Text Fwd: Is 1848 Repeating Itself in the Arab World?

* Image source: same as the link

Global Research
Revolution: Is 1848 Repeating Itself in the Arab World?
PART I: The Dynamics of Global Capitalism
by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya
February 5, 2011

Is history repeating itself? Have the events of 1848 in Europe repeated themselves in the Arab World? Will 2011 see the same outcomes as 1848? Only the Arab people can decide. Their fate is in their hands, but they should learn from the mistakes of 1848 and seriously address the role of the capitalist class.

PART I

The European Spring of 1848 and the Arab Spring of 2011

In 1848, revolutionary fervour broke across continental Europe. The waves of revolution were set in motion in France. It did not take long before the rest of Europe was hit with a tsunami of popular uprisings and revolts. Like a domino effect, country after country would be hit by revolt. Denmark, the German States, the Italian States, Belgium, Wallachia, and the Habsburg's Austrian Empire would all be shaken by popular revolt. The bases of the European revolts were the same as those in the modern-day Arab World.

Economic disparity, abuse of workers rights, and a lack of political equality were all causes for the wave of revolutions in 1848 Europe. Industrialization and economic and technological leaps were causing major socio-economic changes in European societies before and up to 1848. While in a very different historical context, this has also been occurring in today's Arab World.

In 19th Century Europe, fundamental economic changes, characterized by the consolidation of wealth, caused massive unemployment as well as the outbreak of famines.

This has also occurred in recent years in the Arab World, largely as a result of the brunt of neo-liberal reforms and rising food prices. Anger over lack of employment, lack of opportunities, corrupt government practices, and rising bread and food prices have actually been igniting riots and protests in the Arab World, specifically those states around the Mediterranean Sea, for several years before 2011. These past riots and protests were preludes to the highly tense situations in Egypt, Tunisia, and the Arab World.


The French Revolution of 1848: Europe's Tunisia or Iran?

1848 France was ruled by the landed property class, big industry, and the banking class. It was the working class that brought about the rise of this triad (landed property, big industry, and the banking class) through the French Revolution of 1789. In turn, this triad or "big capital" would systematically disenfranchize the working class by eliminating universal suffrage.

A new residency criterion was imposed in France by King Louis-Philip I who served the interests of big capital and was appropriately called the "Bourgeoisie King." French citizens had to prove that they lived in a riding for three years. To prove residency, the French working class needed letters of authentication from their employers. Thus, the working class and an overwhelming majority of the French were disenfranchized from voting and held hostage by big capital. French workers would also migrate from one place and riding to another place and riding for employment, because of the changing economic conditions, which would also make qualification for voting impossible. Unemployment would grip France and there would be a massive surplus of labour that would be readily exploited by organized capital. These unbearable conditions would led to the French Revolution of 1848.

In the French Revolution of 1789, the working class allied itself with big capital (big industry, the banking class, and landed property), but this would change in 1848. While big capital was fighting amongst itself, the working class was becoming an ally of the petty bourgeoisie in demanding a share in governing France and directing the course of French society. The House of Orléans was overthrown and the monarchy brought to a final end with the establishment of the Second French Republic.

Yet, the working class did not secure their rights after 1848. They held briefly the seat of power. The new taxation system failed and the capitalist class retained its control, thereby neutralizing efforts for genuine socio-economic reform in France. This led up to the 1851 Paris coup that was to make Charles Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte the emperor of the Second French Empire. The other outcome, after the defeat of Emperor Bonaparte in the Franco-Prussian War, was the 1871 establishment of the short-lived French government known by historians as the "Paris Commune." [1] Under the Paris Commune and its mixed socialist and anarchist government, France became history's first socialist republic, more than seventy years before the establishment of the Soviet Union. Under the Prussian occupation of France, the Paris Commune was ultimately crushed by an agreement and strategic understanding reached between the Germans and French organized capital.

What lessons can be learned from 1848?

