It Will Take Just 1 Minute To Read This And Change Your Thinking‏

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room.
One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs.
His bed was next to the room’s only window.
The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.
The men talked for hours on end.
They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation..

Every afternoon, when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window. The man in the other bed began to live for those one hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every colour and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite details, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine this picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon, the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man could not hear the band – he could see it in his mind’s eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.

Days, weeks and months passed. One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone. Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window besides the bed. It faced a blank wall. The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, ‘Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you.’ Epilogue: There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations. Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled. If you want to feel rich, just count all the things you have that money can’t buy. ‘Today is a gift, that is why it is called The Present .’

Source: www.trueactivist.com

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100 Seattle Cops File Lawsuit Saying They Have Constitutional Rights to Beat Down Civilians

Reuters

Police officers disperse a crowd celebrating on the street after the Seattle Seahawks won the NFL Super Bowl XLVIII in Seattle, Washington February 3, 2014.

CREDIT: REUTERS/JASON REDMOND

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(Reuters) - Seattle police officers filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday challenging new policies that restrict use of force, saying the rules endanger lives of both officers and civilians.

More than 120 officers have joined the lawsuit, which seeks a complete dismantling of a new use of force policy hammered out between the Seattle Police Department and the U.S. Department of Justice to stem an alleged pattern of excessive force.

The Seattle Police Department has been under federal monitoring since 2012, following an investigation into a series of incidents in which officers appeared to engage in excessive force, particularly against minorities.

The lawsuit says the policy, which went into effect this year, "unreasonably restrict and burden Plaintiffs' right to use force reasonably required, to protect themselves and others from apparent harm and danger."

The officers are seeking financial compensation and a complete overhaul of the policy, calling it "unconstitutional and beyond repair."

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, the city of Seattle and Mayor Ed Murray are among those targeted in the lawsuit.

Murray declined to comment on the lawsuit, but told local media "We are under a federally mandated court order. We will follow that court order."

"The Justice Department and the federal courts say we need to deal with issues of use of force as well as other issues in our police department," he told Seattle's Fox affiliate.

(Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

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Is the American School System Damaging Our Kids? Redefining School and Reclaiming Our Lives

Thrive Movement

Why do we accept that at the most naturally curious time in our lives, when everything is new and our brains create obedient and predictable workers and consumers while failing to cultivate experimentation, original thinking and passionate learning.

are poised to learn, our kids are required to sit still for 18 years in a row memorizing standardized, biased information? Have humans evolved to this point to be bored and rewarded for our obedience? We don’t think so, but unfortunately that’s the kind of State-imposed school system we have. It is intended to create obedient and predictable workers and consumers while failing to cultivate experimentation, original thinking and passionate learning.

The state school system is rife with problems. Former Chancellor of the Washington D.C. public schools, Michelle Rhee, attempted to transform one of the worst school districts in the nation, but was ultimately forced to resign in 2010. She offered up to $40,000 a year increase in salary to teachers who were willing to give up tenure and rely instead on performance review. She found that the majority of teachers opposed the proposal and preferred not to rely on performance for job security. The challenge of how to create accountability and a capacity to self-correct has long infused the debate on how to achieve excellence within the state-run educational systems.[1] Private schools often forego the offer of tenure in order to assure greater accountability and they attribute their greater success, in part, to this policy.

How did we get an educational system that is not only difficult to reform, but where schools function more like training grounds for submissiveness and propaganda rather than places to foster autonomy and creativity?

It turns out the current model of schooling originated around the turn of the century with the Rockefeller-Founded General Education Board and other Corporate Foundations including the Carnegie Foundation. They played a key role in funding teachers, schools, Universities, researchers, and curriculum and in so doing garnered influence and control of modern education. Their funding and associated Board control allowed them to control research grants, what behavior was rewarded and who was in charge. The resulting system of schooling creates a docile workforce, used to obeying commands, but not rewarded for thinking critically. This is just what the financial elite had in mind. It makes the population easier to control and more predictable. As Frederick T. Gates, business advisor to John D. Rockefeller, said,

“In our dream we have limitless resources, and the people yield themselves with perfect docility to our molding hand. The present educational conventions fade from our minds; and, unhampered by tradition, we work our own good will upon a grateful and responsive rural folk…”

To learn more about the takeover of education, see the “Follow the Money” story.

