America Destroyed: The True State of the Union (allow 8 sec lead in time) Is the American Dream At An End? Reader please watch the videos at the end of this text to get a complete picture of the info presented here. This is one of the most complicated posts I have ever researched, and one of the most important. To begin - think about this statement - "In 20 years the USA will have a third world work force engaged in domestic non-tradable services." read this article at the link below ... *The Lies at the End of the American Dream What Is Happening One way to comprehend what is happening is to look at the split between how much of the economy is won by profits and how much by wages. The share allotted to corporate profits increased sharply, from 17.7% in 2000 to 20.9% in 2005, while the share going to wages has reached a record low. The incomes of the top 20% have grown much faster than the earnings of those at the middle or bottom of the income distribution. The income of the top 1% and top 0.1% have grown particularly rapidly. From 1992 to 2005, the pay of chief executive officers of major companies rose by 186%. The equivalent figure for median hourly wages was 7.2%, leaving the ratio of CEOs' pay to that of the average worker at 262. In the 1960s, the comparable figure was 24. Downward Pressure On Wages The Federal minimum wage has been static for a decade. The "China effect,", the idea that low prices of imported manufactured goods are pushing US industry to cut its workforce in order to increase productivity. Public, private and corporate debt far exceeds any previously known dimensions. Trusting in a future rosier than the present, millions of households are borrowing so much money that they end up endangering the very future they're looking forward to. The lower and middle classes have practically given up on putting aside any savings. They're going into the 21st century like a poverty-stricken, Third World family, living from hand to mouth without any financial reserves whatsoever. The production sectors such as the furniture industry, consumer electronics, many automobile part suppliers, and now computer manufacturers have left the country for good. American Declining Values Actual losses in the US real estate market are much higher than what you have been reading in the newspapers recently. Using a combination of official government statistics and the most widely used index of housing values, we will demonstrate that the US real estate market has lost a total of $6 trillion in value in the last two years. *Read more The value of the U.S. dollar falling 28 per cent against other currencies. World financial markets are already starting to bet against the U.S. dollar. Our creditors, particularly Asian central banks, are losing their appetite for U.S. Treasuries. The consequences of a rapidly declining dollar are not yet fully understood by the American public. The long-term significance has not sunk in, but when it does there will be political hell to pay in Washington. Our relative wealth as a nation is measured in dollars, and the steady erosion of the value of those dollars means we will all be poorer in the future. The artificial stimulation of our economy through cheap money comes with a price. When dollars are abundant, they are worth less. This is the reality facing Americans today, especially older Americans who rely on savings to finance their retirement years. The government has pumped its currency into the world economy so vigorously that the dollar can now be brought to the point of collapse, and now large parts of the US workforce is standing with its backs against the wall. References *America’s Socio-Economic Conundrum *Fed Covers Up Declining Dollar *Effects of our declining currency For many blue and white-collar workers, this decline is already real, because they have less of everything than they used to. They possess less money, they are shown less respect in society, and their chances for climbing up the social ladder have deteriorated dramatically. They're the losers in the world war for wealth. When a large part of citizens are cut off from the nation's overall wealth, we have to face an uncomfortable reality. The Rise of State Fascism Last call to awaken the slumbering promise of our Constitution - or to watch our freedom slither away forever. Corporate media has enabled tyranny to prevail over the truth, because they value profits above all else. This is a wake-up call to save us from the final descent into an Orwellian world from which we will not be able to return. American Fascists Part 1 American Fascists Part 2 Mainstream media corporations like CNN, Fox, and NBC (General Electric) together with giant telecoms like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T have become administration pawns in a well-organized effort to hijack America. A warning for all Americans the media has become a docile lapdog of government while failing at keeping us informed. Those who stay tuned to Fox News, CNN or any other corporate-owned news source realize that the bottom line is what determines newsworthy without having the public's interest in mind. End of US Democracy Part 1 End of US Democracy Part 2 Mainstream media have failed us in covering issues crucial to the survival of American democracy. Corporate media have systematically attempted to dumb down and distract us from reality with sex and violence; government has used corporate media to shock and awe Americans into surrendering their constitutional rights in the name of the War on Terrorism; and media personalities have been complicit in the mass deception. Now when the mainstream media reports from Afghanistan, Iraq, or anywhere around the world, including here in the United States, it is in cooperation with the government. Without a functioning media, there is no stopping government from divesting us of our freedom. Let us now take a video journey through the "Graveyard of American Dreams" .... Income Inequality and the Middle Class - Corporate Profits Up, Wages Down Is the American Family Under Attack? - Haunted House of Economic Horrors No Jobs for Middle Class - Facts about the economy U.S. Trade Policy and Job - Destroying Treaties, WTO & NAFTA References *The American middle class is becoming the loser of globalization. Also see ... "It’s the biggest untold economic story of our time: more of the nation’s bounty held in fewer and fewer hands, and Bush’s tax cuts are only making the problem worse." References *The Great Wealth Transfer *The Great Wealth Transfer (continued) Also see ... "(Oil) The holy grail of world trade, the basis of neo-liberal growth and prosperity, is completely dependent on a resource that is not only finite but moving into decline. The era of globalisation seems destined to be relatively short-lived." Reference *Cultural meaning of the oil crisis and the end of growth Race to the Bottom Stumble It!

Simply put, the years ahead will prove to be nothing short of a modern Dark Age for many Americans. The United States’ loss of standing – economically, politically, socially, militarily, metaphorically – will be the catalyst for an array of changes. Over time, the effects will be powerful and far-reaching. # Globalization will shift into reverse. # Armed conflicts will increase amid heightened competition for food, water, and energy. # Communities, countries, and trading blocs – including the European Monetary Union and NAFTA – will split apart in the wake of heightened social, ethnic, and economic tensions. # Political structures will be in flux, as local leaders gain influence at the expense of national authorities. Many factors account for the coming changes. For one thing, the U.S. is no longer the world’s economic locomotive, but is instead dependent on the kindness of foreigners. More and more nations are competing for a shrinking pool of resources that Americans have long taken for granted. Emerging powers such as China and India are asserting their desire – and their right – to set the global agenda. No doubt many Americans will find this hard to accept. But they will have little choice. After five decades of unprecedented peace and prosperity built on the foundation stone of U.S. economic and military might, the winds of change are blowing hard. Foreigners no longer see us as the sole superpower. In Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and elsewhere, America has proven itself vulnerable. Challengers are poised to make their move. Although the turbulence that is set to unfold will reverberate around the globe, it is Americans who will face the rudest awakening. They will be forced to rethink livelihoods, lifestyles, and living arrangements. In fact, many individuals and businesses will have to make dramatic adjustments just to survive. Carrying on as before could be the biggest mistake of all. America Is Turning Fascist. Here is the proof for those not awake yet. Take notice of every video here and spread the word! - America is turning Fascist Part 1 - America is turning Fascist Part 2 - America is turning Fascist Part 3 - America is turning Fascist Part 4 - America is turning Fascist Part 5 - America is turning Fascist Part 6 - Stumble It!

