Archive | Commentary

  A rocky, remote region of southern Iran may not seem the most likely place to look for a health care delivery model that would work in the U.S.  But the remarkable success of Iran’s health house concept — in which small primary care centers are located in each community — is providing hope and […]

  This week, the sincere effort of millions of people across the nation once again proved effective in the face of determined opposition from the White House and Congress, as single payer health reform reached another milestone in its historic journey. When the Senate initiated its debate on health insurance reform, Senator Bernie Sanders offered […]

This new year’s eve, 31 December 2009, thousands of people and activists from all over the world will gather in Gaza for a historic march against the naked brutality being carried out by Israel in enforcing the illegal occupation there.  A COSATU delegation, together with other South Africans, including former Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils, will […]

At the New America Foundation, James Galbraith, Randall Wray and Timothy Bartik offer their policy proposals for dealing with the jobs crisis.  These three gentlemen apparently believe that the jobs crisis is merely a symptom of some mysterious financial or structural crisis that itself needs to be addressed by “better government regulation” or something like […]

  Every gathering with a foretold script.  The security barriers mark a neutered zone for dissent.  Finally though, there is this one day in Brooklyn.  The air is traversed (by bridge) and the marchers walk from one bank to another.  It isn’t a miracle but it is beautiful.  x number of women and men for […]

Variation in Work Hours among Countries It is well known that Europe lags behind the United States in terms of GDP per capita.  However, it is less well known that European workers in a number of countries are nearly as productive, and in some cases more productive, than their American counterparts.  As seen in Table […]

  Analytical Monthly Review, published in Kharagpur, West Bengal, India, is a sister edition of Monthly Review.  Its December 2009 issue features the following editorial. — Ed. The establishment media is for most the source of our daily information.  Even if we manage to be continually conscious of the embedded commercial and class bias, the […]

Earlier this month, the Burlington had a busy weekend mustering its “troops” for active duty on several fronts, one at home and the other abroad. On Saturday, Dec. 5, two hundred labor and community activists gathered in this leading progressive city to plan more effective resistance to job cuts and contract give-backs demanded by recession-ravaged […]

  Abstract: Energy is one of the most basic of human needs.  The accomplishments of civilization have largely been made through the increasingly efficient and extensive harnessing of various forms of energy to extend human capabilities and ingenuity.  Providing adequate and affordable energy is essential for eradicating poverty, improving human welfare, and raising living standards […]

  Dear Rethinking Schools friends, We’re pleased to announce our latest “publication,” The Zinn Education Project: Teaching a People’s History — www.zinnedproject.org — a new website with free downloadable teaching activities. The Zinn Education Project: Teaching a People’s History is a collaboration between Rethinking Schools and Teaching for Change, supported by an anonymous donor (a […]

Kurdish-Iranian director Bahman Ghobadi, known for making slow-moving, heart-rending films along the western border of Kurdistan (A Time for Drunken Horses, Turtles Can Fly, Half Moon), shifts to the heart of the capital in his latest feature to give us a glimpse of Tehran’s underground music scene. Making a self-reflexive appearance in the opening sequence […]

At dawn on June 28, the Honduran military abducted President Manuel Zelaya at gunpoint and flew him out of the country.  Conflicting and ambiguous statements from the Obama administration left many confused about whether it opposed this coup or was really trying to help it succeed.  Here are the top ten indicators (with apologies to […]

Perhaps because I am a Brazilian, the first time I heard the expression “buen vivir,” I immediately thought of “boa vida,” a term which in our country is used pejoratively to refer to an easy, tranquil, and carefree life: no work, plenty of evening strolls, luxury at the expense of others, and zero political consciousness.

Most people have heard that our retirement income security system is built as if it were a three-legged stool, where income comes from Social Security, from employer-based pensions, and from personal wealth.  That image implies that there are equal sources of income coming from each of those sources for all retired families, and that image […]

Capitalist crises, especially severe ones, are case studies in that system’s social costs.  Because the dutifully conservative economics profession rarely studies such cases, let’s do just that here by focusing on how the current capitalist crisis is damaging public education.  Deteriorating schools leave scars lasting for many years.  They undercut the quality of the skills […]

The ‘Sandwich Theory’ I was piqued by the phrase ‘sandwich theory’ when I first heard it from Delhi students.  They were referring to the views of a section of articulate, influential, middle India in the wake of the controversies over Salwa Judum in Chhattisgarh and now Operation Green Hunt.  The ‘theory’, if we may call […]

Heather Boehlke, widow of Jared Boehlke, locomotive remote control operator, who was killed on Mother’s Day, 2009, while working alone, appeals for support. Click here to find a sample letter to Congressman James Oberstar, head of the House Transportation Committee. Video by Railroad Workers United.  For more information, go to . | | Print

  But for Iran, the 6th Manama Dialogue would have failed to achieve its very objective, namely serving as a forum for debating regional security.  Held in Bahrain from 11 to 13 December, the occasion attracted Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki following a two-year absence from the annual event. Senior Iranian officials shunned the 2007 […]

We want to draw your attention to a brilliant piece, “Iran’s Foreign Policy Strategy After Saddam,” just published by Kayhan Barzegar, an Iranian scholar and foreign policy analyst currently at the Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.  We have previously posted about an Op Ed that Barzegar published on Iranian perspectives about […]

California has recently seen a massive movement erupt in defense of public education — but layoffs, fee hikes, cuts, and the re-segregation of public education are attacks taking place throughout the country.  A nationwide resistance movement is needed. We call on all students, workers, teachers, parents, and their organizations and communities across the country to […]