- St. Bartholomew's Day massacre
Resource Type: Website
First Published: 20172017
Published: 20172017
The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in 1572 was a targeted group of assassinations and a wave of Catholic mob violence, directed against the Huguenots (French Protestants) during the French Wars of Religion.
- The Dangers of Privatized Intelligence
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2020
Published: 2020
Ray McGovern once again effectively demolishes (as he has several times over the past three years) the flimsy props holding up Russiagate, especially the "Intelligence Community Assessment" (ICA) prepared in January 2017 by "handpicked analysts" from the FBI, CIA and NSA (not 17 intelligence agencies, as first claimed by National Intelligence Director James Clapper and CIA Director John Brennan).
- Israeli Justice... a Futile Chase
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2020
Published: 2020
Seventeen years ago, 23 year old Rachel Corrie (a Washington State volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement) was crushed to death by an armoured military bulldozer as she stood on top of a mound of dirt trying to prevent the dozer from destroying a civilian home in the Southern Gaza Strip village of Rafa.
- It's not oppression if a 'pro-Western democrat' does it? Montenegro's 'religious freedom' law is a vile, lawless travesty
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Adopting a 'religious freedom' law that opens the door to persecuting a particular faith would normally be seen as a horrifying breach of human rights, but when done to Orthodox Serbs in Montenegro, the West doesn’t seem to mind.
- Liberals' 'humanitarian' open arms is not a solution to migrant crisis; radical economic changes are needed
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Calls by Liberals to 'open our hearts' to immigrants from poor countries are about maintaining the status quo in the capitalist world. The solution is a radical change in the global economic system which encourages migration.
- All Massacres Will Become 'Alleged Massacres' If We Don't Pay Attention
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The greatest enemy of all journalists – and all politicians – is the failure of institutional, historical memory.
- Amazon Alexa wants to save you from uncomfortable Christmas dinner talk. Be careful what you wish for.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Amazon has introduced a feature for Alexa to introduce conversation topics at Christmas family dinners. Given the history of privacy breaches people should wary.
- Indo-Pak Nuclear Confrontation: First Use Policy and the Race Towards Armageddon
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
There are several indications that India's ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ideological mentor the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) are obsessed with the perverse urge to wipe out Pakistan with nuclear weapons by unleashing a first or a second strike.
- Remembering America's First (and Longest) Forgotten War on Tribal Islamists
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Here are the relevant points when it comes to the Moro War (which will sound grimly familiar in a twenty-first-century forever-war context): the United States military shouldn’t have been there in the first place; the war was ultimately an operational and strategic failure, made more so by American hubris; and it should be seen, in retrospect, as (using a term General David Petraeus applied to our present Afghan War) the nation's first "generational struggle."
- Trade Deals Are About Increasing Protectionist Barriers
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Past trade deals were about making it easier to trade manufactured goods, making it as easy as possible for corporations to take advantage of low-cost labor in the developing world. This has the predicted and actual effect of putting downward pressure on the wages of less-educated workers.
- The Perils of Embedded Journalism: 'Afghan Papers' Wouldn't Be Needed If We Had a Real Independent News Media
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
If the Post and other major news media outlets had been pursuing the truth over the years about these all the wars, and the so-called "War" on Terror, instead of leaving the hard work of exposing all the lies to the likes of whistleblowers like Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden and journalist/whistleblower publisher Julian Assange, we'd already know about the venality and culpability of our government.
- This ancient cave art is the oldest known 'storytelling'
Art found in Indonesia shows humans with animal characteristics hunting animals with spears and ropes
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A cave painting found on Indonesia's island of Sulawesi, depicting human-like figures hunting animals, appears to be the earliest known pictorial record of storytelling, according to a study by a team of Australian and Indonesian researchers.
- Start a tradition of choosing picture books to share with children in your life
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Reading to children is associated with a heap of benefits, including more expansive expressive and receptive vocabularies, better language comprehension and better early math abilities. More recently, the study of reading has turned to examine the social and emotional benefits provided by storybook reading.
- How can the U.S. dare lecturing China about Rights of the Muslims?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
For some time, I have been warning the world that the West, and the United States in particular, are helping to radicalize the Uyghurs in Xinjiang Province and outside.
- Spokane vs. the Border Patrol: How Immigration Agents Stake Out a City Bus Station
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Amid the Trump administration's immigration enforcement crackdown, the Border Patrol has stepped up raids on Greyhound buses nationwide, combatting what the agency claims is a "growing threat" of "alien smuggling and drug trafficking organizations to move people, narcotics, and contraband to interior destinations."
- Money, Power and Turf: Winning the Middle East Media War at Any Cost
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
It is hardly surprising to see Middle Eastern countries at the bottom of the World Press Freedom Index, as the worst violators of freedom of the press. But equally alarming is the complete polarization of public opinion as a result of self-serving media and, bankrolled by rich Arab countries, whose only goal is to serve their specific, often sinister, agendas.
- 'Sexy tricks': How journalists demonize Venezuela's socialist government, in their own words
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The United States has labeled Venezuela's government a "dictatorship" and part of a "troika of tyranny," and has sponsored multiple coup attempts there, including one in November. The corporate media has dutifully ignored the US role in the country's economic woes, laying the blame squarely at the feet of Maduro, omitting crucial political context on Venezuela's economic crisis while keeping up a constant flow of content presenting the country as a socialist hellhole.
- Russiagate media smears against Corbyn brought to you by US and UK military-intelligence apparatus
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The popular socialist leader of Britain's Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, could be on the verge of becoming prime minister of the United Kingdom. And the mere possibility is terrifying British intelligence services and the US government.
- Uber Has Always Been a Criminal Organization
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Uber's whole business model was premised on criminality -- the willful, systematic flouting of local taxi regulations, based on a wager that the company could retroactively absolve itself by getting the laws changed via big-money lobbying. With that kind of mission, it's not surprising its executives had blood on their hands long before they started taking Saudi blood money.
- The Faux Generosity of the Super-Wealthy: Why Bill Gates is a Menace to Society
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
While the media may be full of stories singing Gates' praises, presenting him as a good billionaire (as opposed to the current president), the reality is that one man with that amount of power, be it political (like Trump) or economic (like Gates and Bezos) has a highly corrosive effect on democracy and society more generally.
- Revolutionary reels: Soviet propaganda film and the Russian Revolution
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
However, the Bolsheviks would revolutionize Russian cinema as leaders recognized the potential of film propaganda as a way to influence the political and social attitudes of the people. Vladimir Lenin clearly understood the power of film, as he stated, "Of all the arts, for us, cinema is most important."
- Study Reveals How UK Intelligence Works with Media to Smear Jeremy Corbyn
New research from Matt Kennard has shown how the British intelligence establishment works with the UK media to smear Jeremy Corbyn.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Academic studies of the Corbyn coverage have also shown that corporate media have shown a profound hostility to him and his project. One report from the London School of Economics included an entire section called "Delegitimization through Ridicule, Scorn, and Personal Attacks."
- What Religion is Your Nationalism?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
On November 9, 2019, 27 years after mobs destroyed the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, the Supreme Court of India, despite stating that the demolition of the mosque was against the rule of law, pronounced the lawbreakers as victors. Those who had indulged in a bloodbath to build a temple where they claim Lord Ram was born have become the owners.
- Quo Vadis, Lebanon?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Some Lebanese call what is happening on the streets of Beirut, Tripoli and other cities, an "October Revolution", but in reality, this uprising has very little to do with the iconic Russian Bolshevik Revolution of 1917.
- 'Shadow banning' written into Twitter's new terms of service, may 'limit visibility' of some users
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
With the addition of those four words, the company is telling users it reserves the right shadow ban or "throttle" certain accounts. On what basis will it make those decisions – or whether they will be made solely by an automated algorithm – remains unclear.
- Ukrainian neo-Nazis flock to the Hong Kong protest movement
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Neo-Nazis from Ukraine have flown to Hong Kong to participate in the anti-Chinese insurgency, which has been widely praised by Western corporate media and portrayed as a peaceful pro-democracy movement. Since March 2019, Hong Kong has been the site of often-violent protests and riots that have run the city’s economy into the ground.
- Harvesting the Blood of America's Poor: The Latest Stage of Capitalism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
In today’s wretched economy, where around 130 million Americans admit an inability to pay for basic needs like food, housing or healthcare, buying and selling blood is of the few booming industries America has left.
- NATO's Crises
The 2% goal as defence illiteracy
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
NATO's London Summit on December 3 and 4, 2019 displays the deep political crisis of the 70-year-old alliance: Only a dinner and a short meeting, no statement to be issued, quarrels among the leading military members, accusations, substantial differences on Syria and many other issues, the deepest-ever Transatlantic conflict and the usual issues of burden-sharing.
- Perspectives for the coming revolution in America: Race, class and the fight for socialism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The title for this meeting is "Perspectives for the Coming Revolution in America." It begins with the understanding, broadly felt by a growing section of workers and youth throughout the world, that we live in a revolutionary period.
- Ukraine, the New Cold War and the Politics of Impeachment
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The question not being asked is why it was politically, legally or morally justified for the U.S.-- the Obama administration, to 1) use NGOs and the CIA 2) to join with real and virulent Ukrainian Nazis to 3) oust the Democratically elected president of Ukraine 4) in order to install a puppet regime that answers to the national security state? Passionate assertions that Donald Trump is corrupt face the question back: what part of this entire operation isn't corrupt?
- Technocracy now: The US is working to turn Lebanons anti-corruption protests against Hezbollah
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The movement was spurred by the levying of regressive taxes and the persistence of a corrupt neoliberal order that has mismanaged the economy and hollowed out the public sector while enriching a handful of elites amid a looming economic collapse. Though the protests remain focused on class issues and corruption, the US is increasingly determined to co-opt the movement for its own goals.
- Berlin Tax Office withdraws charitable status from Nazi victims' organisation
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The Berlin Tax Office has withdrawn the charitable status of one of the largest and most long-established anti-fascist associations in Germany jeopardizing its abillity to continue its work.
- Fire Brigades Union study exposes decades of deregulation and cost-cutting that led to Grenfell Tower inferno—Part 2
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A major strength of the FBU's research is its documenting of the role of the last Labour government in decimating health and safety regulations in relation to the fire service.
- Britain’s Chief Rabbi is Helping to Stoke antisemitism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Chief rabbi Ephraim Mirvis has not only misrepresented the known facts about Labour and its supposed antisemitism crisis. He has not only interfered in an overtly, politically partisan manner in the December 12, 2019 election campaign by suggesting that Jeremy Corbyn -- against all evidence -- is an antisemite.
- Fire Brigades Union study exposes decades of deregulation and cost cutting that led to Grenfell Tower inferno—Part 1
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has published a damning report demonstrating that years of austerity measures, privatisation and deregulation led to the entirely avoidable fire at Grenfell Tower in June 2017, which claimed 72 lives.
- The Grand Illusion
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
As the ecological crisis deepens, nearing the infamous Tipping Point – taking us closer to planetary catastrophe – we are being led to believe that an imminent "greening" of the world economy will deliver us from a very dark future. Somehow, against all logic, we have adopted a collective faith in the willingness of ruling governments and corporations to do the right thing.
- The Most Enduring Media Cover Up
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Clearing the FOG hosts Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese interviewed Alison Weir, journalist and founder of If Americans Knew, a website that provides factual information about the Israeli State and Palestine.
- Statement Condemning US Removal of Democratically-Elected Evo Morales
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Following months of destabilization, on November 10, 2019, the legitimate, constitutional, democratically-elected President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, was driven at gunpoint out of office and the country by the US and its allies, among them Bolivian fascists and several members of the Organization of American States (OAS), including Canada. This latest aggression follows centuries of colonial, imperialist, and neo-colonial conquest and plunder of the Indigenous-majority population of Bolivia.
- What is Happening in Spain?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Spain spends much less on public social expenditures that what it should spend according to its level of economic development. It is one of the countries of the European Union 15 (the more advanced economies of the European Union) that spends the least on public services such as health care, education, public housing and child care, and on transfers, such as pensions.
- Antisemitism Claims have One Goal: To Stop Jeremy Corbyn Winning Power
The Jewish community’s alienation from Labour has been years in the making
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A supposed antisemitism crisis in Britain's Labour party since Jeremy Corbyn became leader has erupted back into the headlines.
- A Collective Ignorance of Ecosystems
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Loss of genetic diversity is one consequence of the Industrial Forestry Paradigm that dominates the U.S. timber industry and all public agencies from the state forestry agencies to the federal agencies like the Forest Service.
- An interview with historian Gordon Wood on the New York Times' 1619 Project
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
I was surprised, as many other people were, by the scope of this thing, especially since it's going to become the basis for high school education and has the authority of the New York Times behind it, and yet it is so wrong in so many ways.
- New Study: "Russian Trolls" Did Not "Sow Discord" - They Influenced No One
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The U.S. has claimed that the Russia government tried to influence the 2016 election through Facebook and Twitter. Russia supposedly did this through people who worked the Internet Research Agency (IRA) in St. Petersburg (Leningrad), Russia. The evidence contradicts these claims.
- Operation Condor 2.0: After Bolivia coup, Trump dubs Nicaragua 'national security threat' and targets Mexico
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
One successful coup against a democratically elected socialist president is not enough, it seems. Immediately after overseeing a far-right military coup in Bolivia on November 10, the Trump administration set its sights once again on Nicaragua, whose democratically elected Sandinista government defeated a violent right-wing coup attempt in 2018.
- With the right-wing coup in Bolivia nearly complete, the junta is hunting down the last remaining dissidents
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A brutal military junta that seized power from Bolivia's democratically elected President Evo Morales is violently repressing a working-class indigenous-led uprising, and the country is rapidly falling under its control. Soldiers in military fatigues prowl the streets, enforcing a series of choke points around the seat of power.
- Amazon's Ring Planned Neighborhood 'Watch Lists' Built on Facial Recognition
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Amazon's plan to create proactive "watch lists" based on supposed suspicious activity - including facial recognition software - seen by their Ring cameras should alarm anyone who cares about privacy.
- It Is True That Corruption Caused The 737 MAX Accidents. But It Was Not Foreign.
The New York Times blamed the foreign pilots for the crashes of two 737 MAX airplanes. It now takes a shot at the foreign airlines
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
So someone from Indonesia's air safety agency took another job in the industry. Three years later he changed back into a government role. That shows that Indonesia is a corrupt country and that Lion Air is the most corrupt, says a former pilot with an ax to grind.
- The Lies About Assange Must Stop Now
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Newspapers and other media in the United States and Britain have recently declared a passion for freedom of speech, especially their right to publish freely. They are worried by the "Assange effect".
- Nuclear Lies and Broken Promises
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
When Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told an economic meeting in the city of Sivas this September that Turkey was considering building nuclear weapons, he was responding to a broken promise. When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the government of Iran of lying about its nuclear program, he was concealing one of the greatest subterfuges in the history of nuclear weapons.
- on the degradation of political debate
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Today, political debates have become vacuous and insipid because politicians have become contemptuous of the electorate. Voters, many believe, are ignorant, swayed more by emotion than by reason, happy to accept lies and drawn to politicians with easy answers.
- Uber stripped of taxi operations license in London
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Ride-hailing service Uber has lost its license to operate in the UK capital, after authorities have discovered that more than 14,000 trips were made with uninsured drivers. Transport for London (TfL) announced the decision not to renew the firm's license at the end of a two-month probationary extension granted in September.
- CIA helped shape ‘Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan’ series into bigoted Venezuela regime change fantasy
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
In a new video analysis of the show (embedded at the end of this article), researcher Tom Secker exposed the show as straightforward US imperial propaganda which was produced in direct collaboration with the CIA and Pentagon.
- A Guided Tour of AI and the Murky Ethical Issues It Raises
In "Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans," Melanie Mitchell explores the workings and ethics of AI.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Mitchell's goal is to give a thorough (and I mean thorough) account not only of the ethical issues artificial intelligence raises today (and tomorrow), but of how the various branches of AI that the Dartmouth group pursued actually work. She is a good writer with broad knowledge of the topic (unsurprising, since she has a Ph.D. in computer science), and a canny mindfulness of both the merits and problems of AI.
- Hillary's white pantsuit says 'empowerment' but Tulsi’s says 'fringe cult leader': NYT pilloried for two-faced style commentary
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The New York Times has been accused of peddling ridiculous and shamelessly biased punditry, after the Gray Lady took aim at presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard’s white pantsuit but ended up red-faced.
- Hong Kong's opposition unites with Washington hardliners to 'preserve the US's own political and economic interests'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The U.S. Senate unanimously passed the so-called Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act on November 19, 2019, without any opposition. Despite loudly proclaiming to protect "human rights" and "democracy," a closer look at this legislation reveals the imperial agenda underlying Washington’s actions in Hong Kong.
- Journalists need 'national security' training to stop flow of embarrassing but true NATO stories, defense-backed think tank warns
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
With Western armed forces already using embedded reporters to tell the story they prefer, a UK think tank now calls for national security training for journalists so they don't help out Russia or China by telling the truth.
- Responding to Lt. Col. Vindman about my Ukraine columns … with the facts
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
- Freedom, Valor, Love: On Snowden's Permanent Record
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Edward Snowden's life reveals it's not just "the computer guy" (or other non-male folks) at tech's helms, but the general U.S. public that bears witness to corporatized data surveillance state violations, or the data industrial complex. This secretive sprawling network is the invasive rule today; it involves regular media outlets, telecommunications, social media platforms, Internet service providers, and government agencies.
- var, technology and human judgment
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
VAR aims to eliminate 'clear and obvious errors' by referees by using TV replays to allow officials to view contentious incidents from different camera angles and by reconstructing the movement of the ball or players to check whether a goal was actually scored and whether a player was offside. The trouble is, what constitutes a 'clear and obvious error' is itself a judgment call.
- A World in Revolt
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
We are pleased to include in this issue of Insurgent Notes a series of very detailed accounts and analyses of the gilets jaunes or yellow vests movement in France prepared by activists associated with Temps critiques. The texts are informed by a distinctive theoretical perspective (regarding capitalist reproduction and the possibility of revolution) and their sustained involvement in the yellow vests movement from its inception.
- A rich diversity: Underground channels and stream of US Trotskyism, 1928-1965
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
- Rosa Luxemburg and the actuality of revolution
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
She was brilliant, insightful, with considerable knowledge and practical experience. She said and wrote things that are worth comprehending, actively considering, and testing out as we try to understand and change the world around us.
- Why The 'Ok Boomer' phenomenon is short-sighted
Millennials and Generation Zers have more in common with struggling boomers than wealthy elites our own age
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The "Ok Boomer" meme, which many young people are using online as a rebuttal against supposedly out-of-touch baby boomers, taps into frustrations disproportionately experienced by millennials and Generation Zers -- particularly in Canada's most unaffordable cities. Unfortunately, however, the meme also represents a discourse that ignores the many older people experiencing poverty, discrimination and hardship.
- Israel's relentless violence on Gaza met by global silence
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A ceasefire has been reached in Gaza after Israel launched a wave of airstrikes that killed 34 Palestinians, including eight members of one family. Ali Abunimah of The Electronic Intifada discusses Israel's latest bombings, which come after more than one year of weekly, deadly Israeli attacks on non-violent Palestinian demonstrators.
- Building resistance to Canada’s destructive mining industry
Review of Joan Kuyek's book Unearthing Justice
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
In her book Unearthing Justice: How to Protect Your Community from the Mining Industry, long-time activist Joan Kuyek brilliantly shares lessons from decades of fighting environmental and community disruption by Canada’s mining corporations.
- Top Bolivian coup plotters trained by US military's School of the Americas, served as attachés in FBI police programs
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The United States played a key role in the military coup in Bolivia, and in a direct way that has scarcely been acknowledged in accounts of the events that forced the country's elected president, Evo Morales, to resign on November 10, 2019.
- How the Hand of Israeli Spy Tech Reaches Deep into our Lives
Israeli software used on Palestinians is producing new cyber weapons that are rapidly being incorporated into global digital platforms
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Digital age weapons developed by Israel to oppress Palestinians are rapidly being repurposed for much wider applications – against Western populations who have long taken their freedoms for granted.
- Social inequality in Early Bronze Age Europe
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Recent research into Bronze Age populations in Germany provides some insight into a certain aspect of class formation, which may be more broadly relevant. In Europe, aside from the Aegean area, such civilizations did not develop in the same manner as in the territories to the east, with their high degree of urbanization and intensive, often irrigation-based, agriculture.
- Cuba's urban farming shows way to avoid hunger
Urban farming, Cuban-style, is being hailed as an example of how to feed ourselves when climate change threatens serious food shortages.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
When countries run short of food, they need to find solutions fast, and one answer can be urban farming. That was the remedy Cuba seized with both hands 30 years ago when it was confronted with the dilemma of an end to its vital food imports.
- The 2019 UN Vote Against the US Blockade of Cuba
Trump's Washington Remains Cornered
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
On November 7, 2019, for the 28th year in a row, the entire United Nations General Assembly, gathered in one room, voted overwhelmingly against "the Economic, Commercial, and Financial Embargo Imposed on Cuba by the United States." The final tally was 187 in favor, 3 opposed (Brazil, Israel, US), 2 abstentions (Colombia, Ukraine), 1 not voting (Moldova).
- Noel Ignatiev, 1940-2019
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Yesterday I learned that my friend and comrade Noel Ignatiev passed away. He’d been in poor health for some time, diagnosed with a rare form of gastrointestinal cancer that made it difficult for him to swallow properly or digest, but it still caught me off guard.
- The "Irrepressible Conflict:" Slavery, the Civil War and America’s Second Revolution
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The purpose of this lecture series, hosted by the Socialist Equality Party, is to address the falsifications of the New York Times' "1619 Project" and undertake a historical materialist analysis of American history, and in this lecture, the Civil War.
- Bank Report Reveals Where Ruling Class Lives
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The 2019 Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report provides a glimpse at the inequality that the neoliberal era has produced, who has benefitted and those who have been left behind.
- My Friend Was Murdered for Trying to Save the Amazon
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Paulino paid with his life for trying save his tribe's forest, the Arariboia Indigenous Territory, in the north-east Amazon.
- Dams and the Green New Deal: Why the Silence?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Hydroelectric power from dams might be the thorniest question that proponents of the Green New Deal (GND) have to grapple with. Providing more energy than solar and wind combined, dams could well become the backup for energy if it proves impossible to get off of fossil fuels fast enough.
- Gabor Maté on the misuse of anti-Semitism and why fewer Jews identify with Israel
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Talking today about antisemitism, particularly posing it as a problem on the left.
