Anarchy Metasticizes |
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Daily Rant Archive2/11/11, 2/12/11, 2/14/11, 2/15/11, 2/17/11, 2/18/11, 2/19/11, 2/20/11, 2/21/11 |
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Rant LiteToday’s rant looks at the spreading anarchy both foreign and domestic. |
Quote of the DayRevelation 6:8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. |
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A Tale of Two DepressionsAs the Great Depression progressed onward, the early collapse in RE prices made many Banks insolvent, which then precipitated the Stock Market Crash of 1929. |
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Bahrain killings bring Mid-East turmoil to epicentre of world oil supplyAmbrose Evans-Pritchard’s take on the effects on Oil prices of the ongoing revolution in the M.E. |
Unions Under FireLots of state officials are pressing public employees to shoulder more of their health care and pension costs. |
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As was mentioned on Zero Hedge, we are seeing a rapidly decreasing half-life between the time street disruptions start taking place and Goobermints toppling. Took Egypt a few weeks, Libya went down the toilet in round 6 days.
Libya is an interesting case, because rather than run off with the Gold, “Strongman” Muammar al-Ghadaffi has so far chose to stand and fight, and he isn’t bringing a Knife to a Gunfight either. No, he is taking fucking FIGHTER JETS and Helicopter Gunships and turning fire on peaceful and mostly unarmed protestors in his OWN country!
Before moving on with this, HTF do you spell his name anyhow? Every fucking story I read in the MSM there is a different spelling. Is his first name Muammar, Muamar, Moammar or Moosehead? Is it El-Kaddafi or Al-Ghadaffi or elQadafi or el-Kabong? One f or two fs, one d or two dds,does it start with a G, K or Q, do you put in the hyphen or not and WFT is the correct capitalization here? HTF can we effectively Google info on him if nobody agrees on how to spell his name? Is this a plot by the NSA to confuse us?
Anyhow, I will spell it el-Kabong, because he really deserves this nickname based on how he is handling the crisis. He’s just swinging that guitar at anything in sight. It is clear his Military has already fractured, at least 2 Fighter Jockeys flying some VERY expensive hardware rerouted the Flight Plan and headed to Malta. Also reading the fine print in a couple of stories, a couple of Military Bases are in danger of being overrun by protesters, which means if they succeed they will be raiding the armory and equipping everyone with Assault Rifles. Smells like a full on Civil War to me.
[Additional Info in the day since I started this Rant] On Tuesday, while the FSofA was trying to evacuate Diplomatic Personnel by Ferry, they apparently were not able to get to the boats. No explanation for this thus far, just that the State Department will try again tomorrow to get these folks onto boats out of the War Zone. I’m going to make a guess that at least a few FSofA citizens are being held hostage by some faction or another as an Insurance Policy.
Libya has clearly dropped into complete Anarchy now, it is not like Egypt where Twitter was functioning to get some information out, and virtually no foreign reporters are in the country, and those that are probably are cut off in communications. There s so much conflicting and speculative information coming across the internet that you can conclude only that it is a Clusterfuck in Progress. This is not a problem that will be solved very soon.
Meanwhile, late breaking stuff I read just before leaving work has it that now Zimbabwe has broken out into Riots as well. What is significantly different here is that Zimbabwe is not in the M.E., its Southern Africa. Extrapolating on this, knowing that all the central African countries are always on the brink of Starvation in normal times tells me that in fairly short order here the entire Dark Continent is going to be one big fucking Riot. This includes places like Nigeria, which ALSO is an Oil Exporter. Not to mention all those Copper mines the Chinese bought up from whoever was last in charge there a week ago. The Chinese can kiss those Contracts Goodbye as being worth any more than the paper they are written on. Unless the Chinese send over an Army to surround those copper mines, that copper is going NOWHERE.
So here is the situation we have now folks. One of the main central Resource Bases the industrial economy has been using for energy and metals, namely Africa through the M.E. is rapidly falling into complete anarchy. The reason it is occurring so rapidly is because it is being pushed over the edge by the failing economic system. Combine this with real weather related problems in production of basic foodstuffs around the world and it’s the Perfect Storm.
There is not enough slack in the system anymore to to ramp up production in one place when another goes offline. As they now fail in Cascade fashion, we are going to see a rapidly expanding failure of systems moving outward from the center. I believe we are going to start seeing this shit spilling over into Europe in the next couple of months. There is a large population of Guest Workers in all the European countries that are none too happy with their plight, though of course they are for the moment still better off than their relatives back at home.
By no means across the Himalayas are the Chinese safe from the spreading anarchy and Revolution. There is tension on the NK-SK border, and one suspects the NK leadership isn’t a whole lot different then el-Kabong. As in Tunisia with the Fruit Vendor who self-immolated to kick off this whole thing, I have no doubt there is some Buddhist Monk on the other side of the Himalayas quite prepared to do the same thing with the slightest provocation now. I don’t know if China will POP before Europe does, but I don’t give them much more than a couple of months here either.
Its not a whole lot different than the scenario leading up to WWII when the monetary system failed. In that case, the Center was in Europe,and it spread out in waves from there after Credit-Anstaldt failed in Austria. Took a few years after that, but eventually that failure took apart economies as far flung as Japan, and the entire world was in Chaos. Since you cannot do Bizness in Chaos, at this point the Illuminati must try to restore order by Force.
Collapsing M.E. and African Puppet Goobermints is going to seriously hamper if not completely stop the movement of resources out of those places. This is then going to affect our ability to keep our systems running. As a Society, our Leaders are going to tell us that we MUST go in and HELP these people restore Order and Democracy. A job we sure cannot accomplish with a couple of 100K Mercs across such a vast expanse of territory. We have a TON of UE young folks out there right now. We “need” to make the world Safe for Democracy! This is a recipe for CONSCRIPTION. The Draft is Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You.
In WWII we needed a Pearl Harbor to jump out of Isolationism, because at the time we were perfectly capable of feeding ourselves with our own energy reserves. Not so today of course. Without the Lifeblood of Oil flowing out of the M.E., as a society we are in pretty much the same doo-doo they are. So I am not sure we really need a False Flag like Peral Harbor this time. Mere shortages and gas lines at the pumps may be enough to convince J6P it is necessary to send his sons and daughters of to be Cannon Fodder in the War for Oil.
An interesting thing to try to picture in your head here is the amount of sheer havoc and panic going on inside the Bubbleheads in the Obama-sama White House as now in addition to mismanaging the Treasury Department, the State Department also can do some serious mismanagement. Generals and and boneheads from the NSA and CIA re likely having round-the-clock meetings complete with Starbucks Coffee and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts while they keep their eyes glued to their main source of Intelligence, Al-Jazeera. They are so busy with this now that they forgot to goose the Stock Market before closing and the Dow –GASP- lost 170 points or so. Tomorrow it will probably ZOOM up 300 points on the better-than-expected newz that a Nuke did NOT vaporize Tripoli.
On the other hand, maybe the PPT will throw in the Towel here now, since they can now “blame” the Stock Market crash on the Turmoil in the M.E. Has nothing to do with the complete mismanagement of the economy for the last 30 years, we are going broke because the Towel Heads are revolting in the M.E.! I personally will place NO BETS on this one, its just Russian Roulette.
