{"id":10498,"date":"2013-04-27T23:43:13","date_gmt":"2013-04-28T07:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/?p=10498"},"modified":"2013-04-28T08:09:09","modified_gmt":"2013-04-28T16:09:09","slug":"rouge-forum-dispatch-mayday-mayday-mayday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/rouge-forum-dispatch-mayday-mayday-mayday\/","title":{"rendered":"Rouge Forum Dispatch: Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"> We Say Fight Back!<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Ohio U Tuition Protest\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AnH6YSJEEjk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Mexico&#8217;s Educators Carry on a Higher Form of Education than Capitalist Schooling <\/strong>One of President Enrique Pe\u00f1a Nieto\u2019s signature efforts to shake up the country \u2014 a broad plan to overhaul the education system \u2014 has run into violent protests that underscore how difficult it may be to carry out, particularly in some volatile states with poor academic performance. \u00a0Armed with iron rods and rocks, dozens of masked members of the teachers\u2019 union in Guerrero State attacked the local offices of the four major political parties on Wednesday, smashing windows and overturning furniture. They also set fire to the office of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, to which Mr. Pe\u00f1a Nieto belongs.<\/p>\n<p>On Thursday, in a further sign of the growing conflict over education changes, teachers marched down Mexico City\u2019s main boulevard, temporarily closing it down.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Mex-Teacher-Protests.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-10508\" title=\"Mex Teacher Protests\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Mex-Teacher-Protests.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"168\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Mexico School Workers Storm Bosses Offices <\/strong>eachers protesting against an education overhaul have stormed the offices of political parties in southwestern Mexico, breaking windows and setting fire to the ruling party&#8217;s offices.<\/p>\n<p>Plumes of black smoke billowed from the rectangular-shaped headquarters of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in Guerrero state after masked protesters broke into the building and tossed chairs, papers and plants from windows.<\/p>\n<p>Some spray-painted anti-government graffiti on the building, while others tore pictures of President Enrique Pena Nieto, who pushed through a reform plan for the country&#8217;s failing education system with the backing of opposition parties.<\/p>\n<p>Teachers in Guerrero are fighting the legislation that will impose tougher oversight of teaching standards and crack down on abuses. \u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/americas\/2013\/04\/2013424224735102626.html\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.aljazeera.com\/news\/americas\/2013\/04\/2013424224735102626.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Gitmo Concentration Camp Prisoners Expand Hunger Strike <\/strong>Over half of all detainees at the US-run Guantanamo Bay military prison are now taking part in a hunger strike, with many being force-fed, a US military spokesman confirmed today.<\/p>\n<p>The number of prisoners on hunger strike has risen to 84, an increase of 32 since last Wednesday, with 16 now receiving \u201centeral feedings,\u201d a process involving being force-fed via tubes. \u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/americas\/over-half-of-guantanamo-bay-prisoners-on-hunger-strike-as-number-increases-to-84-8581965.html\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/americas\/over-half-of-guantanamo-bay-prisoners-on-hunger-strike-as-number-increases-to-84-8581965.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Gitmo-Prisoners.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-10511\" title=\"Gitmo Prisoners\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Gitmo-Prisoners.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"460\" height=\"345\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Gitmo-Prisoners.jpg 460w, https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Gitmo-Prisoners-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 460px) 100vw, 460px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Seattle School Workers, Led by TFAer, Urge Test Boycotts on Red Mayday (now talk about empire and capital too&#8212;the Why of the Tests) <\/strong>Educational Justice Has No Borders: Join the May Day International Day of Solidarity with the Seattle MAP Test Boycott \u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/scrapthemap.wordpress.com\/category\/blog\/\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">scrapthemap.wordpress.com\/category\/blog\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Chicago Students&#8217; test Walkout <\/strong>On a day they were slated to take a state-required test that directly affects their graduation eligibility, around 100 Chicago Public School students boycotted exams to protest the district&#8217;s plan to close 54 schools.