- The Never-Ending Curse of Coal
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Last week Murray Energy, one of the largest coal mining corporations in the nation, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. That makes it the fifth coal company to do so in the last year.
- failing to see the deeper causes of social tragedies
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
In both cases, the roots of the tragedies are manifold. But in both cases we seem more interested in laying instant blame than in excavating the wider causes that might help us prevent such catastrophes happening again.
- 'What a mess': McDonald's customers frustrated as 'Hamburglar' hacks more app accounts
Company said incidents are rare and it's 'confident in the security of our app'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The so-called Hamburglar is still at large, hacking customers' McDonald's app accounts and ordering food on their dime. For some victims, their troubles didn't end there as they were unhappy with how McDonald's handled their cases.
- Slavery and the American Revolution: A Response to the New York Times 1619 Project
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
In its insistence that race -- which has no basis in science -- is the determinative category of both the present and past, the 1619 Project shares the most basic premise of the white supremacists and fascists that are being set into motion by the Trump administration.
- Deconstructed Special: The Noam Chomsky Interview
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
On this week’s Deconstructed, Chomsky sits down with Mehdi Hasan to discuss the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump, the 2020 Democratic field, and why he opposed Trump's Syria troop withdrawal.
- Tamil Nadu's seaweed harvesters in rough seas
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
An unusual activity of the fisherwomen of Bharathinagar in Tamil Nadu keeps them more in the water than on boats. But climate change and overexploitation of marine resources are eroding their livelihoods.
- The Tangled Web of US Border Security Around the World
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Between 1998 and 2016, the US Border Patrol counted nearly 7,000 migrant deaths along the border. Curiously, El Salvador’s new president, center-right Nayib Bukele, who’d won the election in a landslide on a campaign that promised "new ideas," responded to the death of his country's citizens by saying, "It is our fault."
- Toronto's Meghan Murphy Meltdown: A Case Study in Media-Driven Social Panic
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
- Colorado police who blew up family's house with CHEMICAL BOMBS just to catch a shoplifter owe them NOTHING, court rules
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A Colorado family whose house was destroyed in a 19-hour standoff between police and an armed shoplifter is not entitled to any compensation from the department that rendered them homeless, an appeals court has ruled.
- Historian Victoria Bynum on the inaccuracies of the New York Times 1619 Project
An interview with the author of The Free State of Jones
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The 1619 Project, launched by the New York Times in August 2019, presents American history in a purely racial lens and blames all "white people" for the enslavement of 4 million black people as chattel property.
- Money Talks, Bullshit Walks on Cable News
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
None of the big companies buying advertising time on CNN and MSNBC have any interest in the progressive taxation and restored union organizing and collective bargaining rights that Sanders advocates.
- Camp Bucca, Abu Ghraib, and the Rise of Extremism in Iraq
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Suffering caused through our wars including conditions inside US military camps, in Iraq, led to the extremism of Al-Baghdadi and his ISIS followers.
- To Be or Not to Be a Jewish State, That is the Question
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Israel's champions owe us an explanation. First, they insist that Israel is and always must be a Jewish state, by which most of them mean not religiously Jewish but of the "Jewish People" everywhere, including Jews who are citizens of other states and not looking for a new country.
- what may be lost with Rojava
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
300,000 people displaced. Villages and infrastructure destroyed. Allegations of white phosphorus use. The costs of the Turkish invasion of northern Syria to create a 'safe zone' are immense, the latest twist in the seemingly intractable Syrian war.
- Disagreeing Reasonably in a Complex World
A review of The Case Against Free Speech
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Free speech is not a naturally occurring object. It's an idea, a notion, an aspiration, an approach to politics, always involving a theory about what it means to be human in a particular society at a particular time.
- Other Voices: The Connexions Newsletter - October 27, 2019
What Next?
Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Millions of us, in many different countries, came out in late September to demand action on the climate crisis. Around the world, in diverse ways, we are working to keep up the pressure. Time is short, and the tasks are huge. In the midst of our activism and organizing, we need to keep asking ourselves some important questions: What are our goals? And what should we do to reach our goals?
- A health care algorithm affecting millions is biased against black patients
A startling example of algorithmic bias
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A health care algorithm makes black patients substantially less likely than their white counterparts to receive important medical treatment. The major flaw, which affects millions of patients, was revealed in research published in the journal Science.
- Race, genetics and pseudoscience: an explainer
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A small number of researchers, mostly well outside of the scientific mainstream, have seized upon some of the new findings and methods in human genetics, and are part of a social-media cottage-industry that disseminates and amplifies low-quality or distorted science, sometimes in the form of scientific papers, sometimes as internet memes – under the guise of euphemisms such as 'race realism' or ‘human biodiversity'. Their arguments, which focus on racial groupings and often on the alleged genetically-based intelligence differences between them, have the semblance of science, with technical-seeming tables, graphs, and charts.
- Crow Nation is a place where one could vanish - and many have
Bureaucratic loopholes, jurisdictional gaps, discrimination foster an epidemic of missing and murdered Native Americans.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
It is an epidemic impacting land-based tribes across the country and is particularly acute in Montana, where Native Americans are five times more likely to be reported missing than any other group in the state. Here in Crow Nation, disappearances from this sovereign territory have become so commonplace that nearly every member of the Crow tribe has a close friend or blood relative who has gone missing.
- Revolutionary theory, academia and Marxist political parties
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
According to Lenin, revolutionary work has four parts: theoretical work, propaganda, agitation and organization.
- Let’s Make Sure the Nazis Killed in Vain
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
I don't know how many times I've heard that if we don't stand by Israel, the victims of the Nazi Judeocide will have died in vain. I knew something was wrong with that claim, but for the longest time I couldn't put my finger on it. Now I think I can.
- The PR Campaign to Hide the Real Cause of those Sky-High Surprise Medical Bills
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Since 2010, an increasing number of hospitals have outsourced their emergency rooms, radiology, anesthesiology, and other specialized services to physician staffing firms. Patients who need these critical services may inadvertently receive care from a doctor outside of their insurance network and find that they owe thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars in surprise medical bills.
- US Democrats Cultivated the Barbarism of Isis
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
There is something profoundly deceitful in the Democratic Party and corporate media's framing of Donald Trump's decision to pull troops out of Syria. One does not need to like Trump or ignore the dangers posed to the Kurds, at least in the short term, by the sudden departure of US forces from northern Syria to understand that the coverage is being crafted in such a way as to entirely overlook the bigger picture.
- Here we go again: Amazon AI-powered Cloud Cam actually powered by unseen humans who watch you have sex
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Amazon’s AI-based home security system is sending footage of users' private moments to dozens of algorithm trainers halfway around the world, according to former employees - not unlike its Alexa "smart" speakers. Amazon’s Cloud Cam home security device regularly sends video clips to employees in Romania and India, who help "train" its AI algorithms, according to five current and former employees who spoke to Bloomberg.
- Communist Dictatorship in Our Midst
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A kind of undercurrent of thought about workplace democracy has bubbled beneath the surface of public discourse of our current "crisis of democracy." Beneath the surface: one can hardly identify any serious public discourse these days on the anti-democratic nature of most work under Neo-liberal conditions.
- 'Consumers are not aware we are slaves inside the greenhouses'
Exploitation plagues Spain's farming province, with migrant workers paid below minimum wage and living in squalor.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
What is referred to as Almeria's "economic miracle" among Spanish economists is almost exclusively dependant on an invisible, expendable and often illegally employed migrant workers like Maruf, toiling under 40-degree heat and extreme humidity.
- Catalonia 'separatists' bad, HK 'pro-democracy protesters' good: Orwell's 1984 becomes user's manual for Western 'free media'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
When supporters of Catalan leaders jailed for organizing a democratic vote advance on Barcelona airport, media make a fuss over 'separatists' causing chaos. When the same tactic is used in Hong Kong, it's a 'pro-democracy' protest. In George Orwell’s 1984, The War Ministry was renamed the Ministry of Peace. Truth was Lies, Hate was Love. But author Lewis Carroll got there first.
- Death, Misery and Bloodshed in Yemen
"Strike with Creativity" proclaims Raytheon.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Writing about his visit to the world's largest weapons bazaar, held in London during October, Arron Merat describes reading this slogan emblazoned above Raytheon’s stall: "Strike with Creativity." Raytheon manufactures Paveway laser-guided bombs, fragments of which have been found in the wreckage of schools, hospitals, and markets across Yemen.
- To Adapt to the Escalating Climate Crisis, Mere Reform Will Not Be Enough
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
As I've watched young people around the world take part in the climate actions of the last month, I've gotten the sense that I'm watching a spectacle which has been orchestrated to create the illusion that we're still in an earlier, more stable time for the planet's climate. Legitimate as the passion and commitment of this generation of teen climate activists is, their efforts are being packaged by the political and media establishment in a way that encourages denial about our true situation.
- Miriam Garfinkle
Connexipedia article
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Miriam Garfinkle was a Canadian physician and social justice activist.
- Why deep-learning AIs are so easy to fool
Artificial-intelligence researchers are trying to fix the flaws of neural networks.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
These problems are more concerning than idiosyncratic quirks in a not-quite-perfect technology, says Dan Hendrycks, a PhD student in computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. Like many scientists, he has come to see them as the most striking illustration that DNNs are fundamentally brittle: brilliant at what they do until, taken into unfamiliar territory, they break in unpredictable ways.
- 'Cotton has now become a headache'
A chemical-intensive Bt cotton monoculture is spreading through Odisha’s Rayagada district – harming health, deepening debt, irreversibly er
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Kunari's account reflects a dependence brought about by cotton cultivation that is taking root across the ecologically sensitive highland tracts of Odisha's Rayagada district, with deep implications for its rich store of biodiversity, farmers' distress and food security (See Sowing the seeds of climate crisis in Odisha).
- Lawless Trump-Canada Connections
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Canada recently seized and sold $30 million worth of Iranian properties in Ottawa and Toronto, a gross hypocrisy explains Yves Engler in light of oversights of more flagrant US and Israel terror victims. But the behaviour of Canada Foreign Affairs in joining the lawless US war of sanctions, embargos and military threats against Iran goes deeper than hypocrisy.
- Red-Green Alliance: A Green Earth With Peace And Room For Us All
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The Red-Green Alliance advocates a strong international labour organization with muscles to raise global demands for workers. It means a labour organization where it is possible to remain organized, even when traveling across borders, and where people working in the same company, or in the same sector across borders, can be organized together, and raise common demands.
- Taxing Financial Transactions Is More Strategic Than Taxing High Wealth
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
- New weapons and the new tactics which they make possible: three examples
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
- Impeachment, Brought to You by the CIA
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Despite occasional warm gas passed in a leftish direction, establishment Democrats never had any intention of allowing a left political program to move forward. After four decades of asserting that they 'believe' climate science, the moment has arrived when the only political path forward is to take on their donors.
- Irregular votes, panicked moves, kiosks
Insiders detail the last days of Jason Kenney's campaign to be leader of Alberta's United Conservative Party
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A CBC News investigation lifts the veil on what happened inside voting kiosks set up by the Kenney campaign. It’s part of a larger story about allegations of wrongdoing by the team behind Alberta's current premier that one longtime conservative operative says is the focus of an ongoing RCMP investigation and an expert says undermines the credibility of Canada’s democratic system.
- Making Money Off of Green Debt: Cory Morningstar Finds Corporate Wolves Behind Environmental Sheep
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Building through the privatization-friendly Reagan-Bush era of the 1980s, ramping up significantly with Bill Clinton's signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in the 1990s, and solidified through the de facto repeal of the post-Great Depression separation between investment and commercial banks at the end of Clinton’s scandal-plagued final term in office at the turn of the millenium, the United States went through a very noticeable shift in how its economy functioned.
- Robot Trolls on Amazon: How Fake Reviews Could Undermine Progressive Politics
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
In the pursuit of profit, corporations appear to be using bots to undermine competitors on Amazon, as they do on Twitter and Facebook. This could have detrimental effects on progressive authors and filmmakers who, in the absence of major corporate backing, need the support of reviewers -- at least on Amazon -- in order to boost their marketability.
- Sowing the seeds of climate crisis in Odisha
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
In Rayagada, Bt cotton acreage has risen by 5,200 per cent in 16 years. The result: this biodiversity hotspot, rich in indigenous millets, rice varieties and forest foods, is seeing an alarming ecological shift.
- The New York Times Called a Famous Cartoonist an Anti-Semite. Repeatedly. They Didn’t Ask Him for Comment.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
- The Open Letter from the Governments of US, UK, and Australia to Facebook is An All-Out Attack on Encryption
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Top law enforcement officials in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia told Facebook today that they want backdoor access to all encrypted messages sent on all its platforms. In an open letter, these governments called on Mark Zuckerberg to stop Facebook's plan to introduce end-to-end encryption on all of the company's messaging products and instead promise that it will "enable law enforcement to obtain lawful access to content in a readable and usable format."
- Adversarial Interoperability
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A round-up of the EFF's writing on 'adverserial interoperabillity' which is necessary for creating a decentralized internet free from corporate monopolies.
- The Peterloo Massacre and Shelley (2)
Part 2: Shelley's politics and his Peterloo poems
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The Peterloo poems adopt various popular forms and styles. Addressing a popular audience with his attempt at a revolutionary understanding suggests a sympathetic response to the emergence of the working class as a political force, and the poems are acute on economic relations.
- Climate Change: A Socialist Solution
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A lot has been written, including by myself, on why capitalism, by its very nature, cannot tackle or stop climate change. The purpose of this article is not to repeat those arguments but to make the positive case for socialism as necessary to deal with this existential crisis for humanity.
- 'How Dare You!' The Climate Crisis And The Public Demand For Real Action
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Reality clashed with the BBC version of false consensus in a remarkable edition of HardTalk last month. Roger Hallam, co-founder of Extinction Rebellion, was starkly honest about humanity’s extreme predicament in the face of climate breakdown and refused to buckle under host Stephen Sackur’s incredulous questioning.
- The Peterloo massacre and Shelley (1)
Part 1: The aftermath of the massacre and the responses
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The escalation of repression by the ruling class that followed, resulting in a greater suppression of civil liberties, was met with meetings of thousands and the widespread circulation of accounts of the massacre. There was a determination to learn from the massacre and not allow it to be forgotten or misrepresented.
- The Solution to the Country's Debt and Deficit Problem
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
For most people, the country's national debt and annual deficit are not major concerns. However, for a substantial portion of the policy types who make, write, and talk about economic and budget policy, debt and deficits are really big deals. And, the fact that our budget deficit and debt are both large by historic standards, and growing rapidly, is an especially big deal.
- When Welfare Checks Turn Deadly
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The disabled and mental ill encur growing risks and dangers when interacting with police as their actions are often interrupted as hostile or dangerous. Such misinterruption often result in a fatal encounter with law enforcement.
- Agriculture is one of the biggest contributors to climate change. But it can also be a part of the solution.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
While past focus has been on industries such as fossil fuels and transportation, new attention is being put on agriculture's role in the climate change solution.
- Anatomy of a Conspiracy Theory
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Conspiracy theories in general tend to be crude and simplistic, more often than not reflecting the nature of the people who indulge them. But when the conspiracy theory is mingled with antisemitism – as with the Rothschild rot – it represents a particular failure of the imagination, a particularly null and void exercise in dehumanisation.
- Film Charts Failed Experiment Inviting Palestinian Teens to Become Kibbutzniks
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A new documentary brings to light an episode almost completely erased from Israel’s official history - and one that reveals how Israel's apartheid character was established from its birth.
- Reform or revolution? A response to three intriguing questions
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The article by Steve Downs Three questions of political strategy poses three intriguing questions: Does "democratic road to socialism" = "parliamentary road to socialism"? Does "insurrection" = "revolution"? Does "rupture" = "revolution"? Steve found these questions helpful in understanding the contending views in Solidarity and DSA over reform or revolution.
- Three Questions of Political Strategy
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
As I read contributions to The Call and Jacobin, and from Solidarity members, I wonder if that doesn’t explain some of the disagreements about "reform or revolution" that have come up between some Solidarity members and some members of DSA’s Bread and Roses caucus. Framing these disagreements as a set of questions has helped me better understand the contending views.
- New Met production of Porgy and Bess prompts racialist criticisms of America’s greatest opera
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The very fact that the race, gender or nationality of the artist is today uncritically presented as a central issue in evaluating a work testifies to the degeneration of bourgeois thought in general and the terrible damage inflicted over many years by identity and racial politics. The use of such criteria in past periods was associated with the political right, which employed them to promote anti-democratic and racist agendas.
- 10 Ways that the Climate Crisis and Militarism are Intertwined
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The environmental justice movement that is surging globally is intentionally intersectional, showing how global warming is connected to issues such as race, poverty, migration and public health. One area intimately linked to the climate crisis that gets little attention, however, is militarism.
- How climate change gave added urgency to a $1.25B project to prevent flooding in Toronto
New river system being developed amid concerns about flooding, climate change
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
For Toronto, preventing the next potentially disastrous flood is increasingly urgent. And it's a reality facing many Canadian communities as they try to brace for the impacts of a changing climate in the years ahead.
- Technology was supposed to make us more capable. Instead it has made us scarily dependent
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Technology has promised to make things easier and elevate the species. But much technology emerging today has only increased our dependence on technology by rendering obsolete many of the skills we once relied upon.
- Amazon vs. the Socialists in Seattle
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
In what may turn out to be a preview of the U.S. presidential election, with the ruling class hellbent on stopping Bernie Sanders at all costs, big business in Seattle is carrying out an unprecedented assault of corporate PAC money against socialist and progressive candidates in this year’s elections.
- Banks tell dozens of customers they're to blame for thousands of dollars lost to e-transfer fraudsters
Cybercrime detective says banks must do better job informing customers of risk
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Electronic banking agreements leave customers on the hook and absolve banks of responsibility when electronic money transfers go bad.
- Florida grandmother outraged after 6-year-old arrested for "tantrum"
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A Florida grandmother was shocked to find out her 6-year-old granddaughter had been arrested Thursday for throwing a tantrum.
- What George Carlin Taught Us about Media Propaganda by Omission
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
In the old George Carlin joke, the TV sportscaster announces: "Here's a partial score from the West Coast – Los Angeles 6." For a brilliant comedian like Carlin -- who skewered corporate power, class structure and political/media propaganda – that's one of his more innocuous jokes. But it's sharply relevant today as corporate TV news outlets serve up a series of partial scores. Call it 'propaganda by omission.'
- Algorithms Are People
The secret sauce of search engines gives tech companies an abundance of plausible deniability.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Amazon, Google, and other tech platforms deny interfering with their respective search algorithms, to boost profits or sidestep regulations. Because of the murky mechanics of how search works, proving the allegations is nearly impossible.
- Recalling the Hundreds of Thousands of Civilian Victims of America’s Endless 'War on Terror'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
According to very conservative estimates, as reported by the "Costs of War" project of Brown University’s Watson Institute on International and Public Affairs, nearly 250,000 civilians have been killed during the 8 years since September 2001 in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan in wars or attacks that were instigated by the United States.
- Smart Faucets And Toilets Use Alexa To Listen To Your Conversations
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
It is hard to imagine a more intrusive home surveillance device than a faucet or toilet that listens to everyone’s conversations, but that is just what Delta Faucet and Kohler have done. Delta Faucet's "Voice IQ" takes advantage of where lots of people like to congregate and turns it into an Alexa eavesdropping centre.
- Empires Are a Secret until They Start Falling
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Alfred McCoy says that it is only when empires are in decline that people begin to recognize they live in an empire and start to talk about it. While discussion of empire hasn't broken into the corporate media, it is certainly happening in the independent media. A concerted effort by a popular movement could bring it to the fore, just as Occupy changed the political dialogue about wealth inequality and the power of money. People in the US need to face some stark realities when it comes to declining US global power.
- Facebook advertisers can write their own headlines for shared news stories
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Advertisers on Facebook are able to completely rewrite the displayed headline for news stories, CBC News has learned, opening the door for potential disinformation to spread on the platform while using news media branding as cover.
- Against neurodiversity
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The neurodiversity movement has good intentions, but it favours the high-functioning and overlooks those who struggle with severe autism.
- Rich Getting Richer Via Tax Policies
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Marginal income tax rates plunged starting in the 1980s, hitting their modern-day lows under President George W. Bush. After rising modestly during the Obama Administration, they fell again under President Trump. Rate cuts generate only part of the current bonanza. Tax breaks passed by various Congresses account for the rest, hugely increasing the billions that flow to the haves.
- Sundarbans: 'Not a blade of grass grew...'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
People in the Sundarbans of West Bengal, for long living on the edge, are now facing climate change – recurring cyclones, erratic rain, growing salinity, rising heat, depleting mangroves and more.
- US Media Keep Saying Iran is "In Violation" of a Nuclear Agreement the US Withdrew From
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
US Media portray Iran as having violated the US-Iran nuclear agreement. That's because the Trump administration, acting on its own, foolishlypulled out unilaterally from that agreement, and has been imposing sanctions on Iran, all of which has been in violation of the agreement, and which, by violating its terms, effectively terminates the agreement.
- The War in Eastern Ukraine May be Coming to an End but Do Any Americans Care?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The Ukraine War remains largely unknown to the American public even though the United States has had a great stake in it.
- Masterless Men: Poor whites and slavery in the Antebellum south by Keri Leigh Merritt - Book review
"1619" and the myth of white unity under slavery
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A critique of the New York Times' "1619" initiative, marking the 400th anniversary of the disembarkation of the first African slaves in what was to become the United States.
- What's the True Unemployment Rate in the US?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The real unemployment rate is probably somewhere between 10%-12%. The 3.7% is the U-3 rate, per the labor dept. But that’s the rate only for full time employed. What the labour depatment calls the U-6 includes what it calls discouraged workers (those who haven’t looked for work in the past 4 weeks). Then there's what's called the 'missing labour force' - i.e. those who have'’t looked in the past year. They're not calculated in the 3.7% U-3 unemployment rate number either. Why? Because you have to be 'out of work and actively looking for work' to be counted as unemployed and therefore part of the 3.7% rate.
- 'The forgotten people' of a razed Corner Brook neighbourhood revived in new book
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Poet Douglas Walbourne-Gough seeks to erase stigma of Crow Gulch, a community bulldozed beginning in the late 1960s, after its residents spent decades there living in poverty, and living with outsiders' racism and scorn, even as parts of Corner Brook prospered around them.
- Larry Dohey was unforgettable. We can honour him by protecting the archives he loved.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Keeping our stories alive for the future is the passion of archivists whose work is not often recognized.
