Uploaded by ianmylesmck on 29 May 2011 and so it starts.
You can be arrested for dancing at the Jefferson memorial, a monument to freedom and democracy.
Since when did it become a crime to dance? Anywhere!?
This video shows you just how much the police can really get away with, just because they feel like going on power trips.
Sunday, 30 September 2012
Saturday, 29 September 2012
#29S: Surround the Congress Spreads to Lisbon, Rome, and Beyond
A new tactic of global resistance is emerging: "Surround the Congress.
" Following #25S, when thousands of protestors converged on Spain's parliament building in Madrid to denounce austerity and the kidnapping of popular sovereignty by the Troika and the Markets, similar actions will take place Saturday September 29th across Spain and in a number of European capitals, including Rome, Lisbon, London, Brussels, and Amsterdam.
Events are organizing quickly: connect with your local networks to get involved! See here for even more upcoming anti-austerity mobilizations.
" Following #25S, when thousands of protestors converged on Spain's parliament building in Madrid to denounce austerity and the kidnapping of popular sovereignty by the Troika and the Markets, similar actions will take place Saturday September 29th across Spain and in a number of European capitals, including Rome, Lisbon, London, Brussels, and Amsterdam.
Events are organizing quickly: connect with your local networks to get involved! See here for even more upcoming anti-austerity mobilizations.
SEC Charges Goldman Sachs and Former Vice President in Pay-to-Play Probe Involving Contributions to Former Massachusetts State Treasurer
Washington, D.C., Sept. 27, 2012 – The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Goldman, Sachs & Co. and one of its former investment bankers with “pay-to-play” violations involving undisclosed campaign contributions to then-Massachusetts state treasurer Timothy P. Cahill while he was a candidate for governor.
Pay-to-play schemes involve campaign contributions or other payments made in an attempt to influence the awarding of lucrative public contracts for securities underwriting business. This marks the first SEC enforcement action for pay-to-play violations involving “in-kind” non-cash contributions to a political campaign.
Pay-to-play schemes involve campaign contributions or other payments made in an attempt to influence the awarding of lucrative public contracts for securities underwriting business. This marks the first SEC enforcement action for pay-to-play violations involving “in-kind” non-cash contributions to a political campaign.
Preview: United States of ALEC
This week, Moyers & Company reports on the most influential corporate-funded political force most of America has never heard of — ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council.
In state houses around the country, hundreds of pieces of boilerplate ALEC legislation are proposed or enacted that would, among other things, dilute collective bargaining rights, make it harder for some Americans to vote, and limit corporate liability for harm caused to consumers — each accomplished without the public ever knowing who’s behind it.
“All of us here are very familiar with ALEC and the influence that ALEC has with many of the [legislative] members,” says Arizona State Senator Steve Farley. “Corporations have the right to present their arguments, but they don’t have the right to do it secretly.”
A national consortium of state politicians and powerful corporations, ALEC presents itself as a “nonpartisan public-private partnership”. But behind that mantra lies a vast network of corporate lobbying and political action aimed to increase corporate profits at public expense without public knowledge.
In state houses around the country, hundreds of pieces of boilerplate ALEC legislation are proposed or enacted that would, among other things, dilute collective bargaining rights, make it harder for some Americans to vote, and limit corporate liability for harm caused to consumers — each accomplished without the public ever knowing who’s behind it.
“All of us here are very familiar with ALEC and the influence that ALEC has with many of the [legislative] members,” says Arizona State Senator Steve Farley. “Corporations have the right to present their arguments, but they don’t have the right to do it secretly.”
A national consortium of state politicians and powerful corporations, ALEC presents itself as a “nonpartisan public-private partnership”. But behind that mantra lies a vast network of corporate lobbying and political action aimed to increase corporate profits at public expense without public knowledge.
UK recognizes that Assange cannot be extradited to Sweden
Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño met with UK Foreign Secretary William Hague during the UN General Assembly. Patiño says that Britain now recognizes that due to Assange's asylum status with Ecuador, he cannot be extradited to Sweden.
A summary of the talks held between the two officials is that Patiño says he has received written confirmation from Britain that the country recognizes the validity of its 1880 extradition treaty with Ecuador. Under this agreement a person, like Assange, who has been granted political asylum in Ecuador, cannot be extradited to a third country.
Assange gave a speech via a video link to the United Nations General Assembly, where he said that neither the UK nor Sweden had so far guaranteed that he would not be extradited to the US, where both he and WikiLeaks have been officially declared "enemies of the state."
A summary of the talks held between the two officials is that Patiño says he has received written confirmation from Britain that the country recognizes the validity of its 1880 extradition treaty with Ecuador. Under this agreement a person, like Assange, who has been granted political asylum in Ecuador, cannot be extradited to a third country.
Assange gave a speech via a video link to the United Nations General Assembly, where he said that neither the UK nor Sweden had so far guaranteed that he would not be extradited to the US, where both he and WikiLeaks have been officially declared "enemies of the state."
Friday, 28 September 2012
Court declares 92 Occupy Chicago arrests unconstitutional
A judge in Cook County, Illinois on Thursday dismissed over 90 cases against Occupy Chicago activists on the grounds that they violated the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.
Judge Thomas Donnelly declared that the city’s park curfew law that was used to arrest activists in Grant Park last October was “unconstitutional both on its face and as applied and all complaints in this case are dismissed with prejudice,” according to the Chicago chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG).
Judge Thomas Donnelly declared that the city’s park curfew law that was used to arrest activists in Grant Park last October was “unconstitutional both on its face and as applied and all complaints in this case are dismissed with prejudice,” according to the Chicago chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG).
“The Occupy Chicago demonstrators were subject to constantly changing rules and regulations that ended in a directive that they had to be constantly moving in order to protest,” the judge explained in his 37-page opinion (PDF). “Viewed in isolation the rules and regulations appear reasonable, but viewed in the larger context of the Occupy movement’s presence in Chicago, they give rise to the inference that the City was attempting to discourage this particular protest.”
“The police would promulgate a rule; when the protesters would comply, the police would change the rule,” he added. “These facts, together with the clear pattern of selective enforcement of the Curfew, support a finding that the city intended to discriminate against the Defendants based on their views.”
Judge Thomas Donnelly declared that the city’s park curfew law that was used to arrest activists in Grant Park last October was “unconstitutional both on its face and as applied and all complaints in this case are dismissed with prejudice,” according to the Chicago chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG).
Judge Thomas Donnelly declared that the city’s park curfew law that was used to arrest activists in Grant Park last October was “unconstitutional both on its face and as applied and all complaints in this case are dismissed with prejudice,” according to the Chicago chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG).
“The Occupy Chicago demonstrators were subject to constantly changing rules and regulations that ended in a directive that they had to be constantly moving in order to protest,” the judge explained in his 37-page opinion (PDF). “Viewed in isolation the rules and regulations appear reasonable, but viewed in the larger context of the Occupy movement’s presence in Chicago, they give rise to the inference that the City was attempting to discourage this particular protest.”
“The police would promulgate a rule; when the protesters would comply, the police would change the rule,” he added. “These facts, together with the clear pattern of selective enforcement of the Curfew, support a finding that the city intended to discriminate against the Defendants based on their views.”
Thursday, 27 September 2012
There's something happening here
Teachers go on strike in Chicago and Lake Forest. Chicago symphony musicians walk out.
Machinists walk picket lines in Joliet, and Wal-Mart warehouse workers stop working in Elwood. Gov. Pat Quinn gets chased from the state fair by angry government workers, and talk of a state workers strike is rumbling.
Things turned quiet again, leading pundits earlier this year to suggest that Wisconsin and Occupy were blips on an otherwise quiet labor relations landscape.
Then the Chicago Teachers Union strike happened. What was most notable was that this was not a typical strike of recent years, where a small number of strikers passively picket a site and the real action is going on at the bargaining table. Instead, the CTU mobilized nearly all of its 26,000 members in daily mass rallies and marches, and drew in large numbers of supporters.
Historical change is often best understood by looking at turning points — key moments when history began to dramatically change.
So are Wisconsin, Occupy and the CTU strike another turning point that future historians will see as the beginning of a new mass workers' movement demanding social change?
One key ingredient in the making of historical turning points is that people begin to view street protests as normal instead of weird.
Chicago teachers strike was a clear victory for the union.
This is the template for successful organizing. This is the soup from which hope emerges.
Machinists walk picket lines in Joliet, and Wal-Mart warehouse workers stop working in Elwood. Gov. Pat Quinn gets chased from the state fair by angry government workers, and talk of a state workers strike is rumbling.
Things turned quiet again, leading pundits earlier this year to suggest that Wisconsin and Occupy were blips on an otherwise quiet labor relations landscape.