<\/p>\n<p>Six busloads of students \u2014 paid for by community groups, according to CBS Chicago \u2014 were picked up at their respective high schools and dropped off at CPS&#8217; downtown headquarters Wednesday. \u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2013\/04\/24\/cps-student-boycott-high-_n_3148447.html?utm_hp_ref=tw\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.huffingtonpost.com\/2013\/04\/24\/cps-student-boycott-high-_n_3148447.html?utm_hp_ref=tw<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Disclosures Coming from School Of Americas??? <\/strong> A federal judge in Oakland says the government must release the names of Latin American military leaders it has trained at the installation formerly known as the School of the Americas, where protesters say the United States has nurtured some of the hemisphere&#8217;s worst human rights abusers.<\/p>\n<p>The Defense Department facility at Fort Benning, Ga., now called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, provides training in combat and counterinsurgency techniques.<\/p>\n<p>Some of its attendees were implicated in the 1989 killings of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her 16-year-old daughter in El Salvador. Another graduate was the late Roberto d&#8217;Aubuisson, a rightist Salvadoran politician accused by opponents of promoting death squads in his nation&#8217;s civil war.<\/p>\n<p>Read more: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sfgate.com\/nation\/article\/Combat-school-must-disclose-trainees-4457786.php#ixzz2Rk1ywG00\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.sfgate.com\/nation\/article\/Combat-school-must-disclose-trainees-4457786.php#ixzz2Rk1ywG00<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Petition for WhistleBlower Bradley Manning <\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bradleymanning.org\/\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.bradleymanning.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">The Little Red Schoolhouse<\/span><\/strong><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/capitalist-school2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-10547\" title=\"capitalist school\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/capitalist-school2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"486\" height=\"260\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/capitalist-school2.jpg 486w, https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/capitalist-school2-300x160.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 486px) 100vw, 486px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>ObamagogueCare About to Screw Part Time Faculty <\/strong>It started in November, as a few colleges announced new limits on adjunct hours, fearful that not doing so would result in the part-time instructors being covered by institutional health plans under the new federal health care law. At that time, some higher education lobbyists said the trend was limited. Today it&#8217;s clear the practice has spread.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a trend. We\u2019ve heard from colleges in Colorado, in New Jersey, in Pennsylvania, in Ohio, in Florida, so it\u2019s no longer accurate to call it an isolated incident,\u201d said Maria Maisto, president of the adjunct organization New Faculty Majority.<\/p>\n<p>When a new provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009, more commonly known as Obamacare, goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2014, employers with more than 50 employees will have to cover those who work at least 30 hours a week. The Internal Revenue Service in January proposed that institutions must use \u201creasonable\u201d methods to calculate how many hours of actual work one credit hour means for adjunct faculty members, and will heard arguments Tuesday about the issue.<\/p>\n<p>Read more: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.insidehighered.com\/news\/2013\/04\/24\/more-institutions-cap-adjuncts-hours-anticipation-federal-guidelines#ixzz2RXyuGrm1\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.insidehighered.com\/news\/2013\/04\/24\/more-institutions-cap-adjuncts-hours-anticipation-federal-guidelines#ixzz2RXyuGrm1<\/a><br \/>\nInside Higher Ed<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bankrupt Detroit &#8220;Public&#8221; Schools Loan EAA $6 Million (from Where???) <\/strong>Administrators at the Education Achievement Authority took $6 million in loans from the cash-strapped Detroit school district without approval from EAA board members, according to the secretary of the recovery district&#8217;s board.<\/p>\n<p>Mike Duggan told The Detroit News on Thursday he learned of the secret loans from a constituent Wednesday night, but he never heard of the loans at monthly EAA board meetings, which he says he regularly attended.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The board has never approved a loan from DPS. I&#8217;m pretty confident the board was never advised of it, either,&#8221; said Duggan, who is running for mayor of Detroit.<br \/>\nThe loans came to light this week in documents obtained by state Rep. Ellen Cogen Lipton through a Freedom of Information Act request.<\/p>\n<p>The EAA is a newly formed statewide school district created by Gov. Rick Snyder to take over the state&#8217;s lowest performing schools. All 15 EAA schools are former Detroit Public Schools.