Kultur, natur og modstand
I USA, altså – her er finansverdenen vist ikke ligefrem brudt sammen endnu.
Økonomen Peter Schiff, der foreslog sammenbruddet i USA allerede før 2007, forklarer Jon Stewart, hvad der i hans øjne gik galt. Han advokerer noget så enkelt men i vore dage kættersk som at nøjes med at bruge de penge, man har …
Aktivister fra BNP møder den britiske arbejderklasse og bliver bedt om at pakke sig. Gid det må ende med at gå deres åndsfæller i Dansk Folkeparti ligeså.
Nobelpristager og økonom Joseph Stiglitz skriver om de fattige landes vrede og vantro over forskellen mellem den reaktion på økonomiske kriser, IMF og den amerikanske regering prædiker for andre, bygget over princippet om “lad falde hvad ikke kan stå” og “markedet redder alt”, og så den måde, de håndterer deres egen krise på:
Among critics of American-style capitalism in the Third World, the way that America has responded to the current economic crisis has been the last straw. During the East Asia crisis, just a decade ago, America and the I.M.F. demanded that the affected countries cut their deficits by cutting back expenditures–even if, as in Thailand, this contributed to a resurgence of the aids epidemic, or even if, as in Indonesia, this meant curtailing food subsidies for the starving. America and the I.M.F. forced countries to raise interest rates, in some cases to more than 50 percent. They lectured Indonesia about being tough on its banks–and demanded that the government not bail them out. What a terrible precedent this would set, they said, and what a terrible intervention in the Swiss-clock mechanisms of the free market.
The contrast between the handling of the East Asia crisis and the American crisis is stark and has not gone unnoticed. To pull America out of the hole, we are now witnessing massive increases in spending and massive deficits, even as interest rates have been brought down to zero. Banks are being bailed out right and left. Some of the same officials in Washington who dealt with the East Asia crisis are now managing the response to the American crisis. Why, people in the Third World ask, is the United States administering different medicine to itself?
Many in the developing world still smart from the hectoring they received for so many years: they should adopt American institutions, follow our policies, engage in deregulation, open up their markets to American banks so they could learn “good” banking practices, and (not coincidentally) sell their firms and banks to Americans, especially at fire-sale prices during crises. Yes, Washington said, it will be painful, but in the end you will be better for it. America sent its Treasury secretaries (from both parties) around the planet to spread the word. In the eyes of many throughout the developing world, the revolving door, which allows American financial leaders to move seamlessly from Wall Street to Washington and back to Wall Street, gave them even more credibility; these men seemed to combine the power of money and the power of politics. American financial leaders were correct in believing that what was good for America or the world was good for financial markets, but they were incorrect in thinking the converse, that what was good for Wall Street was good for America and the world.
Link: Wall Street’s Toxic Message (via Boing Boing)
I hvert fald for udvisning af flygtninge til krigsområder mod deres vilje:
I en meddelelse skriver ministeriet, at der i pressen har været rygter om, at Irak vil tage imod irakere, som bliver tvangshjemsendt, og at dette rygte har skabt forvirring blandt irakere i udlandet. Derefter skriver man på ministeriets hjemmeside:
»Udenrigsministeriet ønsker at præcisere følgende: Republikken Irak har underskrevet en række aftaler med venligtsindede lande med det formål at regulere antallet af irakere i udlandet og lette deres tilbagevenden til landet frivilligt og uden tvang«.
I slutningen af meddelelsen, som er skrevet på et lidt uklart engelsk, nævner ministeriet igen ordet frivilligt. Her står der:
»De indgåede aftaler slår fast, at borgernes tilbagevenden til deres land er en grundlæggende menneskeret, og staten vil sørge for en frivillig, værdig, sikker og ordentlig tilbagevenden for de irakere, der lever uden for Irak«.
(Min fremhævelse). Hvis dette står til troende, betyder det, at irakerne i Brorsons Kirke med samt de andre irakere, der har fået afslag på asyl, alligevel ikke kan udvises.
Danmark burde nu vågne op, face the music og give dem asyl.
Endelig nogen, der tør tale Roma midt imod:
Under stadig striksere regel-tyrannier baserer det 21. århundredes almisser sig på stok og tvang, på gør-som-vi-siger, indordn dig eller du kan få lov at sulte – i bedste socialdemokratiske tradition naturligvis med absolut lige ret for alle til underkastelse.
Det er i dette landskab af mismod og afmagt, at råbet “Livet tilbage til menneskene” nødvendigvis må gjalde, at sværdet må trækkes af skeden såvel som pennen frigøres fra hylsteret. Danske kvinder, danske mænd – af alle kulturer og observanser – grib livet og stjæl jeres tilværelse tilbage fra de der har røvet den fra jer med løfter om frihed og udvikling – tomme løfter, brudte løfter, løgnagtige løfter.
