Brazilian Rainforest


For the interactive timelapse version of this tour, visit http://earthengine.google.org

Explore a global timelapse of our planet, constructed from Landsat satellite imagery. The Amazon rainforest is shrinking at a rapid rate to provide land for farming and raising cattle. Each frame of the timelapse map is constructed from a year of Landsat satellite data, constituting an annual 1.7-terapixel snapshot of the Earth at 30-meter resolution. The Landsat program, managed by the USGS, has been acquiring images of the Earth's surface since 1972. Landsat provides critical scientific information about our changing planet.

Πέμπτη 13 Σεπτεμβρίου 2012

"I don't Pay" movement: voluntary blood donation

Photos from today's voluntary blood donation, from the I DON' T PAY MOVEMENT
Many fellow fighters and friends of the I Dont't Pay Movement gathered thiw morning and gave blood to enrich the blood bank of the movement. The blood collected will be handled in the following (obvious) logic:
The blood has no national or racial composition...

Πέμπτη 6 Σεπτεμβρίου 2012

Health, Safety and Publicness: Athens, August 9 – 14, 2012

By Elena Loizidou Five days in Athens.

Five very var­ied days.

I used to fre­quent Athens as a teen­ager with my par­ents. We were always transit vis­it­ors, en route to Kano, Nigeria where my late father used to work. Those vis­its where quick, two days in Athens, vis­it­ing ancient monu­ments, museums, tav­ernas, cafes, friends, and rel­at­ives. You see, post 1974 and the Turk­ish inva­sion of Cyprus a num­ber of our refugee rel­at­ives and friends made their way to Greece and par­tic­u­larly Athens to begin again the recon­struc­tion of their lives. Athens looked big, busy, excit­ing, express­ive and glam­or­ous through my youth­ful eyes. Athens looked like those old movies that Finos Film (Greek Pro­duc­tion Com­pany, 1943 – 77) used to make and expor­ted to Cyprus and the Greek Dia­spora. I am not Greek, I am Cyp­riot. I am a Greek Cyp­riot that grew up on Greek cul­ture, and can speak, write and read Greek rel­at­ively well, at the expense of never get­ting to know Turk­ish cul­ture or lan­guage. Let’s leave...

Τετάρτη 5 Σεπτεμβρίου 2012

"I Dont Pay" movement in support of the public healthcare



Members of the Greek "I Dont Pay" movement demostrate in front of the 7th Periferal Hospital in the Patisia region of Athens, in solidarity with the employees and people of Patisia arguing against the goverments plan to close the hospital.
 Submitted by
 
Giorgos Panagakis


more Photos here and here

Τρίτη 28 Αυγούστου 2012

Dam in the Amazon: restarted DESTRUCTION WITH NEW JUDICIAL DECISION

When taken at the first court decision to stop the work of catastrophic dam Belo Monte, the Amazon, the world created a climate of optimism. The news, however, the judgment of the Supreme Court of Brazil, came to dispel any illusion: The judicial system is mounted with the class interests of the ruling class. And this is a global phenomenon. So let us have no illusions. The people that won the won the match on the road ... The news: The Brazilian Supreme Court yesterday issued a decision allowing the resumption of work on the Belo Monte dam, the third-largest such project currently under construction in the world, in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon. A preliminary decision by the President of the Supreme Court Aires Carlos Brito annulled the local federal court on August 14 to halt work on the ground that before the start of the project was not consulted the Indians who live in the area. The president accepted the position of Prosecutor Luis Inacio Adams, who represented the interests of the state, and found that ...

Δευτέρα 27 Αυγούστου 2012

Pony the Orangutan Prostitute!

Pony before [inset] and after. Photo courtesy of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation
Meet Pony. She is an orangutan from a small village in Borneo, where they cut down the rain forest to render the palm oil that gets sold abroad and made into lip salve, ice cream, chocolates and cheese crackers.

