~ Gesticht àls Gesticht ter Voorkoming v/d Maatschappelijke Randdebiliteit ~
~ HÉT "progressief" Orgaan Der "Hangmatsocialisten" ~ Gesticht àls Gesticht ter Voorkoming v/d Maatschappelijke & Politieke Randdebiliteit
14-12-2009
Aux bords de la Senne....deel 2
Haha, er begint klaarheid te komen in de drekhistorie van het Brussels zuiveringsstation. Naar het schijnt zou de directie van Aquiris dan toch de bevoegde instanties hebben verwittigd dat er problemen waren. Deze problemen waren zogezegd begonnen eind november en uiteindelijk zou de discussie dus draaien rond het probleem van de financiering van een bijkomende zandfilter. Wij hebben toch een paar vraagjes. Indien het probleem van teveel zand zich inderdaad voordoet, hoe komt het dan dat het zich nu pas, na twee jaar activiteit voordoet? Loopt de Zenne plots via een nieuwe zandlaag? Bij ons weten is de Zenne op haar Brussels traject volledig overdekt en het zou ons dus ten zeerste verbazen dat de Zenne plots een andere bedding heeft ingenomen tussen het zuiveringsstation Brussel Zuid dat op de grens tussen Anderlecht en Vorst ligt en Brussel Noord op grondgebied van Haren en waarvan dus het overgrootste gedeelte overwelfd is dus gekanaliseerd.
Bovendien lijken er helemaal geen problemen te bestaan met zand in Brussel Zuid dat reeds in werking trad in 2000. Rarara en als we wat googelen op waterzuivering Brussel Zuid dan belanden we op
en wat lezen we daar? Dat er ook afvalwater van het Vlaams Gewest wordt gezuiverd en dat er dus een participatie is van het Vlaams Gewest zowel in de financiering van Brussel Zuid al in ons probleemgeval Brussel Noord.
In Brussel Zuid participeerde het Vlaams Gewest voor 11,72% en in Brussel Noors zelfs voor 15,70%.
En als we de Vlaamse regering en de hiervoor bevoegde minister ons aller Schouwvlieg moeten geloven kunnen zij alleen maar lijdzaam toekijken hoe de arme Vlaamse visjes uitgeroeid worden door de kak van de Brusselaars.
Ofwel zijn wij dus inderdaad randdebielen want een participatie van 15,70% in de investeringskosten die in totaal 360 miljoen eurootjes hebben gekost (zonder andere infrastructuurwerken) dat is toch nog altijd meer dan 56 miljoen Vlaamse euroos zonder dat daar enige inspraak tegenover staat dat gaat ons verstand ver te boven.
Dus rond dit punt hadden we graag wat klaarheid gekregen vanuit de Vlaamsche polletiek want klagen en zagen lijkt ons geen goed idee in dergelijk dossier.
BRUSSEL - De massale vissterfte in de Zenne is een gevolg van het conflict tussen de Brusselse regering en de uitbater van het waterzuiveringsstation Brussel-Noord.
Van onze redacteur
Het grootste waterzuiveringsstation van ons land ligt volledig stil. Daardoor stroomt het afvalwater van 1,1 miljoen Brusselaars ongezuiverd de Zenne in, en vervuilt het ook de Rupel en de Schelde. De Zenne dreigt weer het open riool te worden dat ze was voor het zuiveringsstation twee jaar geleden openging (DS 12 december).
De milieuvervuiling is volgens de Bond Beter Leefmilieu (BBL) sinds vorige dinsdag bezig. Maar het probleem is al veel vroeger begonnen. Dat bevestigt Aquiris, de uitbater van het waterzuiveringsstation. We zijn op 25 november gestopt met pompen aan de rechteroever. De Brusselse watermaatschappij en het Brussels Gewest zijn op dat moment onmiddellijk op de hoogte gebracht', aldus de publiekprivate maatschappij, en ze voegt eraan toe: Op 8 december (vorige dinsdag, red.) werd ook het pompen aan de linkeroever stilgelegd. Zoals eerder werden ook nu de autoriteiten onmiddellijk op de hoogte gesteld.' Verder onthoudt de maatschappij zich van enig verder commentaar, en wacht de crisisvergadering' vandaag met het Brussels Gewest af.
De Brusselse gewestminister voor Leefmilieu, Evelyne Huytebroeck (Ecolo), zit deze vergadering vandaag voor. Zij brengt ook inspecteurs van de Brusselse watermaatschappij mee, die het station controleren. Met andere woorden, er zijn bijna drie weken verstreken tussen de eerste afvalwaterlozing en de reactie van de bevoegde minister. Voorlopig wil Huytebroeck daar geen reactie of commentaar op geven.
De Vlaamse minister van Leefmilieu, Joke Schauvliege (CD&V), die vandaag naar de internationale klimaattop in Kopenhagen vertrekt, kijkt intussen boos toe. Zij kan de sterk dalende waterkwaliteit op Vlaams grondgebied alleen maar opmeten.
De vraag waarom Aquiris de installatie heeft stilgelegd, is nog onduidelijk. Vast staat dat er een probleem is met zand in het waterzuiveringsstation. Na de feestelijke opening twee jaar geleden heeft Aquiris vastgesteld dat het binnenstromende zand de installatie aantastte. Al enkele maanden is er een welles-nietesspelletje bezig over wie een extra zandfilter moet betalen', zegt Els Ampe, fractieleidster voor Open VLD in het Brussels Parlement. Aquiris vindt dat het Gewest die extra kost op zich moet nemen, en minister Huytebroeck vindt dat de bouwheer van de installatie, het Franse moederbedrijf Veolia, dat moet betalen. Uiteindelijk is het station stilgelegd om de verdere aantasting door het zand te vermijden.' Vandaag geeft de groene minister zelf tekst en uitleg.
De opmerking dat Schouwvlieg intussen alleen maar kan opmeten hebben we hierboven al wat gerelativeerd. Als dat inderdaad zo is dan zou men best de afspraken met Aquiris en het Brussels Gewest even onder de loep nemen want dan stelt zich daar een huizenhoog probleem met ons Vlaams belastingsgeld .en dat moeten de voorgangers van ons huidige Joke Schouwvlieg dan maar eens komen uitleggen.
Maar er is meer. Wij publiceerden hiervoor de zogenaamde waarden die Veolia zichzelf heeft opgelegd. Als we die aandachtig lezen dan mogen we daar een grote zin voor verantwoordelijkheid naar milieu en burger uit besluiten tenzij we weer mogen als randdebielen bestempeld worden.
Uit bovenstaand artikel blijkt dat er een aantal maanden geleden zandproblemen opdoken. Wat doe je dan als je al deze mooie waarden naleeft? Discussiëren over wie betaalt de bijkomende en dus levensnoodzakelijk bijkomende filter? Ok, tot daar toe, maar inmiddels beheer je, op basis van het alom gekende principe van de goede huisvader je installatie die je contractueel moet uitbaten. En wat doet een goeie huisvader dus? Discussiëren en dan plots de pompjes afzetten? Men moet met onze visie niet akkoord gaan, maar volgens ons plaats je dan best die bijkomende filter als je goed weet dat anders de ganse installatie om zeep wordt geholpen en dat je alles moet stilleggen met de gevolgen die we nu zien Een groep als Veolia beschikt immers over de nodige kredietlijnen om dit te financieren en vervolgens de juridische procedure op te starten om eventueel hun sollen te recupereren of niet? Als ze dat niet zelf kunnen dan zegt men maar best onmiddellijk het contract op want als we het resultaat zien van dergelijke uitbating vrezen we dat de schadevergoedingen vele malen hoger zullen uitvallen dan de prijs van de bijkomende investering. Hallo Olland, hebben jullie de hint begrepen? Want jullie hebben toch ook milieuschade ginds?
Benieuwd wat onze Brusselse groene tante nu te vertellen zal hebben????????Maar veel goeds verwachten we hier niet van natuurlijk maar we worden graag verrast in de goeie zin. Zullen wij vanavond ontgoocheld of blij onder onze dekentjes mogen kruipen. Nog eventjes afwachten .
