The Beauty of Technology

Peter Joseph tells it like it is in:

“Where are We Going?”

“‘Social progress and human well-being are always second to monetary gain.”

“Abundance, sustainability, and efficiency are the enemies of profit.”

Heart Attack 2010

Clogging the Arteries of Vancouver

Olympic Welcoming Committee, Feb.12 2010

After thousands hit the streets yesterday to come together in protest of the 2010 Olympics, chaos broke out today in the downtown core of Vancouver, windows of various corporations smashed and doused in red paint, including The Royal Bank, The Bay, and Bell. The protesters, about 200, were in black bloc formation.

The Black Bloc

While some misguided protesters decided to vandalize personal property (?) others sent a strong anti-capitalist message to corporate sponsors. CBC is describing the group as “violent”, but it was the cops who committed violence – full on beatings with batons.

Property destruction is not the same as violence. Get your story straight CBC. Spin, spin, spin.

What is violence? Smashing a window, or someone's face?

Personally, I think kicking over mopeds on the DTES is stupid, but it was a sight for sore eyes to see The Bay’s windows demolished. The Bay makes millions of dollars off the needlessly cruel fur industry and are very much deserving of anger coming their way. Vans parked on the sidewalk tried to cover the broken windows. A woman stood in front of a window after holding a cardboard sign that said something like “Douchebags breaking windows is not protesting.” Of course, I yelled something about how The Bay skins animals alive only to have the media cameras on her aim at me, asking: “What is freedom?” I replied:

“The end of all oppressive systems”

An explanation of the tactis used for Heart Attack 2010:

“Diversity of tactics means support for each others’ chosen method of resistance while not threatening the lives of those around us. It is a way by which we hope to create space for the realization of tension, uncertainty, action, humour and beauty as we strive for new ways to engage with each other and against a common enemy. While we may practice one tactic or action, we do not chose yours. As participants we agree to leave the policing of tactics to our oppressors, not our comrades; we will not attack each other for using methods that are not our own. Through a diversity of tactics we are stronger and more cohesive towards our goal of giving Capitalism a massive coronary.”

*More footage of the protest to come…

The World You Live In

when you argue with the ones in charge…

A four part video produced by Irish Indymedia:

Berlusconi’s Mousetrap

“The Protests against the G8 in July 2001 in Genoa Italy were the biggest and most significant protests in Western Europe since the Poll Tax riots in the UK. Italian Prime Minister Sylvio Berlusconi, wanting to impress his new best mate George W. Bush, orchestrated a brutal Media/Police preemptive strike on the Anti-Capitalist Movements’ biggest First World mobilisation to date. When the weekend of protests ended Carlo Guiliani was dead and a school full of sleeping activists had been attacked in what is popularly referred to as the ‘Chilean Night’.

The film traces the events of the three days of protests in detail and poses the question – Was it all a setup? If Seattle was ‘Star Wars’ then this is ‘The Empire Strikes Back’. It is made from a combination of footage of the Genoa protests against the G8 shot by 10 members of IMC Ireland, material from the Italy IMC Archives and material from various other sources. This compelling footage combined with on the spot interviews and reenacted voiceover commentary and analysis from various websites which were active during the protests provides a in-depth blow by blow retelling of the story of the three days of the Genoa protests against the G8.”

Watching this four part video changed my view of the world. Why is news like this dismissed so easily? Same reason 9/11 has been dismissed. Supporters of the 9/11 terrorist theory back up their claims by saying: “if the government was really involved, don’t you think people would make a bigger deal out of trying to bust them?” Insinuating that if the media is not making a big deal of something, then it’s not a big deal – not even real, probably.

In the world we live in, the “kings” get together behind closed doors claiming to try to solve poverty, then brutally attack those who claim to represent the poor, by beating them to bloody pulps.  The human rights violations faced by unarmed protesters in these videos, by a faceless, unaccountable army, with masks, gear, sticks, and helmets is sickening.  This could happen to you, too, if you disagree with the democratically elected leaders of the Northern Hemisphere. Democracy is not freedom.