A Christian Leader In Egypt Calls For America To Intervene To Protect Christians.

Allegedly a Christian lady married a Muslim and converted to his faith. Some Christians believed it was not voluntary, and, allegedly kidnapped/rescued her and took her to a church in the town of Imbaba where, in theory, she remains (voluntarily or not). Muslims, acting on behalf of the husband, went to the church to demand her release. A lethal riot ensued.

I wouldn't find this particularly noteworthy save it might be a pretext for imperial intervention. The Egyptian military has not yet been successful in quelling protests and putting an end to the revolution. The people of Egypt, hurrah, have not given up and are defying the ban on demonstrations and strikes etc.

This conflict in Imbaba may be nothing more than it seems-squalid sectarian lunacy--but it may be something even darker.

Will keep an eye on it.

http://egyptianchronicles.blogspot.com/2011/05/imbaba-on-fire.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EgyptianChronicles+%28Egyptian+chronicles%29&utm_content=Yahoo!+Mail

Tariq Ramadan On The Osama Bin Laden Controversy

Courtesy of Gilad Atzmon's website (where he posted this without comment).
http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/changing-osama-stories-bizarre-ramadan.html

Muslim imams pulled from plane

How do you say "cretin" in Arabic?



http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/scarce/muslim-imams-pulled-plane-en-route-islamaph

Almost Half of Detroit's Adults Are Functionally Illiterate

http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/almost-half-detroits-adults-are-funct

Diane Ravitch On Charter Schools

Diane Ravitch is a controversial figure in the world of education. Frankly, I don't know much about her, nothing more than a Google search reveals, but her article linked below I thought was quite good and in keeping with much of what I've been learning lately. Nevertheless, this post is not an endorsement of her necessarily, just of the article. No attempt is here made to give a balanced view of her or her life's work.

Below her article is one written about her by a radical teacher in Rhode Island. Not everyone on the left shares his cheery view.

http://www.waitingforsupermantruth.org/?p=299

http://riredteacher.wordpress.com/2011/05/04/diane-ravitch-in-rhode-island/

When Insurrections Die by Gilles Dauvé

A terrific rumination on the topic, important stuff.

http://athomehesaturista.wordpress.com/2011/01/27/when-insurrections-die-by-gilles-dauve-1979/

Wisconsin: Why a general strike hasn’t happened yet…

Excellent.

http://athomehesaturista.wordpress.com/2011/04/12/wisconsin-why-a-general-strike-hasnt-happened-yet-by-juan-conatz-2011/#comment-889

Unrest becomes rage: Mobilisations against the crisis in Italy

Superb article on austerity and educational reform in Italy.

http://libcom.org/library/unrest-becomes-rage-mobilisations-against-crisis-italy

Cops And Robbers

As the crowd grew, they began chasing the microbus and eventually caught it by blocking the road at nearby Boleya Bazaar. The robbers, now trapped and surrounded, then introduced themselves to the angry crowd - as police officers of nearby Birganj station. The furious crowd now beat up the five cops and then locked them in a nearby building.

http://libcom.org/news/gamekeepers-turned-poachers-villagers-cop-robbers-05052011#comment-form

Teacher Depreciation Week, A Disgruntled Teacher's Letter To Arne Duncan

http://riredteacher.wordpress.com/2011/05/03/teacher-depreciation-week/

Wisconsin's Governor Scotty McNuggets Praises Public Workers

With a straight face, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker proclaimed Wednesday State Employee Recognition Day, along with a new recognition program that would reward workers for "outstanding conduct in serving the people of Wisconsin."

What a creep this guy is!

If you follow this link you can watch a video of Walker doing just that.

http://labornotes.org/blogs/2011/05/video-wisconsin-governor-gives-state-workers-some-love

Teachers Are Singled Out in Attacks on Public Employees

Like other public employees, teachers find their collective bargaining rights under fire in the Republican-governed states. But the attacks on teacher job security and the drive to replace public schools with charters are universal—and bipartisan.

For example, the Democratic governor of New York and Democratic mayors of Chicago, Los Angeles, and Providence, Rhode Island all support measures weakening teachers’ job security.

http://labornotes.org/2011/05/teachers-are-singled-out-attacks-public-employees

Nurse Unions: Florence Nightingale Doesn't Work Here Anymore

National Nurses United marked National Nurses Week this year with strike threats at six hospitals in five states, winning increased staffing levels in some locations and beating back health care cost hikes in others.

Timed to coincide with Florence Nightingale’s birthday, Nurses Week is pushed by the American Nurses Association to honor its members. But while the ANA, forever dominated by nurse managers, marks the occasion with fact sheets and webinars proclaiming its commitment to “flexible staffing plans,” the nurse unions that broke away from ANA are finding that a stiffer spine wins the day.

http://labornotes.org/2011/05/nurse-unions-florence-nightingale-doesnt-work-here-anymore

Leading financial institutions involved in Egyptian corruption scandals

The scandals extend beyond Egypt’s boundaries. International banks as well as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and USAID are accused of being involved in the “sell-out of the Egyptian public sector.”

