Quality of Who's Life?

Here is the antidote to the idea of Giuliani's venture into real estate:
City of Disorder
How the Quality of Life Campaign Transformed New York Politics Alex S. Vitale
In the 1990s, improving the quality of life became a primary focus and a popular catchphrase of the governments of New York and many other American cities. Faced with high levels of homelessness and other disorders associated with a growing disenfranchised population, then mayor Rudolph Giuliani led New York's zero tolerance campaign against what was perceived to be an increase in disorder that directly threatened social and economic stability. In a traditionally liberal city, the focus had shifted dramatically from improving the lives of the needy to protecting the welfare of the middle and upper classes—a decidedly neoconservative move.
In City of Disorder, Alex S. Vitale analyzes this drive to restore moral order which resulted in an overhaul of the way New York views such social problems as prostitution, graffiti, homelessness, and panhandling. Through several fascinating case studies of New York neighborhoods and an in-depth look at the dynamics of the NYPD and of the city's administration itself, Vitale explains why Republicans have won the last four New York mayoral elections and what the long-term impact Giuliani's zero tolerance method has been on a city historically known for its liberalism.
Alex S. Vitale is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Brooklyn College, City University of New York
http://www.nyupress.org/books/City_of_Disorder-products_id-7720.html

Japanese Police Terrorize Citizens Over G8

The government has spent $100 million more in security than last year’s summit in Germany, and police are going around the remote island to tell residents to be on the lookout for "suspicious packages."
Several thousand anti-G8 protesters rally in Japan
Sat Jul 5, 2008 10:02am EDT
By Yoko Kubota and Edwina Gibbs
SAPPORO, Japan (Reuters) - Several thousand people rallied on Saturday on the streets of central Sapporo, Japan, to protest against a Group of Eight summit due to start next week [my bold] at a luxury hotel a two-hour drive away.
Four Japanese men were arrested, said a police official on the northern island of Hokkaido, of which Sapporo is the capital. Two were arrested for violating the public safety ordinances and two others for interfering with police activities.
A Reuters cameraman was taken away by police but it was not immediately clear if he was among the four arrested.
The one-and-a-half hour march by Japanese and foreign activists, citizen groups and non-governmental organizations took place under heavy security ahead of the July 7-9 summit of the rich nations at the hot spring and lake resort of Toyako 70 km (45 miles) away
[...] Japan has detained and questioned dozens of people [my bold] at its airports, including journalists and academics, in the run-up to the summit, although many have been allowed to enter the country after several hours.
[...] Although the protesters generally marched peacefully, scuffles broke out with police around a truck in the middle of the march that was blasting music, and the truck's window was shattered.
Japan is concerned about violent protests as well as acts of terrorism during the summit and has tightened security around the country at a cost of some 30 billion yen ($283 million), topping the 113 million euros ($186 million) spent at the last summit in Germany.
Around 21,000 police officers are being deployed in Hokkaido and domestic media have said a similar number have been mobilized in Tokyo.
(Additional reporting by Hiroyuki Muramoto; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUST36823520080705?sp=true

May Day -- A World Without Bosses & Borders

NEFAC-NYC calls for contingent at NYC May Day march!

For a World Without Bosses - For a World Without Borders
MAY DAY NYC!
For the International Solidarity of the Working Class!

1pm - Join the IWW march at Cadman Plaza, at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge. Look for the Red & Black flags and banners.
2pm - Rally with the Break the Chains Campaign at Chinatown's Roosevelt Park
4pm - March & Rally with the May 1 Coalition at Union Square
Last Stop - Headquarters of Immigration & Customs Enforcement
This May Day we are marching as workers in struggle against all those who seek to divide us, exploit us, evict us, starve us, attack us,
and kill us.
We are marching as workers in solidarity with workers everywhere.
We are marching as sisters and brothers of the immigrant workers who build this society, who face the exploitation, the deportations, and the terror of the state with dignity and resistance.
We are marching as comrades to the courageous workers on strike this May Day:
To the heroic longshore workers who are striking down the war machine at the ports.
To the insurgent truckers who are striking back on the roads.
We are marching as internationalists who, on this International Workers Day, salute the struggles of workers all over the world, from Mexico to Iran, from Haiti to South Africa, from Colombia to China.
We are marching as anarchists who remember our fallen martyrs and freedom fighters, from the Haymarket 120 years ago to the death rows and death squads of our own time, and who celebrate our proud history this May Day.
We are marching as revolutionaries who believe that liberation will only come when we the workers cast off our own chains, overthrow capitalism, abolish the state, and smash racism and patriarchy once and for all.
Down with the bosses!
Down with the borders!
Long live the struggle of all working people!

JOIN US THIS MAY DAY
workers, comrades, internationalists, anarchists
revolutionaries
Pass it on
We are NEFAC-NYC

By NEFAC-NYC antithesisnyc@gmail.com http://www.nefac.net