Depleted Uranium The Biggest American Censored News Story The Most Ignored & Covered Up by Mass Media News Story ... Hundreds of Thousands of American Troops Contaminated, dying, and disabled from Depleted Uranium by American Arms. Since 1991, the United States has staged four wars using depleted uranium weaponry, illegal under all international treaties, conventions and agreements, as well as under US military law. America’s Big Dirty Secret Depleted Uranium weapons are called "Dirty" because much of the uranium-235 isotope useful for nuclear power fuel and weapons has been separated. "Depleted" does not mean that its biological hazards have been made less harmful or reduced one iota. DU burns on impact, converting the uranium into lots of particles that are easily inhaled and can cause lung cancers. Uranium-238 has a half-life roughly as long as the Earth has been in existence. DU tipped weapons are the real "dirty bombs" and are a war crime to manufacture and use. Radiation emitted by DU (Depleted Uranium) threatens the human body because, once DU dust has been inhaled, it becomes an internal radiation source; international radiation protection standards, the basis of expert claims that DU is harmless, deal only with external radiation sources; Dirty DU Uranium from reactors, recycled for use in munitions, contains additional highly toxic elements, such as plutonium, 1.6 kilogrammes of which could kill 8 (eight) billion people. In a French TV documentary on Canal+ in January 2001, a team of researchers presented the results of an investigation into a gaseous diffusion recycling plant in Paducah, Kentucky, USA. According to the lawyer for 100,000 plaintiffs, who are past and present plant employees, they were contaminated because of flagrant non-compliance with basic safety standards; the entire plant is irrevocably contaminated, as is everything it produces. *Read More American War Crimes Depleted Uranium Videos Iraq conspiracy - Illegal DEPLETED URANIUM Videos Iraq War Crimes Videos US Weapons Causing Iraqi Birth Defects Depleted Uranium Videos are extremely scarce here are a few more See the Videos ... *Contaminated with Depleted Uranium *Depleted Uranium Problem *Depleted Uranium Secrecy *Depleted Uranium Study Military Secrecy The vast majority of servicemen and women in the U.S. military, and likely in the armed forces of other countries which are developing or have obtained depleted uranium munitions, are unaware of the use and dangers of depleted uranium munitions, or of the protective clothing and procedures which can minimize or prevent serious short-term exposures. The following military DU training videos sat on shelves seldom shown *Depleted Uranium Hazard Awareness *Standard DU Army Training Video The continued use of this illegal radioactive weaponry, which has already contaminated vast regions with low level radiation and will contaminate other parts of the world over time, is indeed a world affair and an international issue. Read more ... *Depleted Uranium:The Trojan Horse of Nuclear War The last Iraq war was about Iraq possessing illegal weapons of mass destruction yet we are using weapons of mass destruction ourselves. Read more ... *US forces use of depleted uranium weapons is illegal In June 2003, the World Health Organization announced in a press release that global cancer rates will increase 50 percent by 2020. What else do they know that they aren’t telling us? Read more ... *Dirty bombs, dirty missiles, dirty bullets *Depleted Uranium Ammunition:Nuclear Waste as a Weapon Children of the Gulf War Photo Exhibit Warning - Extreme Graphic Violence *Save the War Children *Children of the Gulf War From Gulf War I, fully 75% of our fighting men who were on the ground are now dead, dying, or sick from Depleted Uranium. There are reports that the Pentagon is preventing American soldiers from writing home to complain about the variety of illness afflicting them because of the deadly combination of Depleted Uranium and Toxic Vaccinations. The Pentagon is said to be threatening to muster out soldiers who complain, thus cutting off their medical care after they get out. However, when these men do return home and they are very ill from D.U. contamination, the Pentagon is refusing to *admit that these men are sick with D.U.! THE PENTAGON IS DENYING MEDICAL CARE FOR VETERANS STRICKEN BY DEPLETED URANIUM (D.U.) CONTAMINATION! Denial At the Top of the Administration Former Head Of Pentagon's Depleted Uranium Project Says Thousands Of Troops Are Sick and Dying From Illegal DU Use and the Military's Failure To Admit Responsibility. Maj. Rokke said his warnings as well as warnings from many other experts were not only dismissed by the military, but also by every other bigwig on Capital Hill, including President Clinton, Senator John Kerry and every other member of Congress, all very much aware of his position since he even addressed the 2000 Fall Congressional Coalition Leadership at its quarterly breakfast in Washington D.C. Read On ... *Military's Failure To Admit Responsibility *Behind Depleted Uranium Read parts of the book ... *How the Pentagon Radiates Soldiers & Civilians with DU Weapons It is happening again to a new generation of veterans. Some of today's soldiers were in day care centers in 1991 when Dick Cheney first authorized the wholesale use of radioactive munitions. It is happening again despite the fact that 70% of all Gulf War I veterans are on medical disability fifteen years after the end of the first war against Saddam Hussein. We are witnessing the same symptoms of radioactive poisoning today as fifteen years ago. We are hearing the same denial of reality from Donald Rumsfeld's Department of Defense (DOD). What's worse is that, since 1998, veterans are eligible for free health care for only the first two years after being demobilized. After that, an ailing veteran has to prove his or her illness is service-connected. In the next article we'll describe what that burden has meant to ailing Iraq vets. Read On ... *GI's Beware A special report published by eminent scientist *Leuren Moret naming depleted uranium as the definitive cause of the Gulf War Syndrome has fed a *growing scandal about the continued use of uranium munitions by the US Military. The Veterans Administration acknowledged a third of all living Gulf War veterans, 181,996 were collecting *service-related disability pensions. Now the same thing is happening to veterans of "Operation Iraqi Freedom." Civilian populations in Afghanistan and Iraq and occupying troops have been *contaminated with astounding levels of radioactive depleted and non-depleted uranium as a result of post 9/11 United States’ use of tons of uranium munitions. Researchers say surrounding countries are bound to feel the effects as well. The Pentagon used its radioactive arsenal mainly in the *urban centers, rather than in desert battlefields as in 1991. Many hundreds of thousands of Iraqi people and U.S. soldiers, along with British, Polish, Japanese and Dutch soldiers sent to join the occupation, will suffer the consequences. The real extent of injuries, chronic illness, long-term disabilities and genetic birth defects won't be apparent for five to 10 years. While officially, only 467 soldiers were wounded during the first Gulf War, according to Terry Jemison at the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), of the more than 592,560 discharged personnel who served there, at least 179,310 - one third - are receiving disability compensation and over 24,760 additional cases were pending as of September 2004. Cancer, respiratory diseases and horrible birth defects have been widespread inIraq even after Gulf War I and are bound to increase. Read more ... *Uranium