talk at Jan van Eyck, part 1

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A new center of the resistance in Greece

http://socialistworker.org/2013/06/24/new-center-of-greek-resistance

[...]

On the grounds, it looks like the bitter lessons were learned from the struggle against the government strike-break this year, when there was a lack of organized solidarity--plus there is the expertise learned from the "squares movement" in spring 2011. There is a massive physical presence to defend the strikers and the occupied building against the police, co-existing with outdoor assemblies, large discussions, collective kitchens and so on.

Of course, the center of the struggle is Athens, but the picture is the same in Thessaloniki, in the occupied building of the local ET3, which broadcasts programs about social struggles, or in any town there is an occupied ERT radio station that tries to continue broadcasting.

The issue of ERT had become a focal point of the struggle. Dozens and dozens of solidarity statements have been issued by unions and are read out at the occupied building. The shutdown was so provocative that even mainstream international media declared their solidarity with ERT--some French newspapers, for example, published with black front pages. Support demonstrations have been organized in London, Paris and other European cities.

There have also been solidarity strike actions. Under enormous pressure, leaders of the two major union confederations were forced to declare a 24-hour general strike on Thursday, June 13. The strike demonstration was called for outside ERT, instead of the traditional route to Syntagma Square in front of parliament, so tens of thousands of people were gathered outside the occupation. Media workers were on an indefinite strike for days, allowing only the broadcasting of the ERT program.

Many media barons organized scab operations and managed to publish their newspapers. As a response, striking journalists published the union's strike issue--a tactic used for the first time during a strike in 1975.

The most spectacular aspect, outside of the occupation in Athens, has been the unity in action among all the left-wing forces. There were thousands of demonstrators in the yard, but the heart of the mobilization was left-wing activists.

For the first time in years, you could see the party flags of SYRIZA and ANTARSYA, of the Communist Party-affiliated unions and of the anarcho-syndicalists and anti-authoritarians, waving side by side. Members of SYRIZA, ANTARSYA, the Communist Party and the anarchist movement were standing shoulder to shoulder to protect the occupation.

[...]

arctic ice tipping point

avaaz.org

Scientist Julienne Stroeve has studied Arctic ice for decades. Every summer she travels north to measure how much ice has melted. She knows that climate change is melting the ice fast, but on her last trip, she couldn't believe what she saw. Vast areas of Arctic ice have disappeared, beyond our worst expectations.

This is what the experts warned us about. As the earth warms, it creates many "tipping points" that accelerate the warming out of control. Warming thaws the Arctic sea ice, destroying the giant white 'mirror' that reflects heat back into space, which massively heats up the ocean, and melts more ice, and so on. We spin out of control. Already this year -- storms, temperatures -- everything is off the charts.

[...]

"David Gregory Wants Me Arrested for Writing This," by Carl Gibson

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/276-74/18089-focus-david-gregory-wants-me-arrested-for-writing-this

[...]

The corporate media is only following cues from its owners. "Meet the Press" is sponsored by Boeing, the same corporation that owns NSA contractor Narus, an Israeli company that makes the rapid interception technology used by the NSA. Boeing is also part of the corporate coalition for "Fix the Debt," a sham organization funded by Wall Street billionaire Pete Peterson that aims to frame government debt as a Very Serious Problem, and Social Security and Medicare as the chief causes of that Very Serious Problem. This likely explains why Gregory was so eager to frame Social Security and Medicare as necessary sacrifices to deal with our debt, while completely ignoring the fact that companies like Boeing (and many other companieswhose CEOs are in the Fix the Debt "fiscal leadership council") pay NEGATIVE federal income tax ratesdue to a preferential tax code that their lobbyists helped write in the first place. But David Gregory is merely a propagandist for the inside-the-DC-beltway elite, not the main problem.

Since the Obama administration charged Edward Snowden with espionage (at the end of the day on a Friday, doing their best to bury the news as much as possible), the DC beltway elite have been chomping at the bit to extradite Snowden to the US, where he would likely be put in solitary confinement and tortured like Bradley Manning. As much as President Obama likes giving speeches defending his decisions on immigration and gun violence prevention, he's been silent on his decision to label Edward Snowden's leaks as tantamount to treason. Even though Snowden didn't work with a foreign government or sell the secrets of the PRISM program for millions of dollars to hostile entities, he's being given the same treatment as someone who did.

