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The Complexities of Zimbabwe
A month after Zimbabwe’s March 29 elections, the winner of the presidential poll remains unknown. The delay adds considerable additional complexity to the many undercurrents of the country’s problems. By virtue of the suspicious, poorly explained delay in announcing who won the presidential poll, the authorities in Harare have ensured that the only outcome […]
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Fueling Food Shortages
Where is Harry Chapin when you need him? The popular folk singer (Cat’s in the Cradle), who lost his life in an auto crash 27 years ago, was an indefatigable force of nature against hunger — in this country and around the world. To hear Harry speak out against the scourge of hunger in a […]
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Vermont Peace Activists Occupy General Dynamics Weapons Plant
On May 1st, International Workers’ Day, ten peace activists in Burlington, Vermont entered General Dynamics and locked themselves together in the main lobby of the building in protest against the company’s weapons manufacturing and war profiteering. University of Vermont student Benjamin Dube, one of the dozens of other activists present at the event, leaned out […]
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Why We Demonstrated in Dearborn
See, also, Stephanie Luce, “Rebuilding Labor’s Power: There Are No Shortcuts,” MRZine, 2 May 2008. I feel sorry for Stephanie Luce and I don’t even know her. As I read her piece, dated April 22, “The Future of the Labor Movement? Reflections on the Labor Notes Conference,” I was surprised to learn that she […]
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Rebuilding Labor’s Power: There Are No Shortcuts
See, also, Stephanie Luce, “The Future of the Labor Movement? Reflections on the Labor Notes Conference,” MRZine, 22 April 2008; and Dave Regan, “Why We Demonstrated in Dearborn,” MRZine, 2 May 2008. I am not surprised Dave Regan doesn’t remember our argument. I am sure he hears my concerns all the time, but the conversation […]
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May Day in Germany: Rightists, Leftists, Greens, and Neo-Nazis
May Day remains a national holiday in Germany. So does Jesus’s Ascension Day (whose German name, I’m afraid, is Himmelfahrt) and this year, for the first time in many years, both occurred on the same day. Less pious males frequently celebrate the religious holiday with markedly sexist outings of loud tipplers, often on horse-drawn wagons […]
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May Day 2008 Statement from the Iraqi Labour Movement to the Workers and All Peace-loving People of the World
April 29th, 2008 On this day of international labour solidarity we call on our fellow trade unionists and all those worldwide who have stood against war and occupation to increase support for our struggle for freedom from occupation — both the military and economic. We call upon the governments, corporations and institutions behind the ongoing […]
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Longshore Workers Are Standing Down at West Coast Ports:”We’re Standing Up for America, We’re Supporting the Troops, and We’re Telling Politicians That It’s Time to End the Iraq War Now!”
(SAN FRANCISCO, CA) More than 25,000 longshore workers at 29 west coast ports are exercising their First Amendment rights today by taking a day off work and calling for an end to the war in Iraq. “Longshore workers are standing-down on the job and standing up for America,” said ILWU International President Bob McEllrath. “We’re […]
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Iraq Debacle: Ending It Tied to Engagement with Iran
This time the message was delivered by the Pentagon’s own premier educational institute. The opening line of a report released April 17 by the National Institute for Strategic Studies read: “Measured in blood and treasure, the war in Iraq has achieved the status of a major war and a major debacle.” The document goes on […]
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Preparing for War with Iran?
As Israel prepares to celebrate its 60th anniversary, the weak and internally divided government of Ehud Olmert persists in pursuing counterproductive policies detached from all regional and global realities except the guaranteed support of the United States. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice soldiers on in her starring role keeping the theatrical performance known as “the […]