Chomsky: Only a Massive Uprising Will Change Our Politics

Are there enough progressives to stage a mass uprising in the U.S.A? Wisconsin seems to be the test. And in Wisconsin a majority of the citizens apparently elected a Republican/Tea Party dominated legislature. The eviseration of the labour movement in Wisconsin, and in your state or province might just be done democratically. That one percent of the U.S. that controls over 99 percent of the wealth, seems to have convinced the 99 percent that that is a normal and just state of affairs. Is this the last gasp of the labour movement in the U.S. (and soon in Canada), or is it the beginning of a re-birth. Peacenik is not feeling good about what is going down in Wisconsin. Editorials about Tea Party over-reach are not going to get it done. This is the pitch fork moment. But wait, who is on Dancing with The Stars. And did J-Lo really cry on American Idol this week. Is Charlie Sheen finished? Will Lindsay go to jail?

Chomsky: "What has to be done is what's happening in Madison, or Tahrir Square. If there's mass popular opposition, any political leader is going to have to respond.

NOAM CHOMSKY: We were talking about unions before. Union busting is criminal activity by the government, because they’re saying, "You can go ahead and do it; we’re not going to apply the laws," effectively. And the COINTELPRO, which you mentioned, is actually the worst systematic and extended violation of basic civil rights by the federal government. It maybe compares with Wilson’s Red Scare. But COINTELPRO went on from the late ’50 right through all of the ’60s; it finally ended, at least theoretically ended, when the courts terminated it in the early ’70s. And it was serious.

It started, as is everything, going after the Communist Party, then the Puerto Rican Independence Party. Then it extended—the women’s movement, the New Left, but particularly black nationalists. And it ended up—didn’t end up, but one of the events was a straight Gestapo-style assassination of two black organizers, Fred Hampton and Mark Clark, literally. The FBI set up the assassination. The Chicago police actually carried it out, broke into the apartment at 4:00 in the morning and murdered them. Fake information that came from the FBI about arms stores and so on. There was almost nothing about it. In fact, the information about this, remarkably, was released at about the same time as Watergate. I mean, as compared with this, Watergate was a tea party. There was nothing, you know?

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The New Face of Revolution: After Tunisia and Egypt, the World

Ted Rall thinks there is hope for a revolution in the U.S.A. And every where else in the world. Peacenik thinks there is too. Peacenik was just reading about the normalization of tent cities in the U.S.A., and about how there are 11 million empty homes in the U.S.A., and how food inflation costs were up over 3% in the last month alone, and how the payrolls on Wall Street set a new all-time record. But it is hard to visualize a protest in the U.S.A. on the scale of the present Egyptian protests. On the other hand, citizens in the U.S.A. own on average 4 guns each. And citizens in the U.S.A. won't be riding around on camels and ponies, hitting people with sticks and whips, if and when they to get riled up enough to get off their asses, and away from their boob tubes. The right-wing media and politicians have been working overtime to delegitimize government. Peacenik didn't used to think that a military coup was possible in the U.S.A. But now Peacenik thinks a military coup might be the event that gets the citizens of the U.S.A. in a protesting mood. First a coup. Then a counter-revolution against the coup. Peacenik thinks it is a possible future.

by Ted Rall

NEW YORK--From the British newspaper the Independent: "Like in many other countries in the region, protesters in Egypt complain about surging prices, unemployment and the authorities' reliance on heavy-handed security to keep dissenting voices quiet."

Sound familiar?

Coverage by U.S. state-controlled media of the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt is too dim by half: they say it's an Arab thing. So it is. But not for long. The problems that triggered the latest uprisings, rising inequality of income, frozen credit markets, along with totally unresponsive government, span the globe. To be sure, the first past-due regimes to be overthrown may be the most brutal U.S. client states--Arab states such as Yemen, Jordan and Algeria. Central Asia's autocrats, also corrupted by the U.S., can't be far behind; Uzbekistan's Islam Karimov, who likes to boil his dissidents to death, would be my first bet. But this won't stop in Asia. Persistent unemployment, unresponsive and repressive governments exist in Europe and yes, here in the U.S. They are unstable. The pressure is building.

Global revolution is imminent.

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Thousands Of China Steel Workers Clash With Police

Peacenik takes note of stories like this one about the Chinese factory executive being beaten to death. In France the modus operandi was to kidnap executives. Peacenik is against violence. Will this type of violence come to North America? Or has the North American worker been so brainwashed that they are unable to act? 30 years of brainwashing will do that to you. So laid off North American auto workers sit around complaining about union workers banking sick days, rather than complain about multimillion dollar bonuses being paid to corporate executives...with taxpayer money. Universal health care? CPP? Old age pensions? Fair wages? Environmental protections? That stuff is for commies.