je stuurt als land van een halve zakdoek groot een delegatie van 120 specialisten naar de milieutop in Kopenhagen. Kwestie van indruk te maken op dwergen als China, de VS en andere dwergstaten. tijdens de top loost dan één van de grootste zuiveringsstations van Noordelijk Europa ongestoord en vooral ongezuiverd het rioolwater van de hoofdstad van Europa die toevallig op je grondgebied ligt. Hoe geloofwaardig ben je dan nog met je 120 delegatieleden? Vooral als je dan nog dit niet onbelangrijk nieuwtje moet vernemen van de milieuorganisaties en zelfs niet eens van de privédirectie van het betrokken zuiveringsstation zelf. De lozing was vermoedelijk al 4dagen aan de gang zonder dat daar maar één witte kraag met bijhorend dasje het nodig heeft gevonden een officiële instantie hiervan op de hoogte te brengen...Gevolg massale vervuiling van de Zenne, Rupel en Schelde tot in Nederland...moet kunnen... Als je als particulier of als klein bedrijfje één liter frituurolie in de riool kiepert heb je zeker en vast weten twintig milieuambtenaren op je dak...maar het rioolwater van meer dan één miljoen mensen ongezuiverd lozen gedurende 4 dagen kan hier dus ongestraft tot er wat milieujongens en meisjes dit aan de grote klok hangen. Wij dachten nochtans dat de Vlaamse milieumaatschappij of andere Vlaamse groene instanties constant de waterzuiverheid in het oog hielden...gezeik dus...vier dagen miljoenen liters drek lozen en geen enkel alarmpje...raar toch ? Mogen we een kleine suggestie doen? Wel ontsla op staande voet de huidige bandietenbende die zich directie durft te noemen van dit privézuiveringsstation wegen grove nalatigheid en totale incompetentie. Punt. Dat er technische problemen zijn, ok, kunnen we inkomen. Dat het boeltje stilvalt, ok kunnen we inkomen...maart dat je lekker niks zegt...nu ja we willen het eerst wel onderzocht zien worden want de timing viel natuurlijk erg slecht met die hoogmis in Kopenhagen. Misschien verwittigden ze wel maar bleef men liever doof ...kan ook maar voor ons moeten de verantwoordelijken zo vlug mogelijk de laan uit liefst ingestreken met pek en veren... In elk geval is die enorme delegatie toch wel erg belachelijk. Iedereen doet maar alsof we hier met de halve bevolking bezig zijn met ons milieu terwijl we de verzamelde drollen en bijhorend vocht van onze hoofdstad rustig de Schelde in laten dobberen omdat er te veel zand in het afvalwater zit....tja misschien te veel nierstenen, waarom niet?
Waterzuivering Brussel ligt stil
zaterdag 12 december 2009
Auteur: Jan Desloover
Sinds kort zwommen er opnieuw vissen in de Zenne. Milieuorganisaties vrezen dat die niet zullen overleven nu het afvalwater weer ongezuiverd in de rivier terechtkomt. Photo News
BRUSSEL - Het afvalwater van ruim een miljoen Brusselaars wordt sinds 8 december ongezuiverd in de Zenne, de Rupel en de Schelde geloosd. Catastrofaal', zegt de Bond Beter Leefmilieu.
Van onze redacteur
Terwijl de wereld zich in Kopenhagen beraadt over maatregelen om de opwarming van de aarde tegen te gaan, voltrekt zich in en rond onze hoofdstad een kleine milieuramp. Sinds dinsdag stroomt het afvalwater van ruim een miljoen Brusselaars ongefilterd in de Zenne, en vandaaruit in de Rupel en de Schelde.
Reden is het stilleggen van het zuiveringsstation Brussel-Noord, dat in handen is van het Frans-Belgische consortium Aquiris. In een bijzonder vage mededeling die de groep dinsdag uitstuurde naar de Brusselse overheid en die vrijdag bij de Bond Beter Leefmilieu (BBL) belandde, stelt de groep alleen dat het station werd stilgelegd om de installatie te beschermen en het personeel niet bloot te stellen aan onaanvaardbare risico's'. Bij Aquiris en de bevoegde Brusselse minister, Evelyne Huytebroeck (Ecolo), was gisteravond niemand bereikbaar voor commentaar.
De gevolgen van de tijdelijke sluiting zijn nu al merkbaar. De Vlaamse Milieumaatschappij voerde intussen metingen uit in Zenne, Rupel en Schelde. De waterkwaliteit is er dramatisch verslechterd', zegt de woordvoerster, Mie Van de Kerckhove. Voor de Brusselse huishoudens heeft dat niet direct gevolgen, maar voor de visbestanden in die rivieren is de sluiting van het station rampzalig. In 2007, het jaar waarin het station in gebruik werd genomen, was de Zenne een stinkende, gitzwarte en vooral dode rivier. Sindsdien is er geleidelijk een klein visbestand gegroeid. Maar het is zo goed als zeker dat het sinds dinsdag al helemaal uitgeroeid is', zegt Wim Van Gils van de BBL. Ook in de Rupel en de Schelde is er nu al sprake van sterfte. Het is te hopen dat zoveel mogelijk vissen op tijd weggeraakt zijn.'
De Vlaamse minister van Leefmilieu, Joke Schauvliege (CD&V), vraagt haar Brusselse collega Huytebroeck snel in te grijpen. We hebben haar een brief gestuurd waarin we erop aandringen dat er snel gehandeld wordt', aldus haar woordvoerder, Patrick Verstuyft.
Het is afwachten wat er precies aan de hand is met het zuiveringsstation, maar volgens de VMM en de BBL zal het sowieso minstens verschillende weken duren vooraleer de toestand genormaliseerd is.
En als ze de bacteriën die gebruikt worden voor de zuivering, hebben laten wegvloeien, spreken we over maanden', zegt Mie Van de Kerckhove.
De Brusselse regering wees het contract voor de bouw van het waterzuiveringsstation Brussel-Noord, een van de grootste in Europa, in 2001 toe aan Aquiris. Het consortium kreeg ook de exploitatierechten voor een periode van twintig jaar.
Jaarlijks betaalt Brussel 51 miljoen euro aan Aquiris. Omdat er ook gemeenten uit de Vlaamse Rand bediend worden, draagt het Vlaams Gewest 15,7 procent van de kosten bij.
Brussel-Noord is goed voor twee derde van het afvalwater van de Brusselse agglomeratie. Het andere derde wordt sinds augustus 2000 verwerkt in het zuiveringsstation Brussel-Zuid, dat 360.000 inwoners bedient.
Nieuwsgierig als we zijn willen we meer weten over de firma die dit zuiveringsstation uitbaat AQUIRIS! Wie is dat? Een eerste aanduiding vinden we op hun eigen promotiepraatje van voor het begin van de werken toen deze jongen de aanbesteding binnenrijfden:
Het afvalwater van het Noordelijke bekken en dat van Woluwe zal worden behandeld door het station van Brussel-Noord, met een grotere capaciteit (1.100.000 inwoners - equivalent). Het ontwerp, de bouw en de exploitatie gedurende 20 jaar van het station werden het voorwerp van een offerteaanvraag en de opdracht toevertrouwd aan AQUIRIS, een ondernemingsgroep onder leiding van Veolia Water, wereldleider in waterbehandeling. Dit station zal operationeel zijn in de herfst 2006.
een onderdeel dus van Veolia Water, aha eens wat neuzen....en wat blijkt? Deze firma klopt zichzelf op de borst als zijnde één van de grootste en meest performante spelers op het gebied van waterzuivering. Hun eigendunk gaat zelfs verder want ze hebben eigen bedrijfswaarden. En bedrijfswaarden daar klopt ons hartje altijd wat sneller van want we zijn tuk op deze dingen en dus citeren we ze graag voor onze lezertjes. Dus de pipo's die vier dagen lang zonder een hond ervan op de hoogte te brengen het afvalwater van Brussel en omgeving ongezuiverd loosden zeggen dat ze volgende waarden hoog in hun besmeurde vaandel voeren:
Veolia Water shares the values of Veolia Environnement, world leader in environmental solutions.
The Five Values of Veolia Environnement
Customer focus
Our ability to listen carefully and professionally and anticipate and adapt to client needs reflects our commitment to building solid, lasting relationships.
Responsibility
We are aware of the impact our everyday actions have in improving the living conditions of people worldwide. We never forget how our business affects our employees and society as a whole and base our actions on our understanding of the general public interest.
Our managers are expected to take full responsibility for the decisions they make in carrying out their duties and managing their teams.
Innovation
Our creative research and innovative technologies combine to ensure that we are continuously improving our environmental solutions, now and for the future. Improving quality of service and value for our customers is a priority, reflected in our constant willingness to explore new scientific frontiers.
Performance
Our financial performance is the result of financial discipline at every level across the globe. It ensures that the company will continue to create value for all stakeholders and guarantees our long-term growth.
Team Work
Team work is a crucial element in the way Veolia Environnement works worldwide. Working together and pooling knowledge and experience ensures that every success is a shared victory.
Sustainable development and Emergency assistance
Veolia Water is committed to sustainable development as well as protecting the environment at the core of its operations as a specialist in water management.
Veolia Water assumes its social responsibilities and uses its expertise to provide emergency humanitarian and development assistance via Veoliaforce, an operational partnership whereby employees can volunteer their time and expertise.
Beste politici, pak die hufters op hun eigen gelul! Laat ze bewijzen dat ze inderdaad die waarden naleven! Lozen die troep!
Wat vinden we nog over Veolia Water? Op de zelfde site:
In November 2005 Veolia Environnement brought together its four Divisions under one common name - Veolia.
This move, along with a new logo, reflects the will of the entire Group to build overall consistency between its divisions and to raise the company's profile.
Having already synergized its research and training resources, this development by Veolia Environnement affirms the commitment of its 270,000 employees around the values of its services.
In France, Compagnie Générale des Eaux became Veolia Eau. The main subsidiaries abroad took the name Veolia to which was added the word "Water" in the language of each particular country such as Veolia Voda in the Czech Republic and Veolia Wasser in Germany.
On December 14, 1853, a water company named Compagnie Générale des Eaux (CGE) was created by an Imperial decree of Napoleon III. In 1854, CGE obtained a concession in order to supply water to the public in Lyon, serving in this capacity for over a hundred years. In 1861, it obtained a 50-year concession with the City of Paris.