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think it&#8217;s very troubling, and it raises questions about transparency. The finances of DPS and EAA need to be kept separate; a lot of board members feel that way,&#8221; Duggan said. \u00a0From The Detroit News: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/article\/20130426\/SCHOOLS\/304260365#ixzz2RjJMR58T\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.detroitnews.com\/article\/20130426\/SCHOOLS\/304260365#ixzz2RjJMR58T<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Patrick Shannon Will be at the Rouge Forum 2013&#8211;you should be too!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"RougeForumShannon.mov\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1qTWdHzLDHY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em><strong> <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Obamagogue&#8217;s Fearful Lapdog Duncan Runs to His Pals at the Chamber of Commerce <\/strong>Education Secretary Arne Duncan recently met with Chamber of Commerce leaders and urged them to be more vocal and forceful in defending the Common Core State Standards. Why? \u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/answer-sheet\/wp\/2013\/04\/24\/is-the-common-core-standards-initiative-in-trouble\/\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/answer-sheet\/wp\/2013\/04\/24\/is-the-common-core-standards-initiative-in-trouble\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">The International Hot War of the Rich on the Poor<\/span><\/strong><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=quPk4GLzg24\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.youtube.com\/watch?v=quPk4GLzg24<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Obamagogue Shocked! Simply Shocked! He&#8217;s Been Funding AQ!!!! <\/strong>cross Syria, rebel-held areas are dotted with Islamic courts staffed by lawyers and clerics, and by fighting brigades led by extremists. Even the Supreme Military Council, the umbrella rebel organization whose formation the West had hoped would sideline radical groups, is stocked with commanders who want to infuse Islamic law into a future Syrian government.<\/p>\n<p>Nowhere in rebel-controlled Syria is there a secular fighting force to speak of. \u00a0&#8230;Among the most extreme groups is the notorious Al Nusra Front, the Qaeda-aligned force declared a terrorist organization by the United States, but other groups share aspects of its Islamist ideology in varying degrees. \u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/04\/28\/world\/middleeast\/islamist-rebels-gains-in-syria-create-dilemma-for-us.html?ref=global-home\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.nytimes.com\/2013\/04\/28\/world\/middleeast\/islamist-rebels-gains-in-syria-create-dilemma-for-us.html?ref=global-home<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>WarMaker Kerry Sucks Socks With Afghan Puppets <\/strong>Secretary of State John Kerry hosted a meeting on Wednesday with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Pakistan\u2019s army chief, to try to ease regional tensions as NATO approaches the end of its combat mission in Afghanistan. \u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/04\/25\/world\/asia\/kerry-meets-top-afghan-and-pakistani-officials.html?ref=global-home&#038;_r=1&#038;amp\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.nytimes.com\/2013\/04\/25\/world\/asia\/kerry-meets-top-afghan-and-pakistani-officials.html?ref=global-home&#038;_r=1&#038;amp<\/a>;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>1st Lt. Milo Minderbinder: What&#8217;s good for M &amp; M Enterprises will be good for the country.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>MiloMinderbender Roars: Who Lost that $757 Million in Afghanistan, and Who Got it??? <\/strong>The Pentagon allowed a private firm providing food and water to U.S. troops in Afghanistan to overbill taxpayers $757 million and awarded the company no-bid contract extensions worth more than $4 billion over three years, according to the Pentagon\u2019s chief internal watchdog and congressional investigators.<\/p>\n<p>The deal represented one of the largest U.S. military contracts in Afghanistan. But the Defense Logistics Agency, which was overseeing the contract, failed repeatedly to verify that the contractor\u2019s invoices were accurate, an official in the Defense Department inspector general\u2019s office said. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.publicintegrity.org\/2013\/04\/24\/12553\/pentagon-claims-757-million-overbilling-contractor-afghanistan\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.publicintegrity.org\/2013\/04\/24\/12553\/pentagon-claims-757-million-overbilling-contractor-afghanistan<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>More Cooked Up WMD&#8217;S: Syria&#8211;<\/strong>The US took an odd and winding path from denial to acceptance of \u201cevidence\u201d of Syria\u2019s use of chemical weapons, but the putative proof behind the allegations is flimsy, at best. \u00a0The \u201cpublicly available\u201d evidence, none of which is particularly new, falls well short of the standards a UN team would need for \u201cproof\u201d of the use of chemical weapons during the civil war. Though there has been some hinting at other, secret evidence Israeli military officials, who are the source of the allegations, are pointing entirely to rebel-provided photographs as building their case.