VICE: So tell us about Pony...

Κυριακή 26 Αυγούστου 2012

Etika Mondo news : RECONNECTING ELECTRICITY POWER TO UNEMPLOYED PERSON


ΕΠΑΝΑΣΥΝΔΕΣΗ ΡΕΥΜΑΤΟΣ ΣΕ ΑΝΕΡΓΟ ΣΤΟ ΑΙΓΑΛΕΩ /
 I DON'T PAY MOVEMENT


Η ΑΛΛΗΛΕΓΓΥΗ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΤΟ ΟΠΛΟ ΜΑΣ! 
ΚΑΝΕΝΑ ΣΠΙΤΙ ΧΩΡΙΣ ΡΕΥΜΑ! 
ΚΑΝΕΝΑΣ ΜΟΝΟΣ ΤΟΥ ΣΤΗ ΚΡΙΣΗ! 
ΚΙΝΗΜΑ ΔΕΝ ΠΛΗΡΩΝΩ 
epitropes2010@gmail.com ...

Τρίτη 7 Αυγούστου 2012

A World Without Water: The tragedies behind the privatisation of water supplies

A World Without Water The world is running out of its most precious resource. True Vision's timely film tells of the personal tragedies behind the mounting privatisation of water supplies. More than a billion people across the globe don’t have access to safe water. Every day 3900 children die as a result of insufficient or unclean water supplies. The situation can only get worse as water gets evermore scarce.

Σάββατο 4 Αυγούστου 2012

Carta abierta a Rajoy de la Alcaldesa de Humilladero: “en España sobra usted”

