Egypt's Political Earthquake

"Protesters march in Bahrain, Jordan, Yemen, and Egypt" by Ben Hubbard and Karin Laub, Associated Press / February 26, 2011

CAIRO — Hundreds of thousands left mosques and staged protests across the Arab world yesterday, some trying to shake off autocratic rulers and others pressuring embattled leaders to carry out sweeping reforms.

Huge crowds turned out in Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, and Jordan, but with very different goals.

In Egypt, tens of thousands jammed Cairo’s Tahrir Square to keep pressure on military rulers to carry out reforms.

Demonstrators said they are worried the army is not moving quickly enough on reforms, including repealing emergency laws, releasing political prisoners, and removing members of Mubarak’s regime from power.

Related: Former Mubarak officials arrested

Thousands chanted that they will not leave until Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, one of the Mubarak-era holdovers, is removed from office. Some waved flags of Libya to show support for the uprising next door....  

Related: Getting tougher, Egyptian troops beat protesters  

CUT QUOTE:

"The military apologized Saturday and said the situation "wasn't intentional." In a statement, the ruling military council promised such confrontations would not happen again."  

I'm really having a hard time believing what I'm reading.

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Also see: Egyptian panel seeks more open elections, term limits

Muslim Brotherhood faces internal discord in Egypt

Egypt seizes all Mubarak family funds

Mubarak reportedly in Saudi Arabia

Remember that for later.

"Egyptian prime minister quits post; Had been given job by Mubarak" by Hamza Hendawi, Associated Press / March 4, 2011

CAIRO — The prime minister appointed by ousted President Hosni Mubarak has resigned, Egypt’s military rulers said yesterday, meeting a key demand of the opposition protest movement....  

A military that listens to its people!  Wow!

Mohamed ElBaradei, a leading pro-democracy activist and Noble Peace Prize laureate, welcomed Shafiq’s departure and thanked the military for “listening to the people.’’

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"New prime minister embraced by protesters in Egypt" by Liz Sly and William Wan, Washington Post / March 5, 2011

CAIRO — Egypt’s newly appointed prime minister was greeted by cheering crowds of protesters in Tahrir Square yesterday as the government reportedly set a March 19 date for a referendum on amendments to the constitution.

It was unclear whether the latest moves would be enough to appease the crowds thronging the square, the epicenter of the recent Egyptian uprising.

Oh, the PEACEFUL PROTESTERS must be "appeased," huh?

Many protesters said they planned to keep holding weekly demonstrations until their demands for sweeping changes to the political system are met. Small groups of activists have remained in the square almost continually since President Hosni Mubarak was forced to resign Feb. 11, and there have been major demonstrations every Friday. 

It's the WAY THINGS GET DONE!!  It's called FOLLOWING THROUGH!

But the reception given to Essam Sharaf a day after he was named prime minister by the military council now running Egypt suggested that the tensions that emerged after Mubarak’s ouster may start to ease.   

What tensions?  Mubarak's exit brought everyone together.

Sharaf was carried aloft on the shoulders of the crowd after he made a dramatic appearance in the square, delivering a short speech in which he promised to meet all the protesters’ demands.  

We shall see if he delivers.

Sharaf served briefly in Mubarak’s Cabinet in 2004 but resigned within a year. The resignation, as well as his appearance at an anti-Mubarak rally shortly before the president stepped down, had endeared him to the protest movement.... 

If the Egyptians are happy then so am I.

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Related: Egyptian military shows entrepreneurial side with US funds (By Aram Roston and David Rohde, New York Times)  

Yeah, Egypt is now an enemy.

"Hundreds of protesters staged a rally outside the Interior Ministry in Cairo, which houses offices the hated State Security agency, before it was violently broken up (AP)."

The military said that wouldn't happen again.

"The new Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, a US-educated civil engineer, is expected to help steer the country through reforms and toward free elections."  

Now I'm suspicious of Sharaf!  

And WHO would want to SPOIL the MOOD, huh?

"Egyptian killed in fighting between Christians, Muslims; Violence follows protests over church"  March 9, 2011

CAIRO — Thousands of Christians and Muslims clashed yesterday, with one Christian man killed and scores wounded as anger rose over the burning of a church in a Cairo suburb.  

Why NOW ALL of a SUDDEN -- after they BOTH CAME TOGETHER during the PROTESTS?

Related: Cryptic Attack on Coptic Church

Yeah, and it is ONE REASON I am NO LONGER BUYING the MUSLIM vs. CHRISTIAN crapola from the Zionist War Press of AmeriKa. WHO benefits?

It was the second burst of sectarian fighting in as many days and the latest in a string of violent protests over a variety of topics as simmering unrest continues nearly a month after mass protests led to the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.

The violence erupted after Coptic Christians held protests in several locations in Cairo against perceived persecution by the country’s Muslim majority.

The Christians have been angered by last week’s burning by a Muslim mob of a church in a Cairo suburb. Egypt’s military rulers have since pledged to rebuild the church, and Prime Minister Essam Sharaf met Monday with the protesters outside the TV building.

But the protesters said they wanted more steps to improve the status of Christians.

About 2,000 of them cut off a main road running on the eastern side of the city and pelted motorists with rocks. Another crowd of about 1,000 protested outside the TV building in downtown Cairo. 

Christians being violent?  I'm ashamed.

The group, which included a gathering of garbage collectors, who are predominantly Christian, demanded equal rights and better quality of life. The clashes broke out when they were confronted by Muslims, witnesses said. 

What witnesses?

Related: Egypt's Garbage Dump  

Ah, the good old days under Mubarak, huh?

At least one Christian man was killed and about 100 others wounded in the fighting, according to an Egyptian hospital official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to release the information.

Elsewhere in Cairo, a protest by hundreds of Egyptian women demanding equal rights and an end to sexual harassment turned violent yesterday when crowds of men heckled and shoved the demonstrators, telling them to go home where they belong.  

But no cruise missiles into their living rooms?   

I'm not trying to make light of sexual harassment; however, given the agenda-pushing, war-promoting, Muslim-hating spin machine called the paper why should I take their word for it?

Also yesterday, an Egyptian court rejected an appeal by Mubarak and his family against a top prosecutor’s move to seize funds that could total in the billions of dollars.

The decision clears the way for a criminal investigation and a possible trial of Egypt’s former leader.

Mubarak, his wife, two sons, and their wives have also been banned from travel abroad.  

Then why did the AmeriKan media tell me he was in Saudi Arabia?

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"Clashes between Muslims and Christians left 13 dead and 140 wounded, deepening a sense of chaos as the police and ruling military struggled to maintain order barely a month after a popular uprising ousted longtime leader Hosni Mubarak.

It SADDENS ME to see each group FALL into the TRAP!

The battles went on for hours in Cairo as both sides fought with guns, knives, and clubs.

Army troops fired in the air to try to disperse the crowds to no avail.

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At least the Army is trying:

"Four top security officials were jailed on charges they had ordered police to shoot and kill protesters during the country’s 18-day uprising that ousted longtime leader Hosni Mubarak, the government said yesterday. 

I think Yemen and Bahrain could learn a lesson there!

Rights activists welcomed the move as a step toward ending the culture of impunity in Egypt’s massive security forces.

Just keeping the people happy.

Officials put the number of protesters killed during the uprising at 365, but human rights activists and others have said the figure is much higher.

The four jailed officials are Cairo’s former security chief, the head of the State Security agency, and the heads of General Security and riot police.  

What, no names?

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"Egypt eliminates despised state security unit" by Zeina Karam, Associated Press / March 16, 2011

CAIRO — Egypt’s interior minister yesterday dissolved the country’s widely hated state security agency, accused of torture and other human rights abuses in the suppression of dissent against the nearly 30-year rule of ousted president Hosni Mubarak. 

AmeriKa sent some guys there for that very purpose.

Major General Mansour el-Essawy, the new interior minister and a former Cairo security chief, said in a statement that a new agency in charge of keeping national security and combatting terrorism will be formed.

