Archive | Commentary

  Jesse Freeston: Only the governments of Taiwan and the United States have sent international observers, and the delegation funded by the US State Department arrived at the Electoral Tribunal at the same time the leaders of all six independent human rights monitors in Honduras were delivering their request that the elections be suspended. Dr. […]

  I came to Honduras to participate as a human rights observer of the electoral climate in a delegation organized by the Quixote Center.  Several delegations converged, connecting some 30 U.S. citizens with dozens more from Canada, Europe, and Latin America.  In the days prior to the elections we scattered to different cities, towns, and […]

Elections Won’t Resolve Political Crisis; Democracy Must Be Restored Before Free Elections Can Be Held. Elections conducted in a climate of fear, human rights violations, and international non-recognition won’t resolve the political crisis in Honduras, said Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. “Only a few governments that the U.S. State […]

Jeanne Theoharis is the author of an April 2009 article in The Nation, entitled “Guantanamo at Home,” which focuses on the arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment of US citizen Syed Hashmi in a New York City prison with Guantanamo-like conditions.  Theoharis holds the endowed chair in women’s studies and is an associate professor of political science […]

Margot Badran.  Feminism in Islam: Secular and Religious Convergences.  Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2009.  pp.349. Countless volumes have been written on the issue of Islam and women, by Muslims as well as others.  Indeed, the ‘Muslim woman’ question has, for long, occupied a central place in discourses about Islam.  Interestingly, the vast majority of works on […]

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has definitely had a very good crisis.  Just over a year ago, it was an institution on life support: ignored by most developing countries; derided for its failure to predict most crises in emerging markets and its often counterproductive responses to such crises; even called to book by its auditors […]

At 4:30am on November 26, a couple thousand people started ferrying from San Francisco to Alcatraz Island, to witness and participate in the annual Indigenous Peoples Sunrise Gathering.  This year, it commemorated the 40th anniversary of the occupation of Alcatraz, an event which brought renewed energy and visibility to Indigenous Peoples movements. As the rising […]

Recent press reports suggest that President Obama is likely to try to sugarcoat his announcement next week of a major military escalation in Afghanistan with talk of “exit ramps”: opportunities in the future to evaluate and possibly reduce the U.S. military commitment.  That’s supposed to make opponents of military escalation feel better, the media suggests. […]

  Addressing delegates at the International Encounter of Left Parties held in Caracas, November 19-21, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez stated: “the time has come for us to convoke the Fifth International.”  Face with the capitalist crisis and the threat of war that is putting at risk the future of humanity, “the people are clamoring for” […]

26 November 2009 I arrived in Israel at about 15:00 on Wednesday, 25 November afternoon to visit my mother, brother, and sister who are Israeli (and US) citizens resident in Israel since 1973.  My mother has been ill, and this visit was prompted primarily for that reason.  I have visited Israel dozens of times before […]

  Paul Jay: . . . How bad is unemployment in China now?  And how much worse might it get if the yuan were to appreciate? Minqi Li: Well, it’s reported that during the current crisis about 40 million Chinese workers have already lost jobs.  And, of course, if there is a further appreciation of […]

  The NLG NYC Condemns the Israeli Government for the Detention of African American Political Activists 25 November 2009 The New York City Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild condemns the actions of the Israeli government for its unlawful and racially motivated detention of two African-American political activists. On November 23, 2009, Dhoruba Bin Wahad, […]

State and local government budgets for the upcoming fiscal year are a mess.  Most states are constitutionally required to balance their budgets every year no matter the economic climate, so a budgetary process that resembles a kabuki dance in fatter years will probably be more like a mosh pit this time around, as legislators and […]

  23 November 2009 Hello All, It’s taken me a minute to report on Lynne because I have waited to talk to attorneys after they have visited with her firsthand to discuss Lynne’s situation, needs, and other matters. Lynne Stewart 53504-054 MCC/NY 150 Park Row New York, NY 10007 Above is Lynne’s mailing address.  All […]

It recalled ancient Greek tragedies.  The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), founded in the 19th Century, is the country’s oldest party, and now its saddest one.  On September 27th it suffered its worst election defeat since 1897, losing six million former voters and ending up with only 23 percent of the vote.  It had […]

In a decision that reflects the post-911 terrorism hysteria, a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed prominent civil rights attorney Lynne Stewart’s convictions and remanded her case to district court Judge John G. Koeltl to reconsider her sentence.  The appellate panel directed Koeltl to remand Stewart to custody and the […]

  Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad‘s controversial visit to Brazil further underscored the independence of this country’s diplomacy, and gave Tehran a chance to defend its points of view on the construction of a lasting peace in the Middle East. Ahmadinejad’s one-day trip to Brasilia Monday was the third visit to Brazil by a Middle Eastern […]

  Lula from Brazil and Ahmadinejad from Iran.  What is this — the new axis of evil?  No — Luladinejad is a new axis of business. In the latest round of the increasingly warm embrace between Latin America and the Middle East, Lula and Ahmadinejad, meeting in Brazil, signed agreements on energy, trade and agricultural […]

  Just what good is freedom if no one is free, And folks go to jail if they dare disagree? And lawyers get punished for doing their jobs? And folks are afraid of the White House lynch mob? Lynne Stewart was doing what she had to do Protecting her client and civil rights, too. She […]

Testimony at the Hearing Entitled “Taking Stock: Independent Views on TARP’s Effectiveness,” before the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, 19 November 2009 Thank you, Chairwoman Warren for inviting me to share my views on the success of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to date and its impact on the broader […]