Munitions Are Weapons of Mass Destruction This number of disabled veterans is shockingly high. Most are in their mid-thirties and should be in the prime of health. Before sending troops to the Gulf region, the military had already sifted out those with disabilities or chronic health problems from asthma, diabetes, heart conditions, cancers and birth defects. In 2003 scientists from the *Uranium Medical Research Center (UMRC) studied urine samples of Afghan civilians and found that 100% of the samples taken had levels of non-depleted uranium (NDU) 400% to 2000% higher than normal levels. The UMRC research team studied six sites, two in Kabul and others in the Jalalabad area. The civilians were tested four months after the attacks in Afghanistan by the United States and its allies. *NDU is more radioactive than depleted uranium (DU), which itself is charged with causing many cancers and severe birth defects in the Iraqi population, especially children over the past ten years. Four million pounds of radioactive uranium was dropped on Iraq in 2003 alone. Uranium dust will be in the bodies of our returning armed forces. Conducted at the request of The News, as the U.S. government considers the cost of $1,000 per affected soldier prohibitive, the test found that four of the nine men were contaminated with high levels of DU, likely caused by inhaling dust from depleted uranium shells fired by U.S. troops. Most American weapons (missiles, smart bombs, dumb bombs, bullets, tank shells, cruise missiles, etc.) contain high amounts of radioactive uranium. Depleted or non-depleted, these types of weapons, on detonation, release a radioactive dust which, when inhaled, goes into the body and stays there. It has a half-life of 4.5 billion years. Basically, it’s a permanently available contaminant, distributed in the environment, where dust storms or any water nearby can disperse it. Once ingested, it releases subatomic particles that slice through DNA. UMRC’s Field Team found several hundred Afghan civilians with acute symptoms of radiation poisoning along with chronic symptoms of internal uranium contamination, including congenital problems in newborns. Local civilians reported large, dense dust clouds and smoke plumes rising from the point of impact, an acrid smell, followed by burning of the nasal passages, throat and upper respiratory tract. Subjects in all locations presented identical symptom profiles and chronologies. The victims reported symptoms including pain in the cervical column, upper shoulders and basal area of the skull, lower back/kidney pain, joint and muscle weakness, sleeping difficulties, headaches, memory problems and disorientation. At the Uranium Weapons Conference held October 2003 in Hamburg, Germany, independent scientists from around the world testified to a huge increase in birth deformities and cancers wherever NDU and DU had been used. Professor Katsuma Yagasaki, a scientist at the Ryukyus University, Okinawa calculated that the 800 tons of DU used in Afghanistan is the radioactive equivalent of 83,000 Nagasaki bombs. The amount of DU used in Iraq is equivalent to 250,000 Nagasaki bombs. At the Uranium Weapons Conference, a demonstration by British-trained oncologist Dr. Jawad Al-Ali showed photographs of the kinds of birth deformities and tumors he had observed at the Saddam Teaching Hospital in Basra just before the 2003 war. Cancer rates had increased dramatically over the previous fifteen years. In 1989 there were 11 abnormalities per 100,000 births; in 2001 there were 116 per 100,000— an increase of over a thousand percent. In 1989 34 people died of cancer; in 2001 there were 603 cancer deaths. The 2003 war has increased these figures exponentially. At a meeting of the International Criminal Tribunal for Afghanistan held December 2003 in Tokyo, the U.S. was indicted for multiple war crimes in Afghanistan, among them the use of DU. Leuren Moret, President of Scientists for Indigenous People and Environmental Commissioner for the City of Berkeley, testified that because radioactive contaminants from uranium weapons travel through air, water, and food sources, the effects of U.S. deployment in Afghanistan will be felt in Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China and India. Countries affected by the use of uranium weapons in Iraq include Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Turkey, and Iran. Veterans groups blame depleted uranium contamination as a factor in Gulf War syndrome, the term for a host of ailments that afflicted thousands of vets from that war. "Anybody, civilian or soldier, who breathes these particles has a permanent dose, and it's not going to decrease very much over time," said Dietz, who retired in 1983 after 33 years as nuclear physicist. "In the long run ... veterans exposed to ceramic uranium oxide have a major problem." Shocking report reveals local troops to be victims of America's high-tech weapons Read more ... *Troops victims of America's high-tech weapons Depleted uranium, which does not occur in nature, is created as a waste product of uranium enrichment when some of the highly radioactive isotopes in natural uranium, U-235 and U-234, are extracted. In the Gulf War, Army brass did not warn soldiers about any risks from exploding DU shells. An unknown number of G.I.s were exposed by shrapnel, inhalation or handling battlefield debris. "A large number of American soldiers [in Iraq] may have had significant exposure to uranium oxide dust," ... "And the health impact is worrisome for the future." When DU shells explode, they permanently contaminate their target and the area immediately around it with low-level radioactivity. Birth defects may stem from his father's Gulf War service. But like many other families, American Vets face official stonewalling--and a frightening future. Read more ... *US Veterans Face Frightening Future The use of depleted uranium weaponry by the United States, defying all international treaties, will slowly annihilate all species on earth including the human species, and yet this country continues to do so with full knowledge of its destructive potential. Read more ... *Deadly Illegal American Uranium Weapons -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More Bombs Dropped On Iraq than were used in WW II At least 300 million grams of depleted uranium were deposited on central and southern Iraq during the Gulf War and subsequent bombings, over 100 million times the 0.023 gram maximum exposure dose permitted for workers in nuclear industry. Depleted uranium, because of its unique ratio of U-235 to U-238, can be readily identified and has been found in the urine of exposed individuals as long as 10 years after exposure. During the brief Gulf War, thousands of tons of bombs were dropped on Iraq, more than were used throughout World War II. By systematic intent, all electric power generating facilities, water treatment and pumping plants, sewage treatment facilities, and communication centers were bombed. References ... *Is The Pentagon Giving Our Soldiers Cancer? *Damage in Iraq during the Gulf War *U.S. Stocking Uranium-Rich Bombs? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Resources ... *Depleted Uranium Watch *The Doctor,Depleted Uranium, the Dying Children *Depleted Uranium and Other Uranium Weapons *War Crimes Committed *Women for a Better World *Peace Aware *US use of DU in Iraq war causes cancer *Concerns over military use of Depleted Uranium growing Technocrati Tags Depleted Uranium, Contaminated with Depleted Uranium, Depleted Uranium Secrecy, US forces use of depleted uranium weapons illegal, Dirty bombs, dirty missiles, dirty bullets, Depleted Uranium Ammunition:Nuclear Waste as a Weapon, Leuren Moret Stumble It!

