World Geopolitics and The Battle for the Mediterranean (tags)
"If one were to live in a city where the only form of employment was a coal mine and there was no means to leave the city then one would have no choice but to work at the coal mine. Control of labour movement is a cornerstone to the socio-economic objectives of the U.S., the E.U., the World Bank, and a league of associated international financial institutions (IFIs). By rendering work forces immobile in any given geographic locality the rights of employment choice and occupational alternatives are removed and a new form of monopoly is established — a forced acceptance of work on whole pools of individuals. Rising fuel prices are also adding to the erosion of mobility rights.??The security agenda behind controlling movements is heavily tied to economic objectives, as are the international disease scares like avian influenza (bird flu) and the swine flue that lock up human movement. Control of mobility in the oceans and international waters of the world is also part of this objective. The internationally illegal Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) was initiated by the U.S. government, with the support of the E.U., in 2003 as part of the “Global War on Terror.” The Proliferation Security Initiative is presented as a means to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), however it can be applied to bring about a hold over global maritime mobility. The strategy is a threat to international movement on the high seas and maritime trade. There is good reason why it is illegal under international law and the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.??Industrial De-location in the European Union and the Global Economic Crisis??This process of industrial de-location has already been underway in the E.U. for years, under which industries have been relocated to Eastern Europe and other global regions. Under this neo-liberal paradigm jobs and industries can gradually be removed from wealthier E.U. states to Southern Mediterranean nations, where cheap and immobile labour forces will be awaiting."
French government withdraws “First Job Contract,” enlists unions in assault on job securit (tags)
President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin announced yesterday that new legislation will be drawn up to replace the “First Job Contract” (CPE), which sparked a massive wave of protests and strikes in recent weeks. Leaders of the trade unions, some student unions and “left” political parties immediately declared the shift marked a decisive victory for the anti-CPE movement and signalled their intention to halt further mass mobilisations against the government.
French unions hold talks with government in move to end “First Job Contract” strikes (tags)
France’s major trade unions and student unions, a total of twelve organizations operating under the umbrella of the Intersyndicale, held a joint meeting in Paris Wednesday morning to coordinate negotiations with the Gaullist government over the “First Job Contract” (CPE). Five trade unions—CGT (General Confederation of Labour), CFDT (French Democratic Confederation of Labour), FO (Workers Power) and two management unions, the CFTC and the CFE-CGC—later held separate discussions with deputies from the ruling Union for a Popular Majority (UMP) party. Other unions will meet with the government in the coming days.
France: As millions protest government attacks, unions signal retreat on “First Job Contra (tags)
An estimated 2 to 3 million striking workers and students demonstrated throughout France yesterday against the Gaullist government’s “First Job Contract” (CPE) legislation, matching the turnout at a similar day of action on March 28. Tuesday’s strikes and protests followed President Jacques Chirac’s announcement last Friday that he had officially ratified the CPE, which permits employers to dismiss young workers without cause during their first two years of employment.
General Michel Aoun to ‘Monday Morning’: (tags)
He has the gift of facilitating matters. With him formalities and ceremonial go by the board. The conversation is quickly under way with the “General” at his residence in Rabiyé, which was thronged with young people and retired Army officers who remain devoted to him. There, one found those who had remained faithful to him, who had waited patiently for 15 years for his return from exile. I saw myself propelled back 16 years to Baabda Palace, with the same images and sensations. But that was another time and place. The general himself seemed unchanged: as feisty as ever, the eternal resistance fighter. He has changed in one way, as he himself said: he has learned to be patient, to move slowly, which for him, unfortunately, is a waste of time. He has great aspirations for Lebanon, which still has much to learn in terms of democracy, human rights and the building of nations.
Neocon Goldberg Mocks Victims of Katrina (tags)
While New Orleans was reeling from the first deadly effects of “Hurricane Katrina,” Neocon Jonah Goldberg mocked the idea of placing some of the city’s refugees in the Superdome. This is the same warmonger who once wrote that the U.S. should “bomb Canada!” When France refused to go along with the Bush-Cheney Gang’s scheme to invade Iraq, he smeared the French people as a nation of “liars,” who were only interested in a “desire for oil.”
Why didn't he just outbid Saddam so we could invade with UN approval. You know ol' Bubba would have just taken Chirac out for a night of whoring and it all would have been cool!
This is a war against each and every individual, Israeli or not, religious or not, Zionist or not, right, left or center, who identifies himself or herself as Jewish.
Misery likes company George Bush has second thoughts on Irag (tags)
Irag
French Anti-Globalization leader, Jose Bove, was arrested at his farmhouse by nearly 100 Policemen. Militants from the Peasant Confederation demonstrate in the courtyard of Rodez's police headquarters to protest the arrest of anti-globalization hero Jose Bove(AFP/Eric Cabanis)
Nothing Sweeter To Bush Than Revenge (tags)
"Even more sinister, Secretary of State Colin Powell -- in an uncharacteristic role as the godfather-enforcer for the administration -- has been lecturing straying nations that they will be punished for their stand against the war. As he puts it, they will suffer the "consequences." The exact penalties are never spelled out but the ominous threat is left hanging. "
Thw war aims of the Graet Powers and the consequences of the coming invasion of Irag (tags)
Imperialism