Don't know about you but I'm shocked, just shocked.

http://bikyamasr.com/wordpress/?p=33380

Labor Day in Tahrir: New freedom and challenges ahead

Not to be anal but the Paris Commune was 1871.

And we can see that the left in Egypt, as everywhere else, has splintered into many pieces.

http://bikyamasr.com/wordpress/?p=33320

Beyond the Media Radar, Egypt’s Arab Spring Pushes Forth

Good piece.

A few weeks ago, Egypt's transitional authorities struck a blow against the labor movement and all activists, with legislation that would make it a crime, punishable by fine or imprisonment, “for anyone who organizes a protest or an activity which may result in preventing or slowing down the work of a state institution, a general authority or a public or private workplace.”

http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/7269/beyond_the_media_radar_egypts_arab_spring_pushes_forth/

Another UAW Scandal

http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/7268/uc_students_occupy_union_office_to_prevent_tampering_with_vote_for_ref/

Faculty Unite to Unionize Via Card Check at University of Illinois at Chicago

The move made UIC the first large public research institution in state history to unionize. The campaign, known as UIC United Faculty, was supported by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) and American Federation of Teachers (AFT).

http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/7274/tenure_and_non-tenure_faculty_unite_with_card_check_unionization_at_un/

Portugal civil servants strike after bailout deal

About 250,000 civil servants in Portugal are on strike

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2011/05/06/europe-economic-crisis-portugal-greece.html

Children's Hospital Oakland nurses begin five-day strike

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/inoakland/detail?entry_id=88465

London Transit Strike Update: Worse Than Blair?

David Cameron to consider tougher anti-strike laws...Downing Street yesterday issued a strong condemnation of a strike by London Underground drivers that will cause two weeks of misery for commuters. But it only came after Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, accused the Prime Minister of being “lily-livered” on the issue.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron/8496596/David-Cameron-to-consider-tougher-anti-strike-laws.html

Italy's general strike hits mass transit

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gfepX7acs_jHFvszhzMhvehjvd_A?docId=14a265f3a83b41faaf13ecd28fb739c0

Europe Greece: Police clash with striking doctors

My apologies for this link.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/05/06/portuguese-strike-bailout-austerity-plan-151994379/

Air India Strike Ends

I'd call it a victory for the union.

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/air-india-pilots-call-off-10-day-long-strike-103953

Rahm Emanuel And Illinois Government's War Against Chicago Teachers

Criminal statecraft: http://progressillinois.com/quick-hits/content/2011/05/06/chicago-teachers-union-we-don-t-senate-bill-7

And of course we have loyalist newspapers libeling the teachers:
http://www.suntimes.com/opinions/5203455-474/editorial--is-union-trying-to-derail-education-reform-bill-.html

For some background: http://saveourcola.blogspot.com/2011/04/union-worker-please-read-this.html

London Transit Strike Update: The Reactionary Press

Strikers to unleash ten days of commuter chaos in row over tube drivers' sacking

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1383679/Tube-strike-unleash-10-days-commuter-chaos-London-Underground.html#ixzz1Lc2zVGyi

Transport unions to be 'bribed' not to strike during Olympic Games

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1384064/London-2012-Olympics-Transport-unions-bribed-strike.html#ixzz1Lc3EMnr3

The left-wing RMT union - led by militant firebrand Bob Crow - called the strike after a ballot involving just 29 per cent of its membership.


http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3563599/Boris-Johnson-blasts-David-Cameron-for-not-condemning-Tube-strike-plans.html?OTC-RSS&ATTR=News

London Transit Strike Update: CITY VIEWS: SHOULD THERE BE A CHANGE IN THE LAW TO STOP TUBE STRIKES?

Here's a balanced discussion of the topic:

http://www.cityam.com/news-and-analysis/city-views-should-there-be-change-the-law-stop-tube-strikes

"business with personality"

London Transit Strike Update: RMT seeks talks to avert tube strike after driver wins unfair dismissal case

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/may/06/rmt-tube-strike-talks-driver

London Transit Strike Update: Fired London Union Activist Wins Case

"It's no wonder that the Employment Tribunal was swift to see through the management lies and grant both these members Interim Relief, an award which requires the strongest possible proof that their sackings were down to their union activities," said Crow.

http://www.londonnet.co.uk/news/2011/may/tube-strikes-set-may-and-june-rmt-eyes-legal-victory.html

RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: "We welcome Eamonn's victory in the tribunal and we are calling for an immediate meeting with London Underground in the light of the ruling that he was unfairly dismissed for his trade union activities.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/rmt-strikes-tube-driver-wins-unfair-dismissal-case-2279989.html

Former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State: Bin Laden Died In 2001

“Did the intelligence community or the CIA doctor up this situation, the answer is yes, categorically yes,” said Pieczenik, referring to Sunday’s claim that Bin Laden was killed at his compound in Pakistan, adding, “This whole scenario where you see a bunch of people sitting there looking at a screen and they look as if they’re intense, that’s nonsense,” referring to the images released by the White House which claim to show Biden, Obama and Hillary Clinton watching the operation to kill Bin Laden live on a television screen.

