Dec 2016 – The Free

US police kill over 1000 people in 2016 .. 2,300,000 in jail

The State as a monopoly on violence

Marchers numbering nearly 1,000 take to the streets to protest against the recent fatal shootings of black men by police Friday, July 8, 2016, in Phoenix. Freeway ramps were closed and pepper spray and tear gas were used Friday night during a protest in downtown Phoenix following the killings of black men in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and suburban St. Paul, Minnesota, at the hands of police and the deadly sniper attack on police officers in Dallas. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) — Marchers numbering nearly 1,000 take to the streets to protest against the recent fatal shootings of black men by police Friday, July 8, 2016, in Phoenix. Freeway ramps were closed and pepper spray and tear gas were used during a protest in downtown Phoenix following the killings of black men in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and suburban St. Paul, Minnesota, at the hands of police and the deadly sniper attack on police officers in Dallas. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Continue reading “US police kill over 1000 people in 2016 .. 2,300,000 in jail”

La Chispa! (The Spark): Rural Occupied Social Center resists Capitalist Speculation Eviction

After a lengthy legal process against four ex-occupiers the vibrant, active, self-managed SPARK project among the orchards of Lleida is condemned to be evicted in the new year by capitalist speculation

original by Sergi Bertran and Sonia Perez at La Directa. … translated summary by The Free

….We are on the outskirts of Lleida city (in Lleida province). This area has undergone a major change in recent years… where there were small family orchards and country houses today they have built fast food chains, department stores, hotels and luxury villas. The companies and new owners of the land have been moving out the locals, buying up their land at high prices…

From 2013 the center became an inspiration for other anarchist projects like l’Ateneu Llibertari l’Arrel,, the Occupied Police Station La CORB, and l’Assemblea Llibertària. ….Dànae Quiroz

Continue reading “La Chispa! (The Spark): Rural Occupied Social Center resists Capitalist Speculation Eviction”

Turkey bombs and attacks Kurds on 1st day of ”Truce”

On the same day a truce finally took effect the ‘new Hitler Erdogan’ ordered his invasion force to attack the non sectarian, anti sexist, multi ethnic SDF.. launching a new war.

Turkey, Islamist groups attack Kurdish forces despite truce in Syria

ARA News….. Aleppo – The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) reported on Friday that their positions were being attacked by Turkey’s military and Islamist rebels. The anti-YPG offensive targeted military installations across northern Aleppo Governorate.

“The Turkish Army and allied jihadist groups launched a renewed offensive in the Kurdish areas of Rojava, targeting YPG headquarters with heavy weapons and airstrikes,” the Protection Unit’s leadership said in a statement.Turkey has a modern, largely US equipped, Nato army of 300,000 soldiers, though mostly conscripts, and over 5000 tanks.

The Turkish military shelled YPG security offices in the villages of Yabsa, Kerbnav and Seloula with heavy artillery. The artillery bombardment in eastern Kobane, coincided with Turkish air raids on the YPG-held village of Khane. Continue reading “Turkey bombs and attacks Kurds on 1st day of ”Truce””

State Repression Cuts Internet over 50 times in 2016

By Lyndal Rowlands

(IPS) – Governments around the world shut down the internet more than 50 times in 2016 – suppressing elections, slowing economies and limiting free speech.

In the worst cases internet shutdowns have been associated with human rights violations, Deji Olukotun, Senior Global Advocacy Manager at digital rights organisation Access Now told IPS.

“What we have found is that internet shutdowns go hand in hand with atrocities” said Olukotun.

“In Ethiopia there’s been consistent blocking this year of social media and internet.” Dozens of people have died in protests in Ethiopia in 2016, “many of them during the kind of blackout where it’s difficult to report on what’s happening,” he said. Continue reading “State Repression Cuts Internet over 50 times in 2016”

MEXICO: ANARCHIST PRISONER LUIS FERNANDO SOTELO RESENTENCED

From Enlace Zapatista Translation submitted to It’s Going Down

The modification enacted by the Superior Court of “Justice” on the sentence of our compañero Luis Fernando Sotelo is a joke. The reduction of the sentence to 13 years [from 33 years], is not to serve justice, but is a mockery of it. The irregularities in the process have been denounced innumerable times. Evidence doesn’t exist to incriminate him and during the trial the only eyewitness, the driver of the metro-bus, said he did not recognize our compañero.

Why is he still in prison? It is not for judicial reasons, but political ones. It is punishment for social protest. They want to keep him imprisoned as an example. Our compañero is detained under the command of the government of Mexico City, lead by Miguel Ángel Mancera. Or perhaps also the rumors of corruption of the Fourth Chamber of the Superior Criminal Court are more correct?

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BEAT THE SYSTEM: 40 FREE ONLINE EDUCATION OPTIONS

via True Activist (Thanks to Natural Blaze)

–”WITH MASS EDUCATION, IT TURNED OUT THAT MOST PEOPLE COULD BE TAUGHT TO READ AND WRITE. IN THE SAME WAY, ONCE WE HAVE COMPUTER OUTLETS IN EVERY HOME, EACH OF THEM HOOKED UP TO ENORMOUS LIBRARIES, WHERE YOU CAN ASK ANY QUESTION AND BE GIVEN ANSWERS, YOU CAN LOOK UP SOMETHING YOU’RE INTERESTED IN KNOWING, HOWEVER SILLY IT MIGHT SEEM TO SOMEONE ELSE”. – ISAAC ASIMOV

Isaac Asimov died in 1992, but if he could see the opportunities that the Internet is giving us in XXI century he would probably grin from ear to ear.

Getting a degree in an university might be expensive and often useless, but there are now many websites on the Internet that now offer FREE of charge learning materials.

Now even the poorest people could be better educated than Harvard graduates who are paying a large fortune, (though of course they get the passport to wealth and status).

Indeed by 2017 dozens of the world’s best universities, one after another, are offering degrees and courses online for free.

Nowadays all you need to be well educated and trained in many many fields is time, motivation and plenty of access to a computer. Continue reading “BEAT THE SYSTEM: 40 FREE ONLINE EDUCATION OPTIONS”

Standing Rock ‘Water Protectors’ dig in for the Winter and Trump Attack

A Native American leader asked thousands of protesters to return home, but many protesters chose to stay, sceptical of government’s decision to refuse permission for the controversial oil pipeline project. [Avery White/Al Jazeera]

As winter rages over the Dakotas and temperatures plummet below freezing, NoDAPL protest movement members hold ground.

by Avery White Standing Rock Indian Reservation, When word came down from the Army Corps of Engineers to the Oceti Sakowin camp that the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) had been denied the final easement to drill below the Missouri River, residents of the camp celebrated the victory with hundreds of veterans who had come to protect natives and their allies.While 21-year-old Sarah seeks refuge from the cold in her tent, she reflects on her life before Standing Rock. ‘I had no purpose before this. I was a walking zombie. Here, I actually feel alive, like I’m living. Once you come to Standing Rock, you can’t just go home to your regular life, watch TV, eat supper, go back to work.’ [Avery White/Al Jazeera]

The excessive force used by authorities in recent clashes near the drilling site had spurred a public outcry on behalf of the unarmed occupants, who call themselves “water protectors”, of Oceti Sakowin, and many veterans saw it as a call for action. For the veterans, native and non-native alike, of every age and from every war, travelling to Standing Rock was an extension of their lifelong commitment to serving the country. Continue reading “Standing Rock ‘Water Protectors’ dig in for the Winter and Trump Attack”