- Yellow fever
Populist pangs in France
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The 'gilets jaunes' are a complex movement that has grown from a distrust of France's elites towards demands for citizen-led democracy. Their invocation of the French Revolution has provided the movement with a powerful sense of popular legitimacy but, as Gabriel Bristow argues, contains contradictions of its own.
- Ukraine's Nazis: Who are they, why are they so influential — and why have media ignored them?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A recent festival in Kiev proudly displayed Nazi symbols and even advertised 'White Pride' – yet received almost no attention from Western media, who still steadfastly pretend there are no Nazis in Ukraine, neo- or otherwise.
- The Knotty Question of When Humans Made the Americas Home
A deluge of new findings are challenging long-held scientific narratives of how humans came to North and South America.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Indeed, no tidy, new framework has arisen to take the place of older theories. Instead, new data, including genetic findings, continue to complicate the story of how these continents came to be peopled.
- Disablement, Oppression, and Political Economy
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
It is often claimed that disabled persons are invisible, disregarded by mainstream society, and irrelevant to the workings of society. This analysis has attempted to explain that the "unemployables" have been deliberately shut out of the labour force due to a capitalist economy that so far has dictated their exclusion by measure of economic calculations that favor the business class. It further posits that disabled persons are further oppressed in capitalist societies by having been purposely shifted onto social welfare or segregated into institutions for similar reasons – to keep workers who could not be profitably employed out of the mainstream workforce but also to exert social control over the entire labour supply.
- 'The happy days are now just nostalgia'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Along with the temperatures, the Brokpa say, the entire weather pattern has become increasingly unpredictable in the past two decades in the mountains of Arunachal Pradesh, which border the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, Bhutan and Myanmar.
- Remembering Mitch Podolak
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
- The Stupidity of Smart Devices and Smart Cities
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Smart phones, smart bombs, and, it follows, Smart Cities (capitalising such terms implies false authority), do not exist in that sense, whatever their cheer squad emissaries in High Tech land claim. They are merely a masterfully daft celebration of tactically deployed cults: there is a fad, a trend, and therefore, it must be smart, a model option to pursue.
- Congo's Patrice Lumumba: The Winds of Reaction in Africa
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A brief history of Patrice Lumumba who was briefly Prime Minister of an independent Congo.
- In Protest Against Police Raping Spree, Women Burn Their Station in Mexico City.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A first person account of protests in Mexico City in response to reports of rape by police officers which have been dismissed by the administration.
- Offering Choice But Delivering Tyranny: the Corporate Capture of Agriculture
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Proponents of genetically modified seeds say they are opening up 'choice' to farmers and consumers but end up giving monopolies to powerful corporations with proprietary agricultural tools and methods. This lessens environmental and dietary health and diversity.
- That Couldn't Be True: Restorying and Reconciliation
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
To achieve reconciliation with Indigenous people Canada must let go of the myth of itself as a benevolent force in the world.
- Rivers of Dust: The Future of Water and the Middle East
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Syria and Iraq are at odds with Turkey over the Tigris-Euphrates. Egypt's relations with Sudan and Ethiopia over the Nile are tense. Jordan and the Palestinians accuse Israel of plundering river water to irrigate the Negev Desert and hogging most of the three aquifers that underlie the occupied West Bank. According to satellites that monitor climate, the Tigris-Euphrates basin, embracing Turkey, Syria, Iraq and western Iran, is losing water faster than any other area in the world, with the exception of Northern India.
- It's No Wonder the Military likes Violent Video Games, They Can Help Train Civilians to Become Warriors
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Most studies show no correlation between video games and violence but the adoption of computer simulations by the military and their similarity to video games should give us pause about their ethical impact on society.
- Uncle Sam was Born Lethal
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The white European "settlers" of North America wiped out millions of the continent's original inhabitants. They populated their southern colonies and states with Black slaves they mercilessly tortured, raped, maimed, and murdered in forced labour camps that provided the critical raw material for the rise of American capitalism long before Mussolini, Franco, and Hitler rose to power.
- Who Inflicts the Most Gun Violence in America? The U.S. Government and Its Police Force
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Statistical analyses of gun violence in America consistently fail to account for the number of victimes of police killings. The militization of policiing has led to a greater number of victims, particularly among young black men and the mentally ill.
- Facebook had human contractors 'reviewing' users' Messenger voice chats
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Facebook has given contractors access to people's private voice chats for transcription purposes.
- Lyme Disease and Biowarfare
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Historical look at the connection between Lyme disease and US government-produced bioweapons by a journalist who has been researching it for decades.
- Myanmar's Other Reporters
The world cheered when two Reuters journalists were freed from prison. But who’s watching out for the rest?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Detailed analysis of the state of freedom of speech and the press in Burma/Myanmar.
- 5 facts confirming just HOW incredibly wealthy the world's richest families are
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Some facts based on Bloomberg's list of 25 richest families show how vast the gulf of inequality is.
- If you work for Uber or DoorDash, your boss isn't a person but an algorithm
App-driven jobs in the gig economy can mean constant surveillance
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Gig-economy apps claim that their workers are contractors or even another kind of customer but human-devised algorithms strictly control their work conditions.
- 'Today we seek those fish in Discovery Channel'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Kadal Osai, a community radio of and for fisherfolk on Pamban island of Tamil Nadu's Ramanathapuram district, turns three this week. And it's making waves – with climate change as its latest focus.
- Unhappy customer asked to sign legal agreement not to write a bad review
Contracting company offered cash rebate to Ottawa couple, but only if homeowners sign
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
After a major kitchen renovation, an Ottawa couple say the contractor has refused to reimburse money they're owed unless they sign a legal agreement preventing them from publishing a negative review.
- Australian investigative journalist exposes Guardian/New York Times betrayal of Assange
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Sources reveal new first-hand information exposing the extent of the betrayal of Julian Assange by the Guardian and the New York Times and refute lies both publications have used to smear the WikiLeaks founder.
- Neoliberalism Has Met Its Match In China
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Unless China starts playing by neoliberal rules Trump's economic war with them will lead the US to a race to the bottom or isolation from international markets.
- The 9% Lie: Industrial Food and Climate Change
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
They now warn us that we have to drastically reduce global emissions – by at least 45 percent – over the next decade. Otherwise, we'll pass the point of no return – defined as reaching 450 ppm or more of CO2 in the atmosphere sometime between 2030 and 2050 – when our climate crisis will morph into a climate catastrophe.
- Families "Are Scared To Death" After A Massive ICE Operation Swept Up Hundreds Of People
About 680 suspected undocumented workers were arrested in Mississippi in one of the largest worksite operations ever conducted by ICE agents
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A massive arrest of undocumented workers in Mississippi had people scrambling to care for kids whose parents were detained and traumatized the community.
- Is the Pentagon Behind the Rise in Lyme Disease?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A conversation with Kris Newby author of Bitten: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons.
- Like Israeli settlers, white mass shooters are a manifestation of their society
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A caution against calls from the left to label white mass shooters as terrorists. Calling them terrorists does not address the fact that they carry out the objectives of their settler-colonial states.
- Taxed, throttled or thrown in jail: Africa's new internet paradigm
The costs of speaking out online are rising rapidly
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Many governments in Africa, threatened by the democracy of internet communication, are stifling it by imposing taxes and fees, throttling internet service itself and even arresting bloggers.
- To Silence a Poet, and a Nation: What Stella Nyanzi's Conviction Means for Uganda
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Dr. Stella Nyanzi has been convicted under internet obscenity laws for criticizing Uganda's president. The style of her writing may be as much an issue as the criticism itself.
- Amazon Is Coaching Cops on How to Obtain Surveillance Footage Without a Warrant
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Amazon's home surveillance company Ring is coaching police on how to use their technology which simultaneously provides a source of advertising for Amazon.
- Are Israel's spies stealing your data?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Many Israeli spies go into careers in surveillance software bringing techniques that are used to violate the privacy of Palestinians into everyday commercial software.
- How protesters are 'deanonymising' Russia's riot police
Online tools identify policemen who violently dispersed protesters in Moscow
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Tools such as reverse-image search are being used to identify police who violently broke up a protest in Moscow. The legality of releasing this information and the threats some people are making with it is discussed.
- What kind of rebellion will save humanity from extinction?
The real power of mass civil disobedience is not its ability to shock the powerful into listening, but rather its potential to draw masses o
Resource Type: Unclassified
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Despite overwhelming evidence that the world has already passed certain tipping points, setting off large and unpredictable changes in the climate, why are governments still refusing to act on the scale and pace required?
- How Slick Consulting Firms Get Us on Drugs
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A look at some of the techniques drug companies use to get doctors to prescribe their products.
- The Last Frontier
Homesteaders on the margins of America
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The San Luis Valley in southern Colorado still looks much as it did one hundred, or even two hundred, years ago. Blanca Peak, at 14,345 feet the fourth-highest summit in the Rockies, overlooks a vast openness.
- Localism's Contradictions in Hong Kong
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Localism, as a recent political phenomenon in the Hong Kong political landscape, stresses Hong Kong’s political and cultural autonomy as distinct from that of China, while older pan-democratic organizations tend to stress this continuity between democratic struggles in Hong Kong and China. Localism has politicized the younger generations in many ways – but is localism a coherent political ideology, and how does it square with an anti-capitalist, mass-led political practice?
- A Play with No End
What the Gilets Jaunes really want
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
When I caught up with the Gilets Jaunes on March 2, near the Jardin du Ranelagh, they were moving in such a mass through the streets that all traffic had come to a halt. The residents of Passy, one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Paris, stood agape and apart and afraid.
- Another day, another data hack-- and truth is, there's not much you can do about it
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
This week's Capital One hack is just yet another reminder of what cybersecurity experts have known for a while: you've probably already had your information stolen, and the only question is whether you know it.
- Small businesses, residences on Great Lakes being 'destroyed' by high water this summer
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Fingers are pointed at the International Joint Commission, which regulates levels. But the IJC points out that the upper Great Lakes, Superior, Huron and Erie, are unaffected by Plan 2014, since their water levels are not controlled; they flow toward Niagara Falls and then down into Lake Ontario. Yet those upper lakes are also at near-record levels -- proof that weather is the sole cause of this summer's problems. Furthermore, allowing more water from Lake Ontario to flow through the dam at Cornwall, Ont., could lead to flooding downstream in Quebec.
- From Nazi Germany to Ottoman Turkey, Genocides Begin in the Wilderness, Far From Prying Eyes
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Recent research shows that the Armenian genocide began before its usually accepted date in 1915. This is consistent with other genocides which start away from the metropolises with only minimal instructions from higher government.
- The Discovery and Rediscovery of Metabolic Rift
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Ian Angus discusses the scientific developments that led Marx to develop metabolic rift theory, and a new generation to rediscover it in our time.
- 'It was chaotic': National outage of passport kiosks causes major delays at Pearson
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A nationwide outage affecting the primary inspection kiosks and NEXUS of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) caused serious delays for passengers arriving on international flights.
- Numsa strike against sexual harassment is a 'powerful moment in labour history'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A union of metal workers in South Africa staged a strike underground in harsh conditions to support a coworker whose sexual harassment complaint had been dismissed by management.
- 'Algorithms don’t write themselves'
Google whistleblower on Big Tech merging with politics
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
- Israel's latest attempt to erase Palestine
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Efforts by teams from the Israeli defense ministry to remove sensitive documents from Israeli archives must be understood in a new political climate and are not simply an attempt to spare Israeli governments embarrassment, as some have suggested.
- Lessons of Nashville: The working class and the defense of immigrants
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A recent story about residents of a Nashville neighborhood rallying to protect their neighbors from ICE agents shows the power of class solidarity in the face of attempts at racial division.
- Marx on Children (and on Forgiving Christianity)
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
An exploration of Marx's and Christianity's views on children.
- The Radical Roots of Free Speech
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Interview with Laura Weinrib author of "The Taming of Free Speech: America's Civil Liberties Compromise."
- This School District Threatened To Take Kids Away From Parents Over Lunch Debt. Then It Refused a Businessman's Offer to Pay Those Debts
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A Pennsylvania school district sent letters to parents who owed lunch money informing them that they could lose custody of their children due to their lunch money debt.
- ANYONE can be re-identified from 'anonymous data', researchers claim & let you TEST it
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Online services that claim to anonymize users’ personal data aren’t as secure as we think, according to researchers who found over 99 percent of people can be identified from a handful of supposedly anonymous data points. Using just three commonly-requested demographic attributes -- birthdate, zip code, and gender -- the program is able to successfully identify users about 83 percent of the time. And with 5 and more data points the machine-learning model gets it right over 99 percent of the time.
- This London Firm Helps the Wealthy Hide Assets - or Steal Them. Luckily We Have 15 Years of Their Client Communications
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A London firm that helps the rich hide or steal money has had 15 years' worth of communications leaked. These are being made available to hopefully help return stolen money.
- Did John Bolton Light the Fuse of the UK-Iranian Tanker Crisis?
Evidence suggests he pressured the Brits to seize an Iranian ship. Why? More war.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The details of the UK's seizure of the Grace 1 point to involvement by John Bolton and the Trump administration to put pressure on Iran.
- "How Could They?" Why Some Americans Were Drawn to the Communist Party in the 1940s
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
We did not become Communists because of any adoration of Stalin. We wanted a better world, one in peace, and we admired the giant achievements of the Soviet people in overcoming illiteracy and building a giant industrial base which proved so vital in defeating the Nazis. We also admired an economy which suffered no joblessness while nearly the entire world groaned under the Great Depression.
- I was banned for trans heresy
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
- No Woman Should Be Forced to Give a Troll a Brazilian Bikini Wax
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Transgender activist Jessica Yaniv has forced the British Columbia Human Rights council to hear a truly absurd complaint. Canada's human rights authorities are currently considering whether the country's gender equality law requires a Brazilian waxing business that only takes female customers to perform the service on a trans woman who possesses male genitalia.
- American Visitors to the Gestapo Museum Draw Their Own Conclusions
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
An exploration of the ethics of drawing comparisons from present-day injustices to Nazi atrocities.
- Think Republicans are disconnected from reality? It's even worse among liberals
A new survey found Democrats live with less political diversity despite being more tolerant of it – with startling results
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Democrats and Republicans have deep misconceptions about what the other side believes. This stops them from working together towards goals that mutually acceptable and achievable.
- The Plastic Industry's Fight to Keep Polluting the World
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
An in-depth look at the failure of recycling intiatives and the plastics industry's PR efforts that put the onus on small scale efforts to reduce waste while they fight any initiatives that curb production at the industry level.
- Our Veggie Gardens Won't Feed us in a Real Crisis
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Small scale farming that can actually provide for people requires more knowledge and resources than people think.
- Our Veggie Gardens Won't Feed us in a Real Crisis
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Prudence would dictate that we heed this year's events as a warning and get serious about making preparations for worse years. Literal cycles of "feast or famine" have marked agriculture since its birth and sooner or later we will experience significant shortages here in the US, if not from the weather, than from war or lack of resources.
- History Is Happening: WikiLeaks, the Global Fourth Estate
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
An article based on and in discussions with Nozomi Hayase's book 'WikiLeaks, the Global Fourth Estate: History Is Happening'.
- The People Emerge: The Storming of the Bastille
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A history of the storming of the Bastille emphasizing the revolutionary history that is glossed over in patriotic celebrations.
- Brexit Divides the British Left
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Short commentary on three leftist perspectives on Brexit. The articles discussed are linked in the main piece.
- The World Needs a Water Treaty
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
During the face-off earlier this year between India and Pakistan over a terrorist attack that killed more than 40 Indian paramilitaries in Kashmir, New Delhi made an existential threat to Islamabad. The weapon was not India’s considerable nuclear arsenal, but one still capable of inflicting ruinous destruction: water.
- The World Needs a Water Treaty
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Climate change is making water into as valuable a commodity as oil with similar national tensions resulting.
- It's Raining Sand in Rayalaseema
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
In the Rayalaseema region in India, changing agriculture has reduced biodiversity, depleting the soil and leading to aridity and sandstorms.
- The Journalists Do The Shouting
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A summary and analysis of some of the mainstream media's coverage US conflicts with Iran.
- The Journalists Do The Shouting
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Today’s meaningful art is samizdat stickers on wireline poles and spray-canned corporate advertising. Corporate media is no longer considered a sure source of credible reporting.
- Outsourced spying: Google admits 'language experts' listen to 'some' assistant recordings
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Google assistants are recording their surroundings without the user's knowledge and making the recordings available to contractors.
- "Strategic Extremism": How Republicans and Establishment Democrats Use Identity Politics to Divide and Rule
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Since morality is easy to use as a tool to manipulate voters, Republican's wooing of the alt-right is an effective strategy in a close election. To counter this the left must focus on real issues that challenge corporate power.
- On the Democratic Character of Socialist Revolution
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Great social movements redefine legality and human rights, setting in motion a process of change that becomes irresistible. Socialists utilize electoral opportunities while recognizing that they are far from the whole story. A workers’ government committed to socialism will probably be achieved as the democratic ratification of a program that has already gained majority support through discussion and mobilization among the population at large.
- RT's ban from media freedom conference shows British irony is alive and well
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
RT has been banned from a conference on media freedom for reportedly 'spreading disinformation.' They find this accusation and its source an ironic juxtoposition.
- The Seizure of an Iranian Tanker and the Lethal Toll of Sanctions
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Sanctions against Syria are having a disastrous effect on the population. Comparisons to Iraq during the 1990s by someone who was there show the historic failure and potential further consequences of sanctions.
- Trudeau government gives dangerous new powers to Canada's political cops
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association has published a massive collection of documents that reveal that CSIS is gathering information on peaceful protest groups. This coincides with new legislation from the Trudeau government that gives CSIS increased powers to conduct surveillance.
- Why Aren't the Democrats Talking About Ending Patent Financed Drug Research?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Presenting a case for replacing government-granted patent monopoly financing of pharmaceutical research to make drugs available at free market prices.
- Guilt of Anti-semitism Now Needs No Evidence
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Accusations of anti-Semitism against Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party make an effective smear in a corporate-contolled media that focuses on individual personalities.
- Weaponizing human rights: UN chief Bachelet's Venezuela report follows US regime change script
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A report from the UN High Commissioner on the situation in Venezuela has been condemned by many sources as a political tool to justify the US's attempted regime change in that country.
- Canada Adopts America First Foreign Policy US State Dept Boasted in 2017
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A declassified cable from the US embassy in Ottawa titled "Canada Adopts 'America First' Foreign Policy" notes that the Canadian government would be "Prioritizing U.S. Relations, ASAP."
- Doubling Down: The Military, Big Bankers and Big Oil Are Not In Climate Denial, They Are in Control and Plan to Keep It That Way
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The two most important narratives imposed on us are climate change as a "threat to national security" and as a "business opportunity" - the twin rationales for military and corporate power. They want to focus us on how to manage the crisis, profit from it, or adapt to it, instead of opposing it.
- From the Green Revolution to GMOs: Toxic Agriculture Is the Problem Not the Solution
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The pesticide industry lobbies governments to allow chemicals that have long been known to be harmful.
- Google Maps outage sparks mass disorientation
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The Google Maps server went offline in some parts of the world, and users found themselves utterly disoriented – or couldn't find themselves at all.
- Karl Kautsky as Architect of the October Revolution
Part 2: 1917: The Bolsheviks Apply Kautsky’s Tactics
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The Bolsheviks came into 1917 with two pieces of Kautsky advice firmly under their belts: enlist the peasantry as a revolutionary ally, and do not deviate from militant anti-agreementism.
- When the IWW Took on the Copper Kings
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Review of the movie "Bisbee ‘17" about a strike and subsequent deportation of the workers of an Arizona mining town.
- Whose history? Why the People's History Museum is vital
In recent months, high-profile figures have claimed museums should be ‘neutral’ spaces. Thank goodness, then, for the People’s History Museu
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Peoples History Museum also acts as a space for learning and offers a site for new debates to emerge, regularly allocating space for community exhibitions and contemporary political discussion. It also exhibits documents from recent events and contemporary unions, as it continues to build its collections.
- Amazon admits it keeps some Alexa recordings even when users delete them
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Amazon has admitted that Alexa can keep recordings and other data after a user believe they have deleted them. Amazon cites improving customer service and technology as one reason for doing this.
- Karl Kautsky as Architect of the October Revolution
Part 1: Before the War: The Bolsheviks Applaud Kautsky's Tactics
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Lenin remained true to the tactical ideas of Karl Kautsky after the latter had abandoned them.
- De-Dollarizing the American Financial Empire
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A long interview with economist Michael Hudson about Trump's plan to lower interest rates.
- How Does the War on Terror Stack Up to Some of History's Most Infamous Genocides?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A look at whether the US War on Terror can be classified as genocide. Comparisons to historical precedents are complicated since the War on Terror is not a systematic effort directed at one location.
- Israeli government minister takes credit for 27 U.S. states passing anti-BDS laws
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
It is considered a huge scandal that Russia allegedly interfered in the 2016 US election but Israel is messing in our politics all the time, and that’s standard operating procedure.
- Memory, History, and a Pillar of Salt
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A personal memoir about art and history in the early days of AIDS and ACT UP.
- Paris police use pepper spray against seated climate change protesters
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Police in Paris have been filmed pepper-spraying peaceful protestors. This is part of Macron's crackdown on the "yellow vest" movement in which several protestors have been seriously injured.
- Raging Against the Algorithm: Google and Persuasive Technology
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Fears of Google's algorithms detrimental effect on society may be well-founded but the proposed solutions are problematic.
- The Anti Nazi League and its lessons for today
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Interview with Paul Holborow, organising secretary of the Anti Nazi League in 1977-1980.
- Germany threatens journalist with prison for speaking about Palestine
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Palestinian-Canadian journalist Khaled Barakat has been banned from speaking or participating in political activity in Germany.
- How Evil Wins: the Hypocritical Double Standards of Political Outrage
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The injustices carried out under Trump are not new and people who believe they are or that partisan politics will fix things are being fooled.
- The secrets of Nineteen Eighty-Four
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Close analysis of 1984, including biographical details of Orwell, defending it as a work of leftist literature.
- Thousands of Goldminers Invade Yanomami Territory
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Goldminers have invaded Yanomami lands in northern Brazil, probably emboldened by Bolsonaro's war against Indigenous rights. They have brought disease to uncontacted peoples and are poisoning the environment.
