General strike grinds Greece to halt

Demonstrations by Unions Against Government Austerity Measures Hobble Transit Services, Spark Clashes With Police


ATHENS—Flights were grounded and trains suspended amid a nationwide general strike Thursday, as Greek police fought running street battles with anarchist youths in fresh and violent signs of anger at the government's austerity plans. Unions called a strike to protest wage and benefit cuts being put in place to trim Greece's swollen budget deficit as the country draws closer to a financial reckoning. An estimated 50,000 people took to the streets.

What is the alternative?


Greece must refinance a chunk of its giant debt next month, and Greek leaders are leaning hard on counterparts in richer European states to provide some measure of support that could ease those debt sales. Eyes are on European Union finance ministers' meetings early next week.

In the capital city Thursday, masked and hooded youths went well beyond protest—throwing rocks and bottles, smashing shop windows, setting alight trash cans and burning at least one private car. Police fired tear gas and detained more than a dozen people. There were also separate clashes outside the Greek parliament, Agence France-Presse reported. Greece has a history of sometimes-violent anarchist protesters, though they are well outside the mainstream.

Greece's two umbrella unions, for private- and public-sector workers, called the strike to protest the €4.8 billion ($6.55 billion) package of spending cuts and tax increases that the government announced March 3, which was voted into law days later. The communist-backed PAME union held a separate protest that drew an estimated 15,000 people.

Communists? They're still around? Haven't they gotten the news?

"There is a big turnout today and that shows people are concerned," said Dimitris Papageorgiou, a 49-year-old worker at the Bank of Greece. "Today's protest is because of the austerity measures. Why do the people always have to pay? Who is at fault? It's the foreign speculators and the useless policies of previous governments."


Recent polls show that the Greek public is divided over the austerity plan. While the public opposes some measures, such as an increase in Greece's fuel and value-added taxes, analysts say there is a broad acceptance that something must be done. "No one really expects the measures to be withdrawn. They were adopted by the government to avoid even worse consequences," said Lefteris Eleftheriadis, 48, a biologist who works in Greece's agriculture ministry and participated in Thursday's protest.


The strike affected public transport, government ministries and state-owned companies. All flights into and out of the country were grounded and all ferry and rail services suspended. On the streets of Athens Thursday, normal workday activity was muted. Street lights and road signs were festooned with strike posters. Usual morning news shows on local television were replaced with alternative programming. Many businesses were shut amid fear of violence, and police blocked main thoroughfares around the city center. Just off the city's central square, a group of about 200 police and fire officials also staged a sympathy protest, challenging the government to fulfill its pre-election promises to protect workers' salaries.

How?

Under pressure from the EU and financial markets, Greece's socialist government last week presented the latest in a series of austerity packages to trim the budget deficit to 8.7% of gross domestic product this year, from an estimated 12.7% last year. Among other things, the package raises Greece's top value-added tax rate to 21% from 19%, freezes public-sector pensions, cuts civil-service entitlements and bonus pay, and raises taxes on fuel, alcohol and cigarettes.


The general strike follows several days of escalating labor actions by a variety of smaller unions.

— By ALKMAN GRANITSAS. Charles Forelle contributed to this article.

Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page A13

Troubles in Rio

This picture caught my eye: see how casually the four civilians hang out, as, mere inches away, an armored soldier point his automatic weapon.

Oaxaca 2006 violence

This first article appeared in the Mexican website W Radio.


Ulises Ruiz no garantizó la paz social en Oaxaca: Sánchez Cordero; Queremos juicio político y que renuncie: Flavio SosaW Radio | Octubre 15 de 2009

México.- En la Primera Emisión de Hoy por Hoy con Carlos Piug, la ministra de la Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación, Olga Sánchez Cordero, explicó los motivos por los que el máximo tribunal determinó responsabilizar al gobernador de Oaxaca, Ulises Ruiz, de las violaciones a los derechos humanos que se cometieron durante el conflicto social de 2006.

