In 2003, while covering the protests against the G8 Summit in Geneva, photojournalist Guy Smallman was struck with a police stun grenade, causing a life threatening injury to the back of his left leg. Now the six year battle for justice is coming to an end.In 2003, while covering the protests against the G8 Summit in Geneva, photojournalist... more
Today in Rome started the FAO summit, the UN organization which has its international headquarters in Italy and that deals with food and agriculture in the world. Absent almost all the leaders of rich countries, the nations that should provide financial resources to FAO to combat world hunger. Absent from embarrassment, apart from our premier who must be present as the leader of the host country, and also because notoriously immune to shame. http://www.inaltreparole.net/en/world/faofame161109.htmlToday in Rome started the FAO summit, the UN organization which has its international... more
"You don’t have to climb a mountain to save lives. Watch a video clip and be part of the solution.
Climb with us at http://www.SUMMITONTHESUMMIT.com "
"The global clean water crisis is arguably the most important crisis of our time, claiming more lives through disease than any war claims through guns. A billion people around the world do not have access to clean drinking water, and a child dies every fifteen seconds of a preventable water-related disease.
SUMMIT ON THE SUMMIT: Kilimanjaro is climbing the tallest peak in Africa to raise awareness and funds to fight the global clean water crisis. The 19,340-foot journey will be daunting and physically demanding, but it’s nothing compared to the reason we’re climbing—to help those who face a much steeper obstacle every single day.
Please visit SUMMITONTHESUMMIT.com to learn about how we plan to make a difference.
HP is donating $1.00 for every join at the link and matches $1.00 for every donated.
Once again, the corporate media has begun pushing fear to control and manipulate the people. Making locals fear protesters, using key words such as "violent protesters", "anarchists", and "seattle", will make it easier for the police/army to get away with beating the face of non-violent free speech into the pavement. The SS (secret service) are already talking about deploying the army to pittsburgh to "mass arrest" hoards of peaceful demonstrators and strike fear into the locals. In reality, the G20, police, and army are solely responsible for closing businesses, blocking streets, and scaring the shit out of people. land of the free or land of the police state?.....RESIST THE G20 CLIMATE OF FEAR.
全世界无政府主义者抵抗。 团结!
anarchistenweerstand wereldwijd. solidariteit!
résistance mondiale d'anarchiste. solidarité !
weltweiter Anarchistenwiderstand. solidarität!
παγκόσμια αντίσταση αναρχικών. αλληλεγγύη!
resistenza in tutto il mondo dell'anarchico. solidarietà!
世界的な無政府主義者の抵抗。 団結!
세계적인 아나키스트 저항. 강화결속!
resistência mundial do anarquista. solidariedade!
всемирное сопротивление анархиста. сплоченность!
resistencia mundial del anarquista. ¡solidaridad!Once again, the corporate media has begun pushing fear to control and manipulate the... more
全世界无政府主义者抵抗。 团结!
anarchistenweerstand wereldwijd. solidariteit!
résistance mondiale d'anarchiste. solidarité !
weltweiter Anarchistenwiderstand. solidarität!
παγκόσμια αντίσταση αναρχικών. αλληλεγγύη!
resistenza in tutto il mondo dell'anarchico. solidarietà!
世界的な無政府主義者の抵抗。 団結!
세계적인 아나키스트 저항. 강화결속!
resistência mundial do anarquista. solidariedade!
всемирное сопротивление анархиста. сплоченность!
resistencia mundial del anarquista. ¡solidaridad!G20 Summit
Pittsburgh, PA
Sept. 24-25th
http://resistg20.org/
G20 Summit 2009 -... more
Pittsburgh city leaders have a legal and moral obligation to encourage public protest, not to stifle it.Pittsburgh city leaders have a legal and moral obligation to encourage public protest,... more
If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.
-George Washington
Less than two months after president Barack Obama, politicians, and other assorted celebrities declared themselves to be outraged by the repression and violence used against the people of Iran, a similar mindset has lead to a similar scenario being engineered for the streets of Pittsburgh. After years of red scares and wars on (certain) drugs and (certain forms of) terror which have long rendered the founding document of the US, the Constitution a meaningless artifact, the City of Pittsburgh's decision to declare any and all forms of dissent against the G-20 to be unlawful should come as little surprise to anyone paying the slightest bit of attention. Free expression is a human right and has nothing to do with dusty (and inadequate) relics in the Smithsonian (even for crazy right-wingers who want Wall St. to continue to make their health care decisions instead of DC) and requires no permit.
