While the advanced capitalist countries are hit by an acute crisis of recession and unemployment, the developing world is facing, apart from the fallout of this crisis, an acute food crisis. Hunger afflicts the developing world today with a virulence not seen in decades. World food prices, not just in nominal but in real terms […]
Geography Archives: Americas
South America, Central America, United States & Canada
You Can’t Pee for Free: Notes on the Privatization of the Public Sphere
In his 1994 book entitled The Location of Culture, post-colonial theorist Homi Bhaba writes that “cafes are part of the social phenomena of the ‘third place’ [which] . . . people occupy outside of the home and work. It’s a place to relax, to be alone, to socialize, to read, to gossip, to meet […]
Position on Senate Bill 5
Excerpt: The bill allows an employer to refuse to talk to the union about subjects reserved to the exclusive purview of management and deletes the requirement that the continuation of a current provision of a collective bargaining agreement is a “mandatory subject” of collective bargaining. Those provisions put the safety of all employees at […]
State and Local Government Job Losses a Serious Drag on Weak Job Growth
The unemployment rate edged down to 8.9 percent in February, as the Labor Department reported that the economy generated 192,000 new jobs. This number is undoubtedly inflated some by the weather-weakened January performance, when the economy generated just 63,000 jobs. The unemployment rate has now dropped by 0.9 percentage points in the last three months. […]
ALBA Countries Support Venezuelan Initiative to Seek Peace in Libya
Bolivian, Ecuadoran, and Cuban Foreign Ministers David Choquehuanca, Ricardo Patiño and Bruno Rodríguez, and Nicaraguan Vice Minister of Economic Relations and External Cooperation Valdrack Jaentschke, all say that their governments support Venezuela’s initiative to create an international commission to seek a negotiated solution to the internal conflict in Libya. The officials made their position public […]
Missing in Madison — Where’s Obama? Nurses Offer to Buy President’s Shoes to March with Workers
The past two weeks have been a “Where’s Waldo” moment for President Obama. He’s been largely a bystander while tens of thousands of American workers, joined by students, and community allies, marched in Madison’s snow and freezing temperatures, and slept on the floors of the capitol, to defend their most fundamental right to freedom of […]
Venezuela’s Position on Libya
Venezuela’s proposal to “set up a Goodwill International Commission for the search for peace in Libya” mentioned in the statement below has been accepted by the government of Libya but rejected by the opposition Libyan National Council, France, and the United States. — Ed. This statement records Venezuela’s position on United Nations General Assembly […]
Call for an Audit Commission on Greek Public Debt
We the undersigned believe that there is a pressing need for an Audit Commission to examine Greek public debt. Current EU and IMF policy to deal with public debt has entailed major social costs for Greece. Consequently, the Greek people have a democratic right to demand full information on public and publicly-guaranteed debt. The aim […]
March 1st Protest to Defend Ohio’s Working Class
No on Senate Bill 5, 1 March 2011 Panayiotis T. Manolakos is an independent economist, writer, and activist based in Ohio. The photographs above (available at www.flickr.com/photos/ptmanolakos/sets/72157626052775127/) are published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License. var idcomments_acct = ‘c90a61ed51fd7b64001f1361a7a71191’; var idcomments_post_id; var idcomments_post_url; | Print
Ohio: Rigged Game
Ohio’s Senate Bill 5 passed today, 17-16. — Ed. Rigged Game So, after a full and fair debate on SB#5 before a Committee the majority of whom are Republicans, the Bill was going down to defeat. Two Republican Senators, Hughes and Seitz had reasoned the Bill was unfair to public employees and was overreaching. […]
URGENT! Don’t Let the Tea Party Take Over the Ohio SB 5 Hearing Room
Late in the evening after SB5 protesters held the biggest rally at the Statehouse in 15 years, word has just come out that SB5 may come up for a vote this Wednesday, March 2nd. We can only guess whether this was timed to coincide with the Tea Party rally scheduled for the Statehouse that […]
It’s Up to You to Take Action and Fight Back
Senate Bill 5 will destroy the way of life of hundreds of thousands of Ohioans and hurt our communities. One way to take a stand is by coming out to the biggest Statehouse rally yet TODAY: from 9 AM, Statehouse‘s West Lawn on the High Street side. The Senate Insurance, Commerce, and Labor Committee […]
“We’ve Been Reaching Out to Many Different Libyans Who Are Attempting to Organize in the East”
Here’s another clue about the real balance of forces in Libya, which has been obscured by the concerted corporate media propaganda. Washington has decided that the Libyan rebels don’t have what it takes to take Tripoli, where about half of Libya’s population live, on their own (as the rebels admit themselves) and that the […]
The New American Workers Movement and the Confrontation to Come
The new American workers movement — born in the last few weeks in the giant protests in Wisconsin and Ohio — faces a fateful confrontation this week. In Madison and Columbus, Republican legislators are pushing to abolish public employee labor unions and tens of thousands of workers are protesting and resisting. We have seen nothing […]
What Does the Libyan Opposition Want?
As everyone knows, Muammar Gaddafi is an authoritarian dictator. Authoritarian dictators are a dime a dozen in world history, though, so that is not what would distinguish him from the rest of his kind in history books. What might make him stand out is this: in the twilight of his autocratic career, Gaddafi had become […]
Rally to Save Ohio’s Middle Class
Tues. March 1 starting 10AM going all day West Lawn of the Statehouse THE SENATE IS EXPECTED TO VOTE ON SENATE BILL 5 TUESDAY. For more info, visit <www.protectohiofamilies.com>. var idcomments_acct = ‘c90a61ed51fd7b64001f1361a7a71191’; var idcomments_post_id; var idcomments_post_url; | Print
Cynicism’s Danse Macabre
The politics of plunder imposed by the United States and its NATO allies in the Middle East is in crisis. This was inevitably unleashed with the high cost of grain, the effects of which are being felt with more force in the Arab nations where, despite their enormous oil resources, the shortage of water, arid […]
Demonstration in Defense of Workers’ Rights at Ohio’s Statehouse
No on Senate Bill 5, 22 February 2011 Panayiotis T. Manolakos is an independent economist, writer, and activist based in Ohio. The photographs above (available at www.flickr.com/photos/ptmanolakos/sets/72157626002955057) are published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License. var idcomments_acct = ‘c90a61ed51fd7b64001f1361a7a71191’; var idcomments_post_id; var idcomments_post_url; | Print
Azmi Bishara on Libya
On Al Jazeera, Dr. Azmi Bishara said that the violence unleashed in Libya against the Libyan people is beyond belief — indicative of desperation on the part of the political order — or rather “disorder” — in Libya, attempting to put a quick end to the uprising before escalation, as the situation is a […]
Just Say No — No More Cuts for Workers
There should be two lasting lessons to emerge from the heroic labor-led protests in Wisconsin. First, working people — with our many allies, students, seniors, women’s organizations, and more — are inspired and ready to fight. Second, we need to send a clear and unequivocal message to the right-wing politicians and those in the media […]