Then the Chicago Teachers Union strike happened. What was most notable was that this was not a typical strike of recent years, where a small number of strikers passively picket a site and the real action is going on at the bargaining table. Instead, the CTU mobilized nearly all of its 26,000 members in daily mass rallies and marches, and drew in large numbers of supporters.
Historical change is often best understood by looking at turning points — key moments when history began to dramatically change.
So are Wisconsin, Occupy and the CTU strike another turning point that future historians will see as the beginning of a new mass workers' movement demanding social change?
One key ingredient in the making of historical turning points is that people begin to view street protests as normal instead of weird.
Chicago teachers strike was a clear victory for the union.
This is the template for successful organizing. This is the soup from which hope emerges.
Over half ATOS found ‘fit for work’ left unemployed
Over half the people ruled ‘fit to work’ by ATOS were left unemployed without any income, according to a new government study.
The department of Work and Pensions have admitted that 55% of people who lost their disability benefits after assessments with the french IT company were unable to find employment. 30% were relying on other forms of benefit and only 15% had found a job.
The DWP was forced to release the figures following a Freedom of Information request.
Public anger continues to grow towards the firm, hired by the DWP to slash the benefits bill, after assessing terminally ill claimants as ‘fit to work’. Citizens Advice Scotland alone have received over 24,000 complaints against them. Their current contract is worth £110 million.
The department of Work and Pensions have admitted that 55% of people who lost their disability benefits after assessments with the french IT company were unable to find employment. 30% were relying on other forms of benefit and only 15% had found a job.
The DWP was forced to release the figures following a Freedom of Information request.
Public anger continues to grow towards the firm, hired by the DWP to slash the benefits bill, after assessing terminally ill claimants as ‘fit to work’. Citizens Advice Scotland alone have received over 24,000 complaints against them. Their current contract is worth £110 million.
Hundreds of thousands of Greeks march against austerity
General strike brings country to a halt in first confrontation with three-month-old government.
Hundreds of thousands of anti-austerity protesters took to the streets of Greece on Wednesday as the country was paralysed by a general strike in the first mass confrontation with Athens's three-month-old coalition government.
In one of the biggest demonstrations in the capital in recent years, as many as 200,000 marched on the Greek parliament, according to unions in the public and private sector, which called the strike to oppose new wage and pension cuts – the price of further rescue funds from international lenders.
"Once the Greek people learn exactly what the measures are there will be uproar," Iliopoulos, the trade unionist, told the Guardian. "Parliament will see mass protests. And it won't be nice."
Easy answer to all this, get back the £13 trillion in upaid taxes from the super rich!!
Hundreds of thousands of anti-austerity protesters took to the streets of Greece on Wednesday as the country was paralysed by a general strike in the first mass confrontation with Athens's three-month-old coalition government.
In one of the biggest demonstrations in the capital in recent years, as many as 200,000 marched on the Greek parliament, according to unions in the public and private sector, which called the strike to oppose new wage and pension cuts – the price of further rescue funds from international lenders.
"Once the Greek people learn exactly what the measures are there will be uproar," Iliopoulos, the trade unionist, told the Guardian. "Parliament will see mass protests. And it won't be nice."
Easy answer to all this, get back the £13 trillion in upaid taxes from the super rich!!
Anonymous hacks Golden Dawn's New York website
Hackers with the group Anonymous say they disabled the New York website of Golden Dawn, the far-right political organization in Greece. The site has been unavailable since Tuesday.
On Saturday Digital Journal reported Greece's Golden Dawn (Chrysi Avgi) had opened a branch in New York.
This is not the first time Golden Dawn has suffered an interruption to its communication network. In May 2012 Digital Journal reported the organization's Greek website had been suspended by WordPress. The website was soon replaced and the party also communicates with supporters through a weekly newsletter available in Greece.
On Monday, the Greek-American organization American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA) denounced the rise of Golden Dawn and the establishment of their branch office in New York.
At the time of writing the New York website of Golden Dawn continues to be down.
On Saturday Digital Journal reported Greece's Golden Dawn (Chrysi Avgi) had opened a branch in New York.
This is not the first time Golden Dawn has suffered an interruption to its communication network. In May 2012 Digital Journal reported the organization's Greek website had been suspended by WordPress. The website was soon replaced and the party also communicates with supporters through a weekly newsletter available in Greece.
On Monday, the Greek-American organization American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA) denounced the rise of Golden Dawn and the establishment of their branch office in New York.
At the time of writing the New York website of Golden Dawn continues to be down.
Greece's general strike: anti-austerity protesters clash with police – video
Demonstrators in Athens clash with riot police during a nationwide general strike in protest at austerity measures on Wednesday.
Missiles are thrown by youths on the sidelines of an otherwise orderly demonstration. The Greek newspaper Kathimerini reports that the police retaliated with teargas despite an order to refrain from using chemicals against protesters
Monsanto Charged with Chemical Poisoning
It’s not every day that we learn about a victory for Mother Earth. But thanks to a 47-year old farmer and a French court there has been a victory against U.S. biotechnology giant Monsanto.
Paul Francois, a French farmer sued Monsanto after he suffered neurological problems including memory loss, headaches, and stammering after inhaling the company’s Lasso weedkiller in 2004. He cited insufficient product label warnings as part of the problem.
“It is a historic decision in so far as it is the first time that a (pesticide) maker is found guilty of such a poisoning,” François Lafforgue, Paul Francois’s lawyer said in an interview with Reuters. In the same interview, Monsanto’s lawyer Jean-Philippe Delsart states: “Monsanto always considered that there were not sufficient elements to establish a causal relationship between Paul Francois’s symptoms and a potential poisoning.”
But the court in Lyon, in southeast France disagreed. It clearly saw the cause of Francois’ health problems as linked to Monsanto’s pesticide use and subsequently ordered an expert assessment to determine Francois’ financial losses and awarded him accordingly.
Monsanto’s pesticides are not just used in food production but are also sprayed on school playgrounds, private lawns, railway lines, urban pavement, golf courses, community roadsides and public land.
Paul Francois, a French farmer sued Monsanto after he suffered neurological problems including memory loss, headaches, and stammering after inhaling the company’s Lasso weedkiller in 2004. He cited insufficient product label warnings as part of the problem.
“It is a historic decision in so far as it is the first time that a (pesticide) maker is found guilty of such a poisoning,” François Lafforgue, Paul Francois’s lawyer said in an interview with Reuters. In the same interview, Monsanto’s lawyer Jean-Philippe Delsart states: “Monsanto always considered that there were not sufficient elements to establish a causal relationship between Paul Francois’s symptoms and a potential poisoning.”
But the court in Lyon, in southeast France disagreed. It clearly saw the cause of Francois’ health problems as linked to Monsanto’s pesticide use and subsequently ordered an expert assessment to determine Francois’ financial losses and awarded him accordingly.
Monsanto’s pesticides are not just used in food production but are also sprayed on school playgrounds, private lawns, railway lines, urban pavement, golf courses, community roadsides and public land.
Business Tax avoidance £13tn hoard hidden from taxman by global elite
A global super-rich elite has exploited gaps in cross-border tax rules to hide an extraordinary £13 trillion ($21tn) of wealth offshore – as much as the American and Japanese GDPs put together – according to research commissioned by the campaign group Tax Justice Network.
According to Henry's research, the top 10 private banks, which
include UBS and Credit Suisse in Switzerland, as well as the US
investment bank Goldman Sachs, managed more than £4tn in 2010, a sharp
rise from £1.5tn five years earlier.
The detailed analysis in the report, compiled using data from a range of sources, including the Bank of International Settlements and the International Monetary Fund, suggests that for many developing countries the cumulative value of the capital that has flowed out of their economies since the 1970s would be more than enough to pay off their debts to the rest of the world.
Assuming the £13tn mountain of assets earned an average 3% a year for its owners, and governments were able to tax that income at 30%, it would generate a bumper £121bn in revenues – more than rich countries spend on aid to the developing world each year.
Groups such as UK Uncut have focused attention on the paltry tax bills of some highly wealthy individuals, such as Topshop owner Sir Philip Green, with campaigners at one recent protest shouting: "Where did all the money go? He took it off to Monaco!" Much of Green's retail empire is owned by his wife, Tina, who lives in the low-tax principality.
A spokeswoman for UK Uncut said: "People like Philip Green use public services – they need the streets to be cleaned, people need public transport to get to their shops – but they don't want to pay for it."
To put that in perspective, the figures below are from the UK Direct Gov site on benefit fraud!
Love how they call small potatoes 'fraud' but theft on a grand scale is 'avoidance'!! And we don't have to report those big corps, we know who they are, so why aren't they stopped? Most stupid question in the history of the world.
The detailed analysis in the report, compiled using data from a range of sources, including the Bank of International Settlements and the International Monetary Fund, suggests that for many developing countries the cumulative value of the capital that has flowed out of their economies since the 1970s would be more than enough to pay off their debts to the rest of the world.
