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GREEKS ARE CATCHING ON...

The world famous Greek author, politician and
songwriter Mikis Theodorakis, says there is
a conspiracy to destroy his country with
‘unemployment, hunger and misery’.

There is an emerging spirit of resistance within
the Greek population, a clear example of whom
is 87 year-old Theodorakis, who fought the Nazi
occupation during World War II.

"There is a conspiracy aimed at destroying my
country.” Theodorakis writes in an open letter
to international public opinion, on his blog.

Theodorakis says the Greek economic catastrophe
is a direct result of purchasing huge amounts of
weapons, which were sold to corrupt officials by
other countries.. “Germans, for instance, as well
as the French, English and Americans, earned
billions of Euros from annual sales of war
materials, to the detriment of our national wealth."

“The German company Siemens, for instance,
maintained a special department for buying
off 'influential' Greeks, in order to sell
its products in the Greek market."

Theodorakis calls for a "Resistance and
Solidarity Front" of all political forces
to be formed, “to drive off” the Troika,
the “occupation force” of the IMF, the EU
Commission, and thr European Central Bank, who
have forced Greece to adopt harsh austerity
measures in return for 'bailing it out'.

“The German Nazi occupation cost us the lives
of one million people as well as the total
destruction of our country. Now, how is it
possible for us Greeks, to accept Ms. Merkel’s
threats and the Germans’ intention to impose
on us a new ‘Gauleiter'; this time wearing a tie?"

"They are threatening us with eviction from
Europe. If Europe doesn't want us, we don't
want this 'Merkel-Sarkozy Europe' 10 times more."

Theodorakis says that Greece must stop buying
war materials from Germany and France and that
the nation should do everything in its power to
force Germany to pay the war time compensation
it owes to Greece, which, he claims, currently
amounts to approximately 500 billion euros.

***********************************************

Argentina shows world how to beat the crisis

Marcela Valente

What is happening in the European Union and the
United States today, happened a decade ago in
Argentina, when it was a hotbed of protest and
the streets of major cities were seething with
people telling their leaders they'd had enough.

A new narrative was about to be written.

The historic protests of December 19-20, 2001 in
Argentina left 40 people dead and many injured.
They were the consequence of years of recession
and public indebtedness that led to economic
collapse and the skyrocketing of unemployment
and poverty to levels never before seen in the
country's modern history.

"The 2001-2002 crisis was the result of
adjustment policies prescribed by the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) in
the 1990s, the same policies that are
driving Europe's present situation,"
sociologist Norma Giarraca told IPS.

Giarraca, of the Gino Germani Research Institute
at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), is a
co-author of Times of Rebellion: The lot of
them out!!, a book on the social movement that
arose in the heat of the 2001 economic, social
and political meltdown.

The mass protests which erupted after three
years of recession, deep spending cuts and
growing indebtedness triggered the December
2001 resignation of centrist president Fernando
de la Rúa, halfway through his four-year term.
Over the following 10 days, four interim
presidents were appointed in rapid succession.

Meanwhile, the poverty rate soared to over 52%
of the population and unemployment climbed to
24%. The airports were crowded with people
leaving the country, especially young people.

The protests crossed social class barriers:
middle and upper-income groups demanded access
to their savings, trapped in bank accounts by
government restrictions on cash withdrawals
known as the corralito, while the poor looted
supermarkets in order to survive.

Argentina then defaulted on a large part of its
foreign debt, to the consternation of financial
operators at home and abroad, and the President
designated by Congress, Eduardo Duhalde,
dismantled the "convertibility" regime that had
pegged peso to US dollar for nearly a decade.

Currency devaluation and debt restructuring,
along with a highly successful treasury bond
swap with large capital discounts and longer
terms, paved the way for the recovery of the
country from 2003, when President Néstor
Kirchner took office for a four-year term.
Leader of the center-left sector of the
Justicialista (Peronist) Party, he died
in October of 2010.