One of the more interesting Tidbits I posted up yesterday in one of the endless M.E. threads here on TBP was the rumour that el-Kabong was sending out the Pretorian Guard to SABOTAGE the Libyan oil fields. There’s a great plan for a struggling dictator, destroy the only source of money you have to pay your enforcers. This is like the kid in the Sandbox who breaks everybody’s toys because nobody will play with him anymore.
There is also apparently a virtual Flotilla of boats heading from Greece and Italy across the Meditarranean to Tripoli to do a vast evacuation of foreign nationals from Libya. Sounds a little like Dunkirk. One hopes anyone expecting to get Steerage on one of these Freightersif they do not have the right Passport has a few bottles of Glenlivet along with some Gold Coins if he expects to Book Passage OUT of that Hell Hole. Consider how fast that shit went down. One day, you figure if you have some money you are safe, you can just book a plane ticket out. Next day, the Airport is closed or just too many other people booked flights ahead of you and you are STUCK in LIBYA! Just a bit worse than being Stuck in NJ. LOL.
Getting Outta Town when things go south here in the FSofA has some different parameters, but because the numbers are so much bigger, even trying to evacuate by car over land gets constricted. See Ike and Katrina for this. My advice on this one is in the unfortunate circumstance you waited a bit too long to GTFO of the Big Shitty, do not try to do it in a Car. The highway system simply isn’t capable of handling mass evacuations of a city over a day or two. In most places, it can barely handle rush hour traffic. In this situation your Mimimum Carry Package becomes VERY important. Don’t go by car. WALK out, or Bicycle if you have a trailer setup for your bike. Gas will be unavailable quickly along the route, anybody in cars will be forced to walk anyhow.
Walking though slower has numerous advantages. You are not constricted by roads at all, you can if need be go Cross Country. You can head direct and shortcut. Most of all, no traffic jams for a walker. Even if you just walk at 3mph, if you do so steadily for 10 hours you are going to get 30 miles outta da Big Shitty. In a week of walking, you are 200 miles out. 3 weeks of Walking takes you from NY Shity to MAINE.
Libya is clearly going to be a War Zone for the foreseeable future. Nobody there has enough Power to take control, because el-Kabong spent the last 40 years staying in power by killing off anyone who might challenge his authority. Now that he HAS no authority its just one big melee. The only way to reestablish order is to bring in a fucking BIG and well organized Army. This isn’t Somalia where you can just let them Rot in Mad Max anarchy, Libya has lots of OIL. Not as much as Saudi Araia of course, but still plenty to export.
Oil prices are of course going BALLISTIC now, which of course means we are going to hit the WALL with another round of Demand Destruction a la 2008. If it does follow the 2008 pattern, then one would expect the Stock Market to start sinking like a stone through the rest of the week, but again Helicopter Ben has his Laptop well tuned by now and could turn it on Full Steam here, who knows?
I did read an interesting piece by Bruce Krasting regarding the Floating Inventory out there of Oil in the VLCC carriers, which kind of drifts around until they finally get a destination port to drop the load. I wonder how large that inventory is compared to say the size of the SPR? How long do Chinese factories and Big Shitty Electric plants and what’s left of the Happy Motoring J6Ps of the FSofA keep going on this inventory? Of course you do have to add in the loss of expanding Piracy also here. Maybe a year is a good guess with sufficient Demand Destruction?
Speaking of Piracy, this would be a good time to remind CLUELESS Yachties with really NICE 58’ Sailboats this is NOT a good time to be Cruising off the coast of Somalia. Use some COMMON FUCKING SENSE and hole up on Gilligan’s Island for a few years, OK?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh3fV-2rnA4&feature=related
Meanwhile back here locally, Rhambo is now Mayor of Chitown which should allow a steady stream of Funny Money from Obama-Sama to flow into that Big Shitty for a while longer, where he is no doubt building a Bunker beneath Union Station for Obama-sama to retreat to after he gets booted out of office in 2012.
In WI, the Public Unions and Da Goobermator remain at loggerheads, and likely the Pink Slips will start heading out here pretty soon. If they are smart, the Unions should just Stonewall Da Goobernator, get fired and start collecting Unemployment. Then he can figure out how he wil keep running the state with his now reduced workforce. The system will fail quicker this way and the WI can reboot a new Goobermint at some indeterminate future date after their 99 Weeks of UE runs out.
Why shouldn’t they take the pay cuts and give up their collective bargaining rights? Because they are screwed anyway if they do that. They won’t be able to afford their mortgages or the increasing price of gas to get to their Goobermint job. They can hang out squatting n their McMansion for 99 weeks and use very little Gas, going out maybe once a week to buy food at Walmart. Meanwhile, State Tax revenue will continue to drop, forcing the State to lay off still more workers. Totally Non-Violent means of getting rid of Da Goobermint!
Anyhow, whether the Unions capitulate or not, its not going to fix the State Budget deficit, because state revenues will drop as fast as their expenses do. Some expenses will actually INCREASE also, as Crime increases. All Capitulation does is run the Extend and Pretend game a while longer. Better to get it over with QUICK rather than a lingering death. Much like Iceland, its better here to FORCE default. If the Unions hold the line, they will force the State to Default on Bond obligations to the TBTF Banks. If they capitulate, the State can continue a while longer shoveling taxpayer money at the Banksters. Long as they don’t willingly give up their rights LEGALLY negotiated it forces the State to default on its Bonds. Of course they will end up getting a pink slip, but tht is coming down the pipe eventually anyhow, so just get it OVER with already.
The KEY here is to Just Say No to ANYTHING Da Goobermint proposes, because anything it proposes is to either save itself or save the TBTF Banks. If Da Goobermint wants to raise taxes, bombard you Congress Critter with Faxes saying if he votes for that you will vote him out of office, or better yet Tar and Feather him on the way outta town. If Da Goobermint wants to cut Entitlements, bombard them with emails saying your Blind Grandmother with Alzheimers will die without Medicaire and Social Security! Its Win-Win. This will either force Da Goobermint to Fail or it will WORK and your Grandmother will live on while you pay lower taxes and make more money! Since the second one is unlikely to work unless JM Keynes was right, this is the best and fastest way to get rid of your Goobermint in a Non-violent fashion. DEMAND FREE SHIT NOW!
The key here folks is that before Da Goobermint starts CONSCRIPTING up your Sons and Daughters to be Cannon Fodder for an Unwinnable War for Oil in the M.E., you have to FORCE Da Goobermint to fail. Since Keyesians in Da Goobermint think they can Save Themselves by Printing Money, FORCE them to print MORE money. Call this the Aikido Method of Economic Self Defense. Use your Enemy’s perceived strength against him. If Helicopter Ben thinks he can win by sending a few helicopters out dropping funny money on his Bankster Buddies, FORCE him to send out a FLEET of Helicopters dropping Funny Money on EVERYBODY. Trust me, if he does this, he will not last long. Keynes was quite wrong of course.
RE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhPPJ5dolxU&feature=related
Please read every word of this post TWICE or I will deport you to Libya!
I’ve got my bike and trailer ready.
