June 2009
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Network-centric Warfare: Dominating entire societies Worldwide through ubiquitous surveillance By Tom Burghardt
The technological fetishism of Pentagon war planners and their corporate enablers masks the deadly realities for humanity posed by the dominant world disorder that has reached the end of the line as capitalism’s long death-spiral threatens to drag us all into the abyss. Continue reading
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Iran: Khamenei rides a storm in a tea cup By M K Bhadrakumar
How is the regime coping? Clearly, Khamenei is in the driving seat and is in control of the state apparatus. He is skillfully navigating the regime through the choppy waters. Khamenei’s meeting with the principal opposition candidate in the election, Mousavi, merits attention. The official statement makes out certain key points. First, Khamenei indicated unambiguously… Continue reading
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Netanyahu’s “brilliant” peace plan By Hasan Abu Nimah and Ali Abunimah
Netanyahu wants Palestinians to become committed Zionists. They can prove this by declaring, “We recognize the right of the Jewish people to a state of their own in this land.” As he pointed out, it is only the failure of Arabs in general and Palestinians in particular to commit themselves to the Zionist dream that… Continue reading
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GazaFriends: Absurdity Is the Norm in the Gaza Strip By Stephanie Westbrook
Gaza itself remains frozen in time; for nearly five months after the ceasefire, aside from a few rare cases in which cinder blocks have been used to fill gaping holes in the sides of buildings, no reconstruction whatsoever has begun. The blockade keeps the necessary building materials out of Gaza. Continue reading
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Obama and Anti-War Democrats By Norman Solomon
As a close vote neared on a supplemental funding bill for more war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that “the White House has threatened to pull support from Democratic freshmen who vote no.” In effect, it was so important to President Obama to get the war funds that he was willing… Continue reading
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Video: ‘The End of the Line’ Imagine a world without fish
Imagine an ocean without fish. Imagine your meals without seafood. Imagine the global consequences. This is the future if we do not stop, think and act. The End of the Line, the first major feature documentary film revealing the impact of overfishing on our oceans, had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in Continue reading
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No Light Unto Neighbours (or, “Let My Dena Go!”) BY Zrubavel Plunderovitch
This is a true story about two Jews who fail to ‘love their neighbours’. “Dr Dena Coleman, the head teacher of a Jewish orthodox school, and her husband, Gordon, claim they are kept prisoner in their holiday flat on the Sabbath because when they leave it they trigger the light in the communal hallway.” Continue reading
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Worker rights: No balls, no gains By Joe Bageant
From the Depression through World War II the Teamsters Union became a powerful entity, and a popular one too because of such things as its pledge never to strike during the war or a national emergency. President Roosevelt even had a special designated liaison to the Teamsters. But power and money eventually drew the usual… Continue reading
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Video: GazaFriends – Getting ready to go
This week’s update is lighter in tone than last week’s update. It gives you an idea of what we are doing to get the Free Gaza ready. We are hoping this time to entertain you a bit (our first mate would do well at open-mike night) and to let you know that we have enjoyed… Continue reading
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Marx, the first real globalist By William Bowles
If nothing else, the wholesale plunder of the planet’s natural resources has brought into sharp focus the necessity for some kind of global (and globally enforceable) regulation of what’s left of the planet’s precious cargo of life. But can capitalism undertake such a task? Not only that, is it willing to do so and is… Continue reading
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Gilad Atzmon – Yearning for a Minyan
The images of Israeli youngsters calling Obama ‘F**k Head’, ‘S**t Head’ and ‘Ni**er’ are rather effective PR materials at the hands of the friends of Palestine and it seems as if the Israelis are aware of it. Haaretz reported the other day that Netanyahu is convinced that “Obama seeks a clash with Israel to appease… Continue reading
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Introducing Reading from the Left: New Website Provides Free Downloads of Current Socialist Books and Pamphlets
Reading from the Left features free PDF downloads of pamphlets, reviews and announcements of socialist books, free PDF downloads of book chapters, and in some cases entire books. Continue reading
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Larger Context of the Iranian Elections By Reza Fiyouzat
I for one can state without qualifications that ‘elections’ cannot mean anything but a contest between candidates that are absolutely acceptable to a theocratic establishment. This, in turn, means that ALL elections, to varying degrees, are stolen elections, since the participation of a huge majority of Iranians as candidates, by the theocratic Constitution, has been… Continue reading
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Report: Palestinian Child Prisoners – The systematic and institutionalised ill-treatment and torture of Palestinian children by Israeli authorities
From the moment of arrest, Palestinian children encounter ill-treatment and in some cases torture, at the hands of Israeli soldiers, policemen and interrogators. Children are commonly arrested from the family home in the hours before dawn by heavily armed soldiers. The child is painfully bound, blindfolded and bundled into the back of a military vehicle… Continue reading
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BRIC Countries are the New Kids on Latin America’s Block
According to their draft communiqué, the BRICs will not formally discuss the role of the dollar in world finance and trade nor the creation of a supranational currency, despite the numerous discussions by BRIC members on these topics before today’s gathering. Subjects under consideration may include revamping the increasingly obsolete contemporary financial system and expanding… Continue reading
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Cuban Oil: Havana’s Potential Geo-Political Bombshell
Normalized relations would give the U.S. access to Cuban oil exploration and drilling, and allow the U.S. to implement environmental regulations aimed at protecting the Florida coast from potential oil spills. Enhanced trade with Cuba could generate up to $1.9 billion for the U.S.’s cash-strapped economy, and the image of the U.S. in Latin America… Continue reading
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U.S.-Bolivian Relations: Halting an Avalanche
Allegations of misconduct by U.S. officials continued on August 29, 2007 when the Minister to the Presidency, Ramón Quintana, complained that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was using its funds to support opposition groups in an attempt to destabilize the Morales government. Bolivian officials also directed another round of criticism at Goldberg… Continue reading
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The U.S. and Cuba: Destined to be an Environmental Duo?
Climate change and environmental degradation are two of the most pressing contemporary issues. If President Obama is sincerely committed to environmental sustainability, he must forge international partnerships to implement this objective. Where better to begin than in the U.S.’s own backyard, where Cuba has a huge presence. Only then can Cuba and the United States… Continue reading
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NATO's War Plans For The High North, Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea By Rick Rozoff
The alarming and aggressive campaign is exemplified by the ongoing 10-day Loyal Arrow 2009 NATO military exercises being conducted in Sweden, described by a major American daily newspaper as “A NATO rapid-reaction force…on a war footing in Swedish Lapland” which consists of “Ten countries, 2,000 troops, a strike aircraft carrier, and 50 fighter jets - … Continue reading
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“Left Must Unite to Create an Alternative”
The fascists pose a threat to working class organisations, black, Asian and other residents of this country — who BNP führer Nick Griffin dubs ‘alien’ — our civil liberties and much else. Continue reading
The New Dark Age 