August 14, 2008 - Some News, Views, and Info

Venezuela Pledges Strengthened Alliance with Bolivia Following Morales Referendum Victory (Venezuelanalysis) August 11, 2008

2004 Democratic Party Dirty Tricks in Oregon and Beyond (Scott L. West, SC) August 13, 2008

Amazon Rainforest Threatened By New Wave of Oil and Gas Exploration: Vast swathes of the western Amazon are to be opened up for oil and gas exploration, putting some of the planet’s most pristine and biodiverse forests at risk. (The Guardian UK) August 13, 2008

Schwarzenegger’s Wage Cuts Condemned: Unionists having been protesting against the decision by Californian Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to cut the wages of more than 200,000 state workers to the federal minimum wage of US$6.55 per hour, alleging he must do so because the state legislature has not passed a budget. (Green Left Weekly) August 9, 2008

Shell Rebuked For 'Greenwash' Over Ad For Polluting Oil Project: The Anglo-Dutch energy giant Shell misled the public about the green credentials of a vastly polluting oil project in Canada. (The Independent UK) August 13, 2008

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, WITH THE IRAQ VETERANS AGAINST THE WAR AND TENT STATE UNIVERSITY, HOST THE “TENT STATE MUSIC FESTIVAL TO END THE WAR” DURING THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION: Rage Against the Machine has joined forces with the Iraq Veterans Against the War and Tent State University to perform as part of the “Tent State Music Festival to End the War” on Wednesday, August 27 at the Denver Coliseum. They will join the Flobots, The Coup, State Radio, and Wayne Kramer. Doors open at 9:30 am, show begins at 11 am. Tickets are free and available by lottery. (TentState.org) August 2008

The Nation Magazine and Buyers Remorse Over Obama (Counterpunch) August 14, 2008

August 11, 2008 - Some News, Views, and Info

Cindy Sheehan On The Ballot: Cindy Sheehan qualified Friday for a November showdown with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, collecting the signatures needed to get on the ballot as an independent candidate for Congress in California. (San Francisco Chronicle) August 9, 2008

Georgia, Russia, and the USA: The "New Cold War" Escalates: The US ruling class, in pursuing its "new Cold War", has introduced an infernal logic of mutual escalation, so that even if this crisis simmers down, a new one is bound to emerge soon. The much-vaunted new world order is increasingly resembling the old one, but with more nuclear weapons and less stability. (Lenin's Tomb) August 9, 2008

President Morales Wins Bolivian Election: President Evo Morales of Bolivia won a resounding victory in a recall vote yesterday after calling a referendum to break a political stalemate and revive his leftist campaign. More than 63 percent of voters in this bitterly divided Andean nation ratified the mandate of Mr Morales. (Times Online) August 11, 2008

Exit Polls: Morales Ratified by Larger Margin than in 2005: The Morales-García Linera duo got more than 7 percentage points above 53.7 percent that they needed. (MR Zine) August 8, 2008

Israel's Siege of Collective Punishment: Imagine if Chinese-Americans visiting relatives were prevented by the Chinese government from returning to America. Or if an American traveled to Iran and was then forbidden from reaching an airport to come home. This happened to me at the hands of Israel, supposedly America's closest ally in the Middle East. I am a US citizen from Olathe, Kansas. I am also a Palestinian born in Gaza. I traveled to Gaza last December to care for my ill father. Israel trapped me there for four months. Yaser Wishah comments. (Electronic Intifada) August 7, 2008

Greens Launch Effort Against Electoral College Manipulation Of Presidential Elections In US: The Green Party of the US says that the outcome of the 2008 presidential election may be affected by the antidemocratic apportionment of Electoral College votes, with the popular vote misrepresented by the winner-take-all system of assigning votes to electors. (GP.org) August 5, 2008

Ecuador: Chevron Battles Government, Indigenous People (Green Left Weekly) August 10, 2008

Let's Not and Say We Did: The New Consensus on Iraq

A "flexible timeline" is not a timetable, and continuing the occupation is not ending it.
By Anthony Arnove, Socialist Worker, August 1, 2008

The Wall Street Journal reports that the "The Bush administration's embrace of a flexible timeline for pulling U.S. troops from Iraq has accelerated negotiations between Washington and Baghdad over a long-term security pact."
Every day, it's becoming clearer that the Bush administration, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, and presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain are reaching a new consensus, which can be summed up as "let's not and say we did."
Let's not end the occupation. Let's not withdraw all the troops. Let's not resolve the fundamental problems created by the U.S. invasion and occupation. But let's all pretend we did (or will soon enough, though certainly never "precipitously," so leave us alone).