Assuming the £13tn mountain of assets earned an average 3% a year for its owners, and governments were able to tax that income at 30%, it would generate a bumper £121bn in revenues – more than rich countries spend on aid to the developing world each year.
Groups such as UK Uncut have focused attention on the paltry tax bills of some highly wealthy individuals, such as Topshop owner Sir Philip Green, with campaigners at one recent protest shouting: "Where did all the money go? He took it off to Monaco!" Much of Green's retail empire is owned by his wife, Tina, who lives in the low-tax principality.
A spokeswoman for UK Uncut said: "People like Philip Green use public services – they need the streets to be cleaned, people need public transport to get to their shops – but they don't want to pay for it."
To put that in perspective, the figures below are from the UK Direct Gov site on benefit fraud!
Benefit fraud cost the country around £1.2
billion in 2010-11. If you think someone is committing benefit fraud,
find out how you can report them and stop them taking money from the
people who need it most.
Love how they call small potatoes 'fraud' but theft on a grand scale is 'avoidance'!! And we don't have to report those big corps, we know who they are, so why aren't they stopped? Most stupid question in the history of the world.
Wednesday, 26 September 2012
Eurozone crisis live: Violent scenes in Athens as Greece holds general strike
Molotov cocktails and teargas in Athens (from 12.26)
Also from Reuters
(Reuters) - Greek police fired teargas at hooded youths hurling petrol bombs and stones as tens of thousands took to the streets in Greece's biggest anti-austerity demonstration in months on Wednesday.
The clashes occurred after more than 50,000 people marched to parliament chanting "We won't submit to the troika (of lenders)" and "EU, IMF Out!" on a day of strikes against a new round of cuts demanded by EU and IMF lenders.
As the rally ended, dozens of black-clad youth threw stones, petrol bombs and bottles at riot police, who responded with several rounds of teargas. Police chased the protesters through Syntagma square in front of parliament as helicopters clattered overhead.
Also from Reuters
(Reuters) - Greek police fired teargas at hooded youths hurling petrol bombs and stones as tens of thousands took to the streets in Greece's biggest anti-austerity demonstration in months on Wednesday.
The clashes occurred after more than 50,000 people marched to parliament chanting "We won't submit to the troika (of lenders)" and "EU, IMF Out!" on a day of strikes against a new round of cuts demanded by EU and IMF lenders.
As the rally ended, dozens of black-clad youth threw stones, petrol bombs and bottles at riot police, who responded with several rounds of teargas. Police chased the protesters through Syntagma square in front of parliament as helicopters clattered overhead.
Epic video and pictures from Spanish anti-austerity protests
Tens of thousands of protesters from across Spain gathered in Madrid yesterday night against severe austerity measures by the government.
They accused politicians of ‘destroying’ Spain with brutal program cuts and tax hikes.
They accused politicians of ‘destroying’ Spain with brutal program cuts and tax hikes.
Investigate Greece´s neo-Nazi Party Golden Dawn
80 years after the rise of Hitler, Greece is slowly slipping into the grip of Nazism – first time ever a neo-nazi party gains 18 seats in the Parliament, immigrants are chased and stabbed, leftists and gays are being beaten by attack squads with the complicity of the police and under the tolerance of the government.
Their leader openly boasts that “If need be, we get our hands dirty. If need be we are not democratic. For the sake of our country because above everything is our country; not institution not anything else “. All these activities are dangerously multiplying by the day. Thus, we need your help convincing the Council of Europe to take action.
We are calling for a judicial investigation into the workings of Golden Dawn.
Their activities are racist, anti-democratic and illegal and their speech is spreading hate; their leader has been jailed for extreme-rightwing terrorism in the 70s, the party spokesperson and MP has attacked two female left-wing MPs and was never arrested while having a trial pending for participating in a stabbing; other candidates and members of Golden Dawn are also accused of crimes as serious as deadly assault and murder.
Please sign the petition.
Their leader openly boasts that “If need be, we get our hands dirty. If need be we are not democratic. For the sake of our country because above everything is our country; not institution not anything else “. All these activities are dangerously multiplying by the day. Thus, we need your help convincing the Council of Europe to take action.
We are calling for a judicial investigation into the workings of Golden Dawn.
Their activities are racist, anti-democratic and illegal and their speech is spreading hate; their leader has been jailed for extreme-rightwing terrorism in the 70s, the party spokesperson and MP has attacked two female left-wing MPs and was never arrested while having a trial pending for participating in a stabbing; other candidates and members of Golden Dawn are also accused of crimes as serious as deadly assault and murder.
Please sign the petition.
A River of Waste: The Hazardous Truth About Factory Farms
A heart-stopping new documentary, A RIVER OF WASTE exposes a huge health
and environmental scandal in our modern industrial system of meat and
poultry production.
Some scientists have gone so far as to call the condemned current factory farm practices as "mini Chernobyls."
In the U.S. and elsewhere, the meat and poultry industry is dominated by dangerous uses of arsenic, antibiotics, growth hormones and by the dumping of massive amounts of sewage in fragile waterways and environments.
The film documents the vast catastrophic impact on the environment and public health as well as focuses on the individual lives damaged and destroyed.
Some scientists have gone so far as to call the condemned current factory farm practices as "mini Chernobyls."
In the U.S. and elsewhere, the meat and poultry industry is dominated by dangerous uses of arsenic, antibiotics, growth hormones and by the dumping of massive amounts of sewage in fragile waterways and environments.
The film documents the vast catastrophic impact on the environment and public health as well as focuses on the individual lives damaged and destroyed.
"A Plea for a Total Ban on Nuclear Energy" by Professor Mitsuhei Murata
Mitsuhei Murata, Former Japanese Ambassador to Switzerland, addresses
attendees at Coalition Against Nuke's Sep. 20th Congressional Briefing,
hosted by the Congressional Office of Congressman Kucinich (D-OH).
Banned TED Talk: Nick Hanauer "Rich people don't create jobs"
Via Business Insider: "As the war over income inequality wages on, super-rich Seattle entrepreneur Nick Hanauer has been raising the hackles of his fellow 1-percenters, espousing the contrarian argument that rich people don't actually create jobs.
The position is controversial — so much so that TED is refusing to post a talk that Hanauer gave on the subject. National Journal reports today that TED officials decided not to put Hanauer's March 1 speech up online after deeming his remarks "too politically controversial" for the site...".
The position is controversial — so much so that TED is refusing to post a talk that Hanauer gave on the subject. National Journal reports today that TED officials decided not to put Hanauer's March 1 speech up online after deeming his remarks "too politically controversial" for the site...".
Occupy Spain - Austerity Protests
From World Wide Speak Out
Spanish police have fired rubber bullets and baton-charged protesters attending a rally against austerity.
Spanish police have fired rubber bullets and baton-charged protesters attending a rally against austerity.
How Mitt Dodged the Draft
May 1966. Mitt Romney is just finishing his first—and only—year at Stanford.
About a quarter of a million young American men are already being abducted each year to fight the rapidly-escalating Vietnam War. Many college students, however, are protected by their 2S student deferments, which blatantly discriminate against all those millions of other young men unable to afford college.
Since the 2S deferment is contingent on relatively high class rank (meaning, of course, academic class rank), they argue that this unfairly discriminates against some of the “best” students, i. e., all those attending schools like Stanford. A man in the bottom quarter at an elite university might end up being drafted, even though he might be more “intelligent” than a man in the top quarter of some state college.
Enter young Mitt Romney, right on cue, waving a sign denouncing the anti-war students. He, like his fellow almost all-male participants in this pro-war demonstration, fervently argued in support of the war and the draft. But not, of course, for himself.
Although the Selective Service Exam radically reduced the chances of college men, especially those with the test-taking skills of most Stanford students, to be conscripted into the Vietnam War, it was no guarantee of long-lasting deferment. There were other, surer, escapes from the Vietnam nightmare. One of the very best was the ministry.
So instead of returning to Stanford, Mitt went off to become a Mormon missionary in France, where he would spend the next two and a half years—while Vietnam became a slaughterhouse for the Vietnamese and many Americans drafted to slaughter them.
So who says that Mitt Romney is inconsistent? After all, what may have been his first recorded public political act was supporting the draft for ordinary Americans, forcing them to participate in a war waged in the interest of his own class.
About a quarter of a million young American men are already being abducted each year to fight the rapidly-escalating Vietnam War. Many college students, however, are protected by their 2S student deferments, which blatantly discriminate against all those millions of other young men unable to afford college.
Since the 2S deferment is contingent on relatively high class rank (meaning, of course, academic class rank), they argue that this unfairly discriminates against some of the “best” students, i. e., all those attending schools like Stanford. A man in the bottom quarter at an elite university might end up being drafted, even though he might be more “intelligent” than a man in the top quarter of some state college.