Dismantling the State Security Investigations agency was a major demand of the protest movement that led an 18-day uprising to oust Mubarak. Since he stepped down Feb. 11, Egyptians have stormed the agency’s main headquarters and other offices, seizing documents to keep them from being destroyed to hide evidence of human rights abuses.

Many protest leaders have said despite the fall of Mubarak and his government, the agency remained active in protecting the old regime and trying to sabotage the democratic transition.  

Now you know WHO is responsible for the VIOLENCE!

Islam Lotfi, a leading youth activist, called the agency’s elimination an excellent move but one that should be followed by other steps to restore the Egyptian people’s sense of trust and security.

Isn't that what governments are supposed to do for their people?

“We want to see public trials for all those accused of torturing or abusing Egyptians, and the Interior Ministry should compensate all those who suffered at the hands of this agency,’’ he said. He said the Interior Ministry should ensure that all state security documents are preserved.

I SECOND THAT MOTION for AmeriKa!

Visiting US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, meanwhile, was pressing Egypt’s transitional leaders to follow through on pledges for democratic reform and, in particular, to ensure respect for human rights....  

Was she blasted, or is this just the standard U.S. hypocrisy leaking from her lips?

Figuring what to do with Egypt’s tainted security agencies has been one of the most contentious issues facing the military rulers who took charge after Mubarak was forced out.

“As much as we are happy that State Security is now dissolved, National Security, the new entity, must be under real judicial supervision,’’ tweeted Wael Ghonim, the Google executive who worked on a Facebook page that rallied hundreds of thousands of Egyptians behind the protests.

In a sign of ongoing chaos, 30 suspects in a detention center in the Nile Delta city of Belbeis escaped yesterday, assisted by relatives and armed men.  

Escaped or were let out?

Remember, Mubarak released thousands of prisoners to take it to protesters before he resigned.

Some 25,000 prisoners, escaped from prisons during the popular uprising. About 13,000 have been recaptured or surrendered voluntarily.

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Related:

"Egypt's Interior Ministry burns as police protest" by Diaa Hadid Associated Press / March 22, 2011

CAIRO—Fire swept the upper floors of Egypt's Interior Ministry building on Tuesday as policemen protested outside to demand higher pay. A security official accused demonstrators of starting the blaze in downtown Cairo....

The security official said protesters lit the fire in the building housing in the ministry's personnel department. It then spread to an adjacent communications building.

One protester who arrived to see fires burning in the two buildings said it couldn't have been started by the crowd because they had no way of entering the heavily guarded compound. He accused workers inside of burning security files and starting the blaze....
 
Yeah, who would want to get rid of those?

About 15 central security trucks cordoned off the complex to prevent demonstrators from storming it. It remained unclear how the fire started.

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Time to vote:

"1st post-Mubarak vote to set pace of Egypt’s shift; Clears path for new president, Parliament" by Mariam Fam, Bloomberg News / March 18, 2011

CAIRO — Backers of the amendments such as the Muslim Brotherhood, banned under Mubarak, say they will help end turmoil that is hurting the economy. Egypt’s stock market has been shut for nearly seven weeks, tourists have stayed away, and factory output has been hit by strikes.

Those against the amendments instead advocate delaying elections and rewriting the constitution from scratch. They say rushing the transition will weaken democracy without bringing stability and will benefit the former ruling party and established forces such as the Brotherhood at the expense of activists who led the popular uprising....

The Muslim Brotherhood endorsed the amendments because they will free the army for duties like guarding national security, and clear the way for reviving the economy, said Khayrat el-Shater, a leading member.

“We want the transitional rule to end quickly so that we can project an image of stability and encourage foreign and local investments to help the economic development that we desperately need,’’ he told reporters in Cairo....  

How radical!!!

Elections may produce a Parliament “dominated by the National Democratic Party and the Muslim Brotherhood’’ if the amendments are approved, said Ziad Elelaimy, a member of the Alliance of the Youths’ Revolution, a coalition of protesting groups campaigning for a ‘no’ vote.

“They are able to organize themselves and prepare for quick elections,’’ he said. “The groups behind the revolution haven’t yet organized themselves.’’  

Then they are the good guys.

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Related: Egypt votes in major test of democracy

Egyptians in Mass. share in historic vote

Egyptian voters approve changes to constitution

I truly wish them the best.  

Egypt is inspiring!

U.S. Silent on Saudi Suppression

They gots lots of oil, right?

"Demands for reform pressure Saudi king" by Associated Press / February 28, 2011

As more than 100 leading Saudi academics and activists urged King Abdullah yesterday to enact sweeping reforms, including setting up a constitutional monarchy, the king ordered that government-sector workers with temporary contracts be given permanent jobs in a move to preempt the unrest that has engulfed other Arab nations.  

They don't sound like "terrorists" to me.

The activists’ statement, seen on several Saudi websites, reflects the undercurrent of tension that has simmered for years in the world’s largest oil producer.

While Abdullah is seen as a reformer, the pace of those reforms has been slow as Saudi officials balance the need to push the country forward with the perennial pressure from hard-line clergy in the conservative nation.

The statement, which was signed by 119 academics, activists, and businessmen, said the kingdom is facing a “prevalence of corruption and nepotism, the exacerbation of factionalism, and a widening in the gap between state and society.’’

They said oil wealth should be better distributed to the people instead of being channeled to expensive projects with few immediate benefits....  

Do I ever understand that feeling!!

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"Demonstrations won’t be tolerated in Saudi Arabia and its security forces will act against anyone taking part in them, the Interior Ministry said yesterday.

The warning was issued a day after about 100 members of the Shi’ite minority staged a protest in an eastern region of the kingdom (AP)."

I'm waiting for U.S. reaction.

"Nearly 200 Shi’ites chanting “We want freedom!’’ protested in Saudi Arabia’s eastern province yesterday, even as the foreign minister warned that the oil-rich nation will take strong action if activists take to the streets.  

I'm sure Obama is warming up those vocal cords in support.

The gathering in Qatif by members of the country’s Shi’ite Muslim minority is a smaller version of a planned “Day of Rage’’ tomorrow to demand the Saudi regime’s ouster.

The government, which is working to quell the unrest, accuses Shi’ites from outside the country of spurring the protests.

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"Saudi police fire on Shi’ite protest; Kingdom keeps a wary eye on civil unrest" by Associated Press / March 11, 2011

Saudi police opened fire yesterday to disperse a protest in a part of the country where minority Shi’ites live, leaving at least one man injured, as the government toughened its efforts to prevent a wave of unrest sweeping the Arab world from reaching the kingdom.

The violence raised concern about a crackdown ahead of planned protests after Friday prayers in different cities throughout the oil-rich kingdom. Violence there could reverberate through the world’s markets because of the importance of Saudi oil exports.

And why we get not a word from the U.S. government.

Discord is common between authorities, and the country’s Shi’ites, who make up 10 percent of the kingdom’s 23 million citizens. They have long complained of discrimination, saying they are barred from key positions in the military and government and are not given an equal share of the country’s wealth.

As discontent rises across the Middle East and North Africa, Saudi authorities are increasingly determined to prevent the unrest from spreading to other cities.

Saudi security forces have deployed around the capital of Riyadh on the eve of planned protests calling for democratic reforms.

Witnesses reported seeing riot police and special forces with batons and tear gas canisters yesterday, particularly around shopping malls and main roads.

The pro-Western monarchy is concerned protests could open footholds for Shi’ite powerhouse Iran and has accused foreigners of stoking the protests, which are officially forbidden.  

Am I EVER SICK of the Zionist War Paper and its Propaganda!

Despite the ban and a warning that security forces will act against them, protesters demanding the release of political prisoners took to the streets for a second day in the city of Qatif. 

I applaud them, and may Allah watch over them.

Several hundred protesters, some wearing masks to avoid being identified, marched after dark asking for “Freedom for prisoners.’’

