Egyptian Winter from brandon jourdan on Vimeo.

Two years after the revolution in Egypt began, unrest continues across the country as the political and economic situation worsens. As the current government consolidates its power, the demands of the revolution may seem further away than ever. Still the revolution has opened up new spaces for political action, spurring public debate on issues that have gone unacknowledged and unresolved for too long.

This short documentary looks at some of the reasons motivating revolutionaries to keep taking the streets, the obstacles that they are facing, and the tactics that they are using. It looks into the current economic and political problems facing Egyptians, the growing independent union movement, black bloc tactics, and the response of women to sexual assaults.

San Francisco is rising.

ONE IN THREE WOMEN ON THE PLANET WILL BE RAPED OR BEATEN IN HER LIFETIME.

ONE BILLION WOMEN VIOLATED IS AN ATROCITY

ONE BILLION WOMEN DANCING IS A REVOLUTION

On Valentine's Day’s 15th Anniversary, 14 February 2013, we are inviting ONE BILLION women and those who love them to WALK OUT, DANCE, RISE UP, and DEMAND an end to this violence. ONE BILLION RISING will move the earth, activating women and men across every country. V-Day wants the world to see our collective strength, our numbers, our solidarity across borders.

What does ONE BILLION look like? Today, on the 14th of February 2013, it will look like a REVOLUTION.

Students at the Shri Ram School in New Delhi rise up.

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In Libya, Zahra' Langhi was part of the "days of rage" movement that helped topple the dictator Qaddafi. In their first elections, Libyans demanded a more inclusive law, giving every citizen the write to vote and run, and employed an innovative "zipper ballot," that ensured equal representation from men and women of both sides. Yet the gridlocked politics of dominance and exclusion won out.

"We need a discourse that honors and implements mercy instead of revenge, collaboration instead of competition, inclusion instead of exclusion, compassion, not rage. These are the ideals that a war torn Libya needs to achieve peace, for peace has an alchemy, alternation between feminine and masculine perspectives – that is the real zipper. And we need to establish that existentially before we do so socio-politically."– Zahra' Langhi

Continue reading »

*Trigger Warning* A film by Eve Ensler and Tony Stroebel

One In Three Women On The Planet Will Be Raped Or Beaten In Her Lifetime.

One Billion Women Violated Is An Atrocity.

One Billion Women Dancing Is A Revolution.

Join V-Day on 02.14.13 in a global strike to demand an end to violence.

Strike! Dance! Rise!

#ReasonToRise
http://www.onebillionrising.org/

[Video: The Pretenders - "Revolution"]

Good morning today is November 30, 2012 and TGIF! A little music to get your day started.

Your morning open thread begins below.

Reflection on a Revolution (ROAR) presents “Utopia on the Horizon,” a documentary on the Greek debt crisis and anti-austerity movement, dedicated to those who chose to struggle.

In May 2011, hundreds of thousands of Greeks swarmed into Syntagma Square in Athens to protest against the firesale of their country, their labor rights and their livelihoods to corrupt domestic elites and foreign financial interests. In a matter of days, a protest camp was set up – organized on the principles of direct democracy, leaderless self-management and mutual aid – providing a glimpse of utopia in the midst of a devastating financial, political and social crisis.

On June 28-29, during a Parliamentary vote on further austerity measures, the state finally responded with brutal force, eventually evicting the protesters from the square and crushing the radical potential of their social experiment.

A year later, Leonidas Oikonomakis and Jérôme Roos – PhD researchers at the European University Institute and co-authors of the activist blog ROARMAG.org – returned to Athens to speak to activists involved in the movement and the occupation of Syntagma Square, as well as WWII resistance hero Manolis Glezos. What follows is this dramatic portrait of a country veering on the brink of collapse; and the people who chose to struggle in order to build a new world on the ruins of the old.

New from the folks at Moveon.org:

First, Donald Trump demanded that President Obama show his birth certificate, repeating a racist conspiracy theory that Obama isn't really American. Then Trump wanted to see his academic transcripts, implying that he got into Harvard because he's black. And on Election Night, Trump accused President Obama of essentially stealing the election and called for a "revolution."

So why does Macy's have a special deal to promote Donald Trump's line of clothes, including a major holiday season TV ad campaign? Macy's should not continue to allow this kind of racism by association with their family brand.

It's time for Macy's to tell Donald Trump: "You're fired."

Click here to sign the petition urging Macy's to dump Trump.

*Trigger Warning* A film by Eve Ensler and Tony Stroebel

One In Three Women On The Planet Will Be Raped Or Beaten In Her Lifetime.

One Billion Women Violated Is An Atrocity.

One Billion Women Dancing Is A Revolution.

Join V-Day on 02.14.13 in a global strike to demand an end to violence.

Strike! Dance! Rise!

#ReasonToRise
http://www.onebillionrising.org/

Live stream by Ustream

Update: 10:35am EST -- Large gathering at Bowling Green right now
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Update: 10:30am EST -- Just now via email, "Labor and community groups are planning a support rally and speak-out at Zuccotti Park TODAY at Noon under the banner of “The 99% Return.”'
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Update: 10:20am EST -- 4 #Vets for Peace and several #OccupyFaith arrested at Broadway and Wall according to Twitter. We've got a man playing a saxaphone, and another with an accordian. Sounds pretty good. Police ordering people off the sidewalks after earlier saying stay out of the street. Hipster Cop asked Tim how is summer was.
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Update: 10:10am EST -- Via Twitter, @OccupyWallStNYC is reporting livestreamers are being targeted, with two arrested in the past 20 minutes. The protesters are closing in on Zuccotti Park, with lots of police now running up behind them. Protesters are running now, too. Everyone running down Broadway.
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Update: 10am EST -- Over 70 arrests according to people on the ground in NYC. Soldiers for Truth and Justice marching now.
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Update: 9:50am EST -- Several hundred protesters at the intersection of Water and Maiden, police pushing a protester who's in a shopping cart. Officer with a megaphone is giving an arrest warning for anyone marching in the street. Second warning given. Helicopters overhead.
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Tim Pool (@timcast) is livestreaming the activities in New York City today for Occupy Wall Street's first anniversary. There are currently two different marches on either side of Broadway heading north right now. There have already today been multiple arrests, and I'll try to find you an exact number on those, but I expect there will already be more by the time I find it! Heavy NYPD presence everywhere. Tim just said there have been 30 to 50 arrests thus far, according to estimates on the ground. He is now right across the street from Zuccotti Park, and he will have updates on Twitter, and I'll update as frequently as I can.

On Sep. 17, 2011 Occupy Wall Street started a revolution. One year later, join us for three days of education, training, and protest in New York City.

The 1% is controlling our fates; we are drowning in loans, student debt, fraudulent mortgages. You are not a loan. Democracy is sold to the highest bidder, destroying our political process, our communities and our environment. Join a mass mobilization of the 99%. Stand and be counted. Let’s occupy our future, together.

They can steal your job, your home, your freedom, your vote.

They can’t steal our ability to dream together.

Nothing is impossible once you refuse to live in fear.

We are the 99%
Bring your friends.
9.15-17.12
Financial District, NYC
Occupy Wall Street

Film created by Dennis Trainor, who also made "American Autumn."