[LAAMN] Piece Cooperative
Piece Cooperative mission statement The Piece Cooperative is a collectively owned project: we are worker owned and worker run. We want to provide an example and model of how we can build and organize ourselves without having a dependency to capitalism, corporations, and all institutions of colonialism and white supremacy. We want to create the process to build self-sufficiency while we fight for liberation. We do this through raising funds and creating opportunities for our communities while connecting people to resources and movements working to build a better world beyond capitalism. We want to assist in building a base for a popular movement through education, grassroots media and movement building and disseminating revolutionary ideas, principles and vision. We are part of different organizations and communities but through the cooperative we hope to strengthen those networks and continue to connect with others in solidarity and around a unity that is principled and real. Goals: -raise funds -build self-sufficiency -connect people to resources -share skill and information -disseminate information and revolutionary ideas -help create a culture of resistance and rebellion pi...@riseup.net www.piececooperative.org (a work in progress) Merchandise: Dvd's, Cd's, Books, Oils, naural /organic medicine , Shirts, pamphlets Services: Shirt orders, silk screening, VHS/DVD-DVD/VHS Converter, Multiple DVD burner, website designer, mass copies, MMA training, Mutual Aid, sharing resources, barter, book distribution, access to computers for a donation, networking, nutrition/health info. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[LAAMN] Special House Concert for NO MORE VICTIMS at Frank Jane Dorrel's ~ Saturday, March 26th, 7:00 PM ~ With Andy's Living Room Band, Cole Ann Miller, Norman Solomon, Wil B, KB Solomon, Blase
The Office of the Americas, Addicted To War The Trauma Center of the Los Angeles Institute Society for Psychoanalytic Studies Invite You to a Special Music Concert Fundraiser for No More Victims Saturday, March 26th - 7:00 PM Doors Open at 6:30 PM At Frank, Jane Emily Dorrel's 3967 Shedd Terrace, Culver City 90232 Music By: Andy's Living Room Band Featuring Andy Manoff, Dennis Davis, Cole Miller, Tupper Julia Lienke Emily Dorrel Plus Wil B KB Solomon Special Guests: Ann Cole Miller - No More Victims Norman Solomon - Media Critic, Anti-War Author Is Running for Congress Theresa Blase Bonpane - Office of the Americas Nancy Hollander - The Trauma Center of the LA Institute Society for Psychoanalytic Studies Drinks, Desserts Appetizers Will Be Served $10 Donation at the Door All Proceeds go to No More Victims Please RSVP to Frank at: 310-838-8131 or: fdor...@addictedtowar.com or: fdor...@sbcglobal.net No More Victims works to obtain medical sponsorships for war-injured Iraqi children and to forge ties between the children, their families communities in the United States. We believe one of the most effective means of combating militarism is to focus on direct relief to its victims. Go to: www.nomorevictims.org to learn more. If you can't attend this event but would like to make a donation to No More Victims, please go to: http://nomorevictims.org/donate.php [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[LAAMN] Class War in the Midwest: A Report from the Frontlines, Thurs, March 24, 7:00 pm
Freedom Socialist Party March Meeting Class War in the Midwest: A Report from the Frontlines Thursday, March 24, 7:00 pm Solidarity Hall, 2170 W. Washington Blvd., Los Angeles AFSCME unionist and campus activist Mary Ann Curtis will report on the labor-led uprisings in Wisconsin and Indiana. She will share what she learned from workers, students and the general public on the spreading movement to say enough to the union busters and privatizing thieves who dwell in statehouses across the country. A Hearty and healthy supper, with vegetarian option, served at 6:30 pm for an $8 donation. Sliding scale work exchanges available. Solidarity Hall is off the 10 freeway at Western, on bus lines 35, 207, 550. Forinformation call 323-732-6416, email fs...@earthlink.net or visit www.socialism.com. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[LAAMN] Fw: GP RELEASE Green Party: The US must honor Libyan rebels' call for no military attacks
GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES http://www.gp.org For Immediate Release: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 Contacts: Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, cell 202-904-7614, mcla...@greens.org Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starl...@gp.org The US and other western nations must honor the Libyan rebels' requests for no military intervention, say Greens • Green Party Speakers Bureau: Greens available to speak on foreign policy: http://www.gp.org/speakers/speakers-foreign-policy.php WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party leaders today warned that western military intervention, now unfolding with air strikes against Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi's forces allegedly to create a no-fly zone, could escalate into a new US/NATO war on a Muslim nation rather than the stated goal of humanitarian protection for Libyan civilians and aid for rebels. Libyan rebel leaders have compared their cause to the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt and expressed their wish for no military involvement from other countries. The resolution of the conflict in Libya should not be led by foreign powers that have an interest in controlling Libya's oil -- the largest reserves in Africa. The military intervention by the US, UK, and France could easily turn into a situation like Iraq and Afghanistan, in which US bombs cause widespread civilian death and destruction, said Romi Elnagar, a member of the Louisiana Green Party and a member of the party's International Committee (http://www.gp.org/committees/intl). The new Libyan Interim National Transitional Council in Benghazi issued a decree on March 5 stating we request from the international community to fulfil its obligations to protect the Libyan people from any further genocide and crimes against humanity without any direct military intervention on Libyan soil. (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-08/libyan-rebels-appeal-to-un-for-protection-formal-recognition.html) Human rights lawyer Abdel-Hafidh Ghoga, spokesman for the National Transitional Council, said, We are against any foreign intervention or military intervention in our internal affairs... This revolution will be completed by our people with the liberation of the rest of Libyan territory. Greens said that the intervention could quickly backfire and incite regional outrage against the US. According to the Washington Post, The Arab League secretary general, Amr Moussa, deplored the broad scope of the US-European bombing campaign in Libya on Sunday and said he would call a new league meeting to reconsider Arab approval of the Western military intervention 'What is happening in Libya differs from the aim of imposing a no-fly zone,' he said in a statement on the official Middle East News Agency. 