SR. RAJOY, USTED ESTÁ APLICANDO UN PROGRAMA OCULTO QUE NO FUE CONOCIDO POR EL ELECTORADO. SR. RAJOY LE EMPLAZO DESDE EL AYUNTAMIENTO QUE PRESIDO A CONVOCAR UN REFERENDUM EN ESPAÑA  SOBRE SUS POLITICAS DE AJUSTE
LE RECUERDO SR. RAJOY, QUE EN ESPAÑA NO SOBRAN CONCEJALES,  NI CC.AA , SOBRA USTED Y TAMBIÉN  LOS ESPECULADORES Y LOS CORRUPTOS.
SR. PRESIDENTE:
A través de esta carta, vengo a plantearle el rechazo del Ayuntamiento de Humilladero a sus políticas de recortes, a las agresiones de su gobierno a la sanidad pública, a la enseñanza pública, a las políticas sociales, al estado de las autonomías, a los Ayuntamientos,…
Las políticas de su gobierno están desmantelando los derechos sociales, los servicios púbicos y recortando las libertades democráticas de los españoles, haciendo retroceder al país 35 años.
El equipo de gobierno que tengo el honor de presidir se encuentra encerrado en las dependencias municipales para hacerle llegar a usted y a su gobierno el malestar de a ciudadanía y su indignación ante las medidas que pretenden cargar las consecuencias de la crisis sobre las espaldas de los trabajadores y de las capas populares.
La Banca, Sr. Rajoy está recibiendo elevadas sumas de dinero público avalado por el estado, en el solo caso de BANKIA, han entregado 23.000 millones de euros a tiempo que sus directivos son premiados con contratos blindados.
Para su gobierno, Sr. Presidente, sobran concejales y autonomías en España, sindicatos, sector público, instituciones democráticas.
  • No sobran para usted las subvenciones de la duquesa de Alba y a los terratenientes andaluces que acaparan el 80% de las ayudas de la UE
  • No sobran banqueros- especuladores que arruinan entidades y blindan sus sueldos y pensiones multimillonarias
  • No sobran para usted las subvenciones de a la Iglesia Católica, más de diez mil millones de euros anuales.
  • No sobran los sueldos fabulosos (más de 140 mil euros) de los altos cargos del Estado, Presidente del Consejo General del Poder Judicial, del Tribunal Constitucional.
  • No sobran para usted el rey y los borbones que manejan con total opacidad un presupuesto directo de 9 millones de euros anuales, al que hay que sumar diversas partidas indirectas que suman más de 200 millones de euros.
  • No sobran para usted los paraísos fiscales, la caja B del capitalismo, el escondrijo de dinero negro y criminal que cuenta con 3.500.000 sociedades tapadera que hay en los más de 60 paraísos fiscales del mundo.
Los gobiernos dejan de ingresar más de 340 mil millones de euros.
  • No sobran para usted gastos militares de armamentos, el escudo antimisiles de rota, la OTAN, única organización terrorista activa en Europa (muertes de civiles en Afganistán, Irak, Libia.)
  • No sobran para usted ejemplos vergonzosos como el que protagonizan los ex presidentes Felipe González y Aznar haciendo compatible sus pensiones púbicas de más de 82 mil euros anuales, con las que reciben por estar en os consejos de administración de gas natural y de Endesa de más 120 mil euros.
  • No sobran para usted los fabulosos sueldos de los miembros de los consejos de administración de las empresas del IBEX35. Donde más de 540 ejecutivos disponen de un sueldo medio superior al de 70 mil euristas.
  • No sobran para usted robos o atracos como el que cometen las entidades financieras privadas al recibir préstamos del banco central europeo, al 1% de interés y lo prestan al 6% al Ayuntamientos y particulares.
  • No sobran para ustedes las subidas del IVA a los productos de 1ª necesidad, material escolar, la cultura, arruinando a pequeño y mediano empresario.
  • No sobran para usted ordenes de desahucios y de viviendas ocupadas por familias trabajadoras que quedan en el paro y en la exclusión social, embargadas por los bancos.
  • No sobran para usted el 25% del fraude fiscal que hay en España.
  • Usted Señor Rajoy aplica una política criminal. Para usted  lo que sobra en España y hay que recortar es la ley dependencia, prestaciones por desempleo, la paga extra de los empleados públicos (paga extra que supone cuatro mil millones de euros).
  • La minería agoniza y no recibe los 200 millones de euros de su gobierno en cumplimiento del plan estratégico.
  • Usted hace pagar los medicamentos al pensionista y al jubilado, le recuerdo que las cuantías medias de las pensiones en Humilladero no superan los 600 euros.
  • Usted reduce las becas para los estudiantes
  • Usted amenaza con intervenir a las CCAA, recuperando el viejo eslogan franquista de una España grande y libre.
Quisiera decirle señor presidente llegado a este punto, que nuestro ayuntamiento apoyo la autonomía plena en el proceso del 28 de febrero y no toleraremos que su gobierno intervenga, secuestre, anule la autonomía conquistada constitucionalmente con unidad, votos y sangre.
El Ayuntamiento de Humilladero se declara insumiso a su gobierno que aplica un programa oculto, que no conoció el electorado, por lo que le exijo como alcaldesa de Humilladero:
  • La convocatoria de un referéndum para que la ciudadanía se pronuncie sobre este nuevo programa de ajustes o
  • La convocatoria de elecciones generales anticipadas
No se restablece la legitimidad democrática si el pueblo no ejerce su derecho a través de las urnas, usted representa la legalidad pero no a legitimidad.
Señor presidente le comunico que desde esta alcaldía instaremos a todos los ayuntamientos y a la sociedad a pedir un referéndum, porque en España el que sobra es usted.
Se despide atentamente.
Dª Noelia Rodríguez Casino
Sra Alcaldesa – Presidenta del
Ayuntamiento de Humilladero.
Fuente