We’re promoting a radical shift in education. Ultimately we want to create a society where each individual is free to pursue the type of education that most appeals to his or her passion, need, and learning style to promote critical thinking and creative expression. In order to achieve this, we cannot resort to the usual state school solutions — throwing more money at a fundamentally flawed system will not help in the long run. Instead we want to encourage strategies that break down the state monopoly on education and empower all people to choose where and how they want to learn. Clearly this will require that people have more of their own money to choose how to spend. As it is now, everyone is paying for a dangerous and unproductive system of forced “schooling” that virtually incarcerates and indoctrinates children for over a decade. In fact, today in the United States’ largest cities, public High School graduation rate is as low as 59%, and those who do graduate often do so at great expense to their emotional, spiritual, and true problem-solving development.

As we recreate the financial system to empower people instead of the corporations of the elite bankers, we could free up funds from taxes so people could financially support their own education options. People would be free to choose where and how they were educated. This would force schools to compete for students and come up with attractive, affordable, effective education models. This basic strategy to reform the education system allows a holistic approach, along with an emphasis on individualized learning paths and critical thinking — two characteristics that are not offered by State-run, standardized-test driven schools.

The transition out of State-mandated schools requires that people have money to work with on their own, and that of course is linked to Economics. Justice and Governance are also involved, because in order to transition out of the inefficient, ill-conceived models of State-run education, regulations and taxation need to be transformed. This process also requires that people see and think beyond the superficial arguments that assume we need to be dependent on authorities to provide for our meager pittance of “services” instead of empowered to create and fund our own voluntary solutions. Understanding the Prussian history of how our current system came to be and the effects it is producing help provide the impetus for these next steps. For a breakdown of the numbers and how this could work, see Chris Cardiff’s article, What About the Poor?

What Can I Do?

Get Educated, Think Critically and Share your process with others

Start, Join, or Support Alternative Education Programs

Below are some materials that we recommend. Consider all the views and take what works for you. This is what critical thinking is all about! And please add resources you find valuable in the comment section below.

There are already a number of compelling alternative schools that could be adopted on a wider scale including teaching co-ops, home schooling, private or charter schools, trade schools, online courses, and more. Check out some of the possibilities:

Parents are forming networks and cooperatives that bring a new approach to education all around the country.

We recommend this short clip on schooling and freedomand an outstanding documentary film about successful alternative schools, appropriately called “Why Do These Kids Love School?”

And we suggest you take a look at the following resources and consider joining or starting your own program.

The Alternative Education Resource Organization (AERO)

This site provides a comprehensive list — organized by countries and states — of schools that pose an alternative to mainstream education.

AERO’s “Start a School” Program

This program allows you to network with others who have started their own successful schools and access educational tools.

How to Grow a School: Starting and Sustaining Schools That Work

Author, teacher, and parent, Chris Mercogliano, provides a “how-to” support guide for anyone starting a school, while maintaining his belief that “no two schools should look alike.”

Unschooling

Another approach to education is to ditch the idea of schooling altogether and to support each child’s natural interest to learn. “Unschooling” is a growing subset of the homeschooling movement that is not based on any particular curriculum and does not follow any set structure. The underlying belief is that children are naturally curious and that they will learn as long as they are supported in pursuing their passions. It has been catching on in recent years, with some estimating that the unschooling population is growing by 10–15% every year.The Unschooling Handbook: How to Use the Whole World As Your Child’s Classroom

Waldorf Schools

Developed in 1919 Waldorf schools provide an alternative method of schooling that is geared toward the dedication “ to generating an inner enthusiasm for learning within every child.” Less emphasis is put on memorization and testing more on experiential learning.

Nature Schools

The concept began in Scandinavia in the 1960s but has steadily spread through Europe and more recently the US. The basic premise is creative environmental based learning that focuses on creative problem solving rather than testing.