- Women and the far right
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Many of the past gains of human and civil rights with women are at risk of being rolled back as the far right assumes power in numerous countries. Such attacks on women's reproductive rights and their places and roles in society have historical precedents in fascist movements in the past.
- How Capitalist Globalization Forecloses on Health Systems
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Discussion of the multi-author collection "Health Care under the Knife." The book criticizes many aspects of medicine under capitalism but falls short of promoting radical alternatives.
- The Watchmakers Revolution
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
History of a worker takeover of a watch company in 1970s France. Refers to a recent book by Donald Reid 'Opening the Gates: The LIP Affair, 1968-1981.'
- Deep Fakes: Will AI Swing the 2020 Election?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The ability of AI to create credible-looking fake videos could pose a threat to candidates at election time but gullibility was a problem before computer technology.
- New York Times Admits it Sent Story to Government for Approval
The American paper of record just provided a major example of the symbiotic relationship between U.S. corporate media and the government
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The NY Times' seeking approval for a recent story is part of a history of the mainstream media's collaboration with the US government.
- The Hydroponic Threat to Organic Food
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The US Department of Agriculture is approving methods as "Certified Organic" which are contrary to the principles of organic, sustainable agriculture. This is done mostly to comply with the demands of large agribusiness companies.
- Fear in Sri Lanka as monk calls for stoning of Muslims
Top monk says Muslims should be stoned amid unsubstantiated reports of Muslim doctor sterilising Buddhist women.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Sri Lanka's Muslim minority fear further violence as a top Buddhist monk advocate's stoning amid unsubstantiated rumors of a Muslim doctor sterilizing Buddhist women.
- Mark Field and the Danger of Getting Sidetracked
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The media's focus on British government minister Mark Field's assault on a climate change activist, is a smokescreen to draw attention away from people with money and power that effect real issues such as climate change.
- A Brief History of US Concentration Camps
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
An overview of ethnic cleansing and civilian concentration camps in the US starting with the Trail of Tears.
- Race, Identity and the Political Economy of Hate
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A look at statistics casts doubt on the supposed rise of white nationalist groups and violence.
- Some Suburb of Hell: America's New Concentration Camp System
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez referred to US border detention facilities as "concentration camps," spurring a backlash in which critics accused her of demeaning the memory of those who died in the Holocaust. Debates raged over a label for what is happening along the southern border and grew louder as the week rolled on.
- Washington's Dr. Strangeloves: Is plunging Russia into darkness really a good idea
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
US cyber attacks on Russia's power grid, reportedly done without the president's knowledge, are part of a historic pattern of US/Russian relations being sabotaged US defense and intelligence agencies.
- We hacked tube ads to call out the Home Office's hostile environment
Our Future Now on how they helped the Home Office be a little more honest about its policies
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Today our activist group, Our Future Now, have installed subverted adverts on London Underground trains calling out the Home Office's 'hostile environment' and its brutal and racist policies.
- The Shaving Kit - Manufacturing The Julian Assange Witch-Hunt
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A survey of mainstream media coverage of Assange's arrest that makes him an object of ridicule. Much attention is given to the beard he had at the time.
- 'We Need to Ban Fracking': New Analysis of 1,500 Scientific Studies Details Threat to Health and Climate
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The latest analysis of studies on the effects of fracking confirms that it poses an extreme threat to the environment and local people's healt.
- The Global Movement Against Gentrification
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Accounts of worldwide efforts to promote municipal engagement and organize locally for justice are given in the book Fearless Cities: A Guide to the Global Municipalist Movement.
- Marta Harnecker, the Fighter
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Obituary for Marta Harnecker, sociologist, political scientist, and activist from Chile.
- US Foreign Policy Exposed
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Some recent events and information leaks have forced even the mainstream media to break the usual veneer over US foreign policy.
- US Cyber Attack on Russia's Power Grid is an 'Act of War' (According to the US)
What about Venezuela's hacked power grid?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The New York Times reports that the US has hacked Russia's power grid. Reporting on the issue has failed to mention any call for consequences or the fact that the US has already been accused of doing the same to Venezuela.
- How Much Do Humans Pollute? A Breakdown of Industrial, Vehicular and Household C02 Emissions
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Modified excerpt from author's new book, Privatized Planet: "Free Trade" as a Weapon Against Democracy, Healthcare and the Environment.
- How SDS Imploded: an Inside Account
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A look at how Students for a Democratic Society imploded 50 years ago and how it is similar to the behaviour of political parties in the US today.
- Tom Paine, Christianity, and Modern Psychiatry
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Much of modern psychiatry is based on unscientific theories even many practitioners of its find problematic. Since Thomas Paine knew Dr. Benjamin Rush (1746-1813), considered the "father of American psychiatry," this article draws parallels between Paine's criticisms of religion with those of psychiatry today.
- Trump's Trade Threats are Really Cold War 2.0
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Trump's attempts to bully China economically may backfire and alienate the US from trade partners.
- The Irish Language and Marxist Materialism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A review of Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin's book "Language From Below: the Irish language, ideology and power in 20th century Ireland" which looks at the role language and nationalism has played in Irish liberation movements.
- Creative + Strategic = Effective Movements for Change
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Some positive, creative ideas on non-violent actions to make social change.
- How Urban Planners Promote Gentrification
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A review of Samuel Stein's book "Capital City: Gentrification and the Real Estate State" which looks at how private interests and government promote gentrification.
- While the World Watches Trump, It’s Missing What’s Really Going On
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The superficial antics of Trump and other world leaders are making front page news while investigative reporting on real issues is pushed to the margins.
- Breach of Ethics
Leaked Chats Between Brazilian Judge and Prosecutor Who Imprisoned Lula Reveal Prohibited Collaboration and Doubts Over Evidence
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Leaked documents show that Sergio Moro, a judge at the time, collaborated heavily with investigators in Operation Car Wash, a serious breach of judicial impartiality. Even critics of Lula who consider him corrupt doubt the veracity of aspects of the investigation.
- How and Why The Intercept Is Reporting on a Vast Trove of Materials About Brazil’s Operation Car Wash and Justice Minister Sergio Moro
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A summary of the Intercepts investigation into Operation Car Wash based on a trove of private communication they have received and are making available to the public.
- US Sanctions on Venezuela Illegal Under UN, OAS and US Law
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A detailed look at the many laws being violated by US sanctions against Venezuela.
- Education in the Service of Assimilation: The Founding Vision of Residential Schools in Canada
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A look at some scholarly histories of residiential schools that put paid to Canada's kinder, gentler reputation.
- Mainstream media loves protests for democracy and freedom... unless they're in US ally Honduras
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Anti-government protests in Honduras provide a contrast with coverage of those in Venezuela. People protesting an illegitimately elected president get almost no US mainstream coverage in this case.
- On Equating BDS With Anti-Semitism: a Letter to the Members of the German Government
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
An open letter to the German government by a Jew arguing against a motion equating BDS with anti-Semitism.
- Why the US is Persecuting Assange
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Governments don't like it when reporters disclose secrets that impede their preferred narrative. This article draws parallels between Assange and the work of Yemeni reporter Maad al-Zikry.
- 'Where was the Lord?': On Jefferson Davis' birthday, 9 slave testimonies
The voices of five men and four women, once held in human bondage, interviewed in Alabama in 1937.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Testimonies of several victims of slavery collected in the 1930s tell of separation from family, overwork, and abuse.
- Downstream
The afterlife of American junk
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The squat warehouse at Miami’s 5th Street Terminal was nearly obscured by merchandise: used car engines; tangles of coat hangers; bicycles bound together with cellophane; stacks of wheelbarrows; cases of Powerade and bottled water; a bag of sprouting onions atop a secondhand Whirlpool refrigerator; and, above all, mattresses -- shrink-wrapped and bare, spotless and streaked with dust, heaped in every corner of the lot -- twins, queens, kings. All this and more was bound for Port-de-Paix, a remote city in northwestern Haiti.
- Nothing Kept Me Up At Night the Way Gorgon Stare Did
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
An interview with an expert on drones about a new camera technology that drastically improves wide-area sureillance capabilities.
- Israeli intervention in US elections overwhelms anything Russia has done, claims Chomsky
The 89-year-old said the media was largely ignoring vital issues such as climate change
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Chomsky on the brazen interference of Israel in US politics to which supposed Russian meddling in the US election pales in comparison.
- Swedish Sex Pistol Aimed at Assange
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
By asserting the extraterritorial jurisdiction of American law to demand the extradition of another country’s (Australia) citizen from a third country (Great Britain) for activities that took place entirely outside the US, the present indictment is, as Joel Simon of the Committee to Protect Journalists, points out: “a direct threat to journalists everywhere in the world….Under this rubric, anyone anywhere in the world who publishes information that the U.S. government deems to be classified could be prosecuted for espionage.”
- CRA signs secret settlement with wealthy KPMG clients involved in offshore tax scheme
Watchdog group accuses the Liberals of covering up the KPMG affair
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The Canada Revenue Agency has settled out of court and off the record with large tax avoiders. This follows years of promises to crack down on tax evasion and have more transparency at the CRA.
- Engels on the importance of Hegel to Marxism
Letter to Conrad Schmidt
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Neo-Kantian by persuasion, Schmidt nevertheless asked Engels what the philosophical underpinnings of Marxs thought were. Engels already had put out a book on the topic, Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of German Classical Philosophy (1885), but apparently the implications of this work were not clear enough.
- The human cost of US 'economic war' on Venezuela: Hyperinflation hits 130,000% last year
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Short article about the steep increases in inflation in Venezuela.
- Press Freedom is Under Threat in the Land of its Birth
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The US was not among the conulates protesting controversial new extradition bill in Hong Kong. They can't with a straight face object to Hong Kong passing an act that endorses extradition for political crimes while Washington is pursuing Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
- Press Freedom is Under Threat in the Land of its Birth
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The author draws parallels between the US and Hong Kong's treatment of freedom and individual rights.
- The Western Media is Key to Syria Deceptions
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
An analysis of why western media has failed to practice any scepticism regarding claims that the Syrian government is using chemical weapons.
- Another Empire's Boot Stomps on Ireland
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A civilian airport in Ireland is being used as a hub by the US military.
- The Evidence We Were Never Meant to See About the Douma Gas Attack
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A report that conflicts with claims that two cylinders containing chemicals were dropped from an aircraft was suppressed by the Organisation for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons. This erodes public trust in the institution and is distressing given the recent history of using dubious existence of deadly weapons to justify wars.
- The Boeing Way: Blaming Dead Pilots
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The House Transportation Subcommittee on Aviation held a hearing about the recent crashes of Boeing 737 MAXs. The Representatives (many of whom received campaign contributions from Boeing) actively tried to shift blame from the company and place it on the dead pilots.
- Bolivia's universal healthcare is model for the world, says UN
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Bolivia has implemented universal healthcare to provide free care to its poorest citizens. Although controversial with the country's doctors the program is lauded by the UN.
- Rooting rebellion in nature
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Reflections on the legacy of philosopher and ‘geologian’ Thomas Berry, ten years after his death.
- Russiagate and the Dry Rot in American Journalism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The idea that Trump colluded with Russia to steal the 2016 election is used by both liberals and the right to maintain the status quo. Comparisons to Hunter S. Thompson show how staid mainstream news has become.
- Gaza exit permits: Aisha's lone journey for cancer treatment
Israeli permit system prevents some parents from accompanying their sick children to hospitals outside of Gaza Strip.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Heartbreaking story of a girl in the Gaza strip with a brain tumour who had to go through surgery accompanied by a stranger because parents could not get permission to accompany her to the hospital.
- Far-Right Identity Politics and the Task for the Left
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
To oppose far-right ideology, the left must fight the violence and austerity they promote but also acknowledge the appeal of universal values of populist movements.
- From the Middle East to Northern Ireland, Western States are All Too Happy to Avoid Culpability for War Crimes
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Forgiving war crimes when they are committed by their own side is a practice of the Nazis that many western governements seem to be taking up.
- Moving past climate denial
Deniers feel that the impacts of climate breakdown don't matter, but the solutions pose an imminent threat, new research shows.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Katharine Hayhoe, a climate researcher and political science professor argues that it's more productive to show climate change skeptics that solutions are beneficial to them rather than trying to make them believe in the science of climate change.
- The Violent History of the Venezuelan Opposition
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Mainstream media paint Venezuelan opposition as peaceful heroes and President Maduro as a villain. Details about opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez show this to be blatant propaganda.
- The Yellow Vests of France: Six Months of Struggle
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A look at the Yellow Vest movement in France after six months. Although they avoid structures of formal organizations they are converging with several other groups.
- 3 solutions to electronic car theft, a continuing threat to high-end Toronto automobiles
Electronic theft of luxury vehicles rose 90% from Dec. 2017 to 2018, police say
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Cars that unlock and start with an electronic fob can be stolen without the key. The article suggests some ways to protect yourself.
- Where Lyme Disease Came From and Why It Eludes Treatment
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A review of two books that discuss Lyme disease's origin in government experiments with germ warfare.
- Assange revolutionized journalism, and the elite will never forgive him
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Julian Assange's treatment by governments and mainstream media shows how he is a threat to the former and shames the latter.
- Updated flood plain maps will send the housing market underwater
Eventually, entire communities will find themselves publicly identified as at-risk
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The federal government will soon be posting maps of places at risk of flooding. This will have serious consequences for the housing markets in those areas.
- WhatsApp breach might have targeted human rights groups
Suspicion falls on Israeli company as users urged to update messaging app
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The messaging app WhatsApp had a security breach that installed surveillance software on users' phones. It seems to have targeted several people in human rights groups who report getting phone calls from strange numbers at odd times.
- D is for a Dictatorship Disguised as a Democracy
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
American government is much like show business: empty entertainment with smoke and mirrors hiding the string-pullers behind the scenes.
- Why Are These Facts So Stubbornly Forbidden?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The author gives several examples of people refusing to change their beliefs even when confronted with facts.
- 120 years of Indian day schools leave a dark legacy in Kahnawake Mohawk Territory
'The damage from day schools was just as severe as residential schools,' says former student
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Day schools have not received as much attention as residential schools but they were attended by more children who experienced simliar abuses and loss of culture.
- The Strange Workings of Identity and Adolph Reed Jr.'s Thought
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
One of the cornerstones of the socialist approach to identity is the insistence that identities are not naturally occurring but are, rather, the products of history. The controversy surrounding Reed’s work offers an opportunity to try to clarify our understanding of identity.
- Distorting 'Democracy' in Venezuela Coverage
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Round up of some of the many media outlets that call Guaidó's coup attempt in Venezuela a democratic movement and refer to democratically elected president Maduro as a dictator.
- PepsiCo ends lawsuits against Indian potato farmers
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Pepsi has dropped a lawsuit against Indian potato farmers for growing the same potatoes used in Lay's chips. The lawsuit had been subject to public backlash.
- Thank Russia for Winning World War II
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
- Thank Russia for Winning World War II
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Our Soviet allies barely held on alone for three years against Hitler, yet conventional wisdom is that we won the war because we equipped Soviets to die for us. This is propaganda – the USSR bore more than 90% of its own wartime industrial burden.
- Dam it all: More than half of the world's long rivers are blocked by infrastucture
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
But with the increasing demand for more water, energy generation, and flood management, the construction of dams, levees, reservoirs, and other river-obstructive infrastructures is becoming ubiquitous.
- Imagination and Nuclear Weapons
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Imagining the horror of nuclear war is not enough to prevent it. Governments with nuclear weapons must be forced to disarm.
- The London Climate Protests - Raising The Alarm
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Analysis of media coverage of the climate crisis looks at how many outlets try to discredit 'alarmist' activists. However a sense of panics is rational and needed to avoid catastrophe.
- The Militarization of Empathy
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Surprise reunions between returning soldiers and their families are a major spectacle in US media. But these heartwarming scenes serve as a distraction from the activities of the soldiers while they are overseas.
- Yelp and the Myth of Consumer Power
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Online reviews on Yelp have had a massive effect on the service industry but this should not be perceived as giving power to consumers. In the end it is only the platfrom that profits.
- Peterloo (film review)
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Review of a movie about the massacre at a popular revolt in St Peter's Field in Manchester, U.K in 1819.
- A million species 'threatened with extinction'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A summary of a dire climate report on the decline in global biodiversity.
- On the Coast of Oaxaca, Afro and Indigenous Tribes Fight for Water Autonomy
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
In southern Mexico, a multi-ethnic network of towns has halted the construction of a mega-dam. Now they are organizing to manage their own natural resources and revitalize their culture as native water protectors.
- US State Department Publishes, then deletes sadistic Venezuela hit list boasting of economic ruin
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A fact sheet put out by the US State Department listing its "accomplishments" in Venezuela reads more like a confession of atrocities. The document was later withdrawn.
- Google Bans Press TV
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Social media companies are banning media outlets in the name of alleged 'hate speech' but the companies' contacts and their targets make them instruments of government censorship.
- Gray Whales Are Dying: Starving to Death Because of Climate Change
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A look at the plight of sea mammals and the state of marine science education.
- Israel Again Bombs Gaza - But Is It "In Response"?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
In this case it is undoubtedly the Palestinian side that is responding to Israeli violence. But even if Palestinians would fire missiles without an immediate cause it would be within the full rights of the Palestinian people. In its 1982 Resolution 37/43 the General Assembly of the United Nations reaffirmed:
"the legitimacy of the struggle of peoples for independence, territorial integrity, national unity and liberation from colonial and foreign domination and foreign occupation by all available means, including armed struggle;"
The UN GA resolution is standing international law. The Palestinian people have the right to resist against the occupation force. In practice as well as legally Israel is a colonial entity that occupies Palestinian land, especially in Gaza and the West Bank. Any armed struggle by Palestinians against the occupation, provoked or not, is thus morally and legally justified.
But do not expect that any 'western' mainstream media will ever point that out.
- Review: Jonathan Metzl, Dying of Whiteness (2019)
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A detailed review, focusing mainly on gun violence, of Jonathan Metzl's book Dying of Whiteness.
- Leaked: USA's Feb 2018 Plan for Coup in Venezuela
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Publication of a military document outlining the military, diplomatic, and propaganda policies to overthrow the Maduro governnment.
- Venezuelan economist: 'Hyperinflation is a powerful imperialist weapon'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Interview with Venezuelan an economist about how hyperinflation is being used as a weapon against the country.
- West Africa's Fine Line Between Cultural Norms and Child Trafficking
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Human traficking in West Africa is difficult to deal with as it has become entrenched in the culture of people living in extreme poverty.
- Wildly Underestimated Oilsands Emissions Latest Blow to Alberta's Dubious Climate Claims
As disaster looms, petro province lets industry call the shots.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The oilsand industry's own measurements of their carbon output fall far short of that reported by Environment Canada's and others' research. This could deal a blow to the industry's PR efforts.
- Lost at Sea
Poverty and paradise at the edge of America
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A few miles north of San Francisco, off the coast of Sausalito, is Richardson Bay, a saltwater estuary where roughly one hundred people live out of sight from the world. Known as anchor-outs, they make their homes a quarter mile from the shore, on abandoned and unseaworthy vessels, doing their best, with little or no money, to survive.
- Pete Seeger Was A Movement Musician
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A memorial to Pete Seeger on what would have been his 100th birthday.
- The Truce
How the United States helped spoil a plan to end gang violence in El Salvador
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
For over twenty years, Mijango argues, the overwhelming influence of the United States on Salvadoran law enforcement has led to tremendous mistakes in security policy. Mijango believes that the United States pressured the Salvadoran attorney general’s office to prosecute him because it had opposed the negotiations from the beginning.
- Where Our New World Begins
Politics, power, and the Green New Deal
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
We find ourselves today in much the same place, confronted by an array of emergencies -- seemingly disparate, but in fact closely connected - that threatens to destroy us. Braced against them is a set of ideas put forward in a congressional resolution by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (the notorious AOC), a twenty-nine-year-old freshman congresswoman, and her young, ad hoc brain trust.
- "I have been there before" - For Sri Lankan Christians like me, the Easter attacks revived old
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A personal narrative about the complicated politics of language, ethnicity, and religion in Sri Lanka in the wake of the Easter bombings.
- Sri Lanka Easter Sunday Massacre: Reflection Of Long Time Silence
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A personal story about extreme ideologies that infiltrated Islamic societies.
- Canada’s new far right: A trove of private chat room messages reveals an extremist subculture
An analysis of 150,000 chat room messages paints a picture of a group that is actively recruiting new members, buying weapons and trying to
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The Globe and Mail has obtained a trove of 150,000 messages posted between February, 2017, and early 2018 that reveal the private communications of a loosely aligned node of Canadian right-wing extremists. The record of their continuing conversations reveals a movement, energized by the rise of white ethnonationalism in the United States, that aims to upend a decades-old multicultural consensus in this country.
- A Lethal Industrial Farm Fungus is Spreading Among Us
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Agricultural fungicides are creating strains of drug-resistant fungi.
- Why Left Wing Populism Is Not Enough
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Mainly a critique of Chantal Mouffe's book 'For a Left Populism,' discusses the shortcomings of a poplulism that downplays the role of class.
- What the 'White Irish Slaves' Meme Tells Us About Identity Politics
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
In setting out to rebut narratives of 'Irish Slaves' the left has often downplayed the history of Irish oppression.
- My Response to the PBS Series: Reconstruction: America After the Civil War
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A criticism of the PBS series on Reconstruction which presents slavery as a 'southern problem,' ignoring its ties to capital and class.
- Nitrogen Crisis: A neglected threat to Earth's life support systems
Part One of a discussion of the disruption of the global nitrogen cycle by an economic system that values profits more than life itself.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The rift in the nitrogen cycle is a major threat to the stability of the Earth System. This and subsequent articles will discuss how the natural cycle works and how it has been disrupted in the Anthropocene.
- Russiagate is Dead! Long Live Russiagate!
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Looking at the fiasco of Russiagate, it's instigators, who profits from it and the issues that it distracts from.
- How the U.S. Military Feeds at the Terror Trough
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A meandering take on the US's perpetual wars around the world.
- Washington's Biggest Fairy Tale: 'Truth Will Out'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The idea that the truth will eventually be exposed may be comforting to people that think we live in a transparent democracy. But this investigative journalist discusses how hard it is to get information from the government.
- The Debt System: A History of Sovereign Debts and their Repudiation
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A history of national debt and the international power structures it supports. Calls for the repudiation of illegitimate debt.
- Talking Trash: Unfortunate Truths About Recycling
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A deep dive into the mechanics of recycling and why it isn't a panacea for our environmental problems.
- Calling Assange a Narcissist Misses the Point
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Personal attacks on Assange are used to discredit his work publicizing war crimes and the truth behind pro-war propaganda.