Enter young Mitt Romney, right on cue, waving a sign denouncing the anti-war students. He, like his fellow almost all-male participants in this pro-war demonstration, fervently argued in support of the war and the draft. But not, of course, for himself.
Although the Selective Service Exam radically reduced the chances of college men, especially those with the test-taking skills of most Stanford students, to be conscripted into the Vietnam War, it was no guarantee of long-lasting deferment. There were other, surer, escapes from the Vietnam nightmare. One of the very best was the ministry.
So instead of returning to Stanford, Mitt went off to become a Mormon missionary in France, where he would spend the next two and a half years—while Vietnam became a slaughterhouse for the Vietnamese and many Americans drafted to slaughter them.
So who says that Mitt Romney is inconsistent? After all, what may have been his first recorded public political act was supporting the draft for ordinary Americans, forcing them to participate in a war waged in the interest of his own class.
Why I gatecrashed David Hartnett’s dinner party
Last week, some friends and I burst in on a speech from the retired HMRC boss Dave Hartnett at a tax dodgers conference. The video of our action has since gone viral. Here's why I did it:
I stood as a Green candidate in local elections last year. If I had bought dinner and drinks for a potential voter, I would have been breaking the law and I would have been disqualified. If you buy someone who has power over you nice things in the hope they will do you a favour, then this is bribery. It’s pretty simple. When people do it in developing countries, the British establishment rolls its eyes.
Dave Hartnett was, until the end of July, Britain’s senior tax collector. He was also the civil servant who was most wined and dined. You can choose to believe one of two things: either the senior tax man has the most scintillating, entertaining dinner table chat of everyone at Whitehall; or there’s something more sinister going on.
Next, take look at the deals that Mr Hartnett has signed off on over the years: the £10 million ($16.2 million) he let Goldman Sachs off may seem a lot, but it is piffling next to the £6 billion ($9.7 billion) that Vodafone is said to have been allowed to scratch from their accounts. In total, the amount of tax owed by the extremely rich whom Mr Hartnett has let slip through the net over his years in post, must run to many billions of pounds.
I think it is fair to assume that his numerous invitations to these dinners are not the product of Mr Hartnett’s mastery of small tall.
The impact cannot be underestimated. There are the lives ruined by government cuts, the gross inequality. We all know the stories – or if you don’t, then you need to start looking around you. It is important to remember that there are many, many reasons that made austerity just one course of action, a choice. None of these cuts are necessary. And the easiest way to understand this is that the tax dodged through Dave Hartnett’s dodgy deals would have easily covered the cost of these cuts.
They surround themselves with smokescreens to block out the poverty, and they congratulate themselves on their mutual genius. They flit from conference centre to hotel to air-conditioned office, and they insulate themselves from the society they are wrecking.
Follow The Intruders group on twitter.
I stood as a Green candidate in local elections last year. If I had bought dinner and drinks for a potential voter, I would have been breaking the law and I would have been disqualified. If you buy someone who has power over you nice things in the hope they will do you a favour, then this is bribery. It’s pretty simple. When people do it in developing countries, the British establishment rolls its eyes.
Dave Hartnett was, until the end of July, Britain’s senior tax collector. He was also the civil servant who was most wined and dined. You can choose to believe one of two things: either the senior tax man has the most scintillating, entertaining dinner table chat of everyone at Whitehall; or there’s something more sinister going on.
Next, take look at the deals that Mr Hartnett has signed off on over the years: the £10 million ($16.2 million) he let Goldman Sachs off may seem a lot, but it is piffling next to the £6 billion ($9.7 billion) that Vodafone is said to have been allowed to scratch from their accounts. In total, the amount of tax owed by the extremely rich whom Mr Hartnett has let slip through the net over his years in post, must run to many billions of pounds.
I think it is fair to assume that his numerous invitations to these dinners are not the product of Mr Hartnett’s mastery of small tall.
The impact cannot be underestimated. There are the lives ruined by government cuts, the gross inequality. We all know the stories – or if you don’t, then you need to start looking around you. It is important to remember that there are many, many reasons that made austerity just one course of action, a choice. None of these cuts are necessary. And the easiest way to understand this is that the tax dodged through Dave Hartnett’s dodgy deals would have easily covered the cost of these cuts.
They surround themselves with smokescreens to block out the poverty, and they congratulate themselves on their mutual genius. They flit from conference centre to hotel to air-conditioned office, and they insulate themselves from the society they are wrecking.
Follow The Intruders group on twitter.
Tuesday, 25 September 2012
The hot new iPhone feature Apple forgot to mention...
From Avaaz
Hey Apple, did you know your factory in Taiyuan, China, just shut down because 2,000 employees started a riot? Authorities say it was caused by a "personal dispute," but NPR believes unjust labour conditions had a lot to do with it.
This makes sense if you think about the string of suicides that have occurred at Apple factories over the past two years. Or the explosion at an Apple factory last year that killed two people. Or the report from China Labor Watch earlier this year that found "deplorable working conditions" in Apple's entire supply chain.
Hey Apple, did you know your factory in Taiyuan, China, just shut down because 2,000 employees started a riot? Authorities say it was caused by a "personal dispute," but NPR believes unjust labour conditions had a lot to do with it.
This makes sense if you think about the string of suicides that have occurred at Apple factories over the past two years. Or the explosion at an Apple factory last year that killed two people. Or the report from China Labor Watch earlier this year that found "deplorable working conditions" in Apple's entire supply chain.
Spain's anti-austerity protests draw thousands
Rising borrowing costs prompt calls for Spain's parliament to be dissolved
Thousands of demonstrators filled Madrid's central Plaza de Espana today to protest the government's handling of Spain's financial crisis.
As riot police looked on, the protesters chanted and held placards reading "For Sale: Spain" and "Occupy Congress" in Spanish.
They are calling for the country's parliament to be dissolved and fresh elections to be held, claiming the government's austerity measures show the ruling Popular Party misled voters to get elected last November.
Thousands of demonstrators filled Madrid's central Plaza de Espana today to protest the government's handling of Spain's financial crisis.
As riot police looked on, the protesters chanted and held placards reading "For Sale: Spain" and "Occupy Congress" in Spanish.
They are calling for the country's parliament to be dissolved and fresh elections to be held, claiming the government's austerity measures show the ruling Popular Party misled voters to get elected last November.
LIVE NOW: It's really going down in Spain.
Watch live streaming video from spanishrevolutionsol at livestream.com
Fire guts 500 shanties in Begunbari
Fire destroys homes of 4000 garment workers and all of the few possessions they own in Bangladesh
It's ok for people to live in tin sheds so long as we can buy cheap clothes. It's ok to pay them nothing so we can buy cheap clothes.
It's ok that our brothers and sisters live like this so we can live well. Like fuck it is!!
Big corps pay a living wage to EVERYONE and PAY YOUR FUCKING TAXES, YOU GREEDY SHITS.
It's ok for people to live in tin sheds so long as we can buy cheap clothes. It's ok to pay them nothing so we can buy cheap clothes.
It's ok that our brothers and sisters live like this so we can live well. Like fuck it is!!
Big corps pay a living wage to EVERYONE and PAY YOUR FUCKING TAXES, YOU GREEDY SHITS.
Homeland Security is Working for Monsanto
When we see photographs of rats grossly deformed by massive tumors after eating genetically engineered corn laced with Roundup, it's not good news for Monsanto.
People understand instantly in looking at those pathetic rats that organic food is not a niche market or a expensive luxury, but a life or death issue, because the rats were fed corn that is part of the American diet.
All the studies that were required but bypassed before GMOs were unleashed into the food chain seem compressed into this one devastating study by CRIIGEN.
The Monsanto lies are exposed. People must avoid GMOs at all costs and eat organic food if they are to survive.
But Monsanto has been assiduously preparing for this day of public realization, corrupting the FDA (Monsanto VP Michael Taylor is charge of "food safety" and ensuring it through armed raids against organic farmers, organic coops, and mothers' organic buying clubs!), the USDA (which has funded development of a corn to sterilize humans), the EPA (which is going after hay on an inland ranch as a pollutant under the Clean Water Act, while ignoring serious oil spills into major rivers), and any other agencies standing in the way of getting its death-causing products released as quickly as possible into the environment.
But however outrageous the efforts to force GMOs onto India, they are small potatoes compared to what Monsanto and the biotech industry have done behind the scenes in the US where they have arranged for Homeland Security to define organic food - the only safe food - as a bio-security threat.
Basically, what is owned by the biotech/industrial food system and killing people is "good" and what is from nature, healing, and free to humanity, has been redefined as a biologic threat, and potentially as bioterrorism. This should come as no surprise, really, given the takeover of the US government by Monsanto and the parallel redefinition of patriotic Americans as terrorists, too. The more positive something is, the more Orwellian its redefinition as dangerous.