Since then, the Argentine economy has grown
steadily, from 7-10% of GDP a year, except in
2009 when economic growth was only 0.9%, due to
the impact of the global economic and financial
crisis which began in the United States in 2008.

The country's economic performance and a range
of social programs implemented by Kirchner, and
from 2007 by his wife and successor, President
Cristina Fernández, have reduced poverty and
unemployment rates to below 10%.

Giarraca told IPS, "Argentina is better off
because the economic variables were managed
correctly," and has benefited from high
international prices for commodities, the
country's main export.

But in her view, there was little progress on
the political front. "People were fed up and
disillusioned with politicians, and expressed
this on the street with the slogan 'The lot of
them out!' They were demanding a renovation,
which has not happened," she said.

Today there is stability, many young people are
politically active, and the majority of voters
are satisfied with the status quo as
demonstrated by the October re-election of
President Fernández, with 54% of the vote.

In the industrialized countries, the crisis
derived from unsustainable indebtedness is
being combated by political and economic
leaders with increased cuts in government
spending and social benefits, causing
growing social malaise.

Movements like the indignados or the May 15
(15-M) movement in Spain, the Occupy movements
in the United States and Canada evoke the late
2001 street protests in Argentina, which were
also self-organized and independent of social
and political organizations.

"Something of the profound dissatisfaction that
we experienced in 2001 is being expressed today
in Europe. The welfare states of the 1970s have
been eroded, and the culture of neoliberal
capitalism impinges on every aspect of life,"
Giarraca said.

Economist Julio Gambina, head of the Social and
Political Research Foundation and a member of
the Latin American Council of Social Sciences
(CLACSO) and ATTAC Argentina (Association for
the Taxation of Financial Transactions and Aid
to Citizens), concurs.

In Gambina's view, "Europe should look at itself
in the mirror of the 2001 crisis... Argentina
arrived at an explosive situation because of
liberalization, privatization and adjustment
policies similar to those that the IMF and the
European Central Bank are recommending" for
European countries today.

According to Gambina, the crisis in Argentina
was resolved by "re-launching capitalism" in
two stages: on the one hand, suspending debt
payments and on the other, devaluing the
currency, which made exports more competitive.

"Capitalism in Argentina recovered its capacity
to operate and accumulate profits, and social
indicators improved, although not to the levels
of the 1960s and 1970s, prior to the adoption
of neoliberal policies or unbridled capitalism".

This strategy for overcoming the crisis, which
is being recommended for Europe by economists
like former head of the World Bank and 2001
Nobel Prize-winner Joseph Stiglitz, "is not
such an easy model to copy," Gambina said, and
not just because of the constraints imposed by
having a single currency, the euro, in many
European countries.

"It's not that simple, because even if you could
return to the former national currencies and
devalue them, countries like Greece or Spain do
not possess the range of exportable natural
resources that we have in Latin America".

According to his interpretation, Europe should
look at the ongoing process in Latin America,
which on the political level is trying to free
itself from the hegemony of the United States
through its new integration structures, like
the Community of Latin American and Caribbean
States (CELAC), officially launched early this
month, which does not include the US or Canada.

"Europe ought to think of a way of
reconstructing itself without the hegemony of
Germany and France," which countries, according
to Gambina, are leading the region into greater
austerity and more suffering for growing
sectors of the population. (Excerpts from IPS).

************************************************

BELGIANS STRIKE AGAIN

Government workers across Belgium went on strike
last Thursday to protest against pension cuts.

The 24-hour stoppage, scheduled on the day
Belgian parliament debated the measures, shut
down the country's schools, post offices and
almost its entire transport grid on Thursday.

“Workers aren't responsible for the crisis,"
said Andrea Della Vechia of the General
Federation of Belgian Labour (FGTB union).
"If funds be needed, they should go to the
financial markets or the banks for cash,
not the workers.”