Continue reading 'Let's Not and Say We Did: The New Consensus on Iraq'. . .

July 31, 2008 - Some News, Views, and Info

South Central Farmers, Community members, and Progressive Organizations Call For Shutting Down the "h" Horowitz Warehouse in South Central Los Angeles (SouthCentralFarmers.com) July 24, 2008

His High Imperial Holiness Obama Does Berlin: While we should recognize that John McCain is a dangerous dunderhead, many have recently begun the overdue process of demystifying His High Imperial Holiness The Dali Obama in the United States. The sooner Europeans do the same the better for all concerned. (Black Agenda Report) July 30, 2008

Let Them Eat Mud Cake: In Haiti mud cakes have become a staple diet of the poor. Haiti is an example of how capitalism causes starvation and mass deprivation around the globe, usually hidden from view because it's built into the system, with no clear bad guy to put the blame on. (Wis[s]e Words) July 29, 2008

In Review: Jonathan Neale's ‘Stop Global Warming–Change the World’: A positive and optimistic addition to the arsenal of socialists and climate activists alike (Climate and Capitalism) July 29, 2008

Paramilitary Death Squads, Threats, Assassinations, Chainsaw Murders: One More Gruesome Month Under Colombia's Alvaro Uribe (Latin America News Review) July 29, 2008

The Spectre of 21st Century Barbarism: As capitalism continues with business as usual, climate change is fast expanding the gap between rich and poor between and within nations, and imposing unparalleled suffering on those least able to protect themselves. That is the reality of 21st Century Barbarism. No society that permits that to happen can be called civilized. No social order that causes it to happen deserves to survive. (Socialist Voice) July 27, 2008

Latin America’s Struggle For Integration And Independence: The election of Fernando Lugo as Paraguayan president seems to confirm the idea of a new fashion for presidents. The former priest joins the ranks of current Latin American presidents that includes two women (Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner in Argentina and Michelle Bachelet in Chile), an indigenous person (Evo Morales in Bolivia), a former militant trade unionist (Lula de Silva in Brazil), a radically minded economist (Rafael Correa in Ecuador), a doctor (Tabare Vasquez in Uruguay), a former guerrilla fighter (Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua) and a former rebel soldier (Hugo Chavez in Venezuela). But in order to understand the dynamics in Latin America today, it is necessary to go beyond broad sweeping statements, just as it is not enough to simply analyse these governments through the prism of national politics. (Green Left Weekly) July 26, 2008

Solidarity Key For Seattle Sprinkler Fitters: An 11-day strike ended in a victory for 300 fire sprinkler installers, members of the United Association of Plumbers, Pipe Fitters and Sprinkler Fitters Local 699. (Socialist Worker) July 31, 2008

Poland’s Left Turn: The growth of popular anger against neoliberalism has created an historic opportunity for a new left movement to emerge (Socialist Worker UK) July 29, 2008

July 23, 2008 - Some News, Views, and Info

"The Democratic Party of today is a corporate/imperial war party. End of story": An Interview with 'Savage Mules' Author Dennis Perrin (Green Left Infoasis) July 19, 2008

A Review of 'Savage Mules': Dennis Perrin’s “Savage Mules” is a slashing attack on the Democratic Party so badly needed in a time when so many false hopes are now invested in the party of “peace” and “progress”. “Savage Mules” is a pithy, sharp and funny survey of Democratic presidencies (and failed bids) going back to Woodrow Wilson that takes no prisoners. While it was written prior to the rise of Obamamania, it would certainly provide a useful corrective to a “change” campaign that seems to be recycling the centrism of the past 30 years at least. (The Unrepentant Marxist) July 23, 2008

First All-Women-of-Color Presidential Ticket in US History: Green Party Nominee Cynthia McKinney and Running Mate Rosa Clemente on War, Democracy and Hip Hop (Text, Audio, or Video) (Democracy Now!) July 21, 2008