<\/p>\n<p>The Syrian government has denied using chemical weapons, and officials continue to insist they believe they can win the civil war without them. Though both rebels and government forces have repeatedly claimed they are on the brink of winning the war, it seems stalemated and nowhere near so dire that Syria would\u2019ve been forced to play the chemical weapons card.<\/p>\n<p>The UN has been trying to deploy a team to investigate the allegations in Syria, with the Assad government the first to urge them to come. The visit has been delayed, however, with the UN team demanding not only access to the alleged site of usage, but virtually the entire nation. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/news.antiwar.com\/2013\/04\/26\/syria-allegations-rest-on-flimsy-evidence\/\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">news.antiwar.com\/2013\/04\/26\/syria-allegations-rest-on-flimsy-evidence\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Clinton-Hillary-lies.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-10556\" title=\"Clinton Hillary lies\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Clinton-Hillary-lies.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"152\" height=\"152\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Clinton-Hillary-lies.jpg 152w, https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Clinton-Hillary-lies-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 152px) 100vw, 152px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Hillbillary Lies on Libya <\/strong>Reductions of security levels prior to the attacks in Benghazi were approved at the highest levels of the State Department, up to and including Secretary Clinton. This fact contradicts her testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on January 23, 2013.<\/p>\n<p>In the days following the attacks, White House and senior State Department officials altered accurate talking points drafted by the Intelligence Community in order to protect the State Department.<\/p>\n<p>Contrary to Administration rhetoric, the talking points were not edited to protect classified information. Concern for classified information is never mentioned in email traffic among senior Administration officials.<\/p>\n<p>As to the first item, the report cites \u201ca cable signed by Secretary Clinton in April 2012, the State Department settled on a plan to scale back security assets for the U.S. Mission in Libya, including Benghazi.\u201d The committees essentially accuse Clinton of not telling the truth under oath. (\u201cMultiple Committees have reviewed the State Department documents cited in the previous sections and remain concerned that the documents do not reconcile with public comments Secretary Clinton made regarding how high in the State Department the security.\u201d)<br \/>\nAs for the talking points, the report finds that in the interagency process (documented in e-mails among officials) the talking points were not altered because of intelligence concerns but to essentially conceal blame:<\/p>\n<p>Those edits struck any and all suggestions that the State Department had been previously warned of threats in the region, that there had been previous attacks in Benghazi by al-Qa\u2019ida-linked groups in Benghazi and eastern Libya, and that extremists linked to al-Qa\u2019ida may have participated in the attack on the Benghazi Mission. \u00a0 The talking points also excluded details about the wide availability of weapons and experienced fighters in Libya, an exacerbating factor that contributed to the lethality of the attacks. Administration officials have said that modification of the talking points was an attempt to protect classified information and an investigation by the FBI, but the evidence refutes these assertions. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/right-turn\/wp\/2013\/04\/24\/libya-report-more-proof-of-dissembling-and-incompetence\/?hpid=z4\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/right-turn\/wp\/2013\/04\/24\/libya-report-more-proof-of-dissembling-and-incompetence\/?hpid=z4<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">The International Economic War of the Rich on the Poor<\/span><\/strong><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ex_3bAdCYJo\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ex_3bAdCYJo<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Prashad: Capitalist Terror in Bangladesh <\/strong>On Wednesday, April 24, a day after Bangladeshi authorities asked the owners to evacuate their garment factory that employed almost three thousand workers, the building collapsed. The building, Rana Plaza, located in the Dhaka suburb of Savar, produced garments for the commodity chain that stretches from the cotton fields of South Asia through Bangladesh\u2019s machines and workers to the retail houses in the Atlantic world. Famous name brands were stitched here, as are clothes that hang on the satanic shelves of Wal-Mart. Rescue workers were able to save two thousand people as of this writing, with confirmation that over three hundred are dead. The numbers for the latter are fated to rise. It is well worth mentioning that the death toll in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City of 1911 was one hundred and forty six. The death toll here is already twice that. This \u201caccident\u201d comes five months (November 24, 2012) after the Tazreen garment factory fire that killed at least one hundred and twelve workers.