Global Occupy Movement #30 Met concrete casussen en constructies

quote:

Op woensdag 2 januari 2013 13:05 schreef Gray het volgende:

[..]

Een bedrijf is een gebied waar mensen 'wonen', a

quote:

Euros discarded as impoverished Greeks resort to bartering

Communities set up local currencies and exchange networks in attempt to beat the economic crisis

It's been a busy day at the market in downtown Volos. Angeliki Ioanitou has sold a decent quantity of olive oil and soap, while her friend Maria has done good business with her fresh pies.

But not a single euro has changed hands – none of the customers on this drizzly Saturday morning has bothered carrying money at all. For many, browsing through the racks of second-hand clothes, electrical appliances and homemade jams, the need to survive means money has been usurped.

"It's all about exchange and solidarity, helping one another out in these very hard times," enthused Ioanitou, her hair tucked under a floppy felt cap. "You could say a lot of us have dreams of a utopia without the euro."

In this bustling port city at the foot of Mount Pelion, in the heart of Greece's most fertile plain, locals have come up with a novel way of dealing with austerity – adopting their own alternative currency, known as the Tem. As the country struggles with its worst crisis in modern times, with Greeks losing up to 40% of their disposable income as a result of policies imposed in exchange for international aid, the system has been a huge success. Organisers say some 1,300 people have signed up to the informal bartering network.

For users such as Ioanitou, the currency – a form of community banking monitored exclusively online – is not only an effective antidote to wage cuts and soaring taxes but the "best kind of shopping therapy". "One Tem is the equivalent of one euro. My oil and soap came to 70 Tem and with that I bought oranges, pies, napkins, cleaning products and Christmas decorations," said the mother-of-five. "I've got 30 Tem left over. For women, who are worst affected by unemployment, and don't have kafeneia [coffeehouses] to go to like men, it's like belonging to a hugely supportive association."

Greece's deepening economic crisis has brought new users. With ever more families plunging into poverty and despair, shops, cafes, factories and businesses have also resorted to the system under which goods and services – everything from yoga sessions to healthcare, babysitting to computer support – are traded in lieu of credits.

"For many it plays a double role of supplementing lost income and creating a protective web at this particularly difficult moment in their lives," says Yiannis Grigoriou, a UK-educated sociologist among the network's founders. "The older generation in this country can still remember when bartering was commonplace. In villages you'd exchange milk and goat's cheese for meat and flour."

Other grassroots initiatives have appeared across Greece. Increasingly bereft of social support, or a welfare state able to meet the needs of a growing number of destitute and hungry, locals have set up similar trading networks in the suburbs of Athens, the island of Corfu, the town of Patras and northern Katerini.

But Volos, the first to be established, is by far the biggest. Until recently the city, 200 miles north of Athens, was a thriving industrial hub with a port whose ferries not only connected the mainland to nearby islands but before Syria's descent into civil war was a trading route between Greece and the Middle East. Once famous for its tobacco, Volos was home to flour mills and cement factories, steel and metal works.

But, today, it is joblessness that it has come to be known for in a country whose unemployment rate recently hit a European record of 26%, surpassing even that of Spain.

"Frankly the Tem has been a life-saver," said Christina Koutsieri, clutching DVDs and a bag of food as she emerged from the marketplace. "In March I had to close the grocery store I had kept going for 27 years because I just couldn't afford all the new taxes and bills. Everyone I know has lost their jobs. It's tragic."

Last year, the Greek government stepped in with a law that supported finding creative ways to cope with the crisis. For the first time, alternative forms of entrepreneurship and local development were actively encouraged.

Although locals insist the Tem, which is also available in voucher form, will never replace banknotes – and has not been dreamed up to dodge taxes – they say it is a viable alternative.

For local officials such as Panos Skotiniotis, the mayor of Volos, the alternative currency has proved to be an excellent way of supplementing the euro. "We are all for supporting alternatives that help alleviate the crisis's economic and social consequences," he said. "It won't ever replace the euro but it is really helping weaker members of our society. In all the social and cultural activities of the municipality, we are encouraging the Tem to be used."

quote:

FBI classified information about OWS assassination plot

Only one month into the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations last year, plans were formulated to identify key figures in the movement and execute them with a coordinated assault using sniper rifles, new documents reveal.

