It is hard to imagine how one corporation could ever have inflicted so much suffering upon humanity and nature. Agent Orange in Vietnam, Patented corn causing 1000's of Mexican farmers to abandon their homes and professions and move to city slums and through desperation getting caught up in Narco wars or crossing the border to be exploited further by US corporations. US farmers themselves are subject to Monsanto bullies and risk all if they do not accept Monsanto products, farmer suicide rates are staggering, de-figuring and disabling birth defects, needless desertification of previously fertile soils, Agent Orange has recently been reborn, clearing acres of Amazon rainforest and the company has even patented a type of melon. Monsanto like the other big corporations not only buys its American presidents through millions of dollars worth of funding in electoral campaigns but always has a steady feed of former employees in influential roles within the Whitehouse. What could ever go wrong for Monsanto? There is a panoply of reasons people need to rise up against capitalist oppresion and social and environmental injustices and if there was one corporation that could embody so much of what is wrong with our world it is them. In 1994 The North American Free Trade Agreement allowed the company to invade Mexico, cloaked in fake promises. In response the Zapatista Anti-capitalist, pro indigenous movement was born, this was an early and a historically significant crack in capitalism. Rage against Monsanto has been growing internationally ever since. See www.ecosocialistsunite.com for a full documentary. Now Anonymous is disrupting Monsanto. It is worth noting that Anonymous is a truly anarchistic in its (lack) of structure. Anonymous, I imagine, is a useful label used by any group of hackers. I'm certain there are workers employed by Monsanto that need protecting, but the corporation and what it stands for must be challenged and this is a notable attempt.
To show solidarity with farmers, real food organizations and free-thinking humans, activist group Anonymous recently issued Monsanto a list of demands in the following video:
MSNBC reports that the hacking collective bombarded the company’s international websites and succeeded in shutting them down for nearly three days.
Anonymous then published this video, showing just how easily they accomplished this sabotage:
Anonymous posted a statement shortly after, detailing their assault: “Over the last 2 months we have pushed the exposure of hundreds of pages of articles detailing Monsanto’s corrupt, unethical, and downright evil business practices. We blasted their Web infrastructure to **** for two days straight, crippling all three of their mail servers as well as taking down their main Web sites worldwide." The group now says it will turn its attention to the expansion of the Canadian tar sands project in Alberta.
The Syrian regime switched off the internet 10 days ago.This message has just arrived in theecosocialist inbox and explains how to get online and let the world know what is happening:
ATTENTION PEOPLE OF #SYRIA - Let the world know! Here is how! #telecomix #emcom #rev11info #killswitch
00492317299993, User=telecomix,Pass=telecomix
004953160941030, User=telecomix,Pass=telecomix
0031205350535, User=XS4all,Pass=XS4all
00431962962, User=selfnet, Pass=selfnet
0034912910230 no password
0016033715050 no password
004721405060 no password
Dial up access for #Syria: +46850009990 +492317299993 +4953160941030 user:telecomix password:telecomix #syria #killswitch by @telecomix RT'd
@speak2tweet works in #Syria. Call +16504194196 or +390662207294 or +442033184514 to hear tweets or leave a tweet.
http://74.125.93.104/ seems to work for accessing the Google search page. Other features might use different servers at different IPs.