“It’s a total make-up, make believe, we’re in an American theater of the absurd….why are we doing this again….nine years ago this man was already dead….why does the government repeatedly have to lie to the American people,” asked Pieczenik.

http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_62923.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+axisoflogic%2FAxisFeed+%28axisoflogic.com%29

Blogger's Note, May 5, 2011

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear Karl
Happy birthday to you

A shout-out to Karl Marx, who turns 193 today. Karl, who's an avid reader of this blog by the way, is the philosopher and activist who grabbed this world by its scruffy, sweaty neck and launched it forward into adulthood; and to whose multifarious academic bequests we are still much too close in time to fully comprehend. So, despite our irreconcilable ideological divergence, the anarchist author of this blog, in gratitude and affection, gives a humble tip of his union membership card to the great revolutionary who may be, just may be, the most important man in history. Thanks comrade.

'Sustainable Rural Cities', a Nightmare Come True in Chiapas

The theft of land from peasants has been a defining characteristic of this latest wave of global class war. This article is about Mexico but the same things are occurring in Honduras, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Gabon, Swaziland, Botswana, Nepal, Myanmar, India, China, S. Korea, and probably elsewhere as well. It goes without saying that these land programs have their origins in the IMF and World Bank.

http://upsidedownworld.org/main/mexico-archives-79/3023-sustainable-rural-cities-a-nightmare-come-true-in-chiapas

Post-coup Honduras

Resistance To Calderon's Bogus US-driven War On Drugs In Mexico

A re-founding of Mexico?

http://upsidedownworld.org/main/mexico-archives-79/3024-anti-drug-war-movement-emerges-in-mexico

‘Our Misery, Their Jobs’: the Humanitarian Industry in Post-Earthquake Haiti

Sad

http://upsidedownworld.org/main/news-briefs-archives-68/3021-our-misery-their-jobs-the-humanitarian-industry-in-post-earthquake-haiti

Expert: 'Shock Doctrine' At Work In Pennsylvania Public School Budgets

http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/expert-shock-doctrine-work-pennsylvan

South Carolina Chief Justice Puts Brakes On Foreclosures

Some good news for a change.

http://www.mortgageorb.com/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.8534

London Transit Strike Story Update

The articles I read in the British press about the RMT's strike vote seemed to suggest that only 29% of those who voted supported the strike action. I wrote to the RMT for clarification and received this response from Bob Crow of the Industrial Relations Department:

Thanks for your note of solidarity. Yes the article was completely misleading. Yes 29% voted for strike action but that was 75% of those who voted. Don't think I have ever heard of an election where 100% voted so its a bit of a weak point. Anyway thanks for your message.


Yours in Solidarity
Bob Crow


In other words, about 40% of membership voted and three in four opted for the strike. Some might think the turnout low, and that it reflects apathy and/or ambivalence, but in fact the opposite is true. It is a rare issue indeed which gets forty percent of the membership to show and vote, at least in my experience. And many who don't vote refrain in the confidence that there is so much support for their side of the issue that their vote would be superfluous. It is much more likely that members supporting the strike wouldn't turn out than those determined to prevent it. Even if I'm mistaken in that regard, only one in three of non-voters would have to support the strike for the "yes" faction to constitute a majority. Clearly, despite what you read in the British press, the strike action is supported by most of the union membership.

The media which wrote the disingenuous articles [linked to in the original post: http://saveourcola.blogspot.com/2011/05/london-transit-strike-upcoming.html] have an agenda--class war. The ultimate goal is privatization, for which the strike would be pretext.

One last point: I cannot speak for the RMT or its membership, but I hope and quite expect that the bourgeois media's calls for changes in union voting rules and protocols will go unheeded. Why? Because it's none of their fucking business.

Islamophobia

Some months ago I got an e-mail from Sufyan bin Uzayr, editor of bravenewworld.in. He saw something I'd written and asked if he could reproduce it at his website. I gladly assented.

Today I found this in my inbox:

Howdy!

I saw the evil side of communal tensions few days back. Clearly a reflection of where our world is headed.

Happened that a Magazine with which I've been a writer for quite some time refused to publish my articles, unless I changed my name. Reason? "SUFYAN BIN UZAYR" seems way too extremist. To quote from the Editor, "...I'll be glad if you wrote under an Anglicized name."

About the mag I couldn't care less. Their loss, not mine. But this is indeed sad. I can only imagine how difficult it'd be for folks from Muslim-majority areas to get established in any given field.

Talk about bias!

UN official: Israeli occupation killed 1,300 Palestinian children since 2000

http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/2300-un-official-israeli-occupation-killed-1300-palestinian-children-since-2000

SYRIA: Who is Behind The Protest Movement? Fabricating a Pretext for a US-NATO "Humanitarian Intervention"

[Pro-Assad rally]


Good article.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=CHO20110502&articleId=24591

Clashes between Yemen police, gunmen kill seven

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=45951

Ivory Coast: Dozens die as Laurent Gbagbo's militia fight on

Here's another fine example of absolutely horrible journalism from the "liberal" Guardian. This piece claims that Gbagbo's partisans are mercenaries, if so, who's paying them? It ends with Kofi Annan, who met with Gbagbo after he was captured, saying the deposed leader was not disputing his rival's claim to the presidency. Since when? Didn't they just have a civil war over this very issue? If it's true that Gbagbo has capitulated while in captivity, one might wonder as to the exact circumstances of the transformation.