As Gaddafi said once, you can spell it anyway you like. It only matters in Arabic. (I interviewed him and Jalloud in Tripoli, 1978.)
1978 was before we had the Google Search Engine. Now it DOES matter how it gets transliterated. Try typing Gaddafi, Kadafi and Qadaffi into your Google News search engine. You get 3 completely different sets of stories!
RE
Another fine piece. FYI — If you keep writing fine works like this there will be nothing to argue about.
But, I’ll try. Digging deep here ….
I hope like hell Nigeria goes down. At least that way I will stop getting email notices from divorced, one-eyed, abused Nigerian Princesses wanting to send me a bazillion dollars … if only I send them a few grand for processing.
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The Guest Workers in Europe just better shut the fuck up. Angela “why-won’t-Berluscone-fuck-me-too” Merkel already said multiculturalism was a total failure. Nationalism is on the rise in Germany, Austria, and throughout Europe. So, really, Mr. Guest Worker …. shut the fuck up and lay low.
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I believe the Chinese are immune from revolution. Don’t let the one-time Tiananmen Square event fool you. Chinese soldiers WILL fire on their own people. There are several millions of Chinese men who are doomed to a life of Flogging the Monkey. A lifetime of No Pussy makes for one mean assed soldier. The Chicoms can increase their military by a million without blinking. And they won’t be shooting blanks.
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War for oil, and/or a Draft will never happen. Just ask Smokey.
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Walking 200 miles to Maine at my age and shape (round IS a shape) … are you fucking insane?? At least you could have mentioned horses.
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The latest (now dead) “CLUELESS Yachties” were actually several hundred miles off the coast of Somalia. More useful advice to that couple (not that it matters since they are dead) is that hey – people don’t fucking want or need your Bibles! I can just imagine how pissed off I would be if some raghead sailed up the Hudson handing out Korans. And I am reasonable, just, and kind. Those people are not!!
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You said, “The KEY here is to Just Say No to ANYTHING Da Goobermint proposes, because anything it proposes is to either save itself or save the TBTF Banks”. Now that is a very very interesting view. It would take an Act of God for me to side with the unions. But your observation is very godlike in its wisdom …… so I’ll have to mull it over.
Gaddafi Son Says Army Will Protect Oil Infrastructure, Blames Al-Qaeda For Carpet Bombing As 10,000 Now Reported DeadSubmitted by Tyler Durden on 02/23/2011 14:00 -0500
AfghanistanItalyNewspaperRealityTwitter
And so we go from one lunatic to another. In an “exclusive interview” with the FT, Muammar Gadaffi’s son, al-Saadi, told the newspaper, whose parent Pearson PLC is 3% owner by the Libyan Sovereign Wealth Fund, “made it clear that he believed any such new regime would still include his father. “My father would stay as the big father who advises,” he told the Financial Times, adding that direct administrative powers should be handed over to a new generation.” And further confirming the soon to be deposed ruler’s break with reality, were accusations that the reason why the Libyan airforce has been shooting at protestors over the past week, was to protect the country from “thousands of al-Qaeda” infiltrators who had taken over the eastern part of the country. Touching on a topic discussed yesterday, namely that the Gaddafi regime may engage in sabotage against its oil industry, al-Saadi “said that the army would be sent to guard facilities if necessary. The army is still very strong,” he said. “If we hear anything, we will send some battalions. When people see the army, they will be afraid.” In other words, expect to hear news of major disruptions in the country’s oil infrastructure which will promptly be blamed on al-Qaeda by the Gaddafis. And going back to reality, we read that the death toll in Libya has surpassed 10,000 people
RE — in another post, now languishing in WordPress hell, you provided a link about Potlatch and other ceremonies. Just want you to know I read it and enjoyed it. There was even something in there for Smokey …. that bit about “Raising the Pole”.
If you have a moment please check out the link below and let me know what you think. The author says America needs “Community” not “Collectivism”. I’m curious if your idea of Tribalism matches this author’s view of Community. You know how much I value your input, so thanks in advance.
http://neithercorp.us/npress/2011/01/america-needs-community-not-collectivism/
Actually, that post is NOT in Word Press Hell, it is currently the Feature Post here on TBP. It was getting very good discussion, so JimQ dropped it in for a couple of days as the Feature Post.
I will check out the community post a bit later, got work to do right now.
RE
“it is currently the Feature Post here on TBP” – since its “promotion” it has gotten exactly ZERO comments. Just saying.
Its Official Folks. Its a Civil War in Libya. This is important because it means the UN will likely use it as a justification to try to roll in an even bigger “Peacekeeping” force. Where will they get the soldiers from? The Egyptian Army? I don’t think so.
RE
Libya: civil war breaks out as Gaddafi mounts rearguard fight
Forces loyal to Col Muammar Gaddafi made good on threats to trigger a civil war in Libya on Wednesday night, by taking up positions across the capital, Tripoli and launching a rearguard fight against rebels in major cities.
Pictures from Benghazi show ‘yellow hat’ mercenaries destroying property By Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent 9:17PM GMT 23 Feb 2011
9 Comments
Residents of parts of the capital were trapped in their homes as “thousands” of soldiers patrolled the streets accompanied by African mercenaries.
Tanks took up positions around public buildings including government offices, while sandbag defences were also being built.
“We will fight until death,” a pro-Gaddafi soldier in his early 20s said outside a military compound close to Tripoli’s Green Square, which had been cleared of demonstrators by yesterday morning.
“The country needs stability at a time like this, and this is what we are providing. The people are on our side.”
Residents said bodies were still piling up in hospitals from the shootings of the previous two days.
“Anywhere we go there is danger,” said one woman, a 28-year-old mother of four who asked not to be named. “All we want is food and fresh water for our children but it is impossible to find. Security is the only concern of the authorities.”
As ministers, generals and diplomats around the world defected, government spokesmen loyal to Col Gaddafi were trying to rally people to his side.
Col Gaddafi signalled a fightback in a speech on Tuesday, when he called on supporters to “chase away the rats and terrorists” who he said were plunging the country into civil war.
Ahmed al-Zuwi, secretary general of the People’s Committees, the leading authorities, said the government was in control.
He blamed the unrest on the Gulf state of Qatar, which he said had ordered al-Jazeera, the television station owned by its royal family, to “spread lies” as part of a trade dispute.
General Jameel al-Kadiki, deputy commander of the air force, denied that his jets had bombed civilians but said they had been forced to prevent opponents “meddling” with military supplies and “using them against the Libyan people”.
Later, the deputy foreign minister, Khaled Khaim, summoned EU ambassadors to claim that al-Qaeda had set up a base in the city of Darnah, under rebel control for several days. The cell was headed by a former inmate of Guantanamo Bay, he said.
But the area under government control was shrinking. Most of the east is now held by protesters and is relatively peaceful, though there were reports of dozens of deaths in shootings in al-Bayda, east of Benghazi, on Tuesday evening.
The numbers who have died in the fighting was not certain. Franco Frattini, Italy’s foreign minister, said reports of 1,000 dead were “credible”.
Maj Gen Suleiman Mahmoud al-Obeidi, a former eastern army commander, was with troops in Tobruk. Misrata, a major coastal city to the east of Tripoli, and Zawiya to the west, were also said to be under rebel control, with video footage showing a Gaddafi poster being thrown down in the former.
