Resistance grows to US-led neoliberalism

GLOBAL resistance to the US-led neoliberal empire has intensified over the last few days.

Although the protests in the Islamic world have been sparked by controversy over an anti-Muslim film, the roots are clearly much deeper.

And the momentum caused by the unprecedented wave of fury at the USA and allies like Israel, the UK and Germany, is unlikely to fade fast.

On September 11, an attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, left the US ambassador dead, while an attack on the American embassy in Cairo saw the Stars and Stripes torn down and an Islamist banner hoisted in its place.

On September 13 protesters broke into the US embassy compound in Sanaa, Yemen, and the next day protesters stormed the US embassy complex in Tunis.  There were seven deaths at protests worldwide, following Muslim Friday Prayers.

Monday's protests included 3,000 protesters in the Philippines burning US and Israeli flags in the southern city of Marawi, and hundreds of protesters facing off with police in Jakarta, Indonesia, throwing stones and petrol bombs. There have been other protests in Lebanon, Kashmir and Pakistan.

Angry demonstrators in the Afghan capital, Kabul, fired guns, torched police cars and shouted anti-US slogans. And 15 Taliban fighters who fought their way on to Helmand's main airbase destroyed six jets worth millions of pounds in an assault that was the start of a bloody weekend for NATO forces – in 48 hours six US and UK troops were killed by Aghan "allies".

And meanwhile the Occupy Wall Street protests are back with a vengeance, with dozens of arrests in New York on Monday, #S17.

 

Occupy protests bringing 'anarchy' to Nigeria

OCCUPY Nigeria is gathering momentum, with the upsurge in people power now threatening to disrupt oil supplies to the world markets.

Nigeria's biggest oil workers have threatened to shut Nigeria's oil rigs starting with work stoppages on Sunday, as anger grows over President Goodluck Jonathan's axing of fuel subsidies for ordinary people.

If the union follows through, analysts estimate that Nigeria's oil output could fall by between several hundred thousand and a million barrels a day. Nigeria produces two million barrels of crude daily, accounting for 95% of its export revenue, yet about 70% of Nigerians persist on just $2 a day or less.

The Wall Street Journal warned its readers: "Some analysts warn that even if Mr. Jonathan were to restore part of the subsidy, the concession wouldn't be enough to satisfy the thousands of protesters, who have turned city centers into caldrons of antigovernment sentiment."

It quoted Bismark Rewane, managing director of Financial Derivatives Co. in Lagos, as saying:  "Both the unions and the government have lost control of this process," The protests, he said, were "becoming a referendum on Goodluck."
 
"All the oil wealth that this country has earned over the years hasn't touched the population," said Adeyinka Shorungbe, a 36-year-old banker who was one of several thousand demonstrators who on Thursday marched through the affluent center of Nigeria's largest city, Lagos. "Everyone knows what's at stake here."

The Independent reported that  Jonathan's government was warning of "anarchy" in Nigeria and reported seeing a protester carrying a sign that read: "We are ready for the civil war."

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EDL exposed as puppets of the 1%

THE true nature and purpose of the English Defence League is gradually emerging, as the far right street movement struggles to maintain any momentum.

It originally claimed to be virtually apolitical, with the sole aim of countering what it described as the threat of 'Islamic extremism' in the UK.

However, it has recently shown its true colours by vehement animosity towards trade unionists and threats to attack Occupy activists in various cities.

A further dent to its phoney 'working class' credentials has now been made by an investigative report in The Sunday Times exposing some of the wealthy individuals running the show behind the scenes.

These include property tycoon Ann Marchini, from upmarket Highgate in north London, and  Alan Ayling, a former director of an investment fund.

Ayling, pictured above, uses the pseudonym Alan Lake in EDL circles.

It is rather convenient that at a time when opposition to neoliberal rule is on the rise, and the state is sensitive to the possible knock-on effects of overt police violence against dissidents, a ready-made Freikorps-style army is available to do the 1%'s dirty work on the streets.  

There still remains much more to be exposed about the EDL and its murky role in contemporary British politics.

Protests succeed in disrupting US ports

OCCUPY protesters in the USA succeeded in causing serious disruption to West Coast ports on Monday.

Reports RT: "From the blocked port of Oakland to the shipping hub of Seattle, thousands of disenchanted activists have taken to the streets in defiance of a police crackdown.

­"Seattle police have reportedly used flash bang percussion grenades to disperse the protesters who blocked the entrance to the Port of Seattle facilities. Police said multiple people had been arrested, but did not specify exact figures.

"Occupy Seattle protesters were seen holding banners reading Made in China, clearly highlighting the problem of American jobs being outsourced to China.