<\/p>\n<p>The list of \u201caccidents\u201d is long and painful. In April 2005, a garment factory in Savar collapsed, killing seventy-five workers. In February 2006, another factory collapsed in Dhaka, killing eighteen. In June 2010, a building collapsed in Dhaka, killing twenty-five. These are the \u201cfactories\u201d of twenty-first century globalization \u2013 poorly built shelters for a production process geared toward long working days, third rate machines, and workers whose own lives are submitted to the imperatives of just-in-time production. Writing about the factory regime in England during the nineteenth century,<em> Karl Marx noted, \u201cBut in its blind unrestrainable passion, its wear-wolf hunger for surplus labour, capital oversteps not only the moral, but even the merely physical maximum bounds of the working-day. It usurps the time for growth, development and healthy maintenance of the body. It steals the time required for the consumption of fresh air and sunlight\u2026. All that concerns it is simply and solely the maximum of labour-power that can be rendered fluent in a working-day. It attains this end by shortening the extent of the labourer\u2019s life, as a greedy farmer snatches increased produce from the soil by reducing it of its fertility\u201d (Capital, Chapter 10).<\/em> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.counterpunch.org\/2013\/04\/26\/the-terror-of-capitalism\/\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.counterpunch.org\/2013\/04\/26\/the-terror-of-capitalism\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Taibbi on Finance Capital&#8217;s Conspiracies <\/strong>the biggest shock came out of a federal courtroom at the end of March \u2013 though if you follow these matters closely, it may not have been so shocking at all \u2013 when a landmark class-action civil lawsuit against the banks for Libor-related offenses was dismissed. In that case, a federal judge accepted the banker-defendants&#8217; incredible argument: If cities and towns and other investors lost money because of Libor manipulation, that was their own fault for ever thinking the banks were competing in the first place.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;A farce,&#8221; was one antitrust lawyer&#8217;s response to the eyebrow-raising dismissal.<br \/>\n&#8220;Incredible,&#8221; says Sylvia Sokol, an attorney for Constantine Cannon, a firm that specializes in antitrust cases.<\/p>\n<p>All of these stories collectively pointed to the same thing: These banks, which already possess enormous power just by virtue of their financial holdings \u2013 in the United States, the top six banks, many of them the same names you see on the Libor and ISDAfix panels, own assets equivalent to 60 percent of the nation&#8217;s GDP \u2013 are beginning to realize the awesome possibilities for increased profit and political might that would come with colluding instead of competing. Moreover, it&#8217;s increasingly clear that both the criminal justice system and the civil courts may be impotent to stop them, even when they do get caught working together to game the system.<\/p>\n<p>more: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/politics\/news\/everything-is-rigged-the-biggest-financial-scandal-yet-20130425#ixzz2RjI5fEH8\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.rollingstone.com\/politics\/news\/everything-is-rigged-the-biggest-financial-scandal-yet-20130425#ixzz2RjI5fEH8<\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Detroit police chief suspended over affair with officer\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IRDb9RsE06g?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Detroit&#8217;s Coppers Dispose of Homeless People <\/strong> Detroit police have been picking up homeless people in the city&#8217;s popular Greektown entertainment district and dumping them miles away in remote neighborhoods and even outside the city, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan.<br \/>\nThe individual and civil rights organization said it filed a complaint Thursday with the U.S. Justice Department and sent a letter to city and police officials demanding an end to the practice, Rana Elmir, an ACLU spokeswoman told The Associated Press. The complaint follows a yearlong investigation by the organization, which listed the stories of five people who said they were &#8220;taken for a ride&#8221; by Detroit police. \u00a0&#8230;The &#8220;practice of essentially kidnapping homeless people and abandoning them miles away from the neighborhoods they know \u2014 with no means for a safe return \u2014 is inhumane, callous and illegal,&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>From The Detroit News: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/article\/20130418\/METRO01\/304180450#ixzz2RjHRDMnn\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.detroitnews.com\/article\/20130418\/METRO01\/304180450#ixzz2RjHRDMnn<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">The Emergence of Fascism as a Popular Mass Movement<\/span><\/strong><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/bloomberg2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-10557\" title=\"bloomberg2\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/bloomberg2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"349\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/bloomberg2.jpg 