London protesters storm offices - videos

PROTESTERS in London stormed the offices of the country's highest paid boss during Wednesday's day of action against neoliberal 'austerity' measures.

About 60 protestors gained entry into the offices of mining company Xstrata, a ‘leading light’ of the FTSE 100 and British industry to highlight the fact that CEO Mick Davies was the highest compensated CEO of all the FTSE 100 companies in the last year, when his companies had losses and the economy collapsed. He received £18,426,105 for his efforts.

This comes in a year when the average pay rise of executives across FTSE 100 companies was 43%, with ‘top’ directors at 49%.

Led by a samba band to the building from Piccadilly Circus, the protesters entered the HQ at 25-7 Haymarket, London, with the protesters chanting against the corporate greed of Mick and other executives, in support of all those striking for fair pensions for all today.

The protesters also unfurled a banner saying “All power to the 99%” from the roof top.

Keep up to date with the global insurrection - follow Vast Minority on Twitter.  

Corrupt British state under double attack

THE CORRUPT British state is coming under attack at home and abroad this week.

The day before two million workers were due to take a day of strike action in the UK, an angry crowd of students stormed the British embassy in Tehran (see video).

This follows new sanctions imposed by London, based on the unverified claim that Iran is developing nuclear weapons already possessed by the UK, USA, France and Israel.

Although thousands of miles apart, the two protests are deeply related.

The truth is that the British state, like the US and other states, does not exist to further the interests of its own citizens, let alone absurd notions of global  'democracy'.

Instead, it is controlled entirely by a ruthless neoliberal mafia and used to promote and defend the commercial domination of corporate interests and the capitalist system that enables them to flourish.

Rebellious worker-drones at home and dangerously independent countries abroad are all threats to that hegemony and have to be crushed.

But there are now definite signs that this is not going to be as easy as it once was.

Keep up to date with the global insurrection - follow Vast Minority on Twitter. 

Day of resistance for UK

BRITAIN is preparing for its biggest day of union resistance for many years.

Report direct action news source SchNEWS: "Wednesday 30th November will see the first mass strike in the UK for four decades.

"17 unions, including the biggest ones Unite, UCU, Unison, various teaching unions and PCS, have balloted to strike on pension reform which will see an estimated 3 million off work and, hopefully, cause massive disruption. Demonstrations and pickets are planned across the country – see http://www.n30strike.org for a complete list.

"While the ‘official’ pensions reason is a biggie,  the day will be one of anti-austerity action on the whole. It was obvious a year and a half ago that austerity measures were going to cripple the public sector, but it’s only over the issue of pensions that unions have been able to come together in co- ordinated action.

"The government’s various cuts bills have been sector specific until now, and Tory anti-strike legislation forbids solidarity action – effectively making mass, cross-sector strikes illegal. This, combined with the timidity of the unions and their own stifling legal processes have delayed action until the shared pension cuts could become the focal point for general civil unrest.

"Which is rich, considering unemployment is at a 17-year high thanks to government policy. They’re also attempting to rebrand it as a 'take your child to work day' in an effort to avoid parents taking the day off to look after children turned away from closed schools.

"It’s not only the government who want to break the strike: One particularly bizarre measure is being taken by an academy school headteacher in London, who is bringing in ex-Army personnel, police dog handlers and CSI teams to teach classes next Wednesday.

"The tactics for the day are to keep demonstrations and marches focused in local communities and for many dispersed actions as opposed to a mass gathering, but if you fancy hitting the road to get in on the action, the most fun place to be looks set to be London.

"Occupy have issued a call-out to congregate in the capital and ‘Shut down the city’ – the plans for which are to be confirmed..."

Keep up to date with the global insurrection - follow Vast Minority on Twitter.

Video - German protesters block rail track

HUNDREDS of riot cops with helicopter support have cleared the way for the Castor nuclear waste train in Germany.

This video from graswurzel.tv (grass roots tv) shows how activists approached the railway line through woods, before evading police to stage a massive occupation of the track numnering up to 5,000 people.

More than 1,000 people were arrested for refusing to leave and police also clashed with two groups of protesters that hurled stones and fireworks, say corporate media.

There were clashes in France last week when protesters managed to sabotage the line and torch a police vehicle.

The shipment paused overnight south of Hamburg and is expected to reach its destination with considerable delay on Monday.

Keep up to date with the global insurrection - follow Vast Minority on Twitter. 

New wave of anger at US empire

 
ANGRY opposition to US-led imperalism is reaching new heights in Pakistan following a cross-border NATO air strike that killed at least 24 Pakistani soldiers.

In revenge, the state has given the US 15 days to vacate an airbase used as a key launchpad for drone strikes in Afghanistan and also shut down NATO supply routes into the neighbouring country, which has been under neoliberal occupation for ten years.

American flags have been burned in the streets, Pakistanis took to social media websites to express their dismay and the media reflected the public anger over the attack.

"US stabs Pakistan in the back, again," said a headline in the Daily Times while headline in The Express Tribune read: "Pakistan inflamed as 24 killed in Nato strike". 

