Archive | June, 2011

  • On a Collision Course with the Muslim Brotherhood

      Much of the commentary in the Arabic media in recent days has focused on the realignments taking place across the Middle East as a result of the various Arab uprisings. Ammar Nehmeh, an occasional columnist at the Beirut-based leftist daily As-Safir, wrote that forces that traditionally resist U.S. policy in the region, and that […]

  • What’s Wrong with Women in Lebanon?

      Most of the time, as soon as I mention that I am a feminist activist, I am immediately hit with a question: “Why?  What’s wrong with the situation of women in Lebanon?  What could a woman want?  She has all her rights and more, she is treated with respect, with dignity.  She controls her […]

  • The Cat and the Coup, Now Available for Free Download

    The Cat and the Coup is a documentary game in which you play the cat of Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh, the first democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran.   During the summer of 1953, the CIA engineered a coup to bring about his downfall.  As a player, you coax Mossadegh back through significant events of his life […]

  • CPI Rises 0.2 Percent

    The Consumer Price Index rose 0.2 percent in May — the slowest rate since November — as energy prices fell for the first time since last June.  The core rate of inflation ticked up to 0.3 percent and is now running at a 2.5 percent annualized rate over the last three months. Energy prices had […]

  • Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

    Carlos Latuff is a Brazilian cartoonist.  Cf. Fulya Özerkan, “Relief Group Signals U-turn on Gaza Plan” (Hürriyet Daily News, 14 June 2011). | Print

  • The Assault on Public Services: Will Unions Lament the Attacks or Lead a Fightback?

      We are living one of those historic moments that cry out for rallying the working class to build new capacities, new solidarities, and concrete hope.  The crucial question is not how far the attacks on the public sector will go.  The real question is how far we will let them go.  How will working-class […]

  • Egyptian Activists Say No to Military Trials

    Ragia Omran, Lawyer for “No to Military Trials”: They (the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces) consider the country as under “martial law.”  They haven’t announced it officially, but this is the justification they use for the use of military trials for civilians. Mona Seif, Activist for “No to Military Trials”: The first demand is […]

  • Russia, Turkey, and the US Push for Regime Change in Syria

    Seldom it is that the Russian Foreign Ministry chooses a Sunday to issue a formal statement.  Evidently, something of extreme gravity arose for Moscow to speak out urgently.  The provocation was the appearance of a United States guided missile cruiser in the Black Sea for naval exercises with Ukraine.  The USS Monterrey cruiser equipped with […]

  • On the Nuclear Power 2021 Act and the Nuclear Energy Research Initiative Improvement Act of 2011

    Testimony on S. 512, “The Nuclear Power 2021 Act,” and S. 1067, “The Nuclear Energy Research Initiative Improvement Act of 2011,” before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, U.S. Senate, 7 June 2011 Good morning.  On behalf of the Union of Concerned Scientists, I would like to thank Chairman Bingaman, Ranking Member Murkowski, and […]

  • Swiss Women and Workers Hold National Day of Action for Wage Equality for Women and Minimum Wage of $4,000 per Month

    Swiss women and a major Swiss union held a national day of action today for wage equality for women and for a minimum wage of $4,000 a month for all workers.  The Swiss franc and the U.S. dollar are about on par, the franc worth a little more than a U.S. dollar.  The new minimum […]

  • Demo at Saudi Embassy in Beirut This Friday, in Support of Saudi Women in Struggle for Civil Rights

    Friday, 17 June 2011, 5:30 PM, in front of the Saudi Embassy in Beirut Women Driving in KSA If you’re not in Lebanon, organize similar events in your country. For more information, go to .  Cf. “Saudi Women: ‘I Will Drive Myself Starting June 17′” (Jadaliyya, 12 May 2011). | Print

  • Path to Solve Climate Talks: Be Clear about Targets and Honour Commitments

      13 June 2011 BONN — Today, Ambassador Pablo Solon of the Plurinational State of Bolivia addressed reporters at the UN climate talks in Germany.  Ambassador Solon outlined a clear plan, based on submissions from other countries and civil society, on how to move the talks forward in 2011. “The key issue at these talks […]

  • European Integration at the Crossroads: Deepening or Disintegration?

      Are the member states of the Eurozone responsible for the Euro crisis the ones having problems servicing their debt?  The majority of people in Europe believe that this is the case.  Therefore, indebted countries like Greece, Portugal and Ireland must subject themselves to a brutal austerity program of savage cuts in welfare spending, diminishing […]

  • Are High Agricultural Prices Good or Bad for Poverty?

      Dani Rodrik is back, and he reignites an old debate with his recent blog post.  He asks if high food prices are good or bad for poverty, and answers, “It depends on whether the poor are selling or buying, of course.”  Citing a recent paper by Jacob Swinnen, he goes on, “High food prices […]

  • Macroeconomic Policy Changes Have Helped Brazil Increase Growth, But Much More Is Needed

    From 2004 to 2010, Brazil’s economy grew at an average of 4.2 percent annually, or more than twice as fast as it had grown from 1999-2003; or for that matter, more than twice as fast as its annual growth from 1980-2000.  This was despite the impact of the world recession of 2009, which left Brazil […]

  • Anonymous Leaders of the Movement of the “Indignant” in Greece

    On Friday, the blogs which are guiding the movement of “indignant” citizens published a statement of the “indignant” citizens in Syntagma Square that called on the left forces to leave the squares.  Thus, the “anonymous” leaders of the “movement of the squares,” the “non-partisan,” “spontaneous,” “non-politicized” citizens, appear to be politicized, declaring themselves “anti-left.” Perhaps […]

  • Agrarian Distress and Land Acquisition

    The recent agitation by farmers in Uttar Pradesh against cropland acquisition for non-agricultural purposes is only the latest in a long series of protests by farmers and rural communities, which started a decade ago in different parts of the country and which gathered momentum over the past five years and coalesced in some areas into […]

  • One Week from Bargaining Deadline, GE and Unions Far Apart, May Be Headed for Clash

      With just one week to go in national negotiations between the General Electric Company and a coalition of unions, confrontation looks increasingly possible.  GE, whose 2010 profits were over $14.2 billion while it paid zero in 2010 federal income taxes, is seeking deep cuts in pensions, healthcare and other benefits to union workers. At […]

  • Libya: The Poverty of Analyses

      I am confused by the analyses of the Anglophone left with regard to the social revolts in Libya.  The only thing folks seem able to muster is a series of bifurcated abstractions.  Thus certain metaphors in the analyses of Libya prevail, such as “greed and grievance”, “patron and client”, “rapacious rule vs innocent population […]

  • NATO’s Peace

    To the Libyan civilians, we’ll continue to bring the peace of the “graveyard.” Victor Nieto is a cartoonist in Venezuela.  His cartoons frequently appear in Aporrea and Rebelión among other sites.  Translation by Yoshie Furuhashi (@yoshiefuruhashi | yoshie.furuhashi [at] gmail.com).  var idcomments_acct = ‘c90a61ed51fd7b64001f1361a7a71191’; var idcomments_post_id; var idcomments_post_url; | Print