Πέμπτη 2 Αυγούστου 2012

The Italian Constitutional Court blocks the privatization of water

Big victory for the movements, the Constitutional Court blocks the privatization of water and local public services.
Today, 20th July, the Constitutional Court has given back the voice of the Italian citizens and the democracy of our country.
It does so by declaring unconstitutional, therefore inadmissible, Article 4 of the Decree Law 138 of August 13, 2011, by which, the Berlusconi government, stomped on the referendum result and re-introduced the privatization of local public services. This ruling also blocks all subsequent amendments, including those of the Monti government.
The ruling clearly explains that the referendum was violated by Article 4 and declares that the law passed by the Berlusconi government violated Article 75 of the Constitution. It confirms what we stated a year ago, that the measure would reintroduce the privatization of public services and trample on the will of citizens.
The ruling strongly confirms the citizens’ will expressed on 12 and 13 June 2011 and is a warning to the Monti government and all future powers who speculate on the commons. After the extraordinary referendum victory built from bottom up, today made clear once and for all that what 27 million Italians have chosen has to be respected: water and public services should be public.
Si scrive acqua, si legge democrazia! (It is written water, but is read as democracy!)

 

Uns 50 bombers aixequen barreres al peatge de Martorell en protesta per les retallades

Els protestants han convidat els vehicles a passar sense pagar durant uns 15 minuts, fins que els Mossos d'Esquadraels han fet marxar
Uns bombers conviden els vehicles a passar sense pagar pel peatge de l'AP7 a Martorell, aquest dimecres al migdia. / ACN  
Uns bombers conviden els vehicles a passar sense pagar pel peatge de l'AP7 a Martorell, aquest dimecres al migdia. / ACN
Una cinquantena de bombers de la Generalitat, de Barcelona i d'Aena -els tres cossos que hi ha a Catalunya- han obert poc després d'aquest migdia diverses barreres del peatge de l'AP-7 a Martorell en sentit Barcelona, en una acció que ha tingut el suport dels sindicats. Durant poc més de 15 minuts han convidat els vehicles a passar per les barreres obertes sense pagar. Així han volgut mostrar el seu "descontent amb les polítiques d'aquest país de retallada de drets dels treballadors, no només dels treballadors públics, en benefici només d'unes minories riques i dels bancs". La protesta ha acabat quan els Mossos han tallat el trànsit i els bombers han marxat per evitar càrregues.
Els bombers han arribat poc després del migdia al peatge de Martorell, han obert algunes barreres, han ocupat tota la via que ocupen els carrils en sentit Barcelona de l'autopista i han convidat els vehicles - principalment cotxes i camions de càrrega - a passar sense pagar, inclús amb un cartell on s'hi podia llegir 'gratis'

La protesta ha durat poc més de quinze minuts, que és el temps que han donat als bombers per enretirar-se els efectius de Mossos d'Esquadra que han acudit a la zona. Hi havia agents de seguretat ciutadana, de trànsit, i dues furgonetes d'ARRO. Els agents han acabat tallant el trànsit i llavors ha estat quan els bombers s'han enretirat, temerosos d'una càrrega dels efectius d'ARRO.

Finalment, la protesta ha acabat sense incidents. El responsable del dispositiu policial, però, ha avançat a l'ACN que els mossos han pres les matrícules dels protestants i que podrien obrir denúncies administratives per participar en una protesta no autoritzada i per caminar per l'autopista sense permís. Ha descartat, però, imputar als bombers d'atemptat contra l'autoritat perquè s'han acabat retirant per voluntat pròpia.

"Ens han encomanat defensar el ciutadà i això és una part de la nostra defensa"

"Som conscients de la nostra posició privilegiada davant dels milions d'aturats, dels que treballen en precari, dels desnonats, dels joves que cerquen feina o dels que reben pensions ridícules", declara el manifest amb què els bombers protestants han explicat la seva protesta. "I ens sentim en deute amb tots ells", afegeix un escrit que compta amb les signatures de sindicats com CCOO, la UGT, o CATAC.

