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Privatized electricity distribution companies, strangling working people with high electric bills . . . Carlos Latuff is a Brazilian cartoonist.  Cf. “On one hand, daily productivity gains made by professionals working in the electricity sector are not reflected in their salaries.  On the other hand, consumers are already paying high costs at the end of […]

The torture of prisoners in U.S. custody isn’t confined to foreign countries.  For more than two weeks, inmates at California’s Pelican Bay State Prison have been on a hunger strike to protest torturous conditions in the Security Housing Unit (SHU) there.  Prisoners have been held for years in solitary confinement, which can amount to torture.  […]

There was a time when global oil prices reflected changes in the real demand and supply of crude petroleum.  Of course, as with many other primary commodities, the changes in the market could be volatile, and so prices also fluctuated, sometimes sharply.  More than anything else, the global oil market was seen to reflect not […]

Dear Queer Diary — Should I get married? I mean, now that the state of New York has passed the gay marriage bill, should my girlfriend and I get really and miraculously and legally married? Or.  Should I, as a queer, reclaim my right to legal ostracism, grab my lesbo luv-muffin, and take her underground […]

The deputy chairman of the Planning Commission made an extraordinary statement the other day, namely that the oil-price increase, which everybody opposes for adding to inflation, was really an anti-inflationary measure; it would reduce inflation.  The deputy chairman’s is an exalted position; and the current incumbent is an economist of repute.  There is a danger […]

Still lacking a fire starter called diplomacy, Uncle Sam fails to detonate a war against Syria. Hamid Karout is a Syrian cartoonist.  This cartoon was first published in Tishreen on 14 July 2011; it is reproduced here for non-profit educational purposes.  Cf. “‘The OIC has a strong desire to build national dialogue between governments and […]

Activists fight to free the six Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) members — Choo Chon Kai, Sarat Babu, Sarasvathy Muthu, Sukumaran A/L Munisamy, A. Letchumanan, and Dr. Jeyakumar Devaraj — detained under the Emergency Ordinance (EO). Cf. Peter Boyle, “Huge Rally in Malaysia, Free PSM 6 Campaign Grows” (Green Left Weekly, 17 July 2011); <www.parti-sosialis.org>; <aliran.com>; […]

Insignificant changes to the constitution (still in force!), proposed by a committee made up exclusively of Islamists chosen by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces and hastily adopted in April by referendum (a 23% “no” vote, a majority “yes” vote, however, imposed through fraud and heavy blackmail by the mosques),* obviously left Article 2 [whish […]

  東電に入ろう（倒電に廃炉） Among you, gentlemen, here Anyone wants to join Tokyo Electric? Anyone wants to make a name for himself? TEPCO is looking for talent Let’s join TEPCO, TEPCO, TEPCO Join TEPCO, a heaven on earth All the men’s men are joining TEPCO Ready to die a hero’s death Anyone dying for thrills? Come join […]

Eneko Las Heras, born in Caracas in 1963, is a cartoonist based in Spain.  The cartoon above was first published on his blog . . . Y sin embargo se mueve on 29 June 2011. | Print

  It’s safe!  It’s safe!  It’s safe!  It’s safe!  Nuclear!  It’s safe!  It’s safe!  It’s safe . . . until there’s a screw-up!  It’s safe!  It’s safe!  It’s safe!  It’s safe!  Nuclear!  It’s safe!  It’s safe!  It’s safe . . . until it’s not! 誰にも見えない、匂いもない 2011 Music and Lyrics by Rankin Taxi.  Performed by Rankin […]

There have been periodic demands, the latest being from Baba Ramdev, that “black money” from India which is stashed in Swiss banks should be “brought back” and used for development purposes.  This money of course does not have to be physically brought back; all that is required is a nationalisation of those deposits, ie, a […]

The Islamist forces, without exception, are now against the sit-ins in Tahrir, Suez, Alexandria, and elsewhere in the country.  And I mean here the Muslim Brotherhood, Salafis, Gamaa Islamiya, and even the pathetic intellectuals of the “moderate” Wassat Party.  All are singing praise of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (read: Mubarak’s army generals), […]

Corrupt men in charge of mass media and corporations, abandoning the sinking ancien régime, climb onto the ship of the Egyptian revolution (whose slogan was “Leave!”), threatening to capsize it. . . . Fahd Bahady is a Syrian cartoonist.  This cartoon was first published in his blog on 22 April 2011; it is reproduced here […]

Weak growth in hourly wages leaves little optimism for economic recovery. The Consumer Price Index declined 0.2 percent in June — the first fall in the broad measure since a 0.2 percent drop in June of last year.  The headline rate of inflation has declined steadily since peaking in March, but the decline is driven […]

Between June 14 and June 23, 2011, a delegation of 11 scholars, activists, and artists visited occupied Palestine.  As indigenous and women of color feminists involved in multiple social justice struggles, we sought to affirm our association with the growing international movement for a free Palestine.  We wanted to see for ourselves the conditions under […]

It would have been worth reminding readers that the debt crisis in Italy and other euro zone countries is first and foremost a political crisis.  The European Central Bank (ECB) can just print euros which can be used to address any potential default risk among its member countries.  There would be little obvious economic downside […]

Carlos Latuff is a Brazilian cartoonist.  Cf. “Nota da Sociedade Brasileira para o Progresso da Ciência (SBPC) e da Academia Brasileira de Ciências (ABC) sobre a decisão da Câmara dos Deputados com relação ao Código Florestal” (25 May 2011); Mario Osava, “Brazil: Politicians Out of Sync with Public Sentiment on the Environment” (Inter Press Service, […]

  “Channels of blood or channels of sedition or channels of the other side — call them what you like.  These channels, as illustrated below, are a gun pointed to our land and our people.  We the people must stand up, face them, and fight them.  We don’t allow anyone to prejudice the security of […]

USG Discovers Syrian Protesters It Doesn’t Like As’ad AbuKhalil (12 June 2011): “Yesterday, a US official referred to the protesters at the US embassy as ‘thugs.’  But if they were attacking a Ba’th office or a Syrian government building, I am sure that they would not have been described as thugs.  So thuggery is not […]