From The Prague (Berlin, Paris, Milan) Spring :
Two thousand eight was not a change year. Eighteen forty-eight was a change year. A series of liberal revolutions exploded from one end of Europe to the other, toppling governments from France to Hungary to many of the small German and Italian states. The revolts are not well known in the United States, but they rank in the annals of upheaval alongside the American Revolution in 1776, the French Revolution in 1789 and the end of European Communism in 1989 (relatively gentle though that was).
In “1848: Year of Revolution,” a lively, panoramic new history, Mike Rapport describes the uprisings of that year while making clear their modern resonance. The revolutionaries, he argues, were overmatched by near-impossible challenges that sound remarkably familiar today. They had to wrestle with the demons of nationalism, which threatened to drag liberal revolutions down into the muck of ethnic conflict. They had to forge new constitutional orders that could temper violent radicalism. And they had to confront the grinding poverty and social misery of the freshly empowered masses, who had unattainable expectations for economic growth and social equality. The book's descriptions of impoverished serfs and alienated city dwellers could equally well be about peasants in the Chinese countryside and migrant workers in Beijing and Chongqing today.
Rapport, a lecturer in history at the University of Stirling in Scotland, begins by explaining that European order had been frozen since the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, with conservative rule imposed by the great imperial courts. Chief among the absolutists was Klemens von Metternich, Austria's icy chancellor, haunted by memories of the cataclysmic wars after the French Revolution. “In times of crisis,” the loftily paranoid Metternich wrote, monarchs had to show themselves as “fathers invested with all the authority which belongs to heads of families.” The flesh-and-blood emperors were rather less impressive: Czar Nicholas I was a pioneer in creating Russia's brutal secret police, while Austria's “mentally disabled” Emperor Ferdinand was called “Ferdy the Loony” by his subjects.
During a deep economic crisis in the 1840s, the desperate misery of peasants, artisans and the urban poor generated popular rage at the Metternichian system. In the past, nervous governments had censored their press, clamped down on labor unions and froze the middle class and professionals out of politics. When liberals rose up in places like Naples and Piedmont, they were crushed by Austrian forces. Polish nationalists got stomped under Austrian, Prussian and Russian boots; in 1830, a Polish revolt ended with Russia hauling 80,000 Poles off to Siberia in chains.
What were wild demands in 1848 are democratic dogma today: free speech, parliaments, religious liberty, jury trials. But despite such noble goals, the revolutionaries were easily enraptured with violence. The great Italian democrat Giuseppe Mazzini, whom Metternich called the most dangerous man in Europe, believed that “ideas ripen quickly when nourished by the blood of martyrs.”
The insurrections were astonishingly widespread, with different local grievances detonating in sequence across the continent — a virtual European Union of rebellion. They were ignited by a riot in Austrian-ruled Milan, which was followed by a revolution in Sicily. Next, protest marchers in Paris clashed with the municipal guard, prompting riots across the city. The French government had no stomach for the military onslaught necessary to crush the revolt, and King Louis-Philippe helplessly fled to Britain with his queen, assisted by a British vice-consul who provided the royal couple with the alias “Mr. and Mrs. Smith.”
Then German liberals and workers, thrilled by the news from Paris, took to the streets. In Hungary, Lajos Kossuth, a noble turned vehement radical against Austrian domination, thundered for self-government free from “the pestilential air” of Metternich's absolutism. In Vienna itself, troops opened fire on rebellious crowds; the shaken Austrian government allowed a constitution and forced Metternich to resign. Even in reactionary Prussia, where soldiers unleashed artillery against the mutinous citizenry in Berlin's streets, the king had to grant a constitution. The only great powers spared bloody chaos were Britain, where constitutional government and middle-class support were already established, and Russia, where the czar choked off any hint of revolt, radicalizing subsequent generations of revolutionaries.