For more than a century, Compagnie Générale des Eaux remained largely focused on the water sector. However, following the appointment of Guy Dejouany as CEO in 1976, CGE extended its activities into other sectors with a series of takeovers. Beginning in 1980, CGE began diversifying its operations from water into waste management, energy, transport services, and construction and property. It acquired the Compagnie Générale d'Entreprises Automobiles (CGEA), specialized in industrial vehicles, which was later divided into two branches: Connex and Onyx Environnement. CGE then acquired the Compagnie Générale de Chauffe, and later the Montenay group. The Energy Services division these companies became part of, was later (1998) renamed Dalkia.
In 1983, CGE helped to found Canal+, the first Pay-TV channel in France, and in the 1990s, they began expanding into telecommunications and mass media, especially after Jean-Marie Messier succeeded Guy Dejouany on June 27, 1996. In 1996, CGE created Cegetel to take advantage of the 1998 deregulation of the French telecommunications market, accelerating the move into the media sector which would culminate in the 2000 demerger into Vivendi Universal and Vivendi Environnement (Veolia).
In 1998, Compagnie Générale des Eaux changed its name to Vivendi
Vivendi?????
Vivendi SA is voortgekomen uit de fusie tussen het Franse water- en mediaimperium Vivendi, dat onder andere het televisienetwerk Canal+ bezat en het CanadeseThe Seagram Company, destijds eigenaar van de filmmaatschappij Universal Studios. Nadat Vivendi begin 2000 het merendeel van de aandelen in Seagram op had gekocht, werd het Canadese concern gestript en werd de oorspronkelijke waterdivisie van Vivendi verkocht (tegenwoordig Veolia Environnement). In juni 2000 werd de fusie voltooid en ontstond "Vivendi Universal".
Op 20 april2006 kondigde Vivendi Universal aan dat het concern voortaan bekend zal staan onder de oude naam, "Vivendi"[2]. Er werd tevens een nieuwe bedrijfsstijl en -logo gepresenteerd.
On
December 10, you will award the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to President
Barack Obama, citing his extraordinary efforts to strengthen
international diplomacy and cooperation between people. We the
undersigned are distressed that President Obama, so close upon his
receipt of this honor, has opted to escalate the U.S. war in
Afghanistan with the deployment of 30,000 additional troops. We regret
that he could not be guided by the example of a previous Nobel Peace
Laureate, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who identified his peace
prize as profound recognition that nonviolence is the answer to the
crucial political and moral question of our time -- the need for man [sic] to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to violence and oppression.
President
Obama has insisted that his troop escalation is a necessary response to
dangerous instability in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but we reject the
notion that military action will advance the regions stability, or our
own national security. In his peace prize acceptance speech, Dr. King
observed that Civilization and violence are antithetical concepts man [sic]
must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge,
aggression and retaliation. As people committed to end the occupation
of Iraq and Afghanistan, we are filled with remorse by this new
decision of our president, for it will not bring peace.
Declaring
his opposition to the Vietnam War, Dr. King insisted that no one who
has any concern for the integrity and life of America today can ignore
the present war We must continue to raise our voices and our lives if
our nation persists in its perverse ways We are at the moment when our
lives must be placed on the line if our nation is to survive its own
folly. Every man [sic] of humane convictions must decide on the protest
that best suits his convictions, but we must all protest.
We
pledge ourselves to mobilize our constituencies in the spirit of Dr.
Kings nonviolent and committed example. His prophetic words will guide
us as we assemble in the halls of Congress, in local offices of elected
representatives, and in the streets of our cities and towns, protesting
every proposal that will continue funding war. We will actively and
publicly oppose the war funding which President Obama will soon seek
from Congress and re-commit ourselves to the protracted struggle
against U.S. war-making in Iraq and Afghanistan.
We
assume that the Nobel Committee chose to award President Obama the
peace prize in full awareness of the vision offered by Dr. Kings
acceptance speech. We also understand that the Nobel committee may now
regret that decision in light of recent developments, as we believe
that the committee should be reluctant to present an Orwellian message
equating peace with war. When introducing the President, the Committee
should, at the very least, exhibit a level of compassion and humility
by drawing attention to this distressing ambiguity.
We
will do all we can to ensure that popular pressure will soon bring
President Obama to an acceptance of the duties which this prize, and
even more his electoral mandate to be a figure of change, impose upon
him. He must end the catastrophic policies of occupation and war that
have caused so much destruction, so many deaths and displacements, and
so much injury to our own democratic traditions.
This
prize is not a meaningless honor. We pledge, ourselves obeying its
call to nonviolent action, to make our President worthy of it.
Jack Amoureux- Board of Directors, Military Families Speak Out
Medea Benjamin- Co-Founder, Global Exchange
Frida Berrigan Witness Against Torture
Elaine Brower- World Cant Wait
Leslie Cagan- Co-Founder, United for Peace and Justice
Bob Cooke-Regional Coordinator, Pax Christi USA, Pax Christi Metro, DC and Baltimore
Tom Cornell- Catholic Peace Fellowship
Matt Daloisio War Resisters League
Marie Dennis Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
Laurie Dobson, Director, End US Wars
Mike Ferner- President, Veterans for Peace
Joy First- Convener, National Campaign for Non-Violent Resistance
Sara Flounders International Action Center
Diana Gibson, Christian Peace Witness
Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb- Shomer Shalom Network for Jewish Nonviolence
David Hartsough- Peaceworkers, San Francisco
Mike Hearington- Georgia Peace & Justice Coalition
Kimber J. Heinz- Organizing Coordinator, War Resisters League
Mark Johnson- Director, Fellowship of Reconciliation
Kathy Kelly- Co-coordinator, Voices for Creative Non-Violence
Leslie Kielson United for Peace and Justice
Malachy Kilbride- National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance
Kevin Martin- Executive Director-Peace Action and Peace Action Education Fund
Linda LeTendre Saratoga [New York] Peace Alliance
Michael McPhearson- Veterens for Peace
Gael Murphy Co-Founder, Code Pink
Sheila Musaji The American Muslim
Michael Nagler- Founder, Metta Center for Nonviolence
Max Obuszewski- Pledge of Resistance Baltimore and Baltimore Nonviolence Center
Pete Perry- Peace of the Action
Dave Robinson, Executive Director, Pax Christi
David Swanson- AfterDowningStreet.org
Terry Rockefeller Families for Peaceful Tomorrows
Samina Sundas Founding Executive Director, The American Muslim Voice
Nancy Tsou- Coordinator, Rockland Coalition for Peace and Justice
Diane Turco- Cape Codders for Peace and Justice
Marge Van Cleef Womens International League for Peace and Freedom
Jose Vasquez, Executive Director, Iraq Veterans Against the War
Craig Wiesner- Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice
Scott Wright, Pax Christi Metro DC - Baltimore
Kevin Zeese- Executive Director, Voters for Peace
Along
with delivering this open letter to the Nobel Peace Committee,
activists will present it at a rally in Lafayette Square, Washington,
D.C. on Saturday, December 12th, 11 4, www. enduswar.org
Fars News Agency One
of the photographs of Iranian student leader Majid Tavakoli dressed as
a woman published by Irans official media outlets this week.
Two days after student protests across Iran demonstrated that the
dispute over Junes presidential election is not over, Iranian bloggers
responded with fury to reports by the countrys state-supported media
that a prominent student leader had been dressed as a woman when he was
arrested on Monday in Tehran.
On Tuesday, Irans Fars News Agency which is affiliated with the powerful Revolutionary Guards Corps published a report
claiming that the student activist, Majid Tavakoli, was disguised as a
woman when he was detained after addressing a demonstration on the
campus of Amir Kabir University in Tehran on Monday.
To illustrate its story, Fars published 5 photographs of Mr.
Tavakoli covered by the type of cloak women are compelled to wear in
the Islamic Republic, along with this image of him addressing the crowd
before his arrest:
Majid Tavakoli speaking at Amir Kabir University in Tehran on Monday.
This image of Mr. Tavakoli speaking seems to be genuine since it closely matches video of his speech
that was uploaded to YouTube. But after the images of Mr. Tavakoli in
the cloak were published, an Iranian Web site, Human Rights Activists
in Iran, disputed their veracity, reporting
that Intelligence agents have been trying to falsify the circumstances
around Majid Tavakolis arrest. Eyewitnesses have denied all the news
published by pro-Ahmadinejad media.
The blogger Mojtaba Samienejad charged
that the student leader had not been in disguise when he was detained
and suggested that he had been forced into those clothes by the
authorities after his arrest.
Human Rights Activists in Iran also reported that agents severely
beat and injured Majid during the arrest. The amount of violence and
brutality used in the arrest shocked passer[s]-by. One witness to the
arrest told the human rights group, All the pictures published by the
state media are false and a clear use of immoral means against student
and civil activists in Iran.
The Fars report explicitly connected this narrative, of Mr. Tavakoli
supposedly attempting to flee the university dressed as a woman, with
the story of another Iranian leader who was said to have employed that
technique to escape the country. Fars made prominent mention of the old
allegation that Irans first president after the 1979 revolution, Abolhassan Bani-Sadr, was disguised as a woman when he left Tehran in 1981 after falling out with the countrys Islamic leadership.