'And what we want is the protection of civilians and not the shelling of more civilians.' (http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/arab-league-condemns-broad-bombing-campaign-in-libya/2011/03/20/AB1pSg1_story.html). The conflict in Libya is a civil war -- a rebellion against a violent regime. We question whether the enthusiasm among western leaders for a military assault on Gadhafi's forces, including calls for a ground invasion by some Republicans in the US (http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/03/20/bill-kristol-calls-for-u-s-ground-forces-in-libya/), is motivated by humanitarian concerns or by an oil grab. Not content with escalating the Afghanistan War and expanding it into Pakistan, President Obama might get his very own war-without-end if he acts without regard for the wishes, views, and needs of people in north Africa, said Farheen Hakeem, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States. The Green Party has supported movements for democracy throughout the Middle East and Africa and their efforts to remove violently repressive and corrupt dictators like Muammar Gadhafi. But Green leaders insisted that the imposition of a no-fly zone by foreign attack is an illegitimate intervention in a civil war that Libyans have the right to resolve without interference from western powers for whom humanitarian claims have been cover for economic and geopolitical domination. Greens noted that the US offered no such assistance during the Algerian Civil War of the 1990s (in which the US encouraged a military takeover after Islamists won the election, precipitating a civil war that cost between 150,000 and 200,000 lives) or the Congo War, which alone killed 4 million people (1998-2003), the bloodiest conflict since World War II. Greens remain skeptical of US intentions, noting the selective attention to the suffering of civilians resisting repressive governments in the Middle East. Why no intervention when US client-state Bahrain recently slaughtered its opposition? Even more shockingly, the US supported Israel's air and ground assault on illegally occupied Gaza in 2008 and 2009, in which over 1400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed in contrast to 13 Israelis, 10 of whom
[LAAMN] Revolutionary updates:MOROCCO,Yemen,Syria
*MOROCCO:* Peaceful demonstrations, attended by thousands, took place on Sunday in Casablanca and several other Moroccan cities. Larbi.org (in French) *Videos and Photo's: *http://www.larbi.org/post/Live-manifestations-du-20-mars-au-Maroc www.al-bab.com *Revolutionary updates: 21 March** * Aside from Libya, which is getting wall-to-wall media coverage, here are some other noteworthy events from the weekend: *SYRIA:* In the southern city of Deraa, protesters clashed with security forces on Sunday, for the third day running. Numerous buildings associated with the regime were set on fire, including Syriatel (the mobile phone company owned by President Assad's corrupt cousin, Rami Makhlouf). The Omari mosque was turned into a makeshift hospital (videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDhqvXy6zlM). Al-Jazeerahttp://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/03/2011320113138901721.htmland al-Arabiya http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/03/21/142350.html have reports on the situation in Deraa. Smaller protests have been reported in other parts of the country, mostly resulting in dispersal and arrests. As I suggestedhttp://www.al-bab.com/blog/2011/blog1103b.htm#stirrings_in_syriaon Friday, it does seem that an uprising in Syria is now under way, though still in its early stages. The picture is likely to become clearer today. March 21 marks the start of the Kurdish new year (Nawroz) which has often been a time for agitation by Syria's Kurdish minority. In the light of disturbances elsewhere in the country, they may see this as an opportune moment for some action. *EGYPT:* Saturday's referendumhttp://www.arabist.net/blog/2011/3/20/the-results-are-in.htmlon constitutional amendments produced a 77% yes vote: 14 million in favour, four million against. Many activists (though not all) had been opposing the amendments, seeking an total overhaul of the constitution instead. Issandr el Amrani discusseshttp://www.arabist.net/blog/2011/3/20/two-important-question-on-egypts-referendum.htmlthe referendum on the Arabist blog, while Sandmonkey considers the struggle ahead http://www.sandmonkey.org/2011/03/20/playing-politics/. *YEMEN:* Following the massacre of demonstratorshttp://www.al-bab.com/blog/2011/blog1103b.htm#terrible_day_for_yemenon Friday and the declaration of a 30-day state of emergency, President Salih dismissed his cabinet (though he has asked members to stay on until a new government can be appointed). This brings to mind the old quip about rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic. The Yemen Observer suggestshttp://www.yobserver.com/front-page/10020994.htmlthis is a step towards forming a national unity government allegedly in reponse to Saudi-led mediation (!). If so, the question now is how many opposition figures will be willing to help Salih by becoming ministers in his hour of need. Dismissing the government could also be a move to forestall any further resignations. In a separate articlehttp://www.yobserver.com/front-page/10020997.html, the Yemen Observer says Politicians and academics are continuing to turn their backs on the ruling General People's Congress. The human rights minister, Huda al-Ban, resigned at the weekend the third minister to do so since protests escalated last month. The Yemen Times has more on the resignations http://www.yementimes.com/defaultdet.aspx?SUB_ID=35788. *MOROCCO:* Peaceful demonstrations, attended by thousands, took place on Sunday in Casablanca and several other Moroccan cities. Larbi.org (in French) has a series of photos and videoshttp://www.larbi.org/post/Live-manifestations-du-20-mars-au-Maroc. News reports: al-Arabiyahttp://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/03/20/142313.html, AFPhttp://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iu2GgwAB5vFQmq-iZrp2ZsSD4W3Q?docId=CNG.30929bbed886ca3041584a88b0537905.d81and Reutershttp://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/20/us-morocco-protests-idUSTRE72J2GT20110320. AFP says: The call for demonstrations was backed by the youth wing of the Justice and Charity movement, regarded as Morocco's main Islamist movement, and by several human rights bodies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH). Reuters notes: The Socialists' USFP party announced late on Saturday that it would join the protest the first government coalition party to do so. Complaints about corruption and lack of civil rights figured strongly in the protests. On March 9, the king made a speechhttp://www.al-bab.com/blog/2011/blog1103a.htm#moroccan_king_promises_reformpromising a series of reform but this does not appear to have dampened the protests. Reuters quotes a government official as saying that the numbers on the streets on Sunday were at least as many as those who protested on February 20, before the king's speech. [image: Tweet this!]http://twitter.com/home/?status=Revolutionary+updates:+21+March.+Latest+developments+in+Syria%2C+Egypt%2C+Yemen+and+Morocco+http://bit.ly/hx80yK