The strike is the second show of opposition to
the two-week-old government's spending cuts
after some 50,000 Belgians took to the streets
at the start of December.

Workers in Greece, Italy, Portugal, Cyprus and
the UK have held strikes or protests in recent
weeks to denounce expenditure reductions.

************************************************

UK "OCCUPY" PROTEST ALIVE AND KICKING !!!

A group of UK protesters has occupied a fourth
site in London as part of the Occupy London
movement, in defiance of a police bid to evict
them from their main camp outside St Paul's.

The protesters drove a small tank to a former
magistrates court building in the city centre,
where they plan to hold mock 'trials' of bankers
and corporations accused of financial greed.

The takeover of the fourth site comes as the
City of London Corporation is fighting in the
High Court to permanently close the anti-
capitalists' main protest camp now at St Paul's
Cathedral precinct.

The movement said it has taken over the Old
Street Magistrates Court and Police Station,
a Grade II listed building in Hackney, on
Tuesday morning.

The group added that they will hold 'trials'
in the magistrates' court - symbolically
renamed “Occupy Justice.”

The building, which contains two courts and a
disused police station, was in use from 1903
until it was decommissioned in 1996.

Occupy London movement plans to use the court
for a series of mock trials of the bankers and
other figures it considers to be part of
the '1%' responsible for the financial crisis.

"These trials will be about economic crime,
about companies that have not paid their taxes
or people who have made profit out of the
recession," said Spyro, a spokesperson.

"We need to see justice," he said. "Our court
will be a symbolic people's court."

Some of the protesters made their way to the
court in a small tank, which they called
the "tank of ideas."

The City of London police and officials who
control London's financial district, have
launched a legal bid to evict anti-capitalist
protesters camped outside St. Paul's, saying
it is a 'magnet for disorder and crime'.

The Occupy London campaign, originally entitled
“Occupy the London Stock Exchange” was launched
on the networking site on 10 October 2011, and
organised its protests for 15th October at the
London Stock Exchange in Paternoster Square.

The movement's attempts to occupy the square
were thwarted by police, and the protesters
were moved to the St. Paul's precincts.

The campaign is an ongoing peaceful protest
against economic inequality, social injustice,
and corporate greed.

********************************************

GREEK PEOPLE REFUSING TO BOW TO BANKS

In their seventh general strike of the year,
Greece's schools and courts shut, train and
ferry services grind to a halt and hospitals
run on emergency staff.

"We have no option but to reply to unfair and
harsh policies with further struggle, to
protect peoples' right to a decent life,"
head of the GSEE, Yannis Panagopoulos, tells
local media before the rally.

The strike is the first test for new technocrat
PM Lucas Papademos, since the new coalition
interim administration took office.

Papademos pledges to continue the painful
measures needed to counter the crisis,
as the eurozone gives a green light to the
release of the sixth tranche of the EU/IMF 2010
loan package - locked since September because
of missed deficit-cutting targets and delays
in 'structural reforms'.

**********************************************

PORTUGAL's GENERAL STRIKE

Workers in Portugal strike and march to show
their opposition to the austerity cuts set
by their centre-right government, to meet
budget goals imposed by the EU, Reuters reports.

During the 24-hour general strike, buses stand
idle, schools remain closed, and rubbish is
not collected. The protests disrupt flights,
trains and the subway.

Portugal is the third country in the euro zone -
after Greece and Ireland- to seek a bailout,
and now heads toward its deepest recession
since '74, when there was a peaceful revolution.

The EU conditions for a 78-billion-euro bailout
include spending cuts to health services, cuts
in salaries in public television services, and
changes to labour laws; including an extension
of the working day by half an hour!!!


***********************************************

SURROUNDED BY ARMED POLICE IN UK

Occupy London protesters take over an
abandoned office block in central London
belonging to the investment bank UBS and
plan to reopen it as the “Bank of Ideas.”

