The violence finally hit a fervour pitch last Thursday when their union leader M. Murali Mohan was killed. The workers had been in contest with the factory owners fighting to increase their pay to a livable level and to have people laid off in October rehired. For his efforts to increase the ability of workers to survive, he was fired. The next morning at 06:00, he returned with some workers to obstruct the staring shift. The management called the police to break up the demonstration. Riot police moved in and began attacking workers with what are known as “lathis” in India. Essentially long batons. 20 people were injured including Murali who died on the way to the hospital.

In protest hundreds of the factory’s workers went to the local police station and demanded that the officers who attacked them be charged with homicide. Workers also are accused of returning to the factory and destroying 50 company vehicles including buses and trucks, setting them on fire.

Since the death of the company president, the police have put the city on a curfew and other civil orders with the express purpose of passivising the population. Workers have been injured by police action since then leading to 8 more injured, 2 of them in critical condition.

While the death of a company president at the hands of his workers is a major event, violence against worker’s in India is not. Almost daily there are incidents of violence being used against people who make less than a livable wage. The contradictions of capitalism have become much more acute as the country has become much more capitalist. As the gap between the poor and the rich keep growing in India, leading to lover and lower living standards, labour violence will certainly increase.

Source:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2012/01/27/india-factory-workers-revolt-kill-company-president/

As people were trying to stop cuts to the Toronto library system, George Mammoliti accused the Communist Party of Canada. He accused people of being against the closures as working for them. He implied that no one but an agent of a communist conspiracy would want libraries.

Aside from other incidents, Rob Ford, the Toronto mayor has taken it to a new level. While on the John Oakly radio show, he accused city councillors who oppose his harmful budget cuts of being “two steps left of Joe Stalin”. What he literally said was:

“These people are all two steps left of Joe Stalin. So I’m not discouraged by that and I don’t expect it. They don’t care about the tax payers. But know one person who does, that’s me.”

This has gone beyond simply hyperbole, or just speaking out of emotion. This is what they really think, this is the mentality they have. If anyone opposes them, they must be a far leftist. Their right wing mentality is so extreme that anyone who doesn’t agree with them on their policy, must be some kind of Communist.

It also demonstrates the lack of credibility their position has. They know their position lacks substance and support. That’s why they need to red scare against their opponents, rather than rational debate.

Margarita Simonyan, RT’s editor-in-chief spoke to Reuters regarding Assange’s fit with Russia Today:

“Everything we do on the air is different from the English-language mainstream. That is something we have in common with Assange.”

The move has been criticized by many as Russian President Vladimir Putin attempting to rehabilitate his image after the disastrous recent election. Much of the world is criticizing him as being a tyrant refusing to give up power and rigging elections. It’s accused that he is attempting to use the reputation Assange has with exposing corruption and promoting free speech as a way to polish his own. Where Putin is accused of being corrupt and oppressive, its hoped that this promotion of an anti-corruption and anti-oppression activist will help turn public opinion in his favour.

A show for Assange may also been seen as a slight by Putin to the United States. After all, Assange is most notorious for his exposing of US war crimes in the Iraq war. It would not be too far-fetched that Putin may be using Assange in the current battle between the US and Iran in the Straight of Hormuz. Russia is a key ally of Iran against US imperialism.

However in the past Vladimir Putin has opposed the arrest of Assange as being “hypocritical”. Other leading international figures from government and academics have come out in praise for him. Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez has thrown his support with him, alongside Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and US left-leaning academic Noam Chomsky. All of whom are rumoured to be guests on the show.

Social media has been less than fully supporting for Assange. Many on the popular micro blogging site Twitter have been critical of him. Many in the world see Putin as threat to freedom and democracy, they’ve been calling Assange a “sell out” for working with Russia Today, which many see as the personal propaganda outlet for Putin himself.

Despite what anyone may feel about the show, there is one thing that is for certain. The show is expected to do very well with expected high ratings. The show will be popular, and therefore profitable. The only question is who will be advertising on the program? Most American companies will be wary of such an endeavour. While the right in politics calls for Assange to be killed, the fake left of the Democrats do little better calling him a “threat to America”. There will be takers for advertising space no doubt, too much money is at stake for it to be ignored. The only question is who is going to take it. Or at least, who will be the first one to.

The women have come forward and filed lawsuits against the state for the reprehensible actions of these police officers. The have claimed “immense emotional trauma and pain over the relationships” they had with these men. It is strictly forbidden for undercover officers to have sexual relationships with the people they are spying on. This is expected to be a very expensive and ground breaking lawsuit.

This aptly demonstrates the sheer indifference towards human life police spies, and government forces in general, have. Woman’s entire lives were used a cover. These women had their feelings, dignity, sexuality used for the purpose of gathering information for the state. Women underwent child birth, a process that can lead to death even in the first world, for the purpose of spying on legal activists. Even a woman’s biology is something to be used by the state to protect the profits of the elite.

Children grew up never knowing their father was actually a police spy. These children were used for the purposes of stopping people from organizing against social ills. A child, is something to be used. Children’s lives have literally been used as tools. As if simply having police and militaries kill people to protect profits wasn’t enough.