[LAAMN] Photos show US soldiers in Afghanistan posing with dead civilians
A US soldier poses with the corpse of an Afghan boy – one of three photographs published by German magazine Der Spiegel. Photograph: AP Photos show US soldiers in Afghanistan posing with dead civilians 'Trophy' pictures show US soldiers posing with corpses of Afghan civilians they are accused of killing for sport The face of Jeremy Morlock, a young US soldier, grins at the camera, his hand holding up the head of the dead and bloodied youth he and his colleagues have just killed in an act military prosecutors say was premeditated murder.Moments before the picture was taken in January last year, the unsuspecting victim had been waved over by a group of US soldiers who had driven to his village in Kandahar province in one of their armoured Stryker tanks.According to testimony collected by Der Spiegel magazine the boy had, as a matter of routine, lifted up his shirt to reveal that he was not hiding a suicide bomb vest.That was the moment Morlock, according to a pre-arranged plan, threw a grenade at the boy that exploded while other members of the rogue group who called themselves the kill team opened fire.They would later tell military investigators that the boy, a farmer's son, had threatened them with the grenade.The pictures include a similar photograph of a different soldier posing with the same victim and a photograph of two other civilians killed by the unit.There was no sign on Monday of the anticipated public outrage. But with Afghanistan on holiday for the Persian new year celebrations, and media outlets initially unable to get hold of the images, anger may yet build.The US ambassador to Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry, recently confided to officials that he feared it might trigger the same kind of scandal as that at Abu Ghraib in Iraq, where images of prisoners being abused by US soldiers sparked anti-American protests.For weeks the US government has been working to pre-empt any outrage, with top officials, including the US vice president Joe Biden, in talks with Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president.Despite being a setback in the propaganda war between the western coalition and its insurgent enemies, Nato will be relieved that for the time being only a tiny sample of a total collection of roughly 4,000 images and video clips have found their way into the public domain.The publication of the photos will also mark the ultimate disgrace of the group of young US soldiers, who are currently facing military justice for killing innocent civilians for sport and mutilating their bodies by cutting off fingers and ripping out teeth to keep as trophies.Morlock has turned on his former colleagues, agreeing to testify against them in return for a reduced jail sentence. Some of the activities of the group are already public, with 12 men currently on trial in Seattle for their role in the killing of three civilians. Morlock has told investigators that Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs was the ringleader. In videotaped evidence, he has said Gibbs would pick out a possible target with a comment such as: You guys wanna wax this guy or what?Gibbs, if found guilty, could receive a life sentence.Hans-Ulrich Stoldt, a spokesman for Der Spiegel, said the magazine had other, more graphic photos.We published three but not others, and we even pixilated those we did print so that the victims could not be identified, Stoldt said. We needed to document [the accusations] in some form, and were as restrained as possible. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/21/afghanistan-trophy-photos-us-soldier [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn
[LAAMN] LA Laborfest Presents The 100th Anniversary Commemoration of The Triangle Fire ~ Friday, March 25th, 7:30 PM ~ Echo Park United Methodist Church ~ An Evening of Music, Theatre, Spoken Word,
LA Laborfest Presents The 100th Anniversary Commemoration of The Triangle Fire Remember Our Past - Inform Our Future A Benefit for the Los Angeles Garment Worker Center Friday, March 25th, 7:30 PM Echo Park United Methodist Church - 1226 N. Alvarado, LA 90026 An Evening of Music, Theatre, Spoken Word Film, with Special Guests, Labor Leaders, Municipal Officials Rank File Workers. For More Information Email: lalaborf...@gmail.com or Call: 310-704-3217 Spanish or American Sign Language translation available with advance notice. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[LAAMN] : March 28 - Digital Storytelling in L.A. County's Diverse Communities
Come on down and join the Eastside LA Netsquared on Monday, March 28, 2011 at 6:30 PM *This Month's Topic:* *Digital Storytelling in L.A. County's Diverse Communities* *When: * Monday, March 28, 2011 at 6:30 PM *Where:* *Asian Pacific American Legal Center* 1145 Wilshire Blvd Los Angeles, CA The Alhambra Source was launched recently as a hybrid model of professional community journalism. It is a USC Annenberg joint communication and journalism research initiative and the intention is to provide coverage to a community that has a shortage of local news coverage, has low civic engagement levels, and is very diverse linguistically and ethnically. Our speaker, Daniela Gerson, is editor of the Source and previously an immigration reporter for the New York Sun and contributor to Financial Times Magazine, New York Times, and New York Public Radio. She will talk about making the transition to online media, working with community members as an outsider, and how organizations can also tell their own stories and make sure they're heard. *Meetup event listing: *http://www.meetup.com/n2eastsidela/events/16920550/ What is Netsquared? On the last Tuesday of each month, social changemakers and web innovators get together to network, mix, swap stories and ideas, build new relationships and learn at Net Tuesday, an event produced by NetSquared a project of TechSoup http://www.techsoup.org. All those interested, involved, or employed in nonprofits and that recognize the importance and utility of technology in the sector are invited to join us for discussion and exchange. Like us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/N2EastsideLA and/or join our Meetup http://www.meetup.com/n2eastsidela/ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[LAAMN] Krugman: The Forgotten Millions, The Borowitz Report