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Saturday, March 21, 2009
1848: 'A virtual European Union of rebellion'
Bestselling authors expect riots and social unrests in Germany, Europe, USA
Our recent article about the rising global riots threat as follow up to millions of lost jobs and mass poverty led to an impressive storm of discussions in blogs, forums and other parts of the world wide web. Now we repeat our forecast: Europe and the United States will have to invest very much more in their social systems - otherwise the situation on the streets will get out of control. We therefore publish this story again - and hope you will give us a direct feedback this time: Do you think western countries will manage the crisis without social revolution? by Vlad Georgescu and Marita Vollborn
The global financial crisis could lead to an economic meltdown - and to instable democratic structures in the western world. Because governments spend more billions than they possess, the outcome will probably be a massive inflation connected with millions of lost jobs - or even the total collapse. That's why President Barack Obama needed an astronomic 3B-stimulus. But the Big Bailout will probably end as Big Bang: With no changes on the more-growth-more-capital-more financial market power mentality there will be no escape from the crisis. A global monetary reform seems to be the last exit from chaos and before social unrests will inevitably start. Are the US awaiting the next revolution?
Since the existence of America's economy, private consumers have been the backbone of economics. More growth, more money to expend. Quiet simple, for decades. But America's greedy financial system led to a global crisis, threatening democracies in Europe - and maybe even in the US. Governments falling in Island may be unimportant for the rest of the world, while millions of people protesting and burning barricades in France are alarming signs of the democratic erosion.
Barack Obama now starts the fight against the great depression - but many of the crucial statistics the President's men own are to old to be used. The US Census Bureau intends to survey the nation's spending habits, by this delivering fresh data to the President. In January 2009, U.S. Census Bureau field representatives started collecting information about how much Americans spend for groceries, clothing, transportation, housing, health care and other items from a sample of households across the country.
The Consumer Expenditure (CE) Survey program consists of two parts:
* The Interview Survey - Throughout the year, about 43,000 households will be interviewed once every three months over five calendar quarters to obtain data on relatively large expenditures and also for those expenditures that occur on a regular basis (such as rent and utilities).
* The Diary Survey - During the year, another 9,200 households will keep two consecutive one-week diaries of smaller, more frequent purchases that may be difficult for respondents to recall later (such as a fast-food purchase at a drive-through window, a soda or candy bar from a vending machine, or a carton of eggs from the supermarket).
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics then calculates and publishes integrated data from the two surveys — providing a snapshot of our nation's economy and spending habits. Government economists use the survey results to update a “market basket” of goods and services for the Consumer Price Index, our nation's most widely used measure of inflation.
Before the CE interviews begin, households will receive a letter from the Census Bureau director informing them of their selection to participate in the survey. Census Bureau field representatives will visit these households to conduct the interview. The field representative must display an official photo identification before proceeding with the interview. Federal law ensures survey respondents' personal information and answers are kept confidential.
The average annual amount spend for housing for the United States is $16,684, which means a percentage of total expenditures as high as 33.9.
Unfortunatelly, this is not everything the President has to know. "As of February 5, 2009, the total U.S. federal debt was $10.71 trillion, or about $37,703 per capita", explains WIKIPEDIA. The October 2008 bailout bill (H.R.1424) raised the U.S. debt ceiling (i.e. limit on how much money may be borrowed at one time) from $10 trillion to $11.3 trillion. Of this amount, debt held by the public was roughly $6.4 trillion. In 2007, the public debt was 36.8 percent of GDP, with a total debt of 65.5 percent of GDP. And even the CIA Factbook ranked the total percentage as 23rd in the world. In other words: Sooner or later, the United States are going to follow Argentina: A monetary reform would cut the national debt, but also the assets.
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G-20 bracing: "Anarchists by definition won't come and see us," he said
From Police warn of G20 protest scale :
Known activists are planning in an "unprecedented" way ahead of next month's G20 summit in London, the Metropolitan Police have warned.
Cdr Bob Broadhurst, in charge of the policing operation, said anarchists and environmentalists were plotting a series of demonstrations.
Groups active in the late 1990s were re-emerging and forming new alliances to protest at the meeting, he said.
