Archive | September, 2011

  • Chávez, Evo and Obama (part I)

    I take a break from the tasks that are occupying all of my time these days to dedicate a few words to the unique opportunity presented by the political science of the sixtieth session of the United Nations General Assembly.… The yearly event demands singular effort from those taking on the greatest of political responsibilities in many countries. For them, it constitutes a tough test; for the fans of that art, and there are many since it vitally affects everybody, it is difficult to remove oneself from the temptation of observing the interminable but educational show.

  • WFTU: ‘Support People, Oppose Imperialist Interference in Arab Countries’

      The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) organised on September 13-14 a two-day international trade union meet in the European Parliament complex in Strasbourg, France, to express solidarity with the fighting people of Arab countries and voice strong protest against the hegemonic interference of US imperialism and its European allies in the internal affairs […]

  • Bolivia: Against “Green Imperialism”

    Statements, articles, letters, and petitions have been circulating on the Internet for the past month calling for an end to the “destruction of the Amazon.”  The target of these initiatives has not been transnational corporations or the powerful governments that back them, but the government of Bolivia’s first indigenous president, Evo Morales. At the centre […]

  • Martial Law in Haiti

      The methods of the United States in colonized Latin America have not changed.  They cannot change.  Violence is not used in countries under Yankee administration just by accident.  Three events during the past five years underscore the increasing martial tendency of U.S. policy in these countries: the intervention in Panama against a strike, the […]

  • What’s Wrong with Single Payer?

    With all the advocacy efforts expended over the last 20 years, it might be reasonable to expect some results by now for the Single Payer (SP) movement.  Of course, SP would be a great way to provide health insurance in America.  Instead of thousands of private insurance companies (payers for healthcare services) competing with each […]

  • Smart New Syria Strategy: Call the Monarchies’ Bluff and Make Them Do What They Are Demanding of You!

    For a regime which has, as ICG put it, really inflicted so many wounds on itself (not to mention Syrians) . . . this strikes me as a very effective strategy going forward.  You corrupt, collaborationist, monarchical, brutal regimes in the region want us, Syria, to reform and transition out. . . .  OK — […]

  • The Manufactured “Financial Crisis” of the U.S. Postal Service

    September 21, 2011 Senator Joseph Lieberman Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee United States Senate SH-706 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510-0703 Congressman Darrell Issa Chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee House of Representatives 2347 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-0549 If the U.S. Postal Service were forced […]

  • Change at Al Jazeera

      The Western and Arabic press is full of stories about Al Jazeera and the new direction it will inevitably follow with the selection of a new director-general for its operating networks.  The ouster (the official statement did not mention resignation) of Waddah Khanfar has opened doors for speculation.  No one really knows what goes […]

  • Al Jazeera and U.S. Foreign Policy: What WikiLeaks’ U.S. Embassy Cables Reveal about U.S. Pressure and Propaganda

    “Al Jazeera is a vital component to the USG’s strategy in communicating with the Arab world.” — Joseph E. LeBaron, U.S. Ambassador to Qatar, November 6, 2008 “Al Jazeera Board Chairman Hamed bin Thamer Al Thani has proven open to creative uses of Al Jazeera’s airwaves by the USG beyond straightforward interviews.” — Joseph E. […]

  • Practicing Revolutionary Medicine in Cuba and Venezuela

    Steve Brouwer.  Revolutionary Doctors: How Venezuela and Cuba Are Changing the World’s Conceptualization of Health Care.  New York, Monthly Review Press, 2011.  245 pp.  $18.95. As Venezuela becomes the first country to reproduce the Cuban medical model on a massive scale, it is doing so in ways that are unique in both form and process.  […]

  • Hugo Chávez: Let Us Raise Our Voices against War, for Peace and Life

    Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez called on peoples of the world last Wednesday to speak out for peace and against the imperial madness of the countries attacking sovereign nations. “May the peoples of the United States, of Europe, speak out against war.  Let us raise our voices, our chants, against war, for peace and life,” President […]

  • Hassan Abdul Azim: Syria’s Homegrown Dissident

    Decades of dedicated political activism have earned Hassan Abdul Azim the trust of friend and foe alike.  The old-time Nasserite may be uniquely positioned to mediate the country out of its deepening crisis. There were high expectation early on in the Syrian uprising when it seemed that Hassan Abdul Azim may assume a prominent role […]

  • Austerity versus Stimulus

    It is obviously silly to push for austerity in the midst of a recession, not just silly but cruel, since it prolongs the pain of unemployment.  The recession is caused by a deficiency of aggregate demand.  To overcome it what is necessary is an increase in demand which requires larger expenditure.  Since private expenditure on […]

  • The Selection of Voting Members to Serve on the Federal Open Market Committee

      I have long been troubled by the anomaly of having officials — selected with absolutely no public scrutiny or confirmation — voting on some of the most important decisions the federal government makes.  Therefore, I introduced H.R. 1512, which eliminates the role of the Federal Reserve’s regional presidents as voting members of the Federal […]

  • Two-Party System

    Eneko Las Heras, born in Caracas in 1963, is a cartoonist based in Spain.  The cartoons above were first published in his blog . . . Y sin embargo se mueve on 25 February 2008, 16 June 2011, and 12 September 2011.  Translation by Yoshie Furuhashi (@yoshiefuruhashi | yoshie.furuhashi [at] gmail.com). | Print

  • Why Do the Bankers Decide How Many People Will Be Unemployed?

    The Federal Reserve Board’s Open Market Committee (FOMC) met today and decided on a modestly expansionary monetary policy.  It decided to unload $400 billion worth of short-term assets over the next 9 months and replace them with longer-term government bonds.  The idea is that this would place some downward pressure on long-term interest rates. The […]

  • The Business of News

      The business of news is not about selling news to people but about selling people to advertisers. Half Advertising, Half Propaganda “. . . and, after a brief break for sponsored news, we’ll return again to commercials.” Jorge Alaminos Fernández is a graphic artist and designer in Spain.  This cartoon was first published in […]

  • I Am Troy Davis (T.R.O.Y.)

      Does the court system employ racists? Then why are so many black boys in cages? Why shouldn’t I be paranoid of hatred? Just look at the curious case of Troy Davis Let’s travel on down to Savannah In the state of Georgia just south of Atlanta Where they wave the rebel flag like a […]

  • Israel Prepares for Palestinian Authority’s UN Bid for Statehood

    Israel prepares for the Palestinian Authority’s UN bid for a blue chair of its own called “Palestine’s Right” . . . Victor Nieto is a cartoonist in Venezuela.  His cartoons frequently appear in Aporrea and Rebelión among other sites.  Cf. “It is important to stress at the outset that whether the UN grants the Palestinian […]

  • Intercepted Phone Call: NATO Ground Troops Assisted Tripoli Invasion; “Mass Graves” in Misurata

    US and European troops participated in the invasion of Tripoli and are still stationed there, according to an intercepted telephone call between officials of Libya’s National Transitional Council, the body purporting to represent NATO-allied rebels in the Libyan civil war. The call also reveals the existence of mass graves in or near Misurata which, one […]