Joined: 25 Jan 2005 Posts: 1433 Local time: 1:34 PM Location: West Palm Beach, FL
Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 4:08 pm Post subject: 30,000+ Workers in Mahalla Egypt Riot / Global food riots
PJM Cairo: Angry demonstrators have been clashing with police as a nationwide strike has turned into a protest against the government of President Hosni Mubarak
Picture of one of the feared State Security trucks, commandeered and smashed by the people
Joyous rioting in the streets. Stores destroyed. Government buildings ransacked. Pictures of the long-ruling tyrannical leader of this middle-eastern country were stepped on. The footage of what was taking place was simply exhilarating, with people expressing the hatred they felt toward their ruler for the first time in over a quarter-century. If you think I’m describing Iraq after the fall of Saddam, you are mistaken. This is happening in Egypt — in a small delta city called Mahalla el-Kobra to be exact — where that aforementioned dictator is still alive and very much in power.
It all started two days ago, when a nationwide strike was called by a number of political parties and worker movements to protest their low income, the skyrocketing cost of living, and the open corruption and blatant nepotism of the Egyptian government. All eyes that day were on Mahalla, which was supposed to kick-start the strike by having its 30,000 textile factory workers go to the factory and stage a sit-in. The security forces in charge immediately rounded up the strike leaders, pressuring some of the weaker ones to accept a compromise. They also arrested and isolated every other strike organizer who wouldn’t budge. The government forced the workers to work at the point of a gun, and announced that the strike was canceled. This rang true until the workers got off work and found their union leaders detained and arrested. They then started confronting the security forces, which lead to clashes that lasted till midnight that day and led to two casualties and some 95 arrests.
The following day, yesterday, around 2,000 demonstrators demonstrated peacefully in front of the police station, demanding the release of their detained co-workers, relatives, and friends. The Egyptian police responded by shooting rubber bullets and tear gas at the demonstrators, and attacking them physically. When word of this reached the demonstrators’ family members and friends, they responded by taking to the streets and attacking the security forces wherever they could find them. The people threw rocks at the security forces, destroyed their cars, and tore down the pictures of Mubarak all over the city. The security forces continued shooting and arresting people, all the while sending plain-clothed police thugs to destroy stores and ransack schools. This was done in order to make it look like as if the people were destroying everything in their path and had to be cracked down on and stopped. The death toll rose to 5 the second night (including a 12 year-old and a 15 year-old), while the arrest total rose to 195. Countless people were injured.
On Tuesday, the government instituted a security clampdown on Mahalla. No one is allowed in and out of the city, including journalists. A 24-hour curfew is in effect, with the threat of immediate arrest and torture for anyone who violates it for any reason. The government also announced that they are looking to detain around 175 more people before this is over. A number of Egyptian NGOs are already starting a legal team and a defense fund to help those detained by the government, and the political forces that organized this strike are planning a second one on May 4th, which is President Mubarak’s Birthday.
The news of what took place in Mahalla is now spreading all over Egypt, with the pictures of their stand against state forces circulating across the internet. There is a sense of dread among those who are following the news. They fear what will happen to those who dare revolt against the government and wonder whether or not the spirit of their revolt will survive the crackdown. There are also those who fear that the severity of the clampdown will frighten the people into complicity and discourage them from revolting again. The answers to those questions are elusive at the moment, but they should be crystal clear to anyone who wonders on the day of May 4th. Whether it’s a fluke or a start of something more, one thing is certain: as far as the common Egyptian is concerned, the people of Mahalla’s revolt has now became the stuff of legend.
***
Rising food prices could spark worldwide unrest and threaten political stability, the UN's top humanitarian official warned yesterday after two days of rioting in Egypt over the doubling of prices of basic foods in a year and protests in other parts of the world.
Sir John Holmes, undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and the UN's emergency relief coordinator, told a conference in Dubai that escalating prices would trigger protests and riots in vulnerable nations. He said food scarcity and soaring fuel prices would compound the damaging effects of global warming. Prices have risen 40% on average globally since last summer.
As well as this week's violence in Egypt, the rising cost and scarcity of food has been blamed for:
Riots in Haiti last week that killed four people
Violent protests in Ivory Coast
Price riots in Cameroon in February that left 40 people dead
Heated demonstrations in Mauritania, Mozambique and Senegal
Protests in Uzbekistan, Yemen, Bolivia and Indonesia
UN staff in Jordan also went on strike for a day this week to demand a pay rise in the face of a 50% hike in prices, while Asian countries such as Cambodia, China, Vietnam, India and Pakistan have curbed rice exports to ensure supplies for their own residents.