- How a Christian Nonprofit Helped a Controversial Minnesota Mining Company Buy Gear for Local Police
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A Christian non-profit called Shield616 that donates gear to police forces has received donations from mining companies. This sparks concerns of a conflict of interest among residents that are protesting these mines.
- Assange's Indictment Treats Journalism as a Crime
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The charges against Assange send a message to journalists that they are in danger for doing their jobs. The UK can and should deny extradition of Assange to the US.
- Israel: Are democracy and despotic racism compatible?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A criticism of Zionism as a "melding of an elitist pseudo-democracy with racist despotism."
- The Burning of Highlander Center: a Fascist-like Attack
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The Highlander Research and Education Center was burned to the ground in New Market, Tennessee in an act of arson by the white power movement.
- The politics of identity, left and right
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
One of the consequences of the bifurcated debate is historical amnesia about the origins of identity politics. Most people imagine that its roots are on the left. In fact, they lie on the reactionary right, in the counter-Enlightenment of the late 18th century. It wasn’t then called the politics of identity. It was called racism. It is, however, in the concept of race -- the insistence that humans are divided into a number of essential groups, and that one’s group identity determines one’s moral and social place in the world -- that we find the original politics of identity, out of which ideas of white superiority emerged.
- Wealth and the Invisibility of Human Life
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Review of the book "Globalists: The End of Empire and the Birth of Neoliberalism" by Quinn Slobodian.
- Kautsky, Lenin, and the transition to socialism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Counterposing Karl Kautsky's perspective of a "democratic road to socialism" as against a supposed Leninist "insurrectionary strategy" presents a false framework for the debate.
- Fake News Tsunami - Trump's 'Collusion' And Corbyn As 'Dangerous Hero'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Analysis of recent news coverage that paints Corbyn as an anti-semite compared to that of the Trump campaign's supposed ties with the Russian government.
- An Open Letter to Chelsea Manning: A Free Woman in An American Prison
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A message of courage and strength addressed to Chelsea Manning.
- Weaponized Social Media Is Driving the Explosion of Fascism
Social media platforms give governments, extremists, haters and propagandists the ability to excite and incite hate amplified by algorithms.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Describing how social media wages war on reality by spreading propaganda. With examples from ISIS to Alex Jones.
- Where Have You Gone Abbie Hoffman?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A collection of excerpts of people writing about Abbie Hoffman on the 30th anniversary of his death.
- From Pre-K On, US Schools Privilege the Already Privileged
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The college bribery admissions scandal is only the extreme end of the inequality in the education system. Public policies, such as school funding based on property values, disadvantage children in low-income communities starting as early as pre-K.
- Eight miners die from toxic gases in Peru’s northern highlands
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Eight miners died after poisonous gases escaped in an informal gold mine in northern Peru. Informal mines are operated without licenses or safety standards by companies that can easily bypass regulations.
- Fighting Against Racism - And For a Better Paycheck - On the Docks
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Dockworker labour solidarity. Heavily references two books: 'Dockworker Power: Race and Activism in Durban and the San Francisco Bay Area' by Peter Cole and 'Choke Points' essays edited by Jake Alimahomed-Wilson and Immanuel Ness.
- Former UAW vice president pleads guilty to conspiracy in bribery scheme
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Norwood Jewell, former vice president of the United Auto Workers pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to violate labor laws. There could be even higher ranking officials charged, highlighting the conflicting interests of union bosses vs workers.
- Social Media Regulation: Speak of the Devil and in Walks Zuck
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Social media giants such as Facebook support government regulation as a means to secure their monopolies.
- US Capitalism Was Born in the Destruction of the Commons
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Interview with Silvia Federici and Peter Linebaugh about Federici's book Re-enchanting the World: Feminism and the Politics of the Commons.
- Collusion in Plain Sight
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The media should use the same language for Trump's pandering to corporations and failure to publicly condemn white supremacist violence as they do for his supposed collaboration with Russia.
- Factional provocation, middle-class hysteria, and the collapse of the International Socialist Organization
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The International Socialist Organization is collapsing just over a month after its national convention, amidst factionally instigated denunciations of sexual assault and cover-up.
- Facebook plans to curate 'high quality' news for its users from 'trusted outlets'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Facebook is considering hiring human editors to hand-pick 'trustworthy' news to display on its site. Facebook's track record of bias and censorship make its motives suspect.
- Filing Your Taxes Is Already Difficult. The House Just Passed a Bill That Keeps It That Way Forever.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The complicated process of paying and filing taxes - and the consquences of doing so incorrectly - cause hardship to many Americans especially the poor. This system could be much easier but many companies have an interest in maintaining the status quo.
- Lyft and Other Gig Economy Giants Cash In With IPOs Before Labor Laws Catch Up With Them
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Many platform companies are making initial investors money by going public. Later investors could be on the hook if they have to change their business models to be in compliance with labour laws.
- The Public Library: Antidote to Everyday American Banality
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A celebration of the local library that includes conversations with librarians and patrons.
- Solidarity, Survival and Sabotage: Reconstructing the History of the Blackouts Tormenting Venezuela
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A detailed timeline of events during the recent blackout in Venezuela.
- Works of Mercy
The power of pastoral care
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Health care organizations increasingly recognize that meeting the spiritual needs of their patients is part of their mandate, and hospitals must address these needs to receive national accreditation. The provision of care for the sick, disabled, and dying beyond the strictly medical or therapeutic is now a career possibility with many variant descriptions and categories.
- Don't Believe the Hype: Paying for Medicare for All Is Simple
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Debunking recent arguments that Medicare for All will require reducing spending in other areas.
- Notorious Portuguese political prison becomes museum of resistance
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A historical fortress Peniche used to hold dissidents under Portugal's dictatorship is being turned into a museum to remind people of the life under fascism.
- Some of Khashoggi's killers received training in US: WaPo report
Projects under intelligence and defence partnership between US and Saudi on hold after killing.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Some of the people involved in killing Jamal Khashoggi may have had special-operations training in the US, conducted by Tier 1 Group, an Arkansas-based company.
- In defense of To Kill a Mockingbird: The 1962 film about racism in theaters this week
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Attempts to remove To Kill a Mockingbird from curricula are misguided and ignore the artistic and courageous ambitions of the book and film.
- ‘Renouncing Violence’ Is a Demand Made Almost Exclusively of Muslims
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Media analysis shows that calls to renounce violence are directed at Muslims or other victims of Western occupation.
- UN aviation body blocks critics online
The UN’s aviation body is blocking climate critics on Twitter, accusing them of 'fake news' and 'spam'.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The International Civil Aviation Organization is blocking people who interact with them on Twitter. They claim their critics' arguments are not 'fact-based.'
- The U.S.' Refusal of Entry to Arnold August Is a Dangerous Precedent for All Activists
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The US's refusal of entry to August is part of a long history of targeting people at the borders. This limits our democratic rights to organize and express political views peacefully.
- Dung beetles 'reduce human pathogens risk'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Farmers remove habitats that encourage natural wildlife for food-safety reasons, however, these habitats encourage biodiversity which could reduce the risk of pathogens in food.
- To Readers, $X Billion Just Means 'a Whole Lot of Money'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A call for media to put numbers in context, e.g., food stamps cost of $70 billion a year is just 0.4 percent of the budget.
- Russia and the Democrats
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The Democratic Party's insistence of Russian meddling in the election show how out of touch and unfit their leadership is.
- 'They Had Already Decided They Wanted to Invade Iraq'
CounterSpin interviews with Robert Dreyfuss and Diana Duarte on media and the Iraq War
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
MP3s and transcripts of two interviews about justifications for the Iraq war. One focused on intelligence on WMDs and the other on women's rights.
- A Very Incomplete List of Sinister Things Vladimir Putin/Russia/'the Russians' Have Been Accused of Doing
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A list as the title describes (with links).
- Why Activists Fail
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Describes why activists have historically failed to make a real difference - they don't know how the world works. Describes how the world works and explains some components of nonviolent strategy for change.
- Pathological Deceit: The NYT Inverts Reality on Venezuela's Cuban Doctors
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Claims that the Maduro government is using Cuban doctors to coerce voters by refusing care to the opposition are based on very dubious evidence.
- Race, Class, and the Left with Adolph Reed Jr.
Resource Type: Audio
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Audio interview with Adolph Reed Jr.
- Reflections on coherence and comradeship
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A lengthy personal meditation on strategic challenges facing left organizing.
- UN to probe 'horrific' Mali attacks as death toll jumps to 160
Local officials say at least 160 people were killed and scores more wounded in Saturday's attack in Mopti region.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The UN has sent a team of investigators to Mali in the aftermath of an attack that killed 160 people. Violence in the region is rooted in rivalry between two communities.
- US Foists 'Humanitarian Aid' on Venezuela, Helps Create a Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The US-backed Saudi Arabia war on Yemen is causing the worst humanitarian crisis of the modern era. The lack of concern from politicians should belie this justification for U.S. intervention in other countries.
- Anti-Muslim Bigotry and Far-Right Terror
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Far-right ideology is fuelled by such a large mishmash of ideas that censoring anti-Muslim rhetoric is futile for stopping attacks.
- Emulating the circle of life
We need to rethink efficiency in our food system.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Developing food systems that simulate the processes found in nature can make food production more sustainable.
- Epifanio Camacho: a Militant Farmworker Brushed Out of History
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Biographical info on Epifanio Camacho, a labor activist who fought alongside the less militant Cesar Chavez. He has been largely forgotten by history.
- The Homeless 8-Year-Old Chess Champion and Other Horrific 'Uplifting' Stories
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Stories in US media of people overcoming adversity are only inspiring if you ignore the unjust systems that create their oppression.
- How would a revolutionary government protect the environment?
There is an enormous unused human potential waiting to be drawn into the job of saving the ecosphere. How can it be mobilized?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A look at how a revolutionary government would combat climate change. Includes a lengthy excerpt from the pamphlet The Green Tax Fraud by Dick Nichols.
- In Brazil, thousands of people are still living under the threat of bursting mining dams
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The Brazilian state of Minas Gerais is home to several large dams many of which have burst causing death and environment damage. There is evidence that some of these disasters were predictable.
- Three Lessons for the Left from the Mueller Inquiry
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Important lessons for the progressive left to consider now that it is clear the inquiry by special counsel Robert Mueller into Russiagate is never going to uncover collusion between Donald Trump's camp and the Kremlin in the 2016 presidential election.
- The TSA's Role as Journalist Harasser and Media 'Watchdog'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
An American journalist whose work opposes the US government is openly marked for extra screening and inspections when travelling.
- The Faculty of Divinity, Cambridge and Approved Ideas
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The university environment should be the last place where dangerous ideas, and views, are stifled and stomped upon. In actual fact, we are seeing the reverse; from students unions to middle- and upper-managerial parasites and administrators, the contrarian idea must be boxed, the controversial speaker silenced and sent beyond the pale.
- Rethinking Dominant Approaches to Climate change
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Market-based attempts to curb climate change are inadequate since they further enable its root cause, capitalism.
- 10 Failed Levees In Midwest Flood Zone Were Not Inspected By Federal Government
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Many of the levees that failed during flooding of the Missouri River had not been inspected since the early 2010s. Some people say the Army Corps of Engineers has mismanaged levees under their responsibility.
- US and Puppet Guaido Implicated in Terrorism Plot Against Venezuela PLOT
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
New evidence has been uncovered regarding terror campaign planned by the US and the Venezuelan opposition.
- Defense for Chelsea Manning and Julian Assange
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Transcript of a speech in defense of Chelsea Manning and Julian Assange.
- Everyone Washington Supports, by Definition, Is a Moderate Centrist
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Many right-wing movements and leaders are described as moderate or even left-leaning by politicians and corporate media. In these cases the terms no longer have a political definition but is a way to convey approval.
- Killing for Credibility: A Look Back at the 1999 NATO Air War on Serbia
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A detailed look back at NATO's 1999 war on Yugoslavia.
- New Zealand - Open letter: Betraying women and free thought in the name of Christchurch massacres
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
An open letter questioning shows of solidarity with Muslims after the Christchurch massacre, specifically non-Muslim women wearing head coverings and a Canadian university that disinvited an ex-Muslim atheist speaker.
- Recording Reveals Oil Industry Execs Laughing at Trump Access
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A 2017 recording of Independent Petroleum Association of America executives reveals them revelling in their access to high levels of government. Since then many environmental protections have been rescinded.
- Reading Manifestos: Restricting Brenton Tarrant's The Great Replacement
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Attempts to censor the Christchurch shooter's manifesto hinders attempts to understand and counteract their motives. Arguments for censorship, such as enabling copycats, are based on controversial evidence.
- Undermining the watercycle
A critical appraisal of the mining industry's contributions to the global water crisis.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The mining industry is often overlooked as a cause of the global water crisis. This article examines recent history of mining disasters and how the industry PR greenwashes its image.
- U.S.: We Will Break Your Legs
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The US has threatened to deny visas to any ICC personnel investigating possible war crimes by U.S. forces. This should make clear the hypocrisy when the the US cites human rights violations as an excuse to invade other countries.
- The Chilling Censorship of the Christchurch Shooting
Rather than expunging information about the killer, we should be confronting evil head on.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Attempts to censor details of the Christchurch shooting may have the opposite of the intended effect by enabling denial and conspiracy theories.
- Larger high school class sizes will make Ontario students more resilient, education minister says
Lisa Thompson defends education changes in Metro Morning interview
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Ontario Education Minister Lisa Thompson claims that larger class sizes are good for students based on consultations with employers and post-secondary teachers.
- Women's stories from the frontline of Sudan's revolution must be told
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Women are leading Sudan's revolt against religious fundamentalism. As in Egypt and Saudi Arabia they face a violent backlash.
- Broiler chickens: The defining species of the Anthropocene?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Broiler chickens may be distinct and ubiquitous enough as a human-modified species that their fossil record could justify calling our era the Anthropocene.
- The Destruction of Freedom: Chelsea Manning, Julian Assange And The Corporate Media
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The corporate media's hostility towards Assange, Manning and WikiLeaks - obvious by lack of coverage or overt antagonism - shows it is tool of the state and big business.
- Green construction and worker safety
Green construction yields promising results for the future of our planet. But new technologies come with new safety risks for workers.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Eco-friendly construction exposes workers to new methods and materials which do not have the standard safety practices of those that are more established.
- Hebron - the heart of the occupation
Justice for Palestine is central to the left. The situation in Hebron is a good example why.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The history and current situation in Hebron.
- An Interview With Lisa Littman, Who Coined the Term 'Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
In 2018, Lisa Littman, Assistant Professor of the Practice at the Brown University School of Public Health, published an article in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS ONE entitled Rapid-Onset Gender Dysphoria in Adolescents and Young Adults: A Study of Parental Reports. The article drew attention to a phenomenon that had attracted widespread concern among parents, but which had not yet been studied systematically in the scientific literature. Following publication, Dr. Littman and her study became the subject of intense criticism from some activists.
- The New Zealand Shootings, a Microcosm of Imperialism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The New Zealand Shootings and other mass murders use the same justification as governments that carry out campaigns against the same targets on a larger scale.
- US Government Knew Climate Risks in 1970s, National Petroleum Council Documents Show
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Newly discovered documents show that the fossil fuel industry has know since the 1970s the effect that CO2 emissions would have on the environment.
- Why climate action is the antithesis of white supremacy
Behind the urgency of climate action is the understanding that everything is connected; behind white supremacy is an ideology of separation
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Climate action and climate change denial are antithetical to each other as the former is based on interconnectivity and collective action while the latter seeks exclusion and separation.
- The New Politics of Disablement: The Contribution of Mike Oliver
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Obituary for Mike Oliver, one of the founders of the social model of disability. Includes historical information, his legacy, and suggested reading.
- Exposure of Another Pro-War Lie Doesn't Make Media More Skeptical of Pro-War Claims
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The story of pro-Maduro forces burning trucks bringing aid to Venezuela has now been reported as false, even by corporate media. The bigger story of how and why this lie was propogated gets left behind.
- Murder on the Mekong: why exiled Thai dissidents are abducted and killed
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
In Thailand, people who violate lèse-majesté law - which prevents any criticism of the monarchy - can find themselves with a bounty on them and end up living in exile. Some dissidents have been murdered or disappeared.
- 'Combat Obscura' is a brutally honest look at the blurred morality of the war in Afghanistan
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A documentary featuring footage from a 2011 deployment in Afghanistan shows the reality of the war.
- Local fishermen: caught between the pros and cons of traceability
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Consumers concerned about the environmental impact of fishing are demanding more transparency and accountablity from the industry. Ironically, the resulting regulations are prohibitive to the small scale fishermen that are the most sustainable part of the industry.
- Why the 1953 cancellation of German debt won’t be reproduced for Greece and Developing Countries
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Detailed look at the differences between cancellation of Germany's debt and that of developing countries today.
- Brazilian dam disaster 'is part of a pattern'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A team of Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) academics is marking the international day of action for rivers by hanging out the dirty laundry of a very dirty company.
- Venezuela Coup Leader's Oil Plans Revealed: Guaidó Hopes to Privatize State-Controlled Industry
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Juan Guaidó and his economic advisers have a plan to privatize the country's petroleum industry. This privatization scheme will be difficult to implement, however, since he is not in power.
- The Intercept Shuts Down Access to Snowden Trove
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
First Look Media, owner of The Intercept, is shutting down access to Snowden’s leaked NSA documents. Their reporters still have copies of all the documents and are looking to find a new outlet for them.
- "Please Step Away from the Socialism": The Red Scare Dems at MSNBC
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The anti-socialist scaremongering at MSNBC should put paid to the idea that they have any leftist bias.
- Grand Jury Efforts: Jailing Chelsea Manning
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The role of Grand Juries in the persecution of Chelsea Manning and a summary of their history.
- Hollywood's 'Captain Marvel' Blockbuster Is Blatant US Military Propaganda
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Captain Marvel is the latest in a long line of movies made with the cooperation and approval of the US military.
- Publicised Cruelty: Scott Morrison Visits Christmas Island
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Australia is reopening the immigration detention centre on Christmas Island. The prime minister made a public tour of the facilities.
- US Negotiations: Masters of Defeats
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A summary of several US attempts at diplomacy that have failed due to their unwillingness to make any concessions to the other party.
- US Regime Change Blueprint Proposed Venezuelan Electricity Blackouts as 'Watershed Event' for 'Galvanizing Public Unrest'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A 2010 memo from Center for Applied Non-Violent Action and Strategies (CANVAS) seems to be playing out as planned in 2019.
- Shout out for peace and quiet
Green solutions to noise reduction could improve our mental and physical wellbeing.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Noise is a cause of stress with physical and psychological effects on people and also harms the environment. Noise reductions needs to be made part of solutions such as industry standards and urban planning.
- The Fake News Nazi - Corbyn, Williamson And The Anti-Semitism Scandal
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Analysis of Corbyn's press shows accusations of anti-semitism against him only started when he became a political threat.
- 'I lost four sons': In Kashmir, women suffer brunt of conflict
Women's Day is a grim reminder of atrocities and hardships faced by the women of the region in decades-long conflict.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Women in Kashmir suffer the loss of their sons, husbands, and fathers in ongoing conflict.
- Eric Hobsbawm: Historical cosmonaut
David Kynaston on a 'national treasure' whose politics provoked endless bitterness
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Review of 'A Life In History' a biography of Eric Hobsbawm by Richard J. Evans.
- The witch hunt at Westminster
Why was a documentary film on the 'anti-Semitism in Labour debate' banned from being screened at the British parliament?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A screening of a documentry about anti-Semitism in the Labour Party was cancelled in British parliament. Charges seem to conflate anti-Semitism with anti-Zionism.
- The Global Assault on Indigenous Peoples
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Focusing on the the Ngäbe–Buglé in Panama, a look at the Indigenous people who have their way of life is destroyed by capitalism.
- The Prisoner Says No to Big Brother
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A tribute to Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. Includes details of some of the corruption they have exposed.
- The War That Never Ends
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
North Korean denuclearization is unlikely without concessions (such as sanctions relief) from the US side. How likely is the Trump administration to make such a deal?
- Breaking the Silence: Inside the Israeli Right's Campaign to Silence an anti-Occupation Group
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Breaking the Silence, an Israeli anti-occupation group that collects testimonies of Israeli soldiers operating in Palestinian territories has been targeted by moles and other attacks.
- British MPs won't get to see 'WitchHunt' in the House of Commons - the very place it needs to be shown
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A screening of a documentary - made by Jewish Labour party members - about charges of anti-semitism in the British Labour Party has been cancelled.
- Angela Davis: Relevant as Ever After Thirty Years
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A look at how Angela Davis's work in Women, Culture, and Politics (1989) applies today.
- Betraying the Kurds
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Many debates about Trump's decision to withdraw troops from Syria ignore the overall illegitmacy of military-political intervention.
- Britain's Witchfinders are Ready to Burn Jeremy Corbyn
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The suspension of MP Chris Williamson for alleged anti-semitism is part of a smear campaign against Corbyn. It is also a by-product of all criticism of Israel being labelled anti-semitism.
- California Burning, PG&E Bankrupt
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A synopsis of PG&E's history of negligence and corruption which has caused wildfire disasters. The company tries to escape consequences but others are demanding change.
- A Call to Action
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Positive review - with caveats - of a book about how we can transform society.
- Catechism of the Waters
Species in conflict on the Columbia River
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
In September, commercial fisheries for salmon and sardines throughout the West Coast states were granted disaster relief. But over the past ten years, much of the damage has been done by sea lions.
- Chicago Charter Teachers Strike, Win
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Reporting on the unprecedented and successful strike of charter school teachers in Chicago.
- Facebook Wants You to Know if You’re Getting Your News From the Wrong Government
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Media outlets owned by a company with ties to the Russian government are forced to disclose their affiliation on Facebook. Media outlets owned or funded by the US government are not held to the same standard.
- A Fistful of Shells: West Africa from the Rise of the Slave Trade to the Age of Revolution
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A history of West Africa from the 17th century onwards. Draws on written histories as well as archival research in nine countries, art, oral history, archaeology, and letters.
- Further Reading on the Russian Revolution
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Several book recomendations with some comments on each.
- Guiding principles for an Ecosocialist Green New Deal
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Statement of the Ecosocialist Working Group of the DSA on their demands for a Green New Deal that combats climate change and inequality.
- Lots of Scurrying But No Revolution in Sight
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Disappointed review of a collecton of essays of women and climate change, mostly in support of reforming the status quo.
