L’hebdomadaire haïtien, publié à New York avec l’aide de correspondants sur place, a réussi à boucler une édition spéciale consacrée au séisme du 12 janvier. “L’horreur et l’étendue de la destruction sismique sont insupportables, révoltantes même. Le peuple haïtien, qui a tant souffert ces six dernières années de l’inconscience et de la cupidité de ses dirigeants, ne méritait pas un tel cataclysme. Il nous faudra énormément de courage et de volonté pour surmonter cette cruelle adversité (…). Nous n’avons que nos mains nues et notre dignité de peuple pour reconstruire un pays physiquement détruit”, écrit-il en éditorial. A Port-au-Prince, les secours peinent toujours à s’organiser…[courrierinternational.com]
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Revista Envío – Youth Gangs: Armed Rebels Without A Cause
As Dennis Rodgers points out, “The ambiguity inherent to the human condition—which is significantly increased in the chaotic and anarchic context of today’s …
www.envio.org.ni/articulo/2247 -
Revista Envío – An Urban Gang Moves from Social to Economic Violence
Dennis Rodgers. In 1996-97, I lived in a poor neighborhood, or barrio, ….. Dennis Rodgers is an anthropologist with the Development Studies Institute, …
www.envio.org.ni/articulo/2673 -
Revista Envío – The Gangs of Central America: Major Players and …
Dennis Rodgers. Although the last of the revolutionary conflicts that plagued Central America during the 1970s and 80s was formally brought to an end in …
www.envio.org.ni/articulo/3704 -
Revista Envío – Globalization and Development Seen from Below
Dennis Rodgers is a lecturer in Development Studies, Development Studies Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science (UK). …
www.envio.org.ni/articulo/2153 -
Revista Envío – Why No Maras in Nicaragua?
According to British anthropologist Dennis Rodgers, crime rates have increased by 50% globally in the last 25 years, with a notable surge in the nineties. …
www.envio.org.ni/articulo/3351 – Cached -
Revista Envío – Youth Gangs and Religion: Links and Differences
Anthropologist Dennis Rodgers observed that the fights tended to follow ritual patterns: invasion of the rivals’ territory to draw graffiti or throw stones, …
www.envio.org.ni/articulo/3778 -
Revista Envío – The Traido: A Key to Youth Gang Continuity
In one Managua neighborhood very close to Reparto Schick, British anthropologist Dennis Rodgers found that the gangs had real, well-planned military …
www.envio.org.ni/articulo/2990 -
Revista Envío – Nicaraguan Youth Gangs: From Throwing Stones to …
According to British anthropologist Dennis Rodgers, many members of this new wave of gang activity were 16- to 18-year-olds who were veterans of the …
www.envio.org.ni/articulo/3354 -
Revista Envío – Pandilleros: armados sin utopía
Su autor, Dennis Rodgers, antropólogo británico, quien elaboraba, para la Universidad de Cambridge, una tesis doctoral sobre las pandillas de Managua. …
www.envio.org.ni/articulo/937
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 24, 2009
YES MEN HONCHO SPRUNG FROM CLINK
“Balls Across America” direct-action campaign launched
NYPD abuse of authority big factor in arrest
Andy Bichlbaum, co-founder of activist group the Yes Men, emerged after 26 hours
in New York City’s central lockup with all charges against him dismissed.[1]
“The judge just laughed,” said Bichlbaum. “The police had a less well-developed
sense of humor – and, it turned out, much less regard for the law. But all in all,
I’m ecstatic that they arrested me.”
At 10am Tuesday, Bichlbaum was arrested and charged with trespassing, after he and
21 “Survivaballs” [2] gathered on New York City’s East River and announced they
were to going to “take the UN by storm” from the water, since all the land
approaches were sealed. Once at the UN, they would supposedly use the Survivaballs
to blockade the negotiations and refuse to let world leaders leave the room until
they’d agreed on sweeping cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, as Secretary-General
Ban Ki-Moon has demanded.[3]
The event was a “scenic and mediagenic way to call attention to what our leaders
need to do in the run-up to Copenhagen,” said Bichlbaum. [4] It was also the
official inauguration of the Yes Men’s “Balls Across America” series of civil
disobedience actions, inspired by the call for direct action on climate change by
website http://BeyondTalk.net.
Minutes after the balls began wading into the water, law enforcement swooped in on
the protesters by land, sea, and air. In order not to harm their attackers, the
balls admitted defeat and waddled out of the water and off the beach. Seven
participants were given tickets for trespassing, and one – ringleader Bichlbaum -
was whisked away to “the Tombs,” New York’s central processing facility at 100
Centre Street, due to an unpaid ticket for bicycle riding through Washington
Square Park.