Source:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/jan/20/undercover-police-children-activists?INTCMP=SRCH

According to reports, the fighting started over the arrest of a Gaddafi loyalist on Monday. There has been unending civil unrest in the country since the invasion of NATO back forces, also with capture and murder of Libyan leader Mummar Gaddafi.

The Western elite are all too aware of the reality of how fragile their puppet government is. Speaking to the media, Sabah al-Mukhtar, president of the Arab Lawyers Association in London, said this:

“Reason number one is that the arms are still in the hands of the various militias in various areas. At the same time, the political views of the people are in conflict. You have a situation when people want Islam to be a part of the constitution, while you have others that are liberals who do not. So you have the conflict on policies as well as the availability of arms.”

This latest incident of capturing a city and destroying the NTC forces inside shows that the real patriots of Libya have not been defeated. Despite all the efforts of the NATO forces and the crimes they committed against the population, they have not bent to their imperialist will. Hopefully this will be a start to the resistance of NATO and we will soon see the nation of Libya back in the hands of the Libyan people.

Source:
http://rt.com/news/libya-new-civil-war-489/

With this deal in place, full time AP writers and journalists will be allowed to work in the DPRK on a regular basis. The AP itself is reporting that no such deal has ever been reached before because no formal relations between North Korea and the United States exists. For the longest time international journalists have been blocked from entering the country. Every so often a foreign journalist or documentary film maker has been given access.

The office is opened at a significant moment in history. The new leadership of Kim Jong-Un has started and its seems things may become more open. Tom Curley is as equally enthusiastic about the new AP office.

“Beyond this door lies a path to vastly larger understanding and cultural enrichment for millions around the world… Regardless of whether you were born in Pyongyang or Pennsylvania, you are aware of the bridge being created today… Everyone at The Associated Press takes his or her responsibilities of a free and fair press with utmost seriousness. We pledge to do our best to reflect accurately the people of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea as well as what they do and say.”

I for one hail the new move. With relatively independent media now granted access we will start getting actual news from North Korea. instead of what we usually have, an “unknown source” that makes the most outlandish and ridiculous claims, greedily lapped up by the ignorant West. I am optimistic that this office will bring us honest news reports from a region of the world that is so steeped in the lies of imperialism.

The group behind the move is the Trade Union of Russia’s Citizens. A spokesmen for the group, Nils Logansen, has said that a number of people from the union have begun picketing on the streets of the capital, Moscow, to demand the investigation. Right now there are only a few people conducing three pickets, but they are intent on raising awareness of this imitative and bringing it to the people.

“It’s quite possible that in addition to the complaint to the Investigative Committee we will also file a law suit. And we call on all citizens to join us… We were preparing this action in advance. Following the 20th anniversary of the disintegration of the Soviet Union we want to remind people of the role Gorbachev played in it.”

The move is still new and many outside Russia have not heard about it yet. If this trial does indeed happen, it could signal justice for tens of millions of Russians who’ve suffered from hardships because of the restoration of capitalism. It was Gorbachev’s dissolution of the Soviet Union that lead to the economic and political anarchy of the ’90s. The economic system was irreparably damaged by his pre-”collapse” policies, some sections of the economy and society were never able to recover.

Personally I hope the man is found guilty of high treason for his actions surrounding the end of the Soviet Union, and I hope he is found civilly liable as well. This move rebuffs the ignorant arrogance of anti-Communists that the Soviet Union was this “evil” empire that was hated by its citizens. May be now they can face the fact it was their own fear of an alternative, and a threat to imperialist rampaging.

Source:
http://rt.com/politics/gorbachev-high-treason-trial-175/

Reuters is reporting that the New Zealand police raided a mansion in Auckland arresting Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom, also known as Kim Schmitz, 37, a German national with New Zealand residency. It was also reported that 70 police armed with weapons raided 10 properties owned by the website’s chief marketing officer, Finn Batato, 38. The chief technical officer and co-founder Mathias Ortmann also arrested, 40, both also from Germany, and Dutch national Bram van der Kolk, 29, who is also a New Zealand resident.

During the raid on company executives, law enforcement seized several million dollars worth of assets. Among them were several luxury cars including a Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe. They also seized more than NZ$10 million ($8 million) from financial institutions.

Detective Inspector Grant Wormald from the Organized & Financial Crime Agency New Zealand said this:

“The FBI contacted New Zealand Police in early 2011 with a request to assist with their investigation into the Mega Conspiracy… All the accused have been indicted in the United States. We will continue to work with the U.S. authorities to assist with the extradition proceedings.”

In response to the attack on the site, hacktivist group Anonymous targeted and took down the public websites of the Justice Department, the world’s largest music company Universal Music, and the two big trade groups that represent the music and film industries. The retaliation was swift, some claiming that the retaliation came within 15 minutes of Megaupload being taken down.

In a digital age where information, including copyrighted material, can be moved so freely; the capitalist class will endeavour to bring more and more repressive measures to protect their profits. The SOPA act and this raid are the work of the defence of property and profits. The more easily information can move around, the more and more repressive measures the capitalist class will have to resort to. A free and open world of information is a threat to the profit motive and a threat to capitalism.

