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Category Archives: Activism
If there’s no justice, there’s escrache!
From Wikipedia:
Escrache is the name given in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Spain to a type of demonstration in which a group of activists go to the homes or workplaces of those whom they want to condemn and publicly humiliate in order to influence decision makers and governments into a certain course of action. This term was born in Argentina in 1995 and has since spread to other Spanish-speaking countries.
In Chile these actions are known as funa. In Peru they are known as roche and are often signed “El roche”.
The word was coined for political usage in 1995 by the human rights group HIJOS, to condemn the genocides committed by members of the PROCESO who were pardoned by Carlos Menem.
By 2013, the term was in wide use in Spain, to define the direct action protests of the Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca.
Origin of the term
The lunfardo term “escracho” has been used for some time in Río de la Plata. It was mentioned by Benigno B. Lugones in 1879 referring to a scam in which a lottery ticket supposedly naming the victim is presented to them and they are asked to pay to receive it, for an amount which is inferior to the amount they have “won” in the lottery. Escrache might also have come from the Genoese synonym for a photo “scraccé”, “scraccé” also passed to mean make a portrait, or more recently to smash someone’s face in. Another proposed origin is the English to scratch (the tickets used in the lottery scam were scratched to modify the number) or the Italian scaracio meaning spit.
The term came into wider use in 1995 by the human rights group HIJOS, when Carlos Menem pardoned members of the Proceso de Reorganización Nacional who were accused of human rights violations and genocide. Using chants, music, graffiti, banners, throwing eggs, street theater, etc., they inform neighbors of the presence of criminals in the neighborhood.
From NewTactics.org:
What we can learn from this tactic:
When perpetrators of abuse are granted impunity, whether by law or de facto, they may go on to lead relatively anonymous lives — sometimes in the same communities as their victims. A group in Argentina decided that, even if perpetrators cannot be prosecuted through the courts, they can be revealed — or “unmasked” — to the general public.
Even though amnesty laws have made it difficult to prosecute some perpetrators, H.I.J.O.S. bypasses political and legal systems to encourage a kind of social ostracism, while making use of humor, theater and other creative demonstrations.
This tactic has some serious risks. People adopting this tactic must be certain that they are targeting the right people and that the demonstrations are not used for other political purposes. Organizers of large demonstrations around emotional subjects must have mechanisms in place to prevent the events from degenerating into violence.
Handy chart for conspiracy theorists (with new Boston Bombing updates)
By Russ Baker
Originally posted at WhoWhatWhy
Lazy and imitative journalists and academics like to bandy around the term “conspiracy theory.” It is a one-size-fits-all putdown. But those who are unafraid of the real world know that conspiracies happen, and not only on House of Cards.
Conspiracies are prosecuted every day in courthouses throughout the land. As for outfits like the FBI and the CIA, journalism’s job is to continuously forget all the abuses and outright illegalities perpetrated over the years by these institutions, and to treat their claims with respect and trust.
The use of “conspiracy theory” is highly selective. When powerless people say that the CIA is doing something like illegally entering others’ computers, they are conspiracy theorists. But when Senator Dianne Feinstein, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, says it, she’s…well, a senator condemning an illegal act by the Central Intelligence Agency.
***
Sometime back, we ran a piece here in response to an op-ed in the New York Times that poked fun at those of us who don’t trust everything the authorities say about the Boston Marathon bombing. (We’ve had a few more things to say on that subject, such as this and this.)
Now, we’re pleased to present a little graphic that our friends at SwayWhat put together to illustrate a point: 63 percent of Americans believe at least one thing that someone else has labeled a “conspiracy theory.” The question always is, who’s doing the labeling? Anything involving more than one person committing a crime and conspiring in secret to do it is a conspiracy. Therefore, anyone who posits that 19 hijackers were behind the 9/11 attack is in fact a “conspiracy theorist.”
Of course, what exercises The New York Times most is when ordinary citizens smell a conspiracy in some kind of governmental cover-up which the mainstream media has failed to explore. Despite evidence of previous U.S. government involvement in conspiracies and cover-ups galore (from Watergate to Iran-Contra), the mainstream media is predictably shocked when someone suggests it might be happening again.
Enjoy.
Editor’s note: Check out Russ Baker’s site for an excellent two part expose on newly uncovered anomalies surrounding the Boston Bombing cover up:
Boston Bomber Carjacking Unravels. Part 1 of 2
Something Dead Wrong Here: Investigating the Mysterious and Central Character, “Danny.” Part 2 of 2
Public Banking: Funding the New Economy
The most recent episode of “Guns and Butter” featured a compilation of highlights from a conference on public banking in San Rafael, California. Though it was held last year it’s worth a listen and will probably become more relevant in the future. You can listen to the whole show here:
http://archives.kpfa.org/data/20140312-Wed1300.mp3
The following are two of the speeches on the program posted as videos. The first, featuring Jim Hogue, has sound problems in the beginning but is greatly improved about three minutes in. The second clip features Charlie Eaton who discusses how bankers profit off colleges while screwing over students and taxpayers.
Though she wasn’t featured on Guns and Butter, student activist Victoria Grant presented this short but concise speech breaking down the relationship between banks, corporations and governments and how they facilitate corrupt policies.
This Is The Reality Of It: “We Are Factually In A Recession. Period.”
By Max Slavo
Originally posted at SHTFplan.com
We can cite scores of statistics and financials that prove without a shadow of a doubt that the U.S. economy is in a tail spin and won’t be recovering any time soon. Abysmal home sales, continued degradation in the national employment numbers, sky rocketing national debt, and ever rising consumer prices all point to serious problems.
But one number in particular pretty much sums it all up. It depicts not just the worsening state of our economy, but puts the lies and machinations of the U.S. government on full display for the world to see.