No U-turn. Obama's Stance on Iraq is Chillingly Consistent: Tactical differences and issues of style aside, Obama's message on occupied Iraq is deeply troubling - not because it has U-turned but because it has been consistent. His 300 foreign policy advisers are making sure that he will not stray from protecting US imperialist interests, even if it does mean launching new wars and bolstering puppet regimes and corrupt dictatorships throughout the "greater Middle East". (Buzzle) July 21, 2008

Solar Thermal Power Coming to a Boil: After emerging in 2006 from 15 years of hibernation, the solar thermal power industry experienced a surge in 2007, with 100 megawatts of new capacity coming online worldwide. (Inter Press Service) July 23, 2008

Lessons From The Picket Line: A five-day strike by 8,500 service workers in the University of California system--in defiance of a judge's temporary restraining order--ended July 18 with workers even more determined to continue their fight for a decent contract. (Socialist Worker) July 23, 2008

Mall of America Starbucks Workers Join The IWW: The nation’s largest mall, Minnesota’s Mall of America, now has one of the county’s first organized Starbucks coffee shops. (Workers Independent News) July 23, 2008

July 16, 2008 - Some News, Views, and Info

History Made in Chicago: With the nomination of Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente the Green Party is now free to become the real radical alternative party that it should be. (Organizing Notes) July 12, 2008

From Politics of Hope to Politics as Usual: The heady days of Obamamania have given way to one big Obummer."We're beginning to understand why Barack Obama keeps protesting so vigorously against the prospect of 'George Bush's third term,'" a recent Wall Street Journal editorial said. "Maybe he's worried that someone will notice that he's the candidate who's running for it." (Socialist Worker) July 9, 2008

'This Is Like Apartheid': ANC Veterans Visit West Bank: Veterans of the anti-apartheid struggle said recently that the restrictions endured by Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied territories was in some respects worse than that imposed on the black majority under white rule in South Africa. (The Independent UK) July 11, 2008

US Organized Labor Gets Its First Openly Gay National Union President: New York based United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten has been elected to succeed Edward McElroy as President of the American Federation of Teachers. The election makes Weingarten the first openly gay labor leader to be president of a national labor union. (Workers Independent News) July 16, 2008

Animal Advocate Detained, Searched, Questioned at Canadian Border about Activism (Green is the New Red) July 15, 2008

AUDIO: Mumia Abu-Jamal on One Empire, Unchanged: Increasingly, the US Presidential election looks like a political contest between the same old thing and the same thing with a new face. McCain and Obama have sworn their allegiance to a husky nationalism that imposes political and military hegemony over much of the world. (Prison Radio) July 9, 2008

'Savage Mules: The Democrats and Endless War', A Book by Dennis Perrin

From the Verso site:

Americans see the Democratic Party as the anti-war party: vacillating flipfloppers in the eyes of conservatives; or, in the liberal view, restrained, measured wagers of war as “last resort.” In November 2006, voters put the Democrats into Congress to bring an end to the Iraq war. Yet the Democrats supported the “surge,” giving Bush more money than he himself requested, and voted through the next $459.6 billion defense budget. In this hard-hitting examination of their role in the War on Terror, political analyst and satirist Dennis Perrin shatters the myth of the reluctant-warrior Democrats. He explores Democrat collusion in the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and support for Israeli assaults on Gaza and Lebanon, while revealing their overlooked appetite for planning wars and selling them to the electorate. Compelling and bleakly humorous, Savage Mules shows a party at odds with its public image on this key issue in the race for the White House.

July 11, 2008 - Some News, Views, and Info

Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney has named Rosa Clemente as her Vice Presidential running mate.

