Archive | Commentary

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

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

If the military-backed government of Abhisit Vejjajia dissolved parliament, announced fresh elections, and ordered a ceasefire, the violence would end immediately and the Red Shirts would all go home. In capitalist democratic countries, when there is a crisis, dissolving parliament and calling elections is a normal way to defuse serious tension.  In the 1970s British […]

Having met in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, the undersigned have agreed on the following Declaration: 1. We reaffirm our commitment to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and in accordance with the related articles of the NPT, recall the right of all State Parties, including the Islamic Republic of Iran, to develop […]

  Tehran — The Turkish Foreign Minister said at the joint press conference with the Foreign Ministers of Iran and Brazil after signing the trilateral agreement on Tehran Research Reactor fuel: Turkey and Brazil guarantee that, until fuel for the Tehran Research Reactor is delivered to Iran, Iran’s low-enriched uranium will be kept in Turkey. […]

In a recent report, the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) found that state and local government employees pay a wage penalty of about four percent for working in the public sector, relative to those at the same age and education level in the private sector.1  In the “raw” data — that is before […]

Markets can be irrational, as Keynes famously pointed out, and the Eurozone/Greek crisis is a classic example.  “The markets” for months have been demanding more blood from Greece, as the financial press has continuously and often unquestioningly reported: more commitment to spending cuts, tax increases, and “procyclical” policies that the bondholders, EU authorities, and the […]

Angela Merkel, in the driving seat of an IMF bulldozer, coming to “rescue” Greece Carlos Latuff is a Brazilian cartoonist.  This cartoon was published by Dromos. | Print

The tremendous success of the April 19-22 World Peoples Summit on Climate Change and Mother Earth Rights held in Cochabamba, Bolivia, has confirmed the well-deserved role of its initiator — Bolivian President Evo Morales — as one of the world’s leading environmental advocates. Since being elected the country’s first indigenous president in 2005, Morales has […]

On May 14, the day before the Minnesota walleye fishing opener, activists from two northern Minnesota Ojibwe bands exercised what they regard as their right to fish off reservation and outside of the state’s prescribed season.  They dubbed their action the “Great Anishinaabe Fish-Off” and held a Stop Treaty Abuse Rally on the shores of […]

15 May 2010 New Delhi We, the undersigned, strongly condemn the unprovoked firing and arson carried out by the Orissa state police against a dharna of farmers and fisher folk opposed to the proposed POSCO steel project in Jagatsingpur district. As per latest reports, today over 100 people have been injured and many shops and […]

What kind of human being in army uniform calmly sits in a building and picks off unarmed civilians with their rifle like shooting targets at a fair?  This is what the Thai army is really like: cowardly, corrupt, brutal.  Time to abolish the Thai army and bring the generals to justice. See this slide show: […]

The transition . . . at the expense of victims of Francoism. Eneko Las Heras, born in Caracas in 1963, is a cartoonist.  This cartoon was published on his blog . . . Y sin embargo se mueve on 9 April 2010.  Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón was indicted, and suspended from his post on 14 […]

Unconfirmed reports indicate that Abhisit’s soldiers have shot dead at least 50 people so far.  Hundreds are injured.  They say there are 500 “terrorists” in the protest site.  Earlier they said that they would use snipers to shoot “terrorists.” The only terrorists are in the government, the army, and the palace. The tyrants say that […]

There seems to be a growing international consensus that the search for a “cold peace” with Iran is a desirable, even essential approach on the part of the international community.  Indeed, successive “war games” at specialised institutions in the United States have shown that bombing Iran’s nuclear installations is militarily unviable.  Even some Israeli and […]

Carlos Latuff is a Brazilian cartoonist.  See, also, “En estado de sitio la UPR-RP: policía golpea y arresta padre que llevaba suministros a su hijo” (Diálogo Digital, 14 May 2010). | Print

Executive Summary: As recent reports in the media have emphasized, on average, state and local government employees appear to earn more than private-sector workers. But, on average, state and local workers are also older and substantially better educated than private-sector workers.  Half of state and local employees have a four-year college degree or more, and […]

UDD Leadership Statement, 16:13 Bangkok Time, 14 May 2010: 1.  The government must stop the use of force, cease fire, and immediately withdraw troops back to barracks.  The government must end the state of emergency which has been an excuse to kill citizens. 2.  Parliament should be dissolved immediately, and Abhisit and Deputy Sutep must […]