Update from Adbusters following the move of the G8 to Camp David

i am a huge fan of humor as a way to address situations and issues that would otherwise be too fraught with tension and polarization to be addressed directly...

TACTICAL BRIEFING #27 – MAY 18 GLOBAL #LAUGHRIOT

In a sudden about-face, the United States has conceded a victory to Occupy and moved May’s G8 summit to Camp David, an impenetrable military base in rural Maryland. Wow! Looks like the specter of 50,000 occupiers ready to swarm with a list of demands has turned the climactic Showdown in Chicago into a humiliating G8 Backdown. Bravo! Splitting the G8 and NATO summits was a deft move… but now we’ve got a major tactical rethink on our hands.

The big question is do we follow Mao’s advice (“when the enemy retreats, we pursue”) or Sun Tzu’s (“Do not pursue an enemy who simulates flight”)? We’ve heard persuasive arguments on all sides. Some occupiers say the movement should lay chase and go for #OCCUPYCAMPDAVID against all odds … a month of tree-sits, lockdowns and nomadic encampments in the woods and nearby Thurmont. Others believe it’s best to up the ante with #OCCUPYCHICAGO: an even bigger mobilization beginning with the May Day General Strike. Still others advocate an unpredictable everywhere-at-once global insurgency of anarchic swarms throughout the month of May.

When Ben Ali first attacked then tried to hide from his people, he was toppled. When Mubarak refused to negotiate and tried to beat his people back into line, he was deposed. Now the White House and the G8 are repeating the mistakes of last year’s autocrats … first they try to scare us with tough talk of repressive anti-Occupy ordinances, crowd suppression technologies and paramilitary policing, then they make a hasty retreat to the safety of Camp David.

The world’s leaders flee from us … so what do we do? Maybe we just laugh at them?

On May 18, the day the G8 leaders meet in Camp David, why don’t we, the people of the world have a #LAUGHRIOT. Let roars of laughter rise up from towns and cities everywhere at the spectacle of the world’s leaders trying to crisis manage the economy from behind closed doors and razor wire fences.

Laughter is one of the most powerful tactical weapons of memewar … it signals supremacy and loss of fear. So let’s pull off the greatest comedy of howling flash mobs, riotous street parties and hysterical pranks the world has ever seen. May 18 could be a monumental tipping point… an ahahaha! moment when the people of the world have a collective epiphany, and from that point on start thinking differently about how the world should be governed.

Jammers, whatever we do this Spring, let’s float like butterflies and sting like bees! Let’s bend the G8 and NATO to our will with shock tactics and audacious culture jams that capture the imagination of the world. We may be far closer to a Global Spring than any of us has so far dared to imagine …

"an ahahaha! moment"... love it...!

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Adbusters: Prepping for the upcoming G8 and NATO meetings in Chicago

here's a follow-up on my post from january 26 where adbusters calls for support for the #OCCUPYCHICAGO effort to focus world attention on the failure that is capitalism during the g8 and nato meetings in chicago in may...

TACTICAL BRIEFING #26

Anarchic Swarms – The Emerging Model

[...]

The stage is set for a climactic showdown in Chicago.

The crisis of capitalism is deepening. Youth unemployment has reached 50% in Spain and Greece… 30% in Portugal and Italy… 22% in the UK… almost 20% in the US. Hundreds of millions of people around the world are waking up to the fact that their future does not compute… that their lives will be a never ending series of ecological, financial, political and personal crises… and that if we don’t rise up and start fighting for a different kind of future, we won’t have a future.

That struggle ignites again May 1.

#OCCUPYCHICAGO will be the focal point of this global spiritual insurrection… 50,000 of us will converge on the windy city and confront the G8 and NATO leaders with an ultimatum. We will set up impromptu encampments throughout the city and wage a full-spectrum memewar backed up by new tactics of anarchic swarming. Our militant in-your-face nonviolence will inspire thousands of towns, cities and campuses around the world to rise up in solidarity just like they did last October.

This is a worldwide, multi-front mutiny against the way our economic and military leaders are running the world.

[...]

Occupy has taught us all. It innovates, fractures, grows resilient and more diverse. In this spirit we celebrate the Gandhian ferocity of the Zuccottis who launched this movement with their magical assemblies and nonviolent ways … we extol the growing crop of working groups with their desire for a positive program of social and political change. And on the wild side we honor those in Oakland who have lost their fear against all odds. With this rainbow coalition, we hold our heads high and embrace the heady days of Spring.

it'll also be good practice for the upcoming republican and democratic national conventions...

