“The police state will, legally, prevail over the rule of law” – France’s planned surveillance law: an attack on freedom
by PLENEL Edwy
The French government is rushing through a bill which will give wide-ranging powers to security and intelligence officials to snoop on the nation’s citizens. The measure, dubbed by some the French version of America’s Patriot Act, will allow spies to tap phones and emails without obtaining permission from judges. It will also allow agents to bug suspects’ homes with microphones and cameras and add covert software to their computers to track every letter and word they type. France’s lower house of Parliament, the National Assembly, will hold its final vote on the draft legislation on May 5th. Though the government has sought to justify the proposed law as a necessary tool in the fight against terrorism, the surveillance bill has met with unanimous opposition from civil liberties groups, administrative bodies and the internet community. Editor-in-chief Edwy Plenel here explains why Mediapart is so passionately opposed to this “wicked” law and urges people to join the public protest against it which is planned for Monday May 4th.
Au lendemain des massacres de Paris, les adhérents et sympathisants d’Attac, à l’’unisson de la société française, ressentent épouvante et révolte devant la haine aveugle et meurtrière. Attac exprime toute sa solidarité avec les victimes et leurs proches. Les personnes assassinées vendredi soir ne faisaient qu’exercer leur droit à la convivialité, à la civilité, à l’’art, à une vie libre, toutes choses que ces tueurs veulent éradiquer au nom d’’une vision fanatisée de la religion.
The horrible attacks which took place in Paris on Friday evening, killing 120 people, causing dozens of casualties, this blind violence, provokes revolt and indignation. The NPA shares these feelings and expresses its solidarity with the victims, with their close relations. This tragedy is even worse in that it hit innocent victims, the murderous attacks were aimed at the population.
El antropólogo Manuel Delgado es un comunista histórico, militante al PSUC desde el año 1973, y después a Partic Comunista de Catalunya. Ahora era a Comunistas de Cataluña, el principal grupo de EUiA. Sus opiniones cada vez eran más cercanas a la CUP, y de hecho Delgado ya hace tiempo que se mostró abiertamente independentista. Pero ha sido el voto contrario de Cataluña Sí Que Puede en la declaración de soberania, lo que ha hecho derramar el vaso.
« Ce que j’admire le plus dans votre art, dit Albert Einstein à Chaplin, c’est son universalité. Vous ne dites pas un mot, et pourtant le monde entier vous comprend. C’est vrai, réplique Chaplin. Mais votre gloire est plus grande encore : le monde entier vous admire, alors que personne ne vous comprend. »
The Spanish text (reproduced below second part) is the transcript of the last radio broadcast of Chilean President Salvador Allende, made on 11 September 1973, at 9:10 AM, before he killed himself during the US-backed coup that had Augusto Pinochet overthrow his socialist government. The English translation (below, first part) is done by Yoshie Furuhashi.
Although it may have come as a surprise elsewhere, the Portuguese center-right ultraliberal government, which went “far beyond the troika” has won a relative majority in last week’s general election. With 36.8% of the vote and 1.994 million votes, the previous governmental coalition (PSD and CDS) was the winner. In second place came the Socialist Party, with 32.4% and 1.746 million votes. The biggest surprise and strongest rise was the Left Bloc, which had 10.2% of the vote with 551 000 votes, followed by the Communist Party, with 8.3% and 446 000 votes. When compared to the previous 2011 election, the right-wing parties lost more than 700 000 votes, the Socialist Party (PS) had 160 000 more, the Left Bloc (BE) rose by 260 000 and the Communist Party (PCP) by 3400 votes.
Il y a 50 ans, le 30 septembre 1965, un massacre inouï débutait en Indonésie. Plus d’un million de membres ou sympathisant·e·s du Parti communiste indonésien (PKI) furent assassinés, jetés dans des fosses communes, torturés.
This interview, the latest in a series on political topics, discusses philosophical issues concerning feminism. My interviewee is Nancy Fraser, professor of philosophy and politics at The New School. She is the author of “Fortunes of Feminism: From State-Managed Capitalism to Neoliberal Crisis.” – Gary Gutting.
’El valor es buscar la verdad y decirla’ 
In the name of debt, the Troika and the Eurogroup have forced Greece to continue to implement austerity policies. The July 13th “agreement” blatantly demonstrated how the debt is a gun held by creditors and bankers to the temple of the people in order to impose austerity, insecurity and inequality. This only exacerbates the lack of legitimacy, the huge disparities and the instability of the European Union and the Eurozone.
While the debt of states is widely used as an instrument of submission to neoliberal policies, Caroline Lucas points out, reflected by the recent experience of Greece, the need to set up a truth commission on debt .
Primero el «qué», el «cómo» y el «cuando». Y después, el «quién». Tras una semana de silencio, la CUP presentó ayer sus líneas rojas para negociar con Junts pel Sí la hoja de ruta hacia la independencia, así como el Govern que la aplique. No hay novedad sobre la investidura, por lo que, de momento, se mantiene el veto a la reelección de Mas.
On 10 September 2015, The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted, by a substantial majority (136 votes in favour, 6 against and 41 abstentions), a resolution on the nine principles to be followed in public debt restructuring. A restructuring usually means either a rescheduling of maturity or debt relief.