Explicó que en la cronología de los hechos, en primer lugar se desarrolla una “garantía del mínimo vital”, la cual está a cargo del gobierno local, es decir, debe proporcionar un clima de paz y orden social. En este sentido, la ministra Sánchez Cordero dijo que el gobierno de Ulises Ruiz “no propició este ambiente de paz y por lo tanto se violaron todas las garantías individuales, desde el derecho a la vida hasta el libre tránsito de personas, el acceso a la educación, se cerraron negocios, en fin, una serie de omisiones… Se perdieron muchas vidas y se cometieron varias violaciones a partir del mínimo vital”, aseveró.

Sobre un posible juicio político contra el gobernador oaxaqueño, la ministra explicó que la SCJN sólo establece si se violaron las garantías individuales y quiénes son los responsables; por lo que el informe será entregado a la Cámara de Diputados y a la Procuraduría General de la República.

En este mismo espacio informativo, el líder social, Flavio Social, ex dirigente de la Asamblea Popular de Pueblos de Oxaca (APPO), exigió un juicio político contra Ulises Ruiz al tiempo que demandó su renuncia, por la ingobernabilidad generada en el estado, a fin de reconstruir la confianza entre gobernantes y gobernadores.

Afirmó que la resolución de la SCJN es un buen precedente en la justicia del país y es importante. Finalmente señaló que ahora corresponde a los diputados y a la PGR asumir la responsabilidad, “porque no pueden quedar impunes la muerte de nuestros compañeros”, dijo.


This second article is from the Associated Press

Court blames Mexican governor for protest abuses

(AP) – 10 hours ago

OAXACA, Mexico — The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the governor of a southern Mexican state is responsible for rights abuses during 2006 protests that paralyzed a colonial city and left least a dozen people dead.

The ruling has no binding consequences for Oaxaca Gov. Ulises Ruiz but carries moral weight. A similar ruling in 1996 prompted the resignation of the governor of western Guerrero state over the massacre of 17 farm workers.

Leftist groups battled with authorities in the Oaxaca state capital of the same name for five months in 2006. The conflict started as a teachers' strike and quickly ballooned into a broader movement to demand Ruiz's resignation over allegations that he rigged his electoral victory. Demonstrators hijacked and burned buses to create roadblocks and chased police out of the picturesque city.

The Supreme Court ruled that Ruiz bore "plain responsibility" for the conflict.

Ruiz, who has remained in office and denies he stole the election, issued a statement saying he had no immediate comment on the Supreme Court ruling.

The movement behind the protests — the People's Assembly of Oaxaca, or APPO — applauded the ruling and said Ruiz should immediately resign.

"He should be criminally prosecuted," said APPO leader Flavio Sosa.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court absolved the government of then-President Vincente Fox of any responsibility for the deaths and other abuses. it was federal security forces that finally moved in and cleared out the demonstrators.

A dozen people were killed in the conflict, mostly protesters shot by gunmen, including Bradley Roland Will, a 36-year-old journalist-activist from New York. Will was killed while filming a clash between demonstrators and gunmen.

There were no cheatin'

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivers a sermon during Friday prayers at Tehran University on Friday










Iran's Ayatollah: Stop protesting or deal with 'consequences' Calls Ahmadinejad's reelection an "absolute victory" and blames west for unrest. Blah, blah, blah.

He called Britain the biggest evil. Bigger than America the Great Satan? We're making progress, of sorts. Blaming outsiders for unrest is a time-tested way to deflect criticism, but it ignores the domestic truth: there is popular dissatisfaction.

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I guess the Politburo hasn't been watching teevee; in the age of Twitter and camera cellphones, communications can not be restricted.

Khamenei Praises Vote Iran's supreme leader said there was "definitive victory" and no rigging in disputed elections, offering no concession to protesters demanding the vote be held again.

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"The U.S. president said 'We were waiting for a day like this to see people on the street,'" Mr. Khamenei said. "They write to us and say they respect the Islamic Republic and then they make comments like this.... Which one should we believe?"

Dismissing Obama won't be that easy.

The Friday prayer was televised live on state-run Channel One. The camera showed Mr. Ahmadinejad sitting in the front row and conservative candidate Mohsen Rezaei a few rows back. It wasn't clear whether Mr. Mousavi or Mehdi Karroubi had accepted the leader's invitation to come to the prayers.