Police, who were lined up opposite the protesters, fired percussion bombs followed by gunfire, causing the crowd to scatter, a witness said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of government retaliation.

The witness said at least one protester was injured and lifted by others to a car for treatment. It was not clear how the protester was hurt.

A resident said the Saudi authorities also beat some protesters with clubs. The resident said up to 12 protesters were injured, and some were arrested at the local hospital.

It was not possible to verify this information independently. 

Translation: They checked with Israel and they said they knew nothing about it.

Videos dated yesterday and posted on social websites showed what appeared to be shooting. Crowds, of mostly men with a few children, were gathered in a small street, separated by an empty plot from the apparent source of fire. Occasional bursts of gunfire can be heard on the videos. The crowd was shouting “Peaceful, peaceful.’’ 

I'm getting the feeling governments do not know the meaning of that word.

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"Saudi Arabian police block protests in capital" by Associated Press / March 12, 2011

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Several hundred people protested in at least four locations in Shi’ite-dominated eastern Saudi Arabia yesterday, but hundreds of police in the country’s capital prevented rallies calling for democratic reforms.  

Certainly Obama has said something by now.

Police blocked roads and set up random checkpoints in Riyadh, searching residents and vehicles around a central mosque as large numbers of people gathered for Friday prayers, after Saudi activists set up online groups calling for protests in the capital.

In the eastern city of Qatif and nearby areas where the country’s minority Shi’ites live, several hundred protesters shouted slogans calling for reforms and equality between Shi’ites and Sunnis. 

Whassat?

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"More than 200 protested outside the Interior Ministry to demand the release of detainees in the largest demonstration in the capital, Riyadh, since the regional outbreak of prodemocracy unrest.

Related: Saudi Streets Silent  

Well, not anymore. I guess the King is behind it now. 

Saudi authorities ban demonstrations and are increasingly determined to prevent the wave of unrest sweeping across the Middle East from spreading to the kingdom.

The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin....

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"Saudi demonstrators gathered outside the Interior Ministry yesterday morning, demanding the release of political prisoners held without trial, activists said.

The Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association said police detained about half of the estimated 100 protesters and placed them on buses. Saudi Arabia has witnessed small rallies mainly by the country’s minority Shi’ites in eastern Saudi Arabia. The protesters urged the government to release detainees and showed support for Shi’ite demonstrators in nearby Bahrain.

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If the U.S. government had issued any criticism in my Boston Globe I would have posted it.

Syria's Subversives

That's the way I see these particular protests. 

"Syrian security forces in the southern town of Daraa launched a harsh crackdown on protesters calling for political freedoms, killing at least five people and marking the gravest unrest in years in one of the most repressive states in the Mideast, according to accounts from activists and social media. 

I'm never for people being killed (exempting war criminals and lying looters who have been duly convicted and sentenced).


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"Syrian police sealed off a southern city yesterday, a day after security forces killed at least five protesters there in the first sign that the Arab world’s pro-democracy push is seeping into one of the region’s most repressive places....

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"Police fired live ammunition and tear gas yesterday at thousands of Syrians protesting in a tense southern city for a third consecutive day, killing one person and signaling that unrest in yet another Arab country is taking root, activists said.  

Against a state that Israel doesn't like. How interesting.

Enraged protesters set fire to several local government buildings, according to state media and a witness.

The violence in Daraa, a city of about 300,000 near the border with Jordan, was fast becoming a major challenge for President Bashar Assad, who tried to contain the situation by freeing detainees and promising to fire officials responsible for the violence.

The confrontations began Friday when security troops fired at protesters in Daraa and killed five people.

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How is he doing?

"Syrians chanting “No more fear!’’ held a defiant march yesterday after a deadly government crackdown failed to quash three days of mass protests in a southern city — an extraordinary outpouring in a country that is known for brutally suppressing dissent.

Riot police armed with clubs chased the small group away without casualties, but traces of earlier, larger demonstrations were everywhere: burned-out and looted government buildings, a dozen torched vehicles, an office of the ruling Ba’ath party with its windows knocked out. Protesters also burned an office of the telecommunications company Syriatel, which is owned in part by the president’s cousin.

The unrest in the city of Daraa started Friday after security troops fired at protesters, killing five people. Over the next two days, two more people died and authorities sealed the city, allowing people out but not in, as thousands of enraged protesters set fire to government buildings and demonstrated around the city.

Among the victims was Mundhir Masalmi, an 11-year-old who died Monday after suffering tear gas inhalation a day earlier, an activist said.

Tommy Vietor, a spokesman for the US National Security Council, said yesterday that reports indicate the Syrian government “has used disproportionate force against civilians, and in particular against demonstrators and mourners in Daraa.’’

You mean, the SAME THING WE are doing in Libya (and other places) RIGHT NOW? 

The SAME THING we have done in IRAQ and AFGHANISTAN? 

The SAME THING the U.S. PUPPET DICTATORS IN Yemen and Bahrain are doing? 

Oh, right, Syria an enemy.

Human Rights Watch said Syria should “cease use of live fire and other excessive force against protesters.’’

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"Protest spreads to new southern Syrian village" by Bassem Mroue Associated Press / March 22, 2011 

DAMASCUS, Syria—Protests spread in southern Syria Tuesday as hundreds of people marched to demand reforms in a previously peaceful village, witnesses and activists said. In a nearby city, troops and protesters faced off outside a mosque where demonstrators have taken shelter.

The government sought to contain the first serious intrusion of the Arab world's political unrest by firing the governor of the southern province of Daraa, where security forces killed seven protesters in the main city of Daraa over the weekend.

The governor's dismissal failed to quell popular anger and the protests reached the village of Nawa, where hundreds of people marched demanding reforms, an activist told The Associated Press.

The activist said troops were trying to reach the mosque in Daraa's historic center where protesters have sought protection. He said protesters placed large rocks in the streets near the al-Omari mosque to block the troops. Protests also spread Monday to the towns of Jasim and Inkhil near Daraa, witnesses said.   

Maybe they are protesting for freedom.  Maybe they are unwitting tools.  

Whatever they are, I do not trust my agenda-pushing war-promoting Zionist newspaper to tell me.


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Jordan Wants to Keep King

You can have him.

"Protesters march in Bahrain, Jordan, Yemen, and Egypt" by Ben Hubbard and Karin Laub, Associated Press / February 26, 2011

CAIRO — Hundreds of thousands left mosques and staged protests across the Arab world yesterday, some trying to shake off autocratic rulers and others pressuring embattled leaders to carry out sweeping reforms.

Huge crowds turned out in Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, and Jordan, but with very different goals.
Jordan

A record crowd turned out yesterday in Jordan, where the country’s largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, has warned that citizens’ patience is wearing thin with the government’s slow moves toward reform.

Hamza Mansour, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, called for quicker steps to give Jordanians a bigger say in politics and to have them elect their prime minister — now selected by King Abdullah II. Mansour spoke to 4,000 Jordanian protesters, the largest crowd to take to the streets of downtown Amman for the pro-reform cause.

The leader of the opposition Islamic Action Front told about 4,000 people gathered yesterday in the capital, Amman, that Jordanians were becoming “impatient with the slow and insufficient steps toward reforms.’’

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"Political opponents amplified their calls yesterday for Jordan’s new prime minister to resign and demanded to be brought into a unity government to usher in swift changes to open up the kingdom’s politics.

Jordanians have held protests every Friday for more than two months to demand a greater political voice and action to reduce swelling poverty and unemployment. The weekly demonstrations have largely been peaceful and have not reached the level of violence seen elsewhere in the region, but tempers are flaring.

Also see: Jordanian Jolt

“Enough is enough, our patience has run out,’’ shouted political independent Sufian Tal, reflecting the views of many among the 2,000 Jordanians who took to the streets of their capital Amman yesterday.

The US-allied King Abdullah II, who has not faced calls for his ouster, but protesters are also demanding that Abdullah give up the power to appoint the prime minister and the rest of the Cabinet (AP)." 

