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PBS MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour Broadcast on 1989-11-10 Berlin Wall History in the Making!

Category: News & Current Affairs
Description:
The MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour originally broadcast on November 10, 1989* as the Berlin Wall came down! (*approximate date based on events reported) Brought to you from the archives of TooleMan TV Includes: Extended reports from Berlin and Moscow A newsmaker interview with Secretary of State James Baker Analysis by Nikolai Shishlin of the Soviet Communist Party Central Committee, West German Ambassador Jurgen Ruhfus, Former NATO Commander General Bernard Rogers, Former US Ambassador to Moscow Arthur Hartman, and former Undersecretary of State George Ball An essay on the Berlin events by Roger Rosenblatt
Seeders: 6
Leeches: 3

PBS-How The Beatles Rocked The Kremlin (2009).WS-PDTV.XviD.Ekolb

Category: Documentary
Description:
How The Beatles Rocked The Kremlin (2009) This is the unknown story of how the Beatles inspired a revolution that helped to destroy the communist system. Leslie Woodhead first met the Beatles in 1962 when he worked on a film in the Liverpool Cavern Club before the world had heard of the Fab Four. Twenty-five years later, when Woodhead began to make films in the Soviet Union, he became aware of how the Beatles legend had soaked into the lives of a generation of Soviet kids -- even though they were barred from playing "Back in the USSR." Now he has been on a journey to meet the Soviet Beatles generation and to discover how the Fab Four changed their lives. Featuring a bizarre collection of Beatles tribute bands, the film tracks down the stories of how the Cold War was won with music as much as with nuclear missiles. Format : AVI Length : 465 MiB for 55mn 27s 864ms Codec : XviD Source : PDTV Language : English/Russian Subtitles : English Hardcoded Genre : Documentary Video #0 : MPEG-4 Visual at 1 035 Kbps Aspect : 608 x 336 (1.810) at 29.970 fps Audio #0 : MPEG Audio at 122 Kbps Infos : 2 channels, 48.0 KHz Enjoy! Ekolb
Seeders: 25
Leeches: 5

Noam Chomsky - Crises and the Unipolar Moment - Lecture 27-10-2009 University of London.flv

Category: Chomsky
Description:
It is widely felt that the fall of the Soviet Union left a unipolar world, dominated by the remaining superpower, and that the "moment" is coming to a close with the collapse of the Anglo-Saxon "free market" economic model. Investigation of this two-decade "moment" can provide considerable insight into what came before, and possibilities for shaping the future. Professor Noam Chomsky Date: 27 October 2009Time: 6:30 PM Finishes: 27 October 2009Time: 8:30 PM Venue: Institute of Education Room: Logan Hall School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG Tel: +44 (0)20 7637 2388 taken from http://www.soas.ac.uk/events/event52739.html
Seeders: 4
Leeches: 0

Noam Chomsky - Crises and the Unipolar Moment - 27th Oct 2009 - London - MP3

Category: Chomsky
Description:
================================================================ Noam Chomsky - 'Crises and the Unipolar Moment' Description - "It is widely felt that the fall of the Soviet Union left a unipolar world, dominated by the remaining superpower, and that the "moment" is coming to a close with the collapse of the Anglo-Saxon "free market" economic model. Investigation of this two-decade "moment" can provide considerable insight into what came before, and possibilities for shaping the future." Tuesday 27th October 2009, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London Includes Q&A session ================================================================ (At the time of writing) a video of this lecture can be viewed or downloaded (flv format) at: http://www.soas.ac.uk/events/event52739.html ================================================================ Length: 2 hr 06 mins 52 seconds BitRate: 48 kbps Size: 43.6 MB Format: MP3 ================================================================ Please seed to a reasonable ratio and feel free to index the torrent file on other sites.
Seeders: 14
Leeches: 0