- Marx for Today: A Socialist-Feminist Reading
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
In-depth look at the relationship between feminism and Marxism.
- MLK in Memphis, 1968
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A look at MLK's actions and speeches in Memphis and their relevance today.
- Orbán: Strong Man, Authoritarian Ideology
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Review of a book about Viktor Orbán's political career.
- PG&E Bankruptcy
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A short news item about Pacific Gas & Electric's bankruptcy case.
- The Story of Storytelling
What the hidden relationships of ancient folktales reveal about their evolution—and our own
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Since Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859, scientists have repeatedly proposed that the laws of biological evolution apply not just to bird and beast but also to creatures of the mind. Perhaps most famously, in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, the English evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins coined the word meme to describe a "unit of cultural transmission" analogous to a biological gene.
- The Strange Career of the Second Amendment, Part II
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A further look at the history of the Second Amendment. Focuses on late 19th and 20th c and disparity of the laws in regard to race.
- Turkey in 2019: An Assessment
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A look at the current state of the Erdogan regime in Turkey as well as the hopes and challenges of what the left can accomplish.
- The UTLA Victory in Context
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A look at the bigger picture surrounding the LA teacher's strike as part of the national upsurge that began with the 2012 strike of the Chicago Teachers Union.
- Venezuela Coverage Takes Us Back to Golden Age of Lying About Latin America
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Corporate media has many stories about food and medicine shortages in Venezuela. These lies and others are debunked by someone who lives there.
- What Los Angeles Teachers Won
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A Los Angeles teacher's take on the successful strike.
- White Women and White Power
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Review of two books about white supremacy. Especially focused on the role of white women in white power movements.
- Who Is Responsible?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A short update on attempts to gain justice for Indigenous genocide in Guatemala in the 1980s.
- Whose "Security" -- and for What?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Editorial about how accepted "security" discourse obscures the real structural and systemic crises today.
- Women's Oppression and Liberation
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
On the role of Marxism in the feminist movement in India.
- UN Council: Israel Intentionally Shot Children and Journalists in Gaza
Officials say killings are part of Israel's 'obligation'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A short piece on the UN Human Rights Council report on Israel's firing on unarmed protesters.
- Debunking The Myth That Anti-Zionism Is Anti-Semitic
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Looks at some of the cases of Anti-Semitism and Zionism as mutually held beliefs, as well as other contradictions, to argue that Anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism are not the same.
- A History of the Indonesian Massacres, 1965-1966
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Review of a book of the Indonesian massacres contains lengthy excerpts and summary of the history.
- Hitting nature where it hurts: Iran feels the pernicious effects of US sanctions on biodiversity conservation
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Iran is home to a rich and complex array of biodiversity. Efforts to protect its biodiversity have been challenged by decades of economic sanctions and political isolation.
- Illusion or Advance? Ecosocialists debate the 'Green New Deal'
Activists from System Change Not Climate Change discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the Green New Deal proposal.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Activists from 'System Change Not Climate Change' discuss the strengths and weaknesses of 'Green New Deal' proposals, and how the left should respond.
- ‘It Was a Remarkably Successful Grassroots Campaign to Target Amazon’s Credibility’
CounterSpin interview with Neil deMause on Amazon's retreat from New York
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Transcript of interview with Neil deMause about NY's bid for Amazon HQ. Included downloadable MP3 of interview.
- The Rigors of Organizing: On the Road with the German Climate Resistance
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Ende Gelände, is a broad coalition of German climate resistance organizers. Members are touring the US sharing info about their tactics.
- The U.S. is funding dangerous experiments it doesn’t want you to know about
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The US government is funding research into making bird flu virus highly contagious without publicly disclosing it. A number of scientists are opposed to the secrecy behind these experiments and even question their value.
- ‘We Don’t Do Propaganda’
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Dutch historian Rutger Bregman's (un-aired) appearance on Tucker Carlson sparked outrage in Carlson and an opportunity to highlight how money controls the narrative in mainstream news.
- The Christian Genocide During the Ottoman Empire Sounds a Dark Warning for the Future
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Review and discussion of The Thirty-Year Genocide: Turkey’s Destruction of Its Christian Minorities 1894-1924 by Benny Morris and Dror Zeevi.
- The battle of testosterone that will decide the fate of sport
The curious case of Caster Semenya
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Since the notion of “transgender athletes” appeared in the public domain – brought in by transgender tennis player Renee Richards back in 1975 – this has been the subject of never-ending controversy and debate. But now things are heading to what could be a culmination of decades-long deadlock. That is through the ongoing legal battle between South African runner Caster Semenya and the International Association of Athletics Federations. Last year, after IAAF introduced the controversial limit to testosterone levels of 5.0 nanomols per liter of blood for female athletes. Many regarded this as an attack on innocent athletes.
- Black Liberation Struggle: The Key to American Socialist Revolution
Part Two
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Everybody is familiar with Marx's famous saying, in Capital, Vol. 1 (1867), that "labour cannot emancipate itself in the white skin where in the black it is branded." This was more than a moral appeal against slavery. It was a statement of fact: Marx recognized that so long as half the country was dominated by slavery, workers would never be able to fight for even basic trade-union rights. The Civil War paved the way for the growth of American capitalism and the labor movement.
- Judicial Secrecy: Where Justice Goes to Die
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The trend of courts imposing gag orders and press bans on judicial proceedings is a hallmark of police states and a threat to freedom and justice.
- The War on Venezuela is Built on Lies
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Maduro, like Chavez before him, is a fairly elected leader with support from the people. Talk of his 'illegitmacy' is propaganda in service of the coup.
- 'Making this up': Study says oilsands assessments marred by weak science
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The environmental impact assessments required by oil companies use such inconsistent criteria that their reports say have little reliable information about one of the most heavily industrialized landscapes in Canada.
- A Tale of Two Citations: Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" and Michael Harrington's "The Other America"
Contrasting Lessons for Activists
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Looking at the forgotten, more radical aspects of Carson's "Silent Spring." Compares it with other, less radical works that were more easily co-opted by governments looking to appease new social and environmental movements.
- The Chickens Come Home to Roost ... in Syria
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
American meddling in the Middle East since 9/11 may finally be reaching a crisis as the process produces irreconcilable conflicts with allies.
- Court Throws out Energy Transfer's 'Racketeering' Claims Against Dakota Access Pipeline Opponents
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
An energy company that tried to bring RICO charges against Greenpeace and other people opposing their pipeline have had their case thrown out.
- The new Jewish left
In Canada, young Jews are fighting antisemitism while opposing the Israeli occupation
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Young Jewish people in North America are fighting antisemitism while opposing Israel's occupation of Palestine.
- Yiddish Glory: How a Grammy nomination sprang from a Canadian prof's chance discovery
'Yiddish Glory: The Lost Songs of World War II' nominated in World Music Grammy category
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A collection of WWII era Soviet Yiddish music went from an archive to a Grammy-winning album. The collection revealed much new information about Soviet Jews.
- Beyond Corporate Power
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
By concentrating on corporate power we can end up looking to the state for solutions. But the only way to achieve even the moderate reforms necessary is through revolutionary mass movements.
- Greenwashing the Climate Catastrophe
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Many solutions to climate change such as the Green New Deal do not address the real threat to the planet: capitalism. They in fact are a smokescreen under which to conduct business as usual.
- Juan Guaidó: The Man Who Would Be President of Venezuela Doesn't Have a Constitutional Leg to Stand On
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The US coup in Venezuela uses constitutional arguments to give legitimacy to Guaido's presidency. This article details how this argument is false.
- On the Front Lines of the Climate Change Movement: Mike Roselle Draws a Line
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
An excerpt from the book The Big Heat: Earth on the Brink by Jeffrey St. Clair and Joshua Frank. An account of environmental activists fighting massive industries to save the environment.
- Why Ann Coulter Has Power: U.S. Politics are Authoritarian by Design
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A description of undemocratic processes in the US government - the Electoral College, gerrymandering, etc. - and how these allow a small minority to decide the leadership of the country.
- Repeat after me, protests in Venezuela good, protests in France bad!
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Anti-government protests in Venezuela and France are treated differently because of the interests the respective presidents - and their opposition - represent.
- Venezuela Blitz - Part 1: Tyrants Don’t Have Free Elections
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Thorough summary of support for the Venezuela coup in US and UK media with many excerpts.
- Venezuela Blitz - Part 2: Press Freedom, Sanctions And Oil
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Analysis of corporate coverage of Venezuela reveals: reporting on the supposed lack of free press, and rarely mentioning the US's interest in their oil and effect of sanctions on the country.
- US Media Ignore -- and Applaud -- Economic War on Venezuela
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
US reporting on Venezuela fails to mention the effect economic sanctions have in Venezuela defying the work of experts in the area.
- Venezuela: The U.S.'s 68th Regime Change Disaster
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The US's sanctions and political interference in Venezuela are part of a long history of foreign meddling that brings strife to the affected country.
- Face Surveillance Is a Uniquely Dangerous Technology
CounterSpin interview with Shankar Narayan on facial recognition
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Lightly edited transcript of an interview regarding face recognition technology and how it will impact people who are already over-policed.
- The Long Goodbye of Antiwar Protest
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
There is a lack of real opposition - both by other governments and the public - to US-led regime changes.
- A Plague of Rats: How Years of Austerity Prompted Many Britons to Vote for Brexit
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Many Britons in poor areas voted for Brexit even though they benefited financially from the EU. Though often blamed on fear of immigration it is also a result of discontent brought on by severe austerity and privatization.
- How the Murders of Journalists in the Middle East Are Brushed Aside
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Though higher-profile than most, Jamal Khashoggi was far from the first Arab journalist to be murdered in the Middle East. In his case, just like most others, cover-ups disguised as investigations may placate public outcry.
- 'Palestinian Rights Has Become an Incredibly Mainstream Issue'
CounterSpin interview with Josh Ruebner on BDS bans
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Interview with Josh Ruebner about anti-BDS legislation. With downloadable MP3 of interview.
- What the Media Won't Tell You About the Venezuelan Coup
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Calling Venezuela's election illegitimate is false and is also a familiar tactic for US interference in a country's government.
- A Nonviolent Strategy to Defeat the US Coup Attempt in Venezuela
To the People of Venezuela
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
An open letter to the people of Venezuela regarding the US coup and with support for how they can resist.
- Judge: Providing Water to Dying Immigrants in Desert is a Crime
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Activists who leave water near the US-Mexico border have been found guilty of various charges. Others in similar situations are still awaiting trial.
- The Need for a Compelling Anti-Capitalist Narrative
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
To inspire people with possibility socialists need to create a vision of the world they want to create instead of just showing how bad capitalism is.
- Orphan Bachelors
Exclusion and Confession, the two slamming doors of America
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The Chinese Exclusion Act was the first law to ban a nationality, as well as a victory for labor. Since the 1840s, whites moving to California considered the state to be for whites only and thought that any job held by a non-white was stolen from them.
- Reclaiming control of Indonesia's oceans
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Indonesian activists are building a global movement to resist the financialisation and privatisation of the world's oceans.
- Republican Estate Tax Repeal: An Effort to Avoid Ever Being Taxed
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
While Sen. Bernie Sanders proposes an important increase in the estate tax, Republicans are gearing for its complete repeal. Morris Pearl of the group Patriotic Millionaires, talks about how the Republicans’ plan would help the rich from ever being taxed.
- The Same Media That Opposed Democracy in South Africa Now Warn Against It in Israel/Palestine
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Coverage of South African apartheid in US news in the 1980s compared with coverage of Israel/Palestine today reveals similar racist bias.
- Trump's Brilliant Strategy to Dismember U.S. Dollar Hegemony
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The US's ability to use finance as international leverage is weakening as American nationalism becomes more blatant and alienates allies.
- Without a Trace
Missing, in an age of mass displacement
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
We are entering an age of mass displacement, bearing witness to the first tentative gestures of what promises to be a titanic redistribution of the world's citizenry. More than 68 million people are currently exiled from their homes by violence, more than at any other point in recorded history.
- Media Rally Around 'Forever War' in Afghanistan
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A round up of some of the alarmist reporting on supposed withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.
- Rivers in crisis: water theft and corruption in the Darling River system
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A water crisis in New South Wales has resulted in millions of fish dying and a shortage of water in communities. Politicians blame drought while other blame corruption and the actions of big irrigators.
- Why the Anthropocene is not 'climate change' - and why that matters
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Reducing our current predicament to combatting climate change, or even narrower, reducing CO2 emissions fails to show the big picture of how humans have changed the planet. To contend with the Anthropocene we need to get rid of one-dimensional thinking of climate change.
- A Liberal Elite Still Luring Us Towards the Abyss
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A recent manifesto decrying "populism and nationalism" see today's problems as coming from the abandonment of liberal ideals when they are in fact caused by extreme adherence to them.
- The Making of Juan Guaidó: How the US Regime Change Laboratory Created Venezuela's Coup Leader
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A detailed account of US-backed groups that positioned Juan Guaidó to declare himself president of Venezuela.
- Rigging the Science of GMO Ecotoxicity
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Scientific article about dangers of GMO plants and techniques used by developers to disguise harms to get GMOs through testing.
- Water resources - 'The river is dying': the vast ecological cost of Brazil's mining disasters
Water resources are tapped with often reckless abandon and poor regulation. And it looks set to go on under new president.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Brazil's worst mining disaster in decades has prompted calls to create stronger regulations and enforce them with real consequences rather than small fines that often go unpaid.
- The West Failed to Learn the Most Important Lessons From the Rise and Fall of ISIS
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The attempted coup in Venezuela today is an example of imperial overreach western governments displayed in the Middle East.
- In Praise of Direct Action (and More)
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The speed with which air traffic controllers' work stoppage put an end to the government shutdown shows the power of direct action especially when it threatens capitalist profit.
- The Nine Worst Lawfare Injustices in the US and What They Tell Us About Ourselves
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
"Lawfare" is when the law is weoponized and directed against a group of people declared to be an enemy. This is a brief history with nine examples.
- Kashmiris launch calendar to remember disappeared loves ones
At least 8,000 people have disappeared since 1989 according to human rights groups, leaving relatives in no-man's land
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Women whose husbands were disappeared have spent decades wondering what happened to them and fighting for justice. They and a group representing families of disappeared persons have published a calendar commemerating 12 victims.
- 'No right to make money off us that way': Woman targeted by baby product marketing after miscarriage
Go Public test reveals Motherhood Maternity not always transparent about how personal information is shared
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Information shared with companies and social media is often shared in ways that seem unethical. This is very upsetting to people who suffer miscarraiges and continue getting marketing directed at new parents.
- The US coup in Venezuela: New attempt to eradicate the Chavista Revolution
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The coup in Venezuela is the latest in a long history of US attempts to undermine and overthrow progressive governments in Latin America. American progressives must do more to stop this aggression.
- Yet Another U.S. Coup Attempt to Eradicate the Bolivarian Revolution
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
History of the attempted coup in Venezuela as of January 2019.
- International undercover agents target Toronto-based digital rights group Citizen Lab
Group targeted following its reports on Israeli software used to spy on Jamal Khashoggi
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Members of the internet watchdog group Citizen Lab have been contacted by men masquerading as investors who seem to be trying to dig up dirt on them.
- Komiks from the Underground: the Radicalism of Gilbert Shelton
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A review and history of "Radical America Komiks," a reprint collection of underground comics from 1969.
- Venezuela: Is President Maduro 'illegitimate'? 10 facts to counter the lies
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Concise rebuttal of talking points used by those trying to bring about a coup in Venezuela.
- A Robust Doctrine: Break the Taboo on Odious Debts and their Repudiation
The Challenges for the European Left regarding Debt and the Banks
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
An interview with Éric Toussaint, the author of The Debt System. A History of Sovereign Debts and their Repudiation. He discusses debt, illegetimate debt and the instances in history when debts were repudiated.
- Behind the popular revolt in Sudan
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Interview with journalist and former Sudanese Communist Party activist Rashid Saeed Yagoub. Amgad Fareid Eltayeb outlines the situation and background to the revolt in Sudan. Also, a solidarity statement issued by the Alliance of Middle Eastern Socialists.
- Attacks in Thailand's deep south: Who, why and what's next?
Burst of violence deepens concerns the situation in the conflict-hit region could deteriorate in the coming months.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Fatal attacks by Malay separatists have brought what some feel are overly punitive retaliation from Thailand's military. This could lead to a deterioration in diplomacy and more violence.
- 'Fake news' is okay if it's about #RussiaGate: Top 7 fake 'collusion' stories the media pushed
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A summary of stories of Russian interference in US politics that were later retracted.
- First responder in Skripal poisoning turns out to be Britain’s most senior military nurse
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Sergei and Yulia Skripal were given first aid by the British Army’s most senior nurse, who just happened to be nearby, according to a new report – adding further intrigue to the highly controversial case. The latest development in the Salisbury poisoning affair will fuel the claims of skeptics, who don’t believe the official British narrative.
- Propaganda of omission: Britain's role in Rohingya genocide absent from UK reports
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The British military supports the Myanmar army with training. While coverage of Myanmar violence against innocent Rohingya is covered the media say little about British involvement and politicians find ways to excuse it.
- 'I regret it': Hayden King on writing Ryerson University's territorial acknowledgement
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
I think that the territorial acknowledgement is by and large for non-Native people. So if we're writing a script then providing a phonetic guide for how to recite the nation's names, then it doesn't really require much work on behalf of the people who are reciting that territorial acknowledgement.
- What's the alternative to factory farms?
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Mixed review of a collection of essays about industrial agriculture. Most of the papers point out the destructiveness of animal agriculture but neglect the wider issue of capitialism.
- Declassified Documents Now Reveal There Were Two CIA Torture Programs
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Declassified documents expose new info about the CIA's detention and interrogation operations. This article looks at their history going back to MKUltra in the 1950s.
- Refugees Are in the Channel Thanks to the Actions of the West
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The outcome of Western military and economic interventions in the Middle East and North Africa have caused the outflow of refugees from zones of conflict.
- Breaking the Left's Gay Taboo
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A review of Allen Young's "Left, Gay and Green: a Writer's Life" that includes much historical context and the reviewer's personal history.
- Climate Advocates Underestimate Power of Fossil Fueled Misinformation Campaigns, Say Top Researchers
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The "climate countermovement" direct massive resources towards denying the reality of climate change. Climate advocates need to address their opposition's tactics to be able to combat this misinformation.
- Dances of Disinformation: the Partisan Politics of the Integrity Initiative
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The Integrity Initiative - a supposedly non-partisan agency aiming at dismantling state sponsored misinformation - was exposed as funded by a UK government agency to undermine the opposition. This brings into question the plausibility of an impartial or apolitical playing field.
- Mainstream Media Bias on 2020 Democratic Race Already in High Gear
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Mainstream media pundits undermine the chances of progressive candidates like Bernie Sanders despite the defeat of centrist politicians by the right.
- More than 100 First Nations could purchase the Trans Mountain expansion pipeline
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Dozens of First Nations leaders are meeting to discuss a plan that could make them the next owners of the controversial Trans Mountain pipeline. Indigenous leaders will debate which financial model is ideal if they are able to purchase the pipeline project, which would boost the amount of oilsands bitumen shipped from Alberta to the B.C. coast. The Indian Resource Council (IRC) is optimistic it will be able to present a proposal to Ottawa to acquire the pipeline project in the coming months. The IRC represents 134 First Nations that have oil and gas resources on their land.
- Dearest Arundhati Roy: Shahidul Alam reflects on his time in prison
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The Bangladeshi photographer was charged with criticising his country on Facebook and spent more than 100 days behind bars. Now freed, he replies to the Indian novelist who wrote to him in jail.
- Do we fetishize indigenous people?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Although well-intentioned, Western representations of and interactions with Indigenous people can undermine their humanity.
- The FBI's police state operation against Trump
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The allegations that Trump is a Russian agent lack credibility. The FBI's invesitigation seems more like the agency is attempting to overthrow an elected government - a threat the FBI has posed in the past.
- In the US South, anti-Confederate protesters face harassment
At least 1,728 Confederate memorials - among them 772 monuments - remained intact as of June 2018, says SPLC watchdog.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
In recent years Confederate monuments have become increasingly high-profile as symbols of racism with links to extremist violence. Protests against these monuments are highly tense even when violence does not break out.
- The Persecuted
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Fundamentalist Christians maintaining that they are persecuted may not make sense given the prevalence of sympathetic and Christian-owned media and businesses. Listening to a sermon reveals they see the inability to impose their views in society as persecution.
- Shedding Light on Forced Child Pregnancy and Motherhood in Latin America
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2018
Research and campaigns by women's rights advocates are beginning to focus on the problem of Latin American girls who are forced to bear the children of their rapists, with the lifelong implications that entails and without the protection of public policies guaranteeing their human rights.
- Socially Polarised, Politically Paralysed
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
An essay on the peculiar character of contemporary social polarisation illstrated through the discussion of Brexit.
- We The Workers: A limited documentary about labour rights groups in China
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A review of a documentary on labour conditions in China. The docementary was filmed at great risk but the motiviations and the end product are questionable.
- "Free Trade" Is Today's Imperialism by the 1 Percent
Building alternatives to free trade must become an essential component of a more progressive US foreign policy.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Principles of "free" trade allow global North corporations to continue the colonial policies that made them their wealth. Alternatives to free trade need to shift power and wealth to the global South to create fairness and progress.
- In The Eye of the Beholder: USA History of Imprisoning Women Politicals
Part One of review and discussion of Linda G. Ford's Women Politicals in America: Jailed Dissenters from Mother Jones to Lynne Stewart
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
An in-depth review of Linda Ford's "Women Politicals in America: Jailed Dissenters from Mother Jones to Lynne Stewart" (2018). The author draws on his personal experience as a journalist and organizer.
- 1919: The Year the World Was on Fire
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A sprawling take on international revolutionary events of 1919 using Emma Goldman, Bill Haywood, and John Reed as focal points.
- Updating Some U.S. Political Prisoners January 2019
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
An update on political prisoners in the United States.
- Argentina's Indigenous People Fight for Land Rights
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Indigenous people in Argentina live with the constant threat of eviction on land to which they own no title. Much of their predicament is due to colonial laws and attitudes that persist even though constitutional changes now recognize Indigenous land rights as an urgent issue. Deforestation due to expanding agriculture exacerbates this conflict.
- U.S. Newspapers Are More Than Twice As Likely to Cite Israeli Sources in Headlines Than Palestinian Ones
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A study of 50 years of news headlines on the Israel-Palestine conflict from five major American publications shows that they are biased towards the Israeli side.