Related: Jordan's King Losing His Grip 

Yeah, he's our guy.

"Thousands of Jordanians took to the streets of the capital yesterday to voice allegiance to King Abdullah II in the biggest show of support for the monarch since opposition protests began calling for him to give up some of his powers. 

The self-serving state getting its people out.

The group of 10,000 loyal subjects was nearly triple the size of the opposition protests....

Yesterday’s demonstrators were a mix of loyal Palestinian subjects and Bedouin tribesmen, who form the bedrock of support for the king. They included 23 lawmakers and 3,000 children.

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Oh My, Oman!

"Omani security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters demanding political reforms, killing at least one person in the strategic Persian Gulf country. The clashes marked a significant escalation in two days of protests in Oman and showed the unrest is spreading farther across the region."

"Protesters set a supermarket ablaze and rallied at two places in the seaside town of Sohar yesterday in a third straight day of unrest, including deadly clashes in the strategic Gulf nation.

Security forces sealed off main roads to Sohar, about 120 miles northwest of the capital of Muscat, in an attempt to isolate the protesters and keep crowds from swelling.

Witnesses said several hundred protesters — mostly young men — were rallying in the town’s main square, demanding higher salaries, jobs for unemployed youth, and the dismissal of some government ministers.

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"Troops were deployed north of the capital, Muscat, and near the border with the United Arab Emirates, following three days of antigovernment protests, a government official said.

Oman, ruled by a powerful family dynasty, is the latest Arab nation to be swept up in a wave of regional unrest....

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"Oman’s ruler granted lawmaking powers to officials outside the royal family in the boldest reforms yet aimed at quelling protests for jobs and a greater public role in politics.

The decree by Sultan Qaboos bin Said reflects the scramble to appease demonstrators and head off possible wider unrest in the strategically important nation, which shares control of the waterway that carries 40 percent of the world’s oil tanker traffic.  

And a U.S. ally for now.

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Protests Come to Kuwait

"More than 1,000 protesters called yesterday for sweeping political changes in Kuwait as the surge for reforms around the Arab world moved into another Gulf state. 

Security forces stood by as more demonstrators moved into an area outside a building holding key offices including Kuwait’s emir and the prime minister, who is accused by proreform groups of stifling political freedoms and muzzling dissent.

No violence was reported, but police had earlier blockaded a central square in Kuwait City and forced protesters to a parking lot across from the government building.

--more--"  

Also see: Can't Touch Kuwait

Emiratis Call For Independence

"Activists seek elections in United Arab Emirates" by Associated Press / March 10, 2011

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A group of citizens in the United Arab Emirates petitioned the rulers yesterday to allow a popularly elected Parliament, signaling that demands for leadership overhauls raging across the Middle East have also reached the oil-rich Gulf federation.

Bahrain has been gripped by a three-week uprising, and smaller rallies for greater political freedoms have taken place in Kuwait, Oman, and Saudi Arabia.

There are no official opposition groups in the Emirates, which is a union of seven sheikdoms. Activists who advocate change have until now been largely idle during the region’s unprecedented political unrest.

The petition, signed by 130 proreform supporters, was a sign that Emiratis, too, are now acting on the inspiration by the Egyptian and Tunisian revolts. It demands changes in the ruling system, giving them a say in the running of the country and a share in its oil wealth....

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Tunisian Teens Cause Trouble

Because the people follow their lead:

"Tunisia’s prime minister resigns; Ouster follows new protests" by Bouazza Ben Bouazza, Associated Press / February 28, 2011

TUNIS — The changes occurred amid a groundswell of new unrest in this North African country....

Related: Tracking Tunisia

It was not immediately clear how much the shake-up would mollify the protesters in Tunisia, at a time when the country’s leaders are attempting to rebuild its tourism industry and cope with an influx of Tunisians and others fleeing from violence in neighboring Libya.

The change in the government’s leadership followed renewed street protests. Officials said at least five people have died in violent demonstrations since Friday....

Some Tunisians believe that Ben Ali loyalists in the country have sought to sow discord and discredit the movement that brought the former authoritarian leader down.  

It used to be called COINTELPRO here in AmeriKa.

The Interior Ministry, in a statement on Saturday, blamed “provocateurs’’ for fomenting violence in otherwise peaceful rallies and for allegedly using young people as human shields in renewed demonstrations. 

Yeah, CALL OUT those CONTROLLED-OPPOSITION, CREDIBILITY-DESTROYING PLANTS!

On Saturday, police and troops backed by tanks used tear gas to disperse hundreds of youths protesting against the interim government. Officers were seen chasing some youths through town after the rally ended.

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"Outside Parliament, youths joined large police patrols to help keep the peace in Tunisia’s tense capital after a weekend of protests and clashes with riot police left at least six people dead, opposition leaders said.  

Yeah, firing tear gas on peaceful protesters is considered keeping the peace to the Zionist War Daily.  

Looks like not much has changed for the Tunisians.

Tunis saw no new major demonstrations yesterday.

In nearby Ben Arous, an industrial zone, authorities suspended public schools following weekend violence, the official TAP news agency reported. One person was killed while pillaging stores and several delinquents were arrested, the agency said.

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"A Tunisian Islamist party banned for more than 20 years was legalized yesterday, while the country’s most prominent opposition figure quit the unity government amid renewed uncertainty about where Tunisia is headed.  

Uh-oh.

The Ennahdha party — branded an Islamic terrorist group by Tunisia’s deposed leader but considered moderate by scholars — has rebounded onto the political scene....  

Now I'm suspicious of them.

The party’s activism has fed jitters that extremism may be on the rise in Tunisia, long a Westward-looking nation where women enjoy widespread freedoms, Muslim headscarves are banned in public buildings, and abortions, a deep taboo in most Muslim societies, are legal.  

Here we go again!  When the Zionist War Media starts wailing away on Muslims over their treatment of women, I stop reading. 

The feeling here is that dropping bombs and firing missiles into their homes and villages is way, way worse.

Tunisia’s caretaker government is trying to restore stability after weeks of deadly clashes between police and protesters that led to Ben Ali’s ouster — and sparked revolts across the Arab world.

Tunisia also is struggling with an exodus of refugees fleeing violence and chaos in neighboring Libya. Aid workers at the Libya-Tunisian border, where authorities say up to 75,000 people have fled Libya in just the past nine days, warned that the situation is reaching a crisis. 

I'm SURE IT IS NOW that the U.S. has started TOSSING CRUISE MISSILES AROUND!!!

--more--"

"Protesters have kept up pressure (Bloomberg News)."  

Translation: the people are NOT HAPPY with the CHARADE of CHANGE!

"Tunisia’s new prime minister said yesterday that he will present a new Cabinet in the coming days to help get beyond the renewed bout of violence in the North African country that led his predecessor to quit, and to pull his country back from the abyss (AP)."

"Tunisia sets interim government" by Associated Press / March 8, 2011

TUNIS — Tunisia’s prime minister named a new interim government yesterday and a much-hated police unit was disbanded as the interim leadership of this North African nation seeks to stabilize a country still finding its way after a popular revolt.

Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi kept the heads of the key defense, interior, justice, and foreign affairs ministries, but named new figures to six posts vacated last week. Some ministers who left were seen as too close to the regime of ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Others who resigned hope to run for office and were forced out.

Caid Essebsi reiterated that his priorities are reestablishing security, rebuilding Tunisia’s troubled economy, and bringing life back to normal in the country that has long been a tourist draw for Europeans. “Without security, there is no development and investors won’t come back,’’ he said.

Looks like the Tunisians have been TRICKED!!!

Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry announced on its Facebook page that it has abolished the dreaded State Security Department, whose so-called political police spied on and harassed citizens under Ben Ali.

Its disbanding has been one of the demands of the prodemocracy activists who have kept up the pressure on the interim leadership as it seeks to navigate the country into a new era. The Jan. 14 uprising that ousted Ben Ali in turn sparked revolts around the Arab world.