Keep up to date with the global insurrection - follow Vast Minority on Twitter. 

'Era of naked force' - frontline video from Egypt

 "WE HAVE now entered the era of naked force".

That was the view expressed by former New York Times correspondent  Chris Hedges, as this video was released showing a week of rebellion and repression on the front line in Egypt, with police clearly seen shooting at protesters against the neoliberal-backed SCAF military regime.

Hedges wrote in an article called This is What Revolution Looks Like: "The historian Crane Brinton in his book 'Anatomy of a Revolution' laid out the common route to revolution.

"The preconditions for successful revolution, Brinton argued, are discontent that affects nearly all social classes, widespread feelings of entrapment and despair, unfulfilled expectations, a unified solidarity in opposition to a tiny power elite, a refusal by scholars and thinkers to continue to defend the actions of the ruling class, an inability of government to respond to the basic needs of citizens, a steady loss of will within the power elite itself and defections from the inner circle, a crippling isolation that leaves the power elite without any allies or outside support and, finally, a financial crisis.

"Our corporate elite, as far as Brinton was concerned, has amply fulfilled these preconditions. But it is Brinton’s next observation that is most worth remembering. Revolutions always begin, he wrote, by making impossible demands that if the government met would mean the end of the old configurations of power.

"The second stage, the one we have entered now, is the unsuccessful attempt by the power elite to quell the unrest and discontent through physical acts of repression.

"I have seen my share of revolts, insurgencies and revolutions, from the guerrilla conflicts in the 1980s in Central America to the civil wars in Algeria, the Sudan and Yemen, to the Palestinian uprising to the revolutions in East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Romania as well as the wars in the former Yugoslavia. George Orwell wrote that all tyrannies rule through fraud and force, but that once the fraud is exposed they must rely exclusively on force. We have now entered the era of naked force.

"The vast million-person bureaucracy of the internal security and surveillance state will not be used to stop terrorism but to try and stop us."

Today, Friday, was expected to see massive crowds turn out to call for the immediate end to SCAF rule.

Updates at EA World View.

Live streaming from RT.

Protesters battle French riot cops

ANTI-NUCLEAR protesters battled with riot police in France in a bid to stop a train of nuclear waste heading for Germany.

The authorities used tear gas and brute force, but the environmentalists managed to sabotage part of the railway and torch a police vehicle.  

The French state is refusing to end its nuclear operations, even after the Fukushima disaster and the horrific after-effects.

The shipment from the French nuclear giant Areva's reprocessing plant at La Hague is the last planned to Germany.

Similar protests are expected along the whole route - the last convoy in 2010 was blocked for three hours in Caen and one night in Germany.

Egyptian lesson for global revolutionaries

POTENTIAL revolutionaries across the world should watch carefully what is happening in Egypt at the moment.

This is what happens if you get anywhere near threatening the grip on power of the global capitalist system.

First of all they ignore you, then they mock you, spy on you, infiltrate you, kettle you, prosecute you, intimidate you, threaten you, lie about you, beat you up.

If all that fails, they may trick you into thinking you have won - as they seem to have done in Egypt earlier this year.

When you see through it all and refuse to lie down, they will start shooting you (as they do in this video).  

And still you have to keep fighting, like the heroes of Cairo, because otherwise you are condemning your children, their children and their children afterwards to lives of slavery.

New York cops attack students - video

 

ANGER is still bubbling to the surface of society in the USA, as the momentum from the Occupy movements spreads into other protests.

This video shows police getting physical with student protesters opposing tuition fee rises at CUNY, the City University of  New York.

A statement on the students' website says: "We demand free tuition and admission open to all with a high school diploma or GED, with special attention in admissions to New York City public high school graduates.

"We demand that you fund adjuncts’ health care, and all the wages, benefits, and working conditions for our faculty and staff need to live in dignity.

"We demand that you pay for this by continuing the Millionaires’ Tax, reinstating the Stock Transfer Tax, and pivoting spending within CUNY away from wealthy top administrators’ compensation and toward the education of students and compensation of faculty and staff."

Gunfire in Cairo - raw video

 

ASTONISHING video footage is emerging from Cairo, where protesters are braving toxic chemical gases and even live bullets as they fight to protect democracy and the revolution.

Huge numbers gathered in Tahrir Square on Tuesday, with adjacent side streets filled with what was virtually civil war, as the state attacked opponents of the SCAF military regime.

A televised speech by Mohamed Tantawi, the head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, did nothing to halt the mood of rebellion, with its echoes of Mubarak's final days.

The mood of the protesters today can be seen in these messages appearing on Twitter under the hashtag of the revolution, #jan25: 

This is different than #Jan25 somehow. Less chanting/signs and more battle-like. Its not a protest anymore, it's a revolution. #tahrir

a friend who never supported #jan25: "I support tahrir. Today I can say tahrir is only true & honest thing in #egypt" it made me cry...