Afraid to Watch the News, Millions Turn to Fox Channel Offers Welcome Break from Reality, Psychologists Say NEW YORK ( http://borowitzreport.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=49de3335c30245ecd0f a291aaid=5ddbabd517e=5929d121de The Borowitz Report) - With unprecedented crises engulfing the world, millions of television viewers are finding the news too stressful to watch - and are turning to the Fox News Channel instead. Things are so bad in the world right now, many people are afraid to watch the news, says psychologist Davis Logsdon, who studies the relationship between news consumption and stress at the University of Minnesota. For them, Fox News represents a welcome break from reality. Tracy Klugian, 37, a systems analyst from Lansing, Michigan, said that he was flipping the channels to find anything but news and found himself watching Fox for the first time. They had this guy on - something Beck I think his name was - and he was just going on and on, making stuff up, he said. I was like, this is the kind of mindless junk I need right now. Mr. Klugian says he now records the program and watches it every day when he gets home for work: For one hour at least, I know that I can kick back and not hear anything that's going on in the world. He said that watching Fox had also introduced him to my favorite new comedian - this hysterical woman named Michele Bachmann. She was doing this bit about how the American Revolution started in New Hampshire, not Massachusetts, and then she started mixing up where Lexington and Concord were, he said. Okay, I know it sounds really stupid, but I almost peed myself. Elsewhere, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said he is not worried how history will remember him because if I have my way, there won't be any history teachers. *** http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/opinion/18krugman.html?nl=todaysheadlines; emc=tha212 The Forgotten Millions Paul Krugman NY Times Op-Ed: March 18, 2011 More than three years after we entered the worst economic slump since the 1930s, a strange and disturbing thing has happened to our political discourse: Washington has lost interest in the unemployed. Jobs do get mentioned now and then - and a few political figures, notably Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader in the House, are still trying to get some kind of action. But no jobs bills have been introduced in Congress, no job-creation plans have been advanced by the White House and all the policy focus seems to be on spending cuts. So one-sixth of America's workers - all those who can't find any job or are stuck with part-time work when they want a full-time job - have, in effect, been abandoned. It might not be so bad if the jobless could expect to find new employment fairly soon. But unemployment has become a trap, one that's very difficult to escape. There are almost five times as many unemployed workers as there are job openings; the average unemployed worker has been jobless for 37 weeks, a post-World War II record. In short, we're well on the way to creating a permanent underclass of the jobless. Why doesn't Washington care? Part of the answer may be that while those who are unemployed tend to stay unemployed, those who still have jobs are feeling more secure than they did a couple of years ago. Layoffs and discharges spiked during the crisis of 2008-2009 but have fallen sharply since then, perhaps reducing the sense of urgency. Put it this way: At this point, the U.S. economy is suffering from low hiring, not high firing, so things don't look so bad - as long as you're willing to write off the unemployed. Yet polls indicate that voters still care much more about jobs than they do about the budget deficit. So it's quite remarkable that inside the Beltway, it's just the opposite. What makes this even more remarkable is the fact that the economic arguments used to justify the D.C. deficit obsession have been repeatedly refuted by experience. On one side, we've been warned, over and over again, that bond vigilantes will turn on the U.S. government unless we slash spending immediately. Yet interest rates remain low by historical standards; indeed, they're lower now than they were in the spring of 2009, when those dire warnings began. On the other side, we've been assured that spending cuts would do wonders for business confidence. But that hasn't happened in any of the countries currently pursuing harsh austerity programs. Notably, when the Cameron government in Britain announced austerity measures last May, it received fawning praise from U.S. deficit hawks. But British business confidence plunged, and it has not recovered. Yet the obsession with spending cuts flourishes all the same - unchallenged, it must be said, by the White House. I still don't know why the Obama administration was so quick to accept defeat in the war of ideas, but the fact is that it surrendered very early in the game. In early 2009, John Boehner, now the speaker of the
[LAAMN] WikiLeaks:Gaddafi regime fed names of jihadists to the CIA and to Britain
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/gaddafi-regime-fed-names-of-jihadists-to-uk-cia/story-fn7ycml4-1226025836662 *Gaddafi regime fed names of jihadists to the CIA and to Britain* *COLONEL Muammar Gaddafi's regime secretly provided information to Britain and the US on Islamic extremists in the east of Libya, according to leaked diplomatic cables and intelligence sources. * The names of hundreds of suspects were passed to the CIA and British intelligence. There was a strong, shared concern between Gaddafi and the US and UK Governments about radical Sunni jihadist terrorists, including the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), Paul Pillar, a CIA veteran who negotiated with Libya over its nuclear program, told The Times. Diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks paint eastern Libya as a fertile ground for radical extremism. One source told US officials in 2008 that for young men from Derna, a city east of Benghazi, resistance against coalition forces in Iraq was an important act of 'jihad' and a last act of defiance against the Gaddafi regime. However, Vincent Cannistraro, a former head of the CIA's Libya branch, said that Colonel Gaddafi had sucked in the West with allegations