Describing it as a “public repossession,” Occupy
London protesters gained access to the abandoned
multimillion-pound building on Thursday, saying
“repossession” gives them "a legal claim on the place.”

As the UK government moves to criminalize
squatting, the protesters have posted a
notice on the windows of the building saying
that the building is being 'squatted'.

In a statement posted on their official website,
prote'ters announce that their new 'Bank of
Ideas” will open to the public this Saturday.

“Offices and meeting rooms will be available for
those that have lost their nurseries, community
centres and youth clubs... due to savage
Government spending cuts.”

“Whilst over 9,000 families were kicked out of
their homes in the last 3 months for failing
to keep up mortgage payments - mostly due to
the recession caused by the banks - UBS and
other financial giants are sitting on massive
abandoned properties,” says Jack Holburn, a supporter.

The protesters say that the repossession is the
first of a series of “'public repossessions' of
property belonging to the companies that
crashed the global economy.”

Heavily armed Metropolitan police officers with
machine guns and handguns are at the building.

The “repossession” of the bank comes as anti-
capitalist protesters refused to leave their
camp outside St Paul's Cathedral after the
Corporation of London issued a notice on
Thursday ordering them to leave by 6pm.

Protesters made speeches until 6pm and after the
deadline, they staged a mass “silent scream”
for press photographers and media people.

************************************************

DONT BANK ON THE BANKERS

Occupy Glasgow protesters erect a second camp in
Scotland's largest city on their "international
day of action" to show solidarity with the
universal occupy movement, just as they are
being beaten arrested and evicted from camps.

The Scottish protesters were forced to leave
their original camp in George Square so they
moved to Kelvingrove Park (offered by the city
council), and have now set up a second camp...
in Blythswood Square.

Paddy McManus, an Occupy Glasgow member, says
they decided to establish the second camp in
support of the protesters evicted from camps
in Oakland, Wall Street and the due eviction in London.

"This is part of an international day of action
against the banks. We are going to try to
persuade people to move from banks to credit
unions,” McManus adds.

Another occupy protester, Mark Porciani, also
said the second camp was about “proving that
while they try to clear us out in one part of
the world, we will pop up in another part."

Occupy London Stock Exchange have been told to
leave their tents outside St Paul's Cathedral
on Thursday evening or face legal action.
But LSX protesters say they will not leave and
will “appeal against any legal attempt to force
the protesters out.”

US occupy protesters, evicted from a New York
park, staged a massive protest against the
eviction plan on Thursday, with a rally and
mass peaceful action to commemorate the two
month anniversary of the movement's birth.

So where are the 'occupy' camps in Wales?

and in YOUR country...?

************************************************

MERKEL CALLS FOR EEC TAX ON SPECULATORS !

Europe is at its most difficult time since World
War II as a consequence of the debt crisis
gripping the region, warns German Chancellor
Angela Merkel on Monday.

The current situation represents a "historic test",
Merkel tells members of the Christian Democratic
Union gathered for their annual convention in
the eastern German city of Leipzig on Monday.

"It is time to reach a turning point towards a
new Europe", Merkel notes.

"If the Euro fails, Europe fails and we mean to
and are going to prevent that situation", the
chancellor points out.

Merkel considers that rescue measures to keep
the Euro intact are necessary, committing
herself to perfect the European economic and
monetary union and to create sanctions for
Euro zone members violating the Stability Pact.

The German chancellor calls for new taxes - on
transactions in the financial market and banks
- and for establishing bans on short selling,
essentially in the Euro zone.

*************************************************

GREEKS SHOUT - CAN WE HEAR THEM?

Thousands of people in Greece are protesting
against the government's austerity measures, as
Greeks remember the anniversary of “Oxi Day”
(No Day) by holding nationwide demonstrations.