AGAINST TAKEOVER DEAL

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Some 30,000 disgruntled Chinese steel workers clashed with riot police in protest over a takeover deal, resulting in the death of an executive from another steel company, a human rights group said.

News that Beijing-based Jianlong Steel Holding Company would buy a majority stake in state-owned Tonghua Iron and Steel Group triggered Friday's protest, which also led to 100 people being injured, the Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said on its website.

Discontent over inequality and unemployment amid the economic downturn has triggered social frustration in China, with many cases of riots by angry citizens. Friday's clash happened in the northeast province of Jilin.

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Iran Agrees to Partial Recount of Disputed Ballots

The Iranian election is a huge story. In the U.S. when an election was stolen the main stream media fell in line and the sheeple shrugged. In Iran the people are risking their lives to protest a million strong.

Are the protesters pro-western? Or do they simply want an honest election? Peacenik thinks there is a glimmer of hope here that the hardliners in Iran may lose something, maybe even some power. Certainly some of their authority. But the chance of a hard crackdown also exists. Peacenik thinks the battles on the streets of Iran foretells the future of corrupt governments everywhere. Even in the West.

Iran Agrees to Partial Recount of Disputed Ballots

by Nazila Fathi and Alan Cowell

TEHRAN - Thousands of people began massing in the streets here again on Tuesday to protest Iran's disputed presidential election, increasing tensions a day after clashes left at least seven people dead during the largest antigovernment demonstration since the Iranian revolution.

But in answer to the supreme leader's turnabout call for an examination of opposition charges of vote-rigging, the country's powerful Guardian Council said Tuesday it was prepared to order only a partial recount, and it ruled out an annulment of the vote, according to state television and news reports.

The concession was rejected by the main opposition candidate, Mir Hussein Moussavi, and other opponents of the declared winner, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The opponents demand that a new election be held.

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Bush tops Clinton in presidential affair

Rosie DiManno

Unprecedented! Epic! Extraordinary! Unique! Historic!

Those were just some of the adjectives tossed around by mooks in suits – thoroughly important in their own right, no doubt – who shared the emcee gig yesterday for a mano-a-mano gabfest summit featuring the last two presidents of the United States of America.

On stage together, for the first time, right here in Toronto: George Bush and Bill Clinton. Nos. 43 and 42, starring in A Conversation With Presidents.

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Is Peacenik disappointed with the small turnout to protest Bush? Kind of. What Peacenik is more disappointed in is that almost 6000 Canadians wanted to pay about $200 each to listen to Bush and Clinton lie to them. And apparently Bush/Clinton were almost given a standing ovation. And Peacenik really doesn't like the fawning tone of this article and the media's coverage. But it really doesn't matter.

Bush and Clinton are part of a staus quo that is about to go kaboom. They are irrelevant. They should get their speaking fees while the getting is good. Cause society and the economy are coming unglued. The staus quo - Obama, Bush, Clinton, Harper, etc etc is sitting on a bomb. What will set that bomb off? A GM bankruptcy? 10% unemployment? An Israeli attack on Iran? Broke pension plans? Fuel shortages? Food shortages? Inflation? A terror attack? Swine flu mutating into a killer flu? A run on a major bank? There are lots of triggers. Too many to be disarmed. Boom!!

Protest Bush on May 29, 2009.

Come and get waterboarded at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre

Rally outside Bush speaking engagement. Friday May 29, 3 PM to 6 PM. Metro Toronto Convention Centre, 255 Front Street West, TO ONT.

Volunteers needed at Toronto Coalition to Stop the War.

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Peacenik already noted last week that Peacenik wants to puke at the thought of Bush being welcomed to a speaking engagement in Toronto. Peacenik would be happy with an extraordinary rendition of Bush to Spain. But in the meantime Peacenik hopes that Toronto will make Bush and everyone associated with this speaking engagement regret having this event. Peacenik is also wondering if the Toronto Police are going to police this event with the same good sense they have shown when policing the Tamil protests of the past months. Not one Tamil protestor has been tasered. Will the Toronto Police be taser happy on Friday? Peacenik hopes not.

Peace ends, 15 arrested at Tamil protest

Aggression breaks out as plea for assistance in Sri Lanka continues

Apr 30, 2009 04:30 AM

Robyn Doolittle
Staff Reporter

Fifteen Tamil demonstrators were arrested yesterday evening after a group of protesters spilled over into a busy downtown intersection.

Police moved in as the crowd pushed forward on University Ave. to the north side of Dundas St. around 4:30 p.m.

