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State Repression Cuts Internet over 50 times in 2016

(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?

Continue reading “MEXICO: ANARCHIST PRISONER LUIS FERNANDO SOTELO RESENTENCED”

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”

Editor of anarchist paper in Turkey jailed for 15 months

The wave of repression unleashed by the Turkish state against the left and the Kurdish freedom movement that has seen tens of thousands fired from their jobs and thousands jailed, including many HDP MPs,has also hit the anarchist movement there. We heard last night that Hüseyin Civan has been sentenced to 15 months for editing the anarchist paper Meydan Gazetesi.

They have reported the sentencing as below;

Turkey: Editor of Meydan Gazetesi anarchist newspaper Hüseyin Civan sentenced to 1 year, 3 months imprisonment
“An investigation was started by Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s office about our newspaper related to articles “Both Arrival and Departure of State is From Fear”, “Banned Until Further Order”, and “Recreating Life” in issue 30 of our newspaper published on December 2015 with the caption “Banning Everything”. The lawsuit following the investigation ended after almost a year of trials. Continue reading “Editor of anarchist paper in Turkey jailed for 15 months”

Towards Womens’ Freedom: collective manifesto of the WSM (Ireland)

UPDATED: The Workers Solidarity Movement’s collectively agreed position on women’s freedom.

1. We recognise that women are specially oppressed as a gender, that they face oppression as women. We call this oppression sexism. As anarchists we oppose sexism wherever it exists on principle and in practice.

2.1 The nature of women’s oppression has changed as societies have developed. For example, the oppression of women that might have existed in some pre-class societies assumed a fundamentally new character with the development of class society. Just as the oppression of women in feudal societies changed its character with the development of capitalism.

2.2 We reject the idea that women are in any way inferior to men or that women are biologically predisposed to assume certain roles in society. Sexism, racism etc are not genetic traits but, rather, are formed by social existence, upbringing and education.