And we are now starting to understand that vaccines come from those same GMO and pesticide companies, contain GMOs and toxins, and are also killing people. The vaccine experiment parallels the GMO experiment - it's massive, involuntary, and damaging children. And there, too, there is an effort to ban natural supplements as dangerous, and Homeland Security is set to force vaccines on the country if a "pandemic emergency" is declared (not proven).
This vaccine attack on normal human DNA parallels the potential DHS bioterrorism attack on organic food.
People understand instantly in looking at those pathetic rats that organic food is not a niche market or a expensive luxury, but a life or death issue, because the rats were fed corn that is part of the American diet.
All the studies that were required but bypassed before GMOs were unleashed into the food chain seem compressed into this one devastating study by CRIIGEN.
The Monsanto lies are exposed. People must avoid GMOs at all costs and eat organic food if they are to survive.
But Monsanto has been assiduously preparing for this day of public realization, corrupting the FDA (Monsanto VP Michael Taylor is charge of "food safety" and ensuring it through armed raids against organic farmers, organic coops, and mothers' organic buying clubs!), the USDA (which has funded development of a corn to sterilize humans), the EPA (which is going after hay on an inland ranch as a pollutant under the Clean Water Act, while ignoring serious oil spills into major rivers), and any other agencies standing in the way of getting its death-causing products released as quickly as possible into the environment.
But however outrageous the efforts to force GMOs onto India, they are small potatoes compared to what Monsanto and the biotech industry have done behind the scenes in the US where they have arranged for Homeland Security to define organic food - the only safe food - as a bio-security threat.
Basically, what is owned by the biotech/industrial food system and killing people is "good" and what is from nature, healing, and free to humanity, has been redefined as a biologic threat, and potentially as bioterrorism. This should come as no surprise, really, given the takeover of the US government by Monsanto and the parallel redefinition of patriotic Americans as terrorists, too. The more positive something is, the more Orwellian its redefinition as dangerous.
And we are now starting to understand that vaccines come from those same GMO and pesticide companies, contain GMOs and toxins, and are also killing people. The vaccine experiment parallels the GMO experiment - it's massive, involuntary, and damaging children. And there, too, there is an effort to ban natural supplements as dangerous, and Homeland Security is set to force vaccines on the country if a "pandemic emergency" is declared (not proven).
This vaccine attack on normal human DNA parallels the potential DHS bioterrorism attack on organic food.
HMRC's former boss honoured ... for services to tax avoidance
Disguised in tuxedos as sharp as they come, a well-spoken band of undercover protesters known as The Intruders are planning to disrupt high-class gala events across the City – after gatecrashing a dinner to present an award for services to "corporate tax avoidance" to the UK's former top taxman.
In the opening move of what could become a new direct action anti-corporate campaign, eight protesters, including two former Oxford students, snuck inside a lavish dinner at a corporate tax planning conference, where the former HMRC boss Dave Hartnett was giving a speech.
After presenting Mr Hartnett with a spoof "Golden Handshake" gong, the group were ejected by a dinner guest who called them "trespassing scum".
A video of their exploits went viral yesterday on YouTube. Under Mr Hartnett's watch, HMRC was accused of agreeing "sweetheart deals" with major corporations such as Goldman Sachs and Vodafone.
A Public Accounts Committee report criticised Mr Hartnett for being "too cosy" with big business. He was accused of signing off on a deal that saved Goldman Sachs £20m in tax payments and another which cut Vodafone's tax bill from £8bn to £1.25bn.
In the opening move of what could become a new direct action anti-corporate campaign, eight protesters, including two former Oxford students, snuck inside a lavish dinner at a corporate tax planning conference, where the former HMRC boss Dave Hartnett was giving a speech.
After presenting Mr Hartnett with a spoof "Golden Handshake" gong, the group were ejected by a dinner guest who called them "trespassing scum".
A video of their exploits went viral yesterday on YouTube. Under Mr Hartnett's watch, HMRC was accused of agreeing "sweetheart deals" with major corporations such as Goldman Sachs and Vodafone.
A Public Accounts Committee report criticised Mr Hartnett for being "too cosy" with big business. He was accused of signing off on a deal that saved Goldman Sachs £20m in tax payments and another which cut Vodafone's tax bill from £8bn to £1.25bn.
Under-fire tax chief's £10,000 expenses bill for extravagant transatlantic trips
The under-fire boss is retiring early after receiving fierce criticism over his involvement in signing off a deal that saved Goldman Sachs, one of the world’s richest banks, up to £20 million in tax.
The 60-year-old has also been accused of overseeing a decision to let Vodafone off as much as £7 billion, which the mobile phones giant was claimed to owe the public purse.
Last month, MPs said tax chiefs’ ‘cosy’ relationship with big business had led them to let corporate giants off tax bills of up to £25 billion.
Despite the accusations, Mr Hartnett last year claimed £2,951 for a trip to Florida and Panama, during which he was wined and dined by some of the world’s largest companies.
In return, the tax boss delivered a 40-minute presentation on UK tax policy at a two-day conference sponsored by KPMG, one of the biggest international accountancy concerns.
The 60-year-old has also been accused of overseeing a decision to let Vodafone off as much as £7 billion, which the mobile phones giant was claimed to owe the public purse.
Last month, MPs said tax chiefs’ ‘cosy’ relationship with big business had led them to let corporate giants off tax bills of up to £25 billion.
Despite the accusations, Mr Hartnett last year claimed £2,951 for a trip to Florida and Panama, during which he was wined and dined by some of the world’s largest companies.
In return, the tax boss delivered a 40-minute presentation on UK tax policy at a two-day conference sponsored by KPMG, one of the biggest international accountancy concerns.
Black tie activists crash HMRC boss' retirement do
HMRC boss Dave Hartnett is the man responsible for cutting dodgy deals with Vodafone, Goldman Sachs and other large corporations that have cost the taxpayer billions in lost revenue.
When we discovered that he was making his retirement speech at an elite tax avoidance conference, we couldn't resist popping in. We donned our best Goldman Sachs and Vodafone costumes, bought some flowers and knocked up a fake award. This is what happened.
Brilliant. Epic! Well done.
Just the scowling look on his face of an evening ruined.
Well done kids.
Well fucking done!!!!!
Vulcanscienceacademy 3 hours ago
When we discovered that he was making his retirement speech at an elite tax avoidance conference, we couldn't resist popping in. We donned our best Goldman Sachs and Vodafone costumes, bought some flowers and knocked up a fake award. This is what happened.
Brilliant. Epic! Well done.
Just the scowling look on his face of an evening ruined.
Well done kids.
Well fucking done!!!!!
Vulcanscienceacademy 3 hours ago
Get Organized for the Next Global Day of Action: #13O #globalNOISE
From Occupy Wall Street.
International activists involved in the Indignado and Occupy movements have begun a campaign to create GlobalNoise, a worldwide cacerolazo, or casserole march, on Saturday, October 13th, 2012.
International activists involved in the Indignado and Occupy movements have begun a campaign to create GlobalNoise, a worldwide cacerolazo, or casserole march, on Saturday, October 13th, 2012.
What is globalNOISE?
Activists involved in the Indignato, Occupy, #yosoy132, etc movements have begun a campaign to create GlobalNoise, a worldwide cacerolazo, or casserole march, on Saturday, October 13th, 2012.
The hope is that local Occupations and Collectives will take up the call to march, using the method of a casserole march to highlight whatever issues are the most important to their community.
The casserole march has its origins as a means to call attention to problems facing the community that the power structure is not addressing, using a method that is hard to ignore. In the past, this form of activism has been used to draw attention to education reform, starvation, government corruption, inequality in resources, and more.
It has been revived recently in the international Occupy and Spanish Indignatos movements, and most notably by the Student movement in Canada. Since then, it has spread worldwide.
It is from these historical references and recent examples that the idea of a coordinated worldwide cacerolazo emerged. An international showing of frustration and unrest on a global scale that would be hard to ignore. A GlobalNoise.
The hope is that local Occupations and Collectives will take up the call to march, using the method of a casserole march to highlight whatever issues are the most important to their community.
The casserole march has its origins as a means to call attention to problems facing the community that the power structure is not addressing, using a method that is hard to ignore. In the past, this form of activism has been used to draw attention to education reform, starvation, government corruption, inequality in resources, and more.
It has been revived recently in the international Occupy and Spanish Indignatos movements, and most notably by the Student movement in Canada. Since then, it has spread worldwide.
It is from these historical references and recent examples that the idea of a coordinated worldwide cacerolazo emerged. An international showing of frustration and unrest on a global scale that would be hard to ignore. A GlobalNoise.
