http://www.youtube.com/v/bMZ55ZJHllQ?version=3&f=videos&app=youtube_gdata Visit link: Ukip leader Nigel Farage harangued by protestors in pub
New law will ban protesters from riding mass transit in California
Starting next week, law enforcement officers policing the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system in San Francisco, Sacramento, Oakland and other cities can issue bus and subway bans for unruly passengers — and according to one local news report, that power could be used to prevent political protesters from getting to demonstrations or essentially going anywhere.Under the recently passed State Assembly Bill 716, BART can issue “prohibition” orders to any passenger cited or arrested for certain offenses, essentially blacklisting some people from boarding public transit vehicles if they’ve been charged with certain crimes.BART Board President Tom Radulovich told Bay City News the law is “an important safety initiative to keep our employees and riders safe,” adding, “We’re very concerned that for the past few years folks have been assaulting our station agents.””We are really wanting to send the message that if you are going to come onto our system and be unruly or violent, there are going to be consequences,” BART spokesperson Alicia Trost told local ABC affiliate KGNO News.But while the new bill will provide BART police the authority to immediately revoke riding privileges for persons arrested or convicted of acts involving violence, threats of violence, lewd or lascivious behavior or possession or sale of drugs on area transit, those charged with minor infractions could be targeted too. “AB 716 won’t only target violent behavior,” KGNO reported. “It can be applied to protestors who have been arrested during free-speech movements.”The law will allow for prohibition orders to be issued on-the-spot if a person is just once arrested or convicted for a misdemeanor or felony involving lewd, violent or drug-related acts in a BART zone, but passengers cited three or more times for minor infractions in just as many months are subject to the ban as well.Under the bill, a transit district may issue a prohibition order to any person charged with violating a number of local statutes, including Section 640 of state Penal Code — the law that goes after riders accused of “Willfully disturbing others on or in a system facility or vehicle by engaging in boisterous or unruly behavior” and those “Willfully blocking the free movement of another person in a system facility or vehicle.”Although the official statute includes a note from the state declaring that Section 640 “shall not be interpreted to affect any lawful activities permitted or First Amendment rights protected under the laws of this state or applicable federal law,” allowing BART officers to ban users even accused by law enforcement of a misdemeanor could disenfranchise a huge percentage of their rider base and has critics already warning of potential authoritarian overreach.”Certain instances have happened over the years that have caused some tragic things to happen, but you got to be careful who your profile,” BART passenger Kadmiel McCrory told KGNO.Indeed, one doesn’t have to look too deep to divulge instances of arguable overreach in not just the Bay Area but on the BART system as well. On the morning of January 1, 2009, BART Officer Johannes Mehserle fatally shot an unarmed, 22-year-old passenger, Oscar Grant, on an Oakland train platform. The killing of Grant remains a highly contested issue among Bay Area residents, and has spawned a number of large protests impacting the BART system, including a November 2010 demonstration that led to 152 arrests. Then in July 2011, BART police shot and killed another passenger — a mentally ill homeless man name Charles Blair Hill — who is alleged to have thrown a knife at an officer. The response that occurred as a result can easily be considered a precursor to enacting AB 716.Following the 2011 shooting death of Hill, BART passengers orchestrated a massive protest that made national headlines thanks in part to the involvement of Internet hacktivist group Anonymous. A rally for Hill days after his death began peacefully but ended in violence and at least three dozen arrests. When a second protest was planned the following month, BART officials responded by having cell phone service shut down in four separate train stations to prevent demonstrators from coordinating their actions.”We’re going to take steps to make sure our customers are safe,” BART spokesman Jim Allison said in a statement that August. “The interruption of cell phone service was done Thursday to prevent what could have been a dangerous situation. It’s one of the tactics we have at our disposal. We may use it; we may not. And I’m not sure we would necessarily let anyone know in advance either way.”Although that protest never materialized as planned, Anonymous responded by leaking the names, passwords and other identifying information for more than 2,000 customers of a BART-affiliated website, announcing in a statement, “we will not tolerate censorship.”“Anonymous demands that this activity revolving around censorship cease and desist and we know you are already planning to do this again,” the hacktivists wrote. The Electronic Frontier Foundation and American Civil Liberties Union opposed the decision to throttle cell service as well.Now with AB 716 going into effect, protesters may once again find they are unwelcome to ride on the fifth-busiest heavy rail rapid transit system within the United States. Accumulating only three easy-to-obtain infractions in just 90 days can cause a prohibition order to be issues, and when the law goes into effect on Monday, BART officers will actually be provided with the names and photographs of prohibited individuals in order to keep them from riding mass transit, BART police Chief Kenton Rainey told the San Francisco Appeal. According to Rainey, officers’ computers will contain information about active orders, and any persons picked up or cited on the BART system for new crimes can be matched against the database to see their status.Rainey added that BART officers will go through training to work with special-needs riders, including the homeless and mentally ill. Even if one of those passengers is cited with a prohibition order, though, it might take a lengthy appeal process to have their ban rescinded. Prohibition orders restrict passengers from riding for anywhere from 30 days up to one year. … Read More