Organizations who applied for various demonstration permits have been summarily denied them by the City. Aside from outlawing dissent and broadcasting a message of intolerance for free expression, the City also hopes to demoralize and waste the time, energy, money, and other resources of the people organizing against the G-20 and its disruptions of our lives in both the short and long term, challenging the City in the courts. This also makes organizing for these events much more difficult when you are unable to finalize plans due to a lack of venue.
Applying for a demonstration permit is usually a pretty good indication that a group does not intend for their action to be any rowdier than a parade (St. Patrick's Day doesn't count) making the participants less likely to be attacked and/or arrested. These kinds of actions are a good choice for many people, who for various reasons, are unable or unwilling to be arrested, such as families with young children, people with health conditions, and people who would lose their jobs if such a thing occurred, to name a few.
Shortly after several other cities declined to host the G-20 and the gullible Boy Mayor accepted, State Senator Jim Ferlo applied for a permit to use Point State Park for what he referred to as:
...a large rally and cultural event involving national and international speakers and cultural figures around issues of the G-20, It would involve a broad spectrum of the community here, labor, faith-based organizations.
This permit was denied. Instead, the park will be used as a staging area for the armored personnel carriers, chemical weapons, riot armor, and of course the people who play with these kinds of toys, whose job is the same everywhere on earth: violently oppress the common people for the sake of the elite. Period. Whether it is Tehran, Beijing, Belfast, or Pittsburgh, the job description does not change.
Why are City employees, using City funds, to oppress and disrupt the lives of City residents, on behalf of a handful of finance ministers from other places?If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep... more
The leaders of Canada, Mexico and the United States issued a declaration on climate change at the conclusion of the Three Amigos summit this past weekend in Guadalajara, Mexico. The declaration on climate change comes on the heels of United Nations Chief Ban Ki-moon stating that climate change is the most pressing issue facing the planet today.The leaders of Canada, Mexico and the United States issued a declaration on climate... more
I’m going to the BEER SUMMIT with Obama, Crowley, and Gates because I gotta few complaints of my own – but I ain’t drinkin’ no real beer ‘cause I’m a Mormon. If you got somethin’ you want me to tell da president while I’m dare, den leave a comment. (btw, this is comedy …)
-I’m going to the BEER SUMMIT with Obama, Crowley, and Gates because I gotta few... more
It's too early to predict what will happen by the end of the year, but as it stands right now, The Hurt Locker is the best movie I've seen in 2009. I'm not alone; currently, Kathryn Bigelow's Iraq War drama has a staggering 97% approval on Rotten Tomatoes, trailing only Up among movies with 100 reviews or more.
You can read our review here and make sure you watch our interview with potential Oscar nominee Jeremy Renner. One thing about a movie like The Hurt Locker, though, is that it doesn't have the traditional release pattern where it's blasted into 3,000 theaters or more all at once. Currently, the film is only in 94 theaters nationwide, but it's about to get a major expansion this weekend.
We've been bugging Summit Entertainment for over a week to get us the complete list of July 24th openings, and this information isn't even on the film's official site yet. So, big thanks to Summit for working with us on a movie we really, really, really want you to see. Just so we won't leave anybody out, we're including the markets where the film is already playing, so you'll know where you can check it out tonight through Thursday, as well.
--
I, for one, cannot wait to see this. The link shows more cities and release dates.It's too early to predict what will happen by the end of the year, but as it stands... more
Esat Sezer, SVP & CIO for Coca Cola Enterprises, has confirmed attendance as the keynote speaker at the CIO Summit US, one of the most important meetings this year for America’s top CIOs.
The summit, which will be held from September 8-10 in Scottsdale, Arizona, has been highlighted as a vital meeting place for all major companies across the US and their CIOs to discuss future investments in order to create an economic upturn for America.
In today’s world, corporations such as Coca Cola Enterprises have the financial reserves to weather the economic climate with the ability to increase their spends over the next year. Stability in US markets are vital during the last quarter of 2009, and we need to see the major players in business come together to execute and promote their companies, creating vital partnerships and investments with each other in order to steer the nation out of any further economic decline.