O, segons ha explicat un dels bombers que han aixecat les barreres, que ha optat per l'anonimat, "el que ens ha encomanat és defensar el ciutadà i això és una part més de la nostra defensa; estem farts de l'agressió continua a la ciutadania i hem pensat que és hora de sortir al carrer i defensar tothom".

"Han intentat enfrontar la resta de ciutadans als treballadors públics amb la intenció de desmantellar tot allò que es pugui privatitzar per obtenir-ne beneficis", declara el manifest. I per això el bomber ha declarat que la seva intenció no era només protestar contra les retallades dels drets dels treballadors públics, sinó de tots els empleats.

I han decidit fer-ho aixecant barreres dels peatges, ha afegit aquest bombers, "perquè la gent que avui sortosament pot sortir de vacances pensi en tots aquells que estan a l'atur o la misèria i no podran sortir de vacances". "Tallar carreteres és una cosa que molesta profundament a la societat i hem pensat que més que tallar-la, intentem alliberar els peatges i potser la gent ens hop agrairà", ha afegit, tot indicant que "tots sabem que els peatges estan controlats per grans empreses que potser els molestarà una mica que la gent protesti". Amb tot, aquest bombers ha matisat que la seva protesta no es tracta d'una part de la campanya #novullpagar.

També a Maçanet


Altres bombers han protagonitzat una aixecada de barreres similar a un altre peatge de l'AP7, el de Maçanet, segons els protestants de Martorell.

Κυριακή 29 Ιουλίου 2012

Workers of the Greek Steelworks (Elliniki Halivourgia) decided to suspend their strike

-the factory is located in Aspropyrgos, near Athens On July 28th the workers of the Greek Steelworks (Elliniki Halivourgia) decided to suspend their strike. During today’s strike assembly, out of 150 factory workers present, 107 voted in favor of the suspension, 14 voted against, and the rest did not vote.

Τετάρτη 25 Ιουλίου 2012

Tens of thousands protest in Mexico against new president

Published: 23 July, 2012, 13:43
Protesters take part in a march organized by student movement Yo Soy 132 against Mexico's president-elect Enrique Pena Nieto in Monterrey July 22, 2012. (Reuters/Daniel Becerri)


At least 32,000 protesters marched through Mexico City on Sunday to protest the “imposition” of the new president. They accuse president-elect Enrique Pena Nieto, a member of the old ruling party, of electoral fraud.
Protesters have dubbed the country’s TV giant Televisa a “factory of lies.” Demonstrators marching through to capital claimed that Nieto’s Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) won the election by vote-buying and an aggressive PR campaign through major media outlets such as Televisa, which they claim was well paid for positive coverage of Nieto’s presidential campaign.
Enrique Pena Nieto, 46, won the election with 38.2 per cent of the vote against 31.6 per cent for the leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Nieto’s victory brought the Institutional Revolutionary Party back to power after being in the opposition for 12 years.
The ruling President Felipe Calderon of the conservative National Action Party came in third.
Opponents of the victorious candidate demanded urgent domestic reforms.
The PRI in turn accuses the losing leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of "disqualifying the entire electoral process with lies." Televisa has also denied all allegations.
The last presidential election in Mexico in 2006 also ended with the defeat of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who narrowly lost to the ruling conservative president. In 2006 Obrador organized hundreds of thousands of his supporters to rally in downtown Mexico City for weeks. This time, however, Obrador announced that his victory is evident and he has no intention of calling his supporters to the streets.
According to local authorities, the demonstration on Sunday gathered 32,000 people whereas the protesters claim their number was twice as large. The latest demonstration is the second of it since the July 1 elections. The first rally on July 7 gathered 50,000 protesters.
The final results of the elections are left to be certified in September by the Federal Electoral Tribunal. Some political movements have urged its supporters to disregard the inauguration of the new Mexican president set for December 1.
The Institutional Revolutionary Party at one time ruled Mexico for a 71-year stretch. Those years, party critics say, were marked with corruption, nepotism and multiple cases of voter fraud.
Image from Twitter/@olmedopato
Image from Twitter/@olmedopato
Reuters/Daniel Becerri
Reuters/Daniel Becerri
Image from Twitter/@omar_velazquez
Image from Twitter/@omar_velazquez
Image from Twitter/@marcdelaguila
Image from Twitter/@marcdelaguila
Reuters/Francisco Martin
Reuters/Francisco Martin