Bichlbaum’s arrest led to hilarious prime-time coverage on CNN.[5]
“Sleeping on concrete was a challenge, but I met a lot of interesting people, and
my arrest meant major prime-time news coverage we wouldn’t have otherwise had,”
said Bichlbaum. “That’s the whole point of civil disobedience. Thanks to my
momentary discomfort, our symbol of the stupidity of not taking action on climate
change was seen by tens of millions of people. It all worked out great, and I
remain grateful to the NYPD for having accidentally made our event successful
beyond our wildest dreams.”
Despite Bichlbaum’s gratitude, one thing stuck out for his attorney, Wylie
Stecklow: in filing his report, the arresting officer had lied through his teeth.
“The officer said he’d seen Bichlbaum jump over the fence, which was obviously
impossible, since the police arrived after the Survivaballs had all entered the
beach,” said Stecklow, who defended Bichlbaum at his arraignment yesterday
morning. “And the officer said there were prominent signs posted to the effect
that entering was forbidden – also untrue.” [6]
“Perhaps the NYPD thought that if an officer did not swear that he saw Andy climb
a fence, AND that there were signs providing notice that this area was off-limits,
a judge might have dismissed the case,” said Stecklow.
According to Stecklow, officers swearing to facts they couldn’t possibly know is
an all-too-common occurrence. “Often, during mass arrests, we see a Supervising
Officer assigning junior officers to write up the paperwork. But these junior
officers end up becoming the ‘arresting officer,’ requiring them to swear to facts
that are not within their knowledge. This leads to constitutional violations and
wrongful arrests, and undermines the confidence that citizens should have in the
criminal justice system,” said Stecklow.
The NYPD has, in recent years, been found guilty of making numerous
unconstitutional arrests in cases of political protest, and then falsifying their
statements to fit the arrests. There have in particular been several well-known
cases involving the tackling and arrest of bicyclists, with false excuses then
written into police reports. [7]
“My case doesn’t matter in itself,” said Bichlbaum. In fact, I’m really happy it
turned out as it did. But I hope we can help expose the systemic and nefarious
culture of lying within the NYPD, that has had the effect of criminalizing protest
in New York City.”
“The police have to be told very clearly that they can’t lie and expect to get
away with it,” Bichlbaum added. “The stakes are far too high.”
“We need to strengthen oversight of the police by those who empower them in the
first place – you and I, the citizens of New York City,” said Stecklow. “Right
now, at a bare minimum, that means giving teeth to the formerly well-intentioned,
now powerless body of the Civilian Complaint Review Board.”
“Unfortunately, even when we have video proving police statements to be false, no
one seems interested in investigating,” added Stecklow. “That’s got to change.”
After reading the arresting officer’s complaint against him, Bichlbaum decided to
file a complaint with the CCRB in order to hold this officer accountable for his
false statements.”It’s not much, but at least this guy will have to explain his
story under oath. And then next time, maybe he’ll think twice before filing a
false statement to make the crime stick.”
The Yes Men hope their next actions won’t depend on police misconduct to make them
a success. “With ‘Balls Across America,’ our goal is to get arrested fair and
square, all across this fair land of ours,” said Yes Men co-founder Mike Bonanno.
“It’s a great way to get attention for a crucial issue.”
[1] Bichlbaum actually received an Adjournment with Contemplation of Dismissal,
which normally results in full dismissal in New York State
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adjourned_in_Contemplation_of_Dismissal).
[2] The Survivaball (http://survivaball.com) made its first appearance in 2006,
when “Halliburton representatives” attended a conference on catastrophic climate
change and demonstrated the functionality of the large inflatable suits which keep
corporate managers safe from global warming
(http://theyesmen.org/hijinks/survivaball). That hoax, and many more like it, are
documented in the new award-winning documentary film, The Yes Men Fix the World
(http://www.theyesmenfixtheworld.com), which opens theatrically in New York
October 7, before opening nationally October 23.
[3] http://nypost-se.com/news/un-chief-world-heading-for-climate-abyss/
[4] http://www.democracynow.org/2009/9/23/headlines#14
http://nypost-se.com/news/us_news/congress-cops-out-on-climate/
http://nypost-se.com/news/us_news/crap-and-trade/
[5] http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/offbeat/2009/09/23/moos.survivaball.cnn
[6] http://theyesmen.org/crimcomplaint715.pdf
[7] http://blip.tv/file/771625, http://glassbeadcollective.blip.tv/file/784711/
Le Canada vient d’accorder l’asile politique à un Sud-Africain blanc au motif qu’il serait victime de racisme (ndlr ???????????????).