Sezer is set to highlight the need for better communication, internally and externally, referencing to Coca Cola Enterprises’ 6 month migration to SaaS, and the benefits this has drawn from its increased Employee Productivity and essential Cost Management. He will be joined by impresarios such as Rajesh Rawal, SVP & CIO of Burger King Corporations, Cassio De Oliveira, VP & CIO of Panasonic Corporation of North America, Mike Goodwin, SVP & CIO of Hallmark Cards, Inc., and Paul Johnson, EVP & CIO of BB&T, amongst 50 other visionaries at the meeting in September.
The unstable nature of the climate requires forward-thinking and visionary executives who operate and make decisions outside the vacuum of directors. It is vital that to stabilise the economy, America needs to look towards its large corporations which span over a wide spectrum of markets for quick decisions that will hopefully create an uprise.
Ironically, the world is now relying on companies like Coca Cola and Burger King to help shape its economy – how did we arrive at a place where unhealthy junk food corporations could be the answer to the world’s economic crisis?Esat Sezer, SVP & CIO for Coca Cola Enterprises, has confirmed attendance as the... more
1 April 2009 - Financial Fools Day: As the 29 G20 leaders gathered in London, thousands came out on to the streets of the financial district to protest a wide range of issues from climate change to the failing capitalist system and tax payers bailout of the international banking system.
10,500 police were drafted in, at an estimated cost of £10 million, to police the protests and protect the banking institutions from what the police had deemd "the summer of rage". The end product was two policers suspended, scores injured and hospitalised and one man dead after being attacked by an unidentified member of the TSG (Territorial Support Group) riot squad.
Global Economic Meltdown follows on from last year's short film Global Economic Crisis, which documented the initial protests as the UK government bailed out the banks to a sum of £500 billion.
Both films are available on Reel News, a bi-monthly independent DVD release by activists and journalists, covering campaigns and news that did not make the mainstream.
The leaders of the five Central Asian states are meeting in the Kazakh city of Almaty to discuss one of the most contentious regional issues, water.
Correspondents say that finding an agreement on water use is key to the stability of this ethnically diverse and potentially volatile region.
The two nations with extensive mountains, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, hold 80% of the region's water. But much of this is needed in the other three semi-arid states downstream.
Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan rely on water from their neighbours for their important cotton industries, as well as for agriculture.
A Soviet-era system for sharing water has lapsed and the five states have been unable to devise a new one. The Central Asian leaders have a poor history of co-operation, according to the BBC Central Asian correspondent Rayhan Demetrie.
They only meet infrequently and usually on the sidelines of other events.
But water allocation is becoming an increasingly pressing issue, and drought and overuse have caused an ecological disaster in the Aral Sea, which has shrunk by 90% in recent decades.
In Soviet times a system of exchange enabled the five states to share water and energy resources such as electricity and gas, but this barter scheme is no longer active.
Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, which suffer most from lack of electricity during the cold winters, have long been pursuing the construction of hydropower plants.
But Uzbekistan fiercely opposes these projects, saying the construction of hydropower stations and new dams would reduce the flow of water for cotton irrigation downstream.
While the summit is mainly about water, some attention will also be focused on the fact that Uzbek President Islam Karimov is there at all.The leaders of the five Central Asian states are meeting in the Kazakh city of Almaty... more
It is a tale of light and dark — of a small but rugged country far from anywhere that has suffered as severely as any in the developed world at the hands of buccaneering free-marketeers, but which is now slowly digging itself out from the financial wreckage.
An important milestone was reached on Saturday, when the country’s voters went to the polls to elect a new government, three months after riotous street protests over the country’s banking collapse forced the country’s conservative-led administration from office.
With about a third of the final vote counted late Saturday, it seemed that the country’s leftist caretaking government would be formally voted into power, with the Social Democrats projected to gain 22 seats and their partners, the Left-Greens, appearing to gain 13 seats in the 63-seat Parliament. The conservative Independent Party, ousted after a wave of demonstrations in January, was projected to gain just 14 seats with less than 23 percent of the vote, down considerably from its total in 2007. Final results are to be announced on Sunday.