349w, https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/bloomberg2-209x300.jpg 209w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 349px) 100vw, 349px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Bloomberg Finds Fascism Too Gentle Today<\/strong> In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Monday the country\u2019s interpretation of the Constitution will \u201chave to change\u201d to allow for greater security to stave off future attacks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe people who are worried about privacy have a legitimate worry,\u201d Mr. Bloomberg said during a press conference in Midtown. \u201cBut we live in a complex world where you\u2019re going to have to have a level of security greater than you did back in the olden days, if you will. And our laws and our interpretation of the Constitution, I think, have to change.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Bloomberg, who has come under fire for the N.Y.P.D.\u2019s monitoring of Muslim communities and other aggressive tactics, said the rest of the country needs to learn from the attacks. <a href=\"http:\/\/politicker.com\/2013\/04\/bloomberg-says-post-boston-interpretation-of-the-constitution-will-have-to-change\/\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">politicker.com\/2013\/04\/bloomberg-says-post-boston-interpretation-of-the-constitution-will-have-to-change\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Solidarity for Never<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>A long lost classic rises again&#8212;don&#8217;t miss Blue Collar (that&#8217;s 640 Temple, DSS, in the film)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=oZOohhKEWcc\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.youtube.com\/watch?v=oZOohhKEWcc<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Spy versus Spy<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Kim Scipes, Part 1, The AFL-CIO&#039;s Secret War on Developing Country Workers: Solidarity or Sabotage?\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZYUV-EzkcpM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Nice Job Feds&#8211;Ricin\/Elvis Walks <\/strong>A U.S. attorney in Mississippi dropped charges Tuesday afternoon against Paul Kevin Curtis, who&#8217;d been accused of sending poison-laced letters to President Barack Obama and Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss.<\/p>\n<p>Curtis, 45, was arrested last Wednesday, a day after the letters were intercepted on their way to the White House and the U.S. Senate.<br \/>\nThe charges were dismissed without prejudice, which means Curtis could be charged again. The order for dismissal notes only that &#8220;the ongoing investigation has revealed new information.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Read more here: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mcclatchydc.com\/2013\/04\/23\/189471\/charges-dropped-against-suspect.html#storylink=cpy\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.mcclatchydc.com\/2013\/04\/23\/189471\/charges-dropped-against-suspect.html#storylink=cpy<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/broadwell-book-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-10543\" title=\"broadwell-book-1\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/broadwell-book-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"508\" height=\"423\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/broadwell-book-1.jpg 635w, https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/broadwell-book-1-300x249.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 508px) 100vw, 508px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Failed Warrior\/Spy\/Love Machine and Sleeze, Petraeus, rewarded as Full Prof at CUNY <\/strong>Scandal-scarred former CIA Director David Petraeus is bringing his secrets to a City University classroom nearly six months after resigning in disgrace over an affair with his biographer.<\/p>\n<p>The cloak-and-shag-her general, who commanded coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, was named visiting professor of public policy at CUNY\u2019s Macaulay Honors College yesterday. The appointment appears to be the next step in Petraeus\u2019 image makeover, part of a calculated return to public life. Last month, he gave his first speech since resigning, apologizing at a California dinner honoring veterans and their families.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, CUNY announced the appointment of William P. Kelly as interim chancellor to take over for Matthew Goldstein, 71, who is stepping down on July 1 after a 14-year run.<\/p>\n<p>A search for a permanent replacement is under way.<\/p>\n<p>Kelly currently serves as head of the CUNY Graduate Center and has lead the doctorate-granting institution since 2005. \u00a0CUNY is planning a golden parachute for Goldstein, who will get a salary after he retires. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nypost.com\/p\/news\/local\/petraeus_cuny_gig_Iv0usF1TasI8pVaDCh6faJ\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.nypost.com\/p\/news\/local\/petraeus_cuny_gig_Iv0usF1TasI8pVaDCh6faJ<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Tail Gunner Petraeus&#8217; Rules for Living <\/strong>1. Lead by example from the front of the formation. Take your performance personally\u2014if you are proud to be average, so too will be your troops. \u00a0http:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/newsweek\/2012\/11\/04\/general-david-petraeus-s-rules-for-living.html<\/p>\n<p><strong>USer Grabbed in N. Korea <\/strong>An American tour operator who crossed into North Korea from China last year is facing indictment on charges that he carried out hostile acts against the government in Pyongyang, the Korean Central News Agency said Saturday \u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/04\/28\/world\/asia\/north-korea-expected-to-charge-american.html?ref=global-home&#038;_r=0\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.nytimes.com\/2013\/04\/28\/world\/asia\/north-korea-expected-to-charge-american.html?ref=global-home&#038;_r=0<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">The Magical Mystery Tour<\/span><\/strong><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>1st Lt. Milo Minderbinder: As a matter of fact, Father, I know I can get my hands on an entire shipment of religious relics, blessed by the Pope himself. The Germans swiped them and put them on the open market. As I understand it, the stuff includes a wrist and collarbones of some of your top saints!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Christian Jihadists in Paris Riot Over Same Sex Marriage <\/strong>Clashes have broken out between protesters and riot police near France&#8217;s National Assembly building, hours after the country legalised gay marriage.<\/p>\n<p>Some protesters opposed to the measure clearing same-sex marriage hurled petrol bombs, and riot police responded with tear gas at the Invalides memorial and museum complex, near the National Assembly in Paris.<\/p>\n<p>Hours earlier, French politicians concluded a wrenching national debate that exposed deep conservatism in the nation&#8217;s heartland and tapped into intense discontent with the Socialist government.<strong> <\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/europe\/clashes-between-protesters-and-riot-police-in-france-after-gay-marriage-law-clears-last-hurdle-8585892.html\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/europe\/clashes-between-protesters-and-riot-police-in-france-after-gay-marriage-law-clears-last-hurdle-8585892.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">The Best and Worst Things in the History of the World<\/span><\/strong><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Detroiter Mongo Says He will Shoot Taggers Next time <\/strong>The tagging in Capitol Park has taken a turn for the worse: Larry Mongo, owner of d&#8217;Mongo&#8217;s Speakeasy, just came out on the losing end of what we imagine was an epic, Mortal Kombat-style rooftop battle with some teenagers tagging the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue. After hearing noises on his roof and spying a chubby girl peering at him through a window (she was the lookout), Larry confronted the teens on the roof, who promptly pushed him over and escaped, one by jumping off the roof onto a dumpster. Should they come back, Larry intends on shooting them, probably with his nine millimeter. &#8220;I will use deadly force,&#8217; says Larry. &#8220;Then when one, four, or five of these suburban kids is dead, everybody&#8217;s gonna get upset \u2014 aren&#8217;t they?&#8221; That&#8217;s probably a solid bet, Larry.<br \/>\n\u00b7 Bar Owner Says He Was Beaten By White, Suburban Teens [CBS Detroit \u00a0http:\/\/detroit.curbed.com\/archives\/2013\/04\/larry-mongo-beat-up-by-taggers-will-shoot-them-next-time.php<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/gremlin-premier.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-10530\" title=\"gremlin-premier\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/gremlin-premier.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/gremlin-premier.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/gremlin-premier-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>So Long Romney&#8217;s AMC <\/strong>The former American Motors Corp. headquarters was a hub of Detroit innovation for more than eight decades, but it only took three years for the complex to turn into a dumping ground.<\/p>\n<p>Neighbors fear the new owner is stripping metals from the complex and plans to leave the mess for taxpayers to clean up. The facility is eligible for foreclosure \u2014 and government ownership \u2014 because taxes haven&#8217;t been paid in three years.<\/p>\n<p>The owner, a scrap hauler convicted in 2004 of running a chop shop, owes $930,000 in taxes. He denies he&#8217;s scrapping and says he has a federal grant to convert the building into a home for autistic children. He provided few details on the grant to The Detroit News during a brief interview before hanging up. From The Detroit News: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/article\/20130426\/METRO01\/304260358#ixzz2RjOFMxlU\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.detroitnews.com\/article\/20130426\/METRO01\/304260358#ixzz2RjOFMxlU<\/a><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Detroit-Packard.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-10532\" title=\"Detroit Packard\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Detroit-Packard.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"270\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Detroit-Packard.