We, 100 Imams from the Muslim community in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, stand together to thank our neighbors who have defended the Muslim community against Islamaphobia. Our neighbors have stood in opposition to Congressman Peter King’s hearings and against the efforts of the extremists to criminalize the practice of Islam in America. […]
Archive | News
News updates or analysis.
The U.S. Government Response to the Nuclear Power Plant Incident in Japan
Testimony at a hearing entitled “The U.S. Government Response to the Nuclear Power Plant Incident in Japan,” held by the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the U.S. House of Representatives, 6 April 2011 Summary The crisis underway at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has revealed serious nuclear safety shortcomings […]
Gilbert Achcar’s Defense of Humanitarian Intervention
Gilbert Achcar defends the recently “UN-authorized” imperialist intervention in Libya on the ground that general principles may require exceptions in concrete cases. “Every general rule admits of exceptions. This includes the general rule that UN-authorized military interventions by imperialist powers are purely reactionary ones, and can never achieve a humanitarian or positive purpose.”1 This kind […]
Egypt, Iran, and the Middle East’s Evolving Balance of Power
The full extent of the ramifications of the extraordinary developments in Egypt since the beginning of this year — for Egypt itself, for the Middle East, and for the world — will not be clear for some time. At this juncture, though, it seems virtually certain that post-Mubarak Egypt will have a much more balanced […]
Arming the Libyan Rebels
Jon Stewart: Jon Stewart: Oh, people, we are now into our third week of a military bombing campaign in Libya, Operation Odyssey Dawn. The operation cleverly named for the Odyssey, a 20-year harrowing journey through a hellscape where nearly everyone is killed. Adding “dawn” . . . so it’s the earliest part of that […]
How Many Cancers Did Chernobyl Really Cause?
There is a lot of confusion about how many excess cancer deaths will likely result from the 1986 Chernobyl accident in Ukraine. As we see below, 70,000 and 35,000 are reasonable estimates of the number of excess cancers and cancer deaths attributable to the accident. Much lower numbers of cancers and deaths are often cited, […]
Study Tour to Venezuela: Food Sovereignty, Social Movements, and Social Change
Food Sovereignty Tour + Agroecology Short Course in Venezuela, July 10-22 July 10 to 22, 2011 Please register ASAP! You are invited to participate in a study tour to study food sovereignty, social movements, and social change in Venezuela, July 10 to 22. The tour will examine issues of land reform, urbanization, rural development, […]
First Flight
A tribute to Yuri Gagarin and his first human spaceflight, 12 April 1961. . . . Music by Zemlyane (“The Grass at Home”). Cf. <www.roscosmos.ru/main.php?id=87>, <english.ruvr.ru/tag_45875342/>, <ciudad-futura.net/2011/04/05/soyuz-gagarin-2/>, <www.yuriesfera.net>. | Print
British Peace Delegation Heads for Libya to Call for an End to the Killing
A twenty-five person peace delegation made up of academics, lawyers, journalists and professionals will be departing for Libya on 9th April, to call for an immediate ceasefire in Libya and an end to all hostilities. This is the first half of a two stage process that will involve reconciliation talks with tribal leaders, government […]
Bahraini Monarchy and Its Allies Destroying Mosques
Ahlulbayt TV and Press TV
Numerous mosques in Bahrain have been torched, vandalized, and demolished by the oppressive, sectarian Bahraini monarchy and its allies. The Press TV video was released on 5 April 2011 and the Ahlulbayt TV video on 6 April 2011. Cf. . | Print
Who Rules Syria and How? Interview with Joshua Landis
Paul Jay: The title of your upcoming book, Syria’s Democratic Experiment, first of all, what is the experiment? And then talk a little about how we got there. Joshua Landis: Well, the book really deals with a period at the time of independence — 1946, ’45, ’46 — in Syria, when the French left and […]
Ivory Coast: Humanitarian Intervention or Debt Collection?
This just in from Bloomberg: The West African nation’s 2032 bonds issued a year ago jumped 7.7 percent to 55.438 cents on the dollar, the highest since Dec. 2, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The debt has rallied 14 percent in the past two days after Gbagbo troops surrendered. . . . The country’s […]
US Nuclear Power Plants: Internal NRC Documents Reveal Doubts about Safety Measures
In the weeks following the Fukushima accident, Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and nuclear industry officials have been asserting that US nuclear plants are better prepared to withstand a catastrophic event like the March 11 earthquake and tsunami than Japanese plants because they have additional safety measures in place. According to internal NRC documents, however, there […]
Ecuador’s Expulsion of U.S. Ambassador
A declaration by the Ecuadorian government that U.S. Ambassador Heather Hodges is “persona non grata” and must leave Ecuador as soon as possible should not come as a surprise, Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, said. Weisbrot noted that the expulsion follows recent troubling revelations in cables released by Wikileaks […]
African Diaspora against Sarko’s War in Ivory Coast
“Sarkozy the Murderer! Sarkozy the Murderer!” Paris, France, 4 April 2011 Manche, France, 5 April 2011 Brussels, Belgium, 5 April 2011 Douala, Cameroon, 5 April 2011 Cf. Bruno Ben Moubamba, “Nicolas Sarkozy engage des actes de Guerre contraires au Droit International en Côte d’Ivoire” (4 April 2011). What happened to the French Left? Stop Sarko! […]
Bring the War Dollars Home, Fund Local Needs!
Washington is broken — there has been no real debate on the $126 billion requested to continue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, yet $33 billion is being cut from vital programs — from heating oil for poor families to milk for infants to Pell grants for college students. We have a new opportunity to […]
Walking Out on the Libyan Rebels (at Long Last)
Some leftists, at long last, are seen walking out on the Libyan rebels they once loved. . . . Hossam el-Hamalawy, 2 April 2011: This is catastrophic. The biggest imperialist force on the planet, NATO, is bombing Libya “in the name of revolution,” CIA operatives are active on the ground, Western “military advisers” become visible […]
Fukushima: Far from Under Control
For weeks TEPCO and the Japanese government have tried to assure us that the crisis at Fukushima is stabilising and that the situation is under control. However, the recent decision to dump over 15,000 tonnes of highly radioactive water directly into the sea seems to suggest just the opposite. TEPCO’s decision to further contaminate […]
In Memory of Our Beloved Friend Juliano Mer-Khamis
Juliano Mer-Khamis embodied the uncompromising struggle for freedom and for dignity. With his brutal murder the Palestinian struggle has lost a brilliant, charismatic, and courageous fighter for justice and freedom. Both parts of his life’s work were seamlessly joined. His art was inseparable from his political commitment. The dignity and humanity which his art […]
The Everyday Violence of Urban Neoliberalism: An Interview with Nik Theodore
Nik Theodore is Director of the Center for Urban Economic Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a leading theorist of the urban dimensions of neoliberal restructuring. He has collaborated closely with the Right to the City Alliance, the National Day Laborers Organizing Network, and other groups that have been at the […]