of terrorism in the east of Libya. Gaddafi conflated the LIFG with al-Qa'ida and that obviously caught the attention of the Americans and the British who, post-9/11, were hungry for terrorism intelligence, he said. There wasn't a lot of reporting sources and Gaddafi was providing it - but his motivation was to protect himself. Mr Cannistraro agreed that sometimes you had to do deals with bad people. But he added: Gaddafi was an outright murderer. There shouldn't have been so much co-operation. In contrast, Dr Pillar maintained that the information was essential. Some regimes paint their local opponents as part of a larger terrorist picture but this wasn't the case here. There have been an awful lot of Libyans in al-Qa'ida and among the violent resistance in Iraq and in Afghanistan. Even among the rebels now hoping to overthrow the regime are radical Islamists who would be of concern, he warned. I think there's a high chance for people who would alarm us having a major influence should Gaddafi fall. *The CIA first made contact with Colonel Gaddafi in the late 1990s, only 10 years after Libyan intelligence operatives blew up Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland. British intelligence is understood to have become involved later, after Colonel Gaddafi renounced weapons of mass destruction in 2003.* *Six years on, another leaked cable said that Libya has acted as a critical ally in US counter-terrorism efforts, and is considered one of our primary partners in combatting the flow of foreign fighters. The cable, sent from the US Embassy in Tripoli on August 10, 2009, emphasised that the US-Libya strategic partnership in this field has been highly... beneficial to both nations.* One senior British intelligence source confirmed that MI6 had close contact with Colonel Gaddafi. I expect he was only giving us what he wanted, the source said. But valuable information was picked up. Close political and intelligence co-operation continued until last year despite the US State Department condemning Libya for oppression and human rights abuses in 2009. *The Times* [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
[LAAMN] Japan Extended Reactor's Life, Despite Warning
Now, how about us? Amazing, how little comparison and pressure is yet being applied by the media to our own, enormous possibilities of nuclear plant disasters. It's heartening to begin getting news of popular concern, but clearly, the Obama administration and congress will need a lot of shoving to loosen ties to the nuclear industry and move away from this deadly trajectory. -Ed http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/22/world/asia/22nuclear.html?ref=world Japan Extended Reactor's Life, Despite Warning By HIROKO TABUCHI http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/t/hiroko_tabuchi /index.html?inline=nyt-per , NORIMITSU ONISHI http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/o/norimitsu_onis hi/index.html?inline=nyt-per and KEN BELSON http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/ken_belson/ind ex.html?inline=nyt-per Published: March 21, 2011 The regulatory committee reviewing extensions pointed to stress cracks in the backup diesel-powered generators at Reactor No. 1 at the Daiichi plant, according to a summary of its deliberations that was posted on the Web site of Japan's nuclear regulatory agency after each meeting. The cracks made the engines vulnerable to corrosion from seawater and rainwater. The generators are thought to have been knocked out by the tsunami, shutting down the reactor's vital cooling system. The Tokyo Electric Power Company, which runs the plant, has since struggled to keep the reactor and spent fuel pool from overheating and emitting radioactive materials. Several weeks after the extension was granted, the company admitted that it had failed to inspect 33 pieces of equipment related to the cooling systems, including water pumps and diesel generators, at the power station's six reactors, according to findings published on the agency's Web site shortly before the earthquake. Regulators said that maintenance management was inadequate and that the quality of inspection was insufficient. Less than two weeks later, the earthquake and tsunami set off the crisis at the power station. The decision to extend the reactor's life, and the inspection failures at all six reactors, highlight what critics describe as unhealthy ties between power plant operators and the Japanese regulators that oversee them. Expert panels like the one that recommended the extension are drawn mostly from academia to backstop bureaucratic decision-making and rarely challenge the agencies that hire them. Because public opposition to nuclear power makes it hard to build new power plants, nuclear operators are lobbying to extend their reactors' use beyond the 40-year statutory limit, despite uneven safety records and a history of cover-ups. The government, eager to expand the use of http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/energy-environment/atomic-energ y/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier nuclear energy and reduce the reliance on imported fossil fuels, has been largely sympathetic. Such extensions are also part of a global trend in which aging plants have been granted longer lives. Over the next decade in Japan, 13 more reactors - and the other 5 at the Fukushima Daiichi plant - will also turn 40, raising the prospect of gargantuan replacement costs. That is one reason critics contend that the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency's committee in charge of inspecting aging nuclear power plants may play down its own findings. In approving the extension in early February, regulators told Tokyo Electric to monitor potential damage from radiation to the reactor's pressure vessel, which holds fuel rods; corrosion of the spray heads used to douse the suppression chamber; corrosion of key bolts at the reactor; and conduction problems in a gauge that measures the flow of water into the reactor, according to a report published in early February. The committee, which convened six times to review findings gathered during inspections of the No. 1 unit at the power station, found that Tokyo Electric had met all required protections from earthquakes. Inspectors, however, had spent just three days inspecting the No. 1 unit, a period that industry experts say was far too brief because assessing the earthquake risk to a nuclear plant is one of the most complex engineering problems in the world. Despite these doubts, the committee recommended that Tokyo Electric be given permission to run the No. 1 unit, which was built by General Electric and began operating in 1971, for an additional decade. During the approval process, the company claimed that the reactor was capable of running for 60 years. Mitsuhiko Tanaka, an engineer who worked on the design of the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, said the reactors there were outdated, particularly their small suppression chambers, which increased the risk that pressure would build up within the reactor, a fault eliminated in newer reactors. Since the tsunami, officials at Fukushima Daiichi have tried to
