Archive | Commentary

(PU) The White House moved today to protect Americans from nuclear accidents and attack by buying up rights to alarming facts pertaining to those subjects.  Speaking to an enthusiastic audience of the unemployed, President Obama announced that, in the wake of federal approval of $8.3 billion in loan guarantees to build two new nuclear reactors, […]

  Even though Catholics and Protestants are nowadays both on the defensive, theism is again becoming an actual force in the period of its decline.  This follows from the very meaning of “atheism.”  Only those who used “atheism” as a term of abuse meant by it the exact opposite of religion.  Those who professed themselves […]

Of the roughly 56 million homes in the US today with mortgages, one in seven is “delinquent.”  That is over 7 million homes more than 30 days behind in mortgage payments.  Those homeowners face foreclosure procedures likely leading to evictions.  Very high (and still rising) unemployment levels guarantee rising mortgage delinquencies. Mass media and political […]

Does Israel want another war in Lebanon and/or Gaza?  Certainly, the Israeli posture toward both Lebanon and Gaza has grown increasingly provocative.  Violations of Lebanese airspace by Israeli military aircraft are not new, but have increased dramatically in recent weeks.  For the past several weeks, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri has been warning of escalating […]

Renowned Scholar and Descendent of Holocaust Survivors Prevented by German Israel Lobby from Speaking about Gaza Norman Finkelstein, an internationally renowned scholar of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, was due to talk about the state of the decades-old conflict and the situation of Gaza one year after the Israeli assault in Munich and Berlin last week.  His […]

For some time now, Mr. Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, has been arguing that three observed phenomena in the world economy in the decade after 1996, viz. the substantial increase in the U.S. current account deficit, the swing from moderate deficits to large surpluses in “emerging-market countries”, and the significant decline in […]

Palestinian Authority security forces arrested a group of comrades in Nablus, on February 25, 2010, as part of their “security cooperation” with the Israeli occupation.  Comrade Khalida Jarrar, member of the Political Bureau of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, strongly denounced the arrests, saying that this action serves only the interests of […]

Turks demonstrated Sunday, 28 February 2010, on the anniversary of the 1997 postmodern coup, in support of the ongoing crackdown on military officers who allegedly plotted a 2003 coup against the government.  More than 30 military officers have been charged and jailed so far.  In its modern history, Turkey suffered four military coups, on 27 […]

From 21 January to 2 February 2010, Eric Toussaint and Olivier Bonfond — both involved in alterglobalization activism and members of the International Council of the World Social Forum, of the world coordination of social movements, and of the Committee for the Abolition of the Third World Debt 1 — participated in various events and […]

There was unusual excitement in the otherwise so dignified Bundestag on Friday, February 25th.  Of course, everyone knew the Afghanistan extension bill would pass.  The ruling parties, Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats and their right-wing Free Democrat (FDP) partners, had a majority.  Add on the Social Democrats.  True, they were now in the opposition, but on […]

Tegucigalpa — In a multitudinous mobilization held in the capital, the National Front of Popular Resistance (FNRP) yesterday demanded constitutional reforms and punishment of the perpetrators of the coup d’état of 28 June 2009. More than 20,000 demonstrators assembled in Tegucigalpa, according to the estimates by the organizers of the march, to celebrate 243 days […]

  The document below is a list of 40 political murders since the June 2009 coup d’état in Honduras.  The list includes only the murders that members of the Committee of the Families of the Detained and Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH) personally investigated. Translation by Quixote Center.  See, also, “Informe Situación de Derechos Humanos en […]

OAS Do not stop stirring until it dissolves. Osval, Las Tunas, Cuba.  This cartoon was published by Rebelión on 27 February 2010.  Translation by Yoshie Furuhashi (@yoshiefuruhashi | yoshie.furuhashi [at] gmail.com).  See, also, “Evo Morales, presidente de Bolivia: Latinoamérica y el Caribe necesitan luchar ‘juntos sin Estados Unidos’” (TeleSur, 22 February 2010); “Vicepresidente boliviano saluda […]

OAS Do not stop stirring until it dissolves. Osval, Las Tunas, Cuba.  This cartoon was published by Rebelión on 27 February 2010.  Translation by Yoshie Furuhashi (@yoshiefuruhashi | yoshie.furuhashi [at] gmail.com).  See, also, “Evo Morales, presidente de Bolivia: Latinoamérica y el Caribe necesitan luchar ‘juntos sin Estados Unidos’” (TeleSur, 22 February 2010); “Vicepresidente boliviano saluda […]

The Israeli attack on Gaza in December 2008/January 2009 was not merely a military assault on a primarily civilian population, impoverished and the victim of occupation and besiegement these past 42 years.  It was also part of an ongoing assault on international humanitarian law by a highly coordinated team of Israeli lawyers, military officers, PR […]

On March 10, in the Israeli city of Haifa, American peace activist Rachel Corrie will get her day in court.  Rachel’s parents, Cindy and Craig Corrie, are bringing suit against the Israeli defence ministry for Rachel’s killing by an Israeli military bulldozer in Gaza in March 2003. Four key American and British witnesses who were […]

The 18th annual Pan African Film and Arts Festival, which takes place yearly during Black History Month, is one of Los Angeles’ cultural jewels.  Arguably America’s top Black movie venue, PAFF is a leading U.S. showcase for independent, studio, student, foreign (especially African) political and progressive pictures.  Many movies have their U.S. debuts at this […]

We just returned from a trip to the Middle East, which included stops in Lebanon, Syria, and the Islamic Republic of Iran.  We will be writing about our meetings, discussions, and observations on this trip in future posts.  First, though, we want to express our gratitude to the Faculty of World Studies at the University […]

  In 2005 the Tanta Flax & Oils Company was privatized and subsequently bought by Saudi investor Abdellah El-Ka’aky.  In May 2009, workers launched a five-month strike backed by the state-controlled Egyptian Federation of Trade Unions (EFTU).  An agreement was reached but workers went back on strike in December to protest the deteriorating conditions in […]

  In a deserted place in Iran there is a stone tower, not very high, without any door or windows.  In its only room (whose floor is dirt and whose shape is a circle) are a wooden table and a bench.  In this circular cell, a man who looks like me is writing, in letters […]