The French Revolution of 1848 illustrates how capital can manipulate the desires of the working class and mainstream society. It also illustrates that the capitalist class was predominately in control of the state, despite the changes in political leadership. Finally, the outcome of 1848 in France illustrates that policies are deliberately fluctuated by organized capital as a means to lull mainstream society. In this context, history could repeat itself in the Arab World.



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Photos Fwd: Some voices of the G20 protest, Seoul, Korea, Nov. 11/ 11월 11일 G20 반대 시위의 목소리들

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* Summary of the contents and details of program, anti G20 protest, Nov. 11, 2010
* Yonhap News article after the rally, Nov. 11, 2010
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* Related blogs

[In Update] People’s Response Action against G-20
[엎데이트중] G20대응민중행동

Photos Fwd:[Benjamin Hiller] G20 Seoul, Nov. 11: 10.000 rally against G20 Summit. Only minor scuffles.
[사진: 벤자민 힐러] 2010년 11월11일 서울 G20 시위: G20 정상들에 반대해 1만여명 집회. 작은 난투뿐.

Photos Fwd:[Jeffrey Bright] G20 Protests Seoul, Nov. 11, 2010
[사진: 제프리 브라이트] 서울, 2010년 11월11일, G20 시위
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Click the images for larger views
이미지들을 클릭하시면 확대됩니다.

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1. Stop the war and dispatch_Anti-War Peace Solidarity

Stop the plan to dispatch special warfare force to the UAE!
Not war and arms cost but jobs and welfare!
Stop the occupation of Afghanistan!/ South Korean troops, withdraw from Afghanistan!

Veterans for Peace and All Together members distribute the fliers on no-dispatch troops to the UAE and withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Flier front
Not war and arms cost but jobs and welfare!(* title translation)
Anti-War Peace Solidarity

Flier back
G20 summit meeting is the festival by the nations
cooperating in occupation and and massacre! (*title translation)
All the occupation forces and ROK troops should withdraw from Afghanistan!

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2. International voices: No G20!

A representative from the international association of the wood workers speaks

A representative from Canada who went through G20 last time talks on solidarity

A representative from France who will go through G20 next time opposes G20

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3. Some voices that have to be told as well

Solidarity for Peace And Reunification of Korea members
No ROK-US alliance! No US troops in Korea! No FTA!

No Four River Project!

Street vendors are angry!
'Stop the crackdown on the street vendors with the pretext of G20!'

Valeo Korea, withdraw from fake closing-business and lay-off of all the workers!

KEC, metal union workers in Koomee will make victory over oppression

Hanjin Heavy Industry workers are angry at their company managers who, ignoring the agreement between them and company, attempt to make them pay for company crisis.

Go away, G20!

Do not make people pay for their crisis!
No G20!

False G for those G20, True G for all the people on the globe.

Confiscate and nationalize all the banks, financial institutes and monopoly capital!
The spirit of Jeon Tae-Il still lives all these 40years!

Text Fwd: FRENCH FIGHT FOR ALL OF US AGAINST GLOBAL CAPITAL 프랑스인들, 우리 모두를 위해 세계 자본에 맞서 싸우다.

Bruce Gagnon blog
Sunday, October 24, 2010
FRENCH FIGHT FOR ALL OF US AGAINST GLOBAL CAPITAL

Sign reads "Listen to the public's rage"

Unlike the right-wing tea-baggers in the U.S., the working class in France understands there is a war upon them and it is coming from the global corporate elite. Sadly in the U.S. many of those who are angry at their economic situation are naively turning to the very people who are oppressing them for answers and support. They will learn in time that they are being badly misled and used by the oligarchy.

Go to this link to see many more photos and also read many excellent comments by French citizens and their supporters in other countries about the French strikes. Those who are paying close attention understand that global capital is now out to suppress the working and middle classes all over the world. The French recognize that the raising of their retirement age is just the first step. Now that it has passed there will be plenty more of these "austerity" measures coming their way. They don't intend to sit back and comply.

Obama's "commission" on Social Security reform will propose an increase in retirement age in the U.S. soon after the November 2 election. We will be told we have to accept this in order to deal with the deficit. The question should be posed: What will the banksters, insurance corporations, and war industries have to give up? The answer is: Nothing!