Mais cette décision ne doit pas servir à faire oublier les souffrances des Noirs à l’époque de l’apartheid.
Les gangs d’Amérique centrale défraient la chronique. Ils sont en effet violents et hors la loi. Mais ils servent souvent de boucs émissaires aux autorités. Enquête. (…)
courrierinternational.com
The United States was founded as an “infant empire,” in George Washington’s words (…)
US Airways Flight 1549 Reconstruction by Scene Systems
Résultats 1 – 10 sur un total d’environ 73 300 pour George Bush pire président de l’histoire (0,31 secondes)
Google donne déjà plus de vingt mille réponses à une recherche en anglais associant « George Bush » et « pire président de l’histoire ». De quoi ébranler tous ceux qui prétendent que la politique se porterait mieux si ses responsables maîtrisaient les techniques du management. Car M. Bush possédait un Master of Business Administration (MBA)…
par Ibrahim Warde [monde-diplomatique.fr]
La Russie continue de s’appuyer sur les antennes londoniennes de cabinets du groupe Omnicom pour gérer sa communication d’influence en Europe et aux Etats-Unis.
Selon un véritable jeu de “poupées russes”, les bureaux de Ketchum, Inc. et de Gavin Anderson à Londres coordonnent toutes les activités d’influence privées de la présidence russe et de Gazprom, sous-traitant en cascade à d’autres firmes contrôlées par le groupe de communication Omnicom (voir schéma). Dernier contrat en date, Ketchum vient de signer avec le cabinet de lobbying Alston & Bird basé à Washington, où le Kremlin emploie déjà le Washington Group et Integrated Solutions Group. Au Kremlin, le principal intermédiaire avec ces firmes est Dmitry Peskov, chef du service de presse du premier ministre Vladimir Poutine.
Ces sociétés de lobbying sont des relais indispensables pour défendre les positions russes dans la crise du gaz en Ukraine ; pour promouvoir l’adhésion de Moscou à l’Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC), pour laquelle la Russie milite depuis 1996 ; ainsi que pour gérer la réputation des dirigeants du Kremlin. Moscou sous-traite également des opérations de séduction pour attirer des investisseurs étrangers.
An Opec for gas?
Russia and Ukraine fell out over the price of gas, and people in eastern Europe suffered the consequences. But the dispute affects countries further down the pipeline – particularly in Europe, which seems unable to formulate its gas consumption policy
By Rafael Kandiyoti
[mondediplo.com]
The strange tale of Iran and Israel
The early Zionists never believed they would be accepted in the Arab world and pinned their hopes on the non-Arab periphery instead, particularly Iran. Israel reversed that policy by opening talks with a weakened Arafat in the early 1990s. But peace with the Palestinians did not happen and the ‘radicals’ grew more radical
By Alastair Crooke
[mondediplo.com]
Comment le virus Conflicker a paralysé les armées
Depuis deux semaines, les réseaux informatiques du ministère de la défense sont infectés par un virus qui a immobilisé certains systèmes d’armes, à l’instar des Rafale de l’Aéronavale – L’origine et les caractéristiques exactes de ce virus restent encore inconnues, mais la crise – dont Intelligence Online révèle l’ampleur – pose de sérieuses questions sur la sécurité des réseaux militaires français et leur capacité à faire face à une cyber-attaque d’envergure.
[intelligenceonline.fr]
Boris Hoppek Brazil / 27.01.2009 – 14.03.2009
“Again I don’t have a text about the exhibition. First because I am bad with writing and second because I don’t explain my work, well I just explain that I don’t explain it. Why I don’t explain stands for the concept of not explaining. could be – a) I use it as an excuse to cover up first that I am bad with writing or – b) my work has nothing that has to be explained, or – c) it has something, but I don’t want to explain just a small part of it not to mention all the subliminal elements and interpretation variations I don’t know of. Whatever, let’s say its all together.” Brazil is Boris Hoppek’s long awaited first solo exhibition in… oh, yes… Brazil.
- L’entrée en fonction de M. Barack Obama confirmera une triple rupture. Serge Halimi
– Les Etats-Unis humiliés par leur allié israélien
[monde-diplomatique.fr]
Shared by my friend Markus as seen on spiegel.de
Whatever happens in Congress, the crisis is now global; that means governments must work together…