The demonstrations are held simultaneously with
military and student parades remembering the
anniversary of “Oxi Day,” which marks Greek
resistance against European Nazi forces, who
tried to cross the borders into mainland Greece
in 1940. Now Greeks are again on the front line.

In Athens, protesters met in front of parliament
shouting slogans against the government and its
austerity measures, and a military parade in
Thessaloniki was forced to cancel as a result
of the angry protests.

Greece's government is struggling to reduce a
huge government deficit amid fears of a default
- which could set off a eurozone crisis.

Since last year, the EU and the IMF have lent
Greece over $380 billion in return for tough
austerity measures, including cuts to public
sector salaries and pensions, tax increases,
an overhaul of the pension system, and the
forced "privatisation" of most publicly owned
assets, sparking nationwide protests in Greece.

Athens "must" persuade both the EU and the IMF
that it is making sufficient financial reforms
to receive the next $11-billion loans... at
extremely high interest rates, ensuring that,
like Ireland, they become enslaved by debt.

In the 1960's, people were proud of Europe's
attempts to be more humane than the US...

If the EEC continues attempting to be even more
pro-capitalist than the US, it will fall apart,
and deservedly so. Our dreams of a better future
are on the line... with the Greeks !!!

************************************************

OCCUPYING LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE IS FINE, BUT...

UK riot police have used Taser guns against Dale
Farm protesters and made several arrests while
evicting residents from the UK's biggest
travelers' site.

According to Dale Farm Solidarity website, human
rights observers report that London police “are
conducting a brutal, dangerous & unlawful eviction.”

Basildon Council said they would clear the site
in a peaceful way, but twitter posts show that
the police started using Taser guns and batons
on people protesting at the site from the start
of the eviction.

“The only premeditated violence has come from
the police- they knew exactly what they were
doing when they started beating and tazering
people. This is not how a community should be
treated by its own Council. It's illegal for
us to travel, but illegal for us to settle
down here. We're getting hit by the police,
but we've got nowhere else to go,” Mary
Sheridan, a Dale Farm resident, says.

Dale Farm Solidarity's spokesperson, Natalie
Fox, describes the eviction process as brutal
and illegal, saying, “Far from being the
dignified eviction that Basildon Council is
claiming, this is set to be one of the most
brutal evictions on record. The Council know
that there are elderly and vulnerable people
on site, as well as children, but they have
gone in with a full frontal & brutal approach
which is already resulting in injuries. The
world is watching.”

Lily Hayes, a human rights observer, reports
that serious injuries were inflicted on
protesters. One female resident was severely
injured by the riot police and had to be taken
to a hospital:

“Basildon Council are violating the court order
by smashing in the walls of a fully legal plot
on the Dale Farm site. They are also acting
unnecessarily brutally, using tasers on people
protesting the eviction,” she adds.

If we do not demand that the police stop the
overuse of dangerous ways of controling others
- in the near future - they will be used on us.

'Occupy London' has successfully pitched tents
in London's financial district, to show that
working people can't afford to live comfortably.

Mainly composed of activists, the group is
protesting at the social inequalities, evils
and injustices now "normal" in the country.

Kai Wargalla, the creator of the Occupy London
group on Facebook, states that it is now time
to start the revolution in London, and that
people should step up and voice their anger
"at the top of their lungs".

"This movement aims to unite the UK's far-flung
activist communities, in addressing the
inequities of the financial system."

Ronan McNern, a member of UK rights group
'Queer Resistance' says, “We're the beginning
of something. People are not stakeholders in
democracy, in the workings of the nation anymore.

This gives a lot of hope for the future.”

“Hundreds attended the General Assembly and
we are growing stronger every day!” reads
a statement posted on the “Occupy The London
Stock Exchange” Facebook page.

Protesters are also staging occupations in
Worcester, Nottingham, Edinburgh, Liverpool,
and, closer to Wales, in Bristol.