Meanwhile, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 405-1 Friday to condemn Tehran's crackdown on demonstrators and the government's interference with Internet and cell phone communications.

Do I hear the whimper of irrelevancy?

Anger and Fear Fuel May Day Europe Protests

In Sofia, the Bulgarian capital, a demonstrator stood between a pair of anarchist flags.
















Some Iraqis celebrated May Day with a march organized by the Iraqi Communist Party.

Twitter activism

Protesters opposed to Moldova’s Communist leaders threw a sofa out a window in Parliament in the capital on Tuesday.

Protests in Moldova Explode, With Help of Twitter

By ELLEN BARRY

A sea of young people used text messages and the Internet to appear out of nowhere to protest Communist leaders.

More Photos »

This revolution is not only being televised, it is being twittered.

A crowd of more than 10,000 young Moldovans materialized seemingly out of nowhere on Tuesday to protest against Moldova’s Communist leadership, ransacking government buildings and clashing with the police.

The sea of young people reflected the deep generation gap that has developed in Moldova, and the protesters used their generation’s tools, gathering the crowd by enlisting text-messaging, Facebook and Twitter, the social messaging network.

The protesters created their own searchable tag on Twitter, rallying Moldovans to join and propelling events in this small former Soviet state onto a Twitter list of newly popular topics, so people around the world could keep track.

Technology changing the world.

After hundreds of firsthand accounts flooded onto the Internet via Twitter, Internet service in Chisinau, the capital, was abruptly cut off.

Economic Decline Lifts the Prospects of a Vocal Populist

Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a former presidential candidate, attracted thousands of supporters to a Mexico City rally Jan. 25
AMLO is still about.

Only two years ago, Amlo, as he is known, was the driving force in Mexico’s polarized politics. After he narrowly lost the presidency and led months of street protests charging that it had been stolen from him, politics boiled down to one issue: who was for him and who was against.

Last year, his hold on public attention began to falter. The public, the news media and many of his supporters had simply moved on, letting the turmoil of the 2006 election fade into history.

Saying that the economy will only get worse, Mr. López Obrador announced a campaign to press the government to cut wasteful spending, lower consumer prices and taxes, and do more for the poor.

Price controls sound good.

“Our movement must continue demanding a change in economic policy, which has demonstrated its failure,” he said. “The model must be changed. You cannot put new wine in old bottles.”

With the next presidential election three years off, Mr. López Obrador’s precise ambitions are unclear. He calls his new campaign a social movement and clearly aims to be a force to be reckoned with.

Not tipping his hand gives him an unknown element.

But his relationship with his own party remains fraught. Last year he lost a battle with a rival faction over the presidency of the party, the Party of the Democratic Revolution, or P.R.D., and he no longer holds any official position in the party or in government.

He doesn't need no stinkin' adges.

The low point came last fall, when most of the senators from his party broke with him to approve an important energy bill, as his supporters scuffled with police officers in an attempt to block the vote.

To many who had backed his presidential bid, Mr. López Obrador’s street-brawling political style had become a liability.


What is evident is that while talk of a comeback may be premature, so was writing him off.

“He’s a charismatic, intuitive politician,” said Joy Langston, an analyst with the CIDE, a Mexico City research institution. “He not only knows how to win over the masses but also to govern in a way that continues his popularity. Amlo will never be completely finished.”

Who Will Save Jewish Charity?

This is a wonderful piece of writing. The writer, Lucette Lagnado,wrote a book that is very popular, both here at HWPL, and county-wide, The man in the white sharkskin suit : my family's exodus from Old Cairo to the New World.
The Madoff scandal has shaken the American Jewish community to its core – maiming institutions large and small, wiping out life savings and triggering soul-searching: How could one man deceive so many? And what does the affair say about American Jewish values?

Far too sweeping a statement, to lump all American Jews as one. Still, she starts off by quoting Jonathan Sarna, the prominent American-Jewish historian, defining the affluent Orthodox Jewish community where Madoff found so many victims, as "a kind of shtetl – a very wealthy shtetl."

