Archive
Economic Crisis and ‘Social Explosion’
Saturday, 02 July 2011 06:27
‘As Greece recently passed further austerity measures – which effectively destroy the standard of living for the majority of people, in order to service and illegitimate debt to foreign banks – riots continued in Greece in protest to such measures. A large protest movement has recently erupted in Spain in the face of their economic crisis.
Tens of thousands protested Spain’s austerity measures, and no surprise, considering youth unemployment is more than 43% and the government is instead deciding to save foreign banks. A youth protest movement has also been developing in Portugal in response to the deep social and economic crisis being experienced there.’
Weak Economy May Force Second Bailout of Ireland
Saturday, 02 July 2011 06:37
‘As Europe struggles to put together a second bailout of Greece, to supplement the rescue effort launched last year, the crisis may force a second bailout of another indebted country in the region: Ireland.
Dublin, which signed up to an 85 billion euro (76.7 billion pound) bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund last November, is hoping to generate enough economic growth over the next two years to decouple itself from Greece in the minds of investors.’
Huge Pro-Gadaffi Rally in Tripoli
Saturday, 02 July 2011 07:20
‘Hundreds of Thousands’ of Public Sector Workers Strike
Thursday, 30 June 2011 10:47
he leader of one of the four unions involved in a national strike has said that the government will be “proved wrong” in its predictions that few will walkout in protest at an overhaul of public sector pensions.
Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union said “hundreds and hundreds of thousands” were expected to take part in Thursday’s strikes because the government was “failing to compromise” over pension reforms that he claimed were unfair and politically motivated.
Picket lines were mounted outside schools, government buildings, jobcentres and courts today by striking public sector workers in the biggest wave of industrial unrest since the coalition was formed.’
Read more: ‘Hundreds of Thousands’ of Public Sector Workers Strike
Brussels Demands an Extra £2 Billion a Year From UK in ‘Outrageous’ 12% Rise
Thursday, 30 June 2011 07:49
‘Eurocrats are about to demand an ‘outrageous’ budget increase of up to 12 per cent – three times the rate of inflation. This means Britain’s contribution to running the EU – already £15.3billion a year – will rise by another £2billion.
The budget, being finalised by the European Commission, is a clear rebuff to David Cameron’s calls for belt-tightening in Brussels. It will leave every family here handing over a total of nearly £700 a year to Europe just as they face an income squeeze.’
Read more: Brussels Demands an Extra £2 Billion a Year From UK in ‘Outrageous’ 12% Rise
Will the Revolution Begin in London?
Thursday, 30 June 2011 07:56
‘The revolution is in the mind.’ Those words were scrawled in wobbly spray-paint on Nelson’s Column on March 26, at the end of a day that saw half a million union members and outraged citizens march against government spending cuts in central London. The plan, cooked up by students and activist groups and advertised benignly on Facebook, was to have a picnic party and ‘Turn Trafalgar Square into Tahrir Square,’ as if some sympathetic magic could summon the regime-toppling energy of the Egyptian uprising to these soggy shores. What it turned into instead was a bloody mess.
As dusk fell, 200 police in full riot armor descended on the picnic without warning, cracking heads, breaking limbs and penning hundreds of young protesters in the biting cold for hours, with no water, no shelter and no way out. This is a form of collective punishment known colloquially as “kettling.” Its use at the London G-20 protests in 2009 was recently ruled illegal in a landmark decision by the high court.’
Greek PM: Austerity is Patriotic Duty
Wednesday, 29 June 2011 10:23
‘Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has told his fellow countrymen it is their patriotic duty to accept the austerity plan cooked up by the IMF and the EU. If not accepted, Greece will not get the fifth installment of an international bailout, he warned.
“I’m not asking you to listen to outside pressures, I ask that you listen to your soul and your internal patriotic conscience,” Papandreou said.
Greek opposition parties have rejected demands by EU leaders for national unity on the prospect of unemployment, a lower standard of living, and a massive giveaway of national resources.’
Iceland Declares Independence from International Banks
Wednesday, 29 June 2011 10:07
‘Iceland is free. And it will remain so, so long as her people wish to remain autonomous of the foreign domination of her would-be masters — in this case, international bankers.
On April 9, the fiercely independent people of island-nation defeated a referendum that would have bailed out the UK and the Netherlands who had covered the deposits of British and Dutch investors who had lost funds in Icesave bank in 2008.
At the time of the bank’s failure, Iceland refused to cover the losses. But the UK and Netherlands nonetheless have demanded that Iceland repay them for the “loan” as a condition for admission into the European Union.
In response, the Icelandic people have told Europe to go pound sand.’
Read more: Iceland Declares Independence from International Banks
Lagarde Named First Female IMF Chief
Wednesday, 29 June 2011 07:29
‘”The executive board of the International Monetary Fund today selected Christine Lagarde to serve as IMF managing director and madam chairman of the executive board for a five-year term starting on July 5, 2011,” the IMF said in a statement.
The French finance minister replaces Strauss-Kahn, who resigned on May 18 over charges of sexually assaulting a hotel maid in New York.’
Hacker group Anonymous declares war on Orlando, Florida
Members of the hacker group have warned of continued attacks against Orlando-related websites
The hacker group Anonymous has taken down a US tourism website in Orlando, Florida as a protest against the arrests of people handing out food to the city’s homeless.
Anonymous said the attack on orlandofloridaguide.com was retaliation for the arrest of members of the group Food not Bombs.
The website, which is not owned by the city, went offline for part of Tuesday.
Anonymous rose to prominence by hacking the sites of major corporations.
Anonymous is often seen as a political collective and has pledged to take action against those its members view as acting improperly.
They have been linked to several high-profile web attacks, including several on Sony websites as well as the Church of Scientology.
‘Balance of needs’
Anonymous has warned that more attacks could follow as part of what it has dubbed “Operation Orlando”.
In a news release, the hacker group promised to carry out a distributed denial of service attack (DDoS) on a separate Orlando-related website every day until the arrests come to an end, choosing orlandofloridaguide.com as its first target.
The collective also said it will email millions of people across the world asking them to boycott the destination.
“This is a declaration of war,” said Anonymous, describing Operation Orlando.
“Anonymous will now begin a massive campaign against you and your city web assets,” it added in a message directed at Orlando officials.
But orlandofloridaguide.com, which went offline for several hours on Tuesday, has no affiliation to the city, an Orlando spokesperson told the BBC.
“I don’t know what the hackers’ intentions are, but from the city’s standpoint, we’re just trying to balance everyone’s needs,” the spokesperson said.
‘Difficult position’
The row between the city of Orlando and the non-profit organisation Food Not Bombs started when the group began feeding homeless people in a park in the city’s downtown.
They did not obtain a permit to do so, a move which is required by law in Orlando.
Since then members of Food Not Bombs, including the group’s president, Keith Mchenry, have been arrested several times in the past month for handing out meals.
“We’re in a difficult position, and we’ve tried everything,” the Orlando spokesperson said.
“If Food Not Bombs continues to violate the ordinance, they will be subject to the consequences of violating it, which is arrest.”
Meanwhile, Food Not Bombs has said it has no affiliation with the Anonymous hacker group.
Spanish police arrested three suspected members of the Anonymous group earlier this month.
Believe nothing 