The conservatives were one of the first governments anywhere to lose office because of the global financial crisis, and it seemed clear Saturday that voters in this country of 320,000 were imposing a further reckoning.
The Independent Party has been blamed for a perceived complicity in the banks’ accumulating unsustainable, multibillion debts, and their partnership with a group of freewheeling Icelandic entrepreneurs known as the “New Vikings.”
Six months after the banks collapsed and three of the largest were nationalized, the grim consequences are only now becoming fully understood after months of forensic work by financial experts.It is a tale of light and dark — of a small but rugged country far from anywhere... more
Saturday 11 April 2009: Following the death of newspaper seller Ian Tomlinson during the G20 Meltdown protests, people marched from Bethnal Green police station to the point where he was batoned and knocked to the ground by an unidentifible riot police officer.
G20 organiser Chris Knight was joined by Socialist Worker Party speaker Martin Smith and Samantha and Marci, the sisters of Sean Rigg, who died in police custody at Brixton police station in August 2008.
Demands were called for an end to police brutality, the end of criminalisation of protestors and the arrest and imprisonment of those officers involved in the death of Ian Tomlinson.
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad - President Barack Obama on Sunday suggested Cuba release its political prisoners and strongly defended his highly publicized handshake with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at the end of overseas trip that he said heralded a new start in U.S. ties with Latin America.
At a news conference marking the end of the Summit of the Americas, Obama added that in terms of Cuba and Venezuela, "I do believe that the signals sent so far provide at least an opportunity for frank dialogue on a range of issues, including critical issues of democracy and human rights throughout the hemisphere."
And yet, he quickly added, "the test for all of us is not simply words but also deeds."
Obama loosened aspects of a 50-year-old trade embargo with Cuba before departing Washington, and suggested ways Cuba could respond. "They could release political prisoners," he said, and "reduce charges on remittances" — the money that Cuban-Americans send their families on the communist nation.
The president's greeting of Venezuela's Chavez drew quick condemnation from Republicans back home, but Obama brushed that aside.
He said Venezuela has a defense budget about one-six hundredth the size of the United States', and owns Citgo, the oil company. "It's hard to believe we are endangering the strategic interests of the United States" when he talks with Chavez, he said.PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad - President Barack Obama on Sunday suggested Cuba release its... more
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad - President Barack Obama offered a spirit of cooperation to America's hemispheric neighbors at a summit Saturday, listening to their complaints about past U.S. interference in the region and even reaching out to Venezuela's fiery leftist leader.
While he worked to ease friction between the U.S. and leaders at the Summit of the Americas, Obama cautioned them to resist a temptation to blame all their problems on their behemoth neighbor to the North. "I have a lot to learn and I very much look forward to listening and figuring out how we can work together more effectively," Obama said.
Obama said he was ready to accept Cuban President Raul Castro's proposal of talks on issues once off-limits for Cuba, including the scores of political prisoners held by the communist government. While praising America's initial effort to thaw relations with Havana, the leaders pushed the U.S. to go further and lift the 47-year-old U.S. trade embargo against the communist nation.
To Latin American nations reeling from a sudden plunge in exports, Obama promised a new hemispheric growth fund, an initiative to increase Caribbean security and a new regional partnership to develop alternative energy sources and fight global warming.PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad - President Barack Obama offered a spirit of cooperation to... more
By Elias Nawas, Southern Methodist University Graduate Student, Dallas TX – Sat Apr 18, 9:28am CT
With all modesty, whilst still engrafting a delicate tone of humor, President Barack Obama reached out to the various United States' diversified neighbors, and to particularly one nation's president — who also happens to be an abrasive US critic — offering the fiery leftist Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, a once 'Cold War' opponent, with a speedy grasp and grin the hope of a "fresh beginning".
President Obama, during his 'Summit of the Americas' in the island capital of Trinidad — Port of Spain, also conveyed his readiness to engage in talks with Cuban President Raul Castro on matters that were completely off table for the Havana state — especially that including the communist governments' political prisoners' upholding.
This goodwill and friendly attitude was reciprocated with a gesture from President Chavez when he presented President Obama a book, "Open Veins of Latin America — Las Venas Abiertas de America Latina, written by Eduardo Galeano, a Uruguayan journalist in 1971.