Madoff has hurt so very many people and charities; even Henry Kaufman lost money. Still, who was really hurt, financially, anyway?

The pain is being felt especially intensely in philanthropic circles, which may never fully recover. Some Jewish nonprofits have shut down. Several large institutions, Hadassah and the American Jewish Congress among them, have been seriously wounded. Then there is the blow to the community's sense of self – the confidence and prosperity that enabled it to build magnificent houses of worship, Jewish day schools that rivaled the finest secular ones and, more recently, charities with impressively large endowments.

Prosperity; magnificent; rivaled; large endowments. These are words that speak of a sector of the community: affluent, elegant, fashionable, upscale.

For the past several years, Jewish nonprofits had been relying on "fewer – but larger – gifts," according to Jack Wertheimer, a professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. United Jewish Communities, which represents 157 Jewish Federations across North America, has seen a steep decline in its ranks of donors in the past 20 years – even as the total funds raised have continued to grow.

Less people giving, more money raised. "Top end" donors were pursued, others neglected, maybe ignored.

There was so much wealth out there that it seemed more cost-effective than going after smaller donors.

Mega-donors gave mega-sums, had buildings or programs, let alone foundations, named after themselves, and rested smugly with a guilt-free conscience. Madoff has changed that, perhaps irrevocably, certainly fundamentally: if nothing else, trust has been damaged.

Jewish charity may have to return to its roots, becoming once again a widespread communal effort, instead of being concentrated in a few powerful hands.

I don't have a great solution to the Madoff problem or to the damage that it has wrought. I have a more limited suggestion: I would like to see the comeback of the pushke – the little collection box that was once in every Jewish home. To be sure, I don't want Jewish charities to suffer; it is simply that in our post-Madoff universe I find myself longing for the kind of more humble, more individual tzedakah, or personal charity, that took place before the rise of the uber-Jewish foundations and zillionaire philanthropists.

I've never heard either term, but I agree with her.

It would be lovely to see the return of little checks – the donations everyone could afford to give and often did. Neither they nor the pushkes require the fund-raising galas and the elaborate administrative structures that have become the norm across the Jewish charitable world.

Some Jewish leaders may blanch at my words. Prof. Wertheimer notes that "Jewish organizational life has become much more expensive – nickels, dimes and pushkes aren't going to do it." Though Mr. Kane at the UJA and others now hint at new strategies to broaden the donor base, some Jewish leaders are ready to return to business as usual, sending the message that we must get in some big checks to replace the money that was lost. But this scandal makes me wish we could remember the values of our shtetl and think small again.

Greece is Burning

This person has a very definite opinion about what is going on in Greece.

Plundering thugs who are following their own self-interests.

When Greece's conservative New Democracy party came to power in March 2004 it promised three things: to "reinvent" the state, to eliminate corruption, and to initiate much-needed educational reform. Four years later, the situation remains unchanged: The state is still a tool for bestowing benefits and favors, corruption in the public sector is still rampant, and attempts at educational reform have fizzled out.

That sets the context of where Greece is now: promised change not delivered, corruption, favoritism, cynicism. Not a good combination, at all.

The ostensible cause for the rioting was the killing – under circumstances that remain unclear – of a 15-year-old boy by a policeman last Saturday near the Athens district of Exarchia, a popular hangout for lefties and professed anarchists. Two officers have been arrested and charged with the boy's slaying. Poor training, lack of motivation and low salaries make for a notoriously incompetent police force whose members are prone to cause such tragic incidents. In that sense the police share the malaise of the rest of the public sector in Greece. The only difference is that they carry arms.

The writer works for Eleftherotypia, an Athens newspaper retaining its traditional socialist domestic and international stance.Thus, using terms such as lefties isn't to be taken as a rightist disparaging leftists.

The death quickly led to mostly peaceful mass demonstrations all over Greece by students who were understandably unhappy with the killing of their peer. They are also fed up with an overcentralized education system that thrives on rote learning, which stifles innovation and creativity.