As usual they twist and turn things to suit their agenda-pu$hing purposes (with a side of elite insults if you like that sort of thing).
"Workers around the world protest conditions" by Mehmet Guzel and Suzan Fraser | Associated Press, May 02, 2013
ISTANBUL — Workers around the world united in anger during May Day rallies Wednesday — from fury in Europe over austerity measures that have cut wages, reduced benefits, and eliminated many jobs, to rage in Asia over relentlessly low pay, the rising cost of living, and hideous working conditions that have left hundreds dead in recent months.
They have good reason to be angry. The money masters, the war profiteers, multinational corporations, the wealthy elite, and their political slaves have partied on their backs long enough.
In protests, strikes, and other demonstrations, activists lashed out at political and business leaders they allege have ignored workers’ voices or enriched themselves at the expense of laborers. In some places, the demonstrations turned violent, with activists clashing with police.
Many nations have struggled with economic downturns for several years, and workplace disasters in developing countries are not new, but the intensity of Wednesday’s gatherings suggested workers’ frustrations have grown acute, with many demanding action to address their concerns.
The anger was painfully evident in Bangladesh, where the collapse last week of an illegally built eight-story facility housing garment factories killed more than 400 in a suburb of Dhaka. The collapse followed a garment factory fire in November that killed 112 people, and has increased pressure on the global garment industry to improve working conditions.
Related: Francis Makes Me Feel Better About Bangladesh
Globe made me feel worse by ignoring it today.
In Greece and Spain, increasing numbers are losing jobs. Both countries have unemployment over 27 percent.
Unions in Greece held a May Day strike that brought ferry and train service to a halt, and peaceful protest marches through central Athens.
While the austerity drive has succeeded in reducing budget deficits, it has been at a huge cost: under the terms of its latest loan disbursement, Athens has agreed to sack about 15,000 civil servants through 2014.
‘‘We are here to send a message to ... those in power in Europe, that we will continue our struggle against unfair, open-ended policies that are destroying millions of jobs on a national and European level,’’ said Kostas Tsikrikas of Greek public sector labor union ADEDY.
More than 100,000 Spaniards infuriated by austerity measures and recession took to the streets of some 80 cities with the largest protests in Madrid, Barcelona, and Bilbao.
Under banners reading ‘‘Fight for your rights,’’ union leaders Ignacio Fernandez Toxo of Workers Commissions and Candido Mendez of the General Workers Union called on the government to reverse its austerity drive and urged politicians to agree an all-party economic plan to create jobs.
In Indonesia, the fourth-most populous country, tens of thousands of workers rallied for higher pay and other demands.
In the Philippines, an estimated 8,000 workers marched in Manila to also demand better pay and regular more jobs.
More than 10,000 Taiwanese protested a government plan to cut pension payouts.
And in Cambodia, more than 5,000 garment workers marched in Phnom Penh, demanding better working conditions and a salary increase.
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Here it was -- like MLK's birthday being focused on race and not poverty and war -- twisted to meet certain agenda-pushing needs:
"Immigration debate gives life to annual May Day rallies" by Raquel Maria Dillon and Elliot Spagat | Associated Press, May 02, 2013
LOS ANGELES — Demonstrators demanded an overhaul of immigration laws on Wednesday in an annual, nationwide ritual that carried a special sense of urgency as Congress considers sweeping legislation that would bring many of the estimated 11 million people living in the country illegally out of the shadows.
Thousands joined May Day rallies from Concord, N.H., to Los Angeles, where scores of marchers gathered downtown. In Salem, Ore., Governor John Kitzhaber was cheered by about 2,000 people on the Capitol steps as he signed a bill to allow people living in Oregon without proof of legal status to obtain driver’s licenses.
That the protests organized by Obama's political campaign turned political action committee?
In Vermont, more than 1,000 people assembled on the Montpelier State House lawn. And in New York, paper rats on sticks bobbed along Sixth Avenue as about 200 protesters set off from Bryant Park, chanting: ‘‘What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!’’ The rats were intended to symbolize abused migrant workers.
The May Day crowds paled in comparison to the massive demonstrations of 2006 and 2007, during the last serious attempt to introduce major changes to the US immigration system. Despite the large turnouts six years ago, many advocates of looser immigration laws felt they were outmaneuvered by opponents who flooded congressional offices with phone calls and faxes at the behest of conservative talk-radio hosts.
I did, but not at their behest.
Now, immigrant advocacy groups are focusing on calling and writing members of Congress, using social media and other technology to target lawmakers. Reform Immigration for America, a network of groups, claims more than 1.2 million subscribers.
Many of Wednesday’s rallies featured speakers with a personal stake in the debate. Naykary Silva, a 26-year-old Mexican woman in the country illegally, joined about 200 people who marched in Denver , hoping for legislation that would ensure medical care for her 3-year-old autistic son.
Police in New York restrained several demonstrators, but the marches were peaceful. In downtown Seattle, dozens gathered under heavy police presence.
Gabriel Villalobos, a Spanish-language talk radio host in Phoenix, said many of his callers believe it is the wrong time for marches, fearful that any unrest could sour public opinion on immigration reform. Those callers advocate instead for a low-key approach of calling members of Congress.
It's already soured after the Boston false flag, but it was on its way down even before then.
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"Immigration reform is about meeting the economic needs of the United States in the 21st century, from rural labor to Silicon Valley start-ups."
Related: What the Immigration Bill i$ Really About
There is always the military. 'murkn kid.
Also see:
"Framingham votes to verify ESL students" by John Swinconeck | Globe Correspondent, May 03, 2013
After some heated debate, Town Meeting members on Wednesday voted to request that selectmen verify the legal status of participants of the town’s adult English as a Second Language program.
The nonbinding resolution passed by a narrow margin, 51-49, with three abstentions.
Framingham’s Ways and Means Committee Chair Audrey Hall made the motion for the resolution.
She said her committee was concerned that immigrants without documents may be crowding the waiting list for ESL classes, and forcing delays upon immigrants with legal status....
That's what happens when you are a sanctuary state. And who pays for it all?
The ESL program uses federal funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, but there is no requirement under the terms of the grant to make participants furnish proof of their immigration status....
Town Meeting member Robert Snider strongly supported the resolution, stating the ESL courses are a taxpayer-funded program, not a charity.
However, Town Meeting Member Yaakov Z. Cohn decried the resolution as one that attempts to squeeze out illegal immigrants who may be using the ESL program to help become citizens.
At the bottom of every agenda you find a you-know-who.
Lloyd Kaye also opposed the resolution. “I thought that we had learned our lessons from the Civil Rights movement, but we haven’t,” he said....
We get the implications, and race has nothing to with it. It's the illegal part.
Related: Shocking US government leaflet tells Mexican immigrants they can collect food stamp benefits without admitting they're in the country illegally
I feel sorry for legal citizens of the United States, whose taxes are being used to replace them.
“There was concern there was a limited number of slots in the program,” said Hall, after Town Meeting had adjourned for the night.
“It was in such high demand, and we had heard concerns over whether the program was for people with legal alien status versus illegal alien status.”
She continued: “There’s only a limited number of slots, so let’s find out what the rule is. It’s really not a matter of anyone’s opinion. We’re not trying to express an opinion as to who’s entitled to more education to better themselves. We’re just saying, here’s a program that’s funded with federal dollars, and we need to know whether we’re supposed to be giving priority to people who have legal status or not. That’s it.”
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