Archive | November, 2008

  • Ferment and Fetters in the Study of Kurdish Nationalism

    Hakan Ozoglu. Kurdish Notables and the Ottoman State: Evolving Identities, Competing Loyalties, and Shifting Boundaries.   Albany: State University of New York Press, 2004.  xv + 186 pp.  $35.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-7914-5993-5. Identifying Kurdish nationalism as “one of the most explosive and critical predicaments in the Middle East,” the author notes that “the subject regrettably […]

  • Guantánamo Justice after Seven Years

      Since the Bush administration began transporting men and boys to Guantánamo Bay in January 2002, it has tried to prevent them from presenting their cases before a neutral federal judge.  Indeed, the naval base was turned into a prison camp precisely to keep the detainees away from impartial courts.  The government argued that federal […]

  • The G20, the G21 and the G192

    As if there were not enough reasons to go mad, the proliferation of acronyms related to the crisis is such that one can hardly understand them. The first was the G20, a selected group meeting in Washington that pretended to represent all. The second was the also selective APEC group which met in Lima. There was the richest country, the United States; this is number one, with a per capita GDP of 45 thousand dollars a year. But there was also the number 100 country, the People’s Republic of China, with a per capita GDP of 2,483 dollars; this is also the number one investor in US Treasure bonds.

  • Interview with Jerry Tucker, Former UAW Official, on the US Auto Industry in Crisis

    Play now: Jerry Tucker: Even though it’s more than tempting to look at the mistakes — and they are gross in many instances — that have been made by the auto management in this country, at this stage of this crisis, it’s hardly the time to just dwell on that fact and not do something, […]

  • Icelanders Protest, Clash with Police

    Thousands of Icelanders protested in Reykjavik on Saturday, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Geir Haarde and Central Bank Governor David Oddsson, for bankrupting their country.  A group of protesters also stormed the city’s central police station to release one of the protesters arrested the day before. ITN News, 23 November 2008

  • Day without a Gay

    The worldwide media attention surrounding our massive grassweb efforts for gay rights has been tremendous.  Join the Impact was a HUGE success and will continue to thrive because of our efforts. We’ve reacted to anti-gay ballot initiatives in California, Arizona, Florida, and Arkansas with anger, with resolve, and with courage.  NOW, it’s time to show […]

  • Obama: The American Dream

    The American Empire, like other empires in the past, relies on two myths.  The first is that, internally, the American system is a meritocracy.  “Hard work and enterprise can overcome a disadvantage at birth whereas rich good-for-nothings soon lose their wealth.”  The second is that American foreign policy is principled and essentially just.  “It is […]

  • Comment on PLO Full-page Advert in the Israeli Daily Press on 20/11/2008

    Yesterday, Nov. 20, 2008, the PLO published in ALL major Israeli daily newspapers the policy statement of the ARAB LEAGUE of 2003 (signed by 57 Arab or Muslim States), pledging to sign full peace and establish full normal relations with Israel if it returns to its pre 1967 borders and lets the Palestinians set up […]

  • The End of the UAW?Interview with Dan La Botz

    Play now: Doug Henwood: What’s the likelihood that GM, Ford, Chrysler — all running low on cash, they’re talking about having only a couple of months of money left to keep going — they could enter bankruptcy, wipe out a bunch of their debts, and break those contracts?  It could be the effective end of […]

  • Celebrate People’s History and Build Popular Power on January 20, 2009

    An Open Letter to Those Seeking to Build a World from Below, in Which Many Worlds Are Possible We call on all anarchists, horizontalists, autonomists, anti-capitalists, anti-authoritarians, and others organizing a world from below to bring our best creative spirits to the project of a “Celebrate People’s History and Build Popular Power” bloc on January […]

  • The Unapologetic Case for Gay Marriage

    In the face of mass protests to roll back the recent anti-gay marriage election ballot measures, especially California’s Proposition 8, some leftists are a bit queasy.  Why, they ask, should radicals be so adamant about defending the right of gays and lesbians to enter into an institution that is decidedly mainstream and tied to the […]

  • Buccaneers in Somali Waters — But They’re Not Somalis

    It is estimated that foreigners poach $300 million from Somali fisheries each year.  Somalia’s armed sailors extort about one-third that amount — $100 million — from the owners of captured ships.  So, who are the real pirates? Play now: Glen Ford is Executive Editor of Black Agenda Report.  Ford’s commentary was broadcast by Black Agenda […]

  • The Meeting with Hu Jintao

    I did not want to talk a lot, but he obliged me to expand on things; I asked some questions and, basically, listened to him. His words recounted the feats of the Chinese people in the last 10 months.  Heavy and unseasonal snowfall, an earthquake that devastated surface areas equivalent to three times the size […]

  • Meeting Hu Jintao

    He related the exploits of the Chinese people in the past 10 months. The enormous nation with a 1.3 billion population has been hit by heavy and out-of-season snow, and an earthquake which devastated areas three times that of Cuba; in addition to the most serious international economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

  • “Today We Have Come Out”: Mass Uprising of Tribal People in West Bengal

      The events that have been happening during the last one week in the adivasi (tribal) belt of West Midnapur district in West Bengal are so unprecedented that the authorities do not know how to respond to them, and the media doesn’t understand their significance. Even the political parties and civil society are at a […]

  • Economists’ Letter to Congress in Support of a New Economic Stimulus Package

    The Honorable Henry Reid Senate Majority Leader Washington, DC 20510 The Honorable Nancy Pelosi Speaker of the House Washington, DC 20515 The Honorable Mitch McConnell Senate Minority Leader Washington, DC 20510 The Honorable John Boehner House Minority Leader Washington, DC 20515 Dear Sen. Reid, Sen. McConnell, Speaker Pelosi, and Rep. Boehner: We, the undersigned economists, […]

  • Who Will Stop the Settlers? Noise But No Action from US over Family’s Eviction

    The middle-of-the-night eviction last week of an elderly Palestinian couple from their home in East Jerusalem to make way for Jewish settlers is a demonstration of Israeli intent towards a future peace deal with the Palestinians. Abu Dhabi TV, 10 November 2008 Mohammed and Fawziya Kurd are now on the street, living in a tent, […]

  • “Prices Are Falling across the Board at Earlier Phases of Production”

    The overall consumer price index fell by 1.0 percent in October, driven by an 8.6 percent drop in energy prices.  The core CPI also fell in October, declining 0.1 percent primarily as a result of a 1.0 percent drop in apparel prices.  Over the last quarter, the CPI has fallen at a 4.4 percent annual […]

  • Oil Prices and Venezuela’s Economy

    Introduction The Venezuelan economy has grown more than 94 percent since the current expansion began in the second quarter of 2003.1  The overwhelming bulk of this growth has been in the non-oil sector.2  Throughout most of these five and a half years of unprecedented growth, the economy has often been characterized as an “oil boom […]

  • What’s to Be Done about the Auto Industry?

    The U.S. Congress will vote this week on what to do about the America’s Big Three automakers — Chrysler, Ford, and GM.  GM teeters on the brink of bankruptcy and is screaming for help.  The Bush administration does not want to give more than the$25 billion it has already promised to develop more fuel-efficient cars.  […]