Home Schooling

There are about 2.2 million home-educated students in the United States that seems to continue to grow at an average of 2%–8% every year.Learn more about home schooling here: National Home Education Research Institute

The key is to transition the government out of schools. There are already 8 million children in the U.S. who learn free of state control, so educational independence has already begun. The possibilities are endless. As we redefine the goal of education: to awaken, inspire and support one’s natural curiosity and capacity, we will reclaim our right and our power to create actions to fulfill our true potential, and to create a world that really can work for everyone.

Learn About the “Mindful” Public School Model in Waikiki

Promote Project Based Learning

More Videos

• Know Yourself — John Gatto
• Write Your Own Script — John Gatto
• Forced Schooling Dominated by Corporate Foundations — John Gatto
• A Prison By Any Other Name — Josie Outlaw
• Why I Hate School But Love Education — Spoken Word
• Why Do These Kids Love School? — Dorothy Fadiman

Resources

• The Underground History of American Education — John Taylor Gatto
• The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America — Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt
• Dumbing Us Down — John Taylor Gatto

Monsanto Protection Act Signed By Obama, GMO Bill “Written By Monsanto” Signed Into Law

Global Research

The Monsanto Protection Act, essentially both written by and benefiting Monsanto Corporation, has been signed into law by United States President Barack Obama. The infamous Monsanto Corporation will benefit greatly and directly from the bill, as it essentially gives companies that deal with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and genetically engineered (GE) seeds immunity to the federal courts, among other things.

The bill states that even if future research shows that GMOs or GE seeds cause significant health problems, cancer, etc, anything, that the federal courts no longer have any power to stop their spread, use, or sales.

There are of course arguments to be made that not enough research has been done yet to accurately determine the effects that GMOs have on human and animal health (though the research already done should make you stop and think). This bill sidesteps that completely though, and simply states that even if there are problems, that the federal courts can no longer do anything about it. And this bill is now law, thanks to President Obama and the U.S. Congress.

Some other interesting things to keep in mind:

- The bill was apparently written by freshman Sen. Roy Blunt in collusion with Monsanto, with them helping to craft the exact language of the document.

- “The Center for Responsive Politics notes that Sen. Blunt received $64,250 from Monsanto to go towards his campaign committee between 2008 and 2012. The Money Monocle website adds that Blunt has been the largest Republican Party recipient of Monsanto funding as of late.”

- Many members of Congress were apparently unaware that the “Monsanto Protection Act” was a part of the spending bill that they were voting on.

- Obama had no problem signing it into law (not really a surprise, he’s been rather soft on GMO policy).

- The bill will only remain in effect for a limited time, but it’s a bad sign. With the ease that this bill passed, it’ll be interesting to see what future bills look like.

As the Daily News asks, “Who’s more powerful, the world’s largest producer of genetically modified crops or the U.S. government?”

“On Tuesday, Pres. Obama inked his name to H.R. 933, a continuing resolution spending bill approved in Congress days earlier. Buried 78 pages within the bill exists a provision that grossly protects biotech corporations such as the Missouri-based Monsanto Company from litigation.”

“In light of approval from the House and Senate, more than 250,000 people signed a petition asking the president to veto the spending bill over the biotech rider tacked on, an item that has since been widely referred to as the ‘Monsanto Protection Act.’”

“But Obama ignored [the petition],” as the IB Times notes, “instead choosing to sign a bill that effectively bars federal courts from being able to halt the sale or planting of GMO or GE crops and seeds, no matter what health consequences from the consumption of these products may come to light in the future.”

GMOs, while they may cause problems for human health, are primarily a problem for other reasons, mostly to do with crop/genetic diversity and overly complex industrial systems. And also the fact that they often don’t even work the way that they are “supposed” to.

When taken in context though, GMOs are really just another in a long line of environmentally damaging practices that people have done for short term gain/profit. From the large-scaledeforestation of the world’s old-growth forests, to sustenance farming, to modern imported-fertilizer/pesticide/herbicide/fossil-fuel dependent industrial agricultural, the trend has been consistent, GMOs are just another in that line of attempts to temporarily maintain/raise crop yields. Regardless of the type of agriculture or the location, there are limits to how long any land can remain productive, applying imported fertilizers, or utilizing GMOs, only provides, at best, a temporary halt to the land’s transition to non-productive “wasteland”, and to desertification.