Socialist Standard November 2009.pdf

Category: eBooks, Magazines, Audio Books
Description:
Socialist Standard magazine November 2009 - Front cover: ‘Twenty years beyond the Berlin Wall’ Editorial – ‘Socialism Was Never Tried’ Features ‘The fall of “communism”: Why so peaceful?’ Twenty years ago the Berlin Wall came down, symbolising the collapse of state capitalism in Eastern Europe. ‘The Myth of Soviet “Socialism”’ Vladimir Sirotin from Russia explains how that country was never socialist. ‘Workers’ State? Pull the other one’ How could anyone have seriously argued that the workers ruled in Russia? ‘Joining the killing machine’ The campaign to win the young to war has come a long way from the ‘Your Country Needs You’ poster with the pointing finger of Kitchener used in the ‘First Great War’. ‘Afghanistan – lying about dying’ The pressure to misinterpret the deaths, as the bodies come back, as nobly purifying is a cynically orchestrated propaganda exercise intended to justify the war. Regular features - Pathfinders (science / technology) – ‘Gullibility Travels’ Material World – ‘Malawi: Children of the Tobacco Fields’ Pieces Together – news cuttings from mainstream media Cooking the Books 1 (economics) – ‘Out of Control’ Cooking the Books 2 - ‘Free is Cheaper?’ 50 Years Ago – ‘The Darwin Centenary’ Voice From the Back - selected news items Free Lunch – cartoon Book Reviews – ‘Che Guevara and the Economic Debate in Cuba’, by Luiz Bernardo Pericás ‘Voodoo Histories: The Role of the Conspiracy Theory in Shaping Modern History’ by David Aaronovitch ‘The Trouble with Capitalism’, by Harry Shutt ‘Enough’, by John Naish Plus letters, book reviews, meetings, etc. Also see www.worldsocialism.org
Seeders: 2
Leeches: 0