Livet tilbage til menneskene, menneskene tilbage til livet. Velkommen tilbage til kampen, Morten – det må siges, der er brug for dig.
Link: www.midtimod.dk
Poul Henning Kamp skriver om de nye, amerikanske terrorister, som man blot ikke kalder terrorister: Højreorienterede fanatikere, der myrder en abortlæge eller går amok og skyder de omkringstående efter års forbitret marginalisering.
Om de højreorienterede fanatikere hedder det bl.a.:
Medianen i flokken er krigsveteran, paranoid, softmisbruger og har ikke fast arbejde.
Mange af dem har været i Irak, ikke i USAs militær, men som “contractors”, lejesoldater, for firmaer som Blackwater.
Generelt har de sympatiseret med Bush.W regeringens neokonservative propaganda, “enten er du med os, eller også er du imod os“, er klar tale til & fra forvirrede hjerner.
Der har faktisk ikke været de store problemer med USAs ultrahøjreorienterede siden irakkrigen begyndte. Lidt rovmord, lidt røverier, men ikke mere end f.eks banderne i L.A stod for.
Derfor har FBI, brutalt sagt, sovet i timen, eller rettere, spildt tiden med at holde øje med muslimer i pilotuddannelse. Et klassisk eksempel på at lukke stalden når hesten er stukket af.
Nu går verden “den forkerte ve”j, en sort præsident “svindlede sig” til flertal, han er sikkert forklædt muslim, han er helt sikkert socialist, for han har “solgt GM til jøderne”.
… og så er knækker filmen for nogle af disse sørgelige skæbner.
Omfanget af problemet er stort set selvskabt.
Der er altid nogen der mister forstanden og bliver lidt underlige af at være i krig.
Men Vietnamkrigen sendte et usædvanligt antal veteraner ud i stofmisbrug og sindsyge, på grund af den skizofrene behandling samfundet gav dem da de kom hjem.
USA skammede sig nærmest over dem, fordi man skammede sig over krigen.
I stedet for komme hjem som hyldede veteraner, blev de udskud.
Istedet for en uddannelse og et stykke jord til et hus, som veteranerne fra anden verdenskrig, fik de…ingenting.
Ikke engang deres medaljer var noget værd, fordi der var gået inflation i tildelingen.
Og den stil har man op gennem Bush-tiden fortsat. Sårede Irak-veteraner er blevet behandlet som skidt, den amerikanske regering har gjort alt, hvad den kunne, for at undgå at give dem den behandling og de pensioner, de kunne have krav på, og folk er blevet holdt i Irak i årevis mod deres vilje på ubegrænset forlængede kontrakter. Tusindvis af sammenbrud og menneskelige tragedier skimtes i horisonten.
Så hvis Obama vil indføre en reform, der vitterlig batter noget, kunne han overveje at begynde at behandle de hjemvendte veteraner ordentligt. Selvom det kan være svært – det kan jo danne præcedens, sådan noget.
Det franske forfatningsråd har omstødt ideen om, at det skulle være muligt at afskære brugere fra internettet efter tre beskyldninger for pirateri, og har indskærpet, at så vidtgående et skridt som at formene folk adgang til Internettet kun kan ske ved kendelse af en domstol:
The Constitutionnal Council, highest jurisdiction in France gave its decision1 concerning the HADOPI “three strikes” law [ed: France’s insane plan to force ISPs to cut Internet service to people who have unsubstantiated accusations of copyright infringment], final stage before the promulgation of the law. It decided that presumption of innocence is more important than the idiotic schemes from the entertainment industries to artificially prolong their obsolete models.
All sanctioning power (ie. disconnecting internet users) has been removed from the HADOPI.
” This is a great victory for citizens who proved they can altogether act to protect their Freedom. HADOPI’s “three strikes” is finally buried. All we have now is a big tax-sponsored spam machine for the entertainment industries. But this is not the end of Sarkozy’s will to control the Internet. The next law, LOPPSI, is already on tracks and will be about filtering the content on the Internet. Citizens must celebrate this great victory but remain watchful…” declares Jeremie Zimmermann, cheerfully.
Bemærk, at forfatningsrådet i sin afgørelse bl.a. lægger vægt på, at
… selon les requérants, en conférant à une autorité administrative, même indépendante, des pouvoirs de sanction consistant à suspendre l’accès à internet, le législateur aurait, d’une part, méconnu le caractère fondamental du droit à la liberté d’expression et de communication et, d’autre part, institué des sanctions manifestement disproportionnées
… det vil sige, at idet man giver en administrativ myndighed beføjelse til at suspendere adgang til internettet, ignorerer man den grundlæggende karakter af retten til ytrings- og kommunikationsfrihed, samtidig med, at sanktionen – afkobling fra Internettet – er ude af proportioner med “overtrædelsen”.