- US astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson targeted by #MeToo campaign
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has become one of the most recent targets of the #MeToo campaign, the sexual witch hunt sweeping the professional middle classes in the US and beyond. Nothing that has come to light so far demonstrates that Tyson is guilty of any wrongdoing. On the contrary, the published material suggests he is the victim of a virulent strain of political and psychological hysteria.
- As Democratic Elites Reunite With Neocons, the Party's Voters Are Becoming Far More Militaristic and Pro-War Than Republicans
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
As President Trump announces plans to withdraw troops from Syria and Afghanistan Democrats have seemingly adopted a pro-war stance in greater numbers than Republicans.
- French Democracy Dead or Alive?
The Gilets Jaunes in 2019
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
An overview of the Yellow Vests: their methods, demands, media coverage and summary of major events from November 2018 to January 2019.
- Legal Weed Is Great, But Black and Brown Communities Can't Be Left Behind
Marijuana legalization must bring both equity and justice for those most impacted by the War on Drugs.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Marginalized populations that were hardest hit by the War on Drugs should be at the forefront of legalization legislation as well as recipients of the tax revenue from legalized marijuana.
- Neoliberalism: Free Market Fundamentalism or Corporate Power?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The idea of "free market fundamentalism (FMF)" omits the fact that neoliberalism requires state intervention to run, so criticism of neoliberalsm based on FMF is ahistorical and self-defeating.
- 'Not a Good Answer': Privacy Advocates Reject Democratic Proposal for 'Technological Wall' With Expanded Border Surveillance
'More surveillance' has become the default answer to far too many difficult policy questions
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Digital rights advocates called on Democratic lawmakers to expand their fight against the wall into a fight for all human and constitutional rights-instead of suggesting alternative "border security" proposals that would infringe on civil liberties.
- For Owners of Amazon’s Ring Security Cameras, Strangers May Have Been Watching Too
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Amazon's Ring security cameras have a history of lax, sloppy oversight when it comes to deciding who has access to some of the most precious, intimate data belonging to any person: a live, high-definition feed from around -and perhaps inside- their house.
- Indigenous People, the First Victims of Brazil's New Far-Right Government
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Anti-Indigenous sentiment in Brazil is emboldened by Bolsonaro's regime. This is leading to greater efforts by the government and agribusiness to seize Indigenous Lands.
- Meet Europe's Left Nationalists -'A momentous turn against free movement in Europe'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The rise of leaders like Sahra Wagenknecht and Jean-Luc Mélenchon marks a momentous turn against free movement in Europe-at the expense of immigrants.
- Resignations rock US civil rights institute after it strips Angela Davis of award over pro-BDS views
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Three members quit the board of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute after its controversial decision to first grant, then to rescind an award for iconic activist Angela Davis, following objections to her anti-Israel statements.
- A Tale of Two Toilets: Profiting from Necessity?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
As indoor plumbing arrived in the U.S. in the 1840s and Dr. John Snow’s treatise on sewage-contaminated water causing cholera came out in 1855, the current global toilet situation cannot be attributed to lack of knowledge, technology, or resources.
- The 'Unpeople' of South Korea
Idiocy and Violence of Immigration
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Who are the ‘unpeople’ of South Korea? They are an majority of illegal migrants who lack basic rights and security and believed to deserve it according to the laws and principles under which Korean society operates.
- Catherine Rottenberg's Neoliberal Feminism
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
An interview with Catherine Rottenberg, author of The Rise of Neoliberal Feminism (2018).
- The Orwell quotes right-wingers never mention
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A brief look at George Orwell's revolutionary, left-wing views to counter the superficial references to "thought police" or "big brother" used in right-wing circles.
- Protesting the "slave law" in Hungary: The erosion of illiberal hegemony?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Popular protests have arisen in Hungary to oppose exploitive changes to the labor code. The government opposition has supported the protests but this could result in weakening the protests' legitimacy as a movement.
- Alliance statement: Solidarity with the popular uprising in Sudan
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Statement of allliance by the Aliiance of Middle Eastern Socialists for the ongoing uprising in Sudan which erupted on December 19th, 2018.
- From Academic to Assembly Line Worker: My Life of Precarity in Middle America
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A non-tenured academic's story of trying to make ends meet in Indiana.
- Nicaragua: The Other Revolution Betrayed
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A look at the current neoliberal regime in Nicaragua and how the Sandinista government failed to deliver on the promise of the 1979 Revolution.
- Shots All Around: How Four Roses Bourbon Workers Won Their Strike
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Four Roses Bourbon Worked successfully striked over a two-tier contract proposal that would have given worse benefits to new hires.
- Who Would Believe It? Annals of the New Left Era
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A review of "You Say You Want a Revolution" a collection of memoirs of the Progressive Labor Party.
- Newly Released FOIA Documents Shed Light on Border Patrol’s Seemingly Limitless Authority
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
More than 1,000 pages of previously unseen Customs and Border Protection training documents, shed light on the details of the Amercian Border Patrol’s seemingly limitless authority.
- Progressive Ideas Matter to Voters. So Why Do Democrats Fixate on the Identity of the Messenger?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
There is a larger rhetorical trend toward divorcing voter preferences from ideology to focusing on identity. Wittingly or not, the effect is to undermine the obvious power of progressive ideas.
- 'Slaves of the sea'
The long-forgotten Jaladas community and their need for policy inclusion
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Due to socio-econimical, political, and geographical reasons, the Jaladas community has been negelected and they are vulnerable. Relevant sectoral policies enacted by the government of Bangladesh would address these issues.
- France: Yellow Jackets and labour movement at a crossroads - Social and political questions
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A brief look at the Yellow Vests in 2018. Though they may have their problems they provide a possiblity of change outside the electoral system.
- U.S. Senate's First Bill, in the Midst of the Shutdown, Is a Bipartisan Defense of the Israeli Government From Boycotts
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
This Senate's first bill of 2019 considers giving state and local governments the power to punish companies that boycott Israel. These laws have been found to be unconstitutional but still have bipartisan support.
- Discarded Christmas trees used to restore creeks and streams, protect fish in Halton
Trees rebuild banks in creeks, streams in order to reduce warming of the water
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
In Halton, discarded Christmas trees are used to restore and protect wildlife in creeks and streams.
- Indonesia: 41 dead, 546 assaulted, 51 shot in agrarian conflicts under Jokowi’s watch
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
An explosion of agrarian conflicts between 2014 and 2018 has resulted in many casualties including 41 people killed, 546 people assaulted and 51 people shot since President Joko Widodo came to office.
- Must Writers Be Moral? Their Contracts May Require It
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Publishers have been adding clauses to contracts that let them break relationships with writers who display behaviour that could damage their reputations. Many see this as a risky loophole open to abuse.
- Three big insights into our African origins
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
John Hawks delivered a lecture to the American Society for Human Genetics, focusing on the African record of human origins.
- United States - DSA Two Years Later: Where Are We At? Where Are We Headed?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) had had a massive surge in membership in the last two years. Here is a look at the history of socialism in the US and the DSA's current prospects for enacting real change.
- When Your Boss Locks You Out for Nearly 6 Months and Cuts Off Your Healthcare
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
When energy company National Grid locked out its workers during contract negotiations, workers workers had to struggle with loss of income and health insurance. Workers as well as legislators see this as an unfair bargaining tactic.
- Why Should My Newspaper Pledge Not to Boycott Israel?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
An editorial by the publisher of an Arkansas newspaper expected to sign a pledge promising to not boycott Israel in exchange for the ability to sell advertising.
- Old Mother Forest
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A poignant look at the ecosystem of a rainforest from a conservationist in India.
- U.S.A : How Federal Workers Could Fight the Shutdown
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Federal workers have dealt with low pay, degraded working conditions, and repeated employer lockouts. If they want to improve their conditions, they'll have to organize.
- Anti-Semitism & Me Too complaints challenge freedom of debate
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
- Apocalypse of Our Times
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Review of Gerald Horne's "Apocalypse of Settler Colonialism," a look at the 17th century origins of the slave trade.
- BDS: Repression and Progress
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Short piece about recent BDS actions and attempts to censor pro-Palestinian protest.
- Breaking the Impasse
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Review of Cracks in the Wall by Ben White, a hopeful book about weakening pro-Zionism in public consensus.
- Class War on New Ground
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Review of Kim Moody's New Terrain, a book looking at how capitalism has changed and how left wing organizing must adapt.
- Colorblind Law -- NOT
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Positive review of Color of Law by Richard Rothstein. It looks at the history of how states circumvented federal desegregation laws.
- Disciplined for Acting with Integrity
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The smear campaign against two profs at University of Michigan participating in BDS harks back to McCarthyist attempts to silence the left at that same institution.
- Europe's Political Turmoil -- Part II
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Could the rise of the far right across Europe actually lead to establishing fascist regimes? Overemphasis on this fear may divert attention from where it is needed.
- The FBI in Ecuador
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Review of a book detailing the FBI's actions in Latin America throughout the 20th century.
- GM Closures -- What's Next?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Plant closures by GM in the US, Canada and internationally threaten workers and communities. Can unions fight to stop this destructive practice?
- Nancy Gruber, 1930-2018
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Obituary of radical activist Nancy Gruber.
- Holocaust to Resistance
My journey
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A memoir by Suzanne Berliner Weiss, a holocaust survivor born in France, who came to North America and was active in radical causes in the United States and Canada.
- Journalists Speak Up for Julian Assange
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Journalists and journalistic organizations around the globe, express their grave concern for Julian Assange's wellbeing, for his continued detention and for the draconian espionage charges.
- David McReynolds, 1928-2018
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Obituary and memoir of leftist activist David McReynolds.
- The Menace of Right "Populism"
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Editorial about Trump and right-wing regimes world-wide and the opportunities for left-wing organizing.
- Miriam Garfinkle Social Justice Fund
Resource Type: Organization
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The Miriam Garfinkle Social Justice Fund was established to honour Miriam Garfinkle's lifetime of work for social justice. Its mission is to support projects and initiatives which aim to change the world in large ways and small, with the ultimate goal of building a world based on justice and community where people live in harmony with the planet.
The Miriam Garfinkle Social Justice Fund prioritizes grassroots initiatives, with special emphasis on projects designed to raise awareness and stimulate organizing and action.
- Nationalism, Patriotism, Hate Crimes
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A look at the (mis)use of the word "nationalism" to describe Trump and white supremacists.
- No, Iran Does Not Break The Nuclear Deal
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
On May 8 2018 the United States broke the JCPOA when it reimposed sanctions on Iran. Iran can not "break" a deal that the U.S. already broke. The JCPOA clearly states that Iran would take this step if and when the U.S. breaches the agreement by imposing new sanctions. That Iran is now exceeding one of the limits JCPOA sets out is not in breach of the agreement but in adherence to its letters.
- Our Movement, Our Lives
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Review of a history of the Black Lives Matter movement, both nationally and locally.
- Party for the Revolution
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Review of Crowds and Party by Jodi Dean, a philosophical look at the crowd and the individual in revolutionary action.
- The Peking University Marxist Society and Student Activists
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Their report on the living and working conditions of university staff approaches Mao's suggestion that 'knowledge of any kind is inseparable from direct experience' when it states that 'it is only through practice that you can produce genuine knowledge.'
- Permanent Record
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
- Radical Ambition
The New Left in Toronto
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
The story of Toronto's New Left from its initial stirrings in the late 1950s to its 'long, ambiguous goodbye in the early 1980s.
- Resistance Matters
The Radical Vision of an Antipsychiatry Activist
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Don Weitz writes "Antipsychiatry organizing saved my life once, and has always given it meaning. This book is an invitation to join me and other psychiatric survivors (and our allies) in exposing psychiatry’s coercive, life-destroying practices and utter lack of scientific validity; and creating and promoting life-affirming alternatives."
- A Revolutionary Detroit Memoir
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Review of autobiographical memoir of a white, working-class, Catholic woman who became involved in Black activisim.
- Sard's Permanent War Economy
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A long biographical essay on Edward Sard who founded the theory of "permanent war economy."
- Sister Language
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Sister Language is a collaboration, composed mainly of letters and other writings, between two sisters, one of whom, Christina, is schizophrenic.
- Sources Calendar Expired Entries 2018
Resource Type: Website
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
- Sources News Release Archive 2019
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
News releases from 2019.
- Still Lonely on the Right
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
A review of 3 books about Black Republicans.
- The Strange Career of the Second Amendment -- Part I
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Detailed analysis of the Second Amendment and different perceptions of gun rights in US history.
- Ukraine on Fire: The Real Story
Resource Type: Film/Video
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
- Unconditional support for Israel is unconditional support for injustice
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Like tens of thousands of Jews worldwide, we oppose Israel's ongoing illegal occupation of Palestinian lands and its regime of violence, intimidation and incarceration aimed at the Palestinian population of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza. We challenge those who offer unconditional support for Israel to ask themselves if they would support the same violations of human rights and international law anywhere else in the world. We affirm that our criticism of Israel comes from an embrace of both Jewish and universal humanitarian values and has no relation whatsoever to antisemitism.
- Unconditional support for Israel is unconditional support for injustice
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Like tens of thousands of Jews worldwide, we oppose Israel's ongoing illegal occupation of Palestinian lands and its regime of violence, intimidation and incarceration aimed at the Palestinian population of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza. We challenge those who offer unconditional support for Israel to ask themselves if they would support the same violations of human rights and international law anywhere else in the world. We affirm that our criticism of Israel comes from an embrace of both Jewish and universal humanitarian values and has no relation whatsoever to antisemitism.
- Water as a Form of Social Control
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Whether in Palestine or Detroit, restricting access to water is a tactic used to deprive populations of personal and social agency with dire consequences to health.
- Who funded the ISO? An analysis of the financial basis of pseudo-left politics
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
- Why the US Puppet President of Venezuela is Toast
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
In the alternative universe of corporate media, which ignores the economic war being waged against Venezuela, Reuters bemoans that the “crackdown” on Guaidó’s agents has failed to receive “significant retaliation from the international community.” In reality, Venezuela has massively suffered from the US-orchestrated punishments for resisting reverting to the status of a client state.
- The Yaniv scandal is the end-product of trans activism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Does inclusivity mean the Canadian state should compel women to handle a penis?
- The Deportation Racket
Con artists are preying on undocumented immigrants in detention
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2019
Published: 2019
Undocumented immigrants have long been targeted by swindlers who promise shortcuts through the labyrinthine corridors of immigration law. What happened to Duran is most commonly called notario fraud, a catchall term that refers to a scam in which an individual misrepresents his or her qualifications to handle immigration work.
- Quebec prosecuting nearly 100 crane operators for 'illegal' 2018 strike
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Nearly 100 crane operators in Quebec are facing criminal prosecution for having participated in an "illegal" wildcat strike in June 2018.
- Blood Money
Taxpayers pick up the tab for police brutality
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
- Venezuela: US Imperialism Is Based On Lies And Threats
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
First-hand report of a delegation to Venezuela from the US. They say the coup is weak and the Venezuelan people are strong and Maduro has their support.
- "Embodied Materialism" and Ecosocialism
Book review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Detailed chapter-by-chapter review of Ariel Salleh's Ecofeminism as Politics: Nature, Marx, and the Postmodern.
- Not My Revolution
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The Women's March is not immune to the same forces that have confronted the political left in the U.S. for decades. The larger women's movement itself, that sprang from the antiwar movement and civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, carried flaws along with its development that are not new to left political movements in the U.S.
- Media Panic Over the Stock Market Plunge
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The media continue to be in a panic over the drop in the stock market over the last few weeks. Fortunately for political pundits, there is no expectation that they have any clue about the subjects on which they opine. For those more interested in economics than hysterics, the drop in the market is not a big deal.
- Sources Calendar Expired Entries 2018
Resource Type: Website
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
- Worse than Obsolete: NATO Creates Enemies
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Twenty years' worth of "unintended" or "collateral" damage hasn't created friends in the war zones.
- 'This is a big bird': Wild turkey in Christie Pits is a neighbourhood favourite
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
- The US war on China's economic model
The growing hostility of Western governments to China is more about the interests of Western investors than legitimate security fears
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
China poses no military threat to the US but is still considered a top threat to the US. Although this perceived threat is economic that may not stop the US from military intervention.
- Water Wars: El Salvador Social Movements Resist Water Privatization
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the efforts of Salvadoran social movements which have unified in an urgent effort to counter the right-wing's most recent push to privatize El Salvador's scarce water resources.
- Irony alert: Firm that warned Americans of Russian bots...was running an army of fake Russian bots
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The co-founders of cybersecurity firm New Knowledge warned Americans in November to "remain vigilant" in the face of "Russian efforts" to meddle in US elections. This month, they have been exposed for doing just that themselves.
- Islamic State in Ukraine: A Christmas present from the West
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The report in British newspaper the Times, that Chechen Islamists, many reeling from defeat in Syria and Iraq amongst the alphabet soup of fanaticism, had indeed arrived at the war front in eastern Ukraine, woke me up from any Christmas torpor.
- Organ theft, staged attacks: UN panel details White Helmets' criminal activities, media yawns
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
- No matter how it appears, Trump isn't getting out of Syria and Afghanistan
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Trump's plans to withdraw troops from Afghanistan and Syria don't reflect a large change in US foreign policy. US troops are only a small part of the forces currently deployed there and they will probably be replaced with mercenaries paid for by oil monarchies.
- Alice Walker's Conspiracy Theories Aren't Just Anti-Semitic - They're Anti-Black
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
White supremacy relies on different stereotypes of Black and Jewish people. Alice Walker's adoption of anti-semitic conspiracy theories points to the need for solidarity between the Black and Jewish communities - which are not mutually exclusive.
- The Case that Dare Not Speak Its Name: the Conviction of Cardinal Pell
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Cardinal Pell, a high-ranking official of the Catholic Church and financial grand wizard of the Vatican, was found guilty on December 11, 2018 of historical child sexual abuses pertaining to two choir boys from the 1990s. But details remain sketchy.
- The ignorant, repressive attack on Frank Loesser's "Baby, It's Cold Outside"
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at Frank Loesser's 1944 song "Baby, It's Cold Outside" and the social forces which have aggressively pushed the new 'Puritanism' that seeks to have the song banned.
- Indian Country: The Situation is Bleak, But Not Hopeless
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Discusses how even though issues such as the Dakota Access Pipeline have received lots of public attention people are unaware of how Indigenous dispossession is deeply ingrained in the fabric of the US.
- Indian Country: The Situation is Bleak, But Not Hopeless
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A discussion of Stephanie Woodard's book "American Apartheid: The Native Struggle for Self-Determination and Inclusion" and looking at how present-day colonial practices impact Native people in the US.
- Marc Lamont Hill's Detractors are the True Anti-Semites
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Temple University's administration announced the unsurprising news that it has found no grounds to punish or investigate Professor Marc Lamont Hill for his speech on the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. Yet, the university's Board of Trustees felt compelled, nonetheless, to issue a statement further maligning Dr Hill, albeit indirectly this time.
- Viktor Orban, Trump and the Populist Battle Over Public Space
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The Hungarian legislation and the turmoil caused by Trump's moral equivalencies reveal how politicized space is not a distracting side effect of populist politics; rather, public space treated as a symbol of national identity is a defining characteristic of populism.
- The World Google Controls and Surveillance Capitalism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Google's encroaching powers over our lives, to include the freedom of expression protected by most national laws, not to mention EU and UN Charters, around the planet today.
- "Alexa, Drop a Bomb": Amazon Wants in on US Warfare
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at US comapany Amazon and its involvement with the US military in creating an artificial 'brain' called JEDI. It demonstrates a new level of US determination for global domination, and would represent the creation of a weapon that would dramatically up the level of global military rivalry and ensure more human conflict.
- The "Gilets Jaunes" Seen From My Workplace
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Due to the insular and ambiguous nature of social media, the Yellow Vests movement may spark political unrest but probably won't lead to real social revolution.
- Israeli army razes home of prominent Palestinian activist
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The Israeli army has demolished a residential building owned by a prominent Palestinian activist, whose six sons have been imprisoned by Israel. The building, owned by Latifa Abu Hmeid, is located in the Amari refugee camp near the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.
- Central Europe and Central America: Will there be a historical convergence?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
- Industrial accident claims three lives in Leduc, Alberta
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the troubling indifference to the alarming statistics on worker fatalities, and the lax occupational health and safety regulations that are designed to protect employers and permit the further expansion of company profits.
- Something New for Revolutionary Politics
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A review of Kristin Ross's provocative article on the “The Long 1960s and 'The Wind from the West.'"
- The Troubling Link Between Attacks on Immigrants and Repression of Labor
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the targeting of immigrants and its connection to attacks on labour movements, and how it leads to disturbing increases in violations of civil liberties.
- Israel rolls out the welcome mat for Europe's neo-fascists
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The recent visit to Israel of a dominant figure in Italy's right-wing coalition government, is the latest in an increasingly open alliance between the Israeli state and resurgent forces of the far-right and neo-fascism in Europe.
- Left-Wing Disaster Relief Efforts Spread Goodwill for Socialism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at some of the disaster relief initiatives by left-wing groups in the United States, as well as the disconnect that seems to underscore a number of issues with the state's disaster relief efforts.
- Truckers Spend the Holidays Driving Too Much for Too Little Pay
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the diminishing compensation provided to truck drivers, and why the trucking corporations get away with paying so little.
- Uber? Taxis? Or Plan C? How to Get Ride Hailing Right
BC could show the world a non-profit model that beats oligopolies
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at 'ride-hailing' and why it should be run on a non-profit basis as a co-op or other non-profit model.
- Huawei executive's arrest provokes anti-US protests in China
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The arrest of a Huawei executive in Canada has led to a wave of anger in China, in a move perceived to undermine China's increasingly dominant position in advanced technology. On Chinese social media comments denounce the arrest and call for the executive's immediate release as well as a boycott of Canadian brands.
- Québec solidaire reviews the election and maps campaign on climate crisis
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Meeting in Montréal December 7-9, 2018, Québec Solidaire reviewed elections results, adopted a proposal to prioritize the issue of climate crisis, and held a discussion on how to prepare an internal debate on "secularism and religious signs."
- Tale of two uprisings: Ukraine's Maidan got McCain & cookies, French Yellow Vests get shunned
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Unlike the 2014 Ukraine uprising, which witnessed invasive meddling on the part of US politicians and diplomats, Western support for the French Yellow Vest protests has been conspicuously missing in action.