Fars News Agency Two photographs of Iranian leaders unpopular with the countrys Islamic rulers. Both may be fake.
Fars even paired one of the images of Mr. Tavakoli with a photograph
of Mr. Bani-Sadr that may have been manipulated in the days before
Photoshop to make it look as if he was wearing a headscarf. A
contemporary report by The New York Times,
published on August 2, 1981, suggested that the story of how Mr.
Bani-Sadr disguised himself for his flight into exile in France may
have been embellished to embarrass him by hard-liners who put hairiness
next to godliness:
The former president, who had been in hiding for six weeks, left behind
his familiar mustache. He retained his eyebrows, contrary to
allegations from Tehran that he had shaved them and departed disguised
as a woman.
(Mr. Bani-Sadr is now something of a blogger himself, having published his thoughts on the protest movement on the Huffington Post earlier this year.)
Persian Arash/Facebook A digital parody of the photograph of Majid Tavakoli featuring the face of Irans supreme leader.
Iranian bloggers who support the opposition struck back with anger and comedy on Wednesday. Writing on Twitter, the journalist Omid Habibinia suggested that the images of Mr. Tavakoli might have been created with Photoshop to humiliate him, and pointed to a parody of the image posted on Facebook
that has been digitally altered to picture Irans supreme leader,
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, wearing the clothes instead. In an echo of the
regimes tale of Mr. Bani-Sadrs escape from the country after losing
power, Mr. Habibinia seemed to suggest that Ayatollah Khamenei may
himself soon need a disguise to flee Iran.
According to a report by the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Mr. Tavakoli has been in and out of jail since 2007 and took part in a hunger strike earlier this year
while being detained in Tehrans notorious Evin Prison. Human Rights
Activists in Iran reports that he was subjected to torture during his
previous detention.
According to Scott Lucas, an expert on American and British foreign
policy at the University of Birmingham who has followed events in Iran
closely for the blog Enduring America, Mr. Tavakolis last entry on Facebook, posted on Saturday, read:
Only two more days [to Monday's demonstrations]. I have
spent ten exhausting days on the road with more than 100 hours of
driving and now I have to leave for Tehran. Looking at my mothers
tearful eyes and fathers anxious glances and despite all the
difficulties only the true wish for freedom can maintain my drive and
steadfastness. And so once again I welcome and accept all the dangers,
standing next to my friends with whom I am honoured and proud to be on
16 Azar shoulder to shoulder we will shout against tyranny. For Freedom.
Iranian bloggers also pointed to what they said was evidence that
student protests continued on Wednesday in Iran. According to both the
blogger Mehdi Saharkhiz and Omid Habibinia, this video was shot on
Wednesday at Sharif University in Tehran, during a protest against the
arrest of students demonstrators earlier this week:
Iran: Part of speech for which Majid Tavakoli was arrested
dicembre 10 2009 No Commented
Today
16 Azar (7 December) .. it is OUR day .. STUDENTS day .. the most
historic day of resistence by students against tyranny a day dedicated
to freedom seeking .. Today is a day to stand together against and yell
on tyranny
(students chanting Death to Dictator Death to Dictator )
My voice does not reach all of you if you could squeeze more
There are friends who on behalf of you want speak up to all dictators
and autocrats of this country loud and clear. Meaning that we no longer
accept tyranny
(students applauding students chanting student will die but will not accept humiliation)
We shall speak thoroughly but first of all it is our duty, for the sake
of 5/6 months of hard efforts by our people, for the sake of all this
oppression .. all these tortures and and sexual abuse in prisons .. and
all these issues .. it is our prime duty to gather once again in front
of the entrace gates of the university and once again show our unity
and solidarity ..
Thank Neguin for translation from Persian
Rooz, Translation by Reza Fiyouzat, Revolutionary Flowerpot Society
December 10, 2009
Translation of a report from the website, Rooz. See the original here. (right photo: Majid Tavakoli)
Unrest Persists in Universities In reaction to the arrests and fabrications against Tavakoli By Saamnaak Agha'ie (Rooz Online; Dec. 10, 2009)
In
the aftermath of the arrest of Majid Tavakoli, member of Islamic
Association, in Polytechnique University (Amir Kabir), and the reports
by government owned media regarding his arrest 'while dressed as a
woman', the universities still have a tense atmosphere and the protests
against the government continue.
According to received reports,
in addition to protests in Tehran's universities, yesterday also saw
student gatherings in state and private universities in Mashhad,
Qhazvin, Karaj, Esfahan and Shiraz. Yesterday's university student
protests in several different cities followed the lie mongering by the
government, and publication on websites connected to the
security-intelligence forces of photos related to Majid Tavakoli, a
well known student activist. Yesterday's continued [nationwide] student
protests were also held in undivided solidarity with that student
activist.
In this relation, the Islamic Association of the
Polytechnique University, in a statement, emphasized: "Not only Majid
Tavakoli, but all students in the dungeons of tyranny, are the pride of
the student movement, whether they be dressed in women's clothing or
men's."
Majid Tavakoli and a Speech Majid Tavakoli,
who was arrested in the assault by the security forces and the basijis
on the Student Day ceremonies in Polytechnique University, is among
well known student activists that in recent years has also been
imprisoned [...] and has [already] suffered through a fifteen-month
sentence under torture. On this year's Student Day/16 Azar, he attended
the ceremonies at Polytechnique along with hundreds of other protesting
students, and gave a speech for some minutes. In his speech, which was
met with great enthusiasm among students, this student activist,
pointing to the recent events after the elections, and pointing to the
crackdown and all the spilled blood and the rapes in prisons, he
emphasized the importance of students' resistance and struggle
alongside the people and against the ruling despotism.
[Majid
Tavakoli], in another part of his speech reminded that the Student Day
is the day of shouting at tyranny, and, addressing the students, said:
"In honoring and respecting a people who have risen with peaceful
protests against oppression and the blood-letting, and who have today
come to our support, it is our duty to be present at the gates of the
university and to thank the people present in front of the university,
and to strengthen our unity with the people."
Defending Imprisoned Students Student
sources believe that Tavakoli's arrest and the [lie mongering] campaign
by websites supporting the coup regime was mainly due to his spirited
and moving speech at the students' gathering. Yesterday, after Majid
Tavakoli's arrest, [state owned] Fars News Agency initially published a
photo of Tavakoli, claiming that he was arrested while dressed as a
woman and trying to escape from the university.
In response to
the fabrications against an arrested fellow affiliate, the Islamic
Association of the Polytechnique University, in a harsh statement said:
"Those who cannot stand the freedom seeking surge of the Amir Kabir
students, much like in the past, scheme to destroy the dignities of
free people. But, they should know that freedom belongs to those people
who put themselves in danger for freedom. And in truth, Majid Tavakoli
... is such a free soul, who is always in the hearts of, and subject of
talk among, the Amir Kabir University students. Iranian dictatorship
must be very angry with Majid Tavakoli's words and criticisms regarding
the current dictatorship in the country, since they find themselves
being like the king whose nakedness has been revealed by the students.
And now, hapless and helpless in understanding the students' clear
slogans, they show their revenge and hatred by persecuting Majid
Tavakoli. The widespread and glorious resistance of the students across
the country has gotten the inept despots so confused that they could
not find anything else to do other than to put some fake clothes on
Tavakoli and publish the pictures. Little do they know that Majid
Tavakoli has been, is and will be the pride of the students' movement,
be he dressed in women's clothing or men's."
Widespread Arrests in Mashhad University Yesterday's
student protests in universities in several cities in the country were
accompanied with widespread arrests. The gathering at the Ferdowsi
University in Mashhad [in the northeast], protesting against the
continued arrests of students on December 7th/Student Day, was for the
second time faced with an assault by the security forces and the
Basijis, resulting in physical beatings by security forces and arrests
of at least 70 students in that university.
One of the students,
in an interview with Rooz (roozonline.com), said: "This gathering was
held with more than 2,000 university students attending, in front of
the amphitheater's doors. Students were protesting, holding green flags
and symbols, raising slogans like, "Ahoy, irreverent Karroubi, break
the big statue-god" (Karroubi-e bot-shekan, bott-e bozorg-o beshkan!),
and "Death to dictator!" when a group of some forty Basijis started
attacking the students."
The student then continued: "When the
Basijis faced resistance and the students fought back, and when the
cultural deputy of the university's warnings were ineffective in ending
the gathering, a large number of security forces entered the area of
the gathering and along with the Basijis proceeded to assault and
arrest the students."
In closing, the student pointed to the
later release of some of the 70 arrested students, some hours later,
and said: "But, in particular, the fate of some 13 -- who are among the
more active students of the university -- remains unknown. A large
number of students have announced in a statement that, in case the
detained are not immediately released, they will continue to assemble
and protest tomorrow as well."