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Occupy in Solidarity with the Greeks: "We're all Greeks Now"

what a sad state of affairs... the raping and pillaging continues unabated and we're all at great risk...


Protest, Syntagma Square, Athens

#OWS Joins International Day of Action: We Are All Greeks Now

Tomorrow, the people of Greece will take to the streets again to occupy Syntagma Square in protest of the extreme austerity measures being imposed on the backs of the Greek 99% to the joy and benefit of the European financial elite. The 99% everywhere are under assault by the same global banking interests. Greece is merely the most severe economic crisis yet to be imposed by the International Monetary Fund and other agents of the 1% in the Global North. People all over the world live under the tyranny of policies dictated by the IMF, the World Bank, and the G8. As demonstrated by the wholesale slashing of social services in the name of "debt reduction," New York City and the United States are not immune.

Our resistance to austerity will also be global. This weekend, the people of cities across the world will take to the streets in solidarity with the Greek protesters who have occupied their workplaces and public spaces to resist economic injustice. Demonstrations are planned throughout Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portgual, the United Kingdom, the United States, Sweden, and more. Click here for a partial listing of international rallies on Facebook. Occupy Chicago held a Greece solidarity rally yesterday. There is a rally today in San Francisco and tomorrow in New York City.

i like greece... i like the greeks... i've spent some time there and it's a wonderful country... they don't deserve this shit... nobody does...

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G8 & NATO in Chicago - Adbusters calls for #Occupy Chicago for the month of May

from adbusters...

Tactical Briefing #25

Hey you redeemers, rebels and radicals out there,

Against the backdrop of a global uprising that is simmering in dozens of countries and thousands of cities and towns, the G8 and NATO will hold a rare simultaneous summit in Chicago this May. The world’s military and political elites, heads of state, 7,500 officials from 80 nations, and more than 2,500 journalists will be there.

And so will we.

On May 1, 50,000 people from all over the world will flock to Chicago, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and #OCCUPYCHICAGO for a month. With a bit of luck, we’ll pull off the biggest multinational occupation of a summit meeting the world has ever seen.

And this time around we’re not going to put up with the kind of police repression that happened during the Democratic National Convention protests in Chicago, 1968 … nor will we abide by any phony restrictions the City of Chicago may want to impose on our first amendment rights. We’ll go there with our heads held high and assemble for a month-long people’s summit … we’ll march and chant and sing and shout and exercise our right to tell our elected representatives what we want … the constitution will be our guide.

And when the G8 and NATO meet behind closed doors on May 19, we’ll be ready with our demands: a Robin Hood Tax … a ban on high frequency ‘flash’ trading … a binding climate change accord … a three strikes and you’re out law for corporate criminals … an all out initiative for a nuclear-free Middle East … whatever we decide in our general assemblies and in our global internet brainstorm – we the people will set the agenda for the next few years and demand our leaders carry it out.

And if they don’t listen … if they ignore us and put our demands on the back burner like they’ve done so many times before … then, with Gandhian ferocity, we’ll flashmob the streets, shut down stock exchanges, campuses, corporate headquarters and cities across the globe … we’ll make the price of doing business as usual too much to bear.

Jammers, pack your tents, muster up your courage and prepare for a big bang in Chicago this Spring. If we don’t stand up now and fight now for a different kind of future we may not have much of a future … so let’s live without dead time for a month in May and see what happens …

for the wild,
Culture Jammers HQ

if nothing else, it would be nice to be able to give rahm the finger in person...

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Understanding the war on the gold dinar as a means of stepping "out of the dark void of brutal exploitation and greed"

john perkins...

According to the IMF, Libya’s Central Bank is 100% state owned. The IMF estimates that the bank has nearly 144 tons of gold in its vaults. It is significant that in the months running up to the UN resolution that allowed the US and its allies to send troops into Libya, Muammar al-Qaddafi was openly advocating the creation of a new currency that would rival the dollar and the euro. In fact, he called upon African and Muslim nations to join an alliance that would make this new currency, the gold dinar, their primary form of money and foreign exchange. They would sell oil and other resources to the US and the rest of the world only for gold dinars.

The US, the other G-8 countries, the World Bank, IMF, BIS, and multinational corporations do not look kindly on leaders who threaten their dominance over world currency markets or who appear to be moving away from the international banking system that favors the corporatocracy. Saddam Hussein had advocated policies similar to those expressed by Qaddafi shortly before the US sent troops into Iraq.

