Freedom for the five Cuban patriots! Gervasio Umpiérrez is a cartoonist based in Montevideo, Uruguay. This cartoon was published in his blog on 25 April 2011. Cf. “U.S. Government Asked the Court to Deny Gerardo Hernandez’s Habeas Corpus Motion” (26 April 2011); “The U.S. Government Asked the Court to also Deny Antonio Guerrero’s and […]
Archive | News
News updates or analysis.
Why Are Americans Celebrating Osama’s Death?
It shouldn’t surprise us that many American liberals, including Muslims, are now joining the celebrations of Osama bin Laden’s death. They may not agree with how the War on Terror has been conducted, but they have at least tolerated it and have no reason to view Bin Laden with sympathy in any case. Let us […]
May Day Toast to the Workers of the World
“Let’s drink a toast to all those farmers, workers, artists and intellectuals of the last 100 years who without thought of fame and profit . . . worked tirelessly in their dream of a worldwide socialist revolution, who believed and hoped that a new world was dawning and that their work would contribute to […]
Egypt’s Workers Keep the Revolution Alive
Kamal al Fayoumi, Mahalla Textiles Worker and Democratic Labor Party Activist: All of us, as workers, said that the revolution began on February 11 when Mubarak left. When the head of the old regime stepped down, it was just the start of the revolution. The revolution began only with the solidarity of all of Egypt’s […]
The Costs of the Libya War
“You’ve got your numbers wrong on the costs of the war. You haven’t figured in our profits from the sale of weapons to our enemy . . . and to our friend.” Juan Ramón Mora is a cartoonist in Barcelona. This cartoon was first published in his blog on 1 April 2011 under a […]
Canada: Will the NDP Surge in Polls Hold?
Will the surprising surge of the New Democratic Party hold today at the ballot boxes in Canada, where voters say health care (31.5%) and jobs/economy (23.4%) are the top issues, only 4.9% of them prioritizing “high taxes” as the number one problem? The graphs above are from Nano Research. The methodology is available at . […]
None to Lead but Reason
You’ve had your way a long, long time, You kings and tyrants, And still you work injustice hour by hour. What ails you that do not tread a path of glory? A man may take the field, although he love the bower. But some hope a divine leader with prophetic voice Will rise amid the […]
Lockdown Colombia
7,500 Political Prisoners in Lockdown Colombia: students, campesinos, environmentalists, lawyers, researchers, trade unionists, human rights defenders . . . imprisoned under judicial farces Areito Imagen is a collective of artists. This poster was published on the collective’s blog on 25 April 2011, in solidarity with Joaquín Pérez Becerra. Translation by Yoshie Furuhashi (@yoshiefuruhashi | yoshie.furuhashi […]
The Syrian Opposition’s “National Initiative for Change”: A Missed Opportunity
Given the atrocities currently committed in Syria and the spectacularly bad press this generates for the regime, one would think that issuing an effective petition calling for political change in this country would be an easy task. All such a petition needs to do is to jump on the bandwagon of rapidly mounting protests […]
Invitation to URPE Summer School: “Topics in Radical Political Economy: Marxist Theory”
We invite graduate students and young researchers to participate in the URPE (Union for Radical Political Economics) Summer School entitled “Topics in Radical Political Economy: Marxist Theory,” which will take place in Amherst, Massachusetts on the UMass campus on May 24-27, 2011 (right before the World Association for Political Economy conference on May 27-29). […]
On May Day, Remember Trade Unionists in Colombia
On May Day, remember: 60% of the trade unionists who are murdered in the world are murdered in Colombia by paramilitary tools and the armed forces and national police of the government. Solidarity is urgently needed. Areito Imagen is a collective of artists. This poster was published on the collective’s blog on 28 April 2011. […]
The Pillars of Democracy
Nicolas Sarkozy: “Boys, these are the pillars that support authentic democracies!” Barack Obama: “Well said, Sarko!” José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero: “This is not Iraq . . . This is not Iraq . . . This is not Iraq . . . This is not Iraq . . .” Ferran Martín, born in Barcelona in […]
Join Us on May Day in Tahrir Square: Workers Are the Builders of a New Egypt
For the minimum necessary for a dignified life. For the right to organize. For an end to corruption. انضموا لنا: يوم 1 مايو عيد عمال مصر، بناة مصر Intifadat Intifadat is a collective of filmmakers in Egypt. The collective won the 2011 Cairo Documentary Festival‘s Streaming the Revolution Award for three videos: “The Downfall of […]
Protest against Israel’s Embassy in Cairo
“Here’s the Seat of the Embassy of Palestine” On Wednesday around 300 students, largely from Cairo University, held a march and protest in front of the Israeli embassy in Cairo. To be honest, it was very weird marching without the Central Security Forces being around or cracking down. At some point when we were standing […]
Demystifying Syria
Two relationships have long been key to the stability of the Syrian regime. The first is an economic relationship: the regime puts back into national production just enough to create jobs and produce cheap national goods to keep the working population in steady or, better yet improving, living conditions. The second is a political […]
Iran’s Islamist Bloggers Divided over Khamenei vs. Ahmadinejad
It appears from Iranian Islamist blogs that the honeymoon between Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Islamic Republic’s Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is finally over. Some reject Ahmadinejad in favor of the Supreme Leader while others show unwavering support for Ahmadinejad. It all started when President Ahmadinejad accepted the resignation of the Iranian Minister […]
Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect
This 2011 edition of “Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect” marks the 20th year the AFL-CIO has produced a report on the state of safety and health protections for America’s workers. This year is historic for workers’ safety and health. It is the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, where 146 […]
A Fire That Could Burn Everyone
“To cap it all came the decision by the US administration to authorize the use of drones to kill Libyan men, women, and children, like in Afghanistan, thousands of kilometers from Western Europe, but this time against an Arab and African country, before the eyes of hundreds of millions of Europeans and no less than […]
The Lessons of Iraq
“Come on, boys! Let’s teach those Libyans everything we have learned in Iraq!” Ferran Martín, born in Barcelona in 1970, is a cartoonist, illustrator, web designer, and radio and TV screenwriter. This cartoon was first published in La información on 18 March 2011; it is reproduced here for non-profit educational purposes. Translation by Yoshie […]
Norman Gottwald: A Pioneering Marxist Biblical Scholar
Norman Gottwald belongs to a rare breed — an American Marxist biblical scholar. More than one jarring juxtaposition in that epithet! Unfortunately, he is less well known outside the relative small circle of biblical scholars than he should be. In order to introduce him to a wider audience, let me say a little about his […]
