Archive | January, 2021

The extensive commentary I have read on the Capitol Seizure of January 6 has not, to my knowledge, focused on two aspects of the event: The first is the class composition of the rioters. The second is the actual cost of the event.

In 1931 the British Colonial Office submitted a special report to the Council of the League of Nations on the “Progress of Iraq” in the previous decade. Since the First World War had ended with the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire and the confiscation of its territories, Iraq had been governed as a British mandate, under the supervision of the League.

Protesting farmers are reclaiming the idea of the nation.

A regime change project in Russia was launched on Sunday with the return of political activist Alexei Navalny to Moscow. It was a highly symbolic event—except that Navalny was traveling by an airplane from Germany and not in a sealed train.

On 17 January 2021, we commemorate the 60th anniversary of the assassination of Patrice Lumumba (1925-1961).

The Grayzone founder notes that “such a disproportionate percentage” of the Capitol building attackers were former military, former law enforcement, or current law enforcement that began rappelling up the sides of the Capitol with ropes.”

During the past two decades, many respected individuals and organizations designated the regime Israel has established in the occupied Palestinian territory—the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza—as a form of apartheid.

Mark Lowcock of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned that recent labeling of Houthis as a terrorist organization by the U.S. would likely trigger a “famine on a scale we have not seen in 40 years.

In December 2019, China’s Wuhan city witnessed an abnormal rise of what was initially thought to be cases of pneumonia, as identified by the Wuhan Municipality Health Commission. However, upon further investigation by Chinese officials, a novel coronavirus was identified. By then the city’s health system was already dealing with dozens of cases of coronavirus.

Contrary to the dominant discourse, it is actually the case that the 54 African states finance developed countries and not the other way round.

The incoming Biden administration is under tremendous pressure to demonstrate better U.S. economic management. Trade negotiations normally take years to conclude, if at all. Unsurprisingly, lobbyists are already urging the next U.S. administration to quickly embrace and deliver a new version of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

The Chilean media were quick to label the October 2019 popular uprising an ‘estallido social’, a social explosion. As the cry of ‘Chile despertó!’­– Chile woke up!–rang out in the streets, the refrain in television studios was that ‘no one saw this coming’.

“The nationalists to be effective must harness the nation into action, into revolt.… The nation will stir itself to action only on assurance of nationalization. i.e.… Freedom from slavery of Imperialist—capitalists.” —Bhagat Singh

At a time when peasant masses in the country are engaged in a valiant struggle for the repeal of the Central government’s three infamous laws, and have laid peaceful siege to Delhi, braving rains and bitter cold, it is worth recalling Friedrich Engels’ study of the peasant war in Germany in 1525, that also celebrated its outstanding leader Thomas Muenzer. Such a recall becomes necessary for another reason.

A meaningful working-class recovery from the recession seems far away.

The evidence clearly is that the Covid-crisis has upended the fiscal conservatism that has been the hallmark of the neoliberal era since the 1980s.

November 8, 2020 would have been Aaron’s 34th birthday, but instead we mourn our friend and wonder what could have been, had he not taken his own life seven years ago after being terrorized by a career-driven prosecutor and U.S. Attorney who decided to just make shit up, make an example out of Aaron, impress their bosses and further their own careers.

A vaccine alone will not be enough to end the pandemic as it must also be made available at an affordable price and allocated in a way that achieves equity. It follows that suspending intellectual property rights related to COVID-19 is the most appropriate solution to our current situation of global vaccine apartheid.

Elon Musk has been pronounced the wealthiest person on earth, slightly overtaking Jeff Bezos. Musk is known for his unhinged outbursts online and generally bizarre behaviour. In this respect, he epitomises the increasing craziness of capitalism.

On 6 January, the world witnessed an interesting spectacle, an assortment of what appeared to be characters from fantasy television shows taking possession of the U.S. Capitol, where the legislature sits.