scroogle.org will let most ppl get around blocks on google. Try it if you need to. ^^
http://news.intercom.gs/attention-people-of-syria-let-the-world-know
 The brilliant documentary 'The War You Don't See' has already screened here in the UK. The film provides a fascinating account of the misreporting of war by mainstream sources and detail's how this manipulation occurs. It is illuminating albeit repugnant to glance deeper at it's manifestations. John Pilger is seemingly bamboozled as to why the film has been banned 'at the last minute' and has written this letter, released on his website: I am writing to you and a number of other friends mostly in the US to alert you to the extraordinary banning of my film on war and media, 'The War You Don't See', and the abrupt cancellation of a major event at the Lannan Foundation in Santa Fe in which David Barsamian and I were to discuss free speech, US foreign policy and censorship in the media. Lannan invited me and David over a year ago and welcomed my proposal that they also host the US premiere of 'The War You Don't See', in which US and British broadcasters describe the often hidden part played by the media in the promotion of war, in Iraq and Afghanistan. The film has been widely acclaimed in the UK and Australia; the trailer and reviews are on my website www.johnpilger.com. The banning and cancellation, which have shocked David and me, are on the personal orders of Patrick Lannan, whose wealth funds the Lannan Foundation as a liberal centre of discussion of politics and the arts. Some of you will have been there and will know the Lannan Foundation as a valuable supporter of liberal causes. Indeed, I was invited in 2002 to present a Lannan award to the broadcaster Amy Goodman. What is deeply disturbing about the ban is that it happened so suddenly and inexplicably: 48 hours before David Barsamian and I were both due to depart for Santa Fe I received a brief email with a 'sorry for the inconvenience' from a Lannan official who had been telling me just a few days earlier what a 'great honour' it was to have the US premiere of my film at Lannan, with myself in attendance. I urge you to visit the Lannan website www.lannan.org. Good people like Michael Ratner, Jeremy Scahill and Glenn Greenwald are shown as participants in discussion about freedom of speech. I am there, too, but my name is the only one with a line through it and the word, 'Cancelled'. Neither David Barsamian nor I have been given a word of explanation. All my messages to Lannan have gone unanswered; my calls are not returned; my flights were cancelled summarily. At the urging of the New Mexican newspaper, Patrick Lannan has issued a one-sentence statement offering his regrets to the Lannan-supporting 'community' in Santa Fe. Again, he gives no reason for the ban. I have spoken to the manager of the Santa Fe cinema where 'The War You Don't See' was to be screened. He received a late-night call. Again, no reason for the ban was given, giving him barely time to cancel advertising in The New Mexican. There is a compelling symbol of our extraordinary times in all of this. A rich and powerful individual and organisation, espousing freedom of speech, has moved ruthlessly and unaccountably to crush it. With warm regards John Pilger
 Historically all major communication technologies have began in some DIY lab, with progression in the earlier stages to a relatively small group of users who enjoy it's freedoms, and dare dream of how such technology may bring parity to an unlevel playing field. All however become monopolized, commodified, and controlled by big money interests and subsequent generations begin to forget it's original promise. The internet is posing a huge problem to the elites but there are signs that they are beginning to better filter, control and infiltrate to suit their interests. This is the latest drive to extend US imperialism from reality to virtuality: From Al Jazeera:
The US military is developing software that would allow military personnel to use fake profiles in online chat rooms. The idea is to use social media to spread positive messages about the United States. While the Pentagon says it is a bid to counter violent extremist and enemy ideologies, critics call it propaganda. Al Jazeera's Cath Turner reports from New York on how the strategy is causing some legal and moral concerns.
 Anonymous were integral to the success of the Tunisian and Egyptian Revolutions. They have no leader, they don't know who each other are, the same people may or may not be involved from one action to the next, They will never initiate any movement but if voices of the people are loud enough and/or freedoms are significantly compromised they will consider intervention.. This video has just appeared on you tube. I cannot confirm it's authenticity.
"It has come to our attention that in Europe and specifically in Spain, Greece, France and Italy, there have been some small uprisings starting. Anonymous would like to remind you that is not an evil force. Anonymous is a force with great power, The power of the people..We are Anonymous, We do not forget, We do not forgive, Expect us - Always
 As the social media fuelled revolution of the middle east and North Africa spreads to Europe, ( Click here for newly added article on Spanish uprising) The G8 has arranged an urgent meeting with corporate friends to suppress internet freedom. This message from the petition site: For the first time, the leaders of the G8 developed countries are going to discuss internet policy. Instead of promoting net neutrality and user privacy and combating online censorship, the French government has locked civil society out of these conversations, while inviting CEOs -- some of whom paid $100,000 for their seat at the table -- who are pushing policies like strict intellectual property enforcement, which will line corporate pockets while curtailing our digital rights.
Unless we speak out now, decisions about internet policy are going to be made at the highest levels without our voices represented. Please sign this urgent petition calling on the G8 to adopt citizen-centered internet policies, which we’ll deliver at a press conference to the world media on Monday in Paris.