But opposition groups said the Khamis Brigade, loyal to and named after Col Gaddafi’s youngest son, was now moving against these towns.
Soliman Albrassi, a resident of Misrata, said loyalist forces were attacking the television station there.
“Gaddafi will burn all cities under his control,” he said. “We will not let escape with all of this.”
Loyalist forces were also fighting back in the city of Sabratha, famed for its Roman ruins, after rebels burned government buildings and police stations.
Col Gaddafi and his sons seemed to be working on a plan to regroup in Tripoli and the province of Sirte, his birthplace, which is also assumed to remain loyal, before using his forces to fight back.
Two crew of a Sukhoi-22 ground attack jet ejected and allowed their plane to crash after refusing orders to bomb Benghazi, the eastern city where the revolution started.
One bank worker in Benghazi, who asked not to be named, said: “All the people in Benghazi are ready to fight against anyone who is sent from Gaddafi’s side. There is no way back for him.”
But Mohammed Ali Abdullah, deputy leader of the National Front for the Salvation of Libya, a leading exile group, said he was concerned that the parts of the army that had defected had shown no sign of willingness themselves to take the revolution on.
“We aren’t seeing the army’s different brigades trying to reinforce themselves to take on the Khamis Brigade and the mercenaries,” he said.
“There has been a lot of disappointment with the role of the army that has defected – it has defected and then sat down to watch.”
Actually, it got 1, plus a response from yours truly.
RE
Why Wisconsin matters so much to labor
By Chris Cillizza
Protesters in Wisconsin. AP Photo/Wisconsin State Journal, Steve Apps
The ongoing standoff between Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) and organized labor has obvious practical implications, the most obvious of which is whether the right of public-sector unions to collectively bargain will be maintained or eroded.
But, the symbolic import of the Wisconsin showdown is no less critical as it comes at a time when the labor movement nationally is struggling to maintain its once-dominant role in electoral politics.
Exit polling shows a troubling trend line for union influence on elections. In 2008, just 21 percent of the electorate said they had a union member in their household — the lowest percentage in any presidential election dating back to 1972.
Judging solely by exit poll data, union power in electoral politics peaked in the 1976 presidential election when more than one in three voters — 34 percent — said they had a union member in their family.
That number dropped steadily over the next four presidential election and by 1996 less than one-quarter (24 percent) of the electorate said a member of their household was in a union.
The 2000 election — with a unified labor movement humming on all cylinders — saw union households rise to 26 percent of the electorate; union turnout operations were also credited with closing down George W. Bush’s lead over Al Gore in the final days of the race.
But, the union share of the vote has fallen in each of the last two presidential elections and dropped to a remarkably low 17 percent of the electorate in the 2010 midterms. (One important historical note: Union households comprised only 14 percent of the electorate in the 1994 midterm elections that saw Republicans retake control of the House for first time in 40 years.)
It’s important to remember that using only exit polling to judge the political influence of unions doesn’t capture the full picture. The Democratic party has long relied on unions to serve as its de facto turnout operation — particularly among African American and Hispanic voters — meaning that labor has more political influence than the exits suggest.
Still, even some close allies of the labor movement acknowledge that the shrinking union share of the electorate is problematic.
“The problem is that the number of workers represented by unions is getting smaller while the electorate is getting bigger,” explained one senior labor strategist.
The source did note, however, that while union household numbers have been declining everywhere, union-affiliated voters still represent a quarter or more of all voters in key swing states like Wisconsin, Ohio and Pennsylvania. (According to 2010 exit polls, 26 percent of Wisconsin voters were members of a union household.)
The declining union numbers also come at a time of significant turmoil for the labor movement.
In 2005, the AFL-CIO was split apart when the Service Employees International Union — among others — left to form a coalition known as Change To Win, criticizing the AFL for not doing enough to reverse the decline in union membership on their way out the door.
While those within the labor movement downplay the split and note that the two organizations still work together on many things — including co-sponsoring a recent poll on the Wisconsin standoff — it’s clearly been a stress point for a movement trying to reclaim the political momentum it had in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
There has also been considerable turnover among the upper echelons of the labor movement in recent years with Richard Trumka taking over for John Sweeney at the AFL and Mary Kay Henry succeeding Andy Stern as president of SEIU. (Anna Burger, a longtime Stern loyalist, also stepped aside as chairwoman of Change To Win following her unsuccessful campaign to head up SEIU.)
Given all of that, a show of grassroots organizing force like the one labor is putting on in Wisconsin is meant to send a clear signal to Republicans (and even some Democrats) that while labor may be down, it is far from out.
“The past seven days has fired folks up like nothing people here can remember,” said Eddie Vale, a spokesman for the AFL-CIO. “Facing serious and imminent threats makes past issues or fights seem much less important. Public [unions], private [unions], AFL-CIO, Change to Win and the NEA are all together here on the ground and in all the other states.”
Winning in Wisconsin — or at least the perception of victory in the state — is absolutely critical then for a labor movement in need of some good news.
If Wisconsin winds up re-energizing the rank and file union members in advance of the 2012 presidential election, the labor movement may well be thanking rather than castigating Scott Walker.
By Chris Cillizza | February 23, 2011; 11:50 AM ET
RE -not to take a dump effort your effort,-I very earnestly applaud it- but please grant one favor and get a fucking editor.
Unnecessary verbosity is .,..well unnecessary.
Stick to the subject and get to the point as quickly as possible, Please!
Most TBPers have life outside the blog and don’t have the time to mush through otherwise insightful reading spread out over way to many glee club metaphors.
cut the unnecessary crap.
@Flash
From somebody who will copy paste an entire encyclopedia to make a point about the CIA, this is a somewhat disingenuous criticism. LOL.
RE
“May you live in interesting times”. And things just get curiouser and curiouser.
RE, you are to well written and intelligent to keep using that dumb Gomer term GOOBERMINT.
@Flash
From somebody who will copy paste an entire encyclopedia to make a point about the CIA, this is a somewhat disingenuous criticism. LOL.
RE- That’s t because I am neither writer nor analyst …just a simple country bumpkim tryin’ to get a handle.
I inject favored opinion where I find it for the purpose of bouncing ideas of the headz of those who may know more than I.
That said, I’ve gleaned an lot of knowledge from your perspective on all things associated with free market capitalism or the lack thereof,.
Glib humor at the expense of content is not necessary..
We’re all friendz here, I don’t spew this this out of malice.
Carry on ….
May 1933: Hitler Abolishes Unions
http://newsjunkiepost.com/2011/02/20/may-1933-hitler-abolishes-unions/madison-protest/
Photo by Jess Dennis http://www.flickr.com/photos/thehardestpart/5453904539/
On May 2nd, 1933, the day after Labor day, Nazi groups occupied union halls and labor leaders were arrested. Trade Unions were outlawed by Adolf Hitler, while collective bargaining and the right to strike was abolished. This was the beginning of a consolidation of power by the fascist regime which systematically wiped out all opposition groups, starting with unions, liberals, socialists, and communists using Himmler’s state police.
