Social Movements vs. "Social Movements": Occupy vs Tea Party

Sunday 4 December 2011

Social Movements vs. "Social Movements": Comparing Occupy and the Tea Party
Scott Borchert, Truthout: "There are some very small similarities between Occupy and the Tea Party. Whereas Tea Partiers share a very general (albeit misdirected) rage against the political establishment, Occupy also expresses general distrust of the political-economic system. This, in my mind, is where the similarities end. On another level, the decentralized, leaderless orientation of Occupy is dramatically different from the largely centralized, heavily leader-oriented Tea Party phenomenon…. This is a dramatic difference between Occupy and the Tea Party."
Read the Article

Rejecting Apology, US May Hasten End of Pakistan as Client
Gareth Porter, Inter Press Service: "President Barack Obama has sided with U.S. military and Defence Department officials in rejecting a proposal by the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan for a U.S. apology for last weekend's attack on two Pakistani border posts, and approving an investigation into the attack that won't be completed until Dec. 23 at the earliest. The White House and the military bloc are gambling that the lengthy investigation into the attack that killed 25 Pakistani troops will defuse popular Pakistani anger."
Read the Article

Occupy CUNY: Education Should Be Available to All
J.A. Myerson, Truthout: "There are campuses of the City University of New York (CUNY) situated so far away from downtown Manhattan, global capital of the interests of wealth, that subways don't run anywhere near them, the subway stops of the financial district, by contrast, popping up every couple of blocks in any direction.... Uniting the students and teachers of the CUNY system Monday was resistance to the decision of the CUNY Board of Trustees … to impose a five-year tuition surge of $300 a year."
Read the Article

K Street, Wall Street Line Up Behind Sen. Brown in Race Against Elizabeth Warren
Peter H. Stone, iWatch News: "Sen. Scott Brown’s campaign and his political action committee are hustling for millions of dollars from K Street lobbyists and Wall Street interests to keep the Massachusetts seat of iconic Democrat Edward M. Kennedy in Republican hands. Whether the freshman senator can win re-election in the predominantly Democratic state could be a critical factor in GOP efforts to wrest control of the Senate."
Read the Article

Educide: The (Further) Destruction of Iraq's Higher Education
Dirk Adriaensens, Pacific Free Press: "On 6 October Ali Al-Adeeb, the current Iraqi Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, announced a new three-year higher education reform plan covering the years 2011-14 to rebuild Iraq’s destroyed higher education system, by giving financial and administrative independence to universities, according to its website.... Shiny plans and beautiful words. But the situation on the ground shows a completely different reality."
Read the Article

US Drug Agents Launder Profits of Mexican Cartels
Ginger Thompson, The New York Times News Service: "Undercover American narcotics agents have laundered or smuggled millions of dollars in drug proceeds as part of Washington’s expanding role in Mexico's fight against drug cartels, according to current and former federal law enforcement officials. The agents, primarily with the Drug Enforcement Administration, have handled shipments of hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal cash across borders, those officials said, to identify how criminal organizations move their money, where they keep their assets and, most important, who their leaders are."
Read the Article

Jim Crow 2.0: Disenfranchised by Design
Max Eternity, Truthout: "President Obama has chosen to remain silent on the death penalty question, making no comment on the Davis decision. Yet for decades, advocates around the world have been pressing America to swear off the death penalty forever. And now that the nation finds itself at a truly grim crossroads, resonating outrage and disgust at America's distorted sense of equality and justice, Michelle Alexander - attorney, legal scholar and author - continues her quest."
Read the Article

Are Americans in Line for Gitmo?
Ray McGovern, Consortium News: "Ambiguous but alarming new wording, which is tucked into the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and was just passed by the Senate, is reminiscent of the 'extraordinary measures' introduced by the Nazis after they took power in 1933. And the relative lack of reaction so far calls to mind the oddly calm indifference with which most Germans watched the erosion of the rights that had been guaranteed by their own Constitution."
Read the Article

Campaign of Death Threats, Stalking and Vandalism Against Anti-Occupation Leaders Continues as Israeli Press Faces More Gag Rules
Richard Silverstein, Truthout: "Israel today faces one of the greatest threats to its existence. No, I'm not referring to Iran, nor the Palestinians, Egypt or Syria. The threat comes from within. The Israeli Knesset has either approved or is considering a raft of legislation that would fundamentally change the democratic character of the state of Israel. It has already passed a law which would criminalize public support for the Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement."
Read the Article

Penny-Wise and Pound-Foolish: Proposed Funding Cuts for Response to Violence Against Women
Marianne Mollman, RH Reality Check: "This week, Senators Leahy and Crapo introduced a bill to reauthorize and amend the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), a federal law first enacted in 1994.... The bad news is that the proposed bill substantively slashes the funding for the implementation of the bill, reducing the authorized funds by more than $144 million (almost 20 percent) of 2005 levels over 5 years.
Read the Article

Ecuador's Media Caught Between Popular President and Defenders of Free Speech
Olga Imbaquingo, Council on Hemispheric Affairs: "Throughout its history, free speech in Ecuador has been under constant threat by the government.... With the explosive rise to power of the current President Rafael Correa, the relationship between the media and the government has all but self-destructed. The President considers the private media and its journalists as ‘corrupt,’ ‘mediocre,’ ‘liars,’ and ‘ink assassins.’ In the absence of formidable political adversaries, Correa has transformed the private media into his most lethal rivals."
Read the Article

Click here for more Truthout articles

ENDS

© Scoop Media