“A lie can travel halfway around the world,” the American writer Mark Twain once said, “while the truth is putting on its shoes.” That statement could apply to the recent phony debate over “sharia tribunals” in Ontario. Odds are that if you consulted the average man or woman in the street on the matter, you […]
Geography Archives: Iraq
Iraq, Iran, and the New World Order
The present crisis concerning Iran’s nuclear program cannot be reduced to merely the ongoing rivalry between Tehran and Washington. Rather, it reveals all the new parameters of the post-Cold War world order that American strategists want to avoid. Iran’s Machiavellian diplomatic brinkmanship has succeeded so far, not only because the Ahmadinejad administration is exploiting the […]
The Man from the Middle Ages
Some people knew exactly what to think about the letter Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent to U.S. President George W. Bush. Since they had already pegged Ahmadinejad as a Holocaust-denying, Israel-threatening, nuke-hungry lunatic, it was no stretch to see the letter as exactly the sort of thing a Holocaust-denying, Israel-threatening, nuke-hungry lunatic would write, even […]
The End of Genocide
In an age dominated by brute force and overwhelming military power — in other words, any age at all — it is hard to remember that the simplest addition to our vocabulary can change the world. This was what Raphael Lemkin accomplished in 1944, when in a study on the Nazi occupation of Europe he […]
Chechnya, Darfur, and Jewish Activism
The Sudan Liberation Army signed a peace agreement with Khartoum. Now, only the Justice and Equality Movement is left (Lydia Polgreen and Joel Brinkley, “Biggest Rebel Faction in Darfur Poised to Sign Peace Deal,” New York Times, 4 May 2006). Will the “30 Days for Darfur” campaign, “inspired by a meeting between Rabbi [David] Saperstein […]
“Hispanic Quebec” Makes Its Entrance [L’entrée en scène du «Québec hispanophone»]
En ce Premier Mai 2006, des milliers et des milliers de Latinos se sont absentés du travail et de l’école, ont manifesté dans les rues des principales villes américaines et ont fait grève de consommation pour protester contre le projet de loi HR 4437 sur le contrôle de l’immigration illégale et faire reconnaître leur apport […]
What’s in a Name? Of West Point, War, and Pizza
When is a “West Point” graduate no longer a “West Point” graduate? That’s easy, according to the legal experts at the United States Military Academy. Any time you have an organization using the term, West Point, of which they do not approve. In fact, according to a letter received by us from these authorities, any […]
Who Wants Peace in Darfur?
The “Save Darfur” rally today was aired on C-Span. The rally was small — only several thousands according to Reuters (“Thousands March to Stop Darfur Killing,” 30 April 2006). And the crowd in attendance was overwhelmingly white. But, boy, it was a professionally-staged photo op, with celebs, politicos, and exiles from Sudan at the podium […]
Neil Young Kicks Out the Jams!
On April 30, 1970, Richard Nixon told the world that US forces were invading the country of Cambodia. Within twenty-four hours of his announcement, the streets of many cities and towns around the United States and elsewhere were filled with angry protests against the US action. On May 4, National Guard troops opened fire on […]
“Save Darfur”: Evangelicals and Establishment Jews
Yoshie Furuhashi, “Who Wants Peace in Darfur?” (30 April 2006) It’s embarrassing that America — and the world — will be witnessing a PRO-WAR rally in Washington, D.C. on April 30 (a project of SaveDarfur.org) that is far more highly publicized than an anti-war one (that appears to be poorly organized) in New York City […]
Persian Atoms: Enriching Facts, Diverting Fiction
“I don’t think the issue of enrichment right now, emotional as it is, is urgent. . . . So, we have ample time to negotiate a settlement by which, as I said, Iran’s need for nuclear power is assured and the concern of the international community is also put to rest.” “We have done our […]
Harperism: The First Three Months
The opening of the 39th Parliament of Canada on 3 April 2006 quickly revealed what should now be plain to all. Under the Conservative Party leadership of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Canadians are faced with a government with an unambiguous right-wing agenda. The outlines of the “Harperism” project can readily be discerned: there is a […]
West Point Graduates Organize against the War
We mince no words. Time is of the essence. Iraq is a human and political catastrophe, stark testament to the deceitful behavior of the Bush administration. The dangers are clear and present, and too many human beings are dying for an ignoble cause. The preemptive war launched against Iraq on March 20, 2003 stands illegal […]
This Is What a Movement Looks Like
While much of the left has been bemoaning the demise of the antiwar movement and fighting to reinvigorate the opposition to American warmongering that was so evident before the war began, millions of immigrants and their allies have poured into the streets to fight the racist stench emanating from Congress and demand real justice and […]
As Crisis Deepens: Is a Comeback for Labor in the Cards?
As labor activists from around the country and world converge on Dearborn, Michigan in early May for the Labor Notes Conference, it’s worth reflecting back on a year that has brought back hopes for a revitalization of the labor movement. Several months ago, the Wall Street Journal described an increase in strikes in the United […]
Filipino American Hip-Hop and Class Consciousness: Renewing the Spirit of Carlos Bulosan
“Filipino writers in the Philippines [and the United States] have a great task ahead of them, but also a great future. The field is wide open. They should rewrite everything written about the Philippines and the Filipino people from the materialist, dialectical point of view — this being, the only [way] to understand and interpret […]
Why Leaving Iraq Now Is the Only Sensible Step to Take: A Review of Anthony Arnove’s Iraq: The Logic of Withdrawal
IRAQ: The Logic of Withdrawal (Hardcover) by Anthony Arnove (Introduction by Howard Zinn)BUY THIS BOOK Coherent. That’s the one-word review of Anthony Arnove’s latest book, Iraq: The Logic of Withdrawal (New Press, April 2006). Incoherent. That’s what Washington’s policy in Iraq seems to be. What makes Arnove’s book so important is that he dissects that […]
Vetting God’s Politics
Michael Lerner, The Left Hand of God: Taking Back Our Country from the Religious Right (HarperSanFrancisco, 2006). Jim Wallis, God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It (HarperSanFrancisco, 2005). Dearly beloved leftists and friends. It’s 2006 and we’re gathered here together uncomfortably discussing why so few of us are […]
The “Dirty Thirty’s” Peter McLaren Reflects on the Crisis of Academic Freedom
Peter McLaren David Gabbard and Karen Anijar Appleton, “Fearless Speech in Fearful Times: An Essay Review of Capitalists and Conquerors, Teaching against Global Capitalism and the New Imperialism, and Teaching Peter McLaren,” MRZine, 30 October 2005 Peter McLaren is Professor of Education at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University […]
Pinko Plague Panics President
(PU) After years of government indifference to viral epidemics, President Bush today called an emergency press conference to launch a federal campaign against the “Human Altruist Virus,” which threatens to blight the nation. “Make no mistake,” stated the President, “this is a terrorist microbe. Compared with HIV, which mostly kills people we don’t care about, […]