‘Progressives for Obama’ Fool Themselves: Barack Obama's rush to disavow the "tag" of the "Left" should surprise no one. For straight language and unambiguously progressive politics, support Cynthia McKinney, who is expected to win the Green Party presidential nomination, this week in Chicago. (Black Agenda Report) July 9, 2008

Yeah, They Did It: Bowing to President Bush's demands, the Senate approved and sent the White House a bill Wednesday to overhaul bitterly disputed rules on secret government spying and shield telecommunications companies from lawsuits complaining they helped the U.S. spy on Americans. Let it be noted clearly that Barack Obama, who previously pledged to join in a filibuster of any bill that contained telcom immunity, not only didn't join any filibuster attempt, not only voted for the damn bill, he voted in favor of cloture. (Lotus - Surviving a Dark Time) July 10, 2008

'Longest Walk' Reaches Washington: Thirty years ago, 40,000 Native Americans and their supporters participated in an historic cross-country march called the Longest Walk. Commemorating that event, two groups of walkers set out from Alcatraz Island last February. Today the marchers are due to end their journey at the White House and later present a 30-page manifesto to a Democratic Congressman, Rep. John Conyers, who advocates on a wide range of minority issues. (Sky News) July 11, 2008

Indigenous communities in Bolivia and Brazil have declared an emergency in response to the construction of the Madera River Hydroelectric Complex, which Brasilia is pursuing even as independent research efforts try to measure the impacts of what will be one of South America's largest energy projects. (Inter Press Service) July 10, 2008

"Health Care for America Now": Which Side Are They On? (MR Zine) July 10, 2008

July 2, 2008 - Some News, Views, and Info

International Statement of Solidarity With the Zapatistas: As members of diverse collectives and organizations in different corners of the World, we wish to express our outrage and complete repudiation of the renewed military invasion of Zapatista communities on June 4th 2008. (Indymedia UK) June 18, 2008

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders leads with proposal for 10 million solar rooftops, While Bush Admin puts brakes on solar projects (Buzzflash) July 1, 2008

What the Census Didn't Count: Water Rights and Privatization in El Salvador (Upside Down World) June 18, 2008

Mexicans Protest Canadian Mining Company: Residents and activists from the central Mexican state of San Luis Potosí travelled to Toronto to tell the shareholders of a Canadian mining company that their investments are at risk because the billion-dollar Cerro San Pedro gold and silver mine is illegal and environmentally unsafe. (Inter Press Service) June 28, 2008

Protest Zone Far Cry From Pepsi Center, ACLU Says: New suit claims delegates won't hear activities: The designated protest zone at the Democratic National Convention will be more than two football fields away from the Pepsi Center - a revelation that drew new legal challenges Monday from the American Civil Liberties Union. (Rocky Mountain News) July 1, 2008

Who Cares What Bill Clinton Says? Even liberals, who have historically been too trusting, should have gotten the message by now. Bill Clinton never was a liberal, and he’s no friend to liberals. (Another Socialist Blog) June 29, 2008

June 29, 2008 - Some News, Views, and Info

Amazon Tribes Fight to Keep the Xingu Alive: For five days in May, hundreds of tribal people from the far reaches of the Amazon Basin came together to protest plans for huge dams on the Xingu River, the largest tributary of the Amazon. (IRC Americas Program) June 24, 2008

Green Fascism and the Greening of Hate: Population control — the ideology of the green right (Climate and Capitalism) June 27, 2008

War As Environmental Disaster (The Mahatma X Files) June 28, 2008

Mike Davis: The real question is this: Will rich counties ever mobilize the political will and economic resources to actually achieve IPCC targets or, for that matter, to help poorer countries adapt to the inevitable, already "committed" quotient of warming now working its way toward us through the slow circulation of the world ocean? The real danger is that human solidarity itself, like a West Antarctic ice shelf, will suddenly fracture and shatter into a thousand shards. (TomDispatch.com) June 26, 2008

Great Apes To Have Rights in Spain (Telegraph UK) June 27, 2008

Circus Brings USDA-Documented Animal Cruelty to Dallas (In Defense of Animals) June 27, 2008

Obama’s Circle of Imperialist Foreign Policy Advisors (Socialist Worker) June 18, 2008

June 25, 2008 - Some News, Views, and Info

Telecoms Flex Their Muscles: FISA “Compromise” Locks-in Spying: You knew it would eventually come to this: a huge victory for the Bush regime and a gigantic swindle by Democratic party sell-outs posing as an “opposition.” Thursday, House and Senate leaders in a bipartisan Washington love-fest, stooped to new lows of dissimulation as they reached agreement on a bill that gives the nation’s spy agencies and their outsourced “partners” in the telecommunications industry carte blanche to illegally spy on Americans. (Dissident Voice) June 23, 2008