It's way beyond time for some class consciousness here in America.

Video Fwd: FRENCH FIGHT AGAINST PRIVATIZATION 사유화에 반대해 싸우는 프랑스 인들

Bruce Gagnon blog
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
FRENCH FIGHT AGAINST PRIVATIZATION



French Unions have launched another strike against pension reform - the fourth major action in a month.

It comes as the unpopular pension reform bill edges closer to becoming law.

Trains and airports are running well below capacity and marches are planned across the country.

Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland reports from Marseille, France's main southern oil port, where dock workers have been on strike for two weeks.

Text Fwd: S. Korea's 1st geostationary ocean-weather satellite placed into orbit

Yonhap News
SEOUL, June 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's first geostationary ocean-weather satellite has successfully reached Earth's orbit after being launched from Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, the government said Sunday.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said the Chollian communication, ocean and meteorological satellite (COMS) blasted off from French Guiana on an Ariane 5-ECA rocket at 6:41 a.m. (Korea Time) after encountering minor technical problems on Thursday and Friday that delayed the launch.

The Chollian successfully reached "geostationary transfer orbit" and separated from the second stage rocket roughly 32 minutes after takeoff at an altitude of little over 2,000 kilometers, the ministry in charge of the country's space program said.


It said the Dongara ground station in Australia established initial contact with the Chollian at 7:19 a.m., indicating that the satellite has reached a correct orbital path and its electrical, on-board equipment and flight position were all normal. Additional contacts are to be made with ground stations in Hawaii, Italy and Chile for around-the-clock communications uplink with COMS.

First communication with the state-run Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) -- in charge of the satellite -- is expected to take place 10 days after liftoff.

About 30 technicians from South Korea and France will be on hand to check the overall condition of the satellite and communications status at all times in the initial weeks of operations.

A series of tests will be conducted on its onboard equipment in the coming months with communications, maritime observation and weather services to be offered from late December.

The ministry said if there are no unforeseen problems, the satellite should start to deploy its solar panels and use its small booster rockets to reach stable orbital altitude of 36,000 kilometers in the next eight days.

It will be in a fixed orbit circling the equator at east longitude 128.2 degrees that can give 24-hour coverage over the Korean Peninsula.

Kim Young-shik, deputy minister of science and technology, said the successful launch of the Chollian marks a milestone in South Korea's space technology development and will positively affect everyday life.

The satellite was built in cooperation with France's EADS Astrium with South Korean engineers from the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) and the Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute playing a key role in its development, design and production. ETRI built the communications equipment for the satellite.

"The satellite is special because it can offer communication services as well as timely weather and oceanographic information that can benefit peoples' lives," the official said after the launch.

The 2,460-kilogram satellite is the world's first geostationary ocean monitoring satellite that is designed to give the country timely and accurate data in such areas as the movement of tide, ocean temperatures and environmental changes that can be used to better control maritime resources.

The Chollian also makes South Korea the seventh country after the United States, the European Union, Japan, China, India and Russia to operate an independent weather satellite and the 10th to build its own communications satellite.

The science ministry and KARI said the new satellite is designed to send weather and oceanographic data every 15 minutes and can reduce the interval to every 8 minutes in emergency situations such as when a typhoon is approaching the country. At present, Seoul gets its weather information from foreign satellites operated by Japan every 30 minutes, and less frequent data from a U.S. satellite.

Seoul spent more than 354.9 billion won (US$295.4 million) and took eight years to build the high-tech satellite that has a design life of roughly seven years.

The blastoff, meanwhile, was postponed several days because engineers from France's Arianespace SA, which built the rocket and is responsible for the launch, detected a "launch vehicle pressurization anomaly" prior to blastoff. The glitch was centered on the liquid fuel, cryogenic first stage booster that lifts the rocket and satellite payload into space.