---

Seeds of Destruction: The Hidden Agenda of Genetic Manipulation

F. William Engdahl

Pages: 341 pages with complete index

List Price: $25.95

Special Price: $18.00

This skilfully researched book focuses on how a small socio-political American elite seeks to establish control over the very basis of human survival: the provision of our daily bread. “Control the food and you control the people.”

This is no ordinary book about the perils of GMO.

Engdahl takes the reader inside the corridors of power, into the backrooms of the science labs, behind closed doors in the corporate boardrooms.

The author cogently reveals a diabolical world of profit-driven political intrigue, government corruption and coercion, where genetic manipulation and the patenting of life forms are used to gain worldwide control over food production. If the book often reads as a crime story, that should come as no surprise. For that is what it is.

Engdahl’s carefully argued critique goes far beyond the familiar controversies surrounding the practice of genetic modification as a scientific technique. The book is an eye-opener, a must-read for all those committed to the causes of social justice and world peace.

Order Directly from Global Research

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Facebook Unveils New Smartphone App Designed to Literally Invade Your Privacy

SumOfUs.org

Facebook just announced a new feature to its app, which will let it listen to our conversations through our own phones’ microphone. Talk about a Big Brother move.

Facebook says the feature will be used for harmless things, like identifying the song or TV show playing in the background, but it actually has the ability to listen to everything -- including your private conservations -- and store it indefinitely.

Not only is this move just downright creepy, it’s also a massive threat to our privacy. This isn’t the first time Facebook has been criticized for breaching our right to privacy, and it’s hoping this feature will fly under the radar. No such luck for Facebook. If we act now, we can stop Facebook in its tracks before it has a chance to release the feature.

Tell Facebook not to release its creepy and dangerous new app feature that listens to users’ conversations.

Facebook says it'll be responsible with this feature, but we know we can't trust it. After all, just a few months ago Facebook came under fire for receiving millions of dollars for working with the National Security Agency’s PRISM, a wide-scale and highly controversial public electronic data surveillance program -- something its CEO Mark Zuckerberg initially denied. This is also the company that lied about its now-scuttered Beacon program -- an advertisement system that sent our “private” data from external websites to Facebook.

It seems like every few months, there's another big Facebook privacy scandal, and yet the social media giant is pushing this new app anyway. Why? Theinformation it gathers by listening to its 1.2 billion users worldwide can be sold for huge profits to advertisers and corporations looking for better information on consumer tastes and preferences.

Facebook is acting in the best interests of its bank account, not its users. This has gone too far - we have to stop it now.

Facebook: This is an extreme invasion of your users’ privacy. Do not release this new feature, and do not listen to us through our phones’ microphones.

**********
More information:

Facebook Microphone Update To Store Data: Social Media Giant Confirms New Feature Will Aggregate Information International Business Times, May 22, 2014.
Facebook Wants To Listen In On What You're Doing Forbes, May 22, 2014.

We suppose it would be hypocritical to ask our readers to follow us on Facebook at this point, but if you do in fact want to keep up with our articles via Facebook, give us a like:

Brazil: “Pacification” Unleashes Terror On Favelas, Aims to Silence Anti-Capitalist Social Movements

BRAZIL, REVOLUTION NEWS

Military police occupying slums in Rio de Janeiro, in a new wave of terror against poor people.

As thousands took to the streets this weekend to protest the civil and military dictatorship – which left a legacy of some of the most sadistic and brutal repression against political prisoners seen in Latin America – the military police have unleashed a new war on the poor of Brazil, and the State is preparing to enforce new “anti-terrorism” laws which raise legitimate fears that they will bring back the practices of the fascist dictatorship. (Note: On March 22nd, Brazilian fascists called for protests under the slogan “march for family.” They were a failure, much like the white man march in North America. In some places, groups of six or less people participated.)

Police have used fabricated reasons to justify repression against poor communities and anti-capitalist social movements, ahead of a powerfully contested Word Cup in Brazil.

A police station was set on fire, and cops came under armed attack, possibly by drug lords they haven’t “pacified” yet. Drug leaders in pacified communities are typically ex-military police, who the capitalist media misrepresent as “community leaders,” in order to forcefully associate them with social movements against capitalist oppression. The mainstream capitalist media have consistently referred to Brazilians living in favelas as “criminals,” in a clear attempt to increase hatred against poor people, who mostly have nothing to do with drug trafficking.