October 13th, 2012: All together for a global change (#globalNOISE, #13O)
Almost one year after their first ''global day of action'' (15O), Occupy movement and indignants from all over the world are calling for a new protest on October 13th, 2012. The event is called #13O or #globalNOISE. The idea of global noise is taking shape -- see the #globalNOISE website for more information: Global Noise
Anonymous Releases Sixty Hours of NYPD Footage from Occupy Wall Street Raid
Members of the hacktivist group Anonymous have released sixty hours of footage of the raid by the New York Police Department against Occupy Wall Street on November 15, 2011.
The footage posted is from the NYPD’s Technical Assistance Research Unit (TARU), a surveillance unit that is regularly present at political demonstrations to film police actions. It was posted as a torrent for download late in the evening on September 23, 2012. A tiny sample of the footage, including a statement read by a member of Anonymous, was posted on YouTube.
The footage posted is from the NYPD’s Technical Assistance Research Unit (TARU), a surveillance unit that is regularly present at political demonstrations to film police actions. It was posted as a torrent for download late in the evening on September 23, 2012. A tiny sample of the footage, including a statement read by a member of Anonymous, was posted on YouTube.
Huge turnout for Catalan independence rally
Some 1.5 million people have been taking part in Catalonia's annual independence rally in Barcelona, according to police.
Tens of thousands of people poured into the city waving the region's independence flag and brandishing the colours red and yellow.
This year's march aimed to be the biggest ever - and a protest against the Spanish government's tax laws.
Catalonia wants Madrid to review its tax agreement and provide a bailout.
Alfred Bosch, an MP from the Republican left of Catalonia, told the BBC: "All the flags I can see are the pro-independence flags of Catalonia with the lonely star right in the middle of the triangle.
"And everybody is wearing these flags. I have never seen so many pro-independence flags in my all life."
Protester Teresa Cabanes told Reuters: "This is a blow for the government. People like me came from everywhere. I don't think they were expecting something as big."
The huge volume of people overwhelmed the mobile phone network, which shut down for hours as a result, reports say.
Tens of thousands of people poured into the city waving the region's independence flag and brandishing the colours red and yellow.
This year's march aimed to be the biggest ever - and a protest against the Spanish government's tax laws.
Catalonia wants Madrid to review its tax agreement and provide a bailout.
Alfred Bosch, an MP from the Republican left of Catalonia, told the BBC: "All the flags I can see are the pro-independence flags of Catalonia with the lonely star right in the middle of the triangle.
"And everybody is wearing these flags. I have never seen so many pro-independence flags in my all life."
Protester Teresa Cabanes told Reuters: "This is a blow for the government. People like me came from everywhere. I don't think they were expecting something as big."
The huge volume of people overwhelmed the mobile phone network, which shut down for hours as a result, reports say.
9 Big Companies That Benefit From Food Stamps
Food stamps help millions of Americans feed themselves and their families, but they also help major companies boost their bottom lines.
Kraft’s incoming CEO Tony Vernon said as much when he told the Financial Times on Sunday that he opposes cuts to the food stamp program or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP for short). Vernon said food stamp buys make up one-sixth of Kraft's revenue and a bigger share of the company’s total sales.
But Kraft isn’t the only company that’s a fan of food stamps, Walmart, Coca-Cola and other big brands have lobbied surrounding the issue, according to a June 2012 report from advocacy group Eat Drink Politics called "Food Stamps: Follow the Money."
And there’s lots of money to be made off food stamps, with use of the benefits at an all-time high thanks to the weak economy, according to the Department of Agriculture. Food stamp use has surged 51 percent since October 2008.
Kraft’s incoming CEO Tony Vernon said as much when he told the Financial Times on Sunday that he opposes cuts to the food stamp program or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP for short). Vernon said food stamp buys make up one-sixth of Kraft's revenue and a bigger share of the company’s total sales.
But Kraft isn’t the only company that’s a fan of food stamps, Walmart, Coca-Cola and other big brands have lobbied surrounding the issue, according to a June 2012 report from advocacy group Eat Drink Politics called "Food Stamps: Follow the Money."
And there’s lots of money to be made off food stamps, with use of the benefits at an all-time high thanks to the weak economy, according to the Department of Agriculture. Food stamp use has surged 51 percent since October 2008.
REPORT: Meet The Billionaires Who Are Trying To Privatize Our Schools And Kill Public Education
Two weeks ago, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) marked “a new era for education in Indiana” when he signed into law one of the most expansive school voucher laws in the country, opening up a huge fund of tax dollars for private schools.
Voucher advocate Betsy DeVos
A few days later, the Wisconsin state Assembly vastly expanded school vouchers, freeing up tax dollars even for private religious schools. GOP legislators in the Pennsylvania Senate say they have the votes to pass a sweeping voucher bill of their own. And on Capitol Hill, House Republicans successfully revived Washington, D.C.’s voucher system after it was killed off two years ago.
This rapid expansion of voucher programs — which undermine and undercut public education by funnelling taxpayer money to private schools — is remarkable. After all, vouchers have been unpopular with the American public. Between 1966 and 2000, vouchers were put up for a vote in states 25 times, and voters rejected the program 24 of those times.
Yet if one looks behind the curtain — at the foundations, non-profits, Political Action Committees (PAC) — into the workings of the voucher movement, it’s apparent why it has gained strength in recent years.
A tight-knit group of right-wing millionaires and billionaires, bankers, industrialists, lobby shops, and hardcore ideologues has been plotting this war on public education, quietly setting up front group after front group to promote the idea that the only way to save public education is to destroy it — disguising their movement with the innocent-sounding moniker of “school choice.”
ThinkProgress has prepared this report to expose this network and give Americans the knowledge they need to fight back against this assault on the nation’s public schools.
Here are some of the top millionaires and their organizations waging war on our education system
A few days later, the Wisconsin state Assembly vastly expanded school vouchers, freeing up tax dollars even for private religious schools. GOP legislators in the Pennsylvania Senate say they have the votes to pass a sweeping voucher bill of their own. And on Capitol Hill, House Republicans successfully revived Washington, D.C.’s voucher system after it was killed off two years ago.
This rapid expansion of voucher programs — which undermine and undercut public education by funnelling taxpayer money to private schools — is remarkable. After all, vouchers have been unpopular with the American public. Between 1966 and 2000, vouchers were put up for a vote in states 25 times, and voters rejected the program 24 of those times.
Yet if one looks behind the curtain — at the foundations, non-profits, Political Action Committees (PAC) — into the workings of the voucher movement, it’s apparent why it has gained strength in recent years.
A tight-knit group of right-wing millionaires and billionaires, bankers, industrialists, lobby shops, and hardcore ideologues has been plotting this war on public education, quietly setting up front group after front group to promote the idea that the only way to save public education is to destroy it — disguising their movement with the innocent-sounding moniker of “school choice.”
ThinkProgress has prepared this report to expose this network and give Americans the knowledge they need to fight back against this assault on the nation’s public schools.
Here are some of the top millionaires and their organizations waging war on our education system
Big Organic Joins Monsanto in Fighting Prop 37
It's no secret that giant agribusinesses like Monsanto are spending millions of dollars trying to defeat Proposition 37 on the November ballot. The Right to Know Initiative would require food companies to label products that contain genetically modified organisms, also known as GMOs.
Big Ag is worried that the labeling requirements will slow the massive growth of the GMO industry and slash its profits. What is less known, however, is that several major food corporations that sell organic food products have joined Monsanto in trying to kill Prop 37.
These companies, also sometimes known as Big Organic, include Kellogg, which owns Morningstar Farms, and had donated at least $632,500 to the No on 37 campaign as of last week. General Mills, which owns the Cascadian Farm brand, had donated $889,000. Dean Foods, which owns Horizon Organic, had donated $248,000. Coca-Cola, which owns Odwalla juices, had contributed at least $1,164,000. ConAgra, owner of the Orville Redenbacher and Hunt's organic brands, had donated $520,000. Del Monte Foods, which sells organic canned tomatoes, had donated $660,000.
All told, including $4.2 million from Monsanto, the No on 37 campaign had gathered at least $24.9 million in contributions as of September 5 - with the election still two months away.
And so far, money has a perfect record versus GMO labeling in this country. Nineteen states have attempted to pass laws similar to Prop 37, and all of them failed. Attempts to get the FDA to pay attention to GMOs have also failed.
But with the November election fast approaching, the Yes on 37 campaign enjoys a significant advantage in public opinion.
A recent poll by Pepperdine University showed that 65 percent of California residents favor GMO labeling.
The Right to Know campaign also boasts an impressive roster of endorsements, including Alice Waters, the Sierra Club, and Greenpeace, along with Slow Food groups up and down the state, labor unions, and alternative health magazines. Small local companies that sell organic products are also helping fund the Yes on 37 campaign, including Annie's, which contributed $50,000, and Clif Bar, which donated $100,000.
Big Ag is worried that the labeling requirements will slow the massive growth of the GMO industry and slash its profits. What is less known, however, is that several major food corporations that sell organic food products have joined Monsanto in trying to kill Prop 37.
