Malaysia:massive multicultural movement

police-at-bersih-rally-300x224 — criminal police tear gas Bersih rally

KUALA LUMPUR, Jul 27, 2011 (IPS) – Following a major rally involving tens of thousands of protesters calling for electoral reforms in Malaysia, someone set up a Facebook page calling for Prime Minister Najib Razak to step down. Within ten days, the number of people who said they “like” the page crossed 200,000.

The rally and the subsequent backlash on social media are a sign of the anger that has been building up among a segment of the population that Najib may have overlooked at his peril: the urban middle class.

And crucially, the response has come from across Malaysia’s ethnic spectrum.

Malaysia is a multiracial country with a relatively young population. Around 70 percent of Malaysians live in urban centres, with rapidly improving Internet connections.

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On July 9, police fired tear gas and hosed down tens of thousands of Bersih supporters who took to the streets calling on the government to reform the election processes. A total of 1,667 people were arrested, said to be the largest haul of protesters in one single day in the history of the country.
Bersih estimated the turnout to be 50,000 and condemned police heavy-handedness which led to severe injuries, and a loss of life.

There have also been numerous photographs and videos surfacing online of instances of police beating protesters before arresting them. In one controversial case, the police are also alleged to have fired tear gas into the compound of a maternity hospital.

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Political analysts say Najib’s handling of the demonstration showed he is out of step with the sentiment of many Malaysians, in particular, a growing population of young, internet-savvy people who are less afraid to express themselves than their forebears.

“In the 21st century everybody has a mind and wants to express themselves. People were saying we are the boss, we elected you. But this was lost on the government,” says Jahabar Sadiq, chief executive officer of the news portal ‘Malaysian Insider’.

“Peter”, who doesn’t want to be identified by his full name, says he was inspired by video and photos of a frail, elderly lady at the rally who was defiant in the face of tear gas and water cannon. So he set up the Facebook page called Aunty Bersih.

Madrid 15M:’Es el sistema..abajo el capitalismo!

La indignación ciudadana recupera Madrid acusando a los bancos

Los miles de «indignados» que participaron en la marcha popular con el lema «No es una crisis, es el sistema» ocuparon la Gran Vía madrileña en su camino hacia la Puerta del Sol y llenaron de manos rojas pintadas las fachadas de algunas de las sucursales bancarias que encontraron en su recorrido. Fue una forma de expresar su rechazo a unas entidades a las que acusan de crear la crisis que los gobernantes tratan de que pague la ciudadanía del Estado español.

GARA |La marcha, a la que acudieron personas de todas las edades, incluidos bebés, completó su recorrido en un ambiente festivo. Los manifestantes, a su paso

por el Banco de España, situado en la plaza de Cibeles, corearon gritos de «culpable», frase a la que sucedieron otras como «Esta crisis no la pagamos», «Es una estafa, no es una crisis» y «La voz del pueblo no es i

Miles de personas convocadas por el movimiento 15-M iniciaron poco antes de las siete de la tarde, desde la Plaza de Carlos V, su marcha por la capital. Cánticos como «De norte a sur, de este a oeste, la lucha sigue, cueste lo que cueste» se sumaron a los ya tradicionales y característicos de este movimiento tales como «El pueblo unido jamás será vencido».

Con esta marcha los «indignados» cerraban un fin de semana en el que seis marchas procedentes de distintos puntos del Estado confluyeron el sábado en la Puerta del Sol de Madrid, donde a lo largo de esa tarde-noche y durante la jornada de ayer llevaron a cabo distintas asambleas y otras actividades reivindicativas.

Christian Jihad: Right-Wing Terror Attacks

Christian Jihad:

2563604651_fc2f6a29c1 — the church that best illuminates..is on fire!

By Frank SchaefferJuly 23, 2011

The Norwegian police on Saturday charged a 32-year-old man, whom they identified as a Christian fundamentalist with right-wing connections, over the bombing of a government center and a shooting attack on a nearby island that together left at least 91 people dead.

In my new book “Sex, Mom and God” I predicted just such an action. I predicted that right wing Christians will unleash terror here in America too. I predict that they will copy Islamic extremists, and may eventually even make common cause with them.

According to the Guardian newspaper, the killer wrote:

“Today’s Protestant church is a joke,” he wrote in an online post in 2009. “Priests in jeans who march for Palestine and churches that look like minimalist shopping centres. I am a supporter of an indirect collective conversion of the Protestant church back to the Catholic.”