[LAAMN] Racist student writer 4 CSLB sorry 4 Pow Wow article- AISC need letters
A Peaceful Rally to Zero Fund the Union Weekly Let's Demand that the AS Senate ZERO FUND the Union Weekly @ the 1st reading of the ASI Budget WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6TH RALLY: 3:00 PM - USU SOUTH PLAZA (near Sbarros) SENATE: 3:30 PM - SENATE CHAMBERS (in South Plaza) Join us at the rally to educate people about this issue, followed by the AS Senate meeting immediately after. At the Senate meeting, the public will have an opportunity to speak to the Senate in regards to Zero Funding the Union Weekly. --- Background- http://www.aistudentcouncil.org/ As you may know, the American Indian students of CSULB recently held our 41st Annual Pow Wow this past weekend on campus. As we have been celebrating our great success, we have just learned from some our our esteemed faculty and students in American Indian Studies about an article written in the Union Weekly containing nothing but racism, ignorance, and pure intolerance. It hurts us beyond explainable words to know that this has come from our University and our student body. We are currently formulating action and would appreciate anybody's help with whatever happens. We must let them know that ignorance like this will not be tolerated on our campus. The American Indian Student Council will keep you posted with any new developments. In the meantime, please spread this and educate your peers to the racism and ignorance that is being spread on our campus. You may also contact the editors below and email them. ___ Click here for HORRIBLE ARTICLE! Regarding recent Cal State Long Beach Pow Wow! https://869789182725854870-a-aistudentcouncil-org-s-sites.googlegroups.com/a/aistudentcouncil.org/www/home/Union%20Article%20-%20Pow%20Wow.jpg?attachauth=ANoY7cpRcxlxfDGQ2gsnTlzUdenCUtk2hOM_m10hnBnQ0IQeugTgQwuzHuZ2_JdvW4rLObn_l4g7Q42RqiSxZ1pEWMTGCr7ckgh5R9dDV9fN_VhkE53H0L_kWEpSNR88x1RioXWIcW_QCq6q3TIHx9q17XPoMerHRUtwp3n3pMBR0cu7kfDpzX1mVAn0alugSNtbycF1BTdbdfVUB10pJPYjIJJmws7SzR3dYGnFH_1YaHs9AVwrH-8%3Dattredirects=0 As of right now, we are asking everyone to write letters and messages to the campus administration as well as the editors of the newspapers. Please use the following email addresses: X F. King Alexander (CSULB President): fkale...@csulb.edu X Doug Robinson (CSULB Vice President of Student Services): drobi...@csulb.edu X Mike Hostetler (CSULB Dean of Students): studentd...@csulb.edu X Kevin O'Brien (Union Weekly Editor-in-Chief): kevinob.un...@gmail.com X Noah Kelly (Union Weekly Article Author): noah.un...@gmail.com ___ SAMPLE Letter- Saturday, March 19, 2011 Mr. Alexander, This is so disheartening to me I went to CSULB and wear my LB hat and pin proudly, I¡¦m also Gabrielino-Tongva Indian. I have enjoyed attending and dancing at the annual Pow Wow held on your campus. My wife works for the So. Cal. Indian Center and around 25% of their yearly budget is raised at that Pow Wow, money that is used to help Indian families, Indian students with school supplies and a senior program. This year our son who is 12 walked with me around the campus, I showed him all of the campus and how great it is and I told him how proud I would be if he went here too one day. This year my son even wanted to help his mother in the fry bread booth, it was a wonderful and memorable weekend to be there. We have come a long way as Indian people I thought only to read this racist article and feel that stinging reminder of years gone past; I really thought we had moved beyond this kind of thing. I feel the school needs to start making choices in where they stand in this nonsense. So many Indian people have contributed to this school and it has produced some very good leaders. CSULB was, I thought a place that Native American Indians could still go and feel that they were a part of it all. So I¡¦m sorry Mr. Alexander I can¡¦t let you sidestep this issue, for my son¡¦s sake and the other entire Native American students that want to attend CSULB in the future. Nobody has the right to circulate racist or hatred remarks on a school campus that may impact the education and wellbeing of other students because of race, religion or sexual orientation of that student! Especially a school funded and administrations protect paper. I support the students and alumni of CSULB in holding the administration to higher standards. Your school funded the paper that it was written on and allows this to be released to the students, so it becomes the opinion of the school that paid for it with school funds! It was reported and published, with no restrictions. The article was written and published in your school facility that is state funded. So the messages you are sending is that CSULB School is advocating racism by allowing this paper and students to write this racist propaganda against other races. As a Native American
[LAAMN] Brazil: Great success of the second Pan American School of the International Marxist Tendency
http://www.marxist.com/brazil-great-success-of-second-pan-american-school.htm Brazil: Great success of the second Pan American School of the International Marxist Tendencyhttp://www.marxist.com/brazil-great-success-of-second-pan-american-school.htm Written by In Defence of Marxism Tuesday, 22 March 2011 [image: Print]http://www.marxist.com/brazil-great-success-of-second-pan-american-school/print.htm[image: E-mail]http://www.marxist.com/component/option,com_mailto/link,aHR0cDovL3d3dy5tYXJ4aXN0LmNvbS9icmF6aWwtZ3JlYXQtc3VjY2Vzcy1vZi1zZWNvbmQtcGFuLWFtZXJpY2FuLXNjaG9vbC5odG0=/tmpl,component/ *From 15 to 19 March the second Pan American School of the International Marxist Tendency (IMT) was held in Florianópolis, Brazil. Amid the greatest economic, social and political instability of the world capitalist system in decades, the American Marxists have come together to participate in a series of discussions on topical issues on the class struggle and the socialist revolution internationally.