Dette er interessant nok de samme argumenter, som lå bag de digitale borgerrettigheder, som EU-parlamentet i sidste øjeblik og takket være massivt pres fra borgerretsgrupper fik skrevet ind i den kommende telekompakke.
Nu mangler vi bare at få gjort noget ved censur (“børnepornofilter”) og overvågning (logningsbekendtgørelsen). Men et lille skridt i den rigtige retning er det da.
Link: Hadopi is dead: “three strikes” buried by highest court.
(via Boing Boing)
Jeg har modtaget denne kampagnemail fra Jewish Voice for Peace:
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Every so often someone comes along who is so brave and so inspiring that you just can’t sit by and remain silent when you learn they need your help. We’re writing to you today about one of these rare people. His name is Ezra Nawi. You’ve probably never heard of him, but because you may know our names, now you will know his name. Ezra Nawi is one of Israel’s most courageous human rights activists and without your help, he will likely go to jail in less than 30 days. His crime? He tried to stop a military bulldozer from destroying the homes of Palestinian Bedouins in the South Hebron region. These homes and the families who live in them have been under Israeli occupation for 42 years. They still live without electricity, running water and other basic services. They are continuously harassed by Jewish settlers and the military. Nawi’s friends have launched a campaign to generate tens of thousands of letters to Israeli embassies all over the world before he is due to be sentenced in July. They’ve asked for your help. |
His name is Ezra Nawi
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His name is Ezra Nawi. We keep saying his name because we believe that the more people know him and know his name, the harder it will be for the Israeli military to send him quietly to jail. And Ezra Nawi is anything but quiet. He is a Jewish Israeli of Iraqi descent who speaks fluent Arabic. He is a gay man in his fifties and a plumber by trade. He has dedicated his life to helping those who are trampled on. He has stood by Jewish single mothers who pitched tents in front of the Knesset while struggling for a living wage, and by Palestinians threatened with expulsion from their homes. He is loved by those with little power, to whom he dedicates his life, and hated by the Jewish settlers, military and police. Now that you know Ezra, you have a chance to stand up for him, and for everything that he represents. Especially now, as Israel escalates its crackdown on human rights and pro-democracy activists. He needs you. His friends need you. Those he helps every day need you. So please send a letter to the Consulate, to the media, to your family and friends. Take just a moment to write your letter. Do it now. And then share his name with a friend. Do it for Ezra Nawi.
Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, and Neve Gordon |
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For real, et avisudklip fra Chicago Tribune, 20. marts 1921.
Fra The Hope Chest, en blog der er dedikeret til underlige avishistorier for ca. 100 år siden.
Bloggen tilføjer selv:
I think we all instinctively feel the same way about “brown spirit rays,” whatever their source. Then again, if Egyptian mummies turn out to be the primary or sole source of these brown emanations, then charges of Orientalism are sure to follow. In that case, our very favorite color of spiritual radiation is brown–we don’t want any trouble from the late Edward Said’s ronin bodyguards.
Længere nede i artiklen forklarer Mrs. Fairclough-Smith, at hun også er en profet, der blandt anden prædiker modstand mod jazzdans:
She said the couples dancing in the modern way would be shocked if they could see the evil figures of the spirit world that writhe about the ballroom in their midst.
Link: Brown spirit rays
Den højreorienterede radiovært Erich “Mancow” Muller ville bevise, at waterboarding ikke er tortur, så han prøvede det.
Eksperimentet gav ikke helt det ønskede resultat:
“The average person can take this for 14 seconds,” Marine Sergeant Clay South answered, adding, “He’s going to wiggle, he’s going to scream, he’s going to wish he never did this.”
Turns out the stunt wasn’t so funny. Witnesses said Muller thrashed on the table, and even instantly threw the toy cow he was holding as his emergency tool to signify when he wanted the experiment to stop. He only lasted 6 or 7 seconds.
“It is way worse than I thought it would be, and that’s no joke,”Mancow said, likening it to a time when he nearly drowned as a child. “It is such an odd feeling to have water poured down your nose with your head back…It was instantaneous…and I don’t want to say this: absolutely torture.”
“I wanted to prove it wasn’t torture,” Mancow said. “They cut off our heads, we put water on their face…I got voted to do this but I really thought ‘I’m going to laugh this off.’ ”
Last year, Vanity Fair writer Christopher Hitchens endured the same experiment — and came to a similar conclusion.