These companies, also sometimes known as Big Organic, include Kellogg, which owns Morningstar Farms, and had donated at least $632,500 to the No on 37 campaign as of last week. General Mills, which owns the Cascadian Farm brand, had donated $889,000. Dean Foods, which owns Horizon Organic, had donated $248,000. Coca-Cola, which owns Odwalla juices, had contributed at least $1,164,000. ConAgra, owner of the Orville Redenbacher and Hunt's organic brands, had donated $520,000. Del Monte Foods, which sells organic canned tomatoes, had donated $660,000.
All told, including $4.2 million from Monsanto, the No on 37 campaign had gathered at least $24.9 million in contributions as of September 5 - with the election still two months away.
And so far, money has a perfect record versus GMO labeling in this country. Nineteen states have attempted to pass laws similar to Prop 37, and all of them failed. Attempts to get the FDA to pay attention to GMOs have also failed.
But with the November election fast approaching, the Yes on 37 campaign enjoys a significant advantage in public opinion.
A recent poll by Pepperdine University showed that 65 percent of California residents favor GMO labeling.
The Right to Know campaign also boasts an impressive roster of endorsements, including Alice Waters, the Sierra Club, and Greenpeace, along with Slow Food groups up and down the state, labor unions, and alternative health magazines. Small local companies that sell organic products are also helping fund the Yes on 37 campaign, including Annie's, which contributed $50,000, and Clif Bar, which donated $100,000.
Monday, 24 September 2012
In full: Police log detailing Andrew Mitchell's 'pleb' rant
Whilst on duty at *** tonight (Wed 19th Sept) on a 1400-2200 hrs between the hours of 1800-2000 I had to deal with a man claiming to be the chief whip and who I later confirmed to be such and a Mr Andrew MITCHELL.
There were several members of public present as is the norm opposite the pedestrian gate and as we neared it, Mr MITCHELL said: "Best you learn your f------ place...you don’t run this f------ government...You’re f------ plebs."
There were several members of public present as is the norm opposite the pedestrian gate and as we neared it, Mr MITCHELL said: "Best you learn your f------ place...you don’t run this f------ government...You’re f------ plebs."
Private Prison Companies Make Big Money Off Detaining Undocumented Immigrants
The U.S. is locking up more illegal immigrants than ever, generating lucrative profits for the nation's largest prison companies, and an Associated Press review shows the businesses have spent tens of millions of dollars lobbying lawmakers and contributing to campaigns.
The cost to American taxpayers is on track to top $2 billion for this year, and the companies are expecting their biggest cut of that yet in the next few years thanks to government plans for new facilities to house the 400,000 immigrants detained annually.
After a decade of expansion, the sprawling, private system runs detention centers everywhere from a Denver suburb to an industrial area flanking Newark's airport, and is largely controlled by just three companies.
The industry's giants — Corrections Corporation of America, The GEO Group, and Management and Training Corp. — have spent at least $45 million combined on campaign donations and lobbyists at the state and federal level in the last decade, the AP found.
CCA and GEO, who manage most private detention centers, insist they aren't trying to influence immigration policy to make more money, and their lobbying and campaign donations have been legal.
Yeah, right!!
The cost to American taxpayers is on track to top $2 billion for this year, and the companies are expecting their biggest cut of that yet in the next few years thanks to government plans for new facilities to house the 400,000 immigrants detained annually.
After a decade of expansion, the sprawling, private system runs detention centers everywhere from a Denver suburb to an industrial area flanking Newark's airport, and is largely controlled by just three companies.
The industry's giants — Corrections Corporation of America, The GEO Group, and Management and Training Corp. — have spent at least $45 million combined on campaign donations and lobbyists at the state and federal level in the last decade, the AP found.
CCA and GEO, who manage most private detention centers, insist they aren't trying to influence immigration policy to make more money, and their lobbying and campaign donations have been legal.
Yeah, right!!
Are Bain's Tax Practices Actually Illegal?
More and more people are asking if Bain Capital’s tax avoidance strategies are more than merely aggressive.
On August 23, Gawker.com released a staggering 950 pages of documents related to Bain, the private equity firm that Mitt Romney founded, that confirm a lot of what we had previously surmised, including the fact that the Bain private equity funds set up “blocker” corporations to help tax-exempt investors avoid the unrelated business income tax and help foreign investors avoid tax in the U.S. and in their home countries.
CTJ senior counsel Rebecca Wilkins summarized it for Huffington Post: “The Bain documents posted yesterday show that Bain Capital will go to great lengths to help its partners and its investors avoid tax. Beyond simply putting their funds offshore, the Bain private equity funds are using aggressive tax-planning techniques such as blocker corporations, equity swaps, alternative investment vehicles, and management fee conversions.”
It looks as though the New York Attorney General agrees. In July, weeks before the Gawker document dump, AG Eric Schneiderman served subpoenas on more than a dozen private equity firms, including Bain Capital. The AG’s office is seeking documents related to whether the firms improperly converted management fees into additional carried interest, and running the investigation through its Taxpayer Protection Bureau.
As controversial as private equity firm tax practices have become (thanks to Mitt Romney’s candidacy), we are likely to be hearing more about this investigation soon. Stay tuned.
On August 23, Gawker.com released a staggering 950 pages of documents related to Bain, the private equity firm that Mitt Romney founded, that confirm a lot of what we had previously surmised, including the fact that the Bain private equity funds set up “blocker” corporations to help tax-exempt investors avoid the unrelated business income tax and help foreign investors avoid tax in the U.S. and in their home countries.
CTJ senior counsel Rebecca Wilkins summarized it for Huffington Post: “The Bain documents posted yesterday show that Bain Capital will go to great lengths to help its partners and its investors avoid tax. Beyond simply putting their funds offshore, the Bain private equity funds are using aggressive tax-planning techniques such as blocker corporations, equity swaps, alternative investment vehicles, and management fee conversions.”
It looks as though the New York Attorney General agrees. In July, weeks before the Gawker document dump, AG Eric Schneiderman served subpoenas on more than a dozen private equity firms, including Bain Capital. The AG’s office is seeking documents related to whether the firms improperly converted management fees into additional carried interest, and running the investigation through its Taxpayer Protection Bureau.
As controversial as private equity firm tax practices have become (thanks to Mitt Romney’s candidacy), we are likely to be hearing more about this investigation soon. Stay tuned.
Utilities beat back community solar bill in California
One of the big pieces of a future that makes sense is an energy system that involves clean power, less waste, more intelligence, and a wider distribution of economic benefits.
(Think locally owned solar panels hooked into a smart grid.) I lump all that under the term “distributed energy” and have been making fitful efforts to track some of the battles going on around it.
The latest episode is a sad one. Last year in California, state Sen. Lois Wolk (D) set out to tackle a pretty simple problem: Access to distributed energy (mostly rooftop solar panels) is restricted to those who can afford it and own a suitable roof. About 75 percent of Californians don’t fall into that category — they either rent, don’t have the equity, or have a shaded or wrong-facing roof. That’s a huge market to be tapped.
So she put forward Senate Bill 843, which would allow customers in the service territories of the state’s three big investor-owned utilities — Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), Southern California Edison (SCE), and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) — to “subscribe” to distributed energy projects (20 megawatts or less) anywhere in their territories.
But it didn’t sound good to the big quasi-monopoly utilities, PG&E and SCE (SDG&E supported the bill). Late last week, they led a last-minute flurry of lobbying and killed it.
(Think locally owned solar panels hooked into a smart grid.) I lump all that under the term “distributed energy” and have been making fitful efforts to track some of the battles going on around it.
The latest episode is a sad one. Last year in California, state Sen. Lois Wolk (D) set out to tackle a pretty simple problem: Access to distributed energy (mostly rooftop solar panels) is restricted to those who can afford it and own a suitable roof. About 75 percent of Californians don’t fall into that category — they either rent, don’t have the equity, or have a shaded or wrong-facing roof. That’s a huge market to be tapped.
So she put forward Senate Bill 843, which would allow customers in the service territories of the state’s three big investor-owned utilities — Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), Southern California Edison (SCE), and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) — to “subscribe” to distributed energy projects (20 megawatts or less) anywhere in their territories.
But it didn’t sound good to the big quasi-monopoly utilities, PG&E and SCE (SDG&E supported the bill). Late last week, they led a last-minute flurry of lobbying and killed it.
The real "poverty barons" are multinational companies
Foreign aid should be investigated, but in the right way
On Monday, the new International Development Secretary Justine Greening launched an investigation into the millions of pounds of UK aid money diverted into the pockets of private sector consultants such as the staunchly pro-market Adam Smith International (ASI), following an investigation by the Sunday Telegraph.