Aljazeera - PEOPLE & POWER - Ingushetia - A second Chechnya? - 01-11-09

Category: Documentary
Description:
By Dom Rotheroe and Antony Butts On October 25, Maksharip Aushev, an Ingush businessman and civil opposition leader, was murdered by unknown gunmen who sprayed his car with more than 60 bullets. Shortly before his death, filmmakers Dom Rotheroe and Antony Butts spoke with him for their film on the conflict in the Russian republic of Ingushetia. Recently, the Russian republic of Ingushetia has become the most dangerous place in the Russian federation. Endemic corruption combined with a battle between Islamic extremists and unaccountable Moscow-backed security forces has plunged the area into violence. The conflict has left many Ingushetians in despair; their human rights suppressed and their faith in the authorities in tatters. It is a cycle of bloody atrocity and counter-atrocity that seems to have no end. While the Ingush stayed out of the Chechens' recent wars for independence from Russia, this did not prevent the violence from finally spilling over. In June 2004, rebels attacked Ingushetia's main city of Nazran and killed scores of security officials. With Russia by then pretty much in control of Chechnya, Chechen rebels wanted to spread the war into neighbouring Muslim republics. And in Ingushetia discontent had been growing ever since Vladimir Putin, the then Russian president, installed the unpopular Murat Zyazikov as president there in 2002. 'Disappeared' Trapped in the middle of the decade-long dirty war are 500,000 Ingush. Maksharip Aushev, a businessman and civil opposition leader, told us that he carries a gun "because it's dangerous out there". "At any moment they can turn up in camouflage and kidnap you - and then you'll just be disappeared. "Although the gun will not protect you at least you'll manage to do something so they don't torture you, don't take you away - so you don't just go missing like most people usually do here," he said. Things changed for businessman Maksharip three years ago when his nephew, who had refused to become an informant, and son were snatched off a train by security forces. They were taken to Chechnya and tortured. "As soon as my son and nephew were abducted, I stepped out," he explained, saying that he never wanted to be involved in politics but felt forced into it. Maksharip blamed the Russian security forces (FSB) and rallied public protests, which led to the release of his son and nephew. In the process he also kicked off widespread civil opposition to the regime and became one of the most outspoken leaders of the opposition to Zyazikov, a former KGB officer and an ally of Putin. According to Magomed Mutsolgov, the co-founder of the local human rights group Mashr, it was after Zyazikov became president that anyone even vaguely suspected of opposing the regime began getting visits from the security forces. Mutsolgov co-founded Mashr when his younger brother disappeared four years ago. "Altogether we have had over 500 cases of kidnapping. Some of those people were found dead," he says. 'Nothing left to lose' The violence has been increasing exponentially. Mashr estimates that 212 people were killed in 2008. By August 2009 that number had already been reached. Yet violence by the security forces is only one side of Ingushetia's mayhem. In the last seven years, Islamic militants have killed over 200 policemen, soldiers and government officials. The most devastating attack happened in August 2009 when a suicide bomber drove a truck into Nazran's main police station, killing 24 people and injuring more than 160. In recent years religious extremists among the rebels have turned the war for Chechen independence into a jihad for a Sharia-based emirate covering all of Russia's Caucasian Muslim republics. They have also started targeting civilians whom they deem un-Islamic. Recently, two sisters, aged 52 and 60, were shot to death in a roadside kiosk, supposedly for selling alcohol. "They are psychotic. Putting seven, eight bullets into women. What Sharia law are they talking about?" the victim's sister asks. "We have nothing more to be afraid of. We have gone through all this and are ready for anything. We have lost our parents, husbands. What else can we be afraid of? We have nothing left to lose." Yet even this family lay the final blame less on the militants than on the authorities and the lawlessness and corruption they believe Zyazikov fostered. Poverty Ingushetia is not only Russia's most violent republic. It is also its poorest. "Zyazikov declared that over 70 factories had been built in the republic, that the unemployment problem had been solved, etc etc. We risked our lives trying to prove to the Russian government that there were no factories, that the huge amounts of money allocated to us were simply being fiddled away by Zyazikov and his people," Maksharip said. By October 2008, opposition to Zyazikov had grown to such a pitch and the violence and corruption had become so brazen that Moscow finally replaced him with the popular ex-general, Yunus-bek Yevkurov. The new leader set out to tackle the corruption and violence and brought advisors from the civil opposition into his administration. He also sacked some corrupt officials, tried to initiate talks with the rebels and gained the public's trust. But then, on June 22, 2009, his presidential convoy was rammed by a suicide bomber. Yevkurov ended up in a critical condition in hospital. Extra-judicial executions In his absence, and with the Kremlin demanding even better results against the rebels, allegations of extra-judicial executions by the security forces began flooding in. Many believe it is Russia's FSB, the former KGB, that is orchestrating the cycle of violence in Ingushetia. Their agents have even been caught firing on Ingush policemen, raising suspicions that Moscow is deliberately keeping the fractious north Caucasus destablised in order to justify its controlling military presence. Others believe the motive is also the money that those in power can make from conflict. "As the Russian saying goes, 'It is good fishing in troubled waters.' These kind of civil wars are started to make it easier to steal money," Maksharip said. Suspicion Suspicion of the FSB here is reminiscent of Soviet times. Several human rights campaigners have been killed in the north Caucasus in the last few years. Aslambek Paev, a human rights campaigner, told us: "Everything is monitored. You have to be very careful and observant when you work. Probably I'm the next one. "What difference does it make for us? We know we're dead anyway, that sooner or later they'll kill us." Yevkurov recovered from the attack on him and returned to office. He has since sacked his entire cabinet for making problems worse in his absence. But it is yet to be seen how far his promised reforms will go - or indeed how effective they can be in a land which both the militants and elements of Russia's power structures seem determined to keep on the boil. Losing control One month before his death, the security forces had stopped Maksharip's car and attempted to take him into custody after he left a government meeting. He escaped only because a crowd of motorists, including an aide to the governor, surrounded him. "If I had been a half-metre closer, they would have tied me up and I would have disappeared without a trace," he told Caucasian Knot, a website that covers the region. Yevkurov has reached out to human rights activists and the opposition, offering them a degree of protection, but Aushev's killing suggests that he, and by extension the Kremlin, may be losing control over the overlapping law enforcement agencies fighting a growing Islamist insurgency in the region. Though deep in mourning, Maksharip Aushev's family agreed to our film being broadcast. His assassination highlights the continuing perils faced by anyone who seeks to defend basic freedoms in Ingushetia, raising fears of further violence in the region.
Seeders: 4
Leeches: 1