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Peacenik was at the protest yesterday around noon when a Federal NDP member was giving a speech to thousands of protesters, praising the Tamils for their peaceful occupation of one of Toronto's major streets. Peacenik didn't catch his name but he was making the point that the Tamils had every right to block University Ave.

Apparently yesterday someone's patience ran out and there were arrests. If there can't even be a peaceful protest in Toronto, what chance is there to resolve a conflict where people are dying every day?

Peacenik stopped by the protest on Peacenik's way to work this morning. About 100 protesters remain, blocking the street. They are surrounded by more than 100 police. The protest leaders were visibly apprehensive that they were about to be forceably removed from the street. As new Tamils arrived they were encouraged to step onto the street and swell the numbers blocking traffic.

Peacenik hopes the protest continues peacefully. Peacenik hopes there is a cease fire in Sri Lanka. Peacenik hopes the police continue to show patience. Peacenik hopes there is a solution in Sri Lanka and on University Ave.

QUEEN’S PARK RALLY - ONTARIO IS ON THE MOVE: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 2009, 11:30 am

Help Save Our Hospitals – people from across Ontario facing hospital cuts or closure are joining in solidarity to ask McGuinty to protect our local hospitals. Thousands will be coming out. Get on the bus! Reserve your seat in advance!

Peacenik can't seem to even go out for some roast chestnuts for lunch without wading into another protest. A large crowd of protesters is now gathered in front of Queen's Park in support of community hospitals that are threatened with downsizing or closure. Peacenik saw signs from Hamilton, Burks Falls and Fort Erie. There were many more.

The police presence was minimal, since they were all down the street watching the re-envigorated Tamil Tiger protest.

Why can't Peacenik go out for some chestnuts without walking into a protest? Why is our pension/retirement system crumbling? Why is our healthcare system crumbling? Why is our economy crumbling? Why, when we are facing a flu pandemic, is the government cutting back on healthcare. Why? Because society can't afford it.

Thanks to the crooks on Wall Street and in government there is no money. Our standard of living is crumbling at a breathtaking pace. We can afford to fight a pointless war in Afghanistan. We can afford to pay executives millions of dollars in bonuses. We can afford to transfer societies wealth to the wealthiest 2 percent. We can afford new weapons systems, and military helicopters. We can afford to bailout corrupt companies. But it seems that we can't afford a decent standard of living. Peacenik senses these protests are just the beginning. And they are going to be very less cordial, very soon.

RCMP didn't study Taser use enough: Report

Hard-hitting review says force relied too heavily on manufacturer's input

Sep 12, 2008 04:30 AM

Tonda MacCharles
Ottawa Bureau

OTTAWA–The RCMP did not do "due diligence" when it approved the Taser stun gun for use as a less-than-lethal weapon by its officers, a hard-hitting independent review concludes.

The report was ordered by RCMP Commissioner Bill Elliott after the uproar following the death last October of a Polish immigrant shot with a Taser by RCMP at the Vancouver airport.

Submitted in June to Elliott but not made public, the review says the RCMP relied too much on the advice of the Taser's American manufacturer in developing its policies and training, did not consult widely enough with medical and mental health experts about its impact on people, and did not treat the weapon as a "prohibited firearm" – its proper legal classification.

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Peacenik knows the casual use of tasers by police forces is meant to intimidate and suppress legitimate dissent. A link to the Commissioners Report is available at the above link in the box to the right of the story. Keep in mind that they are bringing out a new more powerful taser delivered by a shotgun. Greater range and no doubt greater lethality. Peacenik thinks it is past time to ban the use of Tasers.

Antiwar march planned for last day of RNC

By AMY FORLITI, Associated Press Writer
Thu Sep 4,

ST. PAUL, Minn. - As John McCain accepts his party's presidential nomination Thursday night, protesters calling for an end to the Iraq war plan to march outside the Xcel Energy Center.

The Anti-War Committee, which is organizing Thursday's march, urged others to join in and denounced the increased presence of police in riot gear and acts of "intimidation" in the streets of St. Paul.

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Peacenik wonders how many will show up for this protest tonight given the extreme aggression shown by the police. Would you?

As Unlawful Arrests Continue, St. Paul Feels Like a City Under Siege for Some Residents

By Liliana Segura, AlterNet. Posted September 3, 2008.

"It's like we don't have rights. Like we don't even live here."

Sitting outside the Black Dog cafe in lower St. Paul late Tuesday morning, a lanky kid in dreadlocks and a black Bob Marley T-shirt stopped, asked me for a light, and sat down next to me. It was drizzly and gray, and eerily quiet. The night before, nearly 300 people had been arrested by Minnesota police in a sweeping display of brute force. Among them were journalist Amy Goodman and two Democracy Now! producers, both of whom were physically assaulted. With helicopters overheard and the National Guard out, it felt like a city under siege.