Joined: 25 Jan 2005 Posts: 1433 Local time: 1:34 PM Location: West Palm Beach, FL
Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 6:56 pm Post subject:
re: Soylent Green. Umm spoilers above!
But yeah I bought the movie a couple weeks ago because it reminded me of the direction our nation is going. Other movies that are dystopian:
Children of Men (bleak future with big government)
Idiocracy (500 years in the future people are stupider, happy ending tho)
Running Man (only Arnold movie I like so far, reality TV with human killings to brainwash public)
Brazil (big government with Patriot Act on steroids)
Rollerball (don't remember it much, but the 70s version is good)
Logan's Run (population control, snitching on ppl)
Joined: 25 Apr 2007 Posts: 116 Local time: 1:34 PM
Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 7:08 pm Post subject:
skinny wrote:
re: Soylent Green. Umm spoilers above!
But yeah I bought the movie a couple weeks ago because it reminded me of the direction our nation is going. Other movies that are dystopian:
Children of Men (bleak future with big government)
Idiocracy (500 years in the future people are stupider, happy ending tho)
Running Man (only Arnold movie I like so far, reality TV with human killings to brainwash public)
Brazil (big government with Patriot Act on steroids)
Rollerball (don't remember it much, but the 70s version is good)
Logan's Run (population control, snitching on ppl)
skinny
Logan's Run is a personal favorite. Some silly presentation at some points but clearly a breakthrough movie for its time. The one thing i find interesting about the movie is how there is just a little bit of nudity in it. Something that modern sci-fi movies shy away from because the higher the rating the less money they make. Seem silly that it its more taboo to see nudity these days. Today all Nudity = Porn.
I would also add manipulation of the media to Running Man. They completely changed his back story. Manipulated raw footage to tell the story how they wanted.
Joined: 11 Apr 2005 Posts: 2550 Local time: 11:34 AM Location: The exact center of my observable universe
Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 8:10 pm Post subject:
skinny wrote:
re: Soylent Green. Umm spoilers above!
But yeah I bought the movie a couple weeks ago because it reminded me of the direction our nation is going. Other movies that are dystopian:
Children of Men (bleak future with big government)
Idiocracy (500 years in the future people are stupider, happy ending tho)
Running Man (only Arnold movie I like so far, reality TV with human killings to brainwash public)
Brazil (big government with Patriot Act on steroids)
Rollerball (don't remember it much, but the 70s version is good)
Logan's Run (population control, snitching on ppl)
skinny
This list includes some excellent titles:
http://snarkerati.com/movie-news/the-top-50-dystopian-movies-of-all-time/ _________________ "True wisdom is less presuming than folly. The wise man doubteth often, and changeth his mind; the fool is obstinate, and doubteth not; he knoweth all things but his own ignorance."
Akhenaton?( c. B.P. 1575)
Science is a lighthouse,
Faith is the rocks below.
God Not Found - resources for atheist/agnostics
"the universe is under no obligation to be easy for us to comprehend."
moloth
Joined: 25 Jan 2005 Posts: 1433 Local time: 1:34 PM Location: West Palm Beach, FL
Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 8:14 pm Post subject:
Cydonia21 wrote:
"It's delicious! God, I haven't had real butter since I was a little girl! Where did you get it?" -- V For Vendetta
Oh yeah I forgot to mention that one. I recently watched it but fell asleep near the end...not that it was boring I just was stoned and sleepy. And yeah Logan's Run is a favorite. Jenny Agutter FTW.
Found some recent clips:
CNN clip - shocked that the reporter put the blame on rise of food prices on falling dollar and bailouts
Joined: 25 Jan 2005 Posts: 1433 Local time: 1:34 PM Location: West Palm Beach, FL
Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 2:21 pm Post subject:
Bangladesh hit by food price riots
Quote:
About 20,000 textile workers have clashed with police near Dhaka, Bangladesh's capital, demanding better wages to meet high food prices.
Workers from more than a dozen textile factories fought police on Saturday in Fatullah, 20km south of Dhaka.
Bangladesh police said that the protesters wrecked cars and buses and vandalised factories.
Shafiqul Islam, a police sub-inspector, said: "They became unruly demanding higher wages, saying their current wages don't even meet basic food needs."
Bhuiyan Mahbub Hasan, the local police chief, said that representatives of the military, labour and manufacturers would meet in an attempt to diffuse the unrest.
'Hidden hunger'
Bangladesh's food minister had earlier said that the shortfall in the domestic grain output as well as rising global prices had created a "hidden hunger" in the country, which had intensified in the last few months.
