Archive | Commentary

دو راه حل برای یک مسئله ساخته عباس کیارستمی Abbas Kiarostami is one of the finest filmmakers of Iran. Kiarostami made this short film in 1975.

I saw Michael Moore’s SICKO last week.  By now who doesn’t know that SICKO is a savage and hilarious demolition job on the US health care insurance corporations and their self-serving myths about the national health care systems of countries like Canada and Cuba? But this is not a review of SICKO.  I’ll just say […]

The four young African American lesbians from Newark, New Jersey, who were convicted of gang assault and received long senetences for defending themselves against street harassment have been sent to New York State prisons.  Supporters and those concerned about what has happened to these women and their families are trying to obtain them pro bono […]

The June 29 announcement of the approval of a wage-cutting agreement between Delphi Corporation, an auto parts manufacturing giant, and the United Auto Workers (UAW) means that U.S. labor has suffered yet another defeat in the ongoing war of attrition that is being waged against working people around the world. Details of the pact have […]

In regular high-school rituals, teachers berate students for their disinterest in, mockery of, and/or failure to focus on “the important issues” in elections for student government.  Students are forced to hear about cherishing their right to vote, taking the issues seriously, and participating fully.  Most never do.  Some notice that teachers likewise take little interest […]

CHAIN OF DISASTERS & THE WEAKEST LINK The only thing that Bush’s “war on terror” has spread faster than disaster and misery has been opposition to its means and ends.  Six years into this self-righteously promoted crusade, Washington is more isolated internationally than ever.  Within the U.S., the Commander Guy’s approval rating has fallen below […]

Harlem’s Canaan Baptist Church, long associated with human rights activism, hosted a fundraising rally for women in Darfur, on June 13.  Billed as “Voices for the Voiceless,” the program featured speeches and fund-pitches by the program’s emcee, business developer Judith Price, and main speaker, peace activist and church leader Dr. Thelma Adair, with proclamations by […]

28 June 2007 On the 20th anniversary of the chemical bombing of the Kurdish city of Sardasht in western Iran, a crime committed by the puppet Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussain and with full provision, support, and acquiescence of Western governments, the Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII), commemorates the forgotten victims […]

Watch the videos of a July 2006 forum in New York City featuring Scott Long of Human Rights Watch, Paul Schindler of Gay City News, an Iranian-American activist, and others debating the question of Western gay rights activism, US imperialism, and Iran. Gays Feed into Anti-Iran Hysteria Gay Executions in Iran? Randy Wicker, born in […]

Four more Black girls just went bad.  Young, 19 to 25; from Newark or surrounding neighborhoods; “troubled” families; having babies while in their teens — you’ve heard it all before.  The reason you’re reading about this bunch is that they’re lesbians — “killer lesbians,” “a wolf pack of lesbians,” say the media.  They’re not martyrs […]

Introduction From the very start, the recent Nigerian elections, which saw Olusegun Obasanjo placing his hand-picked successor Umaru Yar’ Adua into the Presidential palace, were mired in controversy.  The ballot papers for the election, which were printed in South Africa, contained no counterfoils or serial numbers — features which would have made vote riggingdifficult.  In […]

Before we deal with the topic of the Iranian role in the Arab region, it is useful to recall the complexity of Iran and its different entanglements: For one, Iran is not a “Banana Republic,” and its regime is not a puppet or a client regime of Imperialism.  Iran has a regional project and works […]

Fr. Dennis Holtschneider Office of the President DePaul University 55 E. Jackson, 22nd Floor Chicago, IL 60602 Dear Fr. Holtschneider, This letter is to inform you of the actions students are currently taking in response to the violation of academic freedom and the tenure process at DePaul University.  Recently, the decision was made to deny […]

On August 18, 2006, seven young African American lesbians traveled to the West Village from their homes in Newark for a regular night out.  When walking down the street, a male bystander assaulted them with sexist and homophobic comments.  The women tried to defend themselves, and a fight broke out.  Thus began the women’s nightmare […]

Michael Moore, who documented the sociopathology of the U.S. in Bowling for Columbine and nudged the Bush dynasty down the path of extinction in Fahrenheit 9/11, has outdone himself with Sicko. In Sicko, Moore focuses on one of the most callous and shameful aspects of U.S. capitalism — market, or as a meticulous economist would […]

  How should progressives respond to the ongoing brouhaha about Salman Rushdie‘s knighthood?  We should begin by reminding ourselves, particularly if we live in the West, that the so-called “Muslim” response to the announcement of Rushdie’s knighthood does not speak for the majority of Muslims, or for what matters to most Muslims in the world.  […]

Michael Heinrich is a political scientist and mathematician in Berlin and a member of the editorial board of Prokla — journal for critical social science.  Below is an interview with the “. . . ums Ganze!” [. . . All or Nothing!] coalition. “…ums Ganze!”: The federal government has staked out a position for the […]

Dr. Hisham Bustani is a writer and activist, based in Amman, a founding member of the Resistant Arab People’s Alliance and a member in its Coordination Committee.  He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Socialist Thought Forum in Jordan. INTRODUCTION: Hisham Bustani on the Turmoil in Gaza The Jordanian Marxist writer […]

  On Wednesday, June 6, federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted a sweep of homes in New Haven, Connecticut.  They arrested 33 immigrant workers and set off a series of mass protests calling for the release of detainees and an immediate halt to federal raids.  On Saturday, June 16, a mass mobilization […]

Offshoring U.S. jobs to the Far East has been a major campaign in the war of attrition against U.S. labor that began in the post-World War II era, was redoubled in the 1980s by the neo-conservative forces under the regime of President Ronald Reagan, and continues unabated to the present day. The first wave of […]