The operation will involve thousands of officers and cost an estimated £7.2m.
World leaders, including US President Barack Obama, will begin to arrive in the UK on 31 March.
The next day campaigners are expected to target the City of London in a series of anti-globalisation and climate change demonstrations.
As the G20 summit begins on 2 April, protests are also planned at the Excel conference centre in Docklands.
Numbers challenge
Cdr Broadhurst said officers from six forces would be involved in a massive security operation before and during the summit.
However, it was difficult to estimate how many protesters would actually turn up on the main day of activity on 1 April.
"Clearly there are some very innovative and clever people and they know our tactics," Cdr Broadhurst said. "They want to stop the City on the Wednesday - that is their avowed intention."
He said it was his aim to "facilitate lawful protest" and he revealed plans for a special demonstration pen near the Excel Centre to accommodate a few hundred protesters.
But while police had worked closely with some campaigners, the plans of other groups were harder to ascertain.
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Meanwhile, indie media are suggesting some interesting travel itineraries:
Smash We Can! NATO summit coming up
It's time to start making plans to travel to the NATO summit in Strasbourg France, here are some links
The resistance against the NATO summit starts with the opening of the camp on the 1st of April which is also the Action day against "European security architecture". The main events take place on the 3rd and 4th of April. Friday the 3rd will see blockades against the opening banquet of the NATO summit whilst Saturday the 4th will be a day of more blockades in Strasbourg and a massdemonstration.
here's a bunch of links for further info:
http://natogipfel2009.blogsport.de/
http://www.dissent.fr
http://village09.blogsport.de/
http://www.wombles.org.uk/article2008041751.php
http://publish.indymedia.org.uk/media/2009/01//418424.pdf
http://no-to-nato.org
http://gipfelsoli.org
htttp://www.dazwischengehen.org
Home Secretary blatantly ignores unfavorable court decision
The Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, appears to have declared war on the government’s own secret terror court, overruling decisions made by judges in the Special Immigration Appeals Court (SIAC). In what can only be described as an act of executive fiat, two men who attended a hearing at the SIAC were driven away from the court, expecting to return home, as ordered by the SIAC judges, but were, instead, delivered to Belmarsh prison, where they were joined by three other men, who had been seized in raids on their homes.
Journalist and author Andy Worthington notes that the whole operation was clearly planned by the Home Secretary in advance. "Even though she had informed neither the men’s lawyers nor the SIAC judges." The first the lawyers heard about it was when one of the men’s wives rang, inquiring why he had not yet returned home. He adds; "the Home Secretary has acted in a manner that would have pleased King John, in those days before England's nobles forced him to sign the Magna Carta in 1215, establishing for the first time that the king had no right to imprison his subjects except upon the lawful judgment of his peers or the law of the land."
On The Newswire: Jacqui Smith versus Justice Mitting | Home Secretary ignores Court decision, kidnaps bailed men and imprisons them in Belmarsh | Revealed: flawed intelligence exposes the scandal of Belmarsh detainees | Invisible Barriers: Detention without Trial/Social Housing Policy in the UK Today
Previous Features: Hundreds Join Demo for Academic Freedom and Against Deportation | Anger Over "Terror Arrests" at Nottingham University | The Global War of Terror | The Racist 'War on Terror' | Terror profiling nets innocents
Links: National Guantanamo Coalition | Cageprisoners | 100 Days to Close Guantánamo and End Torture | The Campaign against Criminalising Communities | Scotland Against Criminalising Communities (SACC) | Reprieve | Andy Worthington | Indymedia Topic Pages:Terror War | Guantanamo
After the Law Lords’ ruling last week, that Abu Qatada and two Algerians — known only as U and RB — can be deported to Jordan and Algeria, the government petitioned to revoke the bail conditions of U and RB, as well as three other men — known only as Y, Z and VV — but failed to inform their lawyers until Wednesday, and then gagged them, preventing them from discussing the cases until yesterday, when they mounted a challenge at a SIAC hearing in London. An observer noted that the government’s claims that it now had the right to revoke the bail of the five men was “comprehensively trashed” by Dinah Rose QC, representing the men.
