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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 […]
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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 […]
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2010 U.S. Assembly of Jews: Confronting Racism and Israeli Apartheid
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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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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Joint Declaration of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, Iran and Brazil
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 […]
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Thailand: What Would End the Violence in Bangkok?
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 […]
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Turkish Foreign Minister: Iran’s Uranium Will Be Safeguarded in Turkey Till Tehran Reactor Receives Its Fuel
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. […]
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The Benefits of State and Local Government Employees
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 […]
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Market Irrationality in the Eurozone
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 […]
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Greece: Help!
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
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Bolivia: Between Development and Mother Earth
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 […]