The revelation — discussed in a heavily redacted FBI memo unearthed late last month through a Freedom of Information Act request — reveals that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was aware of plans for a violent assault on the peaceful protest movement but stayed silent on rumors of an assassination attempt only until now.

Information on the alleged plot to kill off protesters appears on page 61 of the trove of documents obtained recently by a FOIA request filed by the Partnership For Civil Justice Fund. On the page in question, marked “SECRET,” the FBI acknowledges:

An identified [redacted] of October planned to engage in sniper attacks against protesters in Houston, Texas, if deemed necessary. An identified [redacted] had received intelligence that indicated the protesters in New York and Seattle planned similar protests in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin, Texas. [Redacted] planned to gather intelligence against the leaders of the protest groups and obtain photographs then formulate a plan to kill the leadership via suppressed sniper rifles.

In the rest of the material obtained by the PFCJF, the FBI declines to mention any follow-up attempts to investigate the rumored assassination plot. Page 61, where the plot is discussed, was redacted heavily before it was handed over to the PFCJF.

“This correlation between the FBI, the Department of Homeland security and corporations in the New York stock exchange really showed who they are serving. It’s not the government in this case, it’s these corporations and a financial sector, and it’s certainly not the people,” independent journalist and activist Anna Lekas Miller told RT.

“The FBI is really just targeting ordinary people going about their daily lives as potential terrorists, and now people, who are participating in peaceful protests, are also characterized as domestic terrorists. So, I think the FBI is really picking and choosing who it categorizes as the type of civilians it wants to protect,” added Miller.

As RT reported when the documents were first published just before Christmas, other material released through the FOIA request showed the FBI and other law enforcement agencies labeling Occupy activists as criminal and domestic terrorists. This was the case from the beginning of their anti-capitalism and anti-corporate greed protests that started in September 2011.

.

“These documents show that the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security are treating protests against the corporate and banking structure of America as potential criminal and terrorist activity,” PFCJF Executive Director Mara Verheyden-Hilliard says. “These documents also show these federal agencies functioning as a de facto intelligence arm of Wall Street and Corporate America.”

But while police agencies were working to expose protesters for alleged crimes against the country, the demonstrators themselves were being faced with very real death threats.

“The documents, released after long delay in the week between Christmas and New Years, show a nationwide meta-plot unfolding in city after city in an Orwellian world,” Naomi Wolf writes for The Guardian. Not all that unsurprising, though, is how the very agencies that acted to suppress the protest movement made little announcement of plans to execute the very people involved in the group.

“[T]hreats of the assassination of OWS leaders by sniper fire — by whom? Where? — now remain redacted and undisclosed to those American citizens in danger, contrary to standard FBI practice to inform the person concerned when there is a threat against a political leader,” Wolf writes.

Commenting on the trove of documents, The New York Times reports, “The records show little evidence that the members of the movement planned to commit violence.”

Live Footage Occupy Steubenville

quote:

Steubenville: The Football-Related Rape Case The Internet Won't Let Fade Away

quote:

Slowly, then swiftly, reaction to formal rape accusations brought in August against two members of the Steubenville (Ohio) High School football team have moved from locally produced or of-interest-in-Steubenville-only tweets, Facebook posts and emails to a truly World Wide Web phenomenon. So much so, the groups Anonymous and KnightSec claimed credit for hacking a team fan site not once, but twice, and have called for an IRL march on the local courthouse at 1 p.m. local time, Sat., Dec. 29, to protest local authorities’ handling of the case, a rally that is expected to attract at least 700 people.

quote:

Op zondag 6 januari 2013 11:02 schreef Gray het volgende:

[..]

Ik lees er echt nét over, echt ongelooflijk! Dit soort zaken gaan m'n haren van overeind staan, en dan helemaal wanneer de daders een hand boven het hoofd wordt gehouden door corruptie!

Voor wie niet bekend is met deze zaak, hier een samenvatting:

[..]

quote:

Op zondag 6 januari 2013 10:33 schreef Gray het volgende:
[ afbeelding ]

[..]

via Occupy Sweden

quote:

Pamplona's locksmiths join revolt as banks throw families from their homes

quote:

In the years of the housing boom, Spain's banks offered 100% mortgages. Now, while receiving millions in public aid, they are throwing people out of their homes. But there's a rebellion under way, report Monica Muñoz and Giles Tremlett

quote:

Tired of accompanying court officials to evict unemployed people as banks foreclosed mortgages, De Carlos consulted his fellow Pamplona locksmiths before Christmas. In no time at all, they came to an agreement. They would not do the dirty work of banks whose rash lending pumped up a housing bubble and then, after it popped, helped bring the country to its knees.