A Critique From the Left of Jonah Goldberg's Ludicrous book Liberal Fascism (Socialist Humanism With A Human Face) June 18, 2008

2008 Green Party National Convention in Chicago (July 10-13) will be a public forum for discussion of impeachment and other major issues on which Democrats and Republicans have failed in their responsibility to voters. (GP.org) June 24, 2008

James Hansen's Timely Warning on Climate Change: On June 23, 1988, the threat of climate change finally captured the media's attention when James Hansen, director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, warned a U.S. Senate committee that the planet was already warming as a result of human activity. Monday, 20 years to the day after his appearance before the Senate committee, Hansen was back on Capitol Hill with a more immediate warning. (Toronto Star) June 25, 2008

Is Your City Going to Be Bottled Water-Free? A new resolution from leading U.S. mayors shows that more cities may be ditching the bottled stuff in favor of tap. (Alternet) June 24, 2008

Taking on the Purple Machine: SEIU President Andy Stern and his staff prevailed at the convention, but pro-reform members succeeded in advancing a debate inside the country's largest union. (Socialist Worker) June 17, 2008

University of California Workers Avert Walkout to Continue Contract Talks (MR Zine) June 24, 2008

Germany's Die Linke: ‘We have the wind of history in our sails’: After a year of stellar successes, almost 600 delegates from Germany’s new left-wing party, Die Linke, came together for the party’s first ever congress, held in the east German city of Cottbus on May 25 and 26. (Links) May 30, 3008

June 18, 2008 - Some News, Views, and Info

For Mass Transit, Mass Investment: With record ridership and fuel prices, subways, trains, and buses are strapped. (Christian Science Monitor) June 16, 2008

Co-operatives Turn Idle Landed Estates Green in Venezuela (Inter Press Service) June 14, 2008

U.S. Green Party Presidential Candidate Cynthia McKinney's Call to Action in Support of Dennis Kucinich's Articles of Impeachment Against Bush (RunCynthiaRun.com) June 2008

Essential Information On Carbon Trading From The Corner House: A great source of analysis and comment on global carbon trading is The Corner House, based in Britain. These are just some of the documents, presentations and videos available on their website. Highly recommended. (Climate and Capitalism) June 17, 2008

Fallujah's Legacy (Lenin's Tomb) June 16, 2008

U.S. Democrats to Back Down on Iraq War Conditions: Democrats in the U.S. Congress, who came to power last year on a call to end the combat in Iraq, will soon give President George W. Bush the last war-funding bill of his presidency without any of the conditions they sought for withdrawing U.S. troops, congressional aides said on Monday. (Reuters) June 16, 2008

Calif. City Halls Swamped With Same-Sex Couples Seeking Marriage Licenses (365Gay.com) June 17, 2008

Retirement for Seven Lab Chimps: The last seven chimpanzees at a Penn. research facility have been permanently retired and head to sanctuary. It's time the country's remaining 1,200 chimps living in laboratories are similarly relieved. (HSUS.org) June 13, 2008

June 11, 2008 - What the Heck is Goin On? Some News, Views, and Info

Kucinich Offers Impeachment Articles Against Bush: Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) introduced 35 articles of impeachment against President Bush on Monday night, reading the resolution into the Congressional Record. (CBS News) June 9, 2008

AUDIO/VIDEO: Allen Ginsberg & Paul McCartney "A Ballad of American Skeletons" or "An American Ballad of Skeletons" Live at the Royal Albert Hall, October 16, 1995. (Youtube)

Corporations Tracking Who Activists Are Dating: We’ve recently learned that Burger King has been spying on human rights activists, and the FBI would like to be spying on vegan potlucks. Not to be outdone, it looks like the Society of Toxicology commissioned a “threat analysis” to try to get smart about, among other things, who activists are dating. (Green is the New Red) June 6, 2008

Eliot, Maine Voters OK Wind, Solar Energy Systems: Voters in Eliot approved two new ordinances permitting wind and solar energy systems in town. (Maine Today) June 11, 2008

Labor-Environmental Coalition Testing of Water Contaminated By Dupont in New Jersey (Workers Independent News) June 10, 2008