[...]

Understanding the war against Quaddafi as a war in defense of empire is another step in the direction of helping us ask ourselves whether we want to continue along this path of empire-building. Or do we instead want to honor the democratic principles we are taught to believe are the foundations of our country?

History teaches that empires do not endure; they collapse or are overthrown. Wars ensue and another empire fills the vacuum. The past sends a compelling message. We must change. We cannot afford to watch history repeat itself.

Let us not allow this empire to collapse and be replaced by another. Instead, let us all vow to create a new consciousness. Let the grass-roots movements in the Middle East – fostered by the young who must live with the future and are fueled through social networks – inspire us to demand that our country, our financial institutions and the corporations that depend on us to buy their goods and services commit themselves to fashioning a world that is sustainable, just, peaceful, and prosperous for all.

We stand at the threshold. It is time for you and me to step across that threshold, to move out of the dark void of brutal exploitation and greed into the light of compassion and cooperation.

compassion and cooperation... what a concept...!

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The U.S. takes the lead among western industrialized nations

the last shall be first and the first last...

We are first among western industrialized nations when it comes to percentage of children living below the poverty line, murders of males between ages fifteen and twenty-four, in the number of handguns in the street used by people of all ages, the percentage of citizens incarcerated, energy consumption per capita, and in the emissions of air pollutants.

And, we are by far number one in the rate of people gunned down each year in street crimes and similar violent incidents. In America today, there are more African-American adult males in jail than in college.

but, despite the grim picture for health care in most of the u.s., there's at least one truly outstanding, extremely affordable, employer plan available, one that ranks right up there with the best any g8 country has to offer...

There is an employee/insurance deal in the U.S. that includes unlimited doctor office visits of your choosing; covers all accidents, routine exams, physical therapy, labs and X-rays; and the like; unlimited hospital visits and stays; certain chronic care and rehab; full prescription coverage; and unlimited specialty consultations. For the employee and the entire family. There are no deductibles, no co-pays, and only a $35 monthly fee taken from an annual salary of $158 thou. Thirty-five dollars!

The group awarded this insurance looks forward to a full pension and continued coverage until their deaths. Quite a few, most in fact, were millionaires before they took on their jobs that got them such a perk. Who gets this coverage? It would be nice if it were the underprivileged or the chronically ill and debilitated or our veterans.

But no. For starters, the 535 members of the U.S. Congress, and add to that the few hundred in the upper executive and judicial branches of government. They are also members of a demographic group where seven were arrested for shoplifting, nineteen for writing bad checks, and eighty-four for drunk driving. This bunch also has an overrepresentation of felony indictments, and a few ended up serving time.

as a consultant, a contractor, and a part-time professor, i receive no medical benefits nor can i afford to pay for my own, and i have zero desire to run for congress... as i've stated here previously, were it not for the truly excellent level of care i receive from the veterans administration by virtue of being a vietnam vet, i would be in a very precarious position regarding my health, and, as i get older, that vulnerability would only increase... eventually, i will become eligible for medicare, but one hell of a lot could happen between now and then...

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We might possibly consider doing something in the future on a voluntary basis, perhaps, but, then again, maybe not

al gore comments on the so-called g8 "agreement" on climate change...

It was a disgrace disguised as an achievement... .

The eight most powerful nations gathered and were unable to do anything except to say "We had good conversations and we agreed that we will have more conversations, and we will even have conversations about the possibility of doing something in the future on a voluntary basis perhaps."

and we'll plan to come again next year, depending, of course, on where the conference is held, and assuming it doesn't rain or isn't too hot, and the protestors aren't kicking up too much of a fuss...

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What's Wrong With This Picture?

U.S. President George W. Bush enjoys a beer before an official dinner in Heiligendamm June 7, 2007. Leaders from the world's major industrialised nations meet in the Baltic resort of Heiligendamm on June 6-8 for a Group of Eight (G8) summit. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer (GERMANY)

[UPDATE]

evil poet pointed me to americablog which has more photos that look pretty genuine to me... (as a side note, i've had buckler, and it's not bad...)

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Bush and Merkel: "sending a clear signal together"

i was surfing around and hit on the official website for the g8 summit and just had to grab this home page shot...



oh, yeah, i'm so sure... "clear signal together," my ass... like bush is going to jump right out there with a strategy for dealing with climate change complete with emission caps, timelines, and accountabilities... nope, nope, and nope...

