Archive | Commentary

There’s a great tradition amongst the world’s citizenry that is perhaps best expressed in the words spoken by the late Berkeley radical Mario Savio.  During the Free Speech actions of 1964 that were aimed at the University of California’s repressive administrative dictates against student and staff political activity, Mario said:  There’s a time when the […]

Michael Hoover, “Whose Domain? Private Power, Public Policy, and Local Politics” (17 March 2006); “Zoned Out: The Politics of Community Exclusion” (8 April 2006) Until the 1930s, the U.S. government had little direct involvement with local governments. In altering that situation, the New Deal response to the Great Depression included direct grants of federal money […]

“A lie can travel halfway around the world,” the American writer Mark Twain once said, “while the truth is putting on its shoes.”  That statement could apply to the recent phony debate over “sharia tribunals” in Ontario. Odds are that if you consulted the average man or woman in the street on the matter, you […]

Malik Rahim Malik Rahim is a longtime activist and co-founder of Common Ground.  Founded last September, Common Ground is a grassroots collective that has provided 80,000 people in and around New Orleans with legal, health, bio-remedial, immigrant, and eviction defense services.  See www.commongroundrelief.org. Global Exchange will present Mr. Rahim, along with Uruguayan author Eduardo Galeano […]

Par quel étrange paradoxe Le Caïman, qui est moins personnel que Je suis un autarcique (1976), moins drôle que Sogni d’Oro (1981), moins virtuose que Palombella Rossa (1989), moins émouvant que Journal intime (1993) ou moins romanesque que La Chambre du fils (2001), se révèle-t-il le film le plus fort réalisé à ce jour par […]

Ik wilde je stem horen wanneer je citaten voorleest uit een pas geboren verhaal Ik wilde in je ogen kijken wanneer ze glanzen van verlangen voor het donker Ik wilde je wakker houden met je sterren plukken uit een dicht bewolkte hemel Ik wilde met je wandellen langs een vroege ochtend dronken van samen zijn […]

Back in the good old days, the regal Shah served as the poster boy for US power companies selling nuclear reactors TO A SKEPTICAL AMERICAN PUBLIC! Click on the image for a larger view. Based in Washington, DC, Rostam Pourzal writes about the politics of human rights for Iranian expatriate journals. MRZine has published his […]

The present crisis concerning Iran’s nuclear program cannot be reduced to merely the ongoing rivalry between Tehran and Washington.  Rather, it reveals all the new parameters of the post-Cold War world order that American strategists want to avoid. Iran’s Machiavellian diplomatic brinkmanship has succeeded so far, not only because the Ahmadinejad administration is exploiting the […]

“Green-minded activists failed to move the broader public not because they were wrong about the problems, but because the solutions they offered were unappealing to most people.” — Alex Steffen, “The Next Green Revolution,” Wired Magazine, May 2006 — It’s about time you woke up to the good news, Jimmy!  If we can just unleash the […]

Someone left a copy of the May 17 Wall Street Journal on a break table at work.  I picked up a section and flipped through it.  Familiar corporate names popped from the headlines — then, a common thread emerged from the journalist’s prose. Wal-Mart: “The retailer said its second-quarter results could be weighed down by […]

  The first international working-class film and video festival titled “Against Neo-Liberalism, 20 Countries and 40 Films” was held in Turkey in early May 2006 — a resounding success.  Over 8,000 attended the various film screenings, and, for the first time, working people in Turkey had an opportunity to see the global struggle of other […]

So Bush and company want to put thousands of armed troops on the border between the United States and Mexico.  The supposed reason for this move is to stem the flow of immigrants coming into the US from the south.  I have a feeling that this move will be probably popular in Congress and amongst […]

The title of a talk should arouse curiosity and even skepticism. The title must give the speaker enough leeway to change the content at will. After all, I chose this title with only a vague idea of what I might actually say. Oh, I knew then and know now the subjects I will discuss. I have studied, written and practiced about them for more than forty years

Troosteloosheid van het bestaan tussen slaap en wakker zijn Reflectie in reflectie biochemie van errectie Twee bij een: afmeting van een bed Twee bij een: afmeting van een cel Nacht in je armen, muur om me heen Opgaande gebaren, kou in m’n been Ingang voor Exit op rij voor Escape Verneuke leegtes gezweet op een […]

Consecuencias de largo alcance tras la nacionalización en Bolivia: FMI La manera de negociar con los afectados será el factor clave, según el organismo financiero Evidente, el fracaso del modelo neoliberal impuesto por EU, sostiene el Nobel de Economía Imagen de la planta de gas San Alberto, que operaba la brasileña Petrobras, el pasado 1º […]

May 18, 2006 To: The Honorable Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations Re: The Iranian threat to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Your Excellency, Iran’s nuclear projects acquire an alarming significance with Iran’s recent threat to withdraw its acceptance of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The Middle-East is a volatile region. […]

“The Senate fence measure was embodied in an amendment offered by Senator Jeff Sessions, Republican of Alabama, who borrowed from the poet Robert Frost.  ‘Good fences make good neighbors,’ he said.  ‘Fences don’t make bad neighbors.’” —  New York Times, 17 May 2006 What Senator Sessions knows is of no interest to me.  It must […]

The aim of this paper is to try to understand the Israeli industrialists’ strategy in the globalization process in the course of the recent years.  The new strategy was implemented in the days of the first Intifada (the Palestinian uprising) in the late 80s.  At that time voices were heard in the Association of Israeli […]

Robert Ellsberg is a well-known activist and author of numerous books, but most importantly, a tireless advocate for social justice and a witness to the lives of others whose integrity and purpose provide useful models.  His most recent book is Blessed Among All Women: Women Saints, Prophets and Witnesses for Our Times.  One of my […]

When a gun-touting cowboy, who calls for 6,000 National Guard troops to be stationed along the US-Mexico border, is presented as having taken the “middle ground” in the immigration debate, you know how far to the right mainstream politics are in the US.  Bush’s address on May 15 calls not only for strict border control […]