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Detroit-Packard-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">So Long<\/span><\/strong><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Best Recent Vietnam History Lesson<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Ho-Chi-Minh-and-Prunier-and-Giap.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-10518\" title=\"Ho Chi Minh and Prunier and Giap\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Ho-Chi-Minh-and-Prunier-and-Giap.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"377\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Ho-Chi-Minh-and-Prunier-and-Giap.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Ho-Chi-Minh-and-Prunier-and-Giap-300x188.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><strong>Henry A. Prunier taught Vo Nguyen Giap, the Vietnamese general who withstood the armies of France and the United States, how to throw a grenade. <\/strong>The lesson came in July 1945, after Mr. Prunier and six other Americans had parachuted into a village 75 miles northwest of Hanoi on a clandestine mission to teach an elite force of 200 Viet Minh guerrillas how to use modern American weapons at their jungle camp.<\/p>\n<p>The Americans, members of the Office of Strategic Services, the United States\u2019 intelligence agency in World War II, wanted the guerrillas\u2019 help in fighting the Japanese, who were occupying Indochina. The Viet Minh welcomed the American arms in their struggle for Vietnamese independence.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s more, in inviting the Americans to his field headquarters, Ho Chi Minh, the Viet Minh leader, could receive medical treatment for his malaria, hepatitis and other ailments. The Americans stayed for two months, and their care may have saved his life.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Prunier (pronounced PRUNE-yer), who died last month at 91, was a 23-year-old Army private at the time, recruited as a translator because of his language skills. His first assignment was to instruct a diminutive man, known to the Americans as Mr. Van, in the use of American rifles, machine guns, bazookas and other arms.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Van, who wore a white linen suit, black shoes and black fedora, was actually Mr. Giap, who as a general nine years later would lead North Vietnamese troops to victory at Dien Bien Phu, forcing France from Vietnam, and then fight the United States military to a costly stalemate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGiap wanted to know why we lobbed the grenade overhand and what activated the mortar,\u201d Mr. Prunier said&#8230;&#8230;Henry Arthur Prunier was born in Worcester on Sept. 10, 1921. He attended Assumption College, also in Worcester, where most classes were taught in French, but left after three years to enlist in the Army. Recognizing his linguistic skills, the Army sent him to the University of California, Berkeley, to study Vietnamese. There, the O.S.S. approached him and two others for \u201ca voluntary mission into Indochina.\u201d Told there was a 50 percent chance of survival, all said no.<\/p>\n<p>After Berkeley, Mr. Prunier was sent to a cryptology school and scheduled to join an infantry division heading for France. But the night before he was to ship out, he was ordered to go to Washington to join the O.S.S. and take part in a special operations mission, code-named Deer Team. \u00a0While the Deer Team was with the Viet Minh, the Japanese surrendered and the Viet Minh declared Vietnam an independent nation, using language from the Declaration of Independence. Ho gave his American friends a message to forward to President Harry S. Truman asking him to support the Viet Minh against France, which had lost its colonies to Japan during the war and was fighting to take them back. Mr. Truman never replied. The United States backed France.<\/p>\n<p>Some historians have said that by rejecting Ho\u2019s overture the United States squandered an opportunity to build ties with North Vietnam that might have kept Americans out of war two decades later. The counterview is that Ho\u2019s Communist ideology would have inevitably made North Vietnam an enemy by definition.<br \/>\nMr. Prunier came down somewhere in the middle. \u201cHe saw no contradiction between being a Communist and hoping for a democratic way of life for his people,\u201d he said of Ho. \u00a0 \u00a0http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/04\/18\/world\/asia\/henry-a-prunier-army-operative-who-helped-trained-vietnamese-troops-dies-at-91.html?_r=0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We Say Fight Back! Mexico&#8217;s Educators Carry on a Higher Form of Education than Capitalist Schooling One of President Enrique Pe\u00f1a Nieto\u2019s signature efforts to shake up the country \u2014 a broad plan to overhaul the education system \u2014 has run into violent protests that underscore how difficult it may be to carry out, particularly [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10498"}],"version-history":[{"count":55,"href":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10562,"href":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10498\/revisions\/10562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}