I asked the guy if he lived in St. Paul. "Yeah." It turned out he lives next door, in the building where I've been staying, an artist's co-op on Broadway Street. I was about to ask him what he thought about the scene here when he sort of laughed and said, "Yeah, you know -- I was just arrested."

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Peacenik likes the spirit of Punditman's previous post with the Rage Against the Machine video. Nice to see someone cares as the assault on civil liberties, freedom of the press, and the right to protest, continues unabated. Watch the video and read this story. Restoring the right of assembly and protest should be the first priority of an Obama administration, but unfortunately Peacenik hasn't heard much from the politicians on this. Peacenik thinks they like their "free speech zones".

Federal Government Involved In Raids On Protesters

by Glenn Greenwald

As the police attacks on protesters in Minnesota continue -- see this video of the police swarming a bus transporting members of Earth Justice, seizing the bus and leaving the group members stranded on the side of the highway -- it appears increasingly clear that it is the Federal Government that is directing this intimidation campaign. Minnesota Public Radio reported yesterday that "the searches were led by the Ramsey County Sheriff's office. Deputies coordinated searches with the Minneapolis and St. Paul police departments and the Federal Bureau of Investigation."

Today's Star Tribune added that the raids were specifically "aided by informants planted in protest groups." Back in May, Marcy Wheeler presciently noted that the Minneapolis Joint Terrorist Task Force -- an inter-agency group of federal, state and local law enforcement led by the FBI -- was actively recruiting Minneapolis residents to serve as plants, to infiltrate "vegan groups" and other left-wing activist groups and report back to the Task Force about what they were doing. There seems to be little doubt that it was this domestic spying by the Federal Government that led to the excessive and truly despicable home assaults by the police yesterday.

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Peacenik wonders why there is such a concerted effort to disrupt legitimate protest. It seems like it is a warm up for the near future. What Peacenik doesn't understand is why the police, who are by and large made up of underpaid everyday regular people, so enthused to participate in this kind of stuff. Its their neighbours, its their kids, and its their friends who they are cracking down on.

Was the "War to end all Wars" justified?

"It was a pointless war that just led to the next, 20 years later, as most people now concede and many soldiers knew then. Canadian historian Harold Innis, who fought at Vimy and was wounded there, spent the rest of his life stunned at “the stupidity of the whole performance” and even more that he had willingly joined."

punditman says:
On Easter Monday April 9, 1917, the entire Canadian Corps of four divisions stormed up Vimy Ridge, France. By April 12, the Canadians controlled the entire ridge, at a cost of 3,598 men killed and 7,104 wounded. The battle became a symbol of Canadian achievement and nationhood.

On this, the 90th anniversary, we have been subjected to a literal barrage of coverage this past week. While the reportage is certainly moving and poignant, it somehow lacks context. Could it be that in this time of current warfare, the media is afraid to ask the tough questions about previous conflicts? To ask in no way diminishes the sacrifices of those who paid the ultimate price. But when it comes to the "war to end all wars," also known then as the "struggle between civilization and barbarism," no one asks the question about World War One that has plagued so many for so long. Rick Salutin dares to ask it here:
Vimy: Was it Worth it?

For those with their heads still in the Sand:

punditman says:
In case anyone has been living in a cave for the past four years, the US occupation of Iraq is not all that popular -- among Iraqis that is. This past weekend is no exception. According to Sam Dagher, correspondent with the The Christian Science Monitor, "tens of thousands of Sadr's supporters crammed into the backs of trucks or into minibuses draped with giant Iraqi flags to make the 100-mile journey south to Najaf."

There are those (non cave dwellers, I mean), who still have their head in the proverbial sand when it comes to acknowledging this rather bleak reality. No doubt they have been helped each step of the way by much of the US media. With thanks to TvNewsLIES.org, the following comparative survey helps to illustrate this point:

From the UK: The Guardian: Hundreds of thousands of supporters of the radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr took to the streets of two Shia holy cities in Iraq today and protested against “US occupiers”.

Associated Press: Tens of thousands draped themselves in Iraqi flags and marched peacefully through the streets of two Shiite holy cities Monday to mark the fourth anniversary of Baghdad’s fall.

The New York Times: Large crowds marched in the city of Najaf today, the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad, to protest the American occupation of Iraq.

CNN (the only media organization that seems to have relied on official U.S. military estimates): Thousands of anti-U.S. protesters marched in the Shiite holy city of Najaf on Monday to mark the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad.

The U.S. Army estimated the crowd size at closer to 5,000 to 7,000 participants based on aerial photographs, said military spokesman Col. Steve Boylan.