"Those protests appear to be a part of the nationwide effort to block West Coast port traffic, when thousands took on ports from California to Alaska to disrupt, they claim, the economic machine that benefits the wealthiest individuals and corporations.

"Protesters say they are targeting corporate greed and the government’s complicity and by maintaining their activity, they are keeping the message of the Occupy movement alive.

"According to protesters, among other things they are targeting profits of Goldman Sachs, which owns half of one of the world’s largest transportation and shipping outfits. Therefore, for the movement this is the way of  'getting back at' one of the major banks which had contributed to the financial crisis.

"In New York City, protesters took their message to Goldman Sachs directly. They marched in solidarity with their fellow campaigners from the West Coast to the bank’s Low Manhattan’s headquarters. Almost two dozen of them were arrested."

"In Houston, Texas, some 20 people got arrested in similar solidarity protests.

"While US authorities seem to be quite successful in cracking down on peaceful protesters, with more than 5,000 having been arrested in the course of the past three months, none of those arrests even make it to the headlines in major US media anymore.

"Occupy protesters marched on Monday morning on ports in San Diego, Oakland and Los Angeles in California, Portland in Oregon, Seattle and Tacoma in Washington, as well as Anchorage in Alaska, eventually succeeding in disrupting the work of these major ports on the West Coast. The port of Oakland, for example, was almost completely shut down, while in Portland and LA they effectively blocked trucks from approaching the ports."

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Occupy activists aim to shut down US ports

 
A BID to block the West Coast ports of the USA is being launched by Occupy activists on Monday December 12.

Says the West Coast Ports Blockade site: "The ports play a pivotal role in the flow and growth of capital for the 1% in this country and internationally.  

"For that reason alone it is the ideal place to disrupt their profit machine. The workers on these ports have always understood that; they have consistently staged shutdowns for political reasons, honored community picket lines, and led the labor movement.  

"A general disruption of commerce, in protest of the nationally coordinated attacks on Occupy movements alone is warranted, but additionally, the specifically targeted attacks on workers at these ports by the 1% further necessitate this call to action."

Adds the Occupy Los Angeles site: "As part of the Dec. 12 Boycott and March for legalization and good jobs, the Occupy movement will protest at one or more facilities belonging to SSA Marine, a shipper owned by Goldman Sachs, with 5 terminals and a warehouse in the Harbor area.   

"SSA Marine was recently fined for building an illegal road to the site of its massive, dirty coal terminal project in WA. It was also caught recently not alerting workers to the threat of explosive cargo in Oakland. 

"SSA/Goldman Sachs symbolize the ruin that corporate greed has brought into our lives. The 1% are depriving port truck drivers and other workers of decent pay, working conditions and the right to organize, even while the port of LA/LB is the largest in the US and a huge engine of profits for the 1%. 

"The 1% have pursued a conscious policy of de-industrialization that has resulted in 'trade' at the port meaning that there are 7 containers coming in for every one going out. The 1% have driven migrant workers into a 'grey market' economy and repression. 

"The 1% use police brutality and repression, jails and prisons to suppress, divide and try to silence the 99% and all who oppose their insatiable greed. To put an end to all that, we call on the 99% to march, boycott, occupy the ports, and STRIKE." 

For latest news, the Twitter hashtag is #occupytheports 

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Occupy movement reclaims homes from banks

OCCUPY activists in the USA have moved forward into a new terrain of social war by reclaiming repossessed homes for families.

Announced the Occupy Our Homes site on Wednesday: "A housing system that only serves Wall Street banks and the 1% hasn’t worked. Yesterday the 99% stepped up and said, 'We are reclaiming our homes.' The banks have heard this message loud and clear.

"From Southgate, Michigan to South Gate, California, from East New York to the steps of the Fulton County Courthouse in Georgia, members of the 99% took action to Occupy Homes.

"The banks noticed - Bank of America warned their employees nationwide about the 99% standing up for their homes. Banks came to the negotiating table with home occupiers in West Oakland, Seattle, and San Jose. Foreclosure auctions were blocked in Georgia and California, stopping the sale of dozens of homes.

"The media noticed - major programs like Rachel Maddow, Ed Schultz, and Keith Olbermann highlighted stories from Occupy Our Homes, along with hundreds of other outlets.

"And perhaps most importantly of all, homeowners and people fighting for housing around the country noticed. Local communities and 99% movement participants have committed to escalating this movement to Occupy Homes because everyone deserves a home — and to stop the bailed-out and fraudulent big banks that are stealing our homes.

"The movement to Occupy Our Homes got this kind of attention by taking action for forty homes and 5,000 activists. Imagine how the country will respond if we occupy 1,000 homes and 200,000 people taking action.

"Please keep taking action, keep occupying and bringing the fight for our homes and our neighborhoods to the banks."

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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/

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

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.