The Uncelebrated American May Day Holiday

- Mayday Part 1 - May Day Part 2 - See these important sources *May Day USA News and Events *The Anarchism Videos May Day USA In 1887 four Chicago anarchists were executed. A fifth cheated the hangman by killing himself in prison. Three more were to spend 6 years in prison until pardoned by Governor Altgeld who said the trial that convicted them was characterized by "hysteria, packed juries and a biased judge". The state had, in the words of the prosecution put "Anarchy .. on trial" and hoped their deaths would also be the death of the anarchist idea. The anarchists were trade union organizers and May Day became an international workers day to remember their sacrifice. They were framed on false charges of throwing a bomb at police breaking up a demonstration in Chicago. This was part of a strike demanding an 8 hour day involving 400,000 workers in Chicago that started May 1st 1886 . The anarchist idea did not die in Chicago in 1887. Today it inspires a new wave of struggle against global capitalism. Join in this struggle. Not many people know why May Day became International Workers Day and why we should still celebrate it. It all began over a century ago when the American Federation of Labor adopted an historic resolution which asserted that "eight hours shall constitute a legal day's labor from and after May 1st, 1886". In the months prior to this date workers in there thousands were drawn into the struggle for the shorter day. Skilled and unskilled, black and white, men and women, native and immigrant were all becoming involved. Chicago In Chicago alone 400,000 were out on strike. A newspaper of that city reported that "no smoke curled up from the tall chimneys of the factories and mills, and things had assumed a Sabbath-like appearance". This was the main center of the agitation, and here the anarchists were in the forefront of the labor movement. It was to no small extent due to their activities that Chicago became an outstanding trade union center and made the biggest contribution to the eight-hour movement. When on May 1st 1886, the eight hour strikes convulsed that city, one half of the workforce at the McCormick Harvester Co. came out. Two days later a mass meeting was held by 6,000 members of the 'lumber shovers' union who had also come out. The meeting was held only a block from the McCormick plant and was joined by some 500 of the strikers from there. The workers listened to a speech by the anarchist August Spies, who has been asked to address the meeting by the Central Labour Union. While Spies was speaking, urging the workers to stand together and not give in to the bosses, the strikebreakers were beginning to leave the nearby McCormick plant. The strikers, aided by the 'lumber shovers' marched down the street and forced the scabs back into the factory. Suddenly a force of 200 police arrived and, without any warning, attacked the crowd with clubs and revolvers. They killed at least one striker, seriously wounded five or six others and injured an indeterminate number. Outraged by the brutal assaults he had witnessed, Spies went to the office of the Arbeiter-Zeitung (a daily anarchist newspaper for German immigrant workers) and composed a circular calling on the workers of Chicago to attend a protest meeting the following night. The protest meeting took place in the Haymarket Square and was addressed by Spies and two other anarchists active in the trade union movement, Albert Parsons and Samuel Fielden. The police attack Throughout the speeches the crowd was orderly. Mayor Carter Harrison, who was present from the beginning of the meeting, concluded that "nothing looked likely to happen to require police interference". He advised police captain John Bonfield of this and suggested that the large force of police reservists waiting at the station house be sent home. It was close to ten in the evening when Fielden was closing the meeting. It was raining heavily and only about 200 people remained in the square. Suddenly a police column of 180 men, headed by Bonfield, moved in and ordered the people to disperse immediately. Fielden protested "we are peaceable". Bomb At this moment a bomb was thrown into the ranks of the police. It killed one, fatally wounded six more and injured about seventy others. The police opened fire on the spectators. How many were wounded or killed by the police bullets was never exactly ascertained. A reign of terror swept over Chicago. The press and the pulpit called for revenge, insisting the bomb was the work of socialists and anarchists. Meeting halls, union offices, printing works and private homes were raided. All known socialists and anarchists were rounded up. Even many individuals ignorant of the meaning of socialism and anarchism were arrested and tortured. "Make the raids first and look up the law afterwards" was the public statement of Julius Grinnell, the state's attorney. Trial Eventually eight men stood trial for being "accessories to murder". They were Spies, Fielden, Parsons, and five other anarchists who were influential in the labour movement, Adolph Fischer, George Engel, Michael Schwab, Louis Lingg and Oscar Neebe. The trial opened on June 21st 1886 in the criminal court of Cooke County. The candidates for the jury were not chosen in the usual manner of drawing names from a box. In this case a special bailiff, nominated by state's attorney Grinnell, was appointed by the court to select the candidates. The defense was not allowed to present evidence that the special bailiff had publicly claimed "I am managing this case and I know what I am about. These fellows are going to be hanged as certain as death". Rigged jury The eventual composition of the jury was farcical; being made up of businessmen, their clerks and a relative of one of the dead policemen. No proof was offered by the state that any of the eight men before the court had thrown the bomb, had been connected with its throwing, or had even approved of such acts. In fact, only three of the eight had been in Haymarket Square that evening. No evidence was offered that any of the speakers had incited violence, indeed in his evidence at the trial Mayor Harrison described the speeches as "tame". No proof was offered that any violence had been contemplated. In fact, Parsons had brought his two small children to the meeting. Sentenced That the eight were on trial for their anarchist beliefs and trade union activities was made clear from the outset. The trial closed as it had opened, as was witnessed by the final words of Attorney Grinnell's summation speech to the jury. "Law is on trial. Anarchy is on trial. These men have been selected, picked out by the Grand Jury, and indicted because they were leaders. There are no more guilty than the thousands who follow them. Gentlemen of the jury; convict these men, make examples of them, hang them and you save our institutions, our society." On August 19th seven of the defendants were sentenced to death, and Neebe to 15 years in prison. After a massive international campaign for their release, the state 'compromised' and commuted the sentences of Schwab and Fielden to life imprisonment. Lingg cheated the hangman by committing suicide in his cell the day before the executions. On November 11th 1887 Parsons, Engel, Spies and Fischer were hanged. Pardoned 600,000 working people turned out for their funeral. The campaign to free Neebe, Schwab and Fielden continued. On June 26th 1893 Governor Altgeld set them free. He made it clear he was not granting the pardon because he thought the men had suffered enough, but because they were innocent of the crime for which they had been tried. They and the hanged men had ben the victims of "hysteria, packed juries and a biased judge". The authorities has believed at the time of the trial that such persecution would break the back of the eight-hour movement. Indeed, evidence later came to light that the bomb may have been thrown by a police agent working for Captain Bonfield, as part of a conspiracy involving certain steel bosses to discredit the labor movement. When Spies addressed the court after he had been sentenced to die, he was confident that this conspiracy would not succeed. "If you think that by hanging us you can stamp out the labour movement... the movement from which the downtrodden millions, the millions who toil in misery and want, expect salvation - if this is your opinion, then hang us! Here you will tread on a spark, but there and there, behind you - and in front of you, and everywhere, flames blaze up. It is a subterranean fire. You cannot put it out". Revolutionary politics Over a century after that first May Day demonstration in Chicago, where are we? We stroll though town with our union banners - about the only day of the year we can get them out of head office. Then we stand around listening to boring (and usually pretty meaningless) speeches by equally boring union bureaucrats. You have to keep reminding yourself that May Day was once a day when workers all over the world displayed their strength, proclaimed their ideals and celebrated their successes. It is important that "once upon a time" it was like that. We can do it again. We need independent working class politics. No collaboration with government and bosses. Real solidarity with fellow workers in struggle, not a blinkered sectional outlook. We still need a further reduction in working hours, without loss of pay, to make work for the unemployed. We need revolutionary politics. That means politics that can lead us towards a genuine socialism where freedom knows no limit other than not interfering with the freedom of others. A socialism that is based on real democracy - not the present charade where we can choose some of our rulers, but may not choose to do without rulers. A real democracy where everyone effected by a decision will have the opportunity to have their say in making that decision. A democracy of efficiently co-ordinated workplace and community councils. A society where production is to satisfy needs, not to make profits for a privileged few. Anarchism. Stumble It!