He says it would allow “50 different political options to choose from”, based on the idea that each state would then chose how things would be. Meaning the door would be supposedly open for socialists to build their own type of government. Despite this belief the idea is based on several Libertarian fallacies.

“Whether you prefer socialism or laissez-faire capitalism, there would most likely be an option that fits the political environment in which you would like to live.”

This claim is predicated on the idea that capitalism is supposedly freedom. As Lenin said about capitalist freedom, “freedom for whom, to do what?” It’s an assumption that at least one state will automatically become socialist. That’s not what he is outright saying, however he is implying it by saying, “…there would most likely be an option..”. This implying comes from the typical lack of understanding that Libertarians have. Believing that all government is automatically socialist. Well this is not true, we have a capitalist government. That state is the apparatus by which the capitalists protect protect their private property.

The state is funded by the public, but controlled by the capitalist class. They pay for the representatives to run for office and provide them with all the incentives necessary to do their bidding. This is capitalism, where as Libertarians are in denial. The breaking down of the federal government into small state governments would produce no difference. The state itself would be less powerful and have less access to resources, but that would not alter how the state functions. It would not eliminate business being the ones who fund politicians. It would not eliminate the profit motive behind their corruption. Nothing in its essence of what makes the system what it is would change.

A negative would be that the government would have less resources to carry out what people did want it to do. Like national defence and security. We would have 50 different departments of Homeland Security with 50 different methods of doing things that would eventually conflict. Resources for national defence would be more complicated as different states would be fighting over what equipment should be purchased from who. Just forming an actual national defence military strategy would be next to impossible. Each state alone would think they are the most important and needed to be defended the most, not to mention all the other problems that would arise. That’s why the military has a central command structure; militaries should.

His next argument, which is against big government, implies that big government can’t get things done because of people with different “political motives”. As an example of this he points to the so-called Obamacare controversy as an example.

“Look at Obamacare and the controversy that it’s caused. It’s taking forever to set the plan in motion because people from different parts of the country view the issue differently. I always use Massachusetts and Mississippi as examples. People in Massachusetts aren’t going to agree with the political motives of people in Mississippi, and vice versa. Why should either state be forced to abide by the political views of the other?”

Here he continues the fallacy that “people” are fighting over what healthcare means. Again it is the intrusion of capitalism and the profit motive of insurance companies and medical suppliers who are against Obamacare. (At this moment I won’t go into what a fraud Obamacare is.) Universal healthcare is popular, especially among the 50 million Americans who are without healthcare. The drive against healthcare reform was completely at the behest of corporations trying to protect their profits. That’s all it is, we know this for a fact given the insanity of their arguments.

“Conservatives for Patient’s Rights” is a prime example of business interfering with the will of the people and the carrying out of that function. The group is a total fraud, it’s funded by corporate lobby groups, insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies. Their website told people to literally yell “1930s Germany” at town hall meetings to invoke the fear of the Nazis. (Unfortunately the website is now gone and redirects to unrelated blog.) The move for healthcare reform was stopped by businesses defending their profits, not “political motives” of people in different states.

I’m not implying in anyway that all disagreements would disappear under socialism. (Although people in the comment section will claim that.) I am saying that 90% of what interferes with the will of the people will be eliminated. What we would have then is an actual debate on what we want.

This post is intended to get socialists to vote for a Libertarian candidate based on Libertarian arguments. Its an ineffective means of changing a socialists mind. If Libertarians already acknowledge that the system is controlled by big business, and both parties are owned by big business, how is Ron Paul supposed to change anything? It is a contradiction in itself. Him bringing any change at all is about as believable as Obama bringing any change. Even the poor got poorer while the rich got richer under his leadership. Even though that was supposedly what Obama promised to reverse.

Ron Paul is just being touted as a candidate of change. I’ve heard that one before.

Post:
http://thetenthamendment.tumblr.com/post/7283479332/why-socialists-should-support-ron-paul-for-president

This latest deployment of troops has been carried out with the mainstream media being quiet for the most part. In fact Iran is surrounded on all sides by hostile US forces despite claims of a possible peaceful solution. Late last year the US supplied the United Arab Emirates with weaponry capable of destroying underground facilities. For a while now US forces have occupied nearby Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq. Just recently it was revealed that thousands of US forces have been sent to Israel under the guise of conducting military drills.

The United States has claimed that they are seeking a peaceful resolution to the legal and just desire to have nuclear technology. Both America and Israel have claimed that Iran has been developing nuclear weapons along side nuclear energy. Although, neither side has shown any evidence of this being the case. Daily these claims are made that Iran is refining nuclear materials to a weapons grade. Three years ago it was claimed that Iran was manufacturing weapons grade uranium. It takes about 14 months in a centrifuge to refine uranium to weapons grade. It has been three years since the claims started. If we are to believe the US, then those weapons should have already been made by now. Rockets have previously been manufactured and tested. This would mean the weapons would currently be in existence.

I personally am not going to fall for the “Weapons of Mass Destruction” lie.