“We remain unified, and respect each other's
opinions. We are part of a global popular
movement and not supportive of one ideology
or faction; we are the 99%. Only the General
assemblies and occupations themselves truly
speak for the movement. Please attend the
General Assemblies, and become involved in the
occupations. have your say and combine your
voice with millions - this is a global issue
and must be fought in unity!”

************************************************

IRELAND AND GREECE HEAD IN WRONG DIRECTION

Irish campaigners have completed phase one of
their debt audit. The purpose of a debt audit
is to allow the citizens’ of a country to
examine that country’s lending history and to
hold their politicians to account.

The Irish audit finds that up to 82% of long-
term government bonds are in overseas ownership,
with identities shrouded by the opacity of the
deeply unaccountable financial system.

It prompts Unite the Union to declare:

“Ireland is acting as a roulette wheel for the
world’s largest financial gamblers, as a result
of a massive increase in secondary trading on
its sovereign debt”.

Read the full article here:

http://www.counterpunch.org/
2011/09/23/greek-tragedy/


*************************************************

SPANISH TEACHERS STRIKE TO STOP CUTS

Madrid´s teachers strike for the second day
in a row over staff cuts in the education
system and in defense of public education,
a demand also made by teachers in Galicia.

High school teachers from over 12 Spanish regions
strike against budget cuts in education, and to
defend the Spanish public education system.

************************************************

BRAVE GREEKS BEING BLACKMAILED BY ARMY COUP

The possibility of a military coup surfaces again
for Greeks. Several Greek troops have threatened
a military coup against the government, because
the Greek people, says the Greek officers' union
ANEAD "will not be sold to foreign powers."

The Greek demonstrators say THEY are not afraid
of the threats of the vice president of the
goverment, Pangalos, that "it is either the med-
term austerity plan or tanks in the streets."

************************************************

GREEKS BEING SQUEEZED MORE AND MORE BY IMF

The Greek government announces yet further cuts
for the public sector, as the IMF demands that
the country must implement more radical reforms.

According to the Finance Minister, Evangelos
Venizelos, several companies depending on a
state subsidy will be closed.

Greek finances will be 'evaluated' before
determining whether Greece is eligible to
receive the next aid payment... which ...
means more debt!

The Greek Minister also announces that new taxes
will be imposed on all owners of any kind of
property company, in order to collect 2 billion
euros for the country to be able to meet its
current 'obligations' as he also unveils a new
'special tax' on real estate.

The permanent representative of the IMF in Greece
Bob Traa, says that Greece MUST implement the
austerity measures, especially the company
privatizations and cuts; and the personnel and
wages reductions in the public sector.

Greek unions do not wish to follow the model
imposed on South America during the 1980s,
and are preparing demonstrations and strikes
against the new austerity measures the Greek
government is thinking of implementing under
IMF, US and EU pressure.

***********************************************
The Catalan police evicted about 50 people who
blocked access to the Barcelona Stock Exchange,
in solidarity with the group protesting near
Wall Street in the US.
***********************************************

ENSLAVED BY DEBT? NO THANKS, SAY GREEKS!

In Greece, taxi drivers, doctors, dentists,
firefighters and police officers have started
a new round of strikes protesting against the
government's austerity plans.

Workers stage new strikes as PM George Papandreou
is urged by his European 'partners' to raise
pressure and speed up the spending cuts to
avoid default and meet the revenue and reform
targets set in the bailout agreement.

Earlier, over 1,000 police officers and
firefighters launched an anti-austerity rally
in Thessaloniki. Angry at pay cuts, they
chanted, "Don't push us into poverty."

The police arrested and baton charged them,
and over 60 were arrested.

Greece is being kept financially afloat by two
successive international bailout-loan deals
totaling 219 billion euros ($302.6 billion).

Government spokesperson Ilias Mosialos says that
up to 20,000 civil servants could be suspended
with reduced pay for up to a year, as part of
the efforts to slash payroll costs.