But the worrying thing is that the use of the aid budget in this way is only the tip of the iceberg. Increasing consultancy spend is part and parcel of a wider undying faith that DfID has in the private sector to deliver poverty reduction.
In one stark example, UK aid money is currently paying for consultants to advise the Bangladeshi government on the establishment of new special economic zones aimed at attracting private-sector investment.
Existing zones give multinational companies tax holidays and subsidised land while placing severe restrictions on trade union activity to an extent where the average wage inside these Bangladeshi "export processing zones" is around £30 a month.
Here, the scandal goes well beyond the approximately £14m that we are paying the consultants. The heart of the issue is the fact that we are using aid to support a project that will do everything to benefit multinationals like Adidas, which made 671 million Euros in profit last year, and next to nothing for the supposed beneficiaries.
On Monday, the new International Development Secretary Justine Greening launched an investigation into the millions of pounds of UK aid money diverted into the pockets of private sector consultants such as the staunchly pro-market Adam Smith International (ASI), following an investigation by the Sunday Telegraph.
But the worrying thing is that the use of the aid budget in this way is only the tip of the iceberg. Increasing consultancy spend is part and parcel of a wider undying faith that DfID has in the private sector to deliver poverty reduction.
In one stark example, UK aid money is currently paying for consultants to advise the Bangladeshi government on the establishment of new special economic zones aimed at attracting private-sector investment.
Existing zones give multinational companies tax holidays and subsidised land while placing severe restrictions on trade union activity to an extent where the average wage inside these Bangladeshi "export processing zones" is around £30 a month.
Here, the scandal goes well beyond the approximately £14m that we are paying the consultants. The heart of the issue is the fact that we are using aid to support a project that will do everything to benefit multinationals like Adidas, which made 671 million Euros in profit last year, and next to nothing for the supposed beneficiaries.
Sunday, 23 September 2012
Finland is about to start using crowdsourcing to create new laws
The Finnish government has approved the technology behind a new ‘Open Ministry’ platform, which will act as a hub for citizens who want new laws voted on in the country’s parliament. But could that work elsewhere?
Earlier this year, the Finnish government enabled something called a “citizens’ initiative”, through which registered voters can come up with new laws – if they can get 50,000 of their fellow citizens to back them up within six months, then the Eduskunta (the Finnish parliament) is forced to vote on the proposal.
Now this crowdsourced law-making system is about to go online through a platform called the Open Ministry. The non-profit organization has been collecting signatures for various proposals on paper since 1 March, when citizens’ initiatives came in, but a couple of days ago the government approved the electronic ID mechanism that underpins the digital version of the platform. That means it can now go live on 1 October.
Tech-driven democracy fans in other countries may not find the environment as conducive to crowdsourced legislation right now, but on the other hand they just got themselves a model to study. If crowdsourced legislation is going to work anywhere, Finland would be the right place for it to happen.
Earlier this year, the Finnish government enabled something called a “citizens’ initiative”, through which registered voters can come up with new laws – if they can get 50,000 of their fellow citizens to back them up within six months, then the Eduskunta (the Finnish parliament) is forced to vote on the proposal.
Now this crowdsourced law-making system is about to go online through a platform called the Open Ministry. The non-profit organization has been collecting signatures for various proposals on paper since 1 March, when citizens’ initiatives came in, but a couple of days ago the government approved the electronic ID mechanism that underpins the digital version of the platform. That means it can now go live on 1 October.
Tech-driven democracy fans in other countries may not find the environment as conducive to crowdsourced legislation right now, but on the other hand they just got themselves a model to study. If crowdsourced legislation is going to work anywhere, Finland would be the right place for it to happen.
Saturday, 22 September 2012
Undercover cops secretly use smartphones, face recognition to spy on crowds
A Florida intelligence officer admitted that undercover police were mingling with the public, using their smartphones to take videos and photos to spy on “suspicious” citizens. Then the undetected cops could determine a person’s name by checking the image against a facial recognition database.
An undercover cop can often be spotted in a crowd due to wearing an earpiece or talking into a microphone hidden under his or her sleeve.
But by using smartphones and tablets loaded with specialized apps, these same undercover officers mingled with demonstrators, took photos and transmitted “real-time video of protesters as they moved about the streets.” Sgt. Dale Moushon, with the Intelligence Unit of the St. Petersburg Police Department, told the National Journal, “Everyone has a phone, so officers blend in easier.”
While citizens may be able to record the police, the majority of us don’t have handy access to facial recognition databases at our fingertips to verify a cop’s identity.
According to the ACLU, “We shouldn’t just accept that undercover police will infiltrate peaceful protesters exercising their First Amendment rights, photograph them, and use face recognition or other techniques to identity them. We must not come to accept the existence of a secret police in our society.”
An undercover cop can often be spotted in a crowd due to wearing an earpiece or talking into a microphone hidden under his or her sleeve.
But by using smartphones and tablets loaded with specialized apps, these same undercover officers mingled with demonstrators, took photos and transmitted “real-time video of protesters as they moved about the streets.” Sgt. Dale Moushon, with the Intelligence Unit of the St. Petersburg Police Department, told the National Journal, “Everyone has a phone, so officers blend in easier.”
While citizens may be able to record the police, the majority of us don’t have handy access to facial recognition databases at our fingertips to verify a cop’s identity.
According to the ACLU, “We shouldn’t just accept that undercover police will infiltrate peaceful protesters exercising their First Amendment rights, photograph them, and use face recognition or other techniques to identity them. We must not come to accept the existence of a secret police in our society.”
Romney: I'm for the '100%,' the '100%' - the '100%'
"This is a campaign about the 100%," Romney said while speaking Wednesday night in Florida at a Univision-sponsored forum at the University of Miami.
That remark stands in contrast to the comments made by Romney at a May fundraiser in Florida in which he was secretly recorded saying he'd never win over 47% of the electorate due to their "dependence upon government" and inability to take personal responsibility.
These comments came to light this week after liberal magazine Mother Jones released the tape.
The Romney campaign has sought to turn the controversy into a discussion on the government's role in society and the economy. But Romney had not directly backed away from the 47% figure until now.
The candidate went on to repeat the "100%" phrase several times during Wednesday's event.
"My campaign is about the 100% in America and I'm concerned about them," he said.
How long is his nose now?
That remark stands in contrast to the comments made by Romney at a May fundraiser in Florida in which he was secretly recorded saying he'd never win over 47% of the electorate due to their "dependence upon government" and inability to take personal responsibility.
These comments came to light this week after liberal magazine Mother Jones released the tape.
The Romney campaign has sought to turn the controversy into a discussion on the government's role in society and the economy. But Romney had not directly backed away from the 47% figure until now.
The candidate went on to repeat the "100%" phrase several times during Wednesday's event.
"My campaign is about the 100% in America and I'm concerned about them," he said.
How long is his nose now?
It’s official: Quebec tuition hikes are history
The tuition increase that triggered such social strife in Quebec was cancelled Thursday during an action-packed first full day in office for the Parti Quebecois government.
The new government repealed the fee hike, by decree, in its first cabinet meeting less than 24 hours after coming to power.
Student leaders cheered the news.
“Together we’ve written a chapter in the history of Quebec,” said Martine Desjardins, head of the more moderate university student association.
“It’s a triumph of justice and equity.”
The new government repealed the fee hike, by decree, in its first cabinet meeting less than 24 hours after coming to power.
Student leaders cheered the news.
“Together we’ve written a chapter in the history of Quebec,” said Martine Desjardins, head of the more moderate university student association.
“It’s a triumph of justice and equity.”
Pakistan hit by deadly riots over anti-Muslim film
A Pakistani protester hurls back a tear gas canister fired by police, not pictured, during clashes that erupted as protestors tried to approach the U.S. embassy, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012.
Hundreds of Pakistanis angry at an anti-Islam film that denigrates the religion's prophet clashed with police in the Pakistani capital Thursday, the most violent show of anger in a day that saw smaller demonstrations in Indonesia, Iran and Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Pakistan's "Day of Love for the Prophet" turned into a deadly day of gunfire, tear gas and arson.
Thousands angered by an anti-Muslim film ignored pleas for peaceful rallies and rampaged in several Pakistani cities Friday in battles with police that killed 19 people and touched off criticism of a government decision to declare a national holiday to proclaim devotion for the Prophet Muhammad.
Hundreds of Pakistanis angry at an anti-Islam film that denigrates the religion's prophet clashed with police in the Pakistani capital Thursday, the most violent show of anger in a day that saw smaller demonstrations in Indonesia, Iran and Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Pakistan's "Day of Love for the Prophet" turned into a deadly day of gunfire, tear gas and arson.
Thousands angered by an anti-Muslim film ignored pleas for peaceful rallies and rampaged in several Pakistani cities Friday in battles with police that killed 19 people and touched off criticism of a government decision to declare a national holiday to proclaim devotion for the Prophet Muhammad.
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