China in talks to build UK nuclear power plants

China is poised to make a dramatic intervention in Britain's energy future by offering to invest billions of pounds in building a series of new nuclear power stations. Officials from China's nuclear industry have been in high-level talks with ministers and officials at the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) this week about a plan that could eventually involve up to five different reactors being built at a total cost of £35bn....

Τρίτη 24 Ιουλίου 2012

STEEL WORKERS NEEDS SOLIDARITY

Our main blog in Greece


Police protecting the factory from the workers, who were on strike for 9 months. 
Politicians, Media and Police attack steel strikers with brutal violence, lies and disinformation. 
Except of messages of solidarity, strikers need our presence by their side. 
Solidarity in action!




 more photos ... 

Παρασκευή 13 Ιουλίου 2012

This Is What Democracy Looks Like

I edited this small video in homage to those who fight against the tyranny worldwide. A radical, viral video. I am shocked by the violent and systematic repressions of the authorities on the protesters defending our rights, indignant by irresponsible and not democratic political decisions. While trying to be optimistic, I cannot refrain from thinking that we arrive at a point of no return, catastrophic if the reason and the justice do not take it on this macabre system. Let us unite against the tyranny! All the footages and the sounds result from youtube ... J'ai monté cette petite vidéo en hommage à ceux et celles qui luttent contre la tyrannie à travers le monde. Une vidéo radicale, virale. Je suis choqué par les répressions violentes et systématiques des autorités sur les manifestants défendant nos droits, exaspérés par des décisions politiques irresponsables et non démocratiques. Tout en essayant d'être optimiste, je ne peux m'empêcher de penser que nous arrivons à un point de non retour, catastrophique si la raison et la justice ne l'emportent pas sur ce système macabre. Unissons-nous contre la tyrannie! Toutes les vidéos et sons proviennent de youtube... Ένα video με αποσπάσματα απ’ όλο τον κόσμο. Πόσα κοινά μπορεί να εντοπίσει κανείς σε όλες τις χώρες. Μια παγκόσμια τυραννία που στρέφεται εναντίον του Ανθρώπου, ανεξαρτήτως χρώματος, φυλής και θρησκείας. Η βία του Συστήματος, η νομιμοποίηση των πρακτικών του, οι Αρχές που ποδοπατούν τις δημοκρατικές ελευθερίες και τα πολιτικά δικαιώματα. Η ελευθερία της έκφρασης κινδυνεύει. Χιλιάδες διαδηλωτές σε κάθε γωνιά της Γης, έχουν μόνο κοινά. Αυτό το απαίσιο σύστημα πρέπει να καταρρεύσει. Δεν θέλω να πιστέψω πως η φράση του Orwell στο “1984″ θα υπερισχύσει του δίκαιου και της ζωής. Οι κυβερνήσεις και οι αγορές, τα golden boys και οι τραπεζίτες, δεν πρόκειται να νοιαστούν για την Δημοκρατία. Είναι χρέος μας να την επαναφέρουμε. Αλλιώς θα είμαστε υπεύθυνοι για την απώλειά της.

