Tehran, December 19, 2010. On what he called “the historic economic night,” President Ahmadinejad appeared on Iranian television to announce the imminent launch of the subsidy reform law, starting with energy prices at midnight (see below for new prices). He produced an impressive array of facts and figures from memory, hoping to calm fears about […]
Geography Archives: Americas
South America, Central America, United States & Canada
Obama Plan on Indefinite Detentions
Today, the Center for Constitutional Rights issued the following statement in response to reports that the Obama Administration is preparing an Executive Order to formalize indefinite detention without charge or trial for certain unnamed Guantanamo detainees. The assertion that 48 men currently detained at Guantánamo can be held indefinitely without charge or trial confirms that […]
Notes on Contemporary Imperialism
Phases of Imperialism Lenin dated the imperialist phase of capitalism, which he associated with monopoly capitalism, from the beginning of the twentieth century, when the process of centralization of capital had led to the emergence of monopoly in industry and among banks. The coming together (coalescence) of the capitals in these two spheres led to […]
West Sea Crisis in Korea
Contested Waters: Background to a Crisis 1. On November 23, 2010, military troops from the Republic of Korea (ROK, or South Korea) and the United States conducted war-simulation exercises, dubbed “Hoguk” [“Defend the State”], a massive joint endeavor involving 70,000 soldiers, 600 tanks, 500 warplanes, 90 helicopters, and 50 warships. It was slated to […]
Health Care as a Commodity: Reflections on the Hudson Decision
So a key part of U.S. President Barack Obama’s not-so “liberal” health insurance “reform” bill was declared “unconstitutional” last week by the right-wing federal district court judge Henry E. Hudson in Virginia. In a 42-page opinion, the justice wrote: “Neither the Supreme Court nor any federal circuit court of appeals has extended Commerce Clause powers […]
WikiLeaks Cables Show Why Washington Won’t Allow Democracy in Haiti
The polarization of the debate around WikiLeaks is pretty simple, really. Of all the governments in the world, the United States government is the greatest threat to world peace and security today. This is obvious to anyone who looks at the facts with a modicum of objectivity. The Iraq war has claimed hundreds of thousands, […]
It’s Sandy Pope vs. Hoffa Jr. for Teamster President
December 14, 2010 We did it! Teamsters across the country hit the pavement and collected the signatures we needed to accredit our campaign for General President. The election rules required that we turn in 33,437 signatures. Our goal was 40,000. Today, our campaign turned in more than 50,000 signatures to the Election Supervisor. It […]
Puerto Rico Student Strike Intensifies, Public Education and Civil Rights at Stake
Coincident with massive, at times explosive, student protests in Rome and London, the University of Puerto Rico has again become a flashpoint with a student strike beginning Tuesday that turned the main campus into a militarized zone of police, riot squads, and SWAT teams, complete with low-flying helicopters and snipers. What began as a conflict […]
Order Reigns on the Internet
Scarcely a day after the WikiLeaks disclosures of U.S. State Department cables the U.S. political establishment went ballistic. Some called for the assassination of WikiLeaks’ spokesperson, Julian Assange, whereas others wanted to amend the 1917 Espionage Act to target the website. Targeted “denial of service” attacks shut down the web site, and then the political […]
Secret Anti-Palestinian House Resolution to Be Voted on Today
The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation revealed today the text of a secret anti-Palestinian resolution to be voted on by the House of Representatives later in the day. The full text of the draft resolution, not yet made public officially, is reprinted below.* The resolution, introduced by Rep. Howard Berman, Chair of the […]
Modern Slavery
Plunder + Immigration Laws = Modern Slavery Cecilia Areito is a Colombian cartoonist. This cartoon was published in Rebelión on 15 December 2010. Translation by Yoshie Furuhashi (@yoshiefuruhashi | yoshie.furuhashi [at] gmail.com). | Print
A New Bandung?
Would you say that you’re among the pessimists who regard the five decades of African independence as five lost decades? I’m not a pessimist and I don’t think that these have been five lost decades. I remain extremely critical, extremely severe with respect to African states, governments, and political classes, but I’m even more […]
Lift Sanctions against Iran: Interview with Hooman Majd
Hooman Majd: Most average Americans, if they only follow the news on Iran the way it is presented, wouldn’t even know that there is a parliament, wouldn’t even know that there are three branches of government in Iran, like America: there’s the executive; there’s the legislative, which is the parliament; and there’s the judiciary. […]
Television in Venezuela: Who Dominates the Media?
It is commonly reported in the international press, and widely believed, that the government of President Hugo Chávez controls the media in Venezuela. For example, writing about Venezuela’s September elections for the National Assembly, the Washington Post‘s deputy editorial page editor and columnist, Jackson Diehl, referred to the Chávez “regime’s domination of the media. […]
Egyptian Elections and US Foreign Policy
Reed Lindsay: It’s election day in Egypt, the second round of parliamentary balloting. But in this working-class suburb of Cairo, few people seem to care. “There are no free and fair elections. All the opposition parties withdrew. A lot of us are unemployed. So why should we vote?” “All we are seeing is corruption, […]
Capitalism: An Obsolete System
Listen to the interview with Samir Amin: Can you tell me very briefly what your book Ending the Crisis of Capitalism or Ending Capitalism? is about? The title of my book is indicative of the intention. The title, in a provocative way, is Ending the Crisis of Capitalism or Ending Capitalism in Crisis? As […]
Lula Stands in Solidarity with WikiLeaks
Video by Ricardo Stuckert President Lula offered solidarity on Thursday (9 December) to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who was arrested this week after his group published cables written by American diplomats, and he criticized the Brazilian media for not defending the Australian activist and the freedom of expression. “The guy was arrested, and yet […]
Cuba’s Response to US Space Espionage
Pedro Méndez Suárez is a Cuban cartoonist. This cartoon was published in CubaDebate on 30 November 2010; it is reproduced here for non-profit educational purposes. Cf. David Axe, “Secret U.S. Space Plane May Be Too Mysterious” (Wired, 18 November 2010); Brad Lendon, “U.S. Military Says They’ve Launched Largest Spy Satellite” (This Just In, CNN, […]
COP16: Cancunhagen Lets Rich Countries Off the Hook
Meena Raman: The developed countries have gained quite a bit [at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancún] because the proposals in there [in the COP16 Outcome] really take them off the hook in terms of doing the real kind of emission reduction they need to do and a lot of responsibility has […]
Vice President of Bolivia Makes WikiLeaks Cables Available on His Web Site
Bolivian Vice President Álvaro García Linera: The empire, in the name of diplomacy, is committing third-class espionage — lamentable for a serious country, and lamentable and decadent for an empire. The reason [for making the WikiLeaks cables available] is to show the public the quality of an empire which — there’s no doubt about it […]