 

Today is the happiest for me sice #jan25 ,today my fiancee joins the revolution and we are going to #tahrir hand in hand :)

 

2,000,000+ now in #tahrir, I guess that didn't even happen in #jan25 days !! #Egypt #noSCAF

 

Dear US Government, We don't hate you because we hate your freedom. We hate you because you hate our freedom. #Tahrir #Egypt #Jan25

Call to 'Occupy the Machine'

RADICAL environmentalists have issued an open letter to the Occupy movement urging it to go beyond symbolic action.

Entitled "Occupy the Machine - Stop the 1%, Literally", the piece appears on the Deep Green Resistance website.

It states: "We invite you to imagine, as many of you already probably have, if thousands of people occupied local refineries, roads, ports, oil and mining extraction sites, etc. – in other words, imagine if people occupied the locations where the 1% destroy the land and exploit humans, all for profit.

"Imagine their stock prices falling, their cash flow being interrupted, their ability to get loans and/or expand 'production' – a euphemism for converting living beings into dead products – finished.

"Imagine if we were able to stop them, stop the 1%. Literally. Not symbolically.
We think it can be done if we all do it together. We think it can be done if we all figure out how to do it and if we are willing to make the necessary sacrifices, together.

"To be clear, what we’re envisioning here would mean a massive escalation. It would mean hundreds of thousands of people all over the country leaving behind school, jobs, family, and comfort, to really go for it. To not settle for less than victory. To leave behind symbolic action for good."

For the full detailed article go to http://deepgreenresistance.org/occupythemachine/

US cops 'inspired Egyptian brutality'

SCENES of violent American police smashing up the Occupy Wall Street protest camp in New York inspired Egyptian state forces in their attack on the Tahrir Square occupation.

This is the shocking revelation picked up from Egyptian state TV by the Russia Today news channel.

It reports that an anchor for the broadcaster referred to the "fantastically efficient police response to the Occupy Wall Street movement in America" and  added: "We saw the firm stance the US took against OWS people (and the German government against green protesters) to secure the state" .

It is clear that US support for the army regime consistst of more than just theoretical inspiration, with chemicals used to attack protesters being supplied from America.

Despite the vicious attack by police and army, the encampment in the centre of the Cairo remains in place and on Tuesday a new series of demonstrations are expected as momentum grows for a Second Revolution in Egypt to sweep aside the SCAF military council. 

Egypt: video, updates and live links

 

EVENTS are moving rapidly in Egypt following the massive street uprising against the SCAF military regime and revulsion at the brutality meted out by the once-popular troops.

At the time of posting the latest news was that the Egyptian cabinet has submitted its resignation to SCAF.

Other updates are:

*   63 flights in and out of Cairo have been cancelled due to the unrest in recent days.

*  The Muslim Brotherhood has called on SCAF to stop the killing and aggression against the demonstrators in all squares immediately and without delay and withdraw its soldiers and vehicles from the squares.

*  Rebellion is spreading, Al Jazeera has been showing videos of protesters in Dammiyat, Zaqazeeq and Port Said, in addition to previous reports from Cairo, Alexandria, Suez, Al Arish and Ismailiya.

*   Disturbing details have emerged of the US-made "tear gas" being used by SCAF in its chemical warfare against its own population.

To keep up to date with the latest developments, try EA WorldView which is currently running a live blog at http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/2011/11/21/egypt-and-beyond-liveblog-the-newest-battle-of-tahrir-square.html.

RT is streaming live from Tahrir Square at http://rt.com/on-air/egypt-tahrir-clashes-live/

13 killed in new battle of Tahrir

 

COURAGEOUS revolutionaries continue to battle the SCAF military regime in Egypt.

The BBC is reporting that at least 13 protesters have been killed by the authorities in Cairo over the weekend.

It says: "Security forces launched a major assault to clear the square on Sunday, but protesters returned within an hour."

One Egyptian commenting on Twitter said: "I am out of words. Egyptian army is murdering Egyptian civilians. That's our worst living nightmare."

Said another: "This is the longest battle we've ever fought ever since #Jan25, and by far the most critical."

New revolution ignites in Egypt - video

A NEW revolutionary wave is sweeping Egypt, as people take to the streets to oppose the SCAF 'temporary' military regime.

Reports The New York Times: "A police action to roust a few hundred protesters out of Tahrir Square on Saturday instead drew thousands of people from across Egyptian society into the streets, where the violence continued on Sunday.

"The confrontations were the most violent manifestation so far of growing anger at the military-led interim government.
 
"In a battle reminiscent of the clashes that led to the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak nine months ago, a mass of protesters converged on Tahrir Square, fled before an onslaught of riot police officers firing tear gas and rubber bullets, and then surged back to retake and hold the square through the early hours of Sunday.

"State media reported Saturday night that more than 700 people had been injured, including 40 riot police, and at least one civilian died of a gunshot wound.

"Protesters operated a makeshift field hospital in small mosque near the square, where doctors said Sunday morning that they had treated at least 400 people for serious injuries and hundreds more who suffered from tear gas. The smell of gas was still heavy around the square.

"The clashes continued Sunday through midday as a crowd of perhaps a few hundred who stayed in the square through the night swelled back to thousands.