A Journey Through The Graveyard of American Dreams

America Destroyed: The True State of the Union (allow 8 sec lead in time) Is the American Dream At An End? Reader please watch the videos at the end of this text to get a complete picture of the info presented here. This is one of the most complicated posts I have ever researched, and one of the most important. To begin - think about this statement - "In 20 years the USA will have a third world work force engaged in domestic non-tradable services." read this article at the link below ... *The Lies at the End of the American Dream What Is Happening One way to comprehend what is happening is to look at the split between how much of the economy is won by profits and how much by wages. The share allotted to corporate profits increased sharply, from 17.7% in 2000 to 20.9% in 2005, while the share going to wages has reached a record low. The incomes of the top 20% have grown much faster than the earnings of those at the middle or bottom of the income distribution. The income of the top 1% and top 0.1% have grown particularly rapidly. From 1992 to 2005, the pay of chief executive officers of major companies rose by 186%. The equivalent figure for median hourly wages was 7.2%, leaving the ratio of CEOs' pay to that of the average worker at 262. In the 1960s, the comparable figure was 24. Downward Pressure On Wages The Federal minimum wage has been static for a decade. The "China effect,", the idea that low prices of imported manufactured goods are pushing US industry to cut its workforce in order to increase productivity. Public, private and corporate debt far exceeds any previously known dimensions. Trusting in a future rosier than the present, millions of households are borrowing so much money that they end up endangering the very future they're looking forward to. The lower and middle classes have practically given up on putting aside any savings. They're going into the 21st century like a poverty-stricken, Third World family, living from hand to mouth without any financial reserves whatsoever. The production sectors such as the furniture industry, consumer electronics, many automobile part suppliers, and now computer manufacturers have left the country for good. American Declining Values Actual losses in the US real estate market are much higher than what you have been reading in the newspapers recently. Using a combination of official government statistics and the most widely used index of housing values, we will demonstrate that the US real estate market has lost a total of $6 trillion in value in the last two years. *Read more The value of the U.S. dollar falling 28 per cent against other currencies. World financial markets are already starting to bet against the U.S. dollar. Our creditors, particularly Asian central banks, are losing their appetite for U.S. Treasuries. The consequences of a rapidly declining dollar are not yet fully understood by the American public. The long-term significance has not sunk in, but when it does there will be political hell to pay in Washington. Our relative wealth as a nation is measured in dollars, and the steady erosion of the value of those dollars means we will all be poorer in the future. The artificial stimulation of our economy through cheap money comes with a price. When dollars are abundant, they are worth less. This is the reality facing Americans today, especially older Americans who rely on savings to finance their retirement years. The government has pumped its currency into the world economy so vigorously that the dollar can now be brought to the point of collapse, and now large parts of the US workforce is standing with its backs against the wall. References *America’s Socio-Economic Conundrum *Fed Covers Up Declining Dollar *Effects of our declining currency For many blue and white-collar workers, this decline is already real, because they have less of everything than they used to. They possess less money, they are shown less respect in society, and their chances for climbing up the social ladder have deteriorated dramatically. They're the losers in the world war for wealth. When a large part of citizens are cut off from the nation's overall wealth, we have to face an uncomfortable reality. The Rise of State Fascism Last call to awaken the slumbering promise of our Constitution - or to watch our freedom slither away forever. Corporate media has enabled tyranny to prevail over the truth, because they value profits above all else. This is a wake-up call to save us from the final descent into an Orwellian world from which we will not be able to return. American Fascists Part 1 American Fascists Part 2 Mainstream media corporations like CNN, Fox, and NBC (General Electric) together with giant telecoms like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T have become administration pawns in a well-organized effort to hijack America. A warning for all Americans the media has become a docile lapdog of government while failing at keeping us informed. Those who stay tuned to Fox News, CNN or any other corporate-owned news source realize that the bottom line is what determines newsworthy without having the public's interest in mind. End of US Democracy Part 1 End of US Democracy Part 2 Mainstream media have failed us in covering issues crucial to the survival of American democracy. Corporate media have systematically attempted to dumb down and distract us from reality with sex and violence; government has used corporate media to shock and awe Americans into surrendering their constitutional rights in the name of the War on Terrorism; and media personalities have been complicit in the mass deception. Now when the mainstream media reports from Afghanistan, Iraq, or anywhere around the world, including here in the United States, it is in cooperation with the government. Without a functioning media, there is no stopping government from divesting us of our freedom. Let us now take a video journey through the "Graveyard of American Dreams" .... Income Inequality and the Middle Class - Corporate Profits Up, Wages Down Is the American Family Under Attack? - Haunted House of Economic Horrors No Jobs for Middle Class - Facts about the economy U.S. Trade Policy and Job - Destroying Treaties, WTO & NAFTA References *The American middle class is becoming the loser of globalization. Also see ... "It’s the biggest untold economic story of our time: more of the nation’s bounty held in fewer and fewer hands, and Bush’s tax cuts are only making the problem worse." References *The Great Wealth Transfer *The Great Wealth Transfer (continued) Also see ... "(Oil) The holy grail of world trade, the basis of neo-liberal growth and prosperity, is completely dependent on a resource that is not only finite but moving into decline. The era of globalisation seems destined to be relatively short-lived." Reference *Cultural meaning of the oil crisis and the end of growth Race to the Bottom

Proof America Is Turning Fascist

Simply put, the years ahead will prove to be nothing short of a modern Dark Age for many Americans. The United States’ loss of standing – economically, politically, socially, militarily, metaphorically – will be the catalyst for an array of changes. Over time, the effects will be powerful and far-reaching. # Globalization will shift into reverse. # Armed conflicts will increase amid heightened competition for food, water, and energy. # Communities, countries, and trading blocs – including the European Monetary Union and NAFTA – will split apart in the wake of heightened social, ethnic, and economic tensions. # Political structures will be in flux, as local leaders gain influence at the expense of national authorities. Many factors account for the coming changes. For one thing, the U.S. is no longer the world’s economic locomotive, but is instead dependent on the kindness of foreigners. More and more nations are competing for a shrinking pool of resources that Americans have long taken for granted. Emerging powers such as China and India are asserting their desire – and their right – to set the global agenda. No doubt many Americans will find this hard to accept. But they will have little choice. After five decades of unprecedented peace and prosperity built on the foundation stone of U.S. economic and military might, the winds of change are blowing hard. Foreigners no longer see us as the sole superpower. In Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and elsewhere, America has proven itself vulnerable. Challengers are poised to make their move. Although the turbulence that is set to unfold will reverberate around the globe, it is Americans who will face the rudest awakening. They will be forced to rethink livelihoods, lifestyles, and living arrangements. In fact, many individuals and businesses will have to make dramatic adjustments just to survive. Carrying on as before could be the biggest mistake of all. America Is Turning Fascist. Here is the proof for those not awake yet. Take notice of every video here and spread the word! - America is turning Fascist Part 1 - America is turning Fascist Part 2 - America is turning Fascist Part 3 - America is turning Fascist Part 4 - America is turning Fascist Part 5 - America is turning Fascist Part 6 -