By making the announcement on Facebook, the ministry was also sending a statement to the protesters. Under Ben Ali, Tunisian authorities suppressed independent media and political dissent, but antigovernment movements mobilized on social networking sites to stage demonstrations in December and January. Many protests turned deadly, as police fired on crowds.
 
Right, a Facebook post made everything fine. 

Gimme a frikkin' break, you agenda-pushing pos.

--more--"

"A court dissolved the party of ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali yesterday and ordered all its assets seized, demolishing a key symbol of his autocratic rule.

Prodemocracy activists cheered in the courtroom and sang the national anthem as the decision was announced to dismantle the Democratic Constitutional Rally.

--more--"

The courts are with the people; how about the cops?

"Clashes between police and demonstrators in a mining town in central Tunisia killed two people and injured 20 yesterday, a new outburst of violence in a country struggling for stability after a revolution that inspired the wave of unrest sweeping the Arab world.

The protest came as a member of the deposed president’s much-hated family was sentenced to prison yesterday, amid efforts by Tunisia’s interim authorities to distance themselves from the regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, forced from power in January. 

Maybe the TUNISIANS could TEACH YOU something, Americans!!! 

--more--"

"Authorities ordered a curfew in a mining town amid simmering unrest after a bout of deadly clashes between police and protesters, the latest sign of Tunisia’s struggle to restore stability after a revolution that deposed an autocratic leader and sparked uprisings in the Arab world.

--more--"

African Protests A to Z

Ones not making as much noise in the newspaper:

Algeria

"Egyptian panel seeks more open elections, term limits" by Sarah El Deeb, Associated Press / February 27, 2011

CAIRO — Hundreds of demonstrators protested in Algeria’s capital yesterday to demand the ouster of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, but police were out in far larger numbers to counter them.

The protest on central Martyrs Square came two days after the government ended a 19-year state of emergency born of Algeria’s bloody Islamic insurgency. The move aimed to ease tensions after weeks of antigovernment strikes and protests.

The demonstration, led by a political opposition party, was far smaller than protests that have brought down autocrats in fellow North African countries of Tunisia or Egypt.

--more--"

"Algerian pro-democracy protesters’ fifth bid in six weeks to march in the capital has been put down by police.

Algeria’s demonstrations have yet to get off the ground.

Yesterday, police put down three separate march bids that also drew demonstrators who turned out in favor of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

A group that had been organizing the protests has split in two, with a political wing, which tried to march yesterday, and a grouping of human rights leaders and unions that has chosen to work more closely with the population (AP)."

Burkina Faso

"Burkina Faso’s government said yesterday that it was closing public universities after weeks of violent protests over the death of a student.

Last week the government closed public schools to curb the demonstrations. In a statement yesterday, it said it was suspending social services allocated to students. It did not say when institutions would reopen.

Two police officers were charged Saturday with beating Justin Zongo, whose death in police custody sparked deadly protests that began last month and have left at least six dead. The government said the student had meningitis, but students say police mistreatment led to his death. They are demanding the government fire top ministers.  

Why are all governments lying PoS?

--more--"

Djibouti

Soldiers and police filled the streets of Djibouti yesterday to prevent a planned demonstration against the president by opposition parties, officials said.

Djibouti, a tiny East African nation that hosts a US military base, saw thousands turn out at an antigovernment demonstration two weeks ago. 

Related: Didja Hear About Djibouti?

Demonstrators said they planned to hold another rally yesterday, but that the government denied them permission and sent security forces into the street.

President Ismail Omar Guelleh has served two terms and faces an election in April, but critics lament changes he made to the constitution last year that scrubbed a two-term limit from the nation’s bylaws. (AP)."

"Monitors ousted in Kenya

 NAIROBI, Kenya — Djibouti’s government has kicked out an American election monitoring group less than a month before the nation’s presidential election, a vote opposition politicians are boycotting because they say the president is repressing dissent.

Djibouti is a tiny East African nation that hosts the only US military base in Africa. Situated on the Gulf of Aden between Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Yemen, the city-state is a major shipping hub in a volatile region.

The country is nominally democratic, but events leading up to the April 8 presidential election appear to show a hard-line approach by President Ismail Omar Guelleh at a time when democracy movements are upending administrations. 

--more--"

Morrocco

"Morocco has so far avoided the persistent unrest that brought down regimes in fellow north African countries Tunisia and Egypt."  

Have they?

Related: Moroccan Masses Take to Streets

(Sigh)  

Zimbabwe

Lawyers for 46 people facing treason charges for allegedly plotting an Egyptian-style uprising in Zimbabwe said yesterday that some members of the group were tortured by police.... 

Were they trained by America?

--more--"  

Whatever happened to that cholera crisis Zimbabwe was suffering?

Skating Through My Unread Boston Globes

Being Miss Ice-O-Rama isn’t what it used to be 

Neither is reading the Boston Globe.

Hacking Away at the Boston Globe

I'm not getting very far, dear readers.

"Curbing ‘hack holidays’ to cost more than $1m" by Michael Levenson, Globe Staff / February 17, 2011

The law, rather than ending a generous benefit, will cost taxpayers more than $1 million this year....  

See what I mean?  Even when they have the best intentions.... who wrote the law?

The reason: while the law says government offices must open on the holidays,  the cities and towns are forced either to give those workers double-time on the holidays, or two paid days off later.

“This is just the last straw that makes it even more difficult to manage in the public sector,’’ said Samuel R. Tyler, president of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, a business-backed budget watchdog group.

But union officials defend the perk.

“I saw it as benefit to make up for the low-paid wages and salaries that folks in my chapter in City Hall were saddled with,’’ said Bruce T. Boccardy, president of Service Employees International Union Local 888, which represents 2,000 municipal employees in Boston. “It was a nice little benefit. The city offered it, and we obviously accepted it. Anybody would accept it. It was common sense.’’

Boston will have to pay $1.53 million this year to keep the doors of its offices open on the holidays, said Dot Joyce, a spokeswoman for Mayor Thomas M. Menino.

In Revere, city officials are bracing for thousands of dollars in additional costs, just to pay one person per department to work in City Hall on the holidays, said Mayor Thomas G. Ambrosino.

“It’s just one additional aggravation on top of the many others we have to deal with,’’ he said.

Jay Gonzalez, Patrick’s budget chief, said the law was not designed as a cost-cutting measure, but to ensure that government offices in Suffolk County would be open to the public on the same days that other government offices are open.

“There is a public perception around the unfairness that government employees in a particular part of the state have paid days off when other people don’t,’’ Gonzalez said. “Symbolically, you can’t justify it.’’

He expressed hope that the law will help local and state officials eliminate the holidays from union contracts.

“Right now, it is not a money-saver but over time, to the extent we, in future contract negotiations, can take these holidays out, it could be,’’ Gonzalez said.  

What could you do with a million dollars? 

How many teaching jobs could we save?

House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo and Senate President Therese Murray agreed, saying in a joint statement yesterday that the Legislature could not eliminate the holidays from union contracts, but “as existing contracts expire, the state will save money.’’

The holidays have proven extraordinarily resilient, withstanding years of public scorn.  

Because of the campaign kickbacks, that's why.

First approved as Suffolk County holidays by Governor Leverett A. Saltonstall in 1941, Evacuation Day, on March 17, commemorates the date in 1776 when British troops ended their occupation of Boston. 

So WHEN is AmeriKa going to END ITS?

Bunker Hill Day, on June 17, marks the bloody Revolutionary War battle near Charlestown.

Supporters in the Legislature have long defended the holidays as cherished reminders of the region’s rich history. 

I no longer cherish wars as reminders; however, people fighting for freedom?  

Yeah.  Only problem is AmeriKa is now the empire and the people we are slaughtering, sacrificing, and subjugating is (sic) us.

But critics have derided them as examples of government excess in an era when many private sector workers have been laid off or seen their wages and benefits slashed....  

Rather than PIT US against EACH OTHER, I'd like to see the WAR LOOT COME HOME and the BANKERS GIVE BACK the $12 TRILLION they used to repay the mortgage security and other frauds.  