You’ll often hear the media cite the U.S. Growth Domestic Product (GDP) as a measure of economic growth. It measures the rate at which our economy grows.
In 2013, for example, our GDP was $17.08 trillion, up from the previous year’s $16.42 trillion. So, all of the goods and services sold throughout the United States (essentially, all of the money spent by Americans) rose about $661 billion dollars year-over-year.
Most people might look at the number, see 4% growth, and say it’s a no-brainer. How can the economy not be growing if the GDP rose?
The answer is simple. And when you look at it from the perspective Karl Denninger of the Market Ticker outlines below, you can’t help but realize that you’ve been purposely duped into believing that things are getting better. Just the opposite is true.
When looking at GDP you absolutely must account for the manufactured credit infused into the system during this same time period. When you do you’ll see just why the economy is not growing in any way, shape or form.
It is, in fact, contracting.
However, The Federal Reserve added $1.112 trillion in credit (unbacked by anything) during the same period of time; that’s a debasement of the units in which GDP is reported of 6.51%.
So the real change in the economy is in fact negative 2.51%.
We are factually in a recession.
Period.
There can be no progress economically or politically until the lies are stopped. These are not mistakes; both the hosts and guest are fully-aware of The Fed’s balance sheet.
That extra trillion dollars slammed into the system by The Fed pretty much wipes out any growth noted by the Federal government’s statistics, because we never actually earned that money. It’s debt. Not growth!
Incidentally, the other oft cited measure of economic health is the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which currently sits around record all-time highs of 16,000 points, is likewise benefiting from this illusion. Guess where that stock market “growth” came from? Yes, the very same credit being used to prop up the economy (that $85 billion or so in Fed Treasury purchases every month) is also keeping stocks at record highs.
Back on Main Street, where most Americans live, we’re feeling the effects. Do we need to mention that the Patient Affordable Care Act has just forced working Americans to spend up to quadruple on their monthly premiums? Or that millions of Americans who are unemployed and no longer counted in the official statistics have absolutely no income whatsoever because their unemployment insurance has run out? Or that the price of everything from food and energy to rent and clothing is rising?
That kind of thing tends to happen when you debase your currency.
Last week famed contrarian economist John Williams noted that the economy gave a powerful recessionary signal in January that had not been seen since right before the market crash in 2007. Furthermore, one of the leading economic indicators of a recessionary environment is the price of copper because it is so closely associated with global growth. It has dropped significantly in recent months and it could well be signaling a coming crash in stocks just as it did in 2008.
When, not if, this thing buckles again we’re going to be in for an unprecedented period in U.S. history.
The system was on the brink of total collapse in 2008, as evidenced by Representative Brad Sherman on the House floor:
Many of us were told in private conversations that if we voted against this bill on Monday, that the sky would fall, the market would drop two or three thousands points the first day, another couple thousand the second day, and a few members were even told that there would be martial law in America if we voted no.
House Representative Brad Sherman (D-California)
Debate on the House Floor, October 2, 2008
They’ve used up all of the tricks in their magic hat. One misstep here and we’re going down. Any number of domestic or geo-political events could trigger a meltdown in U.S. stock markets and send the broader economy crashing.
Promoting Critical Thought Through Comedy
What Caused a Cluster of Rare Birth Defects in Washington State?
Last month, NBC and a number of other corporate news sites reported on cluster of extremely rare and severe birth defects in Yakima, Benton and Franklin counties in Washington State. The reports stated there have been over two dozen cases of anencephaly (a condition which blocks the development of parts of the brain and skull) and spina bifida (a related condition in which the neural tube fails to close properly). The national average rate of anencephaly is 2.1 per 10,000. In Yakima, Benton and Franklin counties between 2010 and 2013 the average was 8.4 per 10,000.
In the NBC coverage of the story, the reporter quoted CDC health scientist Jim Kucik, who claimed “A group of birth defects can appear to be related, when it’s actually just coincidence”. Other possibilities mentioned in the article included: lack of folic acid, complications related to obesity and diabetes, and exposure to fumonisins, grain molds and/or pesticides. Surprisingly, and suspiciously (especially for NBC which is partly owned by GE, a nuclear power manufacturer), there was no mention made of the fact that anencephaly was one of the most common birth defects among the offspring of radiation-poisoned survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bomb explosions (see: Radiation Effects Research Foundation), and that the Yakima-Benton-Franklin Tri-Cities area happens to be near the Hanford Nuclear Plant.
In 2012 it was revealed that a giant double-walled storage tank containing radioactive materials was leaking. Exactly how much radioactive waste was released into the environment and for how long was never clarified. A more recent AP article analyzed (possibly leaked) new documents that showed “…subsequent surveys of the other double-walled tanks performed for the U.S. Department of Energy by one of its Hanford contractors found at least six shared defects with the leaking tank that could lead to future leaks”. Similar concerns about the storage of nuclear waste and the threat of leaks arose last month in New Mexico when 17 workers at an underground nuclear dump in New Mexico were exposed to radiation. But the situation at Hanford is particularly serious because it stores about two-thirds of the nation’s high-level radioactive waste. Authorities are so concerned about information about its dangers getting out, at least two Hanford whistleblowers have recently been fired.
If the birth defects are in fact a result of radioactive groundwater contamination from Hanford, it wouldn’t be the first time residents living near the plant have been poisoned. In December of 1949 they were exposed to between 7,000 and 12,000 curies of airborne iodine-131 during Operation Green Run (see: Toxipedia.org). The result was numerous cases of down-winder residents being afflicted with thyroid disorders, many of whom shared their experiences through public comment letters to the CDC for a thyroid disease study in 1999.
After the Crash 