Dear President Sarkozy and other G8 Leaders,
We urge you to publicly commit to citizen-centered policies like expanding internet access for all, combating digital censorship and surveillance, limiting online intermediary liability, and upholding principles of net neutrality. Click here for petition site
 I have just got this email from Avaaz so I expect the majority of people that read this blog have too. But just in case any of you hav en't here it is:
All of these campaigns are demonstrations of the promise of people power -- of what's possible when we come together to do what's right. And all of them were funded entirely by small donations from Avaaz members, including almost 250,000 of us who have donated to Avaaz campaigns and 10,000 of us who have become 'sustainers' and donated a few dollars or euros a week or month to cover all of Avaaz's core costs -- click here to join in giving. Because of these small donations, Avaaz doesn't have to answer to corporate sponsors, large individual donors, or government grantmakers. Instead, Avaaz is accountable only to its members, and all our dreams of a better world for all.
Anti-Corruption Campaign Explodes in India Two weeks ago, Anna Hazare, a 73 year old Gandhian activist, declared a fast unto death until the government agreed to let civil society draft a powerful new anti-corruption law. In just 36 hours, an unprecedented 500,000 Indians joined Avaaz's campaign to support Hazare's call for sweeping reform. In 4 days, the public outcry forced India's government to sign a written submission to all of Hazare's demands! We won!! Today, a new India is being born -- and just as last year in Brazil with landmark anti-corruption legislation, Avaaz is helping to breathe life into it. Breaking the Middle East Blackout Funded by donations from almost 30,000 Avaazers, an Avaaz team is working closely with the leadership of democracy movements in Syria, Yemen, Libya and more to get them high-tech phones and satellite internet modems, connect them to the world's top media outlets, and provide communications advice. We've seen the power of this engagement -- where our support to activists has created global media cycles with footage and eyewitness accounts that our team helps distribute to CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera and others. The courage of these activists is unbelievable -- a skype message from one last week read 'state security searching the house, my laptop battery dying, if not online tomorrow I'm dead or arrested'. He's ok, and together we're helping to get his and many other voices out to the world. Huge Win on Hilton Hotels vs the Rape Trade 24 hours after 317,000 Avaazers called on the Hilton CEO to sign a code of conduct on the rape trade or face hard-hitting ads in his hometown, we got a frantic call from his vice-president. 'You're going to WHAT?', she asked. Hilton had dragged its feet for months. We gave them four days, and they signed. Now 180,000 hotel employees will be trained to spot and prevent the horror of of sex slavery of women and girls. Libyan Massacre Prevented -- one million messages to the Security Council Our messages called for sanctions, asset freezes, and an internationally enforced no-fly zone to protect civilians in Libya. Our voices got through: the UN Ambassador from the US, one of the last hold-outs to back the motion, publicly thanked us for our messages. International action began just as Qaddafi's tanks encircled the rebel-held city of Benghazi -- and is widely credited with preventing a likely massacre of large numbers of civilians. Berlusconi's Censorship Bill, Defeated Italy's Silvio Berlusconi, facing souring political winds and a trial for statutory rape expected to coincide with general elections, tried to force a censorship law through parliament that would have silenced his critics on independent TV shows. But Italian Avaaz members fought back -- powering a 70,000-strong petition and thousands of phone calls to parliament at the crucial moment that helped swing the final vote. The law was blocked, in a huge victory for Avaaz members and for the future of Italian democracy and free speech. Brazil: Blocking an Amazon-Destroying Mega-Dam The proposed Belo Monte dam complex, an environmental catastrophe in the making, has been delayed -- thanks in part to the spectacular delivery led by indigenous tribes-people of more than 600,000 petition signatures from Avaazers in Brazil and around the world. The Organization of American States has now joined the opposition to the dam, saying it violates human rights -- and the momentum is building to cancel it and focus on clean renewable energy sources instead. Wikileaks: A Win Against Torture Two weeks ago, more than 500,000 Avaaz members