"Though demonstrators occupied the square unmolested, a battalion of young men that filled a city block was charging against a wall of police, who fired tear gas to defend the headquarters of the interior ministry.

"Witnesses said the battle had pushed back and forth through the night.'I saw the revolution being slain so I had to come,' said Ahmed Hamza, 41, a lawyer, watching the fray. Like many in the square, he vowed to stay until the ruling military council committed to a swift exit from power but also said he feared the generals welcomed the chaos as pretext to cancel elections. 'Today there will be violence,' he predicted, awaiting new moves to clear the square."

Bank of Ideas to inspire London revolt

ANTI-CAPITALIST protesters in London have upped the ante by squatting a massive disused building owned by Swiss bank UBS.

This is the message on the welcome page of its website at http://www.bankofideas.org.uk/ 

The Bank of Ideas is situated on Sun Street, Hackney in an abandoned office block purchased several years ago by the bank UBS. It is an enormous space complete with a 500-seater lecture hall.

It has been opened to the public for the non-monetary trade of ideas to help solve the pressing economic, social and envionmental problems of our time.

There is also room for community groups, youth clubs, nursuries and other public services that have lost their space due to Government spending cuts.

Artists, performers and creatives are welcome to come entertain and to help transform the space. We also encourage games, workshops and skillshares on anything from yoga to yahtzee.

The only prerequisite is that this space is not for financial transactions. Trade in ideas or skills, but no one should need to pay to take part in the Bank’s activities.

Everyone should feel safe and welcome in the Bank.  Our Safer Spaces Policy asks people to be mindful and respectful of how their ideas or actions might effect others, and there is a No Drugs and Alcohol Policy. As this is a public space any damage or disrespect to the property would be an act of disrespect and violence towards your own community, a community trying to come together to find positive solutions to our current crises. We ask all people who come into the space to come in with respect.

Everyone is warmly welcome and encouraged to come and be part of creating the Bank of Ideas. Email us with your ideas, suggestions and requests at bankofideaslondon@gmail.com.

50,000 demand democracy in Egypt

PRESSURE is building in Egypt for a second revolution to rid the country of the SCAF military regime.

A massive demonstration of 50,000 people was held on Friday in Cairo's Tahrir Square, in which protesters from all backgrounds came together to demand the democracy they thought they had won in January this year.

But a stark reminder of how little some things have changed came after the rally with the arrival of riot police to dismantle tents and force the remaining people out of the area.

The scenes also have huge resonance with the attacks on Occupy camps in the USA, making it even clearer that we are witnessing the same system oppressing the same people - all across the world.

Reports Aljazeera: "Friday's protest drew political parties and religious movements of different stripes, though the loudest voices in the square came from Islamists, including hardline Salafis and the comparatively moderate Muslim Brotherhood.

"Liberal, leftist and Islamist parties and groups such as the April 6 Movement, founded in solidarity with labour protests, participated in the rally. Islamists joined with their call to put an end to military trials of civilians, which have led to the incarceration of thousands in proceedings described by human rights activists as opaque and unfair."

It quoted Anan Zuhairi, a 26-year-old doctor, as saying she was not with any party or political movement but that she joined the protest because 'nothing has been resolved since the revolution.

"'Nothing we revolted for has happened. Emergency law is still not canceled. People are being taken out of their homes. Our demands have remained the same except they've become more," she said. "We just want democracy and freedom. The people with opinions are all in prisons."

Global insurrection is taking shape

A NEW phase has been reached in the growing global uprising against capitalism.

The scenes in this video happen to have been shot in Italy on November 17, but they could have been anywhere.

It is becoming increasingly apparent that the familiar scenes of unarmed, mostly youthful, protesters being attacked by paramilitary baton-wielding riot police, are not snapshots from unrelated public order incidents in various separate parts of the world.

They are, rather, scenes from different fronts in the same war - between the vast majority of the human race and the ruthless and greedy elite who want to keep us all in slavery.

On the one hand, the millions of people who took to the streets on November 17 in the USA, Spain, Greece, Italy and elsewhere are now seeing through the whole landscape of lies that has been used to fool us all into being robbed and disenfranchised by the capitalist system for so long.

On the other hand, the system itself realises this, realises the potential danger it is facing, and is acting in a co-ordinated and deliberate manner to intimidate, brutalise and crush any signs of an uprising.

This will, obviously, open people's eyes still further to the realities of their position, fuelling their anger and bringing still more out on to the streets in support.

How will it end? We cannot know. But if there was going to be a global revolution its beginning would surely have to look something like this.

Kuwaitis storm parliament - video

 


IN DRAMATIC scenes captured on this video, protesters in Kuwait have stormed the country's parliament as anger rises over the corrupt regime.

ABC reports that the scenes materialised after police and elite forces beat up people marching on the prime minister's home to demand his resignation.

It says: "The police had used batons to prevent protesters from marching to the residence of prime minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, a senior member of the ruling family, after staging a rally outside parliament. Witnesses said at least five demonstrators were injured and treated on the site.

"Some activists said they will continue to camp outside parliament until the premier is sacked.