An American War Crime That Has No End

Depleted Uranium The Biggest American Censored News Story The Most Ignored & Covered Up by Mass Media News Story ... Hundreds of Thousands of American Troops Contaminated, dying, and disabled from Depleted Uranium by American Arms. Since 1991, the United States has staged four wars using depleted uranium weaponry, illegal under all international treaties, conventions and agreements, as well as under US military law. America’s Big Dirty Secret Depleted Uranium weapons are called "Dirty" because much of the uranium-235 isotope useful for nuclear power fuel and weapons has been separated. "Depleted" does not mean that its biological hazards have been made less harmful or reduced one iota. DU burns on impact, converting the uranium into lots of particles that are easily inhaled and can cause lung cancers. Uranium-238 has a half-life roughly as long as the Earth has been in existence. DU tipped weapons are the real "dirty bombs" and are a war crime to manufacture and use. Radiation emitted by DU (Depleted Uranium) threatens the human body because, once DU dust has been inhaled, it becomes an internal radiation source; international radiation protection standards, the basis of expert claims that DU is harmless, deal only with external radiation sources; Dirty DU Uranium from reactors, recycled for use in munitions, contains additional highly toxic elements, such as plutonium, 1.6 kilogrammes of which could kill 8 (eight) billion people. In a French TV documentary on Canal+ in January 2001, a team of researchers presented the results of an investigation into a gaseous diffusion recycling plant in Paducah, Kentucky, USA. According to the lawyer for 100,000 plaintiffs, who are past and present plant employees, they were contaminated because of flagrant non-compliance with basic safety standards; the entire plant is irrevocably contaminated, as is everything it produces. *Read More American War Crimes Depleted Uranium Videos Iraq conspiracy - Illegal DEPLETED URANIUM Videos Iraq War Crimes Videos US Weapons Causing Iraqi Birth Defects Depleted Uranium Videos are extremely scarce here are a few more See the Videos ... *Contaminated with Depleted Uranium *Depleted Uranium Problem *Depleted Uranium Secrecy *Depleted Uranium Study Military Secrecy The vast majority of servicemen and women in the U.S. military, and likely in the armed forces of other countries which are developing or have obtained depleted uranium munitions, are unaware of the use and dangers of depleted uranium munitions, or of the protective clothing and procedures which can minimize or prevent serious short-term exposures. The following military DU training videos sat on shelves seldom shown *Depleted Uranium Hazard Awareness *Standard DU Army Training Video The continued use of this illegal radioactive weaponry, which has already contaminated vast regions with low level radiation and will contaminate other parts of the world over time, is indeed a world affair and an international issue. Read more ... *Depleted Uranium:The Trojan Horse of Nuclear War The last Iraq war was about Iraq possessing illegal weapons of mass destruction yet we are using weapons of mass destruction ourselves. Read more ... *US forces use of depleted uranium weapons is illegal In June 2003, the World Health Organization announced in a press release that global cancer rates will increase 50 percent by 2020. What else do they know that they aren’t telling us? Read more ... *Dirty bombs, dirty missiles, dirty bullets *Depleted Uranium Ammunition:Nuclear Waste as a Weapon Children of the Gulf War Photo Exhibit Warning - Extreme Graphic Violence *Save the War Children *Children of the Gulf War From Gulf War I, fully 75% of our fighting men who were on the ground are now dead, dying, or sick from Depleted Uranium. There are reports that the Pentagon is preventing American soldiers from writing home to complain about the variety of illness afflicting them because of the deadly combination of Depleted Uranium and Toxic Vaccinations. The Pentagon is said to be threatening to muster out soldiers who complain, thus cutting off their medical care after they get out. However, when these men do return home and they are very ill from D.U. contamination, the Pentagon is refusing to *admit that these men are sick with D.U.! THE PENTAGON IS DENYING MEDICAL CARE FOR VETERANS STRICKEN BY DEPLETED URANIUM (D.U.) CONTAMINATION! Denial At the Top of the Administration Former Head Of Pentagon's Depleted Uranium Project Says Thousands Of Troops Are Sick and Dying From Illegal DU Use and the Military's Failure To Admit Responsibility. Maj. Rokke said his warnings as well as warnings from many other experts were not only dismissed by the military, but also by every other bigwig on Capital Hill, including President Clinton, Senator John Kerry and every other member of Congress, all very much aware of his position since he even addressed the 2000 Fall Congressional Coalition Leadership at its quarterly breakfast in Washington D.C. Read On ... *Military's Failure To Admit Responsibility *Behind Depleted Uranium Read parts of the book ... *How the Pentagon Radiates Soldiers & Civilians with DU Weapons It is happening again to a new generation of veterans. Some of today's soldiers were in day care centers in 1991 when Dick Cheney first authorized the wholesale use of radioactive munitions. It is happening again despite the fact that 70% of all Gulf War I veterans are on medical disability fifteen years after the end of the first war against Saddam Hussein. We are witnessing the same symptoms of radioactive poisoning today as fifteen years ago. We are hearing the same denial of reality from Donald Rumsfeld's Department of Defense (DOD). What's worse is that, since 1998, veterans are eligible for free health care for only the first two years after being demobilized. After that, an ailing veteran has to prove his or her illness is service-connected. In the next article we'll describe what that burden has meant to ailing Iraq vets. Read On ... *GI's Beware A special report published by eminent scientist *Leuren Moret naming depleted uranium as the definitive cause of the Gulf War Syndrome has fed a *growing scandal about the continued use of uranium munitions by the US Military. The Veterans Administration acknowledged a third of all living Gulf War veterans, 181,996 were collecting *service-related disability pensions. Now the same thing is happening to veterans of "Operation Iraqi Freedom." Civilian populations in Afghanistan and Iraq and occupying troops have been *contaminated with astounding levels of radioactive depleted and non-depleted uranium as a result of post 9/11 United States’ use of tons of uranium munitions. Researchers say surrounding countries are bound to feel the effects as well. The Pentagon used its radioactive arsenal mainly in the *urban centers, rather than in desert battlefields as in 1991. Many hundreds of thousands of Iraqi people and U.S. soldiers, along with British, Polish, Japanese and Dutch soldiers sent to join the occupation, will suffer the consequences. The real extent of injuries, chronic illness, long-term disabilities and genetic birth defects won't be apparent for five to 10 years. While officially, only 467 soldiers were wounded during the first Gulf War, according to Terry Jemison at the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), of the more than 592,560 discharged personnel who served there, at least 179,310 - one third - are receiving disability compensation and over 24,760 additional cases were pending as of September 2004. Cancer, respiratory diseases and horrible birth defects have been widespread inIraq even after Gulf War I and are bound to increase. Read more ... *Uranium Munitions Are Weapons of Mass Destruction This number of disabled veterans is shockingly high. Most are in their mid-thirties and should be in the prime of health. Before sending troops to the Gulf region, the military had already sifted out those with disabilities or chronic health problems from asthma, diabetes, heart conditions, cancers and birth defects. In 2003 scientists from the *Uranium