These are the results of police raiding a building occupied by poor people: they forcefully evicted them, at gun point, again.

Residents protested, and unrest spread in some favelas (slums).

This recent act of brutal oppression against poor people came just as the country was enraged by the most sadistic crime committed by Brazilian police in recent memory – which they try to cover up now: they killed a 38 year old mom of 4 kids, threw her in the trunk of their car and later dragged her body on a main boulevard in broad daylight.

Claudia’s assassination raised even more questions about some 6,000 people that have disappeared. Many of their families are convinced they were police victims.

A child looks at military police during a demonstration against the police murder of a mother of 4 kids.

The State of Brazil has done this before: during the military dictatorship, prisoners were tortured, bodies were sliced open, and the state police criminals confess in cold blood that they would still like to decapitate “bandits” since “they are still here.”

Over the past decade, 40,000 people have gone missing in Brazil. Most of them have disappeared since the “pacification” of the favelas was unleashed on the poor communities – which are inhabited by a fifth of Rio de Janeiro’s population. Brazilians have given a name for the missing, they call them Amarildo, by the name of a missing person, whose disappearance is one of the few that was actually investigated. After relentless pressure by the community he lived in, investigations found that the 25 UPP (pacification police units) from Rochina tortured and killed the father of 7 children. Amarildo’s body has never been recovered.

Is torture of this magnitude still going on in Brazil? This report, from three years ago shows that it is,especially in the favelas. Its origin and specifics date a long time back, as it was used against the slaves.

Man tortured during a military parade 70 years ago has been just now identified: he was an indigenous.

“Order and ProgreSS”, by Carlos Latuff

Brazil is one of the few countries where crimes of the capitalist junta have been covered up for such a long time. Torture was used regularly by the military and civilian dictatorship against dissidents, who even tortured children. Public pressure is mounting to expose these crimes. After 70 years a man who was tortured in public during a military parade has been identified as indigenous.

Yet, these investigations are an exception in Brazil, where thousands of missing people are never investigated or reported.

Cops have officially admitted that they committed some 5,000 murders in a 2007 report. But as one politician in Brazil said, “jails are for convicted bandits, not for cops.”

As a response, the state may enforce a new law – enforced disappearance by state agents – which is “the most wicked of all barbaric crime,” as João Tancredo, a human rights activist from DDH Institute said.

On the same day they killed Claudia Silva Ferreira, cops from the Morro da Congonha in Madureira also executed a 16 year old boy, and wrote in their report that they killed him because ”he resisted the police.” His father filed a complaint against the police, accusing them of putting a gun into his hands to cover up their crime.

The same day 3 military police assassinated a mother of 4 on her way to buy bread, they also killed a 19 year old boy. Illustration by Carlos Latuff

Police violence is endemic in Brazil, and it’s the face of economic racism, social oppression, stigmatization and criminalization of poor people in a country with the gravest inequality in the world. As people get more and more organized to fight economic crimes – As Garis’ have during their strike in maybe the most successful show of resistance against capitalist tyranny in a long time – the state has prepared “anti-terrorism” laws, to silence protests against FIFA’s World Cup – which is actually a new round of capitalist accumulation, as 120,000 people are to be forcefully evicted so that the state and the capitalist class can turn their land into profit. These laws ultimately will transform any person who protests against FIFA’s World Cup into a “terrorist.” So, for instance, if you live in Brazil, and protest because you don’t want to see children die, in pain, at the door of hospitals, you will be considered a “terrorist” by the Brazilian state. A 19 year old boy died after he was refused help in a hospital, images in this link show his last agonizing moments. (warning – the video is very disturbing.)

This pic is real, the comment of the police on their page is also real: these are kids they killed in the favelas, their comment is “We don’t go into favelas to die. We go in there to kill.”

This was posted by the police on their Facebook page where they bragged about their “successful” work. They say: “We don’t go into favelas to die. We go in there to kill.”

“Pacification”: replacing the drug lords with ex-cop drug kings

The city of Rio decided to demolish more houses, without notifying the people living in them first. They plan to destroy even more houses in the slums for the Olympic Park.

