The notion of the “west”, like any such construct, has various associations depending on who is using it, where and in what circumstances. Many people (especially in other parts of the world) tend to associate the “west” with military campaigns and foreign interventions by Nato and its leading states, the United States and Britain. More […]
Geography Archives: Americas
South America, Central America, United States & Canada
Work Sharing: The Quick Route Back to Full Employment
Excerpt: There are two basic ways to increase employment: increasing output and thereby increasing the demand for labor, or dividing up the existing work among more workers. . . . Work sharing is not a new idea. The idea of shortening work time to create more work has a long history. . . . [I]n […]
June 27: Demonstrate against US/NATO Attacks on Libya
The United National Antiwar Committee (UNAC) calls for demonstrations on June 27 against the US/NATO attacks on Libya. June 27 is the date that the NATO mandate expires and their new mandate comes into effect. The United National Antiwar Committee was founded at a conference of 800 in Albany, NY in July 2010. For […]
Turkey Cools Down Tempers over Syria
As Monday dawned, Turkey kept its fingers crossed in keen anticipation of the nationwide address by President Bashar al-Assad on the situation in Syria. Ankara sent an open message ahead of Assad’s speech that if he failed to announce reforms even in a third attempt, he would “miss a big chance” to preserve power. Turkey […]
Michigan Citizens Take Emergency Manager Law to Court, Citing Unconstitutional Power Grab
June 22, 2011 Citizens from across Michigan today announced they are taking Michigan’s controversial emergency manager law to court, filing a lawsuit that charges Gov. Rick Snyder and the Legislature with implementing an unconstitutional power grab that effectively silences citizens. “The emergency manager law is a shameless power grab by Lansing politicians and their […]
Iran: Subsidy Reform, “Stagflation,” and the Need for Industrial Policy
Iran’s biggest economic problem is the growing production slump at its factories and workshops. For both workers and the business elite, Iran’s domestic industrial troubles are far more pressing — and generating far more public anxiety — than international sanctions. The biggest danger for Iran in 2011 is the combination of higher unemployment and inflation […]
Beyond the Crisis: Markets, Planning, and a Utopian Vision Inspired by the American National Football League
The Crisis, especially in Europe, is all-consuming. Every day our minds are hijacked by its latest twist. Here in Athens, a general strike almost brought the government to its knees and has kick-started a process that will, inevitably, lead to what can only be described as regime change. While history is preparing the next regime […]
“March of the Whores”: Women in Mexico March against Sexual Violence
Women in Mexico are marching not only against sexual violence, but also against the excuses for it and the impunity that surrounds it. The “March of the Whores,” as they called it, represents a fresh step in the development of Mexican feminism, taking its cue from an earlier protest held in Canada. Women, men, and […]
Presentation to the United Nations Decolonization Committee Hearings on Puerto Rico
The National Lawyers Guild was founded in 1937 as an alternative to the American Bar Association, which did not admit people of color. The National Lawyers Guild is the oldest and largest public interest/human rights bar organization in the United States. With headquarters in New York, it has chapters in every state. From its […]
Falling Behind: Life Expectancy in US Counties from 2000 to 2007 in an International Context
Excerpt: Across US counties, life expectancy in 2007 ranged from 65.9 to 81.1 years for men and 73.5 to 86.0 years for women. When compared against a time series of life expectancy in the 10 nations with the lowest mortality, US counties range from being 15 calendar years ahead to over 50 calendar years […]
The Palestinian Authority’s Historic Mistake — and Opportunity
No one knows the precise plans of the Palestinian Authority vis-a-vis September: will Mahmoud Abbas declare a Palestinian state within recognized borders and ask that it be admitted as a full member of the UN — or not? Perhaps Abbas himself does not know. Now political leaders often make decisions alone or in consultation with […]
Imperialism and the European “Left”
But revolts, to become revolutionary advances, will have to overcome many obstacles: on the one hand they will have to overcome the weaknesses of the movement, construct a positive convergence of its components, formulate and implement effective strategies; on the other they will have to defeat the interventions (including military interventions) of the imperialist triad. […]
Greek Protesters Are Better Economists Than the European Authorities
Imagine that in the worst year of our recent recession, the United States government decided to reduce its federal budget deficit by more than $800 billion dollars — cutting spending and raising taxes to meet this goal. Imagine that, as a result of these measures, the economy worsened and unemployment soared to more than 16 […]
Comparison of Annex 1 and Non-Annex 1 Pledges under the Cancun Agreements
Abstract: This report examines four recent detailed studies of countries’ mitigation pledges under the Cancun Agreements, for the purpose of comparing developed (Annex 1) country pledges to developing (non-Annex 1) country pledges. It finds that there is broad agreement that developing country pledges amount to more mitigation than developed country pledges. That conclusion applies […]
7 Things You Need to Know about the National Debt, Deficits, and the Dollar
Introduction There are seven key points about the national debt, budget and trade deficits, and the dollar, that the public needs to understand in order to be well-informed and prepared to choose among various policy options: 1) The national debt is not literally a generational transfer. This is easy to see because everyone who holds […]
Iraq: It’s Still about Oil
Provocative suggestion: Obama’s increasingly desperate efforts to abrogate Bush’s Dec 31 withdrawal deadline and continue the military occupation may reflect, among other considerations, the need to protect the US drilling companies’ business. . . . American drilling companies stand to make tens of billions of dollars from the new petroleum activity in Iraq long before […]
The Assault on Public Services: Will Unions Lament the Attacks or Lead a Fightback?
We are living one of those historic moments that cry out for rallying the working class to build new capacities, new solidarities, and concrete hope. The crucial question is not how far the attacks on the public sector will go. The real question is how far we will let them go. How will working-class […]
Russia, Turkey, and the US Push for Regime Change in Syria
Seldom it is that the Russian Foreign Ministry chooses a Sunday to issue a formal statement. Evidently, something of extreme gravity arose for Moscow to speak out urgently. The provocation was the appearance of a United States guided missile cruiser in the Black Sea for naval exercises with Ukraine. The USS Monterrey cruiser equipped with […]
European Integration at the Crossroads: Deepening or Disintegration?
Are the member states of the Eurozone responsible for the Euro crisis the ones having problems servicing their debt? The majority of people in Europe believe that this is the case. Therefore, indebted countries like Greece, Portugal and Ireland must subject themselves to a brutal austerity program of savage cuts in welfare spending, diminishing […]
On the Nuclear Power 2021 Act and the Nuclear Energy Research Initiative Improvement Act of 2011
Testimony on S. 512, “The Nuclear Power 2021 Act,” and S. 1067, “The Nuclear Energy Research Initiative Improvement Act of 2011,” before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, U.S. Senate, 7 June 2011 Good morning. On behalf of the Union of Concerned Scientists, I would like to thank Chairman Bingaman, Ranking Member Murkowski, and […]