I have been working on a longer piece about the war in Cote d'Ivoire. Like most Westerners, I knew very little about the history of that country. My interest was piqued by the universal criticism of Gbagbo in the international media; how could it be that he had so much support within the country and none abroad. Once Sarkozy began to denounce him I knew that Gbagbo had to be doing something right. Equipped with a library card, an internet connection, and so-so French skills, I undertook a little research. From what I've learned I can tell you that the Guardian's article is entirely misleading.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/04/ivory-coast-gbagbo-militia-fight-on?CMP=twt_fd

Paul Craig Roberts Deconstructs The Bin Laden Hoax

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28029.htm

Flim, Flam, Flummery: New Barrage Of Bin Laden Propaganda

I don't mean to suggest that the people writing these articles are disingenuous (some of them anyway), but the ones which praise the operation and those which are critical in one way or another both serve to authenticate it, and to kettle the discussion within acceptable limits. Thus the real issue is whether what the government is claiming is credible, as it is extremely unlikely and no evidence has been offered to substantiate it. We are told that they tracked down Bin Laden and killed him, then helicoptered him to a ship in the Arabian sea which then dropped him into the depths. Thus we are asked to trust a government which has certainly not earned it, and one that has a long, ghastly history of such deceptions. Once again we are asked to abandon our critical faculties and rally round the flag. This isn't good enough, nor will it ever be. If the government wants me to believe this, it will have to prove it.

Anyway, here some articles which purport to be critical, but which quarantine real discussions by posing reific ones. An exhausting if not exhaustive list:

US Knew Where Osama Was Since 2005
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28030.htm

Bin Laden’s Daughter Confirms
Father Captured Alive Then Killed By US Special Forces
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=77418

CIA denies bin Laden was captured before his killing
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/05/04/6583764-cia-denies-bin-laden-was-captured-before-his-killing?ocid=twitter

Was Bin Laden's Killing Legal?
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,760358,00.html
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28024.htm

Pakistan 'Told US About Osama Home In 2009'
http://www.capitalfm.com/on-air/news-travel/uk-world-news/pakistan-told-us-about-osama-home-in-2009/

US troops were yards from Osama bin Laden house in 2008 – WikiLeaks files
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/may/03/us-bin-laden-hideout

Quote O' The Day, May 4, 2011

Whoever undertakes to set himself up as judge in the field of truth and knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the Gods. - Albert Einstein

Worker Deaths Decline Due to Recession

http://thetbf.wordpress.com/2011/05/03/worker-deaths-decline-due-to-recession/

San Francisco cabbies vow to strike over SFMTA credit card fee

I used to be a cabbie. Although it would vary considerably from place to place, where I hacked (Las Vegas), five percent per fare would reduce a cabbie's daily income by about 60%.

http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/2011/05/san-francisco-cabbies-vow-strike-over-card-fee

Oil Workers Strike In Columbia As Occidental Cuts Their Pay By Thirty Percent

http://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/markets/newsfeeditem.aspx?id=138501958300254

Meanwhile, their profits last quarter were up about 50% versus the year-ago. And likewise the year-ago was up by roughly the same versus its year-ago.

http://newsroom.oxy.com/news/oxy/20110428005878/en

Air India Strike Enters Eigth Day

Here's the "liberal" Washington Post and the Council of Foreign Relations' Foreign Policy using the strike to wage class war by urging privatization. Apparently they would have us believe that the pilots wouldn't have need of a strike if they were privately owned.

"NEW DELHI — Pilots with India’s state-owned airline entered the eighth day of an indefinite nationwide strike Wednesday, demanding higher wages and a probe into what they call the company’s near-destruction by corrupt or incompetent officials."[emphasis added]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/air_india_strike_sparks_debate_over_privatization/2011/05/03/AFGHgmnF_story.html?wprss=rss_homepage

The BBC's account isn't much better:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13277469

Angry Homeowners Arrested at Wells Fargo Shareholders Meeting

http://www.baycitizen.org/housing/story/angry-homeowners-arrested/

Italian unions call general strike

The Transport Ministry says on its websites that air and train travel will experience delays due to the four-hour transport strike called for Friday.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9N00IRG1.htm

Children's Hospital [Oakland] Nurses Begin 5-day Strike Thursday

http://www.baycitizen.org/labor/story/childrens-hospital-strike/

London Transit Strike Upcoming

Two union activists were fired and the UK's RMT union is planning strikes in May and June in retaliation.

The articles linked below say that only 29% of workers balloted approved the strike. I've written to the union asking for clarification of their voting procedures, will print their reply if forthcoming.

The BBC's unapologetically unbalanced report contains this:

There have been calls for the law to be changed so a majority of those eligible to vote, rather than those balloted, have to back industrial action before strikes can go ahead.