Over the past weeks a new round of police terror was unleashed against the favelas, after cops evicted poor people who were occupying a building, injuring several of them.

Military police threatening residents in favelas.

Residents took it to the streets in Manguinhos, Arará, Camarista Meier – one cop and two people were wounded in the street fights. People erected barricades in Cidade de Deus, near the Maranata Church, and skirmishes took place in Lins and Macacos. The worst attacks took were launched by police in Manguinhos, Madureira, and in Vivente de Carvalho police opened fire using live ammunition against people.

Residents explained that the military police took a building behind the Park Library of Manguinhos to evict some 100 families that had occupied the site by force. As residents resisted the police assault, military police started firing gas bombs on the population. Residents then responded with a hail of rocks and bottles. At that moment, the military police started to fire live ammunition against residents. Several people were injured, and four young people were shot. One of them is hospitalized in serious condition in Hospital Salgado Filho.

This is the harsh reality in Brazil: cops have used lethal ammunition against people yet again. What is the capitalist mainstream media in Brazil reporting about this? They say it was ”an attack against the police, orchestrated by the drug lords,” (who, mind you did not live in that building occupied by poor people). Mainstream media are the accomplice of the military police in their attempt to justify another occupationand further gentrification as the World Cup approaches.

The lies of the mainstream media were a perfect cover for the Governor of Rio, Sérgio Cabral, to request the intervention of the army. He later distributed racist T-shirts for the inhabitants of the ”pacified favelas.” When asked about the genocidal onslaught of police forces and civilian vigilantes against blacks of Rio de Janeiro, the Mayor Eduardo Paes responded: “Avoid being black.”

Military police are allowed to use “total force” against residents in favelas.

As police brutality increased, and some cops were injured, UPP attacked the favelas Arara, Lins, Mandela, Manguinhos and Alemao. In the Morro dos Macacos they imposed a curfew.
However, police need to lay the blame on the people they attack, so they try to misrepresent their repression against the social uprising in the favelas as “a war on drugs.” If police can claim they were “attacked,” they can also claim they acted in “self-defense” – even though people living in the slums repeatedly report that many times cops just shoot people randomly in the streets. In fact the police wars against the favelas are a cover up for forced capitalist gentrification – which makes political sponsors quite rich from public money. Not to mention that after the BOPE or UPU brutally occupy the favelas at gun point and “pacify” them, many times it turns out that the favelas end up being indeed ruled by drug lords, who are in fact ex-military police.

Cops in favela.
Photo by Katja Schilirò

“A recent report came to light last December stating that of the estimated 1,001 favela communities in Rio, nearly half are being controlled by illegal militia gangs – organized crime rings typically composed of current or ex-police.” Source

Now, after some cops were attacked and their station was set on fire in Manguinhos, a favela they don’t control, the racist governor of Rio discussed with the country’s president the need to let police use “total force” against the slums. Reality on the ground proves that that is code-word for indiscriminate killing by the police.

Cops claim they discovered that the attacks against some police were the result of a conspiracy by the drug lords. While this could be true, the claim works in the interests of the state and the police, not the communities affected. Mainstream media calls these drugs lords “community leaders,” to insinuate that the communities are run by drug lords, and to cover up that their protests are about social justice.

Why? Because the police need to delegitimize social protests, which they do by claiming they are organized by drug lords. One cop, Colonel Frederico Caldas even said that ”there are reports that protests are being orchestrated by (drug) traffickers.” Of course he did not elaborate. His words were meant to smear social protests – which have risen as a result of economic crimes and injustice inflicted by the state of Brazil, especially against the poor and vulnerable.

Claiming that ”drug lords” are in anyway connected to the social protests is the easiest way for the state to crush real, self-organized, vibrant social resistance of the communities against capitalist attacks. There are intense and powerful protests against the raising cost of living, the forced impoverishment of poor people, and against the World Cup which drowned huge resources from public wealth to enrich some capitalists over night.

The State propaganda is aimed at justifying the deployment of BOPE – the dreadful armed police force – and more military police (UPU) in the slums “to pacify” them. It’s not war on drugs, it’s a war on poor people.