Fast forward to America today, particularly Wisconsin. Governor Walker and the Republican/Tea Party members of the state legislature are attempting to pass a bill that would not only severely punish public unions (with exception for the police, fire, and state trooper unions that supported his campaign), but it would effectively end 50 years to the right of these workers to collectively bargain.
Collective bargaining is a process of voluntary negotiations between employers and trade unions aimed at reaching agreements which regulate working conditions. Collective agreements usually set out wage scales, working hours, training, health and safety, overtime, grievance mechanisms and rights to participate in workplace or company affairs. -wiki
First of all, assaulting the rights of workers to collectively bargain has absolutely nothing to do with any immediate budgetary issues. It does however have everything to do with ending one of the basic rights of labor to organize.
Second, and more importantly, the budget “crisis” in Wisconsin is both exaggerated and created in part by the new Republican power base as a tool to attack political opponents. Walker decreased state revenue when he enacted tax cuts for the rich and big corporations, who are not surprisingly large campaign donors for his political campaign.
Photo by COTO Report http://coto2.wordpress.com/2011/02/18/wisconsin-governors-fake-budget-crisis/
To the extent that there is an imbalance — Walker claims there is a $137 million deficit — it is not because of a drop in revenues or increases in the cost of state employee contracts, benefits or pensions. It is because Walker and his allies pushed through $140 million in new spending for special-interest groups in January. If the Legislature were simply to rescind Walker’s new spending schemes — or delay their implementation until they are offset by fresh revenues — the “crisis” would not exist. -The Cap Times
Decimating unions has long been an objective of the rich and powerful. Growing out of trade guilds in Medieval Europe, they were banned starting with the Ordinance of Labourers 1349 and Statute of Labourers in England. It was not until the Industrial Revolution that labor began to organize again.
Every little gain for the rights of workers was hard fought and bitterly resisted by the rich and powerful. The photo above shows the Lawrence Textile Strike (also known as the Bread and Roses strike) where mostly immigrant workers rebelled against increasingly harsh work conditions and lowered pay caused by mechanization. Specifically, state law mandated a reduction in working hours for women and children from 56 to 54 hours, and factory owners responded by cutting salaries, something the poor workers could not afford.
Over time, organized labor managed to abolish child labor all together, as well as institute an 8 hour work day, 40 hour work week, mandatory breaks, safety guidelines, grievance procedures, a minimum wage, the concept of a work free weekend, workers comp, pensions, health safeguards, and paid sick days, vacation days, and holidays. If you enjoy any of these things, thank a union member and support the passage of a strong Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).
Collective Bargaining in the US was finally legalized for the private sector on a countrywide scale in 1935 with the National Labor Relations Act signed by FDR. JFK signed an executive order extending this right to the public sector in 1962. This is the key measure
Governor Walker’s bill being sped through the Wisconsin legislature would mandate health insurance contributions by public employees, force them to pay more for their promised pensions, and remove bargaining rights. When public employees started protesting, Walker instructed the state National Guard to be “prepared” if any “problems” should arise, in what could be described as a thinly veiled intimidation tactic.
Although this draconian bill will not outlaw unions, it will effectively neuter them, as their CPI adjusted wages will be frozen and all other means cannot be improved as a whole. Public sector unions will lose their freedom to negotiate against the state together. This is a deliberate tactic to punish political opponents and to effectively lessen the rights of working Americans everywhere for the benefit of the rich and multinational corporations.
Walker’s plan to eviscerate collective bargaining rights for public employees is right out of the Koch brothers’ playbook. Koch-backed groups like Americans for Prosperity, the Cato Institute, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and the Reason Foundation have long taken a very antagonistic view toward public-sector unions. Several of these groups have urged the eradication of these unions. In Wisconsin, this conservative, anti-union view is being placed into action by lawmakers in sync with the deep-pocketed donors who helped them obtain power. (Walker also opposes the state’s Clean Energy Job Act, which would compel the state to increase its use of alternative energy.) At this moment—even with the Wisconsin uprising unresolved—the Koch brothers’ investment in Walker appears to be paying off. -Mother Jones
In response to this open revolt on at the Wisconsin state capitol, which saw crowds initially in the hundreds quickly swell to tens of thousands, a Tea Party group hastily organized a counter rally on Sunday. Dozens of free buses were mysteriously available from both inside and outside the state for Tea Partiers, with no mention of who paid for them, leading to speculation that this is blatant corporate astroturfing. At publishing time no camels were being charged into the estimated 70,000 pro-worker/anti-Walker demonstrators [creative humor license].
Photo courtesy of @cwoodardnews http://twitpic.com/41j2ra
The Americans for Prosperity group, a Tea Party group that is a Koch Brothers front, has put up a website [for the Tea Party Rally that] attacks all collective bargaining – not just for public employees’ unions. -Forbes
Wisconsin is ground zero in the fight for worker’s rights in America. Following the ultra-conservative sweep of many state legislatures and governorships in the 2010 midterms, most Republicans are salivating at the opportunity to destroy the last stronghold of organized labor in America: the public sector.
Last year, more working people belonged to a union in the public sector (7.9 million) than in the private (7.4 million), despite the fact that corporate America employs five times the number of wage-earners. 37 percent of government workers belong to a union, compared with just 7 percent of private-sector employees. -Alternet
The percentage of the work force that have been organized has been declining (along with many other things) since Reagan and the conservatives took power, ending the Great Compression and starting an epoch in American history known as the Great Divergence (which culminated in the Great Recession, which we are in today). Pro-corporate, fiscally conservative policies (such as deregulation and underfunding) have severely damaged private sector unions, unions that set the bar for standards and pay for all workers (thus, contributing towards the huge wealth concentration that is taking place).
The one point where this anti-union trend has not taken place is in the public sector.
This is precisely why the conservatives (mostly in the Republican Party) and their corporate masters are now planning the next phase in their strategy: to destroy public sector unions across the country. Right now, their assault has triggered a massive and growing revolt by not only public sector unions, but students, progressives, and working men and women across the Upper Midwest region of the US.
The corporate front groups are desperately trying to play catchup and unleash their Tea Party legions, who need little convincing as apparent from the We Stand With Walker Facebook page. The fear and hate caused by disinformation and Fox Propaganda is palpable, and they are only too eager to “fight back” against supposed union transgressions both in the workplace and in demonstrations.
Which brings us back full circle. Union busting measures by Republicans in Wisconsin this week have brought up some disturbing historical parallels to another sad chapter from human history. This writer is not trying to say that Republicans are Nazis and the Tea Party are their Brownshirts, only that the union busting, corporate control over the government is part of the definition of fascism (along with authoritarian nationalism).
The attacks on unions that are taking place in American society today echoes a very sad chapter in Western history where unions were smashed for the benefit of a far right authoritarian corporate regime. When Hitler abolished unions in 1933, it was followed by a 25% drop in real wages, and ended the ability of workers to protect living standards, and this is one of those times where history should not be allowed to repeat itself.