Hello?

--more--"

Globe Editorial The state chops ‘hack’ holidays — and ends up paying for it

"Despite law change, ‘hack holiday’ endures" by Peter Schworm and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff / March 18, 2011

Like a St. Patrick’s Day pubgoer at last call, Evacuation Day isn’t quite ready to exit the holiday scene.

While city and state agencies were open for business during yesterday’s Irish-flavored festivities, many for the first time in memory, the belittled holiday still exacted a hefty price.

At the state level, unionized employees who worked will simply receive an alternative paid day off some time within the next two months. In Boston, city officials estimated that staffing the holiday cost taxpayers roughly $750,000. In Revere, a skeleton crew at City Hall pulled in 2 1/2 times their regular pay for the day’s work.

Doing away with the entrenched holiday once and for all, it seems, is as tough as driving British troops out of Boston....  

Or Israelis from Palestine, for that matter. 

Wait a minute; didn't we run the British out in a few years?

The public sector perk, recently a focus of irritation over government waste and entitlement, lives on in union contracts, and many state and city employees who worked yesterday received either a comp day (hello long weekend) or extra pay....   

Also see: The Wisconsin Wedge

I was getting that feeling from the agenda-pushing paper, weren't you?

“It is what it is’’  

The quote of the year.

--more--"   

Of course, there is always the freedom to find other work:

"N.H. scribe’s vile Plan B" by Kevin Cullen, Globe Columnist / March 22, 2011

 

It’s tough to make a living in the newspaper business these days.  

 

That's what happens when you push a supremacist prism and spin all sorts of lies.

 

Every paper has seen its revenue shrink, as classified advertising has moved to the Web, as have a lot of readers. Newsroom jobs and salaries have been cut.   

 

That's why they are putting up walls between us.   

 

Also see: Globe Employees Applaud a Rapist 

 

Kind of getting what they deserve then, huh? 

 

And a lot of newspaper people have had to get second jobs. 

 

Oh, so they are finding out what life is like for the rest of America?

Many teach journalism. Others tend bar, write books, tutor kids, and I know a guy who gives guitar lessons.

All pretty boring stuff compared to Kevin Provencher. When his bosses cut his pay as a sportswriter for the Union-Leader in Manchester, N.H., Provencher started moonlighting as a pimp....  

If that isn't ever the agenda-pushing, Zionist War Daily pot hollering kettle....

--more--"

No Light at the End of This Boston Globe Tunnel

I'm still a month or more behind as I'm clipping, cutting, and chucking....

"Official says he erred on Big Dig; Problem with light aired 5 weeks later" by Eric Moskowitz and Sean P. Murphy, Globe Staff / March 18, 2011

The state’s top transportation official acknowledged yesterday that he erred in waiting five weeks to tell the public — and the governor — about the 110-pound light fixture that crashed from the ceiling of the Thomas P. “Tip’’ O’Neill Jr. Tunnel on Feb. 8.

Related: Some Big Dig light fixtures found damaged by corrosion

Responding to criticism from lawmakers and other officials, Transportation Secretary Jeffrey B. Mullan said he should have consulted with the governor’s office and gone public earlier. Instead, the Department of Transportation did not inform Governor Deval Patrick until Tuesday, after inspectors had already discovered corrosion affecting a few hundred of the 23,000 lights that illuminate the O’Neill and other Big Dig tunnels.

With Patrick away on an international trade mission, Mullan told the governor’s staff in a State House meeting last Friday about the corrosion problem and the temporary repairs made by his department. He said he briefed the governor by phone in London Tuesday night, telling Patrick he planned to hold a press conference the next day.

“Knowing what I know now, with the benefit of hindsight, I made an error. And I should have released this information sooner, even without the benefit of perfect information — that’s the difficult balancing test that public officials need to make,’’ Mullan said in an interview yesterday. “That won’t happen again.’’

Mullan said he prides himself on transparency and wanted to avoid creating unnecessary panic, not conceal a problem. But he now recognizes that, with the Big Dig in particular, the public should know about problems immediately, given a troubled history that includes a fatality in 2006 when a section of the tunnel ceiling collapsed....  

And we should be given the truth, too!!

Related: The Ultimate Cost of the Big Pit

And that is "liberal" Massachusetts!!

--more--" '

Also see: Big Dig facing hurdles in trying to recover damages for lights  

You will not be getting any money back, taxpayers.

Locked Out of the Boston Globe

They put a wall up, readers.

NFL’s ’11 season lurches deeper into uncertainty
The National Football League has never been more popular. It has billion-dollar television deals. Packed stadiums across the land. And each week brings another record for television ratings. But come September, NFL stadiums could be empty.  

NFL labor talks collapse, leaving season in peril
After failing to reach a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement yesterday, the National Football League imposed a lockout of its players, resulting in the league’s first work stoppage since 1987. The lockout puts the 2011 season at risk.  

That's thrown me for a big loss.

Globe Editorial Pretend labor vs. fake business

Pats owner’s deep ties to Israel are personal

Maybe I should be happy about the lockout instead, huh?

Unheard-of hoop glory within Harvard’s grasp

In its 100th season, the Harvard men's basketball team, finally, is on the cusp of true hoop history. In a first for the program, Harvard finished the regular season with a share of the Ivy League title. If it defeats cochampion Princeton in a playoff game tomorrow, Harvard will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.  

They lost by a point on a last-second shot.

Worthless to click on any more links; there is wall up. 

The links bother me the most; the agenda-pushing AmeriKan media is omnipresent.

American Left Livid at Obama Over Libya

I turned on the car radio on my way over to my friend's house after basketball and it was the Ed Schultz show. Ed didn't seem to keen on another war; however, his callers were absolutely enraged. One woman was saying she didn't cast her vote for a war-monger, and asked why we aren't bombing Yemen or Bahrain. Another added that the assault on Libya is illegal because Congress has not approved military action, and said we already have our hands full with two wars.  A third added that the missile barrage has cost $100 million dollars, that she needed health care, and when the hell was all of this our business anyway? The tone and tenor of the rest of the calls were the same.

I'm sorry I was unable to post any Boston Globe material today, readers; my work hours were extended due to the snow we had today.   

Sunday Globe Special: Lullaby and Good Night

I will be back tomorrow, dear readers.

Her first words

I was one.  I can't remember what was said, and think it matters less.

The Wisconsin Wedge

The divisive and distracting corporate media will create one even if there is none:

"Wis. governor proposes cuts in education, local aid, Medicaid; Budget avoids tax hike, layoffs" by Scott Bauer, Associated Press / March 2, 2011

MADISON, Wis. —Protesters on the floor below screamed, banged on drums, and blew horns....

Governor Scott Walker’s proposals have stirred a national debate over public-sector unions and drawn tens of thousands of protesters to the Capitol for three weeks.... 

--more--"

Yes, we are ALL ONE on this!!

Related:  "polls show substantial opposition to the governor and his plan"

"Wis. Senate bypasses Democrats, strips bargaining rights; Maneuver sends bill to Assembly for a final vote" by Scott Bauer, Associated Press / March 10, 2011

MADISON, Wis. — Police and firefighters are exempt.  

Another attempt at division.

Walker’s proposal touched off a national debate over union rights for public employees and prompted tens of thousands of demonstrators to converge on Wisconsin’s capital for weeks of protests. Spectators in the Senate gallery screamed “You are cowards’’ as lawmakers voted yesterday.  

All in service to banks and well-connected corporations.

--more--"

"Unions to use Wis. setback to fuel national counterattack; Measure to curb bargaining rights heads to governor" by Scott Bauer, Associated Press / March 11, 2011

MADISON, Wis. — Yesterday afternoon, the Assembly followed the Senate’s lead, voting 53 to 42 to adopt the bill. Four Republicans joined all Democrats in opposing it. The vote drew shouts of “shame, shame, shame’’ from protesters in the gallery.