“The UPP even turns a blind eye to the drug dealers who push their wares in the back alleys behind the boca. After dark every evening, dozens of tourists and residents of the wealthier quarters of Rio stand in line to buy cocaine or crack — all of whom, the people that Robson and his men are supposed to be protecting. The most successful dealers can earn the equivalent of €200,000 in a good month. Peterson is one of them. Just like every evening, he is standing in front of his stone hut, dancing from one leg to the other. Ever since Robson’s UPP drove the former drug bosses out of the district, Peterson and a friend have controlled the market. A lookout is perched on the roof, where he can see the police officers “aimlessly standing around and staring at their cell phones.” Source

“Pacification Police” unit in favela.
Photo by Katja Schilirò

“This offensive against brutal gangs has been followed by a significant expansion of the state’s own capacity for coercion and violence, and brought with it many worrying consequences. Frequent reports and high profile cases of abuse imply that this security policy is not so much a community-based reconciliation of the state with these communities as an undemocratic, authoritarian and militarized occupation, aimed at controlling the population and selling the city during the upcoming mega-events.” Source

“Viviane Ribeiro, member of the Board of Directors of the association of residents of Complexo do Alemão, explains: “95% of the population didn’t have anything to do with the drugs-traffic and the violence. The kids went to school and the adults worked in order to be able to sustain their families. Lawlessness? No way. There were leaders who ruled the neighborhood and imposed laws, such as ‘Do not mess with innocent residents’ and ‘Do not touch another’s property, nor another one’s wife’. We slept with our doors open. Depending on which fraction ruled, some leaders even took care of community services such as garbage collection and the construction of football fields for youngsters.”

The disappearance of these ‘favela laws’ is one reason why some residents are nostalgic about the time prior to pacification. Last week, a young woman was raped and killed in a bar in Rocinha.

Residents were extremely shocked, as this never happened before. A lot of people argued: “This wouldn’t have happened a few years ago. Since pacification, there are no more rules in the favela and no more authority, hence bad people feel free to do what they want to do.”” Source

Pacification turns favelas into occupied dominions by the capitalist thugs. Social and economic injustices in fact worsen. People in the unoccupied favelas are still protesting economic and social injustices which the upcoming World Cup just exposed even more to the world.

After the last crimes committed by the police, there have been increased appeals to demilitarize the police.

In the slums, the abuses they commit are absurd: ”Houses are invaded without a court order, residents are humiliated, rights are not observed. This all raises a departure from society towards the police, and it doesn’t matter if it’s the “King of the Hill” or the new Commander of the UPP; a rifle pointing at citizen’s face has the same effect and are equally offensive to the dignity….More than that, the UPP police proved to be just a makeup mechanism in the vicinity of the methods that will be used in the World Cup and the Olympics, which do not follow the logic of socialization, but rather of the capital. The military police burst in the favelas, then shortly after the “market” enters. After all, the UPP is sponsored by the private power. The logic adopted by UPPs, which differ from his theory of acting, is doomed to failure. There is no social peace while there is no social justice, no peace with rifle. And it doesn’t matter if the rifle is the dealer or the new “King in uniform” of the Hill. … The politics of reaction will only increase the militarization of these areas.” Source

Is there terrorism in Brazil? Yes: It’s State Terrorism

 “No justice, no peace” translates in Brazil now as ”There Will Be No Cup” and this is the cry which gathered millions in Brazil and around the world against the economic, social and political war on working people living there. There will be protests organized during the World Cup, but the State plans to preventively silence them, by enforcing totalitarian so-called ”anti-terrorism” laws, which are “almost a repeat of the civil-military dictatorship era,” as João Tancredo, a human rights activist from DDH Institute explains.  He argues that behind the proposed anti-terrorism law, which the National Congress, are the economic interests linked to the World Cup.

João Tancredo: ”The issue is that they want tougher legislation on behalf of the World Cup. There are powerful economic groups who want to turn people off the streets, in any manifestation. To call a manifestation terrorism is huge nonsense. By this law against terrorism, they will somehow try to criminalize any movement which is working against the tide: accusing the high cost of the Cup, and instead requesting  more health or more education. The aim is to criminalize any person…. Institutional acts are written by the military junta, who are elected members of the legislature.” Source

Nao Vai Ter Copa. There will be no cup.

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