RE goes for a walk:
I left the cabin and then locked all 23 locks with different keys behind after first arming 18 alarm systems with different codes. I took 24 steps across the deck looking for bears, after taking 18 steps at the 12 oclock position, the 11 oclock position the 10 oclock position the 9 oclock position the 8 oclock position the 7 oclock position the 6 oclock position the 5 oclock position the 4 oclock position the 3 oclock position the 2 oclock position and finally the 1 oclock position before repeating the process. After repeating the process 8 times I unlocked the gate, 12 locks, to the stairs down. After managing the stairs I checked the bug out vehicle from 32 standpoints then proceeded to check for land mines around my last frontier then proceeded, some 123 steps before arming the ground sensors.
Yanno who else tried, but managed to abolish unions?
Hitler. In May of 1933.
KB – don’t forget the deadfalls- must be wary of deadfalls.
KB – don’t forget the deadfalls- must be wary of deadfalls. -llpoh
And tripwires. Damned anti-frontier types out there sneaking around setting tripwires increases RE’s walks in pristine nature by hours!
Hitler was a filthy beast, make no mistake.
But that doesn’t mean he was wrong about EVERYTHING.
@Dave
“Goobermint” is a Signature of my writing going back to my days writing on Peak Oil. It symbolizes my disgust with the system. Its like using Rahmbo or el-Kabong, its a recognizable feature of my writing. So sorry, it stays.
RE
“Hitler was a filthy beast, make no mistake.
But that doesn’t mean he was wrong about EVERYTHING” -LLPOH
Disbanding Unions and allowing the Corporations & Da Goobermint they control the full power to determine all wages and benefits is a Hallmark of Fascism. The fact we are going down this route clearly indicates the movement of the FSofA toward explicit Fascism.
RE
sorry RE ;
The government unions are just as big of a problem as banksters. Both are parasites killing this nation. I have nothing against private sector unions ( even though they mostly suck), but public unions have an undue influence on the political process.
After decades of experience, I conclude that: companies will screw you for the bottom line and unions will throw you under the bus if it’s to their benefit. The first rule of any organism is self-interest, and all else is way down the priority list.
I’ve been a worker, shop steward, arbitrator, and I’ve been in management. And once, I was a scab. Self-interest decrees family before ‘the greater good’.
I’ve had two really great bosses, and they were more, they were mentors. Ironically, both were sacked for all the wrong reasons by the respective companies. Internal politics. Anyway, what I learned from these two men guided me in being a boss. I’ve been able to pay it forward, too.
I wouldn’t have changed any of it, it’s been an interesting ride.
@RE
All I did was ask you to comment on an article. You said you would but you didn’t. That’s all fine and dandy but it’ll be the last fucking time I make such a request. I know a “fuck you” when I see one. I can play that game too. Coming soon to a theatre near you.
Vigorously disagree. Nothing in our society is as pernicious and destructive as TBTF banks and the pirates who operate them. Even if you are deeply conservative, unions are nothing more than a mild annoyance. Look at the comparative amount of money (influence) wielded . . .
But it’s often not about money and power, but about belief. Unions bad… there’s no arguing with a belief system.
If they had ANY power or influence “card check” would be the law of the land, if not a sacrament.
Everyone likes to decry public sector unions. As we come to the end of this Fourth Turning, most people who remember that the “American way of life” was built by labor unions (and a prosperous post WWII economy.) have fallen away, and we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past in our headlong descent into the New Feudalism.
The only thing that working people have to bargain with is their labor, Take that away and hasten the fall into fascism.
Surly — and when a public service union HOLDS ME HOSTAGE ….because they are a MONOPOLY … and because I HAVE NO SAY in the raises and bennies they get …. and my fucking PROPERTY TAXES GO THROUGH THE ROOF …………………………………………… let me ask you ……….
EXACTLY WHO IS THE GODDAMNED FASCIST HERE????
Here’s a 4th turning for you. Fuck you and your public union mama.
Private unions had a place in the sun 100 years ago. Some workers (miners, steel workers, some odd niche industries that were hazardous) were to the point of almost having nothing to loose by telling their bosses to shove it. So they organized (a bloody affair in itself) and forced change in safety and work rules so they’d be alive to cash what pay check they got. Later they got bigger and fatter and started being a hinderance to even themselves.
Private unions today have very little worth except to protect their own deep dish pie of dues, corruption and ability to bribe politicians.
Public employees have no such “right” or need. Public service unions are an oxymoron in that unions do not serve the public, they serve themselves and when it’s convenient, their members.
Of course, politicians need the money they get from unions so they bend over, pucker up and promise them far more than the tax payer can provide through any reasonable tax base. They also, slowly, through their powers over politicians, move from working for the public to having the public work for them. Legislators pass laws requiring government be involved in brushing your own teeth – you must have a permit for it and only use toothpaste of a predetermined chemical make up, sold only in certified, inspected license toothpaste emporiums.
When, as a dutiful sheeple, you apply for a permit, you find the office is open only on Wednesdays from 2-4PM and Friday from 10- noon. The office is closed on all Federal, State and locally declared holidays – if a holiday falls on Monday, then the office will be closed Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. If a holiday falls on a Friday, the Wednesday and Thursday will also be declared off days for five day weekends..
It grows from there like a cancer, more rules, laws and regulations that REQUIRE government permission, inspection, certification and oversight until the “public” servants outnumber those who they serve – and earn twice as much in the bargain.
Public unions should be abolished and every law passed by any “public” office (from con-gress to the local city council) should expire every year and must be renewed to be in effect. No exceptions.
I will not hold my breath..
The whole private sector vs. public sector/unions argument is a good one. I am a 1099 sales rep who pays for everything myself, including a ton of self-employment taxes. Almost like I am being punished for being somewhat self-efficient. I personally have little sympathy for the union folks, they seem to eat their own in tough times. Not sure how to link this, but I was on http://www.sacbee.com and they have a link to state employee salaries. There are dentists workin for the correctional union making $750.000 per year, and the board of the UC sytem are making a half-million or more per year.
California has a $20 billion budget deficit, between the enormous salary and benefit packages for state workers and the cost of illegals, the budget could be erased in about 15 minutes. But that won’t happen because of one entity, the unions. They buy the votes and the politicians, and the dance keeps going. I have made every possible adjustment to my personal finances, but the public sector unions seem to be above that. As the taxpaying base shrinks, the unions won’t budge, which increases taxes even more on the private sector. I don’t see how this will end until a complete melt-down, which will pit public/ptivate workers against eachother. Another distraction for Bennie and the thiefs to keep robbing us all blind.
Stuck, you are very impatient. Commenting on an article like that takes being at home with a Sam Adams. Its Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You.
RE
@Stuck
While generally I do like and agree with Giordano Bruno’s anti-Statist perspective, in this particular piece he conflates “collectivism” with the state, and these aren’t precisely the same concept. The whole argument is designed to glorify the individual while subtly undermining all types of collective actions.
This type of argument plays very well with anyone who wants to be “free” to choose what ever path is best for himself, which is of course most people in any very large society where you just do not want to be pushed around or constricted by the diktat of the majority view or prevailing wisdom, etc. The idea here would be that if you allow each person this kind of freedom, self-interest will eventually reach a steady state as cooperation forms organically from each of the self-interested parties. This is the abstract underpinning of the free market idea on a social level.
Most of this particular argument is designed to hghlight the failure of large collective societies, it’s a very thinly veiled argument against the type of collectivism pursued by the Soviet Union and China during their “Communist” years. It’s in a sense passé, because that failure is already demonstrable, you do not need to make an abstract argument against it anymore. He briefly touches on some ideals of Community as opposed to Collectivism as he closes his argument, but in no way does he flesh out how it would actually work.