Shortly before the vote, police moved dozens of protesters who were sitting just outside the Assembly chamber doors, blocking the way for lawmakers. Officers dragged many of them away, but there were no arrests.

Also see: Wis. backs down from plan to close Capitol 

Turns out the police were actually joining protesters. 

The protesters have been a constant presence in the building for more than three weeks, with their numbers swelling to more than 80,000 for one weekend rally....  

Yes, the Globe chose to ignore that one.

--more--"

"Wis. governor signs bill ending union bargaining rights" by Scott Bauer, Associated Press / March 12, 2011

MADISON, Wis. — Dozens of protesters returned to the Capitol yesterday, shouting “Recall Walker!’’ Another large rally was planned for today....   

I'm all for a recall!

Walker’s success was a key victory for Republicans who have targeted unions in efforts to slash government spending.

Labor leaders and Democrats vowed to use the setback to fire up their supporters across the country and mount a counterattack at the ballot box next year.

More false division and diversion.  

It is not left-right or Democrat-Republican anymore. The choice has become freedom or fascism here in AmeriKa.

The political drama surrounding the proposal was dominated by thousands of protesters who filled the Capitol for weeks, carrying signs, chanting slogan, shouting at lawmakers, and often sleeping on the floor.  

That is WHAT MUST BE DONE!!

As rank-and-file and leaders of unions had descended on Madison these past few weeks, the push to limit union rights of public workers has spread to nearby states.

In Des Moines yesterday, the Republican-controlled House voted to overhaul Iowa’s collective bargaining law and the negotiating rights of public workers.

--more--" 

Also see: Retirees fight Mich. governor’s plan to tax pensions

How about taxing banker bonuses instead?

"Labor unions say Wis. fight not over; Protesters push for GOP recalls after bill signed" by Todd Richmond, Associated Press / March 13, 2011

MADISON, Wis. — Thousands of prolabor protesters turned out for more demonstrations at the Wisconsin Capitol yesterday, undeterred by the fact that a contentious collective bargaining bill had been signed into law the day before....

Yesterday’s protest got a boost from a parade of more than 30 tractors driven by farmers supporting the union workers. Thousands of people lining the sidewalks cheered as tractors rolled by....

President Obama has kept a relatively low profile on the labor issues in Wisconsin and other states. Obama initially appeared to be stepping into that fight when he told a Milwaukee television station that Walker’s measure “seems like more of an assault on unions.’’ Around the same time, his political arm at the Democratic National Committee, Organizing for America, coordinated with unions that were mobilizing demonstrators.

But the DNC has played down its role, and Obama has left most of the criticism to his spokesman, Jay Carney.

Representative Keith Ellison, a Minnesota Democrat, and some union officials want Obama to go to Wisconsin to stand in solidarity with public unions.  

Like the PEOPLE of the United States?

But White House officials believe the demonstrators have made the best case on their own and point to surveys that indicated support for bargaining rights.

Republicans already were portraying Obama as a tool of labor for his remarks to the TV station and for the logistical assistance that his political arm had supplied.  

The false Democrat-Republican dichotomy no longer works because we went from Republican President-Republican Congress to Republican-Democrat to Democrat-Democrat to Democrat-Republican and the changes only make things worse -- all while the wars, Wall Street, and Israel are fully funded.

--more--"  

Related:

How I Got to Madison, Wisconsin

The scene in Madison is nothing like what they are showing you on TV or in the newspaper. First, you notice that the whole town is behind this. Yard signs and signs in store windows are everywhere supporting public workers. There are thousands of people out just randomly lining the streets for the six blocks leading to the Capitol building carrying signs, shouting and cheering and cajoling. Then there are stages and friendly competing demos on all sides of the building (yesterday's total estimate of people was 50,000-70,000, the smallest one yet)! A big semi truck has been sent by James Hoffa of the Teamsters and is parked like a don't-even-think-of-effing-with-us Sherman tank on the street in front of the Capitol."

Governor to slash Wisconsin spending

Judge blocks Wis. law curbing workers’ rights

With new governor, Wis. does U-turn on health care

On to the next wedge of distracting division to be employed by the corporate AmeriKan media.

Also see: GOP-led states pursue dual strategy on health care

Unions offer concessions on health care

Chinatown Casino Bus Crash

The ultimate loss.

"14 die in tour bus crash on I-95 in NYC; Passengers were returning home after casino visit" by Jim Fitzgerald and Tom Hays, Associated Press / March 13, 2011

HAWTHORNE, N.Y. — The bus had just reached the outskirts of New York City on a journey from the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut when the crash happened....

The bus was one of scores that travel daily between Chinatown, in Manhattan, and the Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos in northeastern Connecticut.  

Nothing better to do with the money?

--more--" 

Related: Witnesses in fatal N.Y. crash dispute bus driver’s account

Who was driving anyway?

"Deaths from NYC bus crash rise to 15" by Associated Press / March 15, 2011

NEW YORK — The driver, Ophadell Williams of Brooklyn, 40, survived the crash and was released from St. Barnabas Hospital on Sunday. He has not been charged....

The state Department of Correctional Services said yesterday that Williams was convicted of manslaughter for his role in a 1990 stabbing and served just more than two years. He also served about three years for grand larceny.  

Maybe I should apply to be a bus driver.  My record is clean.

The National Transportation Safety Board and State Police are investigating Saturday’s crash, studying a data recorder and looking into the drivers’ actions before the deadly trip.... 

At City Hall yesterday, two Democratic politicians — Senator Charles Schumer and Representative Nydia Velazquez — asked the NTSB to go beyond its investigation and examine the regulations governing low-cost tour buses in general.

--more--" 

Related:

Sting takes 14 tour buses in N.Y. off road

Ceremony for 15 killed in NYC casino bus crash

Also see: 4 are shot after a fight on L.A. bus

More from the city:

"Two N.Y. police officers killed on calls" by Associated Press / March 14, 2011

Two New York police officers were killed less than 12 hours apart over the weekend, one after being pushed over a railing and the other after he was shot by another officer following a confrontation with a knife-wielding man, who was also killed....

The officers pursued 21-year-old Anthony Digeronimo into the house nearby where he lived with his parents. Inside, he charged the officers with a knife, Detective Lieutenant Kevin Smith of the Nassau County police, said. The officers drew their weapons and shot and killed him, he said.

Additional officers arrived, including Metropolitan Transportation Authority police from the Long Island Rail Road. For reasons that are unclear, an MTA officer fired a shot at officer Geoffrey Breitkopf, killing him.

--more--"  

Always nice returning home, isn't it?

"Police spokesman faces DWI charges

ALBANY — Albany police have arrested their own spokesman on charges he was driving while intoxicated in an unmarked police car. Officials say the public information officer, James Miller, was driving without headlights around 9:25 p.m. Friday. He was charged with driving while intoxicated, refusal to submit to a chemical test, and driving without headlights. Miller did not return telephone calls for comment."


Also see: Inquiry finds inadequate response to abuse at N.Y.-run homes

NYC plans $3.3b of waterfront improvements

Senator Sanders Delivers For Vermont Vet

He's filibustered the wars?

"Disabled Vt. veteran prevails in fight for home mail delivery" by Associated Press / January 29, 2011

LYNDONVILLE, Vt. — An 89-year-old disabled World War II veteran who couldn’t get mail delivered to his home because the Postal Service said his narrow street was too tricky for vehicles to navigate finally has a mailbox.  

Not enough sacrifice and service? Not a banker or war-profiteer?

A group of disability advocates helped Robert Rhein overcome obstacles that kept him from having the mailbox closer to his home and find someone to install it for him.

After hearing of Rhein’s troubles getting his mail, Tina Wood of Disability Rights Vermont worked with the office of Senator Bernie Sanders to ask the Postal Service to make a reasonable accommodation for Rhein under the Rehabilitation Act.  

I'm glad the guy is getting his mail, but....

The first request was denied, but Rhein appealed. The request was granted this week and the mailbox installed yesterday.  