from around the world called on President Obama to end the brutal isolation and inhumane treatment of Bradley Manning, the alleged source of leaked cables publicized by Wikileaks. Just days later, the US government bowed to mounting pressure and announced that Manning would be transferred to a medium-security prison and receive proper mental health treatment, and members of the press were invited to verify that his torture had ended. Public pressure worked! A Million-Strong Swarm to Save the Bees Over a million people, including 200,000 in France, signed an explosive petition to ban pesticides that are mass-killing bees the world over -- and, standing with a team of French beekeepers, delivered the petition to the French Agriculture Minister at a major conference. The campaign continues, building pressure for action in France, the EU, and around the globe. Victory Over 'False and Misleading' News in Canada Conservative officials in Canada have been working to launch a Murdoch-style propagandistic TV network -- but in February, when they moved to strike national journalism standards against false or misleading broadcasts, they brought down a firestorm of opposition. 100,000 Canadian Avaazers signed in opposition, and the outrageous proposal to undermine balanced reporting was withdrawn. Worldwide Solidarity for Egypt In the darkest hours of their struggle for liberation from Mubarak, Egyptians told the world they needed solidarity -- and Avaaz members answered the call. 600,000 of us around the world signed messages of support carried by Al Jazeera broadcasts straight into Tahrir Square -- helping to sustain a movement fueled by hope through some of it's darkest and most uncertain hours. Mubarak's Billions, Frozen When Mubarak left power in Egypt, he tried to take his stolen fortune with him -- but within days, more than half a million of us petitioned the G20's Finance Ministers to immediately freeze his billions, delivering the message with a 'protest pyramid' built opposite the Eiffel Tower during the ministers' meeting. In the weeks following, the EU and countries around the world agreed to freeze the assets of Mubarak and his top aides. Under Pressure, South Africa Begins to Confront 'Corrective Rape' When a local group in South Africa launched a petition demanding that their government address 'corrective rape' -- the sickening epidemic of rapes of lesbian women to 'turn them straight' -- they were, at first, ignored. But when their petition reached 170,000 signatures, the government noticed -- and now, with nearly a million of us signed on and massive media attention, the pressure for meaningful action is becoming unstoppable. Delivering 1 million voices for food safety Before the ink even dried on an exciting new tool for direct democracy in Europe, over one million people from every country in the EU took part in the first-ever European Citizens' Initiative -- a process where people can lodge official petitions that require a response. Avaaz members called for an immediate freeze on genetically modified crops entering the EU until objective studies free from industry influence could show they were safe. The initiative had a spectacular delivery directly to the EU Commission that flooded the media with coverage and sent a clear message to officials. * Avaaz has been influential and yes the revolution will be tweeted! The author is however opposed to intervention in Libya backed by Avaaz. Added 26th April 10:00am GMT.
 Twitter is always alive with tweets of great interest to ecosocialists but is often a baron wasteland with Tweets that directly relate to or contain the word Ecosocialism or Ecosocialist. Occasionally (but by no means exclusively) tweets from Another Green (Derek Wall), Ecosocialism Canada (Doug Taylor) and from this blog do the rounds. So it is refreshing to see this interview with Joel Kovel "Another world is possible it's called Ecosocialism" Still circulating a month after it was first posted. Indeed in the first week following it's publication, there were hundreds of twitterers sharing it around. The Interview the tweet refers to was conducted at the World Social Forum. The Article Begins: Widely considered the father of the fast-growing Ecosocialist movement, Joel Kovel has played a leading role in the WSF since 2003, following the movement from Mumbai to Nairobi to Belem. Co-author of the Ecosocialist manifesto, which details an alternative route to humanity's current path of environmental destruction, Kovel told IPS that we have to name this "other world" and position it firmly against the threat of global capital. Click here to read the interviewA good opportunity to repost this Video 'Regime of Money' with Joel commentating over music by Jeffrey Brodsky.