“There is excess staff at some state-owned
enterprises and elsewhere in the broader
public sector ... they will become part of
a labor reserve and receive 60% of their
salary,” Mosialos says.

Over 5,000 police officers in Thessaloniki,
were sent to control over ten protest rallies
being held that Saturday.

Papandreou's annual keynote speech was heckled
by about 100 protesting municipal workers
outside Thessaloniki City Hall, forcing him to
enter the building through a side entrance.

“We will all fight together to overturn the
government's economic policies, which have
created injustice, poverty, joblessness and
recession,” Greece's largest union, the GSEE,
says in a statement.

“Bankers and big business created this crisis,
and we are being made to pay for it by losing
our jobs,” the statement emphasizes.

Greece's new "plan" will raise EUR 28 billion
and includes a privatization program aimed at
raising EUR 50 billion together with budget
cuts AND tax increases ...all so the Greek
government may receive further international
financial assistance. (more debt!)

Greece has debts of over EUR 300 billion, over
150% of its annual economic output. Iceland
held a referendum when faced with similar black-
mail by the UK's newly "nationalised" banks, and
the Greeks will need to act cleverly, strongly
and SWIFTLY - to avoid ruining their future.

******** ********* *******

GREEK & SPANISH UNEMPLOYMENT 40% HIGHER

Greek unemployment rises to over 22%,
and Spanish joblessness to over 25%,
as in both countries, protesters face
cuts at a time of little work or hope.

Hundreds of thousands of youth are not
just rotting, but bravely protesting in
squares up and down their countries...

& the government's response? Severe anti-
union laws being rushed through in Spain,
where people voted right... big mistake?!!!

In Greece, where most are hanging on to
a centre-left PASOK, protests continue,
as the state sells Greece's future dearly.

Both countries are being encouraged into debt.

***********************************************

UK UNION CALLS FOR GENERAL STRIKE

A leading UK trade union is calling for a 24-hour
general strike in a show of opposition to the
government's "vicious" spending cuts program.

At its annual conference, the Communication
Workers Union (CWU) unanimously backed calls
for the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to co-
ordinate a nationwide walkout against the
Tory's "attacks" on pay, pensions & services.

Delegates at the Bournemouth conference also agree
to coordinate campaigns & strikes with other unions.

The union's Eastern regional secretary Paul Moffat
says the young, elderly, schools, police & prisons
are all being hit, & accuses ministers of having
"no regard" for their actions.

"The attacks are causing irreversible damage to
public services. Many unions are moving towards
co-ordinated action and we must be part of it.

"This crisis was not caused by us or our families,
but we are paying for it. We need to work together
with other unions, and the TUC should co-ordinate
a 24-hour strike” says the union's gen secretary.

"If the Tories carry on it will be too late and
we will be back to the levels of inequality not
seen since Victorian times", he adds.

The conference, which represents over 200,000
postal, telecoms and finance workers, voted
unanimously to support a general strike.

************************************************

SPANISH ATTACKED LIKE ARABS FOR MAN UNITED GAME

Jorge Naroja, a spokesperson for the "Democracia
Real Ya" (Real Democracy Now) compares protests
in Spain with the anti-government movements in
the Middle East and North Africa, saying what
they have in common, is the protesters' courage,
& a determination to fight corrupt politicians & dictators.

Over a thousand people have moved into France's
Bastille Square, and in Athens too, protesters
start to occupy their main squares for change now.

Over 200 people beaten to the point of injury
by Spanish police, vowed to return to the Square
they were occupying to demand radical change.

Following the example of mass protests in Arab
countries, along with thousands of others, the
injured and their young comrades are determined
not to let any football match 'excuse' stop them!

************************************************

GERMANY TAKES THE LEAD

After the Japanese nuclear horror, Germans
have reacted by increasingly voting 'green'
as Merkel's share of the vote at state level
dropped hugely this weekend, boosting both
the Social Democrats, and the Green Party