This would be a disaster. It would mean that if only slightly more than half its membership showed up for a vote--much more than usually attend our ATU charter meetings--then a strike vote would have to be nearly unanimous.

And if the enemies of organized labor succeed in this draconian measure there...

I will follow this action closely and post regularly.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/telegraph-view/8493395/Strike-rule-must-change.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-13274783

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/may/04/tube-strike-london-may-june

Osama Bin Laden: Dead or Alive? October 9, 2009

[A copy of Griffin's book was in the "laundry library" where I used to live and I read it in bits and pieces and in fits and starts. Thus I cannot endorse it categorically, but what I did read while washing my clothes was pretty persuasive. OBL did a couple of live interviews in the months after 9/11 (in which he denied involvement and insisted the event was "haram"--impermissible by Islam), but by 2003 he was never seen again. Nor, according to a handful of American intelligence officials including Robert Gates, could any intercepted telecommunications be vetted to him. All we got thereafter were the clumsy and extremely dubious audio bytes of him threatening Americans if they voted for George Bush and other idiocies, all of which played to the advantage of the Bush administration.]



Testimonial Evidence that Bin Laden Is Dead



In addition to this objective evidence, we had considerable testimony in 2002, from people in position to know, that bin Laden was dead, or probably so. These people included:

• President Musharraf of Pakistan;



• Dale Watson, the head of the FBI’s counterterrorism unit;



• Oliver North, who said: “I'm certain that Osama is dead. . . And so are all the other guys I stay in touch with”;



• President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan;



• Sources within Israeli intelligence, who said that any new messages from bin Laden were “probably fabrications”;



• Sources within Pakistani intelligence, who “confirmed the death of . . . Osama Bin Laden” and “attributed the reasons behind Washington's hiding news on the death of Osama Bin Laden to the desire of the hawks of the American administration to use the issue of al-Qaida and international terrorism to invade Iraq.”

For this reason, perhaps, the stories about the demise of bin Laden largely came to an end in the latter part of 2002, when the United States was gearing up for its attack on Iraq. From then until now, there have been few such stories.



Recently, however, two former intelligence officers have spoken out. In October 2008, former CIA case officer Robert Baer suggested in passing during an interview on National Public Radio that bin Laden was no longer among the living. When Baer was asked about this, he said: “Of course he’s dead.”

http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=15601

Newsflash: Osama Bin Laden And Al-QaedaTerror Cell Steal Bruce Springsteen's Car

[Pasted from link below. Click to enlarge.] Family affair: Osama Bin Laden (second from right) was identified with the help of DNA taken from the brain of an unidentified sister, who died from cancer

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1382859/Osama-bin-Laden-dead-photo-Obama-watching-Al-Qaeda-leader-die-live-TV.html#ixzz1LQ6bdT7G

War, What is it good for? Arms sales!

http://www.socialistworld.net/doc/5022

Uganda Lawyers to Strike Over Crackdown

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/Uganda-Lawyers-to-Strike-Over-Crackdown-121178764.html

Osama bin Laden’s Useful Death

Excellent article.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28016.htm

Bahrain doctors and nurses face trials

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2011-05-03-bahrain-medical-trials_n.htm

Flicker Photos Of The Big Show

http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/5680724572/in/photostream/

The Abbottabad Address

Funny.

http://www.countercurrents.org/rama030511.htm

Two Articles Worth Reading About The Bin Laden Controversy

Lies, Damn Lies, and Bin Laden's Death.
http://www.countercurrents.org/lendman030511A.htm

Osama Bin Laden Is Dead - Again!
http://www.countercurrents.org/ulrich030511.htm

In this video Benazir Bhutto blurts out that OBL had been murdered. Astonishingly, the host, David Frost, lets this bombshell pass without comment.

Ugandan police open fire on protesters

Museveni is as ruthless as they come.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/may2011/ugan-m03.shtml

Texas House panel approves tax break for yachts

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/05/02/texas-house-panel-approves-tax-break-for-yachts/?utm_source=Raw+Story+Daily+Update&utm_campaign=6fd6d9247e-5_3_115_3_2011&utm_medium=email

Morales annuls mining, banking and investment laws in Bolivia

What the hell took so long! His popularity is sinking like a stone, I hope this is more than pander.

http://boliviarising.blogspot.com/2011/05/morales-annuls-mining-banking-and.html

Bobby Sands: ‘Our revenge will be the laughter of our children’

Good piece.

http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=24677

May Day Around The World

Soon To Be A Major Motion Picture...

Heaven help us! The New York Crimes, ever at the behest of the empire.

Reads like bad fiction, and it is.

WASHINGTON — For years, the agonizing search for Osama bin Laden kept coming up empty. Then last July, Pakistanis working for the Central Intelligence Agency drove up behind a white Suzuki navigating the bustling streets near Peshawar, Pakistan, and wrote down the car’s license plate...The man in the car was Bin Laden’s most trusted courier...Ultimately, administration officials said, he led them to a sprawling compound at the end of a long dirt road and surrounded by tall security fences in a wealthy hamlet 35 miles from the Pakistani capital...On a moonless night eight months later, 79 American commandos in four helicopters descended on the compound, the officials said. Shots rang out...Of the five dead, one was a tall, bearded man with a bloodied face and a bullet in his head...

I think I'm going to be ill.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/03/world/asia/03intel.html?hp=&pagewanted=all

Quote O' The Day, May 3, 2011

This will be the quote o' the day for as long as the OBL story dominates the news.

Frank Zappa: Government is the entertainment wing of the military industrial complex.

AP Confirms CIA Has Secret Prison Network

Shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, detainees in the CIA's secret prison network told interrogators about an important courier with the nom de guerre Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti who was close to bin Laden. After the CIA captured al-Qaida's No. 3 leader, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, he confirmed knowing al-Kuwaiti but denied he had anything to do with al-Qaida.

And, of course, it is from this hidden "network" that the info' on where/how to find OBL came. I suppose it would have to, wouldn't it?



Here's another gem:

[Khalid Sheikh] Mohammed did not discuss al-Kuwaiti while being subjected to the simulated drowning technique known as waterboarding, former officials said.

You don't say!



And here:

The walls surrounding the property were as high as 18 feet and topped with barbed wire. Intelligence officials had known about the house for years, but they always suspected that bin Laden would be surrounded by heavily armed security guards...

Apparently the high walls and barbed wire were not sufficient to make intelligence officials contemplate that someone of importance might be sheltered therein. When government concocts these fantasies the least they could do is hire better writers.



From the very next paragraph:

The CIA soon believed that bin Laden was hiding in plain sight, in a hideout especially built to go unnoticed. But since bin Laden never traveled and nobody could get onto the compound without passing through two security gates, there was no way to be sure.

So there were security guards! "Built to go unnoticed? 18-foot walls topped with barbed wire? Inconspicuous?



More absurdities:

By mid-February, the officials were convinced a "high-value target" was hiding in the compound.

Ya think?



Now this shameless plug:

Options were limited. The compound was in a residential neighborhood in a sovereign country. If Obama ordered an airstrike and bin Laden was not in the compound, it would be a huge diplomatic problem. Even if Obama was right, obliterating the compound might make it nearly impossible to confirm bin Laden's death.

Said Brennan, "The president had to evaluate the strength of that information, and then made what I believe was one of the most gutsiest calls of any president in recent memory."

We have an election this year, don't we? That's why they call it the "Associated" press.



Brace yourselves

The helicopters lowered into the compound, dropping the SEALs behind the walls. No shots were fired, but shortly after the team hit the ground, one of the helicopters came crashing down and rolled onto its side for reasons the government has yet to explain. None of the SEALs was injured, however, and the mission continued uninterrupted.

The security guards didn't shoot at a helicopter landing in the compound? Who did they think it was, the pizza delivery guy?



Now compare these two statements from this one article:

1, Bin Laden was famously insistent that no phones or computers be used near him, so the eavesdroppers at the National Security Agency kept coming up cold.


2, U.S. forces searched the compound and flew away with documents, hard drives and DVDs that could provide valuable intelligence about al-Qaida, a U.S. official said.



The end:

Said the president, "I think we can all agree this is a good day for America."





http://ap.stripes.com/dynamic/stories/U/US_BIN_LADEN_HUNT_FOR_BIN_LADEN?SITE=DCSAS&=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

The Army is Watching Over Egypt. But Who's Watching Over the Army?

Mounting criticism of the way the Egyptian Army is governing Egypt grew louder yesterday with press reports that one of the country's most prominent human rights lawyers has been arrested and will likely face a military trial.

Amidst a flurry of confusion about the fate of the well-known human rights crusader, The Egyptian Daily News quoted activist Mona Saif as saying that, "Law professor at the American University in Cairo Amr El-Shalakany was arrested two days ago and will be tried in a military court in Suez." Saif is a member of "No for Military Trials for Civilians" campaign, a grassroots campaign to eliminate such trials, which were allowed under the country's 30-year Emergency Laws.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-Army-is-Watching-Over-by-WILLIAM-FISHER-110501-310.html

Moves to Undermine Egyptian Revolution

It seems the corporate media in Egypt has much in common with ours.

http://ipsnews.net/newsTVE.asp?idnews=55446

Who will reshape the Arab world?

by Tariq Ali:

THE NATO bombing of Libya was an attempt by the West to regain the "democratic" initiative after its dictators were toppled elsewhere. It has made the situation worse. The so-called pre-empting of a massacre has led to the killing of hundreds of soldiers, many of whom were fighting under duress, and permitted the ghastly Muammar Qaddafi to masquerade as an anti-imperialist.

Here, one has to say that whatever the final outcome, the Libyan people have lost. The country will either be partitioned into a Qaddafi state and a squalid pro-West protectorate led by selected businessmen, or the West will take out Qaddafi and control the whole of Libya and its huge oil reserves. This display of affection for "democracy" does not extend elsewhere in the region.

http://socialistworker.org/2011/05/02/reshaping-the-arab-world

Interview With Egyptian Labor Activist

With Videos.

http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/1387/english-translation-of-interview-with-hossam-el-ha

Attack On Spain's Largest Union UGT

"Union of Grotesque Traitors"

The author implies that it was the work of union members.

http://thisisourjob.wordpress.com/2011/05/01/explosion-at-ugt-headquarters-in-ferrol-spain/

Syria offers amnesty

"Amnesty is when the state gives clemency for the crimes it has committed." (Can't remember which anarchist said this.)

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/05/02/Syria-offers-amnesty-arrests-up/UPI-99971304357201/

Pander-monium Grips Egypt

Isn't there an election coming up in Egypt? Come to think of it there is. All the old Mubarak loyalists now becoming hawkish on Israel.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13256587

Isreali Fighter Jets In Iraq?

This is a report of a report, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were true.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/177824.html

Bin Laden's DNA

Get ready folks, the propaganda machine will be cranking out garbage for the next several weeks, probably until the election. This report is really amusing. It says that OBL's alleged DNA was tested against his sister's. It says his sister isn't identified, but she died of brain cancer in Boston.

Just how many of OBL's sisters have died of brain cancer in Boston?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/8488004/Osama-Bin-Ladens-body-identified-by-sisters-brain.html



Now this report suggests that there were multiple methods of identification used, but no mention of his unfortunate sister.

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/SciTech/20110502/bin-laden-id-methods-110502/



Please don't be fooled into believing these conflicting reports to be accidental. Whenever a psy-op is executed, it is standard procedure to put out multiple variants of the story against the possibility of an unforeseen complication. Eventually, the government will endorse one of them when they are satisfied that there are no loose ends.

And in this report the government is building its bona fides by denouncing a fake photo, most likely of its own creation, and in preparation for another fake which it will verify.

[Beware, gruesome photo]
http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/78385,news-comment,news-politics,osama-bin-laden-dead-photo-deemed-a-fake



Here's some more excellent propaganda: An ostensible enemy of the US argues that the killing of OBL was to prevent him from speaking out about US/al-Qaeda past cooperation. Ignoring for the moment the inanity of what's being offered, it confers legitimacy upon the US's claim that they killed OBL because a critic isn't disputing it.

Now that the moment is up: The relationship between al-Qaeda and the CIA has been the subject of countless book and mainstream news broadcasts for a decade. it's no secret. And if OBL wanted to spill those beans he's had a decade to do it.

http://english.farsnews.net/newstext.php?nn=9002121340



Get used to this stuff, there's gonna be lots of it.

Do I believe that OBL was alive until yesterday, and was killed by agents of the US government? No.

Finally! Somebody Expresses Some Healthy Skepticism About The Alleged Killing Of Osama Bin Laden

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28009.htm

Vt. Senate gives final nod to universal health care bill in 21-9 vote

Good news and well reported.

http://vtdigger.org/2011/04/27/vt-senate-gives-final-nod-to-universal-health-care-bill-in-21-9-vote/

PR Industry Fills Vacuum Left by Shrinking Newsrooms

Excellent treatment of the subject matter.

http://www.propublica.org/article/pr-industry-fills-vacuum-left-by-shrinking-newsrooms

Florida's Yard Sale

TALLAHASSEE -- Multiple bids could be solicited on the state's plan to privatize South Florida prisons, some attorney's fees would be curtailed in personal-injury cases and water management districts would take a reduction under a set of deals cut Sunday evening by a House-Senate budget negotiating committee.

http://staugustine.com/news/local-news/2011-05-02/budget-negotiators-strike-deals-sunday

Peacemama In Sacramento

She's kicking ass and taking contributions.

Video's worth a look too.

http://revcoms.wordpress.com/2011/05/02/supporting-sacramento/

British Headteachers back strike ballot over changes to their pensions

HEADTEACHERS threw down the gauntlet to the Tory-led coalition by backing a strike vote over pension reforms yesterday.

If industrial action gets the go-ahead, it will be the first time they have ever walked out and the move could shut thousands of schools.

All 350 delegates, bar one abstention, voted for a strike ballot at the National Association of Head Teachers’ conference – a result of 99.7%.


http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/05/02/headteachers-back-strike-ballot-over-changes-to-their-pensions-115875-23101145/

Australia's Maritime Workers Union Goes On Strike

Twenty-four-hour Strikes last Friday in Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne; another in Fremantle Monday.

http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsbusiness.php?id=583136

Obama Says Laden Is Killed: Can We Believe Him?

You are about to read something you don't hear very often: I am so proud of my editor!

I was going to write something about this report and the slack-jawed credulity with which it was received by the media, but Binu Mathews, editor of Countercurrents.org, to which I occasionally contribute, has said it very plainly. Reproduced below in its entirety.



Obama Says Laden Is Killed: Can We Believe Him?

By Countercurrents.org

02 May, 2011
Countercurrents.org

US president Barack Obama announced last night that Osama Bin Laden had been killed on Sunday in a US operation in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad, about 61km north of Islamabad.

"Tonight, I can report to the people of the United States and the world, the United States had carried an operation that has killed Osama bin Laden, a terrorist responsible for killing thousands of innocent people. Today, at my direction, the United States carried out that operation... they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body. The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date against al-Qaeda."