To not only mention the positive feedback, but one also has to note that not all Latin American leaders have been impressed by the US President. Namely, Ecuadorian President 'Rafael Correa' as well as Bolivian President Evo Morales still remained skeptical (both about President Obama and US's foreign policy towards the Latin Neighbors).
My particular ideology relating to what I have previously delineated and outlined resides in what I am going to portray hereafter;
Although the Fifth Summit of the Americas during April can be regarded mostly as a failure, not only because Nicaragua, Bolivia, Dominica, and Honduras boycotted in protest of Cuba’s absence, but also because the participating Summit members “failed” to adopt an official declaration; the leaders of the participating 34 countries agreed to boost and encourage joint solutions to face the most pressing challenges and troubles facing the region, while promoting environmental sustainability, human prosperity etc...
Even though President Ortega, president of Nicaragua, delivered an acerbic and scalding fifty-minute speech denouncing US imperialism and capitalism as the root of much regional mischievousness, President Obama responded with "I'm grateful that President Ortega did not blame me for things that happened when I was three months old" to an applause and laughter from the other Summit-attending leaders, while stating that the journey “must be traveled” to make headway and overcome decades of mistrust – also, President Obama hoped to connect with Colombia, Chile, Canada, Haiti and Peru seeking individual sessions with their leaders.
Furthermore, President Obama added that he was disinterested in talking just for the sake of talking, but believed that the U.S.–Cuban relations can and ought to be moved in a new direction. Later, President Obama acted upon his words ordering ease-of-travel restrictions for Americans with relatives in Cuba, which President Castro, in return to such a step, offered his willingness to discuss ‘everything’ that divides the two countries.
To conclude, I believe that our time period right here and right now will be legendary.I base my say on this, solely on my conviction that diplomacy and open communication are good strategies for allies and enemies alike, but yet should be coupled with something deeper than casual diplomacy which primarily is, but not confined to, sincerity in these relations and talks.
To reinforce a positive mindset-approach towards foreign policy amongst all nations, I will finally quote President Obama by saying “I did not come here to debate the past, but I came here to deal with the future; we must learn from history but we can not and should not be trapped by it”.
— Elias NawasBy Elias Nawas, Southern Methodist University Graduate Student, Dallas TX – Sat Apr... more
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad - Trading their warmest words in a half-century, the United States and Cuba built momentum toward renewed ties on Friday, with President Barack Obama declaring he "seeks a new beginning" — including direct talks — with the island's communist regime.
As leaders of the Americas gathered for a summit in this Caribbean nation, the head of the Organization of American States said he'll ask his group to invite Cuba back after 47 years.
In remarks kicking off the weekend gathering of nations — of which Cuba was the only country in the region not represented — Obama repeated the kind of remarks toward the Castro regime that marked his campaign for the presidency.
"The United States seeks a new beginning with Cuba," he said at the Summit of the Americas opening ceremony. "I know there is a longer journey that must be traveled to overcome decades of mistrust, but there are critical steps we can take toward a new day."
Still, President Cristina Fernandez of Argentina, in her remarks to the summit's inaugural session, won applause when she called on the United States to lift the "anachronism that the embargo means today," a reference to the nearly half-century-old U.S. ban on trade with Cuba..PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad - Trading their warmest words in a half-century, the United... more
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago, April 17 -- Cuba, which has long punched far above its political weight, is threatening to overwhelm a hemispheric summit that begins here today.
In a speech Thursday evening, Cuban leader Raul Castro said he is willing to discuss his government's record on human rights and political reforms directly with the Obama administration. He said he has "sent word to the U.S. government in private and in public" that he is willing to talk on "equal terms," acknowledging that the Cuban government may have been wrong at times.
The overture came on the same day President Obama reiterated his position that the Cuban government must allow Cubans more freedom to travel, worship and participate politically before he lifts the 47-year-old U.S. economic embargo on the island.
"I'm optimistic that progress can be made if there is a spirit that is looking forward rather than backward," Obama said Thursday during a visit to Mexico. "But, as I said before, I don't expect things to change overnight."
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton expressed interest in Castro's comments. "We welcome this overture. We're taking a very serious look at it."PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago, April 17 -- Cuba, which has long punched far above... more