ATHENS, GREECE- SPANISH EMBASSY: SOLIDARITY TO THE SPANISH PEOPLE






FOR MORE PHOTOS FROM THE ACTION,  CLICK HERE

video: Spanish Miners Battle Police Over Austerity

VIDEO ESSAY: Spanish miners in the northwestern provinces of Asturias and Leon, armed with homemade rockets and slingshots, have been battling police in protest against government cuts, including a slashing of subsidies in their industry. (July 9)

Τετάρτη 11 Ιουλίου 2012

Over 70 injured as protesters clash with police in Madrid (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

Blood flows down the face of an injured protester who was injured during clashes between supporters of Spanish coal miners and riot police as they ended a "Marcha Negra" (Black March) near the Industry Ministry in Madrid July 11, 2012 (Reuters/Paul Hanna) At least 76 people have been injured in Madrid as clashes flared up between protesters and police, the latter using rubber bullets. Thousands of Spaniards turned out against new cuts introduced by the government. Those injured include 33 police officers and 43 protesters – miners and their supporters. Minor arrests have been made so far, with seven people being detained. Three of those arrested reportedly threw bricks at police, local El Pais newspaper reported. Protesters panicked and sought shelter as police began to disperse the crowd, Olvidio Gonzalez, 67, a retired miner from the northern Asturias region told AP. “We were walking peacefully to get to where the union leaders were speaking and they started to fire indiscriminately. There was no warning,” said Gonzalez, who was also struck by a rubber bullet. About 200 people remain surrounded by dozens of police in front of parliament, Twitter user Danips posted on his microblog. Some media reports suggest a spontaneous demonstration flared up in front of parliament. Protesters are calling on Spaniards via Twitter to join bigger protests at 19:30 local time. Protesters disagree with a 63 per cent cut in subsidies to coal mining companies, major contributors to the Spanish energy market. Unions say the plan threatens 30,000 jobs and could destroy their livelihoods. Miners, who were hiking from the north of the country for the past two weeks, have been joined by tens of thousands of Spaniards also protesting against Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s tax hike. RT photo
RT photo
Riot policemen fire tear gas in Madrid, on July 11, 2012 (AFP Photo/Dominique Faget)
Riot policemen fire tear gas in Madrid, on July 11, 2012 (AFP Photo/Dominique Faget)
Spanish coal miners demonstrate on July 11, 2012 in Madrid (AFP Photo/Dani Pozo)
Spanish coal miners demonstrate on July 11, 2012 in Madrid (AFP Photo/Dani Pozo)
AFP Photo/Dominique Faget
AFP Photo/Dominique Faget
AFP Photo/Dominique Faget
AFP Photo/Dominique Faget
AFP Photo/Dominique Faget
AFP Photo/Dominique Faget
AFP Photo/Dominique Faget
AFP Photo/Dominique Faget
AFP Photo/Doni Pozo
AFP Photo/Doni Pozo
A demonstrator raises his fist in front of riot policemen during a demonstration by Spanish coal miners in Madrid, on July 11, 2012 (AFP Photo/Dominique Faget)
A demonstrator raises his fist in front of riot policemen during a demonstration by Spanish coal miners in Madrid, on July 11, 2012 (AFP Photo/Dominique Faget)
Spanish coal miners demonstrate on July 11, 2012 in Madrid (AFP Photo/Cesar Manso)
Spanish coal miners demonstrate on July 11, 2012 in Madrid (AFP Photo/Cesar Manso)
RT photo
RT photo


The prime minister announced his decision to raise VAT by 3 per cent as part of the plan to trim the public budget by 65 billion euro over the next two-and-a-half years. Rajoy also declared a 3.5-billion-euro cut to local government spending. Many protesters marched more than 400 kilometers (250 miles) from mines in northern Spain. A demonstrator raises his fist in front of riot policemen during a demonstration by Spanish coal miners in Madrid, on July 11, 2012 (AFP Photo/Dominique Faget) A demonstrator raises his fist in front of riot policemen during a demonstration by Spanish coal miners in Madrid, on July 11, 2012 (AFP Photo/Dominique Faget) Spanish coal miners demonstrate on July 11, 2012 in Madrid (AFP Photo/Cesar Manso) Spanish coal miners demonstrate on July 11, 2012 in Madrid (AFP Photo/Cesar Manso) RT photo RT photo