'Properly follow proper protocols'

Another great video from The Onion:


Prague's Franz Kafka International Named World's Most Alienating Airport

[ hat tip to 'Whistler' ]

Homeland Security finds appropriate home in...sanitarium!

Home, Sweet, Homeland Security

John Hinckley slept here. Most people remember the psychiatric patient who shocked the nation when he shot President Reagan in 1981. So perhaps it's ironic that the nation's premier defender against terrorist acts, the Homeland Security Department, will be moving in. The National Capital Planning Commission has approved the final master plan for DHS' new headquarters at the site of the former Saint Elizabeths Hospital in Southeast Washington.

The blueprint for redeveloping the former psychiatric facility into a secure site includes 4.5 million square feet of office space and 1.5 million square feet of parking. The campus, expected to be complete in the next eight years, will be home to 14,000 of the department's 26,000 DHS employees, beginning with the U.S. Coast Guard. The Transportation Security Administration, Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency will follow in phases.

Saint Elizabeths, built in 1855, was the first federally operated institution for the mentally ill. The plan seeks to maintain the site's historic character and reuse many of the existing buildings. The planning commission's approval is contingent on several factors, such as construction of an access road by the General Services Administration.

- Elizabeth Newell

And a tune to go with this (thanks to Psychedelic Tourist) :

Metallica - Welcome home (Sanitarium)



[ many thanks to 'Evil T' ]

Turley: Cheney war crimes probe would be 'shortest in history'

David Edwards and Stephen C. Webster report for The Raw Story :

If Obama would step out of the way and allow prosecutors to look at evidence of alleged Bush administration war crimes, "it would be the shortest investigation in history," Turley said on a Monday episode of MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show.

President Obama, appearing Sunday on the CBS news program, said the former vice president's policies on the treatment of prisoners captured in President Bush's terror war are "unsustainable" and had caused "incredible damage to our image and position in the world."

"The reason Obama seems very irritated by it is that he is responsible for the conversation," said Turley, a constitutional scholar and George Washington University professor. "Because he's the one that is blocking a criminal investigation of Vice President Cheney and President Bush and other Bush officials. It is like a bank robber calling up and asking him to debate bank robbery."

It was only Dec. 15 when the former vice president admitted he approved the interrogation tactics which many, including the international Red Cross, have called torture.

Even Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) called Cheney out for his remarks.

"When the Vice President of the United States says that he believes ... waterboarding is 'appropriate,' there is no other conclusion that I can reach other than I know it's a form of torture," said Sen. Levin. "It's been acknowledged as a form of torture I think since the Inquisition."

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was the first top-ranking Bush administration official to admit that discussions on the techniques took place in 2002 and 2003.

"These are not just our values," said Turley. "They are the law."

~ more... ~

The causes and meanings of Greece’s mass social uprising

Sunday, March 22 2009

By Georgios Stasinopoulos
The Politic

As I walked up Ermou Street, the commercial center of Athens, the city seemed to have regained its vibrant life. People of all ages were out on the street, enjoying the Athenian holidays. Yet in the corner of the street, a couple members of the police force who had served to diffuse the riots of the recent weeks were still patrolling. As I left Ermou Street and reached Syntagma Square, the Christmas spirit was visible. Families with their children were waiting to take pictures in front of the replacement Christmas tree in the middle of the square. Next to the tree, several more policemen were standing guard. After the shocking events of the previous weeks, the police had taken strict measures to avoid the sight of a Christmas tree burning again. I proceeded toward Omonia Square, and in the notorious Exarchia area the remnants of mayhem were more noticeable. Broken store windows, buildings under reconstruction, announcements hanging on doorways notifying customers that the shops are closed due to fire damage—these are some of the signs of the recent turmoil.

Perhaps the picture described above perhaps contradicts what the average person thinks of Athens and Greece. What made the birthplace of democracy—a technologically modern country with European Union membership and a relatively stable economy—appear like a country mired in a civil war?

It all started on the night of December 6, 2008 when a police officer shot and killed a fifteen-year-old high school student in the district of Exarchia in downtown Athens. Although the precise details of the incident are still under investigation, the public was shocked by the brutality of it; violence erupted almost immediately. Anarchist groups who use Exarchia as their home base started attacking police stations, razing cars and stores. When the sun rose the next morning, Athens was still smoking. There were reports of overnight violence from other Greek cities. The Greek people, traditionally lenient toward the anarchists and their demonstrations, were left bewildered. Meanwhile, the Greek youth rapidly started organizing themselves using the Internet and their cell phones—the unjust killing of the fifteen-year-old student incited both fear and outrage.

During the next weeks, thousands of students abandoned their classrooms and started demonstrating. Middle school and high school students from all over the country blocked the streets in front of their schools and marched toward the local police stations. College students took over their universities and started protesting. For many days, the Police Headquarters, the Ministry of Education, and the Parliament were under siege by angry students. The parents were booing and hissing when the police showed up and the teachers joined their students in the demonstrations. When night fell and the students dispersed, hooded men, called the anarchists or the “known-unknown,” started rioting and looting. The public was troubled; there was not only hatred of the violent police and the incompetent government response but also anger toward the anarchists that took advantage of their protests in order to cause mayhem.