It seems Anders Behring Breivik longed for a “pure” and ultra conservative religion. He was a man of religious conviction, no liberals with their jeans need apply! Liberals beware.

Norway is just a first taste of what will happen here on a larger scale.

There is a history to the far right, religious right extremism on the rise today, extremism so extreme that in its congressional manifestation it is risking the good faith and credit of the US in the debt calling fiasco. The Tea Party activists also want purity of doctrine.

Continue reading : here

15M.”La calle es nuestra. No pagaremos su crisis”.

El miércoles, un cordón policial establecido por los Mossos d’Esquadra en la calle Marqués de la Argentera impidió que la manifestación que habían convocado en protesta por los recortes llegara al Parlament de Catalunya, en el parque de la Ciutadella.

Ante la imposibilidad de acceder al parque, los organizadores improvisaron una asamblea ante el edificio de la Estació de França de las más de 30.000 personas que según ellos participaron en la marcha —7.500 según los Mossos y la Guardia Urbana–.

La manifestación se inició en la plaza Catalunya de Barcelona tras una pancarta que rezaba “La calle es nuestra. No pagaremos su crisis”. En primer lugar, la marcha se dirigió al edificio de la Bolsa, que estaba custodiada por cuatro furgonetas de los antidisturbios de los Mossos d’Esquadra y con su perímetro vallado. Los indignados lanzaron consignas contra la Bolsa como “¡Manos arriba esto es un atraco!” y “¡No hay pan para tanto chorizo!”. No se produjeron incidentes.

Pintadas y carteles

Los manifestantes siguieron después su camino hacia el Parlament, pasando por delante de la sede de la patronal Fomento del Trabajo, en un marcha en la que se tardaba 20 minutos en recorrer la distancia entre la cabecera y la cola.

Al paso por la calle Consell de Cent, algunas personas pintaron los escaparates de tiendas de productos de lujo, como la de Ferrari –que cerró su puerta principal–, con leyendas como “Vuestro lujo es nuevas miseria” y “Miles de personas durmiendo en la calle. Esto es violencia”.

También colocaron carteles en las sucursales bancarias con la palabra “Culpable” y han exhibido otra pancarta con el lema “La usura es la justificación de la estafa”. Entre los manifestantes también se encontraban colectivos de emigrantes.

Riot! austerity budget for people on $1 a day

Malawi riots erupt

Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world, with an estimated 75% of the population living on less than $1 (60p) a day.

The government recently passed an austerity budget, raising taxes to reduce dependence on aid.

The demonstrations were called to protest against rising fuel prices, a shortage of foreign exchange reserves, alleged bad governance and poor international relations.

LANTYRE (Reuters) – Riots broke out in several cities in Malawi Wednesday after police and the army tried to disperse protesters demanding the resignation of President Bingu wa Mutharika, whom they accuse of ignoring civil liberties and damaging the economy.

Last week, the UK cut direct aid to Malawi after a diplomatic spat with Mr Mutharika’s government.

The UK accused Malawi of mishandling the economy and failing to uphold human rights.

In the southern African nation’s capital, Lilongwe, witnesses said smoke was billowing into the sky as protesters burned cars, offices and shops belonging to ministers and politicians from Mutharika’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

Troops were deployed on the streets of the normally sleepy commercial capital, Blantyre, and police fired teargas at marchers who had gathered outside the stock exchange in defiance of a court order.

“The earlier injunction has been withdrawn and we’re proceeding on the planned route of the demonstration but sadly we’re being smoked by teargas,” Gift Makhwawa, president of the Malawi Law Society, told Reuters.

Marie Mason: new prison art/ photos.

Check out new photos and prison art from Marie on her supporters website HERE

http://supportmariemason.org/2011/07/14/new-on-the-website/

About Marie Mason

22yrs jail for bid to save the planet.

Marie Mason is a loving mother of two and a long-time activist in the environmental and labor movements.

In March 2008, she was arrested by federal authorities for charges related to two acts of property destruction that occurred in 1999 and 2000; no one was injured in either of them.

She accepted a plea bargain and was sentenced on February 5, 2009 to just under 22 years. She is now serving the longest sentence of any “Green Scare” prisoner.

The “Green Scare” is the name given to the recent arrests of animal rights and environmental activists who have been charged with acts of economic sabotage.

Federal authorities have sought outrageous sentences (often Life in prison) and have publicly and legally labeled the activists as “terrorists” – despite the fact that no one has been killed or injured in any of the acts.