Increase in the Number of Arrested Students While
the students in universities in Tehran, Shiraz, Esfahan, and may other
cities in the country are determined to continue their protests in
universities, news sources are reporting a rise in the numbers of
arrested students in the last two days. The increase in the reports of
arrested students takes place in a situation that, according to law
enforcement officials, in Tehran alone more than 200 students were
arrested on 16 Azar/Dec. 7. Until now, no reliable figures have been
published regarding detained students in cities such as Tabriz,
Hamedan, Ahvaz, Esfahan and Karaj.
In Shiraz, with the arrests
of two more students, Sa'id Aganji and Razieh Ja'fari, the number of
arrested students in the last two days now stands at 8. Amir Kabir
Newsletter, writing about this, said: "On 16 Azar/Student Day, six
students activists in Shiraz were arrested, with the following names:
Seyed Mohammad Mohsen Moussavi, Sobhan Heydari, Najmaa Ranjbar, Seyed
Mohammad Hosseini, Sa'id Lotfi, and Masood Mahdavi-far. In all, since
13 Aban/Nov. 4, more than 30 dissident students have been arrested in
Shiraz, about whose fates and conditions no news has been available
until now."
In Tehran also, with the continuation of the
protests and the arrests of the Student Day, news and human rights
sources yesterday reported at least 8 more arrests in the last two
days: Farzad Kalb'ali, Taher Dehkhar-Qharnian, Navid Soltanpoor,
Mojtaba Hashemi, Niloofar Esbati, Bardia Najaar, Mehdi Belkhari and
Meisam Hosseini.
Additionally, local sources in Kurdistan also
published the names of 15 students arrested in Tehran and the
provinces: Ahmad Esma'ili, Amanj Rahimi, Abdollah Arefi, Pakhshan
Azizi, Leyla Mohammadi, Sarveh Veisi, Hazhar Yusefi, Amjad Kordnejad,
Nasser Ahmadi, Abas Kaka'ie, Ali-Reza Moradi and Sajad Moradi, are
among the students arrested in Tehran University. Also, Edris Moloody
in Baaneh, and Sohrab Karami in Gharveh were detained and sent to
prison.
:: Article nr. 60935 sent on 11-dec-2009 10:56 ECT
Terwijl er verhitte debatten gevoerd worden over het al dan niet
toelaten van minaretten en kruisbeelden en er druk gedaan wordt over de
verworvenheden van het christendom in onze westerse wereld, kunnen we
niet nalaten een klein steentje bij te dragen. Vooral dan over de
onuitwisbare indruk die een zekere vorm van christendom bij bepaalde
mensen heeft nagelaten zonder dit te willen veralgemenen. Maar enkel op
voorwaarde dat de tegenstanders van de islam ook niet zouden
veralgemenen.
The
publication on November 26th of the report by Judge Yvonne Murphy into
how the Irish State handled allegations of child sex abuse by priests
in the Dublin diocese prompted widespread calls for action against both
bishops and State officials. But so far, no sign.
The
report found that hundreds of allegations against scores of priests
over a 30-year period had been covered up by successive archbishops of
Dublin and ignored - even when evidence was handed to them - by the
gardai (police). The report found that senior gardai routinely referred
complaints to the Church and allowed the Church to conduct
investigations or not, and to take action or not. Not was the Churchs
consistent preference.
The allegations ranged from touching up to ordinary rape to stuffing a crucifix into a childs vagina.
The
report detailed: one priest admitting sexually abusing more than 100
children; another confessing that he had abused on average once a
fortnight during a 25-year stint; one complaint made against a priest
which had been ignored, allowing the abuser to violate at least six
other children; one case in which gardai took 20 years to decide on a
prosecution.
Murphy
reported regular inappropriate contacts between the civil authorities
and the Archdiocese. A number of very senior members of the gardaí,
including the Commissioner (Patrick Costigan) [the States top
policeman in the early 1960s] clearly regarded priests as being outside
their remit.
The
report concludes: The welfare of the children, which should have been
the first priority, was not even a factor to be considered.
Whether
the report will lead to change even in the long term may be doubted.
Even now, the Vatican will likely be pondering the latest dispatches
from the Irish battle-front and pursing its lips with satisfaction that
it hasnt taken a serious hit.
Hard pounding, Your Holiness, but were coming through in good shape.
This confidence of the outcome has been most clearly expressed in the
continuance of the cover-up even after the reports publication. More
brazen than ever, the conspirators are hiding in clear sight.
Theres scarcely a bishop in the 26 Irish dioceses who hasnt issued a
statement in the past fortnight explaining how
dismayed/distressed/shocked/bewildered hes been to discover the extent
of the depravity perpetrated by priests and the failure of some of his
fellow bishops to alert the civil authorities. Some of the more
plausible performers have been wheeled out to widen their eyes for the
cameras in displays of wonderment....I cannot begin to understand the
mentality... They still take the people for fools.
Complaints of clerical abuse of children in Ireland have been in the
public arena for at least 25 years. Occasionally, flurries of
allegations have resulted in spates of publicity. But these tended to
be short-lived. The local bishop might even apologise in the local
paper. The response of the Northern as well as the Southern Irish State
ranged from the inadequate to the inert. But you could bet the Lenten
Collection that the Church itself was paying attention throughout,
tracking every complaint, monitoring reaction, clucking with
satisfaction that the faith of the people remained strong and resistant
to any radical conclusion.
Now they ask the people to believe that they didnt have an inkling of
the full extent of the criminality until very recently. They never
discreetly enquired of one another during prayer breaks at their
conclaves at Maynooth or All Hallows, Hows that business with Fr.
So-and-so going? Any more word about that wee girl from such-and-such?
Is the mother in that other case still on-side?
Pull the other one, your Lordships, its got church-bells on.
The Churchs enmeshment with the State helps explain this confidence.
On December 1st, Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Brian Cowan claimed in
parliament that the Vatican had acted in good faith in refusing to
cooperate with Judge Murphy. The authorities in Rome and their
representative in Ireland, the Papal Nuncio, had refused even to answer
letters from Murphy asking for access to their files on abuse
allegations.
A State which had genuine concern for its children would have responded
to the report by taking decisive action to remove the Catholic bishops
as patrons of primary schools. Three thousand of 3,200 primaries in the
Republic have bishops as patrons - with the power to hire and fire and
complete control over the schools ethos. No less appropriate
category of men could be imagined to have such power over the moral
formation of children. But not a single member of parliament - not one!
- has urged the Government to take this obvious action.
Control of education is at the heart of
the matter. A ferocious determination to secure the right to train the
consciousness of the next generation dictated the Catholic hierarchys
attitude to the emerging Irish State in the early years of the last
century. Give us your children and well give you our backing against
the British and help shore up your State. The State was born in the
embrace of the Church and hasnt fully recovered from its origins
In the North, the Church did its dirty deal with the anti-Catholic
Unionists. Control of the education of the children of Catholic parents
in return for a commitment to keep the Catholics as docile as possible.
The arrangement lasted at least into the 1980s, when the Northern
bishops told the British government that if it proceeded with a plan to
integrate teacher training the Church would be unable to restrain the
anger of the faithful. That is, Lay a finger on our control of teacher
training and well stop condemning the IRA from the pulpit. And it
worked.
Not that the IRA - now transmogrified into Sinn Fein - has proven any
more useful that the other useless parties to the raped children of
Ireland.
Consider a case from the North: A priest is transferred from the South
into a Derry parish. The night before he arrives, the priests in the
parochial house are visited by an emissary from the bishop who tells
them to keep an eye on their new colleague, and specifically to
ensure that he is not left alone with children. Over the next few
months, despite two curates taking turns to follow him around, he rapes
two little girls. The family of one of the girls informs the bishop. He
ignores them. They then write to the Cardinal, the most senior
Churchman on the island, describing the assault on their daughter in
heart-rending terms and the shattering effect both on her and the
family. The Cardinal acknowledges the letter, expresses sympathy - and
assures the family that he will remember them in his prayers. The
rapist is moved out of the parish and hidden in a monastery in the
South. When he is traced there and exposed, the bishop lies in public
that the Church had earlier informed the civil authorities of the
allegations. The priest is eventually jailed.
The bishop concerned has been among those seen on television in the
past fortnight explaining that the situation in his diocese regarding
the handling of allegations of child sex abuse has always been
tickedy-boo.
Terwijl we in Belgistan de voordelen mogen smaken van een soort
klassejustitie die frauderende miljardairs bijna tot staatshelden
uitroept gaat het leven in Teheran zijn gewone gang. Gewone gang wil
zeggen: de studenten zetten hun protesten verder en de milities jagen
op alles wat van ver of van dichtbij op een student lijkt. Jullie
kunnen de beelden bekijken op een Iraanse blog die alle beelden tracht
te verzamelen. Spijtig voor ons is de commentaar in hun eigen taal en
die kunnen we tot nader order niet vertalen...
jullie zien hier een voorbeeld van studentenjacht en als je de link aanklikt zit je meteen goed:
The detained student activist who was violently arrested by intelligence agents yesterday is facing torture.
HRA-The Prisoners Rights Unit
of HRA reports that Majid Tavakoli was arrested yesterday as he and his
friends were leaving Amir Kabir University via its Hafez Street gate.
The arresting agents were waiting for him in a white minivan without a
license plate and an unmarked Peugeot 405 sedan.