Nevertheless, the demonstrations and the riots carried on while the rest of the world viewed what was happening in Greece with increased concern. When demonstrations started sparking around Europe, the media began to realize that the murder of a student—Alexandros Grigoropoulos—was what triggered the eruption of a massive social uprising against deeply rooted societal problems. In the case of Greece, the murder was what pried open the floodgates of the youths' frustration and the uncertainty about their futures. Amid the critical economic crisis that afflicts the nation, Greece is riddled with massive corruption scandals. Government ministers were forced to resign because of these revelations, and even the Church was heavily involved in the corruption incidents. People were steadily losing faith in the political system of the country.

The students, however, had even more reasons to be outraged. There are serious problems that have yet to be tackled. The government reforms have failed to alter a poor educational system based heavily on memorization, with low-quality public schools and an extremely competitive university placement system that requires the costly attendance of night private schools. At the same time the universities suffer from political corruption, strikes, inadequate state funding, and incompetent administration. After graduation, young professionals are increasingly finding only low-wage jobs, while many face unemployment. There exist two ways for a young and ambitious university graduate to find a good job in Greece: knowing the right people or bribing the right people. The acclaimed Greek writer Nikos Dimou flatly lists the main causes of the uprising: “the unprecedented delay in the modernization of the country, the segregation of the young people, the 'ancient' educational system, the authoritarianism, the iniquity and the incompetence of the state, and the lack of impunity.”

The situation is more than chaotic. In the field of politics, the two main parties—the center-right New Democracy and the center-left PASOK—have lost public support and respect. The people, by and large, have lost trust in the capabilities and character of most politicians. The left-wing party SYRIZA (The Radical Coalition of the Left), which enjoys substantial student support, was accused of fueling the riots. Moreover, the Greek economy is on the edge of monetary and fiscal collapse; the tourism industry, one of the primary pillars of the Greek economy, has been severely damaged by the riots. Greek society seems to have lost its unity as social tensions flare up with increasing frequency. In essence, the very fabric of Greek society is on the brink of disintegration—trapped in apathy and indifference.

What can be concluded from Greece's example? Is the situation in Greece a new trend that threatens to expand, or a well-hidden illness common to Western nations? One thing is sure: what happened in Greece surely has frightened the governments of numerous European countries. For instance, French President Nicholas Sarkozy withdrew an educational reform proposal because he was afraid that it might trigger social turmoil and demonstrations by the youth. Many governments face regular demonstrations concerning the ongoing economic crisis. Thousands of miles from Athens in Oakland, California, civil strife erupted after an African-American was fatally shot by a police officer.

Perhaps our world is entering a new era in which many social groups, fed up by the long-suffered inequalities and illnesses of their societies, will more eagerly resort to demonstrations and violent acts of protest. Greece might be the first victim of this new trend. There are countless countries, with equally deep societal issues and special circumstances, that could be next. What is the solution to this looming crisis, and more importantly, does any solution exist? Greece now confronts a deadlock, albeit a temporary one. The Greek government, if it wants to banish the demons of civil unrest, must give the people more channels by which to express their opinions. The era of the voter-citizen seems to be failing, and the need for a more direct democracy is becoming apparent. Perhaps this is the message that the birthplace of democracy sends to the rest of the world. The frustration and the passion of the people should not be fiercely constrained but should be creatively used for the sake of the society. Until then, policemen will still have to guard Christmas trees and stores from the aggravation of the masses.

Georgios Stasinopoulos is a freshman in Calhoun College.

http://thepolitic.org/content/view/152/39/

~ Infoshop News ~

Protesters clash with riot police during insurgent prisoner's trial in Larissa

Submitted by taxikipali on Mar 23 2009

Clashes erupted between protesters in solidarity to V. Pallis in the greek city of Larissa during his trial over the prison uprising in Malandrino in April 2007.

Clashes erupted on Monday 23/3 between protesters and riot police during the disciplinary trial of Vagelis Pallis, a veteran prison activist and symbol of the prison abolition struggle in Greece who was tried for his role in the uprising at the prison of Trikala in April 2007. The uprising which began at special security prison of Malandrino and spread to all greek prisons at the time, and was met by ruthless repression, was ignited after guards brutalised the anarchist prisoner Yannis Dimitrakis. Pallis defended himself citing that at Trikala the 10 square meter cells house over 48 inmates although they are meant for only 16. Although guards verified this testimony, the court ruled a three year penalty for Pallis, infuriating the solidarity protesters.

During the clashes that erupted between protesters in solidarity to the prison activist and riot police forces two protesters were seriously injured and hospitalised. The riot police attacked the demo outside the courts and the fighting spread into the center of the city where many protesters sought refuge in the Medical School premises. Despite threats to lift the academic asylum, the protesters were allowed to leave after several hours of siege. There have been 9 detentions but no arrests.

~ libcom.org ~