"Chanting 'the people want to remove the prime minister', the protesters started to march to the nearby premier's residence when police blocked their way.

"This was the first political violence in the oil-rich Gulf state since December, when elite forces beat up protesters and MPs at a public rally, though activists have been holding protests since March.

"Tension has been building in Kuwait over the past three months after it was alleged about 16 MPs in the 50-member parliament received about $350 million in bribes."

The Kuwaiti regime is closely linked to the USA, which has a military presence there.

On the same day as the protests, First Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah were discussing closer ties with US Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Andrew J. Shapiro, reports the Kuwait News Agency.

It says: "The meeting tackled military cooperation between the two countries and discussed issues of mutual interests."

November 17 - a day of action

NOVEMBER 17 will be an important day for democracy on two continents, with big protests against neoliberal tyranny lined up.

Greece will see the first large-scale reaction on the streets to the imposition of an unelected banker leader.

Writes From The Greek Streets: "The build-up for the annual commemorative events for the anti-dictatorial student uprising of 1973 is fully underway, with demonstrations planned across Greece.

"In Athens and in Heraclion, at least, some anarchist blocks will use the same slogan that had been used by the EAM, the communist movement of armed resistance against the Nazi occupation: 'when the people are confronted with the threat of tyranny, they either chose the chains or the guns'.”

Meanwhile, the same day has been chosen for a national day of action by the Occupy movement in the USA, with protests in New York's Wall Street - following the brutal eviction of the Zuccotti Park camp - and in many other cities includng Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington DC.

We

We smash your skulls with sticks and shields and trample on your dreams

We strut and sneer and snort contempt for you and all you say

We screech above the city streets and rain down death and fear

We build a prison round your lives and tell you that you’re free

We poison all you eat and drink to make a few more bucks

We milk you dry of all you have so we get fatter still

We fill your world with lies that serve to keep you in your place

We laugh at you

We own you

And you are too scared to do anything about it

 

As posted on Paul Cudenec's blog

Cops smash up Wall Street protest camp

THE limits of so-called capitalist democracy were brutally exposed in New York early on Tuesday morning, as riot police smashed up the inspirational Occupy Wall Street camp.

The state thugs kettled off the whole area in the middle of the night, closed subway stations and stopped both press and camp supporters from reaching Zuccotti Park to help or witness what was happening.

There were confirmed reports of pepper spray being used on protesters and of police laughing and smiling as they ripped apart the tents and infrastructure of the anti-capitalist community that sparked a movement across the USA and beyond.

Some of the cops involved were from the 'Counter Terrorism' force (see photo), confirming that for the neoliberal global regime a 'terrorist' is simply a term to describe anyone who challenges their domination.

A protest march on the Wall Street stock exchange is planned for Thursday November 17 - let's hope this is now bigger and angrier than ever as the harsh reality of the capitalist tyranny becomes more and more apparent for all to see.

London - undercover cops exposed

MORE evidence is emerging of sinister undercover police infiltration of the student protest in London on November 9.

This excellent video exposes the extent of the new tactic of oppression, part of  the agressive contempt for the right to protest displayed on the day by the Met police, which boasts of its commitment to "total[itarian] policing".

Portland resists eviction police

THOUSANDS of people took to the streets of Portland, Oregon, USA, over Saturday night to resist eviction of the Occupy protest camp in the city centre.

At the time of writing, four hours had elapsed since the police's midnight deadline and the protesters were still standing firm.

As this recorded video shows, riot police lines actually retreated in the face of mass defiance.

Live streaming was being provided at http://occupyportland.org/ and http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution

Resistance targets phone masts and hubs

 
RESISTANCE fighters in Afghanistan are declaring war on a key element in any system of oppression - its communciations system.

Reports The Guardian: "The Taliban began attacking transmission masts in 2007, but the damage was limited and the attacks were often aimed only at extorting money from companies.

"But since mid-summer attacks have soared, with up to 30 towers being destroyed or damaged in one 20-day period. Previously a loss of five would be considered a bad month.

"Insurgents have also become much more destructive. 'They used to just blow up our fuel tanks,' a senior executive of an Afghan telecoms company said. ''Now they put fuel inside the control room with all the equipment, absolutely destroying everything'.

"Some masts have even been blown completely out of the ground by insurgents wiring them up with huge quantities of explosives.

"And they have focused many attacks on critical hub relay towers, which has the effect of bringing down services in many other locations. In some cases entire provinces have lost all phone services for days on end."

Anarchist video from the USA

COOL video from US anarchists at www.submedia.tv

Video - Gogol Bordello play Occupy Vermont

 
GIPSY punk band Gogol Bordello played at the Occupy protest site in Burlington, Vermont, in the north east of the USA, on Wednesday night.

Ukrainian-Roma frontman Eugene Hutz, who once lived in the city, is on record as a supporter of the anti-capitalist protest movement.

Video - undercover cops on demo

THIS video shows undercover cop thugs in action on the London student demo on November 9.

They can be seen at Holborn Circus pushing to the ground and arresting a protester - about a minute into the video.