Politicians of both parties who vociferously defended the NSA's massive secret surveillance programs that treated everyday Americans as terror suspects are now lining up to call for Snowden's head. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) blew up at Russia for letting Snowden fly to Moscow from Hong Kong. Representative Peter King (R-Ia.), chairman of the House Homeland Security committee, said Snowden had "betrayed his country." House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.) was booed for calling Snowden a criminal at Netroots Nation in San Jose, an annual gathering of progressive activists who are usually sympathetic to the Obama administration and top congressional Democrats. Andy Borowitz rightly pointed out the irony of a government that got caught spying on ordinary Americans prosecuting one of its citizens to the fullest extent of the law for spying.

Greenwald is right in that the US government is waging a war on investigative journalism. He quoted New York magazine's Jane Meyer, perhaps best known for her exhaustive report on the billionaire Koch Brothers' financing of Tea Party organizations, as saying investigative journalism has been brought to a"standstill" under the Obama administration. This can be plainly seen in the Obama Department of Justice's seizing the phone records of AP reporters without their knowledge to try to track down one of their sources. The lack of substantive journalism in the world of mainstream journalism can be directly attributed to government intimidation of journalists through acts like those described above, and to government apologists in the media like David Gregory. It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that the corporate-owned media is supporting a corporate-owned government's narrative in an important story sparking international debate.

[...]

Michael Hastings, the FBI, and WikiLeaks: Death of Journalist Sparks Conspiracy Theories

By Joe Coscarelli

What follows is an excerpt. For the full article, go to:

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/06/michael-hastings-fbi-wikileaks-death-conspiracies.html

[...]

"Yeah," BuzzFeed editor Ben Smith confirmed to Daily Intelligencer. "Before his death, Michael told a number of his friends and colleagues that he was concerned that he was under investigation."

But other, less reputable sources have taken the speculation much further. "Vince Foster-like murder plot emerging in Los Angeles? Did the Obama administration knock off a star reporter?" asked one blog early on Wednesday, adding to existing conspiratorial Twitter chatter. Another wrote, "Admit it, Michael Hastings’ Death is Weird and Scary." Hours before revelations about a potential FBI investigation, InfoWars, the Alex Jones website that serves as a catch-all conspiracy-theory clearing house, mentioned Hastings's death with an editor's note: "Journalists who mess with government and military power often die under mysterious circumstances." None had more than conjecture.

The circumstances are these: "Police said a vehicle was southbound on Highland about 4:20 a.m. when it lost control south of Melrose and smashed into a tree," the L.A. Times reported. Video purports to show Hastings's Mercedes-Benz running a red light at a high speed minutes before the crash. "It sounded like a bomb went off in the middle of the night," a witness told thelocal news. "I couldn't have written a scene like this for a movie, where the engine flies from the car." Photos and video from the aftermath show extreme wreckage, and as of yesterday, the coroner had not officially identified the body because it was too badly burned.

But an automotive writer also fed the doubters:

I’m here to state that I’ve seen dozens of cars hit walls and stuff at high speeds and the number of them that I have observed to eject their powertrains and immediately catch massive fire is, um, ah, zero. Modern cars are very good at not catching fire in accidents. The Mercedes-Benz C-Class, which is an evolutionary design from a company known for sweating the safety details over and above the Euro NCAP requirements, should be leading the pack in the not-catching-on-fire category. Nor is the C-Class known for sudden veering out of control into trees and whatnot.

The crash is under investigation and there will be an official accident report (a toxicology report could take weeks). Whatever its findings, they can likely coexist with Hastings's mind-set at the time and a potential government investigation without representing something more sinister.

"He was incredibly tense and very worried and was concerned that the government was looking in on his material," said Hastings's friend and Current TV host Cenk Uygur. "I don't know what his state of mind was at 4:30 in the morning, but I do know what his state of mind was in general, and it was a nervous wreck." But Mother Jones editor Clara Jeffery put it plainly: "Ugh, the people posting Vince Foster style comments re Hastings death do a disservice to his no BS truth telling." Let's wait for the facts.

Update: The L.A. Times reports that Hastings, prior to his death, "was researching a story about a privacy lawsuit brought by the Florida socialite Jill Kelley against the Department of Defense and the FBI." The paper also notes, "Since Hastings's death early Tuesday, wild conspiracy theories have bloomed on the Internet implying that he was murdered by powerful forces wanting to silence him."

Update II: The LAPD tells the Times "there appears to be no foul play in the one-vehicle accident that killed journalist Michael Hastings ... Officials are trying to determine whether there was a mechanical problem with the car." His body has been positively identified by the L.A. coroner.

Update III: The FBI released a statement saying, "At no time was journalist Michael Hastings ever under investigation by the FBI."

no description available, but some good stuff

Whistleblower RAP News 19