Our Purpose, Goals, Assumptions, and Expectations for the Assembly What Is Zionism? Zionism is a political movement that supports the ongoing project of colonizing Palestine for the purposes of building a state premised on Jewish nationalism. Therefore, a central goal of the current Zionist movement is to ensure that Israel maintains the maximum area […]
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Monthly Review Magazine
New York Times, Iran, and the “International Consensus”
A deal between Iran, Brazil and Turkey to ship some of Iran’s uranium out of the country to be enriched in Turkey and returned for use in an Iranian medical reactor has elicited some elite media panic. An early New York Times Web headline read, “Iran Offers to Ship Uranium, Complicating Sanctions Talks.” The Wall […]
“Homes, Not Shelters!” Day of Action in NYC, on Malcolm X’s Birthday
Manhattan/Brooklyn/Bronx — Early on Wednesday morning, the anniversary of Malcolm X‘s birth, Picture the Homeless carried out two banner drops. Transgressing into vacant buildings in Brooklyn and El Barrio, they dropped banners from the top that read “Homes Not Shelters / Casas No Refugios,” and “Let Housing Bloom . . . berg.” For more […]
Thailand: The Anger of the People Is Justified
The anger of the ordinary people has finally erupted into violence with numerous buildings being set on fire in Bangkok and the provinces. People are also trying to use any means to fight the army. There are reports that government buildings, banks, the stock exchange, luxury shopping malls, and pro-military media are all being set […]
Spain: The Cut
Zapatero: Not to worry! Conversely, if you workers provoke an economic crisis someday, we’ll make them pay for it. Bernardo Vergara is a Spanish cartoonist. This cartoon was published in Territorio Vergara (a blog of Público) on 13 May 2010; it is reproduced here for non-profit educational purposes. Translation by Yoshie Furuhashi (@yoshiefuruhashi | yoshie.furuhashi […]
Mr. Lula Goes to Tehran — Brazil’s Neocons React
Brazil’s Ascent under Lula’s Leadership Under the leadership of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil has become a regional leader in Latin America with vibrant international foreign policy. A look at the internal political dynamics of Brazil would be useful also. During President Lula’s presidency, Brazil has had tremendous economic growth. But in the coming […]
Picturing Kathmandu, 5-10 May 2010
Chronicling the Maoist general strike and the counter-revolutionary “peace rally” . . . . Photo Essay by Manasi Pingle and Suvrat Raju Manasi Pingle is an independent filmmaker. She can be reached at <manac.p@gmail.com>. Suvrat Raju is a physicist and can be reached at <suvrat.raju@gmail.com>. See, also, Suvrat Raju, “An Account of the General […]
Why Should Americans Pay for Israel’s “Iron Dome” Missile Defense?
Last week, the Obama Administration notified Israel that it would support the authorization and appropriation of $205 million of U.S. taxpayer money to Israel to purchase ten batteries of the “Iron Dome” missile defense system. If authorized and appropriated by Congress, this money would be above and beyond the Obama Administration’s record-breaking FY2011 budget request […]
How Do You Spell “Success”? A Look at “Internal Devaluation” in Greece, Latvia, and Argentina
As of today the idea that Greece might be better off leaving the Euro and renegotiating its debt is considered by many to be unthinkable. Instead, the country is embarking upon a program of “internal devaluation” — in which it keeps the Euro and lowers its real exchange rate by creating enough unemployment to drive […]
Postcard for Mother’s Day from Gerardo Hernández
On April 29, Gerardo Hernández sent a postcard for Mother’s Day on behalf of the Cuban Five. Due to a two-week delay in the prison, the postcard did not arrive on time for Mother’s Day. Nevertheless, Gerardo wanted us to send it out to all the mothers who have been the strongest supporters in the […]
Puerto Rico: Violent Confrontation with Demonstrators
On the night of May 20, 2010, as the governor of Puerto Rico Luis Fortuño held a political fundraiser in one of the salons of the Hotel Sheraton in San Juan, the capital city, students and supporters clashed with special police forces who arrived to quash the demonstration in the hotel’s lobby. Members of the […]
Reading Railroad Noir
Linda Grant Niemann. Railroad Noir: The American West at the End of the Twentieth Century. Photographs by Joel Jensen. Indiana University Press, 2010. Pp. 168. ISBN-13: 978-0-253-35446-4. Linda Niemann worked for twenty years as a railroad brakeman in the western US. I have worked for twenty years in a railroad diesel shop in the eastern […]
Viva Brazil! Viva Our Sovereign and Independent Foreign Policy!
Anti-communist crows and vultures, and Social Democrat toucans — all clamored against the peaceful negotiation of the conflict over Iran, because it is Lula who led the negotiation, which would further bolster his image. In the event of a failure, even if it leads to a new major military conflict, it could be exploited domestically […]
Puerto Rico: Second National Strike in Less than a Year
The student movement and the strike it has sustained for almost a month at the main campus of the state-run University of Puerto Rico (UPR), which has spread to 10 of the 11 UPR campuses, catalyzed a massive social movement convening a national strike today, May 18, 2010. As recent as October 15, 2009, a […]
Washington’s Reaction to the Iran Nuclear Deal Brokered by Brazil and Turkey
The compromise agreement on refueling the Tehran Research Reactor (TRR) mediated by Brazil and Turkey is a truly big deal. From a “macro” perspective, this is a watershed event: two rising economic powers from what we condescendingly used to call the “Third World” have asserted consequential political and strategic influence on a high-profile matter of […]
Socialist $O$ in Spain
$O$ Will exchange lifetime socialist jacket for lifetime Popular Party jacket Juan Kalvellido, born in Cádiz, Andalucía, Spain in 1968, is a working-class cartoonist who has never stopped believing in revolution. He currently lives in Fuengirola, Málaga, Spain. This cartoon was published by Rebelión on 18 May 2010. Translation by Yoshie Furuhashi (@yoshiefuruhashi | yoshie.furuhashi […]
Puerto Rico: UPR Is Not On Sale!
My support to students’ strike at Universidad de Puerto Rico against privatization + budget cuts. They’re under siege by cops. Carlos Latuff is a Brazilian cartoonist. | Print
Hikers’ Moms Go to Iran — What about Wives of the Cuban Five?
Cindy Hickey, Laura Fattal, and Nora Shourd — the mothers of Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal, and Sarah Shourd, the three American hikers detained in Iran — spoke to the Associated Press on 17 May 2010: Laura Fattal, the mother of Josh Fattal, said: We had to maintain this great optimism throughout these nine and a […]
Iran, Brazil, and Turkey: What’s The Deal?
The New York Times, among others, is reporting that Turkey, Brazil, and Iran have agreed “in principle” to a nuclear fuel-swap that the three countries hope can placate the United States and its P5+1 partners at least enough to avoid a new round of Security Council sanctions on Iran. More details will be available today, […]
It’s “Golllllll!” for Lula against Western Push for Iran Sanctions
If I were in Washington this morning, I would run down Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House to Congress with a big Brazilian flag, as the young Brazilians run down the Avenida Paulista in Sao Paulo during the “football” match, shouting “Golllllll!” Because with the news this morning that Iran has agreed to ship most […]
