Archive | June, 2011

  • The Reactionary Bloc in Egypt

    Just as in past periods of rising struggle, the democratic social and anti-imperialist movement in Egypt is up against a powerful reactionary bloc.  This bloc can perhaps be identified in terms of its social composition (its component classes, of course) but it is just as important to define it in terms of its means of […]

  • Should 15M Movement End Occupations of Sol and Other Plazas?

    The movement of citizens that has occupied Puerta del Sol and other plazas in diverse cities of Spain since the 15th of May has brought back political debate to the streets and put the role of political parties into question.  Should the movement now take down its encampments and look for other formulas to channel […]

  • Which Is the Tyrant?

    Which is the tyrant? say you.  Well, ’tis he That has the vine-leaf strewn among his hair And will deliver countries to the care Of courtesans — but I am vague, you see. Abu al-‘Ala’ al-Ma’arri (973-1057), born in Ma’arra in what is today Syria, was a poet and philosopher.  This poem is from The […]

  • Syrian Kurdish Parties Boycott Syrian Opposition Conference in Antalya, Turkey

      Syrian opposition groups will be meeting for three days in Antalya, Turkey in a conference organised by the Egypt-based National Organisation of Human Rights (NOHR).  The conference, set to begin on Tuesday, 31 May, is to ‘support the revolt in Syria and claims of the Syrian people,’ said Ammar Qurabi, NOHR president.  The conference […]

  • Plunging Bottom-Tier Prices Push Case-Shiller Index to New Post-Bubble Low

    The Case-Shiller 20-City index fell by 0.8 percent in March.  This represents somewhat of a slowing from the prior six months in which the rate of monthly decline averaged more than 1.0 percent.  Nonetheless, the drop pushed the index to a new post-bubble low.  In nominal terms, the March number is 0.8 percent below the […]