You have to realize here that the two terms, “Collectivism” and “Community” are very LOADED words with respect to individuals brought up in the “Capitalist” system we were engaged in over the last 300 years. While you value “Community” and think highly of this term, you tend to revile “Collective”. It tends to bring to your mind Locutus of Borg, where all individual though is subsumed into the Collective, and “Resistance is Futile”.
However, all Communities of whatever size have Collective Though, which you can also phrase as “Group Think”. I can present TBP here as a good example of a relatively small Community that at the same time has a very POWERFUL Collective Group Think. Look at how difficult it is for me to battle the Collective Ideology on this board, eh? Maintaining my individuality in this environment is EXTREMELY difficult, I get pounded on all the time here. Most folks would quit or at least just STFU, but of course I do not. LOL. Only reason I can continue onward is because of a few gifts I have, but it does demonstrate just how hard it is to maintain individual thought in any size community, and how collective thought comes to dominate any such community.
Based on the fact I maintain my individuality in the face of collective thought, you would on the surface conclude I am in support of maximum Individuality in this realm, but in fact I am not. It creates a whole lot of strife in a community, ALSO in evidence here. You cannot have such strife indefinitely and run a successful community of ANY size. Some collective ideas must be agreed on to be productive, and that is why I reformatted how I would write on TBP, with the Daily Rants. This took a LOT of thinking BTW, and pushing my Free Speech ideals here with JimQ was part of that. I have read enough of what he writes to know we think similarly in this regard so I did not think it was too big a risk to do it, and in the end it worked out. But trust me, I thought long and hard before I did it. I took some Agreed on concepts of Free Speech and then segregated off the Rant from the rest of the board so it operates under a slightly different set of principles. So now there is a bit less conflict and the community is operating better, at least from my point of view anyhow.
You will ALWAYS have some sort of “collectivism” in any community of any size, right from the Family Unit on upward. Children will ALWAYS have to Obey the Diktat of the Parents, or the Family unit will fall apart. Just look at our society to understand that one, eh? Work your way up to the Tribal level, the Family Units will ALWAYS have to Obey the Diktat of the Elders of the Society. Assemble Tribes up into a Nation-State, then all these tribes must follow the diktat of the state.
At each level of complexity, the individual’s rights are subsumed into the collective, and the collective rules. You do know the history of Giordano Bruno I trust? He was Burned at the Stake as a Heretic. Too independent, too individualistic to survive within the collective Group think of his time. However, his thought and the thought of other independents and iconoclasts eventually changed the collective group think enough for the Enlightenment to proceed.
As we proceed forward here, we will need independent thinkers, but battling against the will of the collective is generally speaking a thankless task, and in a time of anarchy, synthesizing a collective set of principles to work by is very hard. Geerally ends up taking a Dictator of some type to do it.
Hope that answered your question 🙂
RE
Thanks for the detailed answer. Very helpful.
I’m in a deeply pissed off mood today. The Verizon/FIOS guy is here today. Been here for two hours already and will be here another 2-3. But what really set me off is that yesterday Ms Freud came home with a 40′ flatsceen to replace the bedroom TV … which works PERFECTLY fine!! I HATE replacing shit that isn’t broken. Hate it!! I can’t get her to stop spending money. Well, she used her money on this purchase … but still.
So we’re like not talking to each other since yesterday. And then I have to deal with that massive dickhead known as Smokey. llpoh is sure to pounce on my ass because I don’t like his book list. Boo fucking hoo!! And I just KNOW the fuckin moment Mr. Verizonman leaves the premises my internet won’t work. It rough, I’m tellin ya! Rough!
Very thoughtful comment, RE.
I value freedom as much as anyone (true freedom, not the meaningless consumer crap foisted on much of the US as “freedom”) but there is a lot of truth in the need to share certain values and limit certain actions in order to have a sustainable community (environment, economy, whatever you want to focus on), not to mention in order to live in reasonable decency.
Didn’t mean to be flippant with my brief “very helpful” comment. It was VERY helpful! lol
I was once part of a small community, “tribe”, or whatever these things are called. It happened while I was stationed in southern CA in 1974. I hooked up with a Christian group and became what is known as “born again”. (Try not to laugh.) It was a small group of people, less than 50. Some GI’s like myself but mostly people known as “Jesus Freaks”. About a dozen lived on the leader’s land … did some farming, some built knick-knack crafts to sell … the rest of us had outside jobs but we spent evenry available moment with the group. We shared our lives and even our money. We looked out for each other. We cried and laughed together but mostly we simply enjoyed each other’s company, for better or worse. Looking back it was like a hippie commune … a spirit-filled hippie commune. That may or may not be like the “tribes” you advocate but I will say … and without any doubt … that was quite possibly the happiest year of my life.
@MA
There isn’t a whole lot of difference in a Fascist State between Public Workers and Private Workers. The Corporations run all the Manufacturing and Transportation and Communications, and they run the State apparatus, which is mainly the legal and regulatory environment.
In such a tate, once the Unions collapse or are outlawed as Hitler did, the workers int he society are completely captive slaves. This is the type of society you advocate for when you advocate for removal of the Unions in a corporate State. It makes you a Fascist MA. In order to avoid being a Fascist, you must FIRST demand that the corporations are broken up and the Elite Oligarchy controlling the Banks and the Corporations are prosecuted and at least Imprisoned, although really Death is appropriate punshiment. This includes just about everybody from George Soros to Warren Buffett to Bill Gates to Lloyd Blankfein etc.
In the hierarchy of who and what is doing the most damage here, the Unions are quite far down the list. Those causing the most damage and driving us toward a Fascist State are the Wealthy Pigmen, and they must first be removed before you dissassemble the other corrupt social structures.
RE
Nearly all forms of rule [dictatorial, fascist, communist, monarchy, oligarchy.. etc etc] become collectivist.
When that happens things go awry.
We are nearly there.
@Stuck
That doesn’t sound a whole lot different than “The Farm”, which Dmitir Orlov recently featured on his site in an article about “Lifeboats”, which I posted a while back here.
http://cluborlov.blogspot.com/2011/01/lifeboats-memoir.html
No doubt, small Communes are a form of Tribal living much more than they are a form of Communist living Like the Farm, for these types of groups to survive over the long term they have to have a shared set of collective values, such places are not very supportive of individualism.
There will no doubt be a rebirth of this type of community as we spin down here. This time round its going to be harder than the Hippies had it. They at least were able to get cheap gas for their makeshift generators and pirate electricity off the grid. The next generation won’t be so fortunate.
RE
I gotta say here folks, I am a little disappointed so far that nobody has brought up any of the videos for this thread, all from Maryanne Faithful, ex girlfriend of Mick Jagger and Illuminati spawn. Her mother was , Eva von Sacher-Masoch, Baroness Erisso, from the Hapsburgh line. You should recognize that surname Masoch as the root of Masochism.
