Archive | Commentary

  Anti-Immigrant Law Ethnic Studies Ban More videos and cartoons by Politic Vic may be viewed at <www.politicvic.com>.  See, also, Julianne Hing, “AZ to Teachers: Take Your Accents and Ethnic Studies Outta Here” (RaceWire, 30 April 2010); Julianne Hing, “Arizona’s Gov. Brewer Signs Ethnic Studies Ban Into Law” (RaceWire, 12 May 2010); Dave Zirin, “New […]

Address at the Convocation of the Class of 2010, Asian College of Journalism In 1876, Lord Lytton, who was then Viceroy of India, decided to arrange a massive celebration in Delhi to mark the accession of Queen Victoria as the Kaiser-i-Hind, Empress of India.  The feasting, with all rajas and maharajas in attendance, went on […]

A pair of scissors, made of PSOE (Partido Socialista Obrero Español, Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party) and PP (Partido Popular, People’s Party), ready to cut wages, pensions, public investment. . . . Eneko Las Heras, born in Caracas in 1963, is a cartoonist.  This cartoon was published on his blog . . . Y sin embargo […]

The Heritage Foundation recently expressed concern that “unless entitlement spending is reined in, it will consume all federal revenue in just 42 years, with nothing left over for defense.” Interestingly, Heritage made no mention of why entitlement spending is projected to rise so quickly.  The fact is that the federal government is projected to spend […]

What I like most about war is its budget. Tomás Rafael Rodríguez Zayas (Tomy) is a Cuban cartoonist. This cartoon was first published by Granma.  Translation by Yoshie Furuhashi (@yoshiefuruhashi | yoshie.furuhashi [at] gmail.com).  | Print

  Children . . . Detainees / أطفال . . . معتقلین Mohammad Saba’aneh, born in 1979, is a Palestinian cartoonist in Jenin.  His Web site is <www.jffra.com>.  This cartoon was published in Maktoob.com on 6 May 2010; it is reproduced here for non-profit educational purposes.  According to Defence for Children International – Palestine Section […]

  A flashmob infiltrates the Westin St. Francis hotel in San Francisco and performs an adaptation of Lady Gaga’s song “Bad Romance.”  The event was organized to draw attention to a boycott called by the workers of the hotel who are fighting to win a fair contract and affordable healthcare.  Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and […]

Communism in the rest of the world seems to have collapsed.  What hope do you have of achieving a socialist state in India? The claim that there is no hope for socialism and communism, that they are dead, is mere propaganda unleashed by the imperialists and the apologists of capitalism.  The 20th century saw the […]

Perhaps the wild swings in financial and stock markets over the last week will make people give closer scrutiny to what is going on in Europe, which would be a good thing for the world.  According to most news reporting, markets are worried about a potential default by Greece on its sovereign debt, and the […]

Eneko Las Heras, born in Caracas in 1963, is a cartoonist.  This cartoon was published on his blog . . . Y sin embargo se mueve on 12 May 2010. | Print

  Palestinian civil society has called on Elton John to respect its boycott call and cancel his June 17th concert in Tel Aviv.  If he does so, he’ll be joining Santana and Gil-Scott Heron, who recently cancelled their spring concerts in Israel.  This video suggests six reasons why Elton should join the BDS (boycott, divestment, […]

While the world media was focused on a boring battle between the Tories and their New Labour cousins in Britain, a historic struggle was underway in Nepal.  Nine months after the victory of the Maoists in the 2008 constituent assembly (CA) elections, bourgeois forces, with support from the Indian government, succeeded in forcing them out […]

Uncle Sam: I decide who gets to have and doesn’t get to have nuclear energy.  Not for nothing am I an overbearing superpower. Tomás Rafael Rodríguez Zayas (Tomy) is a Cuban cartoonist. This cartoon was first published by Granma.  Translation by Yoshie Furuhashi (@yoshiefuruhashi | yoshie.furuhashi [at] gmail.com).  | Print

  On 26 April 2010, the management of Middlesex University in London, England announced that it was cutting all its philosophy programs and shutting down the Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy, the top-rated research department at Middlesex.  The statement below offers solidarity from Zagreb, Croatia to the campaigners to Save Middlesex Philosophy. — […]

La Paz, 10 May — The President’s Chief of Staff, Óscar Coca, said on Monday that no general strike is happening in Bolivia, referring to the indefinite general strike called by the Bolivian Workers’ Center (COB), and asked the leaders of this trade union organization to make sensible decisions on their demands.

  Listen to Étienne Balibar: Étienne Balibar: . . . I will be trying to reverse the implicit rule of this kind of event.  Far from coming with positions for which I would argue, I mean already established positions for which I would argue, trying to convince others that they can be shared, I’m coming […]

Red Shirt protests in Bangkok, which started in mid-March, are about to be wound up.  The leaders have accepted a compromise with the military-backed Abhisit government.  Elections will not be held immediately, but on 14th November.  Earlier Abihist had indicated an election in February 2011 at the earliest. It is unclear whether the blanket censorship […]

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 September 2009.   Translation by Yoshie Furuhashi (@yoshiefuruhashi | yoshie.furuhashi [at] gmail.com). | | Print

Comrade Ahmad Sa’adat, the imprisoned General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, denounced any negotiations with the occupation, saying that “the solution to the critical historical conflict in the Middle East will only be the establishment of one state on the entire Palestinian national soil, from river to sea, with full […]

The Bt brinjal debate has featured technological worries relating to genetically modified crops which appear relatively minor in comparison to the critical issue of who controls Indian agriculture and therefore food security in India.  While there cannot be a mere technological fix to the problems of Indian agriculture, technology — and therefore GM — will […]