Frederick Douglass

"Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did, and it never will. Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them..." Frederick Douglass

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Brits Revoke Scholarships Of Bahrainis Who Took Part In Protests Against The Bahraini Regime

http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=24391

Humanitarian Intervention?

Libyan rebels establish new central bank and national oil company.
http://inteldaily.com/2011/03/wow-that-was-fast-libyan-rebels-have-already-established-a-new-central-bank-of-libya/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+inteldaily%2Ffeeds+%28Inteldaily.com%29&utm_content=Yahoo!+Mail

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12875810

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Sunday, March 20, 2011

The Republicans Don't Want To Outlaw Poverty, Just The Poor

You can't make this shit up:
http://www.fightbacknews.org/2011/3/15/minnesota-republicans-say-poor-people-money-should-be-outlaws

Friday, March 18, 2011

The Struggle In Poland

Polish nurses occupy gallery in the Sejm (legislature) and housing activists crash the Warsaw City Council meeting:
http://libcom.org/news/warsaw-nurses-occupy-sejm-tenants-disrupt-city-council-18032011


The Council action, organized by the Polish anarchist organization ZSP, was provoked in part by the murder/immolation of housing activist Jolanta Brzeska, which some suspect was an act of state terror:
http://www.zsp.net.pl/jola_en

Superb Interview With Syrian Anarchist About Middle East

Many still see Gadaffi as a socialist and an anti-imperialist... is this true?

This is a very misleading and deluded statement, created by the authoritarian left before and still alive now. And this is due, partly, to the revival of this authoritarian left by figures like Chávez.

http://www.anarkismo.net/article/18923

Thursday, March 17, 2011

What's At Stake With Education Cuts: "In Milwaukee We Are Third World."

The palliative lie we've been fed by our overlords in this latest round of class war is that the economic collapse was organic, and the merciless budget cuts and other austerity measures are the unfortunate but necessary consequence. Wrong on both counts, of course, but how frustrating a thing it is to try to convince people of this obvious truth. The essential bit of state mischief which holds us back is the canard that the government can be trusted, and acts in the best interest of the people. And whenever it fails it is because of incompetence or adverse circumstance. The basic fact of our existence--that we are divided into classes whose interests are irreconcilably antithetical--is absurdly difficult to demonstrate to the average American. Simply trying to present the facts is futile when the they are denied by government, ignored or obstructed by media, and marginalized to the point of fetish by the anodyne mythologies presented as history in schools. In my case, I regret to say, I've more often succeeded in making myself quite unpopular than in liberating people from their state-sponsored delusions. A few victories, but many more defeats...so far.

So why is it that people find it so hard to believe that what is happening is what was intended? It starts in the education system, where we are taught what for the ruling class are indispensable fictions: The US is a democracy; its government is altruistic; it is spreading democracy around the globe through a benevolent foreign policy; it is keeping us safe in a dangerous world from those who would do us great harm. Starting at the tender age of six, American children are taught to be credulous and compliant, and, most importantly, docile.

George Carlin agrees. Wisconsin teachers and students are interviewed in the second video. I found it quite affecting. Both videos are.



Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Teachers At 63 UK Universities Set Strike Dates

http://www.ucu.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=5371

"Tear gas, buckshot, and petrol bombs" Used Against Protesters In Bahrain

An Evaluation Of Moammar Gaddafi

I wrote this: http://countercurrents.org/fryett150311.htm. The best part, I must admit, is a reader's comment at the bottom which insists that I am a Libyan insider. The poor man! I've been laughing about this for a day now.

Should I add my own comment and divulge that I am but a humble trolley driver in Seattle? Naaaaaaaah! Who knows, this could work out for me. I could write a memoir about my maverick days in the Brother-leader's inner circle. Better yet, it could be an anonymous tell-all: Moammar and Me, as told to Judith "the Germ" Miller, formerly of the New York Times. (She'd be necessary as she could "independently corroborate" that I am a top dog in the Libyan government.) Soon to be a major motion picture starring...Charlton Heston, back from the afterlife for the role of a deathtime. Co-starring Yulia Tymoshenko as his Ukrainian "nurse" and the Rat City Rollergirls (http://ratcityrollergirls.com/)" as his Amazonian bodyguard...