The Blue-Green Alliance, Good Jobs, A Clean Environment, and A Safer World: The United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club are working toward a future of green jobs for America in the Blue-Green Alliance as we wrestle with finding a solution to global warming. (Workers Independent News) June 11, 2008

Obama the Hawk: Barack Obama's hard-line speech at the AIPAC conference wasn't just pandering to the pro-Israel lobby, but a statement of his real position on foreign policy issues. (Socialist Worker) June 11, 2008

Climate change: Carbon Capture From Power Stations Must Start Soon, Say Scientists (The Guardian) June 10, 2008

June 8, 2008 - Some News, Views, and Info

Life, Liberty, Water: As climate change and worldwide shortages loom, will people fight over water or join together to protect it? (Yes! Magazine) Summer 2008

World's Biggest Solar Farm Going Up In Portugal (The Guardian) June 6, 2008

Venezuela, along with Argentina, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Bolivia, criticised the final declaration of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Summit in Rome on Thursday, arguing that the document failed to identify the true causes of rising food prices, such as agricultural subsidies and unequal trade policies imposed by developed countries. (Venezuelanalysis) June 6, 2008

Stop Funding Torture! An Open Letter Urging Action by Congress (StopFundingTorture.com) May 2008

Obama and the Occupation of Iraq: People who believe Barack Obama will end the occupation of Iraq are likely in for a rude awakening. Despite talking about withdrawal from Iraq, his plan would keep troops in the country for years to come, likely well beyond his potential first term. (ZNet) June 8, 2008

Senate Considers $455 Billion in Nuclear Subsidies: The Senate is considering providing the nuclear industry with over $500 billion in subsidies for new nuclear power development. The subsidies are included in a much-touted bipartisan climate change bill. (Democracy Now!) June 6, 2008

Water Activists Slay Corporate Behemoth, Felton, CA’s Victory to Control Water Resources: Their victory is one in a series of setbacks for corporate water interests. (Food & Water Watch) June 2, 2008

June 4, 2008 - Some News, Views, and Info

The 2nd of May Revolt at the UN Forum on Indigenous Peoples: The United Nations censors indigenous people at a forum for indigenous people (w/ links to video) (Climate and Capitalism) June 2, 2008

From Kennedy to Obama: Liberalism's Last Fling: John Pilger refers back to his travels with Robert Kennedy to describe the false hopes offered by those, like Barack Obama, who exploit the appeal of liberalism then present a very different reality. (JohnPilger.com) May 29, 2008

The American Electoral Charade: Two candidates with almost identical positions on virtually every issue fight to exhaustion over non-substantial concerns for months, and will doubtless soon celebrate having achieved "unity." Those citizens that want to abolish the American oligarchic form of government should vote for the Green Party, and put Cynthia McKinney at the head of the ticket. (Black Agenda Report) June 4, 2008

Dirty Deeds in Bolivia: Bolivia’s right-wing extremists who have been doing their best to rip their own country apart for the past two years rather than accept the rule of their constitutionally elected President Evo Morales finally have showed themselves in their true colours. (Bolivia Rising) June 2, 2008

Blackwater: From the Nisour Square Massacre to the Future of the Mercenary Industry (w/ audio and Video) (Democracy Now!) June 2, 2008

West Coast Winter Soldier: “Enough Is Enough, It’s Time to Get Out”: Dozens of veterans from the U.S. occupation of Iraq converged in Seattle over the weekend to share stories of atrocities being committed daily in Iraq, in a continuation of the "Winter Soldier" hearings held in Silver Spring, Maryland in March. (Inter Press Service) June 2, 2008

Whalemeat Traders Defying Ban: Icelandic and Norwegian companies have begun exporting whalemeat to Japan (BBC News) June 2, 2008

May 24, 2008 - Some News, Views, and Info Links

Amazon Indians Lead Battle Against Power Giant's Plan to Flood Rainforest (The Independent UK) May 23, 2008

US Empire in Somalia: Hidden Catastrophe, Hidden Agenda (Media Lens) May 13, 2008

US Senate Passes No-Strings War Funding Bill (Inter Press Service) May 23, 2008

“War, Inc.”: John Cusack’s New Film Satirizes the Corruption, Profiteering and Hubris Behind the Iraq War (Democracy Now!) May 23, 2008