- Time magazine honors journalists facing repression - but snubs Julian Assange
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at Time Magazine's 'Person of the Year' award for 2018, which did not list any journalist who exposed state secrets or government misconduct in the United States, nor whistleblowers from Israel, Egypt, India or any of the NATO countries.
- Want to Fix Foster Care? Ask Kids Who Have Been Through the System
Innovative report co-researched by youth from care focuses on importance of relationships
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A report called Relationships Matter for Youth "Aging Out" of Care, co-researched by youth from care, focuses on what truly matters to the young people who are in the system and notably on the importance of building relationships.
- What the Attack on Marc Lamont Hill Tells Us
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Destruction is the Zionists' strategic goal and the attack on Marc Lamont Hill and others like him is dictated by the tactics they have chosen to use toward that end.
- Why white supremacists and Hindu nationalists are so alike
White supremacy and Hindu nationalism have common roots going back to the 19th-century idea of the 'Aryan race'.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Many members of the so-called "alt-right" - a loosely knit coalition of populists, white supremacists, white nationalists and neo-Nazis - turned to India to find historic and current justifications for their racist, xenophobic and divisive views.
- Blacking Out the Yellow Vests on Cable News: Corporate Media Doing its Job
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
France is experiencing a left-leaning popular and working-class uprising consistent with the French revolutionary tradition of "Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity", yet the majorty of Western media have given very little investigation or serious attention to the momentous events.
- Climate justice and migration in the media
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A climate justice narrative is needed to communicate and enhance public understanding of migration induced by climate change. Key components must include human rights protection, greater equity in burdens sharing, and participation in decision-making processes.
- Siloed Thinking, Climate, and Disposable People
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Judith Deutch takes a look at the human side of the climate disaster and the constricted way of thinking about it, as even those who do recognize anthropogenic climate change still do not examine a range of critical interactions.
- A very British coup: The spies who went out to the cold
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Former British MP George Galloway comments on the revelation that subcontracted work from MI5 and MI6 targeted not only Russia but also smeared British politicians whom they perceived to be "pro-Russian"; those smeared include not only himself but Jeremy Corbyn and others in his party.
- Washington using legal cover to conceal economic banditry
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The arrest of a Chinese telecom executive in Canada on behalf of the US is an abuse of the legal process and international law to pursue American economic interests. China's anger resonates with similar grievances against the US felt by Russia, Iran, Venezuela, and even American allies in Europe.
- William Blum: Anti-Imperial Advocate
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The late William Blum, former computer programmer in the US State Department and initial enthusiast for US moral crusades, who died December 2018, gave us various exemplars of this counter-insurgent scholarship. His compilation of foreign policy ills in Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower, was written with the US as sole surveyor of the land, all powerful and dangerously uncontained.
- Climate litigation looms
Interview
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Nick Breeze interviews Dr. Saleemul Huq, Director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD), who explains why we must stay below 1.5C, and why loss and damage compensation, and litigation, are the next big agenda items at COP24.
- 'If I don't come back, call my lawyer': Practical solidarity for people
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A recommendation of practical steps to help people facing the threat of detention, and the importance of standing in solidarity with others who are dealing with a hostile environment.
- Foreign Interventions in Revolutionary Russia
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
All over Europe, the First World War had brought about a potentially revolutionary situation as early as 1917. In countries where the authorities continued to represent the traditional elite, exactly as had been the case in 1914, they aimed to prevent the realization of this potential by means of repression, concessions, or both.
- Here's how we stopped a brutal, inhumane and barely legal charter flight
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Helen Brewer describes how she, and 14 other activists, broke into Stansted Airport on the 28th of March 2017, and blocked a mass deportation charter flight due to send 60 people to Nigeria and Ghana -- a forced removal which threatened to place migrants in extreme danger.
- 100th Anniversary of 1918 Australian & New Zealand Surafend Massacre Of Palestinians
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look back at the premeditated massacre of male Palestinian villagers by Australian and New Zealand soldiers in the village of Surafend and a nearby Bedouin camp, which took place on December 10, 1918. The massacre has been largely ignored but serves as an allegory of settler colonialism.
- Stansted 15: British Activists Who Stopped Deportation Charter Flight Convicted of Terrorism Charge
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at a group of fifteen activists who prevented a deportation charter flight from leaving Stansted airport in the UK by securing themselves around the aeroplane, and were subsequently found guilty of a terrorist offence.
- Unions Should Go Big on a Green New Deal for Canada
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Canada's unions need to play a much larger leadership role on climate change, not just because it deals with economic policies directly affecting members but also because it will be difficult to get where we need to go without them.
- William Blum, Renowned U.S. Foreign Policy Critic, Dead at 85
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Obituary for William Blum with biographical information and links to his work.
- Ethics and Whistleblowing for Engineers Affects Us All
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Some engineering professors worry that their students' busy course schedules prevents them from adequately exploring the liberal arts. Without exposure to the liberal arts, engineering students will lack the broad context that will help them approach their work as a profession, not just a trade.
- Linking class and gender theory
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A detailed review of "Social Reproduction Theory" an essay collection edited by Tithi Bhattacharya. Contributors include Nancy Fraser, Salar Mohandesi and Emma Teitelman, Susan Ferguson, Carman Teeple Hopkins, Serap Saritas Oran and Alan Sears.
- She's Planting the Seeds of Indigenous Food Sovereignty
How Jessie Housty feeds the growth of her Heiltsuk culture and community
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the efforts of Jessie Housty, an Indigenous woman from British Columbia, who is helping to change the diet of her community that is overwhelmingly dominated by industrial food products.
- Canadian Jewish News: Promoter of Terror Tourism?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
What should we make of a media outlet that praises those who join or give money to a foreign army, which occupies territory belonging to another people, terrorizes the local population by destroying houses, restricting their movement, subjecting them to military courts and shooting unarmed protestors? What should we call the Canadian Jewish News, an unfailing flatterer of Canadians who join or finance a military subjugating Palestinians? Would “promoter of terror tourism” be an appropriate description?
- A Killer Dies, a Teacher Lives: George H.W. Bush v. Noam Chomsky
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The obsequious praise of the life and legacy of the now deceased mad-dog killer George H. W. Bush (1924-2018) contradict the reality of his actions during his life and presidency.
- Climate Jobs for All
Building Block for the Green New Deal
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
This article discusses the federal jobs guarantee (JG) concept which is also known as "jobs for all." The advocates of JG generally include climate protection as one of many types of work beneficial to the public that might be included in a jobs guarantee program.
- Climate Jobs for All
Building Block for the Green New Deal
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A federal climate jobs guarantee (CJG) is a proposed program similar to the New Deal's WPA that would prioritize jobs that protect and improve the environment. Polls show that the program has popular support and could be a major political force in 2020.
- Israeli spyware being used to monitor Indonesian LGBT community, religious minorities
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the company and spyware product that is used by various institutions to monitor the activities of the LGBT community and religious minority groups in Indonesia.
- On the nature of change
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The first in a series of articles exploring how dialectical systems thinking can direct change making. The 'On the Nature of Change' series will have three clear sections: 'The Philosophers' will examine a philosophical theory of change, and how this has developed and evolved over time. The second, 'Interpreting the World', and will apply this theory to three fundamental areas: the self, the team, society. Lastyly, 'Changing the World', will present clear ways in which this theory of change can be practically applied.
- Revolution in Ukraine? Yes, please! Revolution in France? Rule of law!
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Western media coverage has differed with reports describing French protesters as rioters, while Ukrainian protesters were described as revolutionaries. The contrasting reaction has prompted many to ask: If a so-called revolution is allowed to happen in Ukraine, why not in France?
- Preservation Acts
Toward an ethical archive of the web
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
But they began to wonder what it meant to take an ephemeral object -- destined, after days and weeks, to sink to the bottom of an ever-shifting pile -- and render it permanent. It wasn't hard to see how an archive of civil disobedience could become a tool of government surveillance.
- The Vanishing
The plight of Christians in an age of intolerance
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In the summer of 2014, the Islamic State occupied Christian cities and villages across northern Iraq, appropriated Christian homes, and destroyed farms of Christian families. When Islamic State commanders separated men from women and imposed jizyah, or extortion taxes, their purpose was extreme: they meant to subjugate the Christians or drive them away from the land.
- Why Are Young People Having So Little Sex?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Despite the easing of taboos and the rise of hookup apps, Americans are in the midst of a sex recession. American teenagers and young adults are having less sex.
- Women in the Black Panther Party
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
While much that has been written about the Black Panther Party (BPP) is focused on the role of certain prominent male leaders, lesser known is that during peak membership women made up nearly two-thirds of the party. Leela Yellessety spoke to three authors of recent books that highlight the contribution of women in the Black Panther Party.
- Manifesto of Indian Farmers
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Adopted by an assembly representing the farmers of India, the manifesto outlines Indian farmers convictions, principals, concerns, rights and calls on the parliament of India to hold a Special Session to address the agrarian crisis by passing and enacting the two Kisan Mukti Bills and address additional demands.
- Remembering the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look back at the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre of April 13, 1919, where British colonial forces opened fire on peaceful Indian protesters. The massacre stands as a pivotal moment in Indian history that laid bare the true face of British Imperialism.
- The BBC Has Legal Protection to Spread Fake News: the Curious Case of ISIS, Andrew Neil and Jeremy Corbyn
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the reporting of 'fake news' by the BBC, which has no legal obligation to give its audience any information about its sources and seemingly has legal protection from scrutiny.
- Pakistan's blasphemy laws – The Supreme Court, Asia Bibi and the laws' historical background
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A description of a blasphemy case in Pakistan. Also includes a history of blasphemy laws going back to British India.
- 'A Turtle is Worth More Alive Than Dead'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Various participants at the Sustainable Blue Economy Conference in Kenya discuss ways they can sustainably economically benefit from the local environment.
- Alberta has only itself to blame for bitumen problems
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The article explains why Alberta has primarily itself to blame for the low price of its bitumen, a situation built on years of mismanagement in government and poor industry advice.
- The Counterinsurgency Paradigm: How U.S. Politics Have Become Paramilitarized
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Bernard Harcourt argues in his recent book "The Counterrevolution: How Our Government Went to War Against Its Own Citizens" that the same counterinsurgency paradigm of warfare used against post-9/11 enemies has now come to the US as the effective governing strategy.
- The Dangerous Junk Science of Vocal Risk Assessment
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Various companies and government agencies aim to use technology that measures biological features such as facial expressions or tone of voice to assess individuals, such as refugee claimants or potential employees, for 'risk'. Many critics say the science behind this is dubious and can hide cultural bias under a blanket of objectivity.
- Disagreement is not hatred
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
An essay on the transgender debate which argues that debate ends when we label views we simply disagree with as 'hatred''.
- Oil Industry Cleanup Costs Vastly Exceed Alberta Government’s Estimates
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Transcript of interview with Regan Boychuk of Reclaim Alberta on the cost to clean up after Alberta's tar sand industry.
- Climate Change Drives Up Rural Poverty in Latin America
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In Latin America and the Caribbean region's first meeting of Week of Agriculture and Food, held in November 2018, more than 1,000 officials and experts agreed that the fall in agricultural yields and increasing migration from the countryside are consequences of global warming.
- Extinction Rebellion: From the UK to Ghana and the US, Climate Activists Take Civil Disobedience World-Wide
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the Extinction Rebellion, an international movement that calls for peaceful mass economic disruption around the world in order to bring awareness to the growing environmental crisis.
- Made-in-China fake news overwhelms Taiwan
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Since 2016, when Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was elected as Taiwan's president relations between Taiwan and China have been increasingly strained. In parallel, a series of fake news campaigns have captured Taiwanese media, with experts tracing several of these stories back to China.
- Afghanistan is Collapsing. Get Out: Now!
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the disastrous results of US and NATO intervention in Afghanistan, a conflict which has little to do with eliminating international terrorism.
- Air pollution now 'largest health crisis'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The WHO estimates that seven million premature deaths are linked to air pollution every year, of which nearly 600,000 are children who are uniquely vulnerable.
- Alberta's Problem Isn't Pipelines; It's Bad Policy Decisions
Bitumen prices are low because the province has ignored at least a decade of warnings.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A 2007 Alberta government report indicates that the provincial government has been aware for more than a decade that its oilsands policies were setting the stage for today's price crisis.
- Dunlop Factory (South Africa): The workers who won't snitch
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Metalworker union Numsa files legal arguments in the Constitutional Court on on behalf of Dunlop factory workers from Howick, KwaZulu-Natal, after workers were dismissed because they did not snitch on fellow workers during a protected strike.
- Noam Chomsky Turns 90: How a U.S. Anarchist Has More Than Survived
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A brief look back at the life and work of world reknowned linguist, philospher and social activist Noam Chomsky, who turns 90 on December 7, 2018.
- Thankstaking in the Trumpfederacy: Terminate the Tribe That Aided the Pilgrims
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the hostile climate that exists under the Trump Administration for America's first peoples. The article looks at the further erosion treaties and protective laws, and the belief among indigenous communities that the administration's policy is a return to 'termination'.
- Twitter closes down my account for 'hateful conduct'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Several Twitter accounts with pro-Palestinian content have been suspended. At the same time those making explicit threats against them have been found not to violate Twitter's terms of service.
- When the BBC did fake news
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The BBC recently aired a series on disinformation and fake news which made it seem like a problem reserved for non-British/non-European locales. The author looks at the BBC's role in the 1953 coup against Iran's democratically elected government.
- After Visiting Brazil's Lula in Prison, Noam Chomsky Warns Against "Disaster" Under Jair Bolsonaro
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
An interview with Noam Chomsky about newly elected President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil. Politically the election marks a dramatic shift to the right for the country which Chomsky describes as a disaster for Brazil. The article includes a link to the interview on video.
- Facing the left-wing challenge in the European Union - Ten proposals
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The left could bring radical change if they could prove themselves capable to people in the Eurozone dissatisfied with austerity measures. Here are ten proposals for social mobilization and actions to be taken by any government that is truly operating in the interests of the people.
- "It's Killing the Student Movement": Canary Mission's Blacklist of Pro-Palestine Activists Is Taking a Toll
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Canary Mission, a website that compiles dossiers on Palestinian rights advocates and labels them racists, anti-Semites, and supporters of terrorism has taken a toll on activists' mental health and their ability to engage in free speech and public advocacy on Palestine.
- Noam Chomsky: Moral Depravity Defines US Politics
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
An interview with Noam Chomsky where he discusses the political parties' lack of focus on crucial issues. Though made hopeful by young progessive candidates winning in the midterms, electoral politics should not be the focus for radical political change.
- Trump's Amoral Saudi Statement Is a Pure Expression of Decades-Old 'U.S. Values' and Foreign Policy Orthodoxies
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Donald Trump's statement that the US would continue business and diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi may be blunter than people are used to but it is standard operating procedure of American policy.
- US bombs continue to kill in Laos 50 years after Vietnam War
US dropped two million tonnes of bombs on Laos at height of Vietnam War. Why are cluster munitions still killing?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the problem of unexploded US bombs in Laos which have killed tens of thousands of people since the end of the war, and continue to kill and maim dozens annually.
- You Say You Want a Revolution: SDS, PL, and Adventures in Building a Worker-Student Alliance
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A collection of memoirs from people who were part of Progressive Labor Party in the United States in the 1960s.
- Dust Bowls of Empire: Imperialism, Environmental Politics, and the Injustice of "Green" Capitalism
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Analysis of the 1930s Dust Bowl as the result of capitalism and US imperialism. Also looks at what we can learn from it for today's climate crisis.
- Herbicides undermine antibiotics, threaten medical care
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A New Zealand study adds to the body of evidence that industrial herbicides, not intended to be antibiotics, can have profound effects on bacteria, with potentially negative implications for medicine's ability to treat infectious diseases.
- New maps of land destruction show why caravans flee Central America
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A new map developed at the University of Cincinnati illustrates the extent of worldwide land degradation, including the deforestation that is now forcing migrants to leave Guatemala and Honduras.
- 'Time is Running Out,' American Petroleum Institute Chief Said in 1965 Speech on Climate Change
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In 1965 the president of the American Petroleum Institute discussed the effect of CO2 in the changing the atmosphere and the role specifically of the petroleum industry in causing climate change. More than 50 years later the science on this has become stronger but messaging from the industry has softened.
- Why (Mostly) Men Trophy Hunt: a Biocultural Explanation
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A review of several studies offering insights into the biological basis of human behavior, specifically trophy hunting, and the biologically responsive strategies for changing it.
- Women-Led Radio Station Amplifies Voices of Indigenous Communities in Argentina
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In the late 1990s several Indigenous women founded a radio station which continues to broadcast. It resists cultural subjugation and provides a voice to Indigenous people.
- Approaching Development: GMO Propaganda and Neoliberalism vs Localisation and Agroecology
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the pro GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) lobby and the reasons why they are pushing GMO technology. The article looks towards agroecology as a better means of achieving genuine food sovereignty.
- It's Time for America to Reckon With the Staggering Death Toll of the Post-9/11 Wars
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Researchers strive to count the casualties of American wars but are faced by a lack of political and military accountability and a seemingly apathetic public.
- Welcome to Arivaca: Where residents want anti-migrant militia out'
Many in this Arizona border town want armed vigilantes, who've vowed to round up undocumented migrants, to leave.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Many in this Arizona border town want armed vigilantes, who've vowed to round up undocumented migrants, to leave.
- Why is Inclusive Mosque so Afraid of Secularism?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Secularism is merely a framework that separates religion from the state to ensure that religion cannot influence the state and public policy and impose itself on private lives. After all, not everyone in a given society is a believer and even if they are, they don’t usually want the state to tell them how to believe. Only a secular framework can ensure the equal rights of all citizens before the law and not different rights for different categories of communalised groups. It is only a secular framework that can ensure one law for all via changeable laws made by people versus unchangeable ‘divine’ laws imposed by clerics. It is a secular framework which can allow for multi-ethnic, multi-religious and plural societies and is a minimum precondition for the rights of women and minorities. It is a secular framework that can ensure freedom of conscience, including freedom of and from religion.
- Palestinian 'geeks' code their way to a better future in Gaza
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Coding is empowering a new generation of Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip and helping many find work.
- These Activists Blocked Migrant Deportations. Now They Face Life Imprisonment in the U.K.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Fifteen activists who blocked a plane deporting migrants are being charged with laws intended for terrorists. The use of charter flights for deportations is one of the issues they raise.
- As the Obama DOJ Concluded, Prosecution of Julian Assange for Publishing Documents Poses Grave Threats to Press Freedom
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Democrats and Republicans both seem willing to curtail freedom of the press when an outlet publishes work against their interests, however, prosecuting Julian Assange/Wikileaks would create a precedent that would criminalize the core function of investigative journalism.
- 'Being treated like slaves': Why migrant exploitation exists
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the labour market in modern capitalist society, and how it leads to the exploitation of migrant workers who are sometimes treated as slaves.
- Cucks, Cuckolding and Campaign Management
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Talk about a bunch of sad sacks that really stink in the sack. The Trumpocalypse is ruining sex for the rest of us.
- A New Economic Model for the South: Ditch Corporate Welfare and Fund Agricultural Co-ops
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A report from the Institute for Policy Studies, titled "Agricultural Cooperatives: Opportunities and Challenges for African-American Women in the South," makes the case that redirecting governmental support from corporate welfare to agricultural co-ops could provide an alternative vision for economic development in the Southern United States.
- Right-wing coup or popular revolt? The April 2018 Nicaraguan uprising examined
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Description of a report on the causes of the April 2018 conflict in Nicaragua.
- Amazon HQ2 Will Cost Taxpayers at Least $4.6 Billion, More Than Twice What the Company Claimed, New Study Shows
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In addition to the billions in local government subsidies Amazon stands to gain from Federal Opportunity Zones. Researchers who have studied opportunity zones find that these tax schemes rarely ever help cities, and often financially cripple them.
- Propaganda Blitz: How the Corporate Media Distort Reality
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at how corporate media distort the news. Uses recent examples such as the Scottish Independence referendum.
- Crucifying Julian Assange
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Juilien Assange, who exposed the dark machinations and crimes of the US government, is now under threat of being expelled from the Equadorian Embassy. The article looks at what is happening to Assange and why the the silence over his plight is a betrayal by the press.
- Google's 'Smart City of Surveillance' Faces New Resistance in Toronto
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A plan to develop 12 acres of the valuable waterfront just southeast of downtown Toronto
by the government agency Waterfront Toronto and Sidewalk Labs, owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc. has sparked concerns about privacy and lack of public consultation. A recent slew of resignations from its board has made these concerns increasingly urgent and public.
- Pakistan, hostage of the religious - The radical left in resistance
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Radical leftists strive amid fundamentalist hostility in Pakistan where blasphemy is a serious charge with its roots in colonial religious divisions.
- Military 'Service' Serves the Ruling Class
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Military veteran and peace activist Will Griffin comments on the military campaigns in which he participated, and why he believes that military service ultimately serves noboby but a minority ruling class.
- Why does the language of journalism fail indigenous people?
A journalist with indigenous roots reflects on the making of We Are Still Here: A Story from Native Alaska.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A journalist with Indigenous roots reflects on the difficulty of doing justice to the community she is filming a documentary about. Historical misrepresentation due to lack of cross-cultural understanding has led to a distrust of the media.
- The Left Has Better Things to Do Than Watch Liberals Scratch Their Heads
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Drawing from author David Harvey's work "The Ways of the World", Munson examines how Liberal-democracy has changed when the nucleus of capitalism shifted in the 1970's from the production of goods to the production of 'signs'. He further examines how 'neo-liberalism' is now grappling and adjusting in the era of Trump.
- The Malevolent Hypocrisy of Selective Sanctions
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at why the US government is steadfast in its support of the Saudi dictatorship no matter what criminal excesses may be perpetrated by the Riyadh regime, while on the other hand it is determined to punish other countries like Cuba and Venezuela with severe economic sanctions.
- The Weaponization of Social Media
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
How the online environment and social media is being used as a political weapon, notably through the use of 'Bots'.
- How To Be A Reliable 'Mainstream' Journalist
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A commentary on what is required to be a 'good' and 'reliable' journalist for the mainstream Western media.
- Keep those albums sounding great by converting your vinyl to a digital format
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
- The niqab represents a pernicious ideology and its spread should worry us all
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the controversial niqab and similar veils, and why they are so concerning.
- The Rewilding of Humanity?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
John Davis looks back at the exploitation of the wilderness, where urban dwellers are now alienated from the natural world that once surrounded them, and wonders whether we can ever return and live in a more natural and balanced state.
- Public Spaces, Private Control
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the commercialization of public spaