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marmar
marmar's Journal
marmar's Journal
May 28, 2012
"Scott Noble's film Rise Like Lions takes the people, actions, and words from the camps and streets of Occupy Wall Street and provides a radical, compelling and inspiring account of what the movement is about. Watch it. Share it. Do it!" -Ron Jacobs, Journalist, Author The Co-Conspirator's Tale
Rise Like Lions - Occupy Wall Street and the Seeds of Revolution
"Scott Noble's film Rise Like Lions takes the people, actions, and words from the camps and streets of Occupy Wall Street and provides a radical, compelling and inspiring account of what the movement is about. Watch it. Share it. Do it!" -Ron Jacobs, Journalist, Author The Co-Conspirator's Tale
May 27, 2012
from Consortium News:
Honoring Troops with the Truth
May 25, 2012
America is awash in media detailing the lives of celebrities and the latest turns in political polls, but rarely addressing the painful questions about the dark side of U.S. foreign policy, a topic that Bill Moyers and Michael Winship say should be confronted this Memorial Day.
By Bill Moyers and Michael Winship
Facing the truth is hard to do, especially the truth about ourselves. So Americans have been sorely pressed to come to terms with the fact that after 9/11 our government began to torture people, and did so in defiance of domestic and international law.
Most of us haven’t come to terms with what that meant, or means today, but we must reckon with torture, the torture done in our name, allegedly for our safety. It’s no secret such cruelty occurred; it’s just the truth we’d rather not think about.
But Memorial Day is a good time to make the effort. Because if we really want to honor the Americans in uniform who gave their lives fighting for their country, we’ll redouble our efforts to make sure we’re worthy of their sacrifice; we’ll renew our commitment to the rule of law, for the rule of law is essential to any civilization worth dying for.
After 9/11, our government turned to torture, seeking information about the terrorists who committed the atrocity and others who might follow after them. Senior officials ordered the torture of men at military bases and detention facilities in Afghanistan and Iraq, in secret CIA prisons set up across the globe, and in other countries – including Libya and Egypt – where abusive regimes were asked to do Washington’s dirty work. ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://consortiumnews.com/2012/05/25/honoring-troops-with-the-truth/
Bill Moyers/Michael Winship: Honoring Troops with the Truth
from Consortium News:
Honoring Troops with the Truth
May 25, 2012
America is awash in media detailing the lives of celebrities and the latest turns in political polls, but rarely addressing the painful questions about the dark side of U.S. foreign policy, a topic that Bill Moyers and Michael Winship say should be confronted this Memorial Day.
By Bill Moyers and Michael Winship
Facing the truth is hard to do, especially the truth about ourselves. So Americans have been sorely pressed to come to terms with the fact that after 9/11 our government began to torture people, and did so in defiance of domestic and international law.
Most of us haven’t come to terms with what that meant, or means today, but we must reckon with torture, the torture done in our name, allegedly for our safety. It’s no secret such cruelty occurred; it’s just the truth we’d rather not think about.
But Memorial Day is a good time to make the effort. Because if we really want to honor the Americans in uniform who gave their lives fighting for their country, we’ll redouble our efforts to make sure we’re worthy of their sacrifice; we’ll renew our commitment to the rule of law, for the rule of law is essential to any civilization worth dying for.
After 9/11, our government turned to torture, seeking information about the terrorists who committed the atrocity and others who might follow after them. Senior officials ordered the torture of men at military bases and detention facilities in Afghanistan and Iraq, in secret CIA prisons set up across the globe, and in other countries – including Libya and Egypt – where abusive regimes were asked to do Washington’s dirty work. ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://consortiumnews.com/2012/05/25/honoring-troops-with-the-truth/
May 27, 2012
Pentagon Contractor Admits to Online Attacks on Journalists
By Lindsey Kratochwill
In a press release Thursday, Camille Chidiac, former president and current minority owner of Leonie Industries admitted that he was behind the orchestrated smear attacks on two USA Today journalists.
Leonie has received $120 million in Pentagon contracts since 2009. Chidiac claims that none of that $120 million made its way into paying for the Internet misdeeds, in which fake Facebook and Twitter accounts were created for the two writers in an apparent attempt to discredit them. Use of Pentagon funds might have constituted a violation of the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948, which regulates the dissemination of propaganda domestically.
No such restrictions exist for propagandizing overseas, however, and Leonie is one of the chief producers of "information crafting" services for the Pentagon. The smear campaign began in February, when writers Tom Vanden Brook and editor Ray Locker began reporting a USA Today series examining oversight and efficiency (or lack there of) associated with funds given to the Pentagon's information operations sector. The series criticized the "poorly tracked marketing and propaganda campaigns" in Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries, on which $580 million was spent in 2009.
Vanden Brook began noticing the false web presence soon after he interviewed Chidiac about Leonie. New York Magazine reports that the websites, RayLocker.com and TomVandenBrook.com were created during the reporting process. The websites were bought along with a proxy to conceal the identity of the owner. ...............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/ittlist/entry/13262/former_president_of_pentagon_contractor_leonie_admits_to_online_attacks_on_/
Pentagon Contractor Admits to Online Attacks on Journalists
Pentagon Contractor Admits to Online Attacks on Journalists
By Lindsey Kratochwill
In a press release Thursday, Camille Chidiac, former president and current minority owner of Leonie Industries admitted that he was behind the orchestrated smear attacks on two USA Today journalists.
Leonie has received $120 million in Pentagon contracts since 2009. Chidiac claims that none of that $120 million made its way into paying for the Internet misdeeds, in which fake Facebook and Twitter accounts were created for the two writers in an apparent attempt to discredit them. Use of Pentagon funds might have constituted a violation of the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948, which regulates the dissemination of propaganda domestically.
No such restrictions exist for propagandizing overseas, however, and Leonie is one of the chief producers of "information crafting" services for the Pentagon. The smear campaign began in February, when writers Tom Vanden Brook and editor Ray Locker began reporting a USA Today series examining oversight and efficiency (or lack there of) associated with funds given to the Pentagon's information operations sector. The series criticized the "poorly tracked marketing and propaganda campaigns" in Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries, on which $580 million was spent in 2009.
Vanden Brook began noticing the false web presence soon after he interviewed Chidiac about Leonie. New York Magazine reports that the websites, RayLocker.com and TomVandenBrook.com were created during the reporting process. The websites were bought along with a proxy to conceal the identity of the owner. ...............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/ittlist/entry/13262/former_president_of_pentagon_contractor_leonie_admits_to_online_attacks_on_/
May 27, 2012
Saturday, May 26, 2012
We can best honor those who have given their lives for this nation in combat by making sure our military might is proportional to what America needs.
The United States spends more on our military than do China, Russia, Britain, France, Japan, and Germany put together.
With the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, the cost of fighting wars is projected to drop – but the “base” defense budget (the annual cost of paying troops and buying planes, ships, and tanks – not including the costs of actually fighting wars) is scheduled to rise. The base budget is already about 25 percent higher than it was a decade ago, adjusted for inflation.
One big reason: It’s almost impossible to terminate large defense contracts. Defense contractors have cultivated sponsors on Capitol Hill and located their plants and facilities in politically important congressional districts. Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and others have made spending on national defense into America’s biggest jobs program. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://robertreich.org/post/23815137151?d9976110
Robert Reich: Memorial Day Thoughts on National Defense
Memorial Day Thoughts on National DefenseSaturday, May 26, 2012
We can best honor those who have given their lives for this nation in combat by making sure our military might is proportional to what America needs.
The United States spends more on our military than do China, Russia, Britain, France, Japan, and Germany put together.
With the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, the cost of fighting wars is projected to drop – but the “base” defense budget (the annual cost of paying troops and buying planes, ships, and tanks – not including the costs of actually fighting wars) is scheduled to rise. The base budget is already about 25 percent higher than it was a decade ago, adjusted for inflation.
One big reason: It’s almost impossible to terminate large defense contracts. Defense contractors have cultivated sponsors on Capitol Hill and located their plants and facilities in politically important congressional districts. Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and others have made spending on national defense into America’s biggest jobs program. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://robertreich.org/post/23815137151?d9976110
May 27, 2012
By Martin Di Caro | 05/25/2012 – 11:49 am
Bus rapid transit, light rail, car and van pooling, and bicycling and pedestrian infrastructure are all in the works for Northern Virginia, under the so-called “Super NoVa” transportation plan for the next three decades, to be released in September.
Planners envision the construction of cross-jurisdictional networks to connect people to their jobs in the metropolitan Washington area, and to employment and tourist locations within northern Virginia and neighboring states. The goal is to help commuters avoid the region’s notorious traffic congestion.
“It’s really looking at the major travel patterns of people throughout this region and trying to understand where they are and where they want to go,” says Amy Inman, the manager of public transportation planning at the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, a post she has held for four years. Inman is the head planner for Super NoVa.
With the growing realization that only paving more highways would not satisfy the demands of region’s population and job growth projections, Inman says localities 50 or 75 miles away from Washington need more public transportation options. The study will evaluate the needs of future population and employment centers. .............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://transportationnation.org/2012/05/25/big-plans-for-public-transportation-in-virginia-its-called-super-nova/
Big Plans for Public Transportation in (northern) Virginia. It’s called Super NoVa
Big Plans for Public Transportation in Virginia. It’s called Super NoVa.By Martin Di Caro | 05/25/2012 – 11:49 am
Bus rapid transit, light rail, car and van pooling, and bicycling and pedestrian infrastructure are all in the works for Northern Virginia, under the so-called “Super NoVa” transportation plan for the next three decades, to be released in September.
Planners envision the construction of cross-jurisdictional networks to connect people to their jobs in the metropolitan Washington area, and to employment and tourist locations within northern Virginia and neighboring states. The goal is to help commuters avoid the region’s notorious traffic congestion.
“It’s really looking at the major travel patterns of people throughout this region and trying to understand where they are and where they want to go,” says Amy Inman, the manager of public transportation planning at the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, a post she has held for four years. Inman is the head planner for Super NoVa.
With the growing realization that only paving more highways would not satisfy the demands of region’s population and job growth projections, Inman says localities 50 or 75 miles away from Washington need more public transportation options. The study will evaluate the needs of future population and employment centers. .............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://transportationnation.org/2012/05/25/big-plans-for-public-transportation-in-virginia-its-called-super-nova/
May 27, 2012
Eurostar eyes new routes to Europe
Green transport news - by GreenWise staff
15th May 2012
The cross-Channel train operator Eurostar is looking to cement its reputation as the greenest option for short-haul international travel in Europe by adding up to 10 new destinations.
Eurostar is looking to develop new services from its base at St Pancras, London, into the Netherlands, Germany, southern France and Switzerland, according to a report in the Financial Times. The new routes will be developed over the next five years and will directly compete with airlines that operate in those markets.
"By 2016 and 2017 we would like people when they are thinking about traveling to these cities to consider taking Eurostar rather than flying," Nicolas Petrovic, chief executive of Eurostar told the FT.
......(snip)......
The company, which carries nearly 10 million passengers a year running fast-speed trains from London to Paris and Brussels, has already cut the carbon from passenger journeys by 25 per cent and aims to reduce emissions from its operations and supply chain by 25 per cent by 2015. ..................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.greenwisebusiness.co.uk/news/eurostar-eyes-new-routes-to-europe-3311.aspx
Eurostar (the high-speed rail line) eyes ambitious European expansion
Eurostar eyes new routes to Europe
Green transport news - by GreenWise staff
15th May 2012
The cross-Channel train operator Eurostar is looking to cement its reputation as the greenest option for short-haul international travel in Europe by adding up to 10 new destinations.
Eurostar is looking to develop new services from its base at St Pancras, London, into the Netherlands, Germany, southern France and Switzerland, according to a report in the Financial Times. The new routes will be developed over the next five years and will directly compete with airlines that operate in those markets.
"By 2016 and 2017 we would like people when they are thinking about traveling to these cities to consider taking Eurostar rather than flying," Nicolas Petrovic, chief executive of Eurostar told the FT.
......(snip)......
The company, which carries nearly 10 million passengers a year running fast-speed trains from London to Paris and Brussels, has already cut the carbon from passenger journeys by 25 per cent and aims to reduce emissions from its operations and supply chain by 25 per cent by 2015. ..................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.greenwisebusiness.co.uk/news/eurostar-eyes-new-routes-to-europe-3311.aspx
May 27, 2012
from Der Spiegel:
05/24/2012
Renewable Energy Ambitions
Norway Wants to Become Europe's Battery
By Christoph Seidler
Because wind and solar energy are inconsistent, energy managers are looking for ways to fill in the gaps when it is dark outside and the air is still. A Norwegian company wants to turn hydroelectric power stations in the north into Europe's battery packs.
For Christian Rynning-Tønnesen, a feeling of amazement came first, and then came the shudder. Like the head of the Norwegian energy company Statkraft, anyone who takes the tiny red funicular from the research base at Ny-Ålesund to the nearby Zeppelin Mountain has a breathtaking view of the Spitsbergen island in the northernmost part of Norway. Everything is white. Between the snow-covered peaks glaciers are visible in the Kongs Fjord. The research centers lying far below look like children's toys.
The train ends at a wooden house, a good 470 meters above the fjord. Rynning-Tønnesen is taking part in a symposium at Ny-Ålesund that has brought scientists, politicians and executives together to discuss environmentally-friendly technologies. On Zeppelin Mountain, the energy executive wants to be shown how the researchers measure carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the environment.
And this is when he shudders.
Because in the station, which is part of a worldwide network, it is frighteningly easy to see how human activity has warmed the planet. "We are already far beyond the natural variations of CO2 in the atmosphere," explains the host, Nalân Koç, research director of the Norwegian Polar Institute. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/norway-wants-to-offer-hydroelectric-resources-to-europe-a-835037.html
Norway Wants to Become Europe's Battery
from Der Spiegel:
05/24/2012
Renewable Energy Ambitions
Norway Wants to Become Europe's Battery
By Christoph Seidler
Because wind and solar energy are inconsistent, energy managers are looking for ways to fill in the gaps when it is dark outside and the air is still. A Norwegian company wants to turn hydroelectric power stations in the north into Europe's battery packs.
For Christian Rynning-Tønnesen, a feeling of amazement came first, and then came the shudder. Like the head of the Norwegian energy company Statkraft, anyone who takes the tiny red funicular from the research base at Ny-Ålesund to the nearby Zeppelin Mountain has a breathtaking view of the Spitsbergen island in the northernmost part of Norway. Everything is white. Between the snow-covered peaks glaciers are visible in the Kongs Fjord. The research centers lying far below look like children's toys.
The train ends at a wooden house, a good 470 meters above the fjord. Rynning-Tønnesen is taking part in a symposium at Ny-Ålesund that has brought scientists, politicians and executives together to discuss environmentally-friendly technologies. On Zeppelin Mountain, the energy executive wants to be shown how the researchers measure carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the environment.
And this is when he shudders.
Because in the station, which is part of a worldwide network, it is frighteningly easy to see how human activity has warmed the planet. "We are already far beyond the natural variations of CO2 in the atmosphere," explains the host, Nalân Koç, research director of the Norwegian Polar Institute. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/norway-wants-to-offer-hydroelectric-resources-to-europe-a-835037.html
May 27, 2012
(Independent UK) The world's leaders and economists, having put in their euro's worth on Greece and currency union – to no great discernible effect, so far – yesterday, one of the planet's most respected literary figures joined in. Germany's Nobel literature laureate Günter Grass criticised the treatment of Greece in the debt crisis, describing it in a new poem as a "country sentenced to poverty".
The 84-year-old's latest work, "Europe's Disgrace", was published in the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung. It comes less than two months after Grass triggered a storm of criticism with another intervention on a political issue – a prose poem sharply criticising Israel amid the dispute over Iran's nuclear programme. As Greece struggles with austerity and reform programmes demanded by creditors in exchange for rescue loans, and speculation grows that it may leave the 17-nation eurozone, Grass springs to its defence, and, by implication, criticises his own country's attitude to it.
The poem is a stinging rebuke for Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative-led government which has insisted that austerity is the only way that Greece can balance its books. The author accuses Europe of forcing Greece to drink from a poisoned chalice and describes it as a "country now hardly tolerated". In the poem, he says Greece has been "pilloried naked as a debtor". He writes: "You will waste away spiritlessly without the country whose spirit, Europe, conceived you."
Günther Krichbaum, the head of the German Parliament's European affairs committee and a member of Ms Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats, shrugged off Grass's words. He said: "His criticism completely bypasses reality – particularly the reality that Greece was helped enormously with enormous efforts, which, in the end, do not come from states but from citizens and their wallets." ................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/gnter-grass-attacks-merkel-for-athens-policy-7791489.html
Nobel laureate Günter Grass slams Angela Merkel over Greece policy
(Independent UK) The world's leaders and economists, having put in their euro's worth on Greece and currency union – to no great discernible effect, so far – yesterday, one of the planet's most respected literary figures joined in. Germany's Nobel literature laureate Günter Grass criticised the treatment of Greece in the debt crisis, describing it in a new poem as a "country sentenced to poverty".
The 84-year-old's latest work, "Europe's Disgrace", was published in the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung. It comes less than two months after Grass triggered a storm of criticism with another intervention on a political issue – a prose poem sharply criticising Israel amid the dispute over Iran's nuclear programme. As Greece struggles with austerity and reform programmes demanded by creditors in exchange for rescue loans, and speculation grows that it may leave the 17-nation eurozone, Grass springs to its defence, and, by implication, criticises his own country's attitude to it.
The poem is a stinging rebuke for Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative-led government which has insisted that austerity is the only way that Greece can balance its books. The author accuses Europe of forcing Greece to drink from a poisoned chalice and describes it as a "country now hardly tolerated". In the poem, he says Greece has been "pilloried naked as a debtor". He writes: "You will waste away spiritlessly without the country whose spirit, Europe, conceived you."
Günther Krichbaum, the head of the German Parliament's European affairs committee and a member of Ms Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats, shrugged off Grass's words. He said: "His criticism completely bypasses reality – particularly the reality that Greece was helped enormously with enormous efforts, which, in the end, do not come from states but from citizens and their wallets." ................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/gnter-grass-attacks-merkel-for-athens-policy-7791489.html
May 27, 2012
Tony Blair's moral decline and fall is now complete
Tony Blair's willingness to prop up the brutal Kazakhstan regime shames the one-time champion of democracy
Nick Cohen
The Observer, Saturday 26 May 2012
If you wanted to see why Tony Blair is finished as a force for good in politics, you should have been at the discreet, if extortionately expensive, Haymarket hotel, off Trafalgar Square. Portland Communications, publicists for what it calls "the government of Russia" and everyone else calls "that thieving bastard Putin", was holding a dinner for journalists and politicians it hoped to seduce on behalf of one of its many other clients.
Blairites headed the guest list: Lord Adonis, who has re-emerged as Ed Miliband's adviser on industrial policy; and James Purnell, whom the Labour right see as the king over the water who will one day return and restore Blair's heirs to their rightful inheritance.
In showing no disdain for the mouthpieces of a dictatorship, Adonis and Purnell were doing no more than following the example of Blair and his circle. Portland Communications is at its heart. Tim Allan, Blair's former media adviser and Portland's founder, recruited his old friend, Alastair Campbell, last week. A few months before, a Financial Times reporter spotted Campbell at the airport at Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. He wondered what had brought Campbell from his London home to a flyblown central Asian dictatorship. Campbell would not say if his visit had anything to do with Blair's latest business dealings. Few would be surprised if it had because Blair's dealings are extensive.
As one astonished and disgusted former supporter put it: "If you want to know what price a great man will sell his legacy for, it's $13m." According to the Financial Times, that is the sum that President Nursultan Nazarbayev has paid for Blair's services. His old gang is along for the ride and eager to see what an oil-rich dictatorship, which shoots strikers, burns the offices of opposition parties and kills their leaders, can offer. ....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/may/27/nick-cohen-tony-blair-kazakhstan
Tony Blair's moral decline and fall is now complete
Tony Blair's moral decline and fall is now complete
Tony Blair's willingness to prop up the brutal Kazakhstan regime shames the one-time champion of democracy
Nick Cohen
The Observer, Saturday 26 May 2012
If you wanted to see why Tony Blair is finished as a force for good in politics, you should have been at the discreet, if extortionately expensive, Haymarket hotel, off Trafalgar Square. Portland Communications, publicists for what it calls "the government of Russia" and everyone else calls "that thieving bastard Putin", was holding a dinner for journalists and politicians it hoped to seduce on behalf of one of its many other clients.
Blairites headed the guest list: Lord Adonis, who has re-emerged as Ed Miliband's adviser on industrial policy; and James Purnell, whom the Labour right see as the king over the water who will one day return and restore Blair's heirs to their rightful inheritance.
In showing no disdain for the mouthpieces of a dictatorship, Adonis and Purnell were doing no more than following the example of Blair and his circle. Portland Communications is at its heart. Tim Allan, Blair's former media adviser and Portland's founder, recruited his old friend, Alastair Campbell, last week. A few months before, a Financial Times reporter spotted Campbell at the airport at Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. He wondered what had brought Campbell from his London home to a flyblown central Asian dictatorship. Campbell would not say if his visit had anything to do with Blair's latest business dealings. Few would be surprised if it had because Blair's dealings are extensive.
As one astonished and disgusted former supporter put it: "If you want to know what price a great man will sell his legacy for, it's $13m." According to the Financial Times, that is the sum that President Nursultan Nazarbayev has paid for Blair's services. His old gang is along for the ride and eager to see what an oil-rich dictatorship, which shoots strikers, burns the offices of opposition parties and kills their leaders, can offer. ....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/may/27/nick-cohen-tony-blair-kazakhstan
May 27, 2012
Published on Sunday, May 27, 2012 by Rabble.ca
In Quebec, A Revolution of Love, Hope and Community
by Ethan Cox
In almost every report on the social movement now sweeping Quebec, including my own, words like conflict, crisis and stand-off figure prominently. Anger is omnipresent. The anger of protesters, the anger of government, the anger of those supposedly inconvenienced. Pundits scream about mob rule, anarchy in the streets and the dissolution of society as we know it.
Don't get me wrong, there is anger present of course. But that is not what you see if you take to the streets, or watch on CUTV's live stream. Pundits can't stop bemoaning the inconvenience to "ordinary" Montrealers posed by these protests. But I wonder, are there any "ordinary" Montrealers left to inconvenience?
As I write these words there are demonstrations going on in every neighborhood of Montreal. "Casseroles", where people leave their houses to bang pots in the street every night at 8PM, have led to marches everywhere. The police cannot keep up. Far flung suburbs like Vaudreuil and Île Perrot, the anglophone West Island and NDG, South Shore suburbs, Québec City, Sherbrooke, Gatineau, Rimouski, Trois Rivières and the list goes on. Some of these places have never seen a demonstration, certainly not since the days of the quiet revolution. Now their streets swell with hundreds, thousands.
The prevailing question in the media is, how do we end this? Supporters and opponents alike seek a "solution" to put an end to the "crisis". And we need one, those on the streets need to be heard. Actions need to be taken to address the demands of the masses. But what exactly is so bad about what is happening? Why do we need it to end so urgently? ..............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/05/27-2
In Quebec, A Revolution of Love, Hope and Community
Published on Sunday, May 27, 2012 by Rabble.ca
In Quebec, A Revolution of Love, Hope and Community
by Ethan Cox
In almost every report on the social movement now sweeping Quebec, including my own, words like conflict, crisis and stand-off figure prominently. Anger is omnipresent. The anger of protesters, the anger of government, the anger of those supposedly inconvenienced. Pundits scream about mob rule, anarchy in the streets and the dissolution of society as we know it.
Don't get me wrong, there is anger present of course. But that is not what you see if you take to the streets, or watch on CUTV's live stream. Pundits can't stop bemoaning the inconvenience to "ordinary" Montrealers posed by these protests. But I wonder, are there any "ordinary" Montrealers left to inconvenience?
As I write these words there are demonstrations going on in every neighborhood of Montreal. "Casseroles", where people leave their houses to bang pots in the street every night at 8PM, have led to marches everywhere. The police cannot keep up. Far flung suburbs like Vaudreuil and Île Perrot, the anglophone West Island and NDG, South Shore suburbs, Québec City, Sherbrooke, Gatineau, Rimouski, Trois Rivières and the list goes on. Some of these places have never seen a demonstration, certainly not since the days of the quiet revolution. Now their streets swell with hundreds, thousands.
The prevailing question in the media is, how do we end this? Supporters and opponents alike seek a "solution" to put an end to the "crisis". And we need one, those on the streets need to be heard. Actions need to be taken to address the demands of the masses. But what exactly is so bad about what is happening? Why do we need it to end so urgently? ..............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/05/27-2
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