 To detail the reach and influence of Murdoch's media monopoly is not possible in this brief article. it would not be unreasonable to suggest that he has the loudest and furthest reaching voice in the anglophone world and beyond. A quote from business week that offers some perspective: "His satellites deliver TV programs in five continents, all but dominating Britain, Italy, and wide swaths of Asia and the Middle East. He publishes 175 newspapers, including the New York Post and The Times of London. In the U.S., he owns the Twentieth Century Fox Studio, Fox Network, and 35 TV stations that reach more than 40% of the country...His cable channels include fast-growing Fox News, and 19 regional sports channels. In all, as many as one in five American homes at any given time will be tuned into a show News Corp. either produced or delivered."This quote still falls short of expressing the extent of the monopoly, for example he also owns the Wall Street Journal and MYSPACE which if steered differently when bought, could have eclipsed facebook. No revelation to point out that Murdoch is a right winger, however he will gladly cross to the left if that's where the money is. Andrew Neil who worked for Murdoch for 11 years writes " He will always moderate his political fundamentalism if its suits his business." The UK red top the Sun was one of Murdochs first international purchases, bought back in 1969, Murdoch understood that its readers were unionised working class men, and so it's headlines actively supported Labour and ran headlines attacking the Vietnam War, racism and capital punishment, overtime he pushed it to the right. He has been building allegiances and been the puppeteer pulling the strings of politicians since the 60's. His first paper based in Adelaide 'The Australian' printed blatant lies about a potential priminister during elections that inevitably led to his first major ally John Gordon winning the campaign. With his first world leader in his pocket he was able to manipulate Australian economic policy, enabling him to get his cash out of the country, and thus buying his first UK paper the News of the World. This laid the tactical foundation for proceedings that now span 7 decades! In this time the man from Oz has been able to manipulate the people and the politicians like no other. His advertising empire has people chasing shit they don't need with money they don't have, he has been able to pull the left working class toward the right, he has dodged billions in tax, broken unions, and with great influence supported war's, openly admitting Oil as it's justification. See the article in the Guardian in 2003 - Their master's voice, documenting how Murdoch argued strongly for a war with Iraq as did his 175 editors around the world backing it too. "Once it [Iraq] is behind us, the whole world will benefit from cheaper oil which will be a bigger stimulus than anything else." and "The greatest thing to come out of this for the world economy...would be $20 a barrel for oil"The Monopoly can not just be viewed as it stands now at this point in time, rather viewed as to where it may be several years from now, with so many politicians in his pocket and constant manoeuvrings leaving no place outside of his reach. He has been knocking on the door of the most tightly controlled media network; China for several years and has gone head to head with fellow media mogul and political comic strip Berlosconni to further extend his Italian wing; an Italian commentator writes " Murdoch will have to fight through European regulators and the Italian courts. That could take a decade." Encouraging as it is to think there may still be epochs of global media that may not have been Murdochratized in a decade from now, we are at the verge of another takeover right now in the UK. I have just received this email from the Avaaz Campaign website: Dear friends across the UK, Murdoch has used his vast media empire to push war in Iraq, elect George W Bush, and block global action on climate change, and if he wins this week in Britain he will use his networks here to undermine all the issues that we care about. Our democracy is at risk. Media-mogul Rupert Murdoch wants to extend his massive political influence by taking over BSkyB and controlling nearly half the commercial British media! We have just 24 hours to press the government to stand up for British media and democracy and stop Rupert Murdoch: For four decades he has interfered with our democracy -- determining election results, bolstering politicians in exchange for influence, and smearing others who refuse his orders. But he may have finally gone too far -- with just 24 hours left before the decision, the coalition is still deeply divided on Murdoch's bid for BSkyB. The government is deciding right now whether Murdoch can gain control of one of Britain's largest news corporations. Let's tip the balance against Murdoch's attempt to tighten his grip on our media. Click to send an urgent message directly to key decision makers on the BSkyB bid and send this on to everyone -- let's flood our politicians with tens of thousands of messages telling them we want Murdoch’s hands off our democracy:30,000 UK messages and phone calls to Parliament today and momentum building with hours left to go. Send a message and forward this on! Click here to send your message:http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_rupert_murdoch_uk/?cl=970328932&v=8537 A fairly tame video, from Fry and Laurie, but does pose an interesting question: What would the world be like if Rupert Murdoch had not been born?
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