Says the N9 Anarchist Bloc site: "This new police tactic, if it continues, will need anarchists to acknowledge our collective role on demonstrations. Any anarchists who continue to attend demonstrations as individuals, as opposed to a politically constituted element, will have to learn pretty sharpish a new way of thinking.

"Nov 9 was a classic example of a police demonstration. The new and dangerous twist is the police are now an active and embedded part of the march itself.

"A warning of things to come." 

Unauthorised routes of protest lie ahead

 

THE BRITISH authorities and their hired thugs are feeling pretty pleased with themselves.

A potential outbreak of dissent on the streets of London on November 9 was controlled and corralled to an efficient extent.

It did take the threat of rubber bullets, a concerted media campaign, intimidation by letter of potential protesters and 4,000 cops with horses and crowd control barriers along the route of the student march (plus some undercover), but this was no doubt a price worth paying for those in charge of maintaining business as usual.

There was certainly no sense of official embarrassment that cops were clutching riot helmets before the demonstration had even begun, let alone kicked off, or that at the completion of a ‘legitimate’ A to B procession people found themselves in a de facto kettle, which they could only exit one at a time through two police cordons to enable them to be individually photographed by police ‘evidence gatherers’.

There seemed no sense of surprise among the protesters, either, that the mere act of marching against the government has apparently become criminalised in an Orwellian state running 27 years behind schedule.

But there were also signs of changing times. Not only were the anti-capitalist marchers applauded by builders on the scaffolding near Waterloo Bridge – itself unthinkable ten years ago – but they were also cheered by some of the besuited office workers at London Wall.

Despite the overhwelming force that the British state brought to bear on its young opponents in London, the panicked looks on the faces of some of the police at the slightest signs of defiance spoke much about what lies ahead.

Police and government know full well that the current capitalist crisis is not going away any time soon and neither is the swelling tide of resistance.

The course of a river can be temporarily dammed with riot shields and snarling masked goons, but water has a wonderful way of finding its way past any obstacle.

November 9 was a battle fought according to state rules on its own terrain and it is little surprise, in truth, that might prevailed.

On other occasions, however, the police chiefs’ arrogance will no doubt be found to be sorely misplaced, as the flood of revolt breaks out into wholly unauthorised routes of protest.

Electricians kick off November 9

RESISTANCE began early in London on November 9 with 1,000 electricians marching through the city.

There were early reports of police lines being broken as the workers refused to be halted.

Protests have been growing against de-skilling and pay cuts being imposed by a group of construction firms.

Autonomous trade unionists are expected to join forces with the student protest and Occupy London later in the day.

London police threaten violence

 
LONDON'S police thugs are planning to use force to "disperse" protesters at London Wall at 5.30pm today, it has emerged.

Comments London anarchist Ian Bone on his blog: "The new commander at the Met really is doing his best to ensure violence. This is bound to lead to trouble – so blame Commander Fuckwit Pountain and his boss.

"Swaggering bullies with their bullets and armoured cars determined to show off to Theresa May how tough they are – no nonsense types. Well..they’ll have to do the same on November 23rd and 30th – by which time the cracks will show."

November 23 is the date, already announced, of the next student day of action and November 30 will see a national day of industrial action and protest against the neoliberal economic assault on the population. 

Europe run by 'unelected cabal'

EUROPE is not a democracy and is being run by "an unelected cabal".

That's the conclusion of an article in The Guardian today by  economics editor Larry Elliott.

He writes: "The European Union has always had problems with democracy, a messy process that can interfere with the grand designs of people at the top who know best.

"When Ireland voted no to the Nice Treaty, it was told to come up with the right result in a second ballot. The European Central Bank wields immense power, but nobody knows how the unelected members of its governing council vote because no minutes of meetings are published.

"That said, the latest phase of Europe's sovereign debt crisis has exposed the quite flagrant contempt for voters, the people who are going to bear the full weight of the austerity programmes being cooked up by the political elites.

"Here's how things work. The real decisions in Europe are now taken by the Frankfurt Group, an unelected cabal made of up eight people: Lagarde; Merkel; Sarkozy; Mario Draghi, the new president of the ECB; José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission; Jean-Claude Juncker, chairman of the Eurogroup; Herman van Rompuy, the president of the European Council; and Olli Rehn, Europe's economic and monetary affairs commissioner.

"This group, which is accountable to no one, calls the shots in Europe. The cabal decides whether Greece should be allowed to hold a referendum and if and when Athens should get the next tranche of its bailout cash.

"What matters to this group is what the financial markets think not what voters might want. To the extent that governments had any power, it has been removed and placed in the hands of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF. It is as if the democratic clock has been turned back to the days when France was ruled by the Bourbons.

"In the circumstances, it is hardly surprising that electorates have resorted to general strikes and street protests to have their say. Governments come and go but the policies remain the same, creating a glaring democratic deficit.

"This would be deeply troubling even if it could be shown that the Frankfurt Group's economic remedies were working, which they are not. Instead, the insistence on ever more austerity is pushing Europe's weaker countries into an economic death spiral while their voters are being bypassed. That is a dangerous mixture."

