What is it about Haiti that makes the “international community” think they have the right to decide the country’s fate without the consent of the governed? Yes, Haiti is a poor country, but Haitians have fought very hard and lost many lives for the right to vote and elect a government. Yet on November 28, […]
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The C-word in Germany
Once again it was the annual big weekend for German leftists of every conceivable persuasion. It was also a weekend with tons of slush, the result of weeks of cold and snow now ending in thaw weather, but, in the eyes of most participants, also provided by most of the media. As every year, Sunday […]
Israel’s View of the Iranian Nuclear “Threat”
Over the last few weeks, some senior figures in Israel’s national security establishment have made — in an Israeli context — relatively moderate statements about their perception of the Iranian “threat” to their country. Last month, Deputy Prime Minister (and former IDF chief of staff) Moshe Yaalon said that, because of technical difficulties and the […]
Undetonated Cluster
Tossed, dropped it freefalls so easily through the willing, complicit sky A slender wind pokes, nudges, guides misguides A squall of warm air slurs the speed the metal orb floats, a jewel-red plum parachuting, an overripe peach spit from a god’s bitter lips On deeded sand it lands, or settles in a bent cedar limb […]
Haiti’s Fatally Flawed Election
Executive Summary Before Haiti’s November 28 election was held, its legitimacy was called into question because of the exclusion of over a dozen political parties from the election — including Haiti’s most popular political party, Fanmi Lavalas. The ban on Fanmi Lavalas was analogous to excluding the Democratic or Republican Party in the United States. […]
Turkey: The Kurdish Test
Shown the word “Kurd” on an eye chart . . . : General: “Turk!” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: “Voter!” Carlos Latuff is a Brazilian cartoonist. Cf. Delphine Strauss, “Turkish Army Wades into Kurdish Debate” (Financial Times, 17 December 2010). | Print
Refugee Diagram
There are many reasons for leaving one’s country. . . . N.B. Click on “Subtitles” to view this video with English subtitles. Directed by Atelier Collectif. Animation by William Henne, Caroline Nugues, and Lionel Seneterre. Produced by Zorobabel. 2006. | Print
Income, Inequality, and Food Prices: A Critique of Broda, Leibtag, and Weinstein’s “The Role of Prices in Measuring the Poor’s Living Standards”
Introduction and Summary: In “The Role of Prices in Measuring the Poor’s Living Standards,” Christian Broda, Ephriam Leibtag, and David E. Weinstein (2009) use proprietary data — the 2005 Nielsen Homescan dataset — to analyze differences by income level in the prices paid for food. They find that Nielsen households with incomes above $60,000 pay […]
The Social Security Benefits of Sitting Senators
In November, Colorado Senator Michael Bennet was interviewed on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition by Renee Montagne.1 In the course of the interview, Senator Bennet told Ms. Montagne that, as a 45-year old, he would get no Social Security benefit if the program is not fixed. This is not true. According to the most recent […]
A New Year for Capitalism
“Happy New Swindle!” 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 3 January 2011. Translation by Yoshie Furuhashi (@yoshiefuruhashi | yoshie.furuhashi [at] gmail.com). | Print
“Not a Shred of Evidence against Binayak Sen”: Interview with Gautam Navlakha
Gautam Navlakha: There was actually not a shred of evidence against Binayak to sentence him to life imprisonment. In fact . . . let alone life imprisonment, he should not have been sentenced even for a single day on the basis of that kind of evidence. We know also from other sources, in our […]
A New Year for Greece
Carlos Latuff is a Brazilian cartoonist. | Print
India: Growth for Whom?
The year 2010 would be remembered as a scam-tainted year when allegations of corruption, both public and private, were difficult to keep track of. Overwhelmed by these allegations, the government has attempted to focus on the fact that India is among the fastest growing countries in the world. But even that boastful claim has been […]
Support Grows for Hunger Strike by Lucasville Uprising Prisoners on Death Row Protesting Their Harsh and Inhumane Treatment
Monday, January 3, three inmates on death row at Ohio State Penitentiary (OSP) started a hunger strike to protest the conditions of their confinement. Keith LaMar, Siddique Abdullah Hasan (Carlos Sanders), and Jason Robb received death sentences following the rebellion in the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, OH. They have been held at […]
If We Must Die
Wrongfully convicted following the prison uprising in Lucasville, OH in 1993, Brother Bomani (Keith LaMar) is currently at Ohio’s supermax prison, Ohio State Penitentiary, where he began a hunger strike on January 3. Before I speak my piece, let me make one thing perfectly clear: I don’t want to die. I want to live […]
Employment Growth Concentrated among Workers over Age 55
The Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate fell to 9.4 percent in December. However, much of the reason for the decline was a drop of 260,000 in the size of the labor force. The employment-to-population (EPOP) ratio inched up by 0.1 percentage points to 58.3 percent, but it is still 0.2 percentage points below […]
Lucasville Five Hunger Strike: Interview with Staughton Lynd
In 1993, the maximum security Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio was the site of an historic prisoner rebellion, where more than 400 prisoners seized and controlled a major area of the prison for eleven days. Nine prisoners alleged to have been informants and one hostage correctional officer named Robert Vallandingham, were murdered. Following […]
Racist Rage: Islamophobia, the Tea Party, and Endless War
We are witnessing an unprecedented surge in racism against Muslims in the US. There is a real fear among US Muslims that if there’s a successful terrorist attack on Americans, particularly on US soil, we will surely face pogroms and detention centers. The growth of the Far Right and, more specifically, the Tea Party over […]
An Attack on Children and the Constitution: State Legislators Announce Attempt to Subvert 14th Amendment and Deny Birth Citizenship
January 5, 2011 Dismissing the U.S. Constitution and its core American values, politicians from 14 states touted proposals to subvert the 14th Amendment by denying newborn children of immigrants U.S. citizenship and the documentation needed to prove citizenship. Below is a statement from Linton Joaquin, general counsel of the National Immigration Law Center: Today’s announcement […]
The War Party Pushes Obama for Even More Iran Sanctions
The first issue of The Weekly Standard for 2011 includes an article by Reuel Marc Gerecht and Mark Dubowitz, entitled “The Logic of Our Iran Sanctions: Accelerate Them Now.” Gerecht and Dubowitz are both affiliated with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and are prominent voices in neoconservative circles focused on Iran. We highlight their […]