Anyhow, besides a fabulous set of old clips of riots and preparation for War in the “Broken English” video, I find it facinating to watch the young Maryanne sing Phil Och’s “There But For Fortune” and then Mick’s “As Tears Go By”. Love her upper class Brit phrasing and the understated emotions in her face.
RE
Weather keeps ferry with Americans stuck in Tripoli
Thousands try to flee; evacuees describe looting, shooting in Libya
Below:
Share Print Font: +-IRAKLIO, Crete — A U.S.-chartered ferry to evacuate Americans from Libya was expected to leave Tripoli Friday, weather permitting, the U.S. State Department said.
The Malta-bound Maria Dolores catamaran ferry remained docked at Tripoli’s As-shahab port with 285 passengers on board, including 167 U.S. citizens and 118 people of other nationalities, the State Department said.
“The ferry will depart when the weather improves. At the moment, we’re anticipating this will happen by tomorrow morning, but we’re waiting for an updated weather report,” said Elijah Waterman of the U.S. Embassy in Malta.
An official with the ferry company, Virtu Ferries, told The New York Times high winds tossing up sea swells as high as 16 feet kept the ferry at dock.
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..The ferry was ordered because U.S. government requests to land aircraft to pick up citizens trying to flee Libya’s violence had been denied, State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley told reporters in Washington. However, a U.S. chartered flight was due to depart Tripoli Friday he said.
As for the ferry, “I’m sure the conditions are difficult for anyone who’s on the ship for this long and it hasn’t moved,” Crowley said.
U.S. security personnel were on board, he said, without identifying who they were or whether they were armed. They did not include Marines, who are often posted at U.S. embassies.
.Libyan security forces were controlling the perimeter of the port and had allowed provisions, including fruit, to be loaded on board.
The State Department on Thursday warned U.S. citizens against travel to Libya and urged those already in the country to depart immediately.
Foreigners evacuated
As tens of thousands of foreigners sought to flee fierce fighting in Libya, European countries scrambled to send more ships and military planes to the North African nation and Britain mulled whether to send in its military to rescue stranded oil workers.
Two ships braved churning seas Thursday to whisk some 4,500 Chinese workers away from strife-torn Libya to the island of Crete.
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Updated 48 minutes ago 2/25/2011 12:17:28 AM +00:00 Moammar Gadhafi says bin Laden is behind the uprising in Libya and al-Qaida followers give young Libyans hallucinogenic pills in their coffee to get them to revolt. Full story
Updated 43 minutes ago 2/25/2011 12:22:28 AM +00:00 Ferry with Americans stuck in Tripoli
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Updated 46 minutes ago 2/25/2011 12:19:23 AM +00:00 West may rue ties to Gadhafi
..Several airlines suspended flights to Libya on Thursday — Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines and Alitalia — amid scenes of chaos and deteriorating security and safety at Tripoli airport.
Those who made it out described a frightening scene: bodies hanging from electric poles in Libya’s eastern port of Benghazi and militia trucks driving around full of dead bodies. One video showed a tank apparently crushing a car with people inside.
The first big group of U.N. workers evacuated from Libya arrived in Rome on Thursday night aboard an Italian C-130 and said the situation in Tripoli was deteriorating.
“We did see much violence, yes, but the city is quiet and calm now,” said Ramesh Tuladhar of the U.N. Development Program, who was one of 22 U.N. workers who arrived along with a similar number of Italians at Italy’s military Pratica di Mare military base near Rome.
A second C-130 with 97 people aboard arrived from Sabha, mostly with tourists from Italy, France, Germany, Britain and Slovenia.
“All was under control, a very heavy control, under these people from the leader,” German tourist Holger Gwosdz said. “Now I’m feeling free. Thank you Italy.”
In Crete, some passengers smiled and waved from the decks of the Greek-flagged Hellenic Spirit as it arrived from Benghazi, a city that has broken away from Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s control. Others departing the ship needed medical attention.
“The situation was pretty bad over there … we heard lots of gunfire and saw many burned-out buildings,” Pantelis Kimendiadis, a Greek oil worker employed near Benghazi, told The Associated Press moments after stepping off the ferry.
.”Everyone is really tired and just glad to be out of there … We have Libyan friends and colleagues who got us out. Our lives were in their hands,” he said.
Up to 15,000 Chinese are expected to arrive by ferry to Crete and fly home on chartered flights — about half the number of Chinese working in Libya on construction and oil projects.
Greece has sent four more ferries to Libya, along with a frigate and three military transport planes, and Prime Minister George Papandreou has offered to help other nations evacuate their people.
Leaving chaos behind
People who managed to flee Tripoli by air described chaos at the airport, with people shoving and climbing over each other to get on planes. Amateur video showed crowds of people jammed shoulder to shoulder, some appearing to be camped out.
..”The airport is just a zoo. There’s about 10,000 people there, all trying to get out,” Ewan Black of Britain told the BBC as he got off a flight at London’s Gatwick Airport. “It’s just absolutely manic, basically it’s uncontrolled.”
“I lost all my luggage. It’s literally bodies climbing over bodies to get to the door,” Black added.
contd
Britain’s government discussed whether its military special forces will be needed to rescue U.K. oil workers and colleagues from other nations stranded in Libya’s desert camps. Britain’s Foreign Office said navy frigate HMS Cumberland, sent to assist with Britons stranded in Libya, had left Benghazi for Malta with 68 British nationals onboard. A flight carrying 177 adults and four children, which left Tripoli this morning, has also landed in London.
Germany rerouted two navy frigates and one support ship to help with evacuations and had two military aircraft on standby Malta, while the Dutch government flew a C-130 military transport plane to Tripoli and was rounding up Dutch citizens to bring home.
India planned to transport 1,200 citizens by ferry to the nearby Egyptian city of Alexandria over the weekend and fly them home.
Thanassis Stavrakis / AP
A Chinese evacuee shows his passport Thursday upon his arrival at the port of Iraklio city, on the Greek island of Crete. Two Greek ferries carried 4,500 Chinese from violence-torn Libya. Turkey managed to evacuate more than 7,000 of its 25,000 citizens in Libya, mostly by two ships that arrived Thursday in the southern Turkish port of Marmaris, and said it would evacuate more foreigners from Libya.
Witnesses said Benghazi, now controlled by anti-government protesters, has seen fierce fighting, looting, and killings.
Ali Tumkaya, the human resources manager for Turkey’s Sembol company, which was building a university in Benghazi, said militias raided the Benghazi airport. He saw vans with more than 20 dead bodies, who Tumkaya said appeared to be mercenaries from sub-Saharan Africa.
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.Another Turkish evacuee saw dead men hanging in the street.
“Our construction site was burned down. The looters came. There were a few men hanging from poles, electric poles,” Serdar Taskin, who worked for the Mammar Arabia company in Benghazi, told the AP in Marmaris. He did not know if the dead were protesters or Gadhafi supporters.
George Suchomel, a Canadian from Collingwood, Ontario, who works for the German construction company Arcadis, said his company’s offices and lodgings in Benghazi were raided and cars and electronic equipment were looted.
Suchomel, who was evacuated by a Turkish ship, gave AP a video that he said was given to him by militiamen in Benghazi to smuggle out. It showed the aftermath of a scene in which a military tank seems to have run over a red car with some people still trapped inside and others running around frantically and shouting.