The agents severely beat and
injured Majid during the arrest. The amount of violence and brutality
used in the arrest shocked passer-bys.
Eyewitnesses told HRA that a group of
students accompanied Majid on his way out after he gave a speech at the
Students Day ceremony at Amir Kabir University. Majid, who was wearing
a dark jacket at the time of his speech, changed to a beige jacket with
the help of students and people who were present. He then left the
university via its Hafez street gate and headed to College
intersection, along with a few other activists.
At the College intersection (Enghelab ave.
& Hafez str.) he and his 4 friends were intercepted by a white
minivan and a Peugeot 405. He was dragged violently into the car.
An eyewitness who is an expelled Amir
Kabir university student told the HRA that, All the pictures published
by the state media are false and a clear use of immoral means against
student and civil activists in Iran.
Reports suggest that Majid Tavakoli was
first taken to a detention center on Nejatollahi Street, where he was
tortured by intelligence agents, who then took him to an unknown
location. Intelligence agents have been trying to falsify the
circumstances around Majid Tavakolis arrest. Eyewitnesses have denied
all the news published by pro-Ahmadinejad media.
The violence exercised during the arrest,
as well as the coverage given by the media close to intelligence
milieus, has become a cause for extreme concern about the fate of Majid
Tavakoli.
Majid Tavakoli was once held for 15
months, accused of publishing false articles, but he was acquitted of
the charges 2 years ago. He exposed 70 cases of tortures to which he
had been subjected during his detention.
He was arrested a second time during a
memorial for Bazargan (IRIs first Prime Minister) and held for 115
days in solitary at ward 209 of Evin. He was recently released on heavy
bail.
Hier kunnen we Majid Tavakoli bezig horen en zien voor zijn arrestatie
Islamic Association of Amir Kabir University
Students condemned the arrest of Majid Tavakoli and expressed their full support
for him despite state efforts to ridicule him.
State media published images of Majid Tavakoli claiming that he was trying to
escape the campus "dressed as a woman." Amir Kabir student association claims
these reports merely reveal the "dictatorship's fury" against Majid Tavakoli for
his criticism of "oppression."
The statement issued by the Amir Kabir Student Association says: "The grand and
widespread protests of resistant students all across the country have frazzled
the lowly oppressors so they have no other recourse than dressing up Majid
Tavakoli in disguise."
They maintain that Majid Tavakoli is the "pride of the student movement" and the
resistance of students "be it dressed in female or male clothing" will persist
until the establishment of democracy.
December 7 protests at Amirkabir University
Reportedly on December 7, Majid Tavakoli was
beaten in the vicinity of the University, arrested and taken to an unknown
location.
He was also arrested two years ago in the course of student protests and was
released after 115 days in prison.
He was also imprisoned with two other peers for 15 months on another occasion
accused of "propaganda against the system, offending the sacred and publishing
falsehoods."
(AOF) - Le moral des investisseurs est en berne, pénalisé par une
succession de mauvaises nouvelles. Aucune région du globe n'est
épargnée. Au Moyen-Orient, la crise à Dubaï ne s'éteint pas aussi
rapidement qu'escompté. La Bourse de l'émirat a chuté de 6,12% à un
plus bas de 21 semaines tandis que sa voisine d'Abou Dhabi a abandonné
3,36% pour terminer à son plus bas niveau depuis 31 semaines. Les
opérateurs attendent des éclaircissements concernant la restructuration
du conglomérat public Dubai Word, qui a sollicité un moratoire de six
mois sur le remboursement de 26 milliards de dollars de dettes.
Les autorités de Dubaï assurent soutenir le conglomérat mais sans garantir sa dette.
Alors que la situation tarde à s'éclaircir au Moyen-Orient, le
président de la Fed, Ben Bernanke, a refroidi les investisseurs hier
soir en déclarant que les Etats-Unis avaient encore un long chemin à
parcourir avant que la reprise soit "autonome" et signifié clairement
qu'un relèvement des taux n'était pas près d'arriver.
Dans cet environnement morose, la décision de l'agence Fitch Rating de
dégrader la notation de la Grèce, de A- à BBB+ avec perspective
négative - le lendemain de la mise sous surveillance négative par
Standard & Poor's - a fini de déstabiliser les opérateurs. Fitch a
souligné les fortes inquiétudes causées par les finances publiques du
pays et les incertitudes sur la reprise économique.
La Bourse d'Athènes chute de 6% tandis qu'à Paris, le CAC 40 s'apprête
à clôturer sur une baisse de 1,55%. Selon certains analystes, la chute
de la production de l'industrie allemande en octobre (-1,8%), dévoilée
une heure avant l'annonce de Fitch, a également contribué à la baisse
des marchés européens. Dopé par la remontée de l'aversion pour le
risque, le dollar poursuit sa progression face à l'euro.
Attendu depuis des mois, le repli de la monnaie unique pourrait se
prolonger. La Grève vient d'être dégradée, mais fortement endettés et
touchés de plein fouet par la crise, l'Irlande, le Portugal et
l'Espagne inquiètent également les économistes.
Na de banken...de landen...we beginnen weer met Griekenland
na de bankcrisis lijken we nu regelrecht af te stevenen op de crisis
van ganse landen binnen de Europese muntzone...sommige landen hebben
torenhoge buitenlandse schulden, nietwaar waarde landgenoten en
sommigen zijn er nog slechter aan toe dan de lege schapraaien van
Leterme.... en vergeet de vorige beelden uit Griekenland zeker niet...de comhinatie van wat je hieronder leest en wat je in de beelden gezien hebt...????
Fears over the solvency of Greece reached a new level on Monday night as
Standard & Poors put the country's debt on notice for an imminent
downgrade.
By Jamie Dunkley
Published: 9:05PM GMT 07 Dec 2009
The agency placed the country on credit watch negative, meaning it is likely
to lose its A- rating within months. The country already has the lowest
credit rating in the eurozone, but has come under greater scrutiny amid
fears that its newly-elected government may avoid imposing significant cuts
on the public finances.
The news, which coincided with a separate warning from Jean-Claude Trichet,
European Central Bank president, pushed interest rates on Greek bonds to
their highest levels in seven months.
In its assessment of Greeces finances, S&P said that the govenments fiscal
consolidation plans are unlikely to secure a sustained reduction in fiscal
deficits and the public debt burden.
In the absence of further measures, S&P added that Greeces general government
debt burden could reach 125pc of GDP in 2010, the largest in the eurozone,
or move even higher over the medium term. The next notch down from Greeces
current level would be BBB+, which is still in investment grade territory,
albeit only narrowly.
Mr Trichet indicated that the moves carried out so far by the new government
had not been sufficient to arrest the fiscal crisis. He said to the European
parliament: we all know the very important and courageous decisions that
will have to be taken.
Some commentators suspect that Greece is particularly vulnerable to a fiscal
crisis, since, as a euro member, it does not have the luxury of being able
to devalue its currency or inflate its way out of a growing fiscal burden.
It must either deflate and accept slow and painful economic stagnation, or
default on its debts, calling the wider euro project into question.
Following the recent crisis in Dubai, investors have become doubly sensitive
to the risks of sovereign debt crises, with others warning that the UK is
similarly exposed.
S&P also revised its outlook on Portugals sovereign-credit rating to
negative from stable, blaming a deterioration in public finances.
The agency said Portugals public deficit could be higher than the 8pc of
output foreseen this year, with its debt-to-gross domestic product ratio
possibly hitting 90pc or more by 2011.
It added that trimming the budget would likely be complicated by structural
weaknesses in the economy and weak competitiveness that would hamper growth.
The agency said the economy was likely to show a 2.9pc contraction this year.
The outlook reflects our view of the increased potential for a rating
downgrade due to the larger deterioration in Portugals public finances than
we previously expected, including an expected rapid increase in the
debt-to-GDP ratio to more than 90 percent by 2011, S&P credit analyst Kai
Stukenbrock said in a statement.
As economic indicators have
improved, concern about the financial crisis has abated. But the next
big problem could be approaching. Greece's public deficit is
skyrocketing and the country may become insolvent. The effect on
Europe's common currency could be dire.
Josef Ackermann, the CEO of Deutsche Bank, has given the all-clear
signal many times in the past. He has repeatedly said that the worst
was over, only to see the financial crisis strengthen its grip on the
world economy.
Last week, however, Ackermann was singing a completely different tune.
Although many indicators are once again pointing skyward, he said at a
Berlin summit on the economy, Chancellor Angela Merkel, the assembled
cabinet ministers, corporate CEOs and union leaders should not to be
deluded. He warned emphatically that the financial situation could
deteriorate once again. "A few time bombs" are still ticking, Ackermann
told his audience, noting that the growing problems of highly leveraged
small countries could lead to new tremors. And then, almost casually,
Ackermann mentioned the problem child of the European financial world
by name: Greece.
Ackermann isn't alone in his opinion. Practically unnoticed by the
public, an issue has returned to the forefront in recent weeks -- one
that was a cause for great concern at the height of the financial
crisis but then, as optimism about the economy began to grow, was
eventually forgotten: the fear of a national bankruptcy in the euro
zone. And the question as to whether such a bankruptcy, should it come
about, could destroy the common European currency.
