Monthly Archives: January 2015

Fare Thee Not So Well

The US media has been almost entirely focused on the attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris and the subsequent manhunt. Flashy and bloody stories, especially those which support the idea of militarized police as a necessary evil in today’s society, are the media’s bread and butter. And, the media will usually overlook stories of protests both here in the US and in other countries. Hence, you may not have heard about the protests in Brazil.

São Paulo protests. Photo by Media NINJA

A group of Brazilian citizens called the Free Pass movement were the organizers of the demonstrations. What were the protests about? A raise in transportation fares. In São Paulo, the city with the largest demonstrations, fares went up by 17%. In 2013, the Free Pass movement was successful in getting the government to revoke a 7% increase, and they hoped to put the pressure on the government to do the same again. Continue reading →

Nigeria’s Worst Day – and No One Noticed

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With as many as 2,000 killed and 10,000 fleeing, few in the world are aware of Boko Haram’s most deadly attack to date.

Since two terrorists affiliated with Al Queda attacked the press offices of French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, killing twelve cartoonists/journalists and their security forces, the media has been obsessed with a saturated coverage as the drama played out. While the attacks were horrendous, and justified the world’s unity seen in response, we are left wondering why a blind eye and silent microphone is being given to the horrendous attacks in Nigeria, and why these deaths are no less deserving of attention.

Photo via Twitter

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Iguala Comes To Washington

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Mexican president Peña Nieto. Photo by Presidencia de la República Mexicana via Flickr

This Tuesday, President Obama and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto began a series of meetings in Washington DC. Trade was naturally high on the list of topics to be discussed; Mexico buys and sells more US goods than any other country than Canada – more than $500 billion a year. Immigration was another obvious topic; an estimated 6 to 7 million undocumented Mexicans live in the US, and send home to Mexico an estimated $20 billion per year.

However, there was another topic that was discussed; the 43 students from a teacher’s college in Ayotzinapa who were last seen being taken away by police the night of September 26. We’ve previously written about the disappearance and subsequent protests in Mexico. However, Tuesday’s meeting was marked by protests outside the White House and in Latino communities throughout the US. Continue reading →

TTIP: the next phase of the austerity agenda

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Demonstration against TTIP in Madrid. Demotix/Marcos del Mazo.

Most of the impact assessments on TTIP commissioned by the various European member states and by the European Commission describe the signing of the EU-US trade deal as an ‘economic El Dorado’ that will bring about more growth, more exports and more employment, and will almost single-handedly drag Europe out of the crisis.

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Running Walker – Separating Fact And Fiction

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It’s 2015, which means that the presidential campaigns are just beginning to get under way. This time around, the field’s particularly unsettled on the Republican side. One person who’s been mentioned as a potential candidate on more than one occasion is Wisconsin’s governor, Scott Walker.

By Gage Skidmore [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

We’ve written about Scott before; we’ve always considered him to be the crazy neighbor next door. He’s become one of the darlings of the right with his attacks on public employee unions and aggressive tax reduction policies, among other ALEC approved initiatives. Today was the start of his second term, and he gave an inaugural speech at the State Capitol in Madison. We like to take what he says and compare it to what’s actually happening in the state: the last time we did this, Walker didn’t fare that well. But what about this time? Continue reading →

Kurdish Kids Get Gifts From Peshmerga

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Some of us resolved to begin the year by doing more than just “slactivism” about our passions. If you are one of these people, this might be just what you are looking for.

On January 2, 2015, the Peshmerga Forces of Kurdistan delivered packages and gifts to the Kurdish children at a refugees camp in Iraq. In the video, attention is drawn to the feet of the children. Many are is sandals or other open-style footwear while clad in coats. Continue reading →

Somalia With Oil – The Story Of Libya Dawn

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If we were to ask the average American to tell us what they knew about LIbya, we would more than likely hear something about the Benghazi attack on September 11, 2012, in which US ambassador Chris Stevens was killed by Islamic militants; in fact, if the person was a follower of conservative media, we’d hear about nothing else.

We might hear something about Muammar Gaddafi and the Libyan state’s sponsorship of terrorist organizations during his forty years in power. We might hear something about World War II and the North Africa campaigns. We might even hear that Libya has the world’s tenth largest proven oil reserves. What we more than likely wouldn’t hear about though is Libya Spring and the current civil war. Continue reading →

Israel: Not Interested in ANY Peace

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During 2014, the world watched in horror as Gaza was destroyed, children targeted, hospitals demolished, schools bombed, factories leveled and a civilian population left with nothing to rebuild their lives with. In a recent interview, an Israeli man explains that the building of settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is their right, despite any treaties or agreements. “We will move through this neighborhood, and on to the next, and the next one after that, until this is all ours,” he proclaimed. “It is our right.” Continue reading →

Same As It Ever Was – Myanmar Edition

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On December 22, 2014, Daw Khin Win, a 56 year old woman, was shot and killed in Moegyo Pyin, Myanmar (also known as Burma) by police while protesting the expansion of a Chinese copper mine. This has led to protests in Myanmar’s two largest cities; Yangon (Rangoon) and Mandalay, as well as a standoff in the area of the mine itself. But, how did this all start? Continue reading →

Demanding Power to Concede

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The Case for Withdrawing the Police and Winning Community Control of our Communities

By Manuel Barrera

U.S. “America” has seen the rise of a new civil rights movement. . . One is tempted immediately to conjure the connections between the movement that has emerged in response to the murder by police in Ferguson, Missouri of Michael Brown and the movement led by M.L. King, Malcolm X and associated civil rights and black nationalist organizations of the 1950’s to the end of the 1960’s. It seems fair to say that given the emergence of Black youth and Black communities everywhere beginning to organize against what has come to be known as a police occupation within communities and spaces inhabited by Blacks in particular, but among people of color in general. Indeed, many sectors among young White youth, women, and other social forces have begun to be involved, some with more engagement than even the actual communities being victimized. Continue reading →

Occupy World Writes

The Movement Continues – Globally

Monthly Archives: January 2015

Nigeria’s Worst Day – and No One Noticed

Running Walker – Separating Fact And Fiction

Somalia With Oil – The Story Of Libya Dawn