Why Cusack's War, Inc.. Is Must-See Political Filmmaking (Alternet) May 21, 2008

Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU): Say No to Xenophobia (MR Zine) May 21, 2008

Union-Busting at Woodman’s Grocery Chain in Wisconsin (Socialist Worker) May 23, 2008

May 10, 2008 - Some News, Views, and Info

Indigenous Speak Out Against Carbon Markets (Inter Press Service) May 4, 2008

Two More Gruesome Weeks Under Colombia's Alvaro Uribe (Latin America News Review) May 7, 2008

The Wages of Left Capitulation to the Democratic Party 1 (Counterpunch) April 26/27, 2008

McCain, Clinton, Obama and the Wages of Left Capitulation to the Democratic Party 2 (Counterpunch) May 9, 2008

Polarizing Bolivia: Santa Cruz Votes on Autonomy (Upside Down World) May 8, 2008

Expanded Undercover Investigation Shows Mistreatment of Downer Cows Is Commonplace at Livestock Auctions (Humane Society of the United States) May 7, 2008

Mumia Abu-Jamal Asks: Who's uncle is really crazy? Uncle Jeremiah or Uncle Sam? (Prison Radio) May 1, 2008

Rockefeller Family Fables (Dissident Voice) May 8, 2008

Burger With a Side of Spies: How Burger King Hired a Sketchy Private Security Firm to Spy on Non-Violent Activists (New York Times) May 7, 2008

Obama's Money Cartel: How Barack Obama Fronted for the Most Vicious Predators on Wall Street

By Pam Martens, Black Agenda Report, May 7, 2008

The candidate that claims to be the only presidential contender who doesn't take money from lobbyists is in fact the biggest recipient of lobby-related contributions. Barack Obama rakes in millions from law firms serving the interests of Wall Street, including the financial institutions that gave us the subprime lending crisis. Lawyers that work for firms that earn hundreds of millions of dollars for lobbying may technically not be lobbyists, but they share in their colleagues' earnings as influencers of Congress - a legal loophole that allows Obama to claim his hands are clean of lobby loot. "The top contributors to the Obama campaign are the very Wall Street firms whose shady mortgage lenders buried the elderly and the poor and minority under predatory loans."

Continue reading 'Obama's Money Cartel: How Barack Obama Fronted for the Most Vicious Predators on Wall Street'. . .

An Open Letter to Michael Moore on Obama

By William Kaufman, Counterpunch, April 28, 2008

Last week Michael Moore published an ardent declaration of support for Barack Obama. In case you missed it, you can read it here.
I was astonished at the political vacuity of this declaration--even knowing that Moore, since 2004, has proudly brandished the Air-America-Nation-magazine-Progressive-Democrats-of-America-DNC seal of approval. I sent Moore the following open letter. So far, it has elicited no response. Perhaps its appearance on the CounterPunch Web site will prompt him to explain his position more coherently than he did last week:

Continue reading 'An Open Letter to Michael Moore on Obama'. . .

The Wages of Left Capitulation to the Democratic Party

By Peter Camejo, Counterpunch, April 26/27, 2008

I was stunned to see Medea Benjamin complaining to the Nader/Gonzalez campaign because the campaign had used the word "shameful" in referring to "progressive" Democrats who had supported the pro-war, pro-Patriot Act, anti-labor, and anti-environmental candidate John Kerry in 2004.
I have great personal admiration for Medea Benjamin for many of the stands and actions she has taken through the years. But her capitulation to the Democratic Party has been truly disappointing.
Medea Benjamin eventually joined the "progressive" Democrats and has become an active supporter of the Democratic Party.
Without the Democratic Party's support, Bush's war policies could never have been implemented. The Democrats voted in Congress a resolution that included the phrase, "unequivocal support for George Bush's conduct of the war in Iraq."
They have voted for all the funding requests for the war in Iraq. In 2005 at the State of Union address, the entire Congress, with few if any exceptions, gave George Bush 39 standing ovations in one hour. They rose to their feet and applauded every time Bush used the word Iraq even before he finished his sentence.
Of course this is nothing new for the Democratic Party.

Continue reading 'The Wages of Left Capitulation to the Democratic Party'. . .