Medical Research Center (UMRC) studied urine samples of Afghan civilians and found that 100% of the samples taken had levels of non-depleted uranium (NDU) 400% to 2000% higher than normal levels. The UMRC research team studied six sites, two in Kabul and others in the Jalalabad area. The civilians were tested four months after the attacks in Afghanistan by the United States and its allies. *NDU is more radioactive than depleted uranium (DU), which itself is charged with causing many cancers and severe birth defects in the Iraqi population, especially children over the past ten years. Four million pounds of radioactive uranium was dropped on Iraq in 2003 alone. Uranium dust will be in the bodies of our returning armed forces. Conducted at the request of The News, as the U.S. government considers the cost of $1,000 per affected soldier prohibitive, the test found that four of the nine men were contaminated with high levels of DU, likely caused by inhaling dust from depleted uranium shells fired by U.S. troops. Most American weapons (missiles, smart bombs, dumb bombs, bullets, tank shells, cruise missiles, etc.) contain high amounts of radioactive uranium. Depleted or non-depleted, these types of weapons, on detonation, release a radioactive dust which, when inhaled, goes into the body and stays there. It has a half-life of 4.5 billion years. Basically, it’s a permanently available contaminant, distributed in the environment, where dust storms or any water nearby can disperse it. Once ingested, it releases subatomic particles that slice through DNA. UMRC’s Field Team found several hundred Afghan civilians with acute symptoms of radiation poisoning along with chronic symptoms of internal uranium contamination, including congenital problems in newborns. Local civilians reported large, dense dust clouds and smoke plumes rising from the point of impact, an acrid smell, followed by burning of the nasal passages, throat and upper respiratory tract. Subjects in all locations presented identical symptom profiles and chronologies. The victims reported symptoms including pain in the cervical column, upper shoulders and basal area of the skull, lower back/kidney pain, joint and muscle weakness, sleeping difficulties, headaches, memory problems and disorientation. At the Uranium Weapons Conference held October 2003 in Hamburg, Germany, independent scientists from around the world testified to a huge increase in birth deformities and cancers wherever NDU and DU had been used. Professor Katsuma Yagasaki, a scientist at the Ryukyus University, Okinawa calculated that the 800 tons of DU used in Afghanistan is the radioactive equivalent of 83,000 Nagasaki bombs. The amount of DU used in Iraq is equivalent to 250,000 Nagasaki bombs. At the Uranium Weapons Conference, a demonstration by British-trained oncologist Dr. Jawad Al-Ali showed photographs of the kinds of birth deformities and tumors he had observed at the Saddam Teaching Hospital in Basra just before the 2003 war. Cancer rates had increased dramatically over the previous fifteen years. In 1989 there were 11 abnormalities per 100,000 births; in 2001 there were 116 per 100,000— an increase of over a thousand percent. In 1989 34 people died of cancer; in 2001 there were 603 cancer deaths. The 2003 war has increased these figures exponentially. At a meeting of the International Criminal Tribunal for Afghanistan held December 2003 in Tokyo, the U.S. was indicted for multiple war crimes in Afghanistan, among them the use of DU. Leuren Moret, President of Scientists for Indigenous People and Environmental Commissioner for the City of Berkeley, testified that because radioactive contaminants from uranium weapons travel through air, water, and food sources, the effects of U.S. deployment in Afghanistan will be felt in Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China and India. Countries affected by the use of uranium weapons in Iraq include Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Turkey, and Iran. Veterans groups blame depleted uranium contamination as a factor in Gulf War syndrome, the term for a host of ailments that afflicted thousands of vets from that war. "Anybody, civilian or soldier, who breathes these particles has a permanent dose, and it's not going to decrease very much over time," said Dietz, who retired in 1983 after 33 years as nuclear physicist. "In the long run ... veterans exposed to ceramic uranium oxide have a major problem." Shocking report reveals local troops to be victims of America's high-tech weapons Read more ... *Troops victims of America's high-tech weapons Depleted uranium, which does not occur in nature, is created as a waste product of uranium enrichment when some of the highly radioactive isotopes in natural uranium, U-235 and U-234, are extracted. In the Gulf War, Army brass did not warn soldiers about any risks from exploding DU shells. An unknown number of G.I.s were exposed by shrapnel, inhalation or handling battlefield debris. "A large number of American soldiers [in Iraq] may have had significant exposure to uranium oxide dust," ... "And the health impact is worrisome for the future." When DU shells explode, they permanently contaminate their target and the area immediately around it with low-level radioactivity. Birth defects may stem from his father's Gulf War service. But like many other families, American Vets face official stonewalling--and a frightening future. Read more ... *US Veterans Face Frightening Future The use of depleted uranium weaponry by the United States, defying all international treaties, will slowly annihilate all species on earth including the human species, and yet this country continues to do so with full knowledge of its destructive potential. Read more ... *Deadly Illegal American Uranium Weapons -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More Bombs Dropped On Iraq than were used in WW II At least 300 million grams of depleted uranium were deposited on central and southern Iraq during the Gulf War and subsequent bombings, over 100 million times the 0.023 gram maximum exposure dose permitted for workers in nuclear industry. Depleted uranium, because of its unique ratio of U-235 to U-238, can be readily identified and has been found in the urine of exposed individuals as long as 10 years after exposure. During the brief Gulf War, thousands of tons of bombs were dropped on Iraq, more than were used throughout World War II. By systematic intent, all electric power generating facilities, water treatment and pumping plants, sewage treatment facilities, and communication centers were bombed. References ... *Is The Pentagon Giving Our Soldiers Cancer? *Damage in Iraq during the Gulf War *U.S. Stocking Uranium-Rich Bombs? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Resources ... *Depleted Uranium Watch *The Doctor,Depleted Uranium, the Dying Children *Depleted Uranium and Other Uranium Weapons *War Crimes Committed *Women for a Better World *Peace Aware *US use of DU in Iraq war causes cancer *Concerns over military use of Depleted Uranium growing Technocrati Tags Depleted Uranium, Contaminated with Depleted Uranium, Depleted Uranium Secrecy, US forces use of depleted uranium weapons illegal, Dirty bombs, dirty missiles, dirty bullets, Depleted Uranium Ammunition:Nuclear Waste as a Weapon, Leuren Moret

The Uncelebrated American May Day Holiday

- Mayday Part 1 - May Day Part 2 - See these important sources *May Day USA News and Events *The Anarchism Videos May Day USA In 1887 four Chicago anarchists were executed. A fifth cheated the hangman by killing himself in prison. Three more were to spend 6 years in prison until pardoned by Governor Altgeld who said the trial that convicted them was characterized by "hysteria, packed juries and a biased judge". The state had, in the words of the prosecution put "Anarchy .. on trial" and hoped their deaths would also be the death of the anarchist idea. The anarchists were trade union organizers and May Day became an international workers day to remember their sacrifice. They were framed on false charges of throwing a bomb at police breaking up a demonstration in Chicago. This was part of a strike demanding an 8 hour day involving 400,000 workers in Chicago that started May 1st 1886 . The anarchist idea did not die in Chicago in 1887. Today it inspires a new wave of struggle against global capitalism. Join in this struggle. Not many people know why May Day became International Workers Day and why we should still celebrate it. It all began over a century ago when the American Federation of Labor adopted an historic resolution which asserted that "eight hours shall constitute a legal day's labor from and after May 1st, 1886". In the