The United States will refuse to agree to targets and timetables for cutting greenhouse gases at a summit of the Group of Eight starting on Wednesday, a senior adviser to President George W. Bush said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been pushing for an agreement at the June 6-8 meeting that global cuts in greenhouse gas emissions of 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2050 are needed to curb global warming.

"At this point in time we are not prepared to adopt that proposal," James Connaughton told reporters hours before a lunch between Bush and Merkel. He said he hoped the G8 would come up with a "common vision" rather than details of cuts.

well, anywayz, ya gotta love those p.r. photo-ops... they make it look like angela and george might even enjoy each other's company... at least george isn't trying to grope angela like he did at the g8 meeting last july...

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The G-8: making sure the "eight dangerous men" don't escape

what's REALLY going at the G-8 summit in Heiligendamm...

Close to 10,000 protesters managed to block key roads and railway tracks leading into the Heiligendamm complex, forcing organizers to implement an emergency plan to bring delegates in by air and sea.

.
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Police used water cannons on anti-G-8 demonstrators near the town of Bad Doberan Wednesday after they entered the no-protest zone around the summit venue. Around 10,000 demonstrators entered the zone on Wednesday morning, violating a ban on protests in the area around the summit. They had avoided police roadblocks by simply walking through fields and woods.

According to police spokesman Lüdger Behrens, officers "used water cannons twice after demonstrators bombarded police with stones." He said the protesters were violating a ban on demonstrations in the area and might be detained.

The protesters were trying to make their way to a 12-kilometer-long security fence around the summit venue at Heiligendamm. Police said that they forced back thousands of protesters who had got within 20 meters of the fence. Officers then marked off a police line which protesters were not allowed to cross. The line was accepted and the protests remained peaceful, police said. One protester dressed as a clown told Reuters that the demonstrators were there "to make sure their security is tight so that the eight dangerous men (sic) inside are not going to escape."

that last line is a keeper...

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"Uppity" developing countries - a headline from Spiegel on the G-8 summit

any country that has the nerve to print this headline has no room to talk about anyone else being "uppity"...

Developing Countries Get Uppity Ahead of the G-8 Summit

[Brazil's president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva] suggests that rich countries should pay poor countries to preserve their forests if they are so concerned about deforestation. Meanwhile China and India ask why they should have to cut their emissions when developed countries got rich by polluting.

Many experts on climate change have proposed market-oriented approaches to fighting global warming, such as emissions trading or carbon taxes. Now Brazil's president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has suggested a blindingly simple market-driven solution to deforestation -- if rich countries want poor countries to preserve their forests, they should pay them to do so.

my sympathies lie totally with the developing countries... the g8 countries most certainly DID get rich by polluting and, now that the developing countries want a piece of the pie, we try and curb their development in the name of halting pollution...

what gets obscured here is that a great deal of the "riches" of the g8 came directly from the resources of the developing countries and still do... the g8 countries consume a vastly disproportionate share of global resources, a situation that suits them just fine... calling developing countries "uppity" for daring to point that out really rubs me the wrong way, especially when spiegel attempts to justify it with this...

Lula's comments gloss over the fact that Brazil is itself a rich country -- albeit one with a high level of inequality between rich and poor citizens. According to figures from the International Monetary Fund, Brazil in 2006 had the 10th largest gross domestic product in the world, ahead of G-8 member Russia and other supposedly rich countries such as Australia, the Netherlands and Sweden.

yes, brazil is a VERY rich country and tossing in the aside about the rich-poor gap completely understates the reality... i can't cite a specific percentage, but based on my familiarity with other latin american economies, you can be sure that well over 85% of brazil's total wealth is under the control of less than 5% of the population, and that may be underestimating the situation... talking about brazil having the 10th largest gdp in the world reminds me of the joke i read yesterday... when bill gates walks into a bar, the average income for everyone there rises 10,000%...

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"We don't agree with the [Guantánamo] ruling"

well, of COURSE they don't...

'We don't agree with the ruling,' White House spokesman Tony Fratto told reporters in Prague where President George W. Bush kicked off a European tour that will take him to the Group of Eight summit in Germany tomorrow.

Fratto maintained that the tribunals remain appropriate for dealing with foreign terrorism suspects, saying 'The system is taking great care to be within the letter of the law.'

if the goddam system was taking "great care to be within the letter of the law," the military commissions act would have never been passed and this travesty would never have transpired...

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