You will have to indulge me, I've never been this important before, nor this mysterious...shaken, not stirred.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

"A caravan of Teamster trucks circled the Indiana State House."

http://socialistworker.org/2011/03/14/indiana-labor-pushes-back

http://peoplesworld.org/video-union-power-erupts-in-indiana/

Indy Rally March 10-2011 from Scott Marshall on Vimeo.

Bahrainis Resisting American Interference

Message from the Bahrain Freedom Movement:
http://www.countercurrents.org/bfm140311.htm

The Struggle In Michigan (You Gotta Read This )

What the hell is happening in the Midwest!

Michael Moore: "* Gotten the House and Senate to pass bills giving him "Emergency Management" powers such as the ability to appoint a corporation or a CEO who could literally dissolve town governments or school boards, fire the elected officials, nullify any local law and run your local governmental entity. That company then would have the power to immediately declare all collective bargaining contracts null and void."

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Letter-to-My-Fellow-Michig-by-Michael-Moore-110315-471.html

"This is England,"* 5K March On Liberal Democratic Party Conference In Sheffield

http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=24192

* Title of Clash song, lyrics by the late, great Joe Strummer:



This is England
This knife of Sheffield steel
This is England
This is how we feel

Time on his hands freezing in those clothes
He won't go for the carrot
They beat him by the pole
Some sunny day confronted by his soul
He's out at sea, too far off, he can't go home

This is England
What we're supposed to die for
This is England
And we're never gonna cry no more

Black shadow of the Vincent
Falls on a Triumph line
I got my motorcycle jacket
But I'm walking all the time
South Atlantic wind blows
Ice from a dying creed
I see no glory
When will we be free

Monday, March 14, 2011

A Call For A General Strike From Wisconsin


http://pstransitoperators.wordpress.com/2011/03/14/wisconsin-labor-leaders-call-for-general-strike/

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/03/10/18674289.php

Friday, March 11, 2011

Brilliant Articles About Egypt

I yield the floor to the great Mary Lynn Cramer:
http://www.countercurrents.org/cramer110311.htm
http://www.counterpunch.org/cramer02252011.html
http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_62260.shtml

Monday, March 7, 2011

Students In Boise Walk Out In Protest Of Budget Cuts



http://www.boiseweekly.com/CityDesk/archives/2011/02/28/borah-students-walk-out

Thursday, March 3, 2011

The War On Social Security

http://www.peoplesworld.org/gop-budget-would-close-social-security-office/

University Lectures In UK Vote For Strikes In Protest Of Austerity Measures

http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=24102

Libya After Gaddafi, A "People's Capture" Of History?

http://countercurrents.org/fryett030311.htm

[Blogger's note: I've been writing for Countercurrents.org much longer than I've been blogging. Out of gratitude and respect for that website, and as the editor, Binu Matthews, has allowed me to write whatever I've wanted about whatever I've wanted, I will not post here what I post there, hence the link.]

Great Analysis Of Events In Libya

http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=23375

It Isn't Just About Collective Bargaining For Republicans

http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_ea754cc2-438e-11e0-819e-001cc4c002e0.html

Great, Uplifting Article About Madison

Thanks Leia:
http://socialistworker.org/2011/03/01/justice-is-in-the-air

Why Can't The US Make Up Its Mind About Gaddafi

There are two schools of thought:

1, The US and its allies have wanted to oust Gaddafi all along and have initiated the turmoil in Libya, or, at the very least, is pleased and hopes to capitalize on it.

2, The US is terrified by the prospect of Gaddafi's fall and is inveigling to control the aftermath.

I yield the floor to Hillary Clinton:
"I am very pleased to welcome Minister Qadhafi [ son of Moammar ] here to the State Department. We deeply value the relationship between the United States and Libya. We have many opportunities to deepen and broaden our cooperation. And I’m very much looking forward to building on this relationship. So, Mr. Minister, welcome so much here." April, 2009




http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/04/121993.htm

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Egypt Has A Message For Madison

This note was read aloud in over the "people's mic" in the Capitol building in Madison:

To our friends in Madison, Wisconsin: We wish you could see firsthand the change we have made here. Justice is beautiful, but justice is never free. The beauty in Tahrir Square you can have everywhere, on any corner, in your city, or in your heart.

So hold on tightly and don't let go, and breathe deep Wisconsin! Our good fortune is on the breeze, in the Midwest AND in the Middle East. Breathe deep, Wisconsin...because justice is in the air! And may the spirit of Tahrir Square be in every beating heart in Madison today.