* [image: GEDC1024]http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/latinamerica/school_2011/GEDC1024.jpgThe character of this school was different to the previous meeting, as attendance was strictly limited to experienced cadres. It brought together more than fifty leading activists of the IMT from Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia and Venezuela. Also present in the School as special guests were leading members of the IMT Alessandro Giardiello, from the national leadership of the Rifondazione Comunista Party of Italy, who is the editor of the journal of the Italian Marxist tendency *FalceMartello*, and Alan Woods, political editor of the well-known web page In Defence of Marxism (www.marxist.com). There were apologies from comrades in Mexico, Peru, USA and Canada who were unfortunately unable to attend because of economic problems and last minute difficulties in processing visas. First session: The international situation and the Arab revolution The first day of the school was devoted to a thorough discussion on the global situation, with special emphasis on the dramatic events that are shaking North Africa and the Middle East. Alan Woods introduced the discussion, noting that the revolution in the Arab world is not only a turning point in the international situation but in world history. The example of the revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere, is affecting the consciousness of millions of workers around the world. Before their very eyes the masses can witness the unfolding of the revolutionary struggle against tyranny and oppression, against imperialism and capitalism. [image: Alan_Woods]http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/latinamerica/school_2011/Alan_Woods.jpgThe mass demonstrations in the United States itself, in the State of Wisconsin, against the anti-working class policies of the Republican Governor Scott Walker, are a vivid confirmation of this fact. In the marches of more than 100,000 people in the state capital, Madison, one could see banners with the text. Fight like an Egyptian, or Down with Hosni Walker, comparing Scott Walker with the former dictator Hosni Mubarak. This mobilization of public employees in Wisconsin is sending shockwaves through the rest of the United States, where there have been acts of solidarity and mobilizations, warning the authorities of other States of the US of what they can expect if they try to apply the same measures. The Arab revolution is not an isolated event. It comes in the wake of the mass awakening of the class struggle in Europe, where the workers have overcome their fear of the first effects of the crisis that began in late 2008 and are moving into action. In France, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Ireland, Italy we have witnessed the biggest strikes and mass protests of the workers since the seventies. There have been protests against the cuts in public spending in order to pay the unprecedented debts owed by states and to save the big banks and companies. And the struggle continues. Following the struggle of the student youth in Britain in late 2010, now the British trade unions have called a mass mobilization for the March 26 against the bourgeois government of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. Only a few weeks ago the 8th general strike in Greece was called in the space of just one year. On March 20 there is a national march in Madrid organized by leftist organizations and trade unionists in protest against the pension cuts agreed by the government, employers and the official union leaderships. The Arab revolution is not a single act but a process that will last for years, with ups and downs, ebbs and flows. There will be revolutionary explosions, followed by refluxes until in the end matters will be settled decisively in one way or another either by the victory of the socialist revolution or the counterrevolution. The IMT has come out categorically against any imperialist intervention in Libya. The only force that can settle accounts with Gaddafi is the Libyan
[LAAMN] Remembering theTriangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire-March 25th 1911 - 2011
http://rememberthetrianglefire.org/ March 25, 2011 is the Centennial of the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire which took the lives of 146 workers,mostly young immigrant women, and galvanized a movement for social justice. In concert with organizations and individuals across the country, we are spearheading commemorative events - activism, education, arts - for the Centennial and the establishment of a permanent public art memorial. Join Us - March 25! **Workers United - official commemoration 11:00 am - Music + Procession 12:00 pm - Speakers + Ceremony Former home of the Triangle Waist Company: corner of Washington Place + Greene Street, NYC. (one block east of Washington Square Park) *Map*http://www.google.com/maps?f=qsource=s_qhl=engeocode=q=23+-+29++Washington+Place+New+York+10003+United+States%3F%3Eie=UTF8view=map Can't be there in person?? No worries! We will stream the event live right here! 记著这一天 由工人联盟(前国际女服车衣工会)筹办 「三角衣厂大火」一百�L年�o念会。 2011 年3月25日 上午11时至下午1时30分 Washington Place �AGreene Street (纽约大学近Broadway/4 亍附近) *** iRESERVE ESTA FECHA! Viernes, 25 de Marzo del 2011 11 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Washington Place y la Calle Greene Conmemoración del Centenario del Incendio de la Fábrica 'Triangle' Trabajadores Unidos/SEIU (ILGWU) *** Bells *** Join with churches, schools and fire houses across the country. Step outside and *ring a bell at 4:45 EST*, the exact time the first alarm was sounded. If you are planning to participate please *email us*i...@rememberthetrianglefire.org?subject=Bellswhere + we will add you to the map! *Zoom out to see bells across the country!* ** http://rememberthetrianglefire.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/TrianglePosterWeb.jpg *How can you participate?? **All are welcome!* - Check out our *calendar*http://rememberthetrianglefire.org/2011/02/open-monthly-meeting%3C/li%3E%3Cli%3E%20Check%20out%20our%20%3Ca%20href=to see what people are creating for the centennial - Plan your own event! Become a *Participating Organization*http://rememberthetrianglefire.org/join-us/participating/ - Have more money than time? Pitch in as a *sponsor*http://rememberthetrianglefire.org/join-us/sponsor/to build the centennial! - *Post your event*http://rememberthetrianglefire.org/calendar/submit-your-event/to our calendar - Have your say on what the Triangle Fire Memorial should be - details are *here* http://rememberthetrianglefire.org/memorial/. - *Not in NYC?* Check out some of the amazing folks organizing locally: Chicago - *Amy Laiken* amyand...@aol.com Washington DC - *Trina Tocco* tr...@ilrf.org, International Labor Rights Forum San Francisco - *Steve Zeltzer* lv...@igc.org, LaborFest Los Angeles - *Andy Griggs* lalaborf...