London police ramp up intimidation

POLICE in London are ramping up the intimidation ahead of Wednesday's big student and union  protests in the British capital.

In a blog entry entitled "Don't be intimidated, see you on the streets", police monitoring group Fitwatch reports that letters have been sent to protesters on police files trying to put them off turning up.

Says the report: "On the eve of the mass education/sparks/cabbies protest on 9th November, it is clear the state are trying to intimidate us.

"From the news today that the police have written to protesters arrested at previous demonstrations warning them off protesting (see picture), to the “total policing” of the last couple of weeks witnessed at the squatting demo and deaths in custody march (amongst others), the message is clear; attempt to protest and the state will clamp down, act violently, and make arbitrary arrests.

"And, if you’re unlucky enough to get caught, the courts are making sure long deterrent sentences are passed, regardless of how insignificant the individual action, in attempt to scare us away from future protest.

"However, whilst even seasoned activists have admitted to being a little scared at the current state of policing, it’s not all doom and gloom, and we mustn’t be tricked into feeling intimidated.

"It’s nearly the anniversary of the Met’s attempt to silence Fitwatch for giving common sense advice to the Millbank protesters. This is still recommended reading, as is this Fitwatch call to action.

"Above all, we should be applying the lessons we have learnt on the streets over the last year. When we don’t just ‘walk on by’, and act in solidarity with each other, we are stronger; when we act as fast mobile blocs, we are more effective and harder to contain; when we sit down or put our hands in the air, we are fodder for baton strikes and kettling; when we refuse to play the divide and rule game and condemn fellow protesters, we are more threatening.

"And finally, and perhaps most importantly, when we mask up, and make no comment to police questioning, we are harder to convict and lock up.

"See you on the streets!"

Neoliberal mask is slipping fast

THE ILLUSION of democracy under capitalism is finally being dispelled as the neoliberal elite desperately tries to stem the global surge of revolt.

With paramilitary police forces being sent in to crush dissent wherever it breaks out and 'austerity' measures imposed everywhere,  the mask of consensus is rapidly slipping to reveal the brutal face of plutocratic dictatorship.

Reports From the Greek Streets today: "It sounds like a sitcom joke, or maybe a strange feeling that perhaps those at the echelon of power might have a sense of humour after all, even if it’s a twisted one — but it’s true: Greece’s representative at the IMF (called Panagiotis Roumeliotis, in case you  want to know) now appears 'very likely' to become the next prime minister, according to corporate media reports and ‘leaks’.

"In the near-incomprehensible sequence of events unfolding before our eyes, democracy is unveiling itself for what it really is — nothing more, of course, than a means to protect and perpetuate the existing system of power and domination.

"The fact that the veil of any sort of  'representation' or 'consensus' has dropped can be a positive one: resorting to showing its brute face is a sign of weakness on the side of power, and a hint of some great opportunities on the side of our own."

Adds a contributor: "In Italy the EU and US want them to get rid of Berlusconi and install a technocrat. This is the way they want the world to be run now, not be people voting people into office (which almost always turns out to be a joke anyway).

"Now they are just bypassing any facade of democracy and basically 'appointing' representatives who will do the bidding of capital markets.

"It is however a big sign of weakness. Because once the illusion of democracy is removed, that’s when people can no longer trick themselves."

Sydney video - police thugs move in

OCCUPY protesters in Sydney, Australia, have been evicted from a disused building by a gang of 100 police thugs with dogs.

Angry supporters chanted "this is not democracy!", "shame!" and "no justice, no peace!" as the huge contingent of cops moved in to arrest the ten people who had squatted premises abandoned since 2008.

Police also assaulted protesters in the street and shone a high-strength torch into the lens of video cameras outside to stop the eviction being filmed.

Occupy Sydney has reported that police will not give them any information about the arrestees, citing 'privacy reasons'.

A 60-minute protesters' recording of the eviction can be viewed here.

Nov 9 panic spirals into threats

 

STUDENT protesters in London are now being threatened with rubber bullets as the authorities' panic at the prospect of mass dissent spirals into absurdity.

Sky News was, as ever, more than happy to try and put the frighteners on the public, with a report entitled 'Cops Armed With Baton Rounds for Student Demo.'

It quoted one Commander Pountain as saying: "Baton rounds is a valuable tactic for me to have available should the need arise.

"At the moment I have asked for it to be available to me. Those units will be parked away from the area on standby.

"If any of my staff are coming under sustained attack as we saw in previous demonstrations, I need the ability to protect them and to make sure they don't sustain serious injuries or even worse."

As one comment on Twitter said: "Story about rubber bullets is blatant attempt by police to scare folk away from Wednesday's demo. Fuck. That. Shit."

November 9 - UK authorities panicking

BRITISH authorities are panicking at the prospect of another massive and angry student protest in London this week.

The right-wing Evening Standard today published a police-inspired scare story claiming there are fears the November 9 protest "could be hijacked by anarchists".