Greece was always at the very top of the list of countries at risk. But now the danger appears to be more acute than ever.
Insuring Against Default
The seismographs in the trading rooms at investment banks detected
the initial tremors weeks ago. Today, when the code "Greece CDS 10Yr"
appears on Bloomberg terminals, a curve at the bottom of the screen
points sharply upward. It reflects the price that banks are now
charging to insure 10-year Greek government bonds against default.
The price of these securities has jumped dramatically since Greek
Finance Minister Giorgos Papakonstantinou announced three weeks ago
that his country's budget deficit would reach 12.7 percent of gross
domestic product this year, instead of the 6 percent originally
forecast -- and well about the 3 percent limit foreseen by European
Union rules.
A second curve is the mirror image of the first. It depicts the
price of government bonds from the euro-zone country. It points sharply
downward.
Greece already pays almost 2 percent more in interest on its debt
than Germany. In other words, at a total debt of 270 billion ($402
billion), Greece will be paying 5 billion more in annual interest than
it would if it were Germany. And, with rating agencies threatening to
downgrade the country's already dismal credit rating, the situation is
only likely to get worse.
The finance ministers and central bankers of the euro-zone member
states are as alarmed as they are helpless. "The Greek problem," says a
senior administration official in Berlin, "will be an acid test for the
currency union."
No Buyers Can Be Found
Greece has already accumulated a mountain of debt that will be
difficult if not impossible to pay off. The government has borrowed
more than 110 percent of the country's economic output over the years,
and if investors lose confidence in the bonds, a meltdown could happen
as early as next year.
That's when the government borrowers in Athens will be required to
refinance 25 billion worth of debt -- that is, repay what they owe
using funds borrowed from the financial markets. But if no buyers can
be found for its securities, Greece will have no choice but to declare
insolvency -- just as Mexico, Ecuador, Russia and Argentina have done
in past decades.
This puts Brussels in a predicament. European Union rules preclude
the 27-member bloc from lending money to member states to plug holes in
their budgets or bridge deficits.
And even if there were a way to circumvent this prohibition, the
consequences could be disastrous. The lack of concern over budget
discipline in countries like Spain, Italy and Ireland would spread like
wildfire across the entire continent. The message would be clear: Why
save, if others will eventually foot the bill?
A Domino Effect
On the other hand, if Brussels left the Greeks to their own devices,
the consequences would also be dire. Confidence in the euro would be
shattered, and the union would face a crucial test. What good is a
common currency, many would ask, if some of the member states pay their
debts while others do not?
Furthermore, there is a threat of a domino effect. If one euro
member falls, speculators will test the stability of other potential
bankruptcy candidates. This could destroy the currency union. Because
of this systemic risk, say the economists at the Swiss bank UBS, "we
believe that if a country is facing a problem with debt repayment or
issuance, it will be supported.
A default of a euro-group country doesn't worry the monetary policy
hawks at the Bundesbank, Germany's central bank. "So what if Greece
stops paying its debts?" one of the executive board members asked at a
recent banquet in Frankfurt. "The euro is strong enough to take it."
The real threat, he says, is if Brussels comes to the Greeks' aid.
"Then the currency union will turn into an inflation union."
But it remains to be seen whether politicians can maintain such an
unbending approach. The prices for Greek government bonds plunged once
in the past, until then German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück, to the
horror of the Bundesbank, publicly pledged to help the Greeks if
necessary. There is much to be said for the government taking exactly
the same position today.
Can Bankruptcy Be Prevented?
A national bankruptcy in Greece would have a serious impact on
Germany, where many banks have invested heavily in the high-yield Greek
treasury bonds -- after borrowing the money to buy the bonds from the
European Central Bank (ECB) or other central banks at rates of 1-2
percent. Making money doesn't get much easier -- as long as the Greeks
remain solvent.
But can a Greek bankruptcy even be prevented anymore? The answer, at
least initially, depends heavily on the ECB. Will the custodian of the
euro continue to accept Greek bonds as collateral for short-term
liquidity assistance, or will it turn down the securities in the
future? Another possibility is a compromise, under which the banks
would pay additional interest when they submit Greek bonds.
The next meeting of the ECB takes place on Dec. 17. "The subject
will be on the agenda," say officials in Frankfurt. Time is of the
essence.
Central bankers in the euro zone are already speculating, behind
closed doors, what would happen if the Greeks started printing euros
without ECB approval. There is no answer to the question, and that
makes central bankers from Lisbon to Dublin even more nervous than they
are already.
Massaging Budget Figures
And more mistrustful. In 2004, it was discovered, completely by
accident, that Greece had only managed to qualify for entry into the
currency union by massaging its budget figures. The Greeks have only
complied with the Maastricht criteria once since the introduction of
the euro, in 2006.
Even those figures may have been doctored. At the time, the Greeks
managed to increase their official gross national product by a hefty 25
percent, partly because they included the black market and prostitution
in economic output. This brought down the deficit rate -- on paper, at
any rate -- to 2.9 percent.
The figures representing Greece's budget deficit are constantly
being revised upward. The most recent uptick, by close to 7 percent, is
a record for Europe -- and it comes in a country that was relatively
unaffected by the financial crisis. This year, the Greek economy will
have shrunk by only 1.2 percent, say Greek economists. Next year they
expect the economy to return to grown, albeit modest.
Particularly vexing to the remaining EU countries is the fact that
Greece has profited from its EU membership for decades. Year after
year, net transfers from Brussels have exceeded payments moving in the
opposite direction by 3 billion to 6 billion. These numbers, too,
have often been suspect. At times, the land area declared for
agricultural subsidies was incorrect, and sometimes approval conditions
were not met.
Resolute Words
Nevertheless, EU politicians find their hands tied. "The game is
over," the chairman of the euro group, Jean-Claude Juncker, declared
recently, only to turn around and assure the country of his solidarity.
"I don't have the slightest suspicion that Greece could go bankrupt --
anyone speculating that this will happen is deluding himself," says
Juncker.
His resolute words were directed at investment bankers in London,
Frankfurt and New York. They know full well that Greece is indeed on
the brink of bankruptcy, but they don't know whether the EU will, as
Juncker insinuated, come to the aid of member state Greece. Juncker's
message, in other words, was that those speculating on a bankruptcy
could be left out in the cold.
The EU has now begun a tougher approach to Greece. Three weeks ago,
the government in Athens received a rebuke from Brussels, followed by
another one last week. So far, however, the Greek government has shown
little inclination to take any significant steps. It does intend to
reduce the deficit, but only to 9.1 percent next year. This is far too
little for many European foreign ministers. As the new Greek finance
minister, Giorgos Papakonstantinou, recently announced, the country
will need at least four years to get its deficit under control "without
jeopardizing the economic recovery."
But by then the government deficit will have reached about 400
billion, or about 150 percent of GDP. Servicing that amount of debt,
even at current interest rates of about 5 percent, will make up at
least one third of government spending.
A London investment banker is betting on the continued decline of
prices for Greek bonds in the short term, while simultaneously waiting
for the right time to start buying the securities again. He jokes: "If
someone has 1,000 in debt, he has a problem. If someone has 10
million in debt, his bank has a problem. And the bank, in this case, is
Europe."
Griekenland: Links en rechts zelfde strijd en provocaties
Al tijdens de vorige rellen in Athene doken beelden op van provocateurs
langs de kant van de politie. Nooit werd er veel aandacht besteed aan
dit fenomeen. Ondertussen werd de rechtse regering weggestemd en is de
zogezegde linkse PASOK aan de macht gekomen en wat is er veranderd?
Lees hier de getuigenis van teacher Dude en bekijk de videobeelden
hieronder van december 2008 en vervolgens van gisteren...
The
video was taken by demonstraters in Hania, Crete who were marching in
memory of Alexandros Grigoropoulos shot by police last December. As you
can see men, dressed in garb usually associated with anarchist
protesters are quite happy to stand just a few metres away from the
riot police. There have been persistent rumours that some of the damage
caused by protesters over the last few days has been the work of agent
provocateurs who blend in with the crowd and initiate violence in order
to justify police intervention.
On the other hand if there are
plain clothes officers who wish to act covertly in order to pinpoint
trouble makers they do not seem unduly worried about being noticed by
the marchers.
The Greek media has been full of praise of the way in which the
recently elected PASOK government as handled the disturbances over the
last few days. The new zero - tolerance policing policy announced by
the minister for the protection of the citizen, Mihalis Chrisoidis has
been credited with limiting the extent of violence, especially in
Athens.
On the other hand the TV channels have gleefully lapped
up images of young proesters throwing rocks and stones at the riot
police and have been flooding the airways with stories of anarchist
plots and police discoveries of caches of petrol boms and other rioting
paraphenalia. In addition the record numbers of detentions and arrests
have been presented in a positive light, sign that the police have got
serious about cracking down on trouble makers.
In a sense this
is a repeat of the media coverage of last years uprising when the media
spent at least a week blaming Greece's worst civil disturbances ina
generation on hooilgans and looters, as if the hundreds of thousands
who took to the streets in proests across the nation were nothing more
than rampaging football fans looking for a fight.