More importantly, the SIAC judges ruled that no further action in respect of the men’s cases was to be taken until next week at the earliest, and scheduled a full hearing for next Thursday morning.
" Expecting to return home, as ordered by the SIAC judges, they were, instead, delivered to Belmarsh prison "
However, when the two men who attended the hearing — U and VV — were driven away from the court, expecting to return home, as ordered by the SIAC judges, they were, instead, delivered to Belmarsh prison, where they were joined by the other three men, who had been seized in raids on their homes.
When the SIAC met again today, the men’s lawyers argued that the government was in contempt of court, and expected that Mr. Justice Mitting, the chief judge, wouldn't be too happy to hear that the government behaved as though SIAC’s decisions were irrelevant. In a humiliating defeat for the government, the SIAC judges ruled that all of the men — except U — are to be released from Belmarsh and allowed to return home under previously agreed conditions. It seems the judges’ decision to order four of the five men to be sent home was chosen as an alternative to the lawyers’ recommended course of action: nailing Jacqui Smith for contempt of court and kidnap.
" The lawyers’ recommended course of action: nailing Jacqui Smith for contempt of court and kidnap "
SIAC will now be meeting on Wednesday 4th March to discuss the European Court of Human Rights’ objections to the British government’s use of Special Advocates in closed court sessions, and the rules preventing the Special Advocates from reporting any information whatsoever to either the accused or their lawyers.A hearing to review U’s bail conditions is scheduled for Thursday 5th March, and another hearing, examining the government’s request to revoke all the men’s existing bail conditions and to imprison them in Belmarsh by legal means is scheduled for Wednesday 11th March. Campaigners are calling for people to come along. Hearings start at 9.30 am. SIAC is located at Field House, 15 Bream’s Buildings, London EC4A 1DZ. A map is can be found here (PDF).
~ UK Indymedia ~
Web: http://www.andyworthington.co.uk
Andy is the author of "The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America's Illegal Prison"
(published by Pluto Press and distributed in the US by Macmillan)
http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/the-guantanamo-files/
See the definitive prisoner list here:
http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2009/03/03/guantanamo-the-definitive-prisoner-list/
Israel: Legitimization of land theft
From Haaretz :
The theft of private land and lawless construction, with the authorities' collaboration, have long been routine in the land of the settlers. The scope of these deeds and their seriousness are described extensively in the report on illegal outposts compiled by Talia Sasson, formerly a senior state prosecution attorney. The report was buried almost two years ago.
However, the decision of the Supreme Planning Council (SPC) for Judea and Samaria, which was revealed in Haaretz on Sunday, to legitimize the plan to build the Matityahu East neighborhood in Modi'in Ilit, beyond the Green Line, marks a nadir.
The plan is to legitimize 42 high-rises, which are in various stages of construction, some of them on land allegedly stolen from the villagers of Bil'in. All of the high-rises being built contravene the planning and construction laws. Peace Now and Bil'in's residents petitioned the High Court of Justice two years ago to have construction stopped. The legal counsel of Modi'in Ilit warned in writing of "construction offenses of such colossal proportions, ignoring the law and planning regulations, that words cannot describe [them]."
Following the petition, with the support of the State Prosecution, the High Court ordered a halt to construction and to the neighborhood's occupancy more than a year ago. At that time the prosecution instructed the police to open an investigation into those involved in the affair.
The authorities responsible for enforcing the region's planning and building laws knew what was going on and turned a blind eye. Instead, they recently decided to legitimize it retroactively.
Matityahu East is the latest in a series of such affairs in which the separation barrier, supposedly serving Israel's security needs, is used to annex West Bank territory to expand the settlements. The defense minister is dragging his feet on everything concerning the evacuation of illegal outposts. At the same time, bodies he is responsible for - led by the civil administration - are colluding in land grabbing and legitimizing illegal construction throughout the West Bank.
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image from http://www.spitting-image.net