"It only took us 15 minutes to reach a decision," says De Carlos amid the racks of keys in the family's shop in the centre of this small northern city best known for its annual bull-runs and the adoration heaped on it by Ernest Hemingway in The Sun Also Rises. "We all had stories of jobs we had been on where families had been left on the street. When you set out all you have is an address and the name of the bank, but I recall an elderly, sick man who was barely given time to put his trousers on."

quote:

Op zondag 6 januari 2013 14:11 schreef Gray het volgende:

[..]

Moet bekennen dat ik het niet op waarheid heb gecontroleerd, maar ik vind het sowieso inspirerend.

quote:

Op maandag 7 januari 2013 14:37 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

[..]

[..]

quote:

De Carlos believes that Pamplona's locksmiths have now lost 10% of their trade, but recovered their honour and dignity: "This summer we were doing two or three foreclosures a week."

quote:

Gladys Cerna, 49, is facing foreclosure on her small flat in Madrid's San Blas neighbourhood. Her bank gave her a 120% mortgage in 2007. "When you sign they turn up with lawyers and economists, and I didn't have any real idea what I was letting myself in for," she said.

quote:

"They have placed a tiny sticking plaster over the problem," said Perilla. "It only covers really extreme cases. Banks will still do whatever they can to evict people.

quote:

Op maandag 7 januari 2013 14:45 schreef Chahna het volgende:

[..]

[..]

totdat meneer geld nodig heeft en die 10% omzetdaling toch belangrijker is dan het zeggen dat je goed bezig bent.

daarnaast vind ik niet dat de fout alleen ligt bij de banken maar ook bij de mensen die zo'n tophypotheek namen. zelf nadenken blijft moeilijk.

[..]

dus je weet niet waar je het over hebt maar tekent dan wel voor een hypotheek van 120% van de waarde? om dan daarna te gaan klagen dat je het niet kunt betalen? ik noem dat dom.

quote:

Op maandag 7 januari 2013 14:48 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

Ik noem dat misbruik.

quote:

Op zondag 6 januari 2013 11:02 schreef Gray het volgende:

[..]

Ik lees er echt nét over, echt ongelooflijk! Dit soort zaken gaan m'n haren van overeind staan, en dan helemaal wanneer de daders een hand boven het hoofd wordt gehouden door corruptie!

quote:

Steubenville fights growing furore over alleged high-school football rape

quote:

Officials in the small industrial town of Steubenville in Ohio have launched a campaign to rebut claims of a cover-up in the investigation of an alleged gang rape involving stars of the "Big Red" high-school football team.

The Steubenville town authorities, in league with the local police force, have set up a website through which they attempt to counter a tidal wave of criticism that has been unleashed against them through social media sites and by hackers led by the collective Anonymous.

quote:

In a further effort to puncture any impression of collusion, the chief prosecutor in Jefferson County, which has jurisdiction in the region, agreed to stand aside from the case as her son plays in the Big Red team. The prosecution has been handed to a team of special investigators led by the attorney general for the whole state of Ohio, Mike DeWine.

quote:

Op dinsdag 1 januari 2013 21:03 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:
Straks Ned2, tegenlicht: het brein van de bankier.

quote:

Op dinsdag 1 januari 2013 23:46 schreef Lavenderr het volgende:

[..]

En?

quote:

'Hoe beteugel je de 25-jarige psychopatische bankier?'

quote:

Wie zitten er aan de knoppen van de wereld? Dat zijn 25-jarige psychopathische bankiers en Asperger-wiskundigen die samen de dienst uitmaken in de Londense City. Zij zijn het die de derivaten voor het financieel kapitalisme verhandelen en ontwerpen. Die aan 'risicomanagement' doen, wat zoveel betekent als het maximaliseren van het risico voor anderen en het minimaliseren van eigen risico. Dat zijn 'winnerskick'-verslaafde jongeren voor wie de reële economie van werknemers, bedrijven, productie en handel niet meer is dan een mierenhoop waar je bovenop stapt. De miljarden die in die reële economie met zweet en eelt worden verdiend, worden door de 'traders' als abstract monopolygeld vergokt.