Says the report: "Police leave has been cancelled and reinforcements called in from county forces for the demonstration which organisers say will attract 10,000 people on a march through the City.

"Protesters are urging schoolchildren to walk out of lessons for the demo on Wednesday.

"The National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts, which is organising the action, has given students training on recruiting schoolchildren, with one leaflet saying: 'The riots this summer show beyond doubt that lots of young people are burning with intense anger, frustration and willingness to take some pretty extreme action.'

"The march will meet up with St Paul's protesters. Scotland Yard says it will distribute thousands of leaflets to students warning of the consequences of criminal actions. There are fears that the march could see a repeat of the violence and chaos of last year's student protests.

"Hundreds were arrested as protesters and activists attacked banks and shops.

"Commander Simon Pountain said: 'In our experience a lot of these type of demonstrations attract people from so-called anarchist groups and we would expect that to happen. We will be prepared for every eventuality.' Police have vetoed a bid for the protesters to march on the Bank of England because of the possible numbers.

"Michael Chessum, from the organiser NCAFC, defended plans to encourage schoolchildren to join the march. He said: 'We believe that this is about the future of people who are not going to university and it's only right that they join in.'

"He added leaflets had been handed out to sixth formers and older pupils. The campaign group said the march against the 'marketisation' of universities by the Government will herald an 'autumn of resistance'."

Over the weekend Universities Minister David Willetts also admitted he was worried about another student uprising in the capital, declaring: "I think it would be appalling if we had a repeat of those shocking events earlier in the year. I think it really would be very bad indeed."

Defiant Dallas in general strike call

ANTI-CAPITALIST protesters in Dallas have called for a general strike on November 30 after being attacked by police in the Texan city.

Reports Press TV: "What began as a peaceful protest at Occupy Dallas has turned into an event with multiple arrests and video of officers assaulting a protestor.

"Pepper spray was also blasted into the protestors after a protestor was pushed off a four-foot wall by police officers. Protestors questioned the officers about their motives and in return where blasted with pepper spray.

"The Occupy Dallas protesters were marching to the Bank of America Plaza in support of Bank Transfer Day, a national event which calls for supporters to close their bank accounts with large corporate banks and move their money into community credit unions.

"Occupy Dallas spokesperson Michael Prestonise told NBC 5 via email that an off-duty Dallas officer working security at the bank shoved a protester and that is what sparked the violence." 

The General Assembly of Occupy Dallas has issued a statement calling upon all people to engage in a General Strike on November 30th, 2011, and imploring them not to buy anything, make bank transactions or go to work between 12:01 am and 11:59pm on November 30th, 2011. 

Its statement condemns "incredible income disparity between management and employees,  active discouragement and intimidation of unionization of the workforce, engaging in unethical business practices that jeopardize the long term financial stability of the country and viewing financial profit as more important than the individual worth of a people."

Now cops attack Atlanta protest

 

POLICE in the USA have again attacked a protest against corporate capitalist greed, this time in Atlanta, Georgia.

As this video shows, a bid to reclaim the streets after a rally in a city park was met with tooled-up robocops on motorbikes and horses.

Once again, peaceful protest does not stop the state from using violence to crush any opposition to its monopoly of power. 

Police tear gas protesters

POLICE attacked Occupy Oakland protesters with tear gas after they successfully closed the city's sea port.

The American authorities' patience with the current outbreak of dissent is clearly wearing thin.

US protest shuts down port

OCCUPY protesters in the USA declared victory after thousands of demonstrators shut down evening operations at one of the nation's busiest shipping ports late Wednesday.

Reports USA Today: "The nearly 5-hour protest at the Port of Oakland, the nation's fifth-busiest shipping port, was intended to highlight a daylong "general strike" in the city, which prompted solidarity rallies in New York, Los Angeles and other cities across the nation.

"Police estimated that a crowd of about 3,000 had gathered at the port at the height of the demonstration around dusk. Some had marched from the city's downtown, while others had been bused to the port.

"Port spokesman Isaac Kos-Read said evening operations had been 'effectively shut down'.

"The Occupy Oakland protest was the largest in a series of rallies in several cities as the Occupy Wall Street movement that began Sept. 17 tried to grab national attention.

"A group of about 300 protesters, many of them men wearing black, some covering their faces with bandanas and some carrying wooden sticks, smashed windows of a Wells Fargo bank branch while chanting 'Banks got bailed out. We got sold out'.

"The protesters spray-painted an expletive on the exterior wall of the bank and blocked the front door of a branch of Citibank, forcing customers to use a rear door. 'We want to see justice for the criminals on Wall Street,' said Caroline Pincus, 53, of San Francisco."

French protests against G20

TENS of thousands of people have marched through Nice ahead of the G20 summit along the coast at Cannes.

Huge numbers of police were mobilised by the French state, with a military-style operation to keep protesters on the officially authorised route.

Nice Matin reported that banks in the city centre were boarded up and a man was arrested in his home for allegedly threatening to shoot at riot police.

It said some youths had set fire to a mattress in the street and train drivers had expressed solidarity, with one TER train sounding its horn in support of the anti-capitalist protesters.