WTF?

Since August, Rhein has relied on his daughter to pick up his mail. Now he says “miracles do happen.’

Yeah, some day the wars will end.

--more--"  

Related: A fallen Vt. Marine eulogized

Also see: The Buying Off of Bernie Sanders

Lovely Lisa Lavoie

"Teacher gets probation in sex case; Judge says woman who fled with boy is not a predator" by Associated Press / January 27, 2011 


“There are those who perhaps will say this sentence is too lenient.” said Judge Cornelius Moriarty, speaking at the sentencing of Lisa Lavoie (above). (Michael S. Gordon/ The Republican)

SPRINGFIELD — A former Massachusetts school teacher who ran off with a male student and pleaded guilty to statutory rape charges was given probation yesterday by a judge who said he does not see her as a sexual predator.

Lisa Lavoie, a 25-year-old former teacher at Maurice Donahue Elementary School in Holyoke, was charged in 2009 after she and a 15-year-old boy were reported missing and found a week later in a motel in Morgantown, W.Va.

She pleaded guilty last month to three counts of statutory rape and one count of enticement of a child under the age of 16.

Prosecutors asked Judge Cornelius Moriarty to sentence Lavoie to three to five years in state prison.

But Moriarty, saying he does not think Lavoie will reoffend, spared her jail time and sentenced her instead to five years of probation.

“There are those who perhaps will say this sentence is too lenient,’’ Moriarty said.

“This too shall pass,’’ he told Lavoie.

Hampden District Attorney Mark Mastroianni did not immediately return calls seeking comment on the sentence.

Moriarty said Lavoie’s conduct was “seriously exacerbated by the fact that she was a teacher.’’

He said that in most cases involving adults having sexual relations with children it is an adult male and the motivation is more likely to be sexual gratification.

“But I find this is not the case,’’ he said. “In fact it’s quite the contrary.’’

Moriarty said he thinks Lavoie’s “interest and concern for [the boy’s] emotional well-being was what originally began this episode,’’ which he said “was originally well-intended.’’

He said it appears Lavoie’s kindness toward the boy was what led to his sexual interest in her.

As part of her probation, the judge ordered her not to have any contact with the boy or his immediate family.

Prosecutors asked Moriarty to also order Lavoie to not have any unsupervised contact with children under 16.

The judge rejected that request, saying, “I don’t find this young lady to be a sexual predator.’’

The judge ordered Lavoie to complete an alcohol rehabilitation program.

Last month, Lavoie’s bail was revoked after she violated a pre-sentence probation condition of no alcohol.

Her lawyer said Lavoie accepts responsibility and does not excuse what she did.

--more--"

Sunday Globe Special: Iraq Protest War

It's the printed Globe vs. the web version.  

Print:

"Protesters arrested at antiwar rally

More than 100 antiwar protesters, including Daniel Ellsberg, the man who leaked the Pentagon Papers, were arrested outside the White House yesterday.    

Ah, the freedom to express yourself in AmeriKa!

The arrests were part of demonstrations in Washington and throughout the country to mark the eighth anniversary of the Iraq war. The protesters carried signs demanding that troops be withdrawn from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Others supported Bradley Manning, the Army private suspected of leaking classified documents to Wikileaks. He is being held at a military prison in Virginia." 

Why drag the Wikileaks patsy into it?

And what I found on the web:

"Anti-war protesters arrested near White House

WASHINGTON—More than 100 anti-war protesters, including the man who leaked the Pentagon Papers, were arrested outside the White House in demonstrations marking the eighth anniversary of the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

The protesters, some shouting anti-war slogans and singing "We Shall Not Be Moved," were arrested Saturday after ignoring orders to move away from the gates of the White House. The demonstrators cheered loudly as Daniel Ellsberg, the former military analyst who in 1971 leaked the Pentagon's secret history of the Vietnam War that was later published in major newspapers, was arrested and led away by police.

In New York City, about 80 protesters gathered near the U.S. military recruiting center in Times Square, chanting "No to war" and carrying banners that read, "I am not paying for war" and "Butter not guns."

Similar protests marking the start of the Iraq war also were organized Saturday in San Francisco, Chicago and other cities.

In California, hundreds of people marched in downtown San Francisco. Hundreds more, including students from more than 40 high schools and community colleges, marched in Los Angeles in protest of the U.S. presence in Iraq, organizers and police said.

Some used the rallies to draw attention to the new military action in Libya.

"You can't stand by and watch people being slaughtered. At the same time you don't want to foster war. It's walking a very fine line," Bishop Otis Charles told KCBS-TV at the San Francisco protest.

The demonstration in Washington merged varied causes, including protesters demanding a U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan as well as those supporting Bradley Manning, the jailed Army private suspected of giving classified documents to the website WikiLeaks.

One chant that was repeated was: "Stop the War! Expose the Lies! Free Bradley Manning!"

Manning is being held in solitary confinement for all but an hour every day at a Marine Corps brig in Quantico, Virginia. He is given a suicide-proof smock to wear to bed and is stripped naked each night. On Sunday, a protest will be held in Quantico, outside the brig where Manning is being held.

Ellsberg has publicly defended Manning, calling him a "brother," and WikiLeaks.

Hundreds of protesters attended the rally and marched around the White House, but the crowd -- which included many military veterans -- thinned considerably as the U.S. Park Police warned that they'd be arrested if they didn't move.

Ain't AmeriKan fascism grand? 

As officers moved in with handcuffs, one protester who clutched the gates outside the White House shouted, "Don't arrest them! Arrest Obama!" and "You're arresting veterans, not war criminals!"

Authorities said 113 protesters were arrested, processed and given violation notices for disobeying an official order. They could pay a small fine and be released, or be freed with a future court date.

"The majority were cooperative," said U.S. Park Police spokesman David Schlosser.

One military veteran who showed up for the rally was Paul Markin, a 64-year-old retired U.S. Army colonel from Lynn, Mass., who said he's frustrated by what he sees as the U.S. government's escalation of the wars. He said he's been against wars since coming home from Vietnam. "Ever since that time, I've gone to the other side. Instead of a warrior, an anti-warrior," Markin said.

Ralph Nader, a consumer advocate who's unsuccessfully run several times for president, attended the demonstration and said anti-war protesters needed to continue putting pressure on government leaders. He said he believed most Americans and even soldiers agreed with the views of the protesters.

That is a TRUE STATEMENT!

"I believe they reflect the majority opinion of the soldiers in Afghanistan," Nader told The Associated Press. "This is a majority opinion movement."

There was little talk at the D.C. protest of the U.S. missile strikes against Moammar Gadhafi's forces in Libya on Saturday, part of an international effort to protect rebel forces.

But the Times Square demonstration that was meant to mark the eighth anniversary of the Iraq invasion quickly became a protest against Saturday's military strikes.

Gary Maveal, 57, a law professor from Detroit who was visiting the city for a conference, said he feared the Libyan attacks would become a "quagmire."

"We don't have a good record of getting out of anywhere in a hurry," he said.  

The only time we get out is when people make us leave.

U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., joined the protesters, saying he was angry that Congress was not consulted before the military strikes. He said he was undecided on whether the military action against Libya was justified.

"Our presidents seem to believe that all we have to do is go to the U.N. and we go to war," Rangel said as a large television behind him at the recruiting station showed an advertisement for the Air Force with crews loading missiles onto fighter jets.

"Going to war is not a decision that presidents should make," he added. 

He waits until he is on the outs to join with antiwar protesters with tepid criticism. 

Related: Why We Need Universal Servicei

He's out there protesting after introducing his DRAFT bill? 

What a scum.

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Related: Justices uphold funeral protests 

Yes, those divisive protests are much more important.  Take the most extreme group and feature them, agenda-pushing press.    

Also see: Mass. to maintain curbs on protests 

Liberal, freedom-loving Massachusetts with fascist free-speech zones? 

Hey, they have every right to protest; however, there is no accounting for taste.