Originally, the liftoff for the Ariane rocket was set for Thursday at 6:41 a.m., but was pushed back a full day, before being rescheduled for Sunday morning after Arianespace engineers fixed the problem.

yonngong@yna.co.kr

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* Related articles

Yonhap News: Chronology of events leading to launch of S. Korea's ocean weather satellite
2010/06/27

Yonhap News: Chollian marks major leap in S. Korea's satellite program
2010/06/27

Text Fwd: NATO Proceeds With Missile Shield Regardless Of US

* Image source*
Same as the article as below

Text fwd StopNATO
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/NATO033009.xml&headline=Europe%20Warms%20to%20Missile%20Defense%20as%20US%20Cools&channel=defense
Aviation Week, March 30, 2009
Europe Warms to Missile Defense as US Cools
By Michael A Taverna, Robert Wall, Douglas Barrie and Andy Nativi

-[W]orking groups would be asked to study architectures for expanding the
alliance’s current emphasis on theater missile defense into a network covering
all of Europe, and to begin cooperatively developing key new components such as
early warning systems and interceptors..... French President Nicolas Sarkozy has
made missile defense a priority. The 2009-13 military spending plan, now before
parliament, includes a number of items earmarked for this area.
-The cornerstone of territorial BMD will be NATO’s Active Layered Theater
Ballistic Missile Defense (ALTBMD) and notably its Air Command and Control
System (ACCS), which is being supplied by Thales Raytheon Systems. ALTBMD is
effectively the backbone to link NATO’s disparate systems, ranging from
Patriot and Meads batteries to ships and potentially a U.S. interceptor site in
Poland....NATO is preparing to deploy the ACCS at 15 sites in 13 countries....
-[M]issile defense activities in the Netherlands also are ramping up. A
demonstration test shot of the Raytheon SM-3 ballistic missile interceptor off
of a Dutch ship is planned this year, a senior U.S. official notes.


This week’s NATO summit was supposed to serve as a catalyst to drive missile
defense activities forward in Europe. But with Washington still defining its
policy stance, the brakes are being put on expectations.

In another key area of alliance concern—Afghanistan—U.S. efforts to enlist
greater European force commitments are also not likely to materialize, says
Robert Hunter, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO and senior adviser at the Rand
Corp. The Apr. 3-4 summit in Germany and France comes about six months too early
for the Obama administration to have worked out a number of issues, he
indicates.

Arms control and disarmament constitute a concern that the alliance’s
strategic concept needs to address, says German defense minister Franz Josef
Young. “We need new initiatives for conventional arms control,” he argues.

But for European missile defense efforts, the summit had been regarded as a key
venue in which to urge members to embrace the concept of continental defense.
The Pentagon’s push for a European site for the ground-based midcourse
system—with a radar in the Czech Republic and interceptors in Poland—would
be the centerpiece. But the Obama administration has yet to articulate a clear
path forward on the third site, which Russia has strenuously opposed. As a
result, the Czech government this month decided not to seek parliamentary
endorsement for the radar construction.

In addition, it was hoped that working groups would be asked to study
architectures for expanding the alliance’s current emphasis on theater missile
defense into a network covering all of Europe, and to begin cooperatively
developing key new components such as early warning systems and interceptors. A
German military official has warned that without U.S. sites in Europe, there
would be no missile defense shield built on the continent.

However, not everyone shares that assessment. “Dropping the third site would
have no impact from a capability standpoint; there are other solutions
available,” says Richard Deakin, senior vice president of Thales Air Systems
Div., although he concedes there would be political repercussions from the
U.S.’s backing away from the so-called third site (augmenting those in Alaska
and California).

“We think BMD [ballistic missile defense] will be less important in Strasbourg
than initially expected,” says MBDA CEO Antoine Bouvier. “The likely
result,” he notes, is that there will be more of a focus on expanding air
defense capability to cover a range of new threats, using a building-block
approach, rather than a pure BMD program. MBDA is pursuing a dual-track
approach, with the Aster 30 Block 1 for the SAMP/T system providing a capability
against short-range ballistic threats. The Aster Block 2 design, with its high
endoatmospheric-intercept capability, would be able to counter medium-range
weapons.

Bouvier suggests that Aster Block 2 would be capable of engaging weapons such as
the SS-26, which follows a flattened trajectory and can begin terminal maneuvers
at altitudes of roughly 25,000 meters (82,000 ft.).