Exclusive “Midnight’s Children” clip: Saleem loses his innocence
“Midnight’s Children” is a rare screen adaptation of Salman Rushdie’s literary work — and one that the Booker Prize-winning novelist co-wrote himself.The film was laborious to complete: Rushdie told Salon that the process of getting around protestors motivated by his since-ended fatwa from Iran’s Ayatollah made him feel “like the end of ‘Argo’” when he finally departed the Sri Lanka set. The struggle was ironic, considering that “Midnight’s Children” tells an allegorical story of the birth of India, and the eventual strife between Hindu and Muslim on the subcontinent.Continue Reading… … Read More
‘Number one US target’: Oliver Stone on Venezuela’s election, shameful stateside media coverage
American filmmaker Oliver Stone, whose 2009 film “South of the Border” attempted to help Chavez’s image in the US, bemoaned the western media’s portrayal of Chavez as a clownish thorn-in-the-side of democracy. When asked about the perception that US President Barack Obama betrayed the country, Stone reminded the audience that the people of Venezuela will ultimately be responsible for their own success on the global stage.“I think you’re on the right path,” he said.“The United States is a system and whoever is president seems to be sucked into this no-choice kind of situation but history has shown us the curve of ball can always break differently. We emphasize that point, there are always breaks. All of a sudden a Martin Luther King comes up, all of a sudden protestors against the Vietnam War come up, all of a sudden people turn down Hillary Clinton, who was the supposed front runner and they go with this semi-black candidate. Surprises are always in the air. What you think is going happen never happens.” President Nicolas Maduro, Chavez’s handpicked successor, is favorite to win this weekend’s election over opposition challenger Henrique Capriles. Whatever the result, Stone said, there will be great pressure from outside the country because of Venezuela’s oil supply.“These bastards can be very upsetting and overwhelming but I always think that we have a lifesaver somewhere and there’s some kind of light that dawns on us as a people and as a world.” The filmmaker known for “JFK,” “Platoon,” “Born on the fourth of July,” and many others as well as “South of the Border” had harsh words for media outlets that spent years painting Chavez in an unfavorable light.“As a New Yorker and following the New York Times for a long time I am still stunned by how negative these articles have been for so long,” Stone added. “About some of the worst regimes in the world there has never been this amount of coverage. I doubt Adolf Hitler has gotten this much coverage in Germany. These lies and distortions are a shame on them, it’s a disgrace.” “I would say that Venezuela is the number one target of the United States media and the State Department that exists today. The covert actions that are going on in Venezuela are very scary. I don’t want to be in Nicholas Maduro’s shoes. I’d hate to be him because he’s in a new spotlight,” the director continued.“They can’t go after him personally but it’s a very scary position to inherit this gigantic power. I’m sure Castro felt the same thing many years ago. This is a tough moment for Venezuela and I hope the people stick together. This is not going away. Even if he wins the election I think the United States is going to be pouring on the heat in the coming months. You’re going to see reactions and more stories. Venezuela is very important to the US and all of Latin America.” Seated next to Stone was Miguel Tinker Salas, a Latin American historian and professor at Pomona College who specializes in Venezuelan studies. After discussing Hugo Chavez’s impact on the region Salas compared the current political atmosphere to that of the United States before the election last year that saw Americans reinstate Obama into the White House.“ What’s at stake is really two different visions of Venezuela, two different visions of Latin America, and two different visions of how the north and the south should relate to each other. Fundamentally what’s at stake here is control over the largest oil reserve in the world,” Salas said.“Previously there’s been a vision of Venezuela as connected to the US, as an oil-exporting country, as a nation rushing to join the first world, and one in which Venezuela is counter-imposed with the US as a model democracy.” But another future could be within sight. “Or a vision of Venezuela that is part of Latin America that recognizes its own internal heritage and recognizes the solidarity it has with the rest of Latin America. Remember Venezuela was the first of the social conscious left governments to come to power in 1998,” the professor continued.“So what’s at stake is the future of progressive social movements in Latin America. Hundreds of thousands of people support the change that’s been going on in Venezuela. The opposition is much like the opposition Republicans in the US who say there’s a shifting demographic in the US. Imagine that – after running a campaign that actually tried to make targets of immigrants, women, gay people, and others now they want a shift. That’s the same reality in Venezuela.” … Read More