Once again the
media coverage has almost completely ignored the thousands who
demonstarted peacefully this year and focused on the scenes of violence
which are presented simply as acts of mindless vandalism. Indeed the
channels ahve been falling over each other to see who can condemn the
protests most, blindly accepting any figure or statement issued by the
police, ignoring the opinions of anyone not in a position of authority.
On
the other hand the Greek language blogosphere and elsewhere on the
internet there is growing resentment of the way of this and especially
the way in which the violence of te police has eitther been played down
or completely overlooked. Reporters, who should know better have simply
decided to report the official version events and leave out any loose
ends such as eyewitness accounts of those actually present.
On
epersonal example involves the march on Sunday here in Thessaloniki
when the police went into action almost immediately after it started.
Just moments after the protest moved off the people from the anarchist
block started attacking shops selling religious goods, a supermarket
and banks, quickly prompting the riot police and motorcycle units to
intervene. The sight of police officers on motorbikes mounting
pavements and driving through crowds of people running in panic through
clouds of tear gas is not one I'll forget soon.
In the general
mayhem the marchers, who are nearly always organised in blocks
according to political affiliation, soon scattered and mixed and that
is how I ended up with about two hundred other just below the
ex-ministry of Macedonia and Thrace surrounded by riot squads who fired
tear gas rounds into the group and beat anyone who tried to move away
from the area.
Even after it was clear that they had control of
the area, officers continued to club and kick those on the ground and
refused medical help to the injured. Instead they shouted insults and
threats at anyone who looked at them.
I cannot vouch for the
character of each and everyone there but from my knowledge of the
groups that regularly take part in marches the vast majority of these
people were not trouble makers or bomb throwers. They belong to student
groups that abhor such tactics and believe that those who commit such
acts damage their cause. They, like me just happened to be in swept up
with a tide of people desperately runningaway from police with clubs
firing tear gas. Like me, they did not break away from the main group
knowing full well that in such a situation small groups or individuals
are easy prey for police units with a grudge and a truncheon.
The
media however, reported that the police had isolated and captured a
group of anarchists and had confiscated a large number of petrol bombs,
gas masks and clubs and that 88 people had been taken in for qustioning
and 20 arrested. Despite the presence of a number of TV camera crews
for over an hour I saw no footage of those inside the police cordon
being asked their opinion or saying what had happened, instead just
fleeting glances of people on the floor followed by pictures of the
weapons supposedly confiscated. If their had indeed been such a cache
present the density of the crowd and the fact that nobody was searched
till hours later would have meant that those carrying such things would
have had ample opportunity to get dump them out of their bags or
pockets.
What we had instead was PR and punishment, the police
knew that whatever version of the truth they said would be accepted
without question and that the sight of them with so many prisoners
would vandicate their new get tough policy, irrespctive of whether
they'd actually captured anyone who'd broken the law. On the other hand
those caught up in this farce would have to endure a night in the
cells, possibly weeks in court explaining their case.
The same
approach was also true of the events in Athens when motorcycle cops
also rode their machines into crowds of demonstartors, seriously
injuring a 55 year old teacher, while the footage was shown it was
presented as an unfortunate accident. No mention however was made at
all of the officer who after gunning his bike into people was pulled
off. In a fit of rage he pulled out his pistol and chased them.
I'm
not sure what exactly lies behind the new media landscape and why so
few reporters have been critical of the present situation but with the
Greek media feeling the effects of the country's economic crisis theose
who own the private media outlets are unlikely to antagonise a
government which in a position to provide a steady revenue stream in
the form of ads and contracts.
en dan ons favoriet showbeest van de ouwe Britse rockabillygarde...Freddy Fingers Lee en we hebben het ontegensprekelijke genoegen gehad om hem ooit live te mogen meemaken ....altijd de moeite waard...en een uitstekende pianist
Het boegbeeld van de Britse Rockabilly is zeker en vast Crazy Cavan. Samen met matchbox kwamen ze ook regelmatig naar onze gewesten en mits weer de juiste huidpigmenten en de juiste introducties kon je inderdaad ambiance opsnuiven en vooral de geur van Jack Daniels Whisky...
Het studentenprotest in Teheran lijkt massaal te zijn en keert zich
tegen de dictatuur en vooral tegen de milities die door het regime
gebruikt worden om elk protest de kop in te drukken. Momenteel zijn er
beelden te zien op volgende blog:
Sommige
blogs moeten met de nodige scheppen, en soms laadbakken zout worden
genomen want als je het weerbericht van vandaag bekijkt dan merk je dat
het aan de frisse kant is in Teheran
het is dus zeker geen weer om in T-shirts op straat te protesteren
....sommige blogs publiceren dus beelden van vorige betogingen tijdens de
zomermaanden en laten ze ten onrechte doorgaan voor de betogingen van
gisteren en vandaag...
Wij doen in elk geval ons petje af voor de Iraanse studenten!
AP) TEHRAN, Iran -- Security forces and pro-government militiamen clashed with protesters shouting "death to the dictator" outside Tehran University on Monday, beating men and women with batons and firing tear gas, on a day of nationwide student demonstrations, witnesses said.
Thousands of protesters demonstrated in the streets outside the campus in support of students inside. As they chanted "death to the dictator," riot police and Basij militiamen charged the crowds, the witnesses said.
The plainclothes Basijis beat protesters on the heads and shoulders as the crowd scattered, then regrouped on nearby street corners. Nearby, protesters and Basijis pelted each other with stones, the witnesses said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.
Pro-reform campus groups have called for students across the country to turn out Monday for massive rallies at universities against Iran's clerical leadership -- the first major protest in more than a month. The opposition has been struggling to maintain its presence on the streets after security forces crushed massive rallies that erupted over Iran's disputed presidential election in June.
While turmoil erupted in the streets outside Tehran University on Monday, authorities took dramatic steps to close the campuses to the outside world.
Cell phone networks around the universities were shut down. To hide anything going on inside, the fence around Tehran University was covered with banners and signs bearing quotes from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and messages marking an important Shiite occasion celebrated Sunday. Police and members of the elite Revolutionary Guard surrounded all the university entrances and were checking IDs of anyone entering to prevent opposition activists from joining the students, witnesses said.
Footage posted on YouTube purported to show a march by thousands on Monday inside Tehran University. The young men and women were shown chanting "death to the dictator" and slogans against the Basij as they marched through the campus. There was no sign of security forces, and the students marched without frictions. The authenticity of the footage could be immediately be confirmed
The potential for violence inside the campuses was high. Some 2,000 Basiji students were brought into Tehran University early Monday -- obstensively to hold a celebration for the Shiite holiday, but such hard-line students are often used to crush pro-reform rallies on campus.
Journalists working for foreign media organizations are banned from covering Monday's planned protests. They were told late Saturday by the Culture Ministry that their press cards would be suspended for three days starting Monday.
Government opponents were hoping for a large turnout for Monday's demonstrations to show their movement still has momentum despite a series of government crackdowns since the election, which the opposition says President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won by fraud.
Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi threw his support behind the planned student demonstrations and declared that his movement was is still alive. A statement posted on his Web site said the clerical establishment cannot silence students and was losing legitimacy in the Iranian people's minds.
"A great nation would not stay silent when some confiscate its vote," said Mousavi, who claims to be the real winner of the June 12 vote.
Khamenei, the supreme leader who has final say on all state matters, accused the opposition Sunday of causing divisions in the country and creating opportunities for Iran's enemies.
Students at Tehran University played a major role in street demonstrations in support of the 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled to pro-U.S. shah and brought clerics to power. But in the past decade, universities have become strongholds for the pro-reform opposition, which seeks to reduce the clerics' domination of politics.
Sunday night, rooftop cries of "Allahu akbar" or "God is great" and "death to the dictator" were heard from many parts of Tehran in support of the opposition. The rooftop chants -- which were almost every night in the weeks following the election -- had not been heard since the opposition's last attempt to mobilize, a Nov. 4 rally coinciding with state-sanctioned events to mark the anniversary of the 1979 U.S. Embassy takeover.
That demonstration drew far fewer protesters than at the height of the summer's unrest. But it still provoked a violent response from security forces. Monday's protests appears to be larger than the Nov. 4 rallies.
For weeks after the disputed June presidential election, demonstrations triggered by claims of massive fraud in the vote brought hundreds of thousands to the streets, but the relentless crackdown that followed has taken a heavy toll.
Seeking to deny the protesters a chance to reassert their voice, authorities slowed Internet connections to a crawl in the capital. For some periods on Sunday, Web access was completely shut down -- a tactic that was also used before last month's demonstration.
The call for Monday's demonstrations was put out on dozens of Web sites run by supporters of opposition leaders Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi, who both ran against Ahmadinejad in the June 12 election. Most of those sites have been repeatedly blocked by the government, forcing activists to set up new ones.
Fars News Agency One
of the photographs of Iranian student leader Majid Tavakoli dressed as
a woman published by Irans official media outlets this week.
Majid Tavakoli speaking at Amir Kabir University in Tehran on Monday.
Fars News Agency Two photographs of Iranian leaders unpopular with the countrys Islamic rulers. Both may be fake.
Persian Arash/Facebook A digital parody of the photograph of Majid Tavakoli featuring the face of Irans supreme leader.