@gmail.com, LA LaborFest - - - SEIU Blog http://www.seiu.org/blog/ 8:51 AM Eastern - March 22, 2011 Infographic: How unions succeeded in making your workplace safer in the 100 years since the deadly Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire #defaulthttp://www.seiu.org/default By Michelle Miller, Graphics: Erik Moe, Research: Bill Borwegen and Eric Frumin [image: 20110321promo-triangle.jpg]* * View the interactive http://www.seiu.org/2011/03/how-labor-reshaped-buildings-after-triangle.php When a fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory on March 25, 1911, overcrowded worktables, inadequate and locked fire exits, and narrow escape passageways created a fatal inferno for 146 of the women and girls who worked inside. In the aftermath of the fire, outraged New Yorkers, lead by the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (now Workers United) fought for crucial regulations that continue to protect us on the job to this day *HOW MODERN BUILDINGS HAVE BEEN RESHAPED BY LABOR ACTIVISM* - Explore each circle with your mouse Sources: U.S. Fire Administration, Centers for Disease Control, National Fire Protection Association Life Safety Code Reform victories mean that fires are a much smaller risk at the workplace today, but the fight for safer working conditions continues on other fronts... *OCCUPATONAL FATALITIES* 2008-2009 [image: Occupational Fatalities 2008-2009: transportation, violence and assault, contact with equipment, falls, harmful substances, fires and explosions] Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Resources - *Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition*http://rememberthetrianglefire.org/ - *History of the Triangle fire*http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/story/introduction.html, Cornell University - *Workers United*http://workers-united.org/content/triangle-shirtwaist-factory-fire-100-years-later, modern descendant of International Ladies Garment Workers Union - *Wikipedia: Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire - *HBO: Triangle Remembering The
[LAAMN] Syria: The people have had enough - Terror will not save the regime
http://www.marxist.com/syria-the-people-have-had-enough.htm Syria: The people have had enough - Terror will not save the regimehttp://www.marxist.com/syria-the-people-have-had-enough.htm Written by Isa Al-Jaza'iri Tuesday, 22 March 2011 [image: Print]http://www.marxist.com/syria-the-people-have-had-enough/print.htm[image: E-mail]http://www.marxist.com/component/option,com_mailto/link,aHR0cDovL3d3dy5tYXJ4aXN0LmNvbS9zeXJpYS10aGUtcGVvcGxlLWhhdmUtaGFkLWVub3VnaC5odG0=/tmpl,component/ *From a spontaneous demonstration of 1500 ending with the interior minister himself apologizing to the crowd in Damascus, to thousands in Daraa facing live shots by security forces, to protests in the Kurdish areas: Syria is on the verge of boiling over into revolution.* The mukhabarrat (state security police) are working overtime in an effort to put out the flames before the regime is engulfed, and the reaction of the state shows that the threat is very real: more than 300 have been arrested and 4 were shot dead in Daraa on Friday. On Sunday, the Baath party headquarters, the courthouse and other government buildings were burned by protesters in that city, in protests demanding the release of schoolchildren who were arrested for graffiti calling for the overthrow of the regime. Damascus: The Syrian people will not be humiliated! At 11.30amon February 17, a young man, Imad Nasseb, was in a car driven by his brother Alaa, on the way to their shop nearby in Souq Al-Hamidiyeh. They came to a traffic light that had not been working for several days, and a traffic officer was directing the flow with his baton. He waved them forward, and they went on, only to be stopped by another traffic officer. Caught between conflicting orders, they stopped immediately where they were: on the crosswalk. At which point he asked them why they stopped, and then told his brother, move, fast, you [...]. The Syrian newspaper Al-Watans interview [link:http://www.alwatanonline.com/local_news.php?id=5472] with Imad censored the police officers words, but the meaning is clear. The youth asked the officer why he was insulting them, and his response to Alaa was: you still havent gone, you [...]? When they began to argue about his attitude, the officer made a veiled threat about their seatbelts not being on, which is a real joke considering that drivers wearing seatbelts are about as common as respectful police officers in Damascus. They told him, ticket us, but dont humiliate us, and went on to complain to his superior around the corner. He saw them, and immediately stormed towards them. Ignoring an order from his major to go back to his post, he said what, youre going to complain?... Might as well punch me, because this wont get you anything. Alaa told him he wasnt even worth a punch. The officer took out his baton and smacked him with it. He was quickly joined by two others when Imad jumped in to help him. Soon both were lying on the ground being beaten by three police officers. They dragged them to a corner and continued pummelling them. On a normal day that would have been the beginning of a very bad trip for Alaa and Imad, the Syrian youth who refused to be humiliated. But on this day, something very different happened. Their screams drew a crowd. Hundreds gathered. Eventually the crowd dragged the youth out of the hands of the police. Here the police major they had tried to complain to began telling them he was going to ticket them for blocking traffic, as their car was left unattended in a no parking zone. When he saw that Alaa had blood gushing from his swollen eye, he went back on that and offered to pluck his own eye out if anything happened to it. He promised the two that if they went in the car with them to the police station, they would investigate the officers involved. People in the crowd warned them not to go, telling them if they did they would be beaten further. In a reflection of the situation that was building up, the major negotiated with the people, telling them anyone who wanted to come to be sure they would not be mistreated was welcome to, but only two should come. At that moment, the police from the Hamidiyeh department arrived, and five officers walked up and immediately began beating the brothers with batons. According to Imad, the major hit the officers and tried to defend them. The crowd jumped in and attacked the officers. As the chaos spread, the major took the brothers out, and, according to Imads account, they went with him to enter a building in the neighbourhood for safety. Whether safety for the brothers from the police, or for the police from the crowd, we cannot know. Whatever the intentions of the major, the crowd took it as a sign that they had been taken to be beaten. The crowd had now grown to more than 1500. They gathered in front of the doors to the building, and demanded that they be released. The major called the head of the Hamidiyeh police department, who arrived and apologized to