The Anarchist Library on torrent

Category: eBooks, Magazines, Audio Books
Description:
The whole archive of theanarchistlibrary.org
Seeders: 14
Leeches: 3

Aljazeera - I Knew Boris Yeltsin - 22-10-09

Category: Documentary
Description:
Boris Yeltsin became Russia's first president and democratically elected leader in 1991. The darling of the West, to many he appeared as a revolutionary who had brought freedom to the world's largest nation after 70 years of communist dictatorship. Yet by the time he left office he was deeply unpopular, having disappointed both his people and his Western backers. From humble beginnings in the Siberian countryside, Yeltsin rose through the ranks of his local Communist party, become regional chief of Sverdlovsk (modern-day Yekaterinburg) in 1976. He soon gained a reputation as a reformer, willing to challenge Soviet orthodoxy and introduce some degree of accountability. In 1985 he brought his flair as a populist to the Soviet capital as mayor of Moscow. Initially a supporter of Gorbachev's perestroika policy, Yeltsin became increasingly outspoken, eventually breaking with the party entirely, and establishing his own power base. Yeltsin played a key role in the destruction of the Soviet Union, but as president, he soon squandered his once immense popularity, presiding over a traumatic period of economic collapse, widespread corruption, and war in Chechnya. He used the rhetoric of democracy when it suited his aims, but soon took on the more autocratic style of leadership familiar from the Soviet period. The pressures of power took a clear physical toll on Yeltsin. He became notorious for his alleged alcoholism and increasingly eccentric public behavior. After leaving office voluntarily in 1999, he largely withdrew from public life - a sad and broken figure to many. Al Jazeera explores the trajectory of the life of this deeply divisive leader through those who knew him personally - including schoolmates, colleagues and political rivals.
Seeders: 1
Leeches: 2

Aljazeera - People & Power - Black Sea stand-off 14-10-09

Category: Documentary
Description:
The Crimean Peninsula was once part of Russia, but in 1954 in a gesture to mark 300 years of supposedly indivisible union, Nikita Khrushchev, the then Soviet premier, transferred it to the Ukraine. When the USSR broke apart in 1991, the newly independent Republic of Ukraine kept the Crimea and the strategically important Black Sea port of Sevastopol. The Russian navy meanwhile clung on to its naval base there. In 1997, after years of tense negotiations, the two countries cemented this uneasy status quo in a 20 year agreement. Viktor Yushchenko, Ukraine's president, has since aligned Ukraine with the West, infuriating Moscow and the one-third of the country's Russian-speaking residents. Facing elections next January, Yushchenko has vowed not to renew the base agreement when it expires in 2017, a prospect that will leave Russia cut off from its only warm water port. As Richard Setbon reports Russia and Ukraine are now on a collision course over the country's future, and Sevastopol with its Russian majority and Black Sea fleet is the flashpoint.
Seeders: 2
Leeches: 0

Exile in Buyukada (2000)

Category: Documentary
Description:
Exile in Buyukada (2000) Revolutionary theorist Leon Trotsky was one of the leading figures in Russia's 1917 October Revolution, which brought the Bolsheviks to power and spawned the creation of the Soviet Union. However, in time Trotsky and Joseph Stalin became sharply divided on many issues, and after ill health edged Lenin out of power, Stalin forced Trotsky into exile in 1929. Until his death in 1940, Trotsky spent his time in exile searching for a safe place to write and plan new political strategies; one of the first places where he settled was in Buyukada, Istanbul, where he lived from 1929 to 1933. Exile in Buyukada is a documentary which examines this little-known chapter in Trotsky's life; actress and political activist Vanessa Redgrave narrates. Based on a book, "The Profit Outcast", by Isaac Deutcher. Won Best Documentary at the 2000 Milan International Film Festival.
Seeders: 14
Leeches: 11