months prior to this date workers in there thousands were drawn into the struggle for the shorter day. Skilled and unskilled, black and white, men and women, native and immigrant were all becoming involved. Chicago In Chicago alone 400,000 were out on strike. A newspaper of that city reported that "no smoke curled up from the tall chimneys of the factories and mills, and things had assumed a Sabbath-like appearance". This was the main center of the agitation, and here the anarchists were in the forefront of the labor movement. It was to no small extent due to their activities that Chicago became an outstanding trade union center and made the biggest contribution to the eight-hour movement. When on May 1st 1886, the eight hour strikes convulsed that city, one half of the workforce at the McCormick Harvester Co. came out. Two days later a mass meeting was held by 6,000 members of the 'lumber shovers' union who had also come out. The meeting was held only a block from the McCormick plant and was joined by some 500 of the strikers from there. The workers listened to a speech by the anarchist August Spies, who has been asked to address the meeting by the Central Labour Union. While Spies was speaking, urging the workers to stand together and not give in to the bosses, the strikebreakers were beginning to leave the nearby McCormick plant. The strikers, aided by the 'lumber shovers' marched down the street and forced the scabs back into the factory. Suddenly a force of 200 police arrived and, without any warning, attacked the crowd with clubs and revolvers. They killed at least one striker, seriously wounded five or six others and injured an indeterminate number. Outraged by the brutal assaults he had witnessed, Spies went to the office of the Arbeiter-Zeitung (a daily anarchist newspaper for German immigrant workers) and composed a circular calling on the workers of Chicago to attend a protest meeting the following night. The protest meeting took place in the Haymarket Square and was addressed by Spies and two other anarchists active in the trade union movement, Albert Parsons and Samuel Fielden. The police attack Throughout the speeches the crowd was orderly. Mayor Carter Harrison, who was present from the beginning of the meeting, concluded that "nothing looked likely to happen to require police interference". He advised police captain John Bonfield of this and suggested that the large force of police reservists waiting at the station house be sent home. It was close to ten in the evening when Fielden was closing the meeting. It was raining heavily and only about 200 people remained in the square. Suddenly a police column of 180 men, headed by Bonfield, moved in and ordered the people to disperse immediately. Fielden protested "we are peaceable". Bomb At this moment a bomb was thrown into the ranks of the police. It killed one, fatally wounded six more and injured about seventy others. The police opened fire on the spectators. How many were wounded or killed by the police bullets was never exactly ascertained. A reign of terror swept over Chicago. The press and the pulpit called for revenge, insisting the bomb was the work of socialists and anarchists. Meeting halls, union offices, printing works and private homes were raided. All known socialists and anarchists were rounded up. Even many individuals ignorant of the meaning of socialism and anarchism were arrested and tortured. "Make the raids first and look up the law afterwards" was the public statement of Julius Grinnell, the state's attorney. Trial Eventually eight men stood trial for being "accessories to murder". They were Spies, Fielden, Parsons, and five other anarchists who were influential in the labour movement, Adolph Fischer, George Engel, Michael Schwab, Louis Lingg and Oscar Neebe. The trial opened on June 21st 1886 in the criminal court of Cooke County. The candidates for the jury were not chosen in the usual manner of drawing names from a box. In this case a special bailiff, nominated by state's attorney Grinnell, was appointed by the court to select the candidates. The defense was not allowed to present evidence that the special bailiff had publicly claimed "I am managing this case and I know what I am about. These fellows are going to be hanged as certain as death". Rigged jury The eventual composition of the jury was farcical; being made up of businessmen, their clerks and a relative of one of the dead policemen. No proof was offered by the state that any of the eight men before the court had thrown the bomb, had been connected with its throwing, or had even approved of such acts. In fact, only three of the eight had been in Haymarket Square that evening. No evidence was offered that any of the speakers had incited violence, indeed in his evidence at the trial Mayor Harrison described the speeches as "tame". No proof was offered that any violence had been contemplated. In fact, Parsons had brought his two small children to the meeting. Sentenced That the eight were on trial for their anarchist beliefs and trade union activities was made clear from the outset. The trial closed as it had opened, as was witnessed by the final words of Attorney Grinnell's summation speech to the jury. "Law is on trial. Anarchy is on trial. These men have been selected, picked out by the Grand Jury, and indicted because they were leaders. There are no more guilty than the thousands who follow them. Gentlemen of the jury; convict these men, make examples of them, hang them and you save our institutions, our society." On August 19th seven of the defendants were sentenced to death, and Neebe to 15 years in prison. After a massive international campaign for their release, the state 'compromised' and commuted the sentences of Schwab and Fielden to life imprisonment. Lingg cheated the hangman by committing suicide in his cell the day before the executions. On November 11th 1887 Parsons, Engel, Spies and Fischer were hanged. Pardoned 600,000 working people turned out for their funeral. The campaign to free Neebe, Schwab and Fielden continued. On June 26th 1893 Governor Altgeld set them free. He made it clear he was not granting the pardon because he thought the men had suffered enough, but because they were innocent of the crime for which they had been tried. They and the hanged men had ben the victims of "hysteria, packed juries and a biased judge". The authorities has believed at the time of the trial that such persecution would break the back of the eight-hour movement. Indeed, evidence later came to light that the bomb may have been thrown by a police agent working for Captain Bonfield, as part of a conspiracy involving certain steel bosses to discredit the labor movement. When Spies addressed the court after he had been sentenced to die, he was confident that this conspiracy would not succeed. "If you think that by hanging us you can stamp out the labour movement... the movement from which the downtrodden millions, the millions who toil in misery and want, expect salvation - if this is your opinion, then hang us! Here you will tread on a spark, but there and there, behind you - and in front of you, and everywhere, flames blaze up. It is a subterranean fire. You cannot put it out". Revolutionary politics Over a century after that first May Day demonstration in Chicago, where are we? We stroll though town with our union banners - about the only day of the year we can get them out of head office. Then we stand around listening to boring (and usually pretty meaningless) speeches by equally boring union bureaucrats. You have to keep reminding yourself that May Day was once a day when workers all over the world displayed their strength, proclaimed their ideals and celebrated their successes. It is important that "once upon a time" it was like that. We can do it again. We need independent working class politics. No collaboration with government and bosses. Real solidarity with fellow workers in struggle, not a blinkered sectional outlook. We still need a further reduction in working hours, without loss of pay, to make work for the unemployed. We need revolutionary politics. That means politics that can lead us towards a genuine socialism where freedom knows no limit other than not interfering with the freedom of others. A socialism that is based on real democracy - not the present charade where we can choose some of our rulers, but may not choose to do without rulers. A real democracy where everyone effected by a decision will have the opportunity to have their say in making that decision. A democracy of efficiently co-ordinated workplace and community councils. A society where production is to satisfy needs, not to make profits for a privileged few. Anarchism.