Archive | January, 2011

On December 6, the President said “there is no reason that ordinary Americans should see their taxes go up next year.”  Apparently, the Administration staff who negotiated the deal found a reason.  According to the estimates of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, some 51 million taxpayers overall will see part of the tax cuts they […]

One year after an earthquake devastated Haiti, much of the promised relief and reconstruction aid has not reached those most in need.  In fact, the nation’s tragedy has served as an opportunity to further enrich corporate interests. The details of a recent lawsuit, as reported by Business Week, highlights the ways in which contractors — […]

He came out of nowhere offering change you can believe in, and he won. But almost everything he does is an irritating failure to act, a disappointing small measure, or a major giveaway to the rich.  After two years it was no surprise that voters turned away from him in the Congressional midterm elections of […]

As it is well-known, the state of Arizona, a territory that was taken from Mexico by the United States along with much more territory, has been the scene of painful events for hundreds of Latin Americans who die trying to immigrate to the US in search of work or to join their parents, spouses or […]

What is it about Haiti that makes the “international community” think they have the right to decide the country’s fate without the consent of the governed?  Yes, Haiti is a poor country, but Haitians have fought very hard and lost many lives for the right to vote and elect a government. Yet on November 28, […]

Over the last few weeks, some senior figures in Israel’s national security establishment have made — in an Israeli context — relatively moderate statements about their perception of the Iranian “threat” to their country.  Last month, Deputy Prime Minister (and former IDF chief of staff) Moshe Yaalon said that, because of technical difficulties and the […]

Once again it was the annual big weekend for German leftists of every conceivable persuasion.  It was also a weekend with tons of slush, the result of weeks of cold and snow now ending in thaw weather, but, in the eyes of most participants, also provided by most of the media. As every year, Sunday […]

None other than Ileana Ros, the woman who kept the child Elián kidnapped in Miami, the promoter of coups d’état, crimes such as those committed by Posada Carriles and other heinous deeds, shall be travelling to neighbouring Haiti, where the earthquake killed a quarter of a million people and the cholera epidemic, in full swing, […]

Shown the word “Kurd” on an eye chart . . . : General: “Turk!” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: “Voter!” Carlos Latuff is a Brazilian cartoonist.  Cf. Delphine Strauss, “Turkish Army Wades into Kurdish Debate” (Financial Times, 17 December 2010). | Print

Executive Summary Before Haiti’s November 28 election was held, its legitimacy was called into question because of the exclusion of over a dozen political parties from the election — including Haiti’s most popular political party, Fanmi Lavalas.  The ban on Fanmi Lavalas was analogous to excluding the Democratic or Republican Party in the United States. […]

Introduction and Summary: In “The Role of Prices in Measuring the Poor’s Living Standards,” Christian Broda, Ephriam Leibtag, and David E. Weinstein (2009) use proprietary data — the 2005 Nielsen Homescan dataset — to analyze differences by income level in the prices paid for food.  They find that Nielsen households with incomes above $60,000 pay […]

Tossed, dropped it freefalls so easily through the willing, complicit sky A slender wind pokes, nudges, guides misguides A squall of warm air slurs the speed the metal orb floats, a jewel-red plum parachuting, an overripe peach spit from a god’s bitter lips On deeded sand it lands, or settles in a bent cedar limb […]

  There are many reasons for leaving one’s country. . . . N.B. Click on “Subtitles” to view this video with English subtitles. Directed by Atelier Collectif.  Animation by William Henne, Caroline Nugues, and Lionel Seneterre.  Produced by Zorobabel.  2006. | Print  

Yesterday I analyzed the atrocious act of violence against U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, in which 18 people were shot, six died and another 12 were wounded, several seriously, among them the Congresswoman with a shot to the head, leaving the medical team with no alternative other than to try to save her life and minimize, […]

  Gautam Navlakha: There was actually not a shred of evidence against Binayak to sentence him to life imprisonment.  In fact . . . let alone life imprisonment, he should not have been sentenced even for a single day on the basis of that kind of evidence.  We know also from other sources, in our […]

“Happy New Swindle!” Eneko Las Heras, born in Caracas in 1963, is a cartoonist based in Spain.  The cartoon above was first published on his blog . . . Y sin embargo se mueve on 3 January 2011.  Translation by Yoshie Furuhashi (@yoshiefuruhashi | yoshie.furuhashi [at] gmail.com). | Print

In November, Colorado Senator Michael Bennet was interviewed on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition by Renee Montagne.1  In the course of the interview, Senator Bennet told Ms. Montagne that, as a 45-year old, he would get no Social Security benefit if the program is not fixed. This is not true.  According to the most recent […]

Sad news was broadcast this afternoon from the United States: Gabrielle Giffords, Democratic congresswoman for Arizona, was the victim of a criminal attempt while taking part at a political meeting at her electoral district in Tucson. On the other side of the border lies Mexico, the Latin American country to which that territory used to […]

Carlos Latuff is a Brazilian cartoonist. | Print

The year 2010 would be remembered as a scam-tainted year when allegations of corruption, both public and private, were difficult to keep track of.  Overwhelmed by these allegations, the government has attempted to focus on the fact that India is among the fastest growing countries in the world.  But even that boastful claim has been […]