The country's garment manufacturers and textile workers earn some of the lowest salaries in the world.
With basic monthly salary as low as $25, textile workers are some of the worst hit in Bangladesh.
Nazma Akhter, president of the United Garments Workers Union, said: "The $25 basic minimum salary was fixed in 2006. But since then prices of rice and other food items have almost doubled or tripled."
Akhter said that while workers have been demanding a rise in their salaries, the textile owners rejected their pleas.
He said even foreign buyers had reduced the prices of Bangladeshi products in the recent months, which compounded the problem.
NOT ONLY India, but majority of the developing countries in Asia and Africa are increasingly being hit by the rising inflation particularly the steep hike in food prices leading to food riots in many countries. .
It is believed that sharp rise in international cereal prices, increase in global oil prices and freight rates has led to this situation, which has been complicated further by steady demand and depleting food reserves.
World Food and Agricultural Organisation study has revealed that the price of rice and wheat are almost double as compared to March last year. In fact for some food deficit countries in Africa, cereal bill is being projected to increase by as much as 74 per cent.
The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) study reveals that prices of bread, rice, maize products, milk, oil, soyabean and other basic foods have increased sharply in recent months in a number of developing countries, despite policy measures.
The report cites food riots had taken place in Egypt, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Madagascar, the Philippines and Haiti in the past month.
Interestingly, in Pakistan and Thailand, both of which happen to be in India’s vicinity army troops are reported to have been deployed to prevent people from forcibily seizing foods from fields and warehouses.
joshuas3521 Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition!
Joined: 19 Dec 2007 Posts: 2183 Local time: 1:34 PM Location: Birmingham, Alabama
Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 8:24 pm Post subject:
Ha! I <3 soylent green _________________ "What I'm saying is, if God wanted to send us a message, and ancient writings were the only way he could think of doing it, he could have done a better job." --Carl Sagan
"In the beginning the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move." --Douglas Adams
Joined: 19 Jun 2007 Posts: 542 Local time: 6:34 PM Location: UK
Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 8:33 am Post subject: Re: 30,000+ Workers in Mahalla Egypt Riot / Global food riot
skinny wrote:
I want to draw speech bubbles on this. Look at their happy faces. _________________ Kindly stick your Quran/Bible/Torah up your holier-than-thou arsehole you square.
Joined: 16 Feb 2008 Posts: 837 Local time: 1:34 PM
Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 1:22 pm Post subject:
Cydonia21 wrote:
skinny wrote:
re: Soylent Green. Umm spoilers above!
But yeah I bought the movie a couple weeks ago because it reminded me of the direction our nation is going. Other movies that are dystopian:
Children of Men (bleak future with big government)
Idiocracy (500 years in the future people are stupider, happy ending tho)
Running Man (only Arnold movie I like so far, reality TV with human killings to brainwash public)
Brazil (big government with Patriot Act on steroids)
Rollerball (don't remember it much, but the 70s version is good)
Logan's Run (population control, snitching on ppl)
skinny
Logan's Run is a personal favorite. Some silly presentation at some points but clearly a breakthrough movie for its time. The one thing i find interesting about the movie is how there is just a little bit of nudity in it. Something that modern sci-fi movies shy away from because the higher the rating the less money they make. Seem silly that it its more taboo to see nudity these days. Today all Nudity = Porn.
I would also add manipulation of the media to Running Man. They completely changed his back story. Manipulated raw footage to tell the story how they wanted.
Sorry for hijacking your post.
Running Man is the most appropriate for this thread since Arnold's character got into trouble when he refused to open fire on food rioters.
Joined: 25 Jan 2005 Posts: 1433 Local time: 1:34 PM Location: West Palm Beach, FL
Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 6:47 pm Post subject:
The REAL cost of inflation
The true, devastating scale of rising prices is revealed today - by the new Daily Mail Cost of Living Index. It shows that families are having to find more than £100 a month extra this year to cope with increases in the cost of food, heat, light and transport.
According to the Consumer Price Index, inflation is running at only 2.5 per cent.Yet the Mail's index finds that food costs alone are rising at 15.5 per cent a year - more than six times the official rate.
And there are double-digit increases in other "must-pay" essentials such as petrol, gas and electricity. Many families need to find more than £1,200 extra a year just to stand still.
Once higher mortgage costs are added, millions are having to pay out at least another £2,000 a year to keep their heads above water.
The Bank of England's chief economist Charlie Bean admitted last night that higher food and energy costs are likely to push the Consumer Price Index over 3 per cent this year.
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