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chegitz guevara
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Ft. Lauderdale, FL Communist Party of Apolyton
Jun 2000
time: 00:27
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quote:
Originally posted by Oerdin
May day is an old pagan celibration which communists co-opted and tried to turn into an international workers celibration. |
Actually, it's because of two events that occured in Illinois that the day holds significance for us. In 1867, the State of Illinois passed a law mandating the eight-hour work day. It was to take effect, May 1st, 1867, but was ignored by bosses.
The second event, of course, was the Haymarket Massacre in Chicago, and the subsequent execution/murder of four/five innocent men (the fifth may have taken his own life--they day before his head was blown off by a blasting cap he had called for help because he said there was dynamite in his cell).
The massacre began because some damned fool threw a bomb at the police who were assembled along the south side of the demonstration, though they had been ordered to leave by Mayor Harrison. After having been so attacked, the police then opened fire on the remaining crowd, killing an unknown number. Several of the police were shot in the back, i.e., by other policeman, but the doctor who had discovered said evidence was run out of town.
You can still see the pockmarks from the bullets in one of the remaining buildings from that era, the Zeiss building on the Northeast corner of DesPlains and Lake. The only other "signs" to let someone know they are standing on one of the most important historical sites in the world are both signs of things not there. On the Southwest corner of Randolph and Des Plaines on a church building are four holes where a brass plaque was once placed. On the sidewalk on the North side of Randolph as you approach the expressway is an octagonal shaped piece of sidewalk, where a statue to the slain police once stood.
The statue has a history of its own. In the early 20th Century it stood in the middle of the street. A trolly driver drove into the statue destroying it. It was then moved to the sidewalk, where the octogan is today. In the 1960/70s, it became a target for radicals, and the statue was bombed twice, prompting it's removal to the courtyard of the Chicago Police Academy. The statue's base remained until 1996, when it was removed for the Democratic Convention.
People are trying to have the Zeiss building declared a historical monument, but the owner is fighting it. He wants to be able to sell the building to developers so they can tear it down and build lofts or offices.
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Maniac
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Gent, Belgium
Jul 1999
time: 06:27
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quote:
Originally posted by Oerdin Maniac: Please tell me how you'd link Imperialism exclusively with Capitalism. Especially given that both the USSR and Communist China had/have Empires of a sort. Also how would you describe pre-capitalist (using Ingles definition here) Empires such as Mesopotamia, Eygpt, the Inca, etc... given that you have attributed Imperialism solely to capitalism? |
I presume then we have a different definition of imperialism. You seem to mean every empire based on conquest and expansion, while I mean the specific situation of end-19th, begin+20th century capitalist countries such as GB, France, Germany, Russia, Italy, Belgium, USA and Japan (Did I miss any?  ). A new wave of colonialism, with as most important reasons and characteristics: growing demand for colonial goods, raw materials for the industrial revolution, economic globalization, economic depression of +-1873-'93, hyper-competition between the capitalist countries (there weren't any non-capitalist major powers after all...  ), decreasing prices, return to mercantilism, need for a larger consumer's market, population explosion, national prestige... You probably get the picture. 
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Apolyton Time is 00:27. |
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01-05-2003 23:00
Whee! 
for mayday
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