Zonder toezichthouders
Dit huiveringwekkende beeld rees op uit de Tegenlicht-uitzending over 'het brein van de bankier' op Nieuwjaarsdag. Een fraai etnografisch portret door Joris Luyendijk van de leef- en denkwijze van de investment bankers in de Londense City. Dat is het centrum van het 'mondiale offshore kapitalistisch systeem zonder toezichthouders', zoals een van de bankiers zelf het bancaire walhalla omschreef.

quote:

AIG overweegt Amerikaanse staat aan te klagen

quote:

De Amerikaanse verzekeraar AIG, die in 2008 door de overheid moest worden gered met steun van in totaal 182 miljard dollar, overweegt nu de staat aan te klagen over de voorwaarden van de redding. Dat maakte het bedrijf dinsdag bekend. Het bestuur van AIG komt morgen bijeen om over de zaak te praten.

quote:

AIG had er 4 jaar geleden ook voor kunnen kiezen failliet te gaan, reageerde de centrale bank van New York, een van de redders, vandaag. Er zijn volgens de bank ook geen aanwijzingen dat de voorwaarden van de redding schadelijk waren voor de verzekeraar. Volgens economen was AIG een bedrijf dat veel te grote risico's nam en moet het blij zijn dat de overheid bijsprong.

quote:

Op donderdag 10 januari 2013 22:49 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:
Straks op Ned2: The Yes-men fix the world.

quote:

Government under pressure to stop banks deferring bonuses

quote:

While the government insisted it could not comment on the "tax affairs of individual companies", Labour used the escalating row to call on the government to scrap the cut to the top rate. The rate was raised to 50% in 2010 but will fall to 45% at the start of the new tax year.

Goldman Sachs also faced condemnation. "They're so greedy they know no shame," said Lord Oakeshott, a former Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman in the Lords.

Chris Leslie, shadow Treasury minister, said that while banks needed to consider the reputational risk of delaying their bonuses to the new tax year, it was up to the chancellor and prime minister to stop such efforts to benefit top-rate taxpayers.

"Banks need to think carefully about their own reputations if they seek to avoid tax in this way, but the ultimate responsibility lies with David Cameron and George Osborne," said Leslie.

"They have refused to repeat Labour's bank bonus tax and pre-announced a £3bn income tax cut for the richest people in the country, giving them the opportunity to delay income and bonuses until April. It cannot be right that this out of touch government is making millions of working people and pensioners on modest incomes pay more while giving millionaires and bankers a huge tax cut."

quote:

Op zondag 20 januari 2013 18:21 schreef Gray het volgende:

[..]

Ik hoop nog steeds dat we (onze 'leiders') ooit gaan luisteren naar genieën als Buckminster Fuller:
[ afbeelding ]

[..]

[ afbeelding ]

quote:

Edelman Trust Barometer 2013: Groot wantrouwen in Nederlandse zakelijke en bestuurlijke leiders

Perceptie van incompetentie en morele armoede

Na een sterke daling in vertrouwen in 2011, hebben de Nederlandse overheid, het bedrijfsleven, de ngo’s en de media het vertrouwen van hun landgenoten niet terug weten te winnen in 2012. Volgens de respondenten (opinieleiders en het algemene publiek) van de 13e Edelman Trust Barometer hebben topbestuurders, vooral binnen het bedrijfsleven en de overheid, dit aan zichzelf te danken.

quote:

De jaarlijkse Trust Barometer van Edelman is een wereldwijd onderzoek naar het vertrouwen van opinieleiders en het algemene publiek in overheden, bedrijfsleven, media en non-gouvernementele organisaties (ngo’s). De 13e editie van dit onderzoek is door onderzoeksbureau Edelman Berland uitgevoerd in 26 landen onder 26.000 respondenten uit het algemene publiek en 5800 opinieleiders, in de leeftijdscategorie 25-64 jaar. Het onderzoek bestond uit een twintig minuten durende online vragenlijst en is tussen 16 oktober en 29 november 2012 afgenomen. Opinieleiders worden gedefinieerd als hogeropgeleiden met een inkomen dat in de top 25 procent ligt van mensen in dezelfde leeftijdscategorie uit hetzelfde land. Ze volgen meerdere keren per week zakelijke en nieuwsmedia en publieke beleidsissues.