The Block 2 missile is intended to be compatible with both land and naval
launchers for the Aster 30.

France, which is expected to fully return into the NATO structure, is stepping
up its interest in missile defense. In contrast, European efforts are largely
fractured, with countries having been unable to agree on a common approach. That
leaves European governments charting different courses.

For example, at the end of the development period for the Medium Extended Air
Defense System (Meads) lower-tier anti-missile program, the Italian air force
will decide whether to acquire 2-4 batteries. The country’s navy is more
committed to missile defense but hasn’t yet determined whether to embrace a
European or U.S. interceptor.

Meanwhile, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has made missile defense a priority.
The 2009-13 military spending plan, now before parliament, includes a number of
items earmarked for this area. The most notable are an early warning
satellite/radar network and a Block 2 Aster air defense system that are supposed
to be operational by 2020.

Further funding is expected to come from a 2.3-billion euros ($3.1-billion)
French government economic stimulus package for aerospace and defense projects
approved last year, says Bouvier. With President Barack Obama willing to give
U.S. allies a more equitable role in common defense, “it’s an opportunity
for Europe to make its voice heard and contribute in kind, not just with
funding,” he says.
....
The cornerstone of territorial BMD will be NATO’s Active Layered Theater
Ballistic Missile Defense (ALTBMD) and notably its Air Command and Control
System (ACCS), which is being supplied by Thales Raytheon Systems. ALTBMD is
effectively the backbone to link NATO’s disparate systems, ranging from
Patriot and Meads batteries to ships and potentially a U.S. interceptor site in
Poland.

After a long development period that ended with factory acceptance testing last
year, NATO is preparing to deploy the ACCS at 15 sites in 13 countries, although
the system’s full functionality remains to be further enhanced. A framework
contract for the deployment phase, known as Replication, will be issued in June
and contracts let in batches, starting in November and continuing through 2012.

The initial operating capability will be reached in 2010 or 2011, depending on
which software version (factory acceptance or Block 1 upgrade) is used, says
Mathieu. Upgrade 1 renders the system compatible with NATO’s latest
planning/tasking requirements and provides new automation, interactivity and
real-time data features, as well as the ability to interface with existing
hardware. Full operating lower-tier capability will be reached in 2013 and full
upper tier in 2014-16.

The same architecture will be retained for territorial missile defense,
according to Mathieu, although specific new functions, such as the full air
picture, will be added.

Work on the Block 2 Aster, which will expand the defense capability to counter
ballistic and cruise missiles, is already underway under a French technology
development program, says Bruno Delacour, vice president of advanced weapon
solutions at Thales’s Air Systems Div. Block 2 will feature a long-range radar
to be derived from France’s M3R demonstrator.

The M3R—a fully distributed derivative of Thales’s new Ground Master 400
S-band active-array radar family—will begin tracking trials this year. Block 2
also will include a Ka- rather than a Ku-band seeker. It will be able to handle
the faster speeds and smaller radar cross sections of longer-range missiles.
This seeker is also set to start trials in 2009.

In the meantime, budget lines for operational geostationary early warning
satellite and radar systems are ready and awaiting approval in the multiyear
French defense spending plan. The objective is for technology to be mature
enough for development to begin around 2013. France says it is prepared to go
ahead with the undertaking, whether or not it lines up with other European
partners. The system, comprising one satellite initially, will draw on
experience from a twin-microsatellite demonstrator called Spirale, launched
early this year. It would cost 1-2 billion euros.

Mathieu says the very-long-range early warning ground radar will be based, like
the M3R, on the GM 400. However, its parallel architecture will require a
significantly greater scale than the M3R, which he admits will pose a challenge.
“The GM 400 was a hardware breakthrough; now we have to operate a software
breakthrough,” he quips.

Meanwhile, missile defense activities in the Netherlands also are ramping up. A
demonstration test shot of the Raytheon SM-3 ballistic missile interceptor off
of a Dutch ship is planned this year, a senior U.S. official notes.
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Stop NATO