Later, it was reported that Bin Laden's body was buried in the sea.

The timing of the announcement of Bin Laden's killing and the quick disposal of his body raises several questions.

There were reports that Osama Bin Laden had died in December, 2001. If those reports were true how he is killed once again in Abbottabad?

If the person killed in Abbottabad is indeed Bin Laden, that story should have been verified by an independent DNA test. Why did the US authorities quickly disposed of the body, that too in the sea, at an undisclosed location, without waiting for an independent DNA verification? Is there an effort to destroy evidence?

We need an answer,

because for the blood of this man, more than a million men, women and children were killed in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan. Several million people were made refugees. Thousands of families were destroyed. Thousands of people were tortured and disappeared. Thousands of US servicemen got killed in those countries.

Or

Is Obama launching his re-election campaign?

We need an answer.

http://www.countercurrents.org/laden020511.htm

1886: The Haymarket Martyrs and May Day

http://libcom.org/history/articles/mayday-haymarket-martyrs

Banks Play Shell Game with Taxpayer Dollars

This is predation. Let's call it what it is--a scam. J P Morgan Chase and Citigroup, those are the Rothschilds and the Rockefellers respectively, perhaps the two richest and most powerful families in the world.

And they are stealing from you.

http://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=bf584e1c-ff74-4ded-9049-eb4aef4bdf92

Inspired by Revolution, Egyptian Workers Occupy Factory

May Day In Iran

Despite being the driving force behind the revolution, workers in Iran are as bad off today as they were under the Shah.

Traditionally, May Day has been a day of protest for Iranians, however the Islamic government has cracked down on unions and their leaders even throwing some in jail to keep them from organizing for the event. Here are some accounts:

A May Day Message of Solidarity to Imprisoned Iranian Workers http://www.freedomessenger.com/a-may-day-message-of-solidarity-to-imprisoned-iranian-workers/



Today is May 1, the International Labor Day. This day is traditionally observed in Iran as "rooz-e kaargar." Over the past several years, however, it has been almost impossible for workers to observe this day through holding any protests. In fact, each year, shortly prior to May 1, labor activists are rounded up and arrested...
http://iranian.com/main/blog/shifteh-ansari/may-day-2011-developing-news



There's some good news though: "Victory for oil workers on strike"
http://www.socialistworld.net/doc/5027

Feds sting Amish farmer selling raw milk locally

You gotta be kidding.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/apr/28/feds-sting-amish-farmer-selling-raw-milk-locally/

Humanitarian Infanticide

Have you noticed that none of the reports about the bombing of Gaddafi's son's house give names or ages of the children killed. Certainly they know what Saif al-Arab's kid's names were. Once again, the media acting not as a check on the government, but as its advocate.

I had to go all the way to India to find any information on the children. They are described as "pre-teens."

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Gaddafi-survives-air-strikes-son-killed-Government/Article1-691880.aspx

The implications of the Shanghai truckers’ strike

Good article

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/apr2011/pers-a30.shtml

Bahraini military court sentences four protesters to die

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/apr2011/bahr-a30.shtml

Obama’s 2012 budget deepens attack on public education

The proposed fiscal year 2012 federal education budget is an escalation of the Obama administration’s war on public education and teachers. The White House is expanding its policy of forcing states to compete for desperately needed funds, insisting that they remove caps on charter schools and attack the living standards and workplace rights of school employees in the name of “cost-effectiveness.”

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/apr2011/obed-a30.shtml

Deutsche Bank posts second highest ever quarterly profit

Hey, it's good to know the Rothschilds are surviving the depression they created.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/apr2011/deut-a30.shtml

France's CGT Union Up To Its Old Tricks

CGT (General Workers Confederation) is the union that, with the help of the Communist Party, broke up the largest-ever strike in history. In 1968, students first, then workers, began to protest. The movement gathered steam until millions were on strike. Workers took control of workplaces, de Gaulle fled to Germany, and France was on the verge of another Commune. CGT, the largest union, either corrupt or merely afraid it was losing control of the workers, broke the strikes up into localized individual ones and urged the workers to hand the factories over to the capitalists and vote socialist in the next election. Tragically, that is what happened. The Communist Party of France, then quite powerful, was still tied to the USSR and was deeply troubled that they'd lost control. Moreover, they were terrified by "Les MAT" as they were called, who were reorganizing the workplaces and were urging workers not only to resist the government but the unions and Party as well. Les MAT (Maoists, anarchists, and Trotskyists) had won the workers over, and the communists were losing power.

After the revolt was over, the government, some say with the help of the unions and Communist Party, conducted a huge Stalinist purge of Maoists, anarchists, Trotskyists, and others who led the rebellion.

As the workers were fond of saying, "In France, you cannot do anything without the Communist Party, and you can't do anything with the Communist Party."

Much has been said and written about the betrayal of the workers by the CGT and the Communist Party, I don't have anything to add save that there is a lesson in all this. The communists destroyed their rivals, but after the fall of the USSR they too waned. Now they are insignificant in French politics.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/apr2011/cgtp-a30.shtml

Blogger's Note, May 1, 2011

Happy May Day