On 20 January 2009, parliament in Iceland resumed after the holidays. But no business as usual for the Icelandic politicians any more. People began to besiege the parliament building, demanding early elections and not taking “No” for an answer. Writing for the Guardian today, Eirikur Bergmann described the political atmosphere in Iceland thus: “While Barack […]
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Amerika
“After throwing a shoe at the US Consulate in Durban today to wish the Bush regime good riddance, I remind myself that this sentiment of disgust has occurred repeatedly. In 1987, it was Reagan in the White House, tomorrow it will be Obama, but the problem is not the person, it is the system.” — […]
Forever Blowing Bubbles: A Walking Tour with Peter Linebaugh and Fabian Tompsett
Peter Linebaugh and Fabian Tompsett guided a tour around the City on 12 November 2008, taking in landmarks of capitalist crisis past and present. Mute is an online magazine dedicated to exploring culture and politics after the net.
Elections in Hesse
Sunday’s special elections in the German state of Hesse were the first in a year jammed full of state and national votes. The two main results: the right-wing incumbent Ronald Koch won again; and the young party, the Left, again overcame the 5 percent barrier to win six seats in the state legislature. In the […]
700 Have Been Detained in Demonstrations Held in Israel against War Crimes in the Gaza Strip
Over 700 citizens and residents of Israel, mostly Arab-Palestinian, have been detained since Israel began its military attacks on the Gaza Strip on 27 December 2008. Detentions were made in the wake of public demonstrations, held primarily in northern Israel, Tel-Aviv-Jaffa, and also in the southern city of Bee-Sheva, against Israel’s war crimes in the […]
¿Sí o No? Bolivians Mobilize for National Vote on New Constitution
In the morning on Sunday, January 18, after a heavy rain fell on La Paz, Bolivia, the sun came out, drying the umbrellas of thousands of marchers winding through the city streets. The mobilization was in support of a new constitution, which is to be voted on this January 25. Eddie Mamani, a resident of […]
Continuing Gaza Protests, as Seen on Al Jazeera
and unseen on American TV. . . . Demos Call for Closure of US Embassy — Police and Protesters Clash, Awkar (North of Beirut), Lebanon, 19.01.09 Demos in Solidarity with Gaza in Cities of Australia — Sydney Demo, the Largest, Draws 20,000, 19.01.09 Tens of Thousands Protests in Solidarity with People of Gaza, Karachi, Pakistan, […]
Satyam and Capitalism
Analytical Monthly Review, published in Kharagpur, West Bengal, India, is a sister edition of Monthly Review. Its January 2009 issue features the following editorial. — Ed. Another spectacular hole in the torn fabric of the “success story” of the neoliberal “reform” has opened in recent days. Though but a week has passed from the […]
Palestinian Government’s Open Letter to President Hugo Chavez
Palestinian National Authority Ministry of Foreign Affairs Deputy Office, Gaza January 12, 2009 In the Name of God; the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful President Hugo Chavez, Your Excellency, President Hugo Chavez, We, the people of Palestine, commend your courage to speak and act upon your conscience regardless of your detractors’ criticism or cowardice. Mr. […]
Capitalism’s Burning House: Interview with John Bellamy Foster
WIN: According to a quotation by Jim Reid that you and Fred Magdoff included in your article entitled “Financial Implosion and Stagnation” (Monthly Review, December 2008), the U.S. financial sector has made around 1.2 Trillion ($1,200) of “excess” profits in the last decade relative to nominal GDP. How has the structure of the capital […]
Flip-flops of Economics
Most US economists are professors in colleges and universities. Their academic positions enable research and teaching that is supposed to be independent of corporate interests. They could, at least hypothetically, provide the critical insights into economic problems needed for their solution. Economists might help to propose, evaluate, and debate the wide range of possible solutions […]
“My Grandmother Did Not Die to Provide Cover for Israeli Soldiers Murdering Palestinian Grandmothers in Gaza”
I was brought up as an orthodox Jew and a Zionist. On a shelf in our kitchen, there was a tin box for the Jewish National Fund, into which we put coins to help the pioneers building a Jewish presence in Palestine. I first went to Israel in 1961 and I have been there […]
Roma Slated to Be Ignored at the UN Commemoration of the International Day in Memory of the Holocaust
The president of the European Roma and Travellers Forum, Rudko Kawczynski, has expressed outrage at the decision by the U.N. to formally exclude the Roma from its commemoration ceremony on International day in Memory of the Holocaust, January 27, in the General Assembly Hall in New York City. He noted that “the Holocaust was the […]
A Structural Crisis of the System: Interview with István Mészáros
István Mészáros won the 1971 Deutscher Prize for his book Marx’s Theory of Alienation and has written on Marxism ever since. He talks to Judith Orr and Patrick Ward about the current economic crisis. The ruling class are always surprised by new economic crises and talk about them as aberrations. Why do you believe they […]
Gaza in Europe
Freedom of expression is once again on the agenda in Denmark. The country received world attention when the rightist newspaper Jyllands-Posten published provocative cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad a few years ago. The cartoons caused widespread protests in the Muslim world, whereas discussions in Denmark and other Western countries revolved around freedom of the press. […]
Under the Voices of Fire: Artists in Gaza
I am working under the voices of fire, Israeli warplanes. . . . I still breathe, take some pictures everyday. — artist Shareef Sarhan, January 12, 2009 As Israel’s vicious attack claims more lives, Gaza’s infrastructure now lies in shambles, including the handful of nonprofit venues that made cultural life possible. Even before the invasion, […]
UE General Executive Board Calls for End to Bloodshed in Gaza
16 January 2009 Meeting in Pittsburgh, January 15 and 16, UE‘s General Executive Board adopted a statement condemning the current war in the Gaza Strip. The union’s national leadership body reiterated the position adopted by delegates to UE’s 70th Convention in 2007, which called for “replacing the lopsided pro-Israel policy of the U.S. with a […]
La Lutta Benefit
Hi everyone, Hope all is well. On February 5 at Crash Mansion in NYC, La Lutta NMC is having a benefit to support our youth media literacy and Artist-In-Residence program. Our most recent youth Artist-in-Residence participants, Lynchy Lezeau and Briana Orr, traveled to South Africa in 2008 where they produced a documentary series on HIV/AIDS […]
Mr. Zion Clarifies a Few Things
Calm down folks and listen to my story, OK? You need to understand that I live with an absolutely impossible woman. All I ever wanted was to live in peace and harmony with her. I was willing to share and share alike. So I let her build us a beautiful house, under my direction. I […]
Still Breathing: A Report from Gaza
The morgues of Gaza’s hospitals are overflowing. The bodies in their blood-soaked white shrouds cover the entire floor space of the Shifa hospital morgue. Some are intact, most horribly deformed, limbs twisted into unnatural positions, chest cavities exposed, heads blown off, skulls crushed in. Family members wait outside to identify and claim a brother, […]