Court orders NYPD to pay $360,000 for raid that destroyed Occupy Wall Street library
By Michael Kelley, Business Insider A New York City court has ruled that the city shall pay $366,700 for a destructive raid on Occupy Wall Street’s Zuccotti Park encampment. Around 1 a.m. on Nov. 15, 2011, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg ordered the NYPD to evict protestors — some of whom had…
Thousands march in Paris against same-sex marriage and adoption (PHOTOS)
Demonstrators gathered Sunday in the center of the Frenchcapital for a final mass protest against the controversial billthat if backed in the Senate during April’s, vote may become law asearly as the summer. So far the draft has been passed in the lower house of parliament.Currently French gay men and women are allowed to adopt asindividuals if approved by social services.Protestors demand the government withdraw the bill insteadputting the issue to the public through project a referendum.Over 60 percent of the French support gay marriage, though justunder half support adoption by same sex couples.The law was a keyelectoral pledge by Hollande, but his critics say he has tried topush it through without broad public consensus.Despite chilly weather, thousands opposed to French legislationlined a five-kilometer route leading to the Champs Elysees, fromthe Arc de la Defense to the Arc de Triomphe. Many were holdingbanners and chanting slogans against the introduction of thebill.Flags unfolded from the balconies along the protesters’ routeread “We want work not gay marriage,” and “No togayxtremism.”Earlier this week Paris police banned protesters fromdemonstrating on the Champs Elysees, a move that demonstratorscalled “political decision dressed up as a police measure”.Despite the ban some 200 protesters still tried to proceed tothe world-famous avenue, provoking police officers to use teargas,AFP photographers said.Sunday, official police estimated the turnout at around 300,000;a similar rally in January officially drew about 340,000people. … Read More
Thousands rally against the Troika in Brussels
Thousands of protestors in Brussels were also demanding that EUleaders bring austerity measures to a close and focus on boostinggrowth and reducing unemployment.The protests were led by the European Trade Union Association,and the direct action groups For A European Spring andBloccupy.Around 1,500 protesters rallied at the Parc du Cinquantenaire inBrussels, according to police on the scene. Although more were seengathering close to the European Council Summit at the Place Shuman.There have reportedly been 25 arrests by police.The police banned protesters from marching past the banks andthe seats of government in Brussels, to the dismay of many of theprotesters. “We want to be marching past the seats of government, pastthe people who actually have a say in what is going on, I thinkit’s an outrage,” Pascoe Sabido told New EuropeOnline. 100 of the protesters occupied the Directorate General forEconomic and Financial Affairs in Brussels, while others attemptedto occupy the headquarters of European Commissioner Oli Rehn, tomake a stand against his role in austerity.Unemployment in the Eurozone is now just under 12%, while youthunemployment is at 24.2%.Even some EU leaders acknowledged that the current situationcannot continue indefinitely and that action is needed.“We cannot turn a blind eye to the social emergency in someof our countries”, said EU president Herman Van Rompuy duringthe summit.The Irish Prime Minster went further, saying, “No leader can behappy with the situation where 26 million people are out of work inthe European Union. That is why we are here,” said Ireland’s PrimeMinister Enda Kenny.But the EU’s Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn insistedthat austerity works and said that fiscal consolidation was workingin Ireland.His views were echoed by the Finish Prime Minister JyrkiKatainen.“Structural reforms don’t bear fruit overnight, but they arethe best sustainable economic stimulus. Accumulating excessive debtis not,” he said.Lode Vanoost, the former deputy speaker of the BelgianParliament, explained that the gulf between the citizens of the EUand their governments is widening and that what is happening now“is a clash between what the public wants and what thegovernments and the EU are doing,” he told RT.“There is no real willingness to hear what these people haveto say. I mean it’s always about austerity, it’s always aboutprivatization and cutting down public services. But the voices thatsay that exactly the opposite should be done to revive the economyare not being heard,” the international consultantobserved. He also warned that the continuing austerity drive may fuelextremism.“People who are desperate – especially young people will lookfor answers on the extremes. If you want to really prevent thisfrom happening – there is only one way out: you have to invest injobs, especially for the young,” he said.The general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation,Bernadette Segol, said that efforts to get the EU out of recessionare being borne by working people.“The policies that have been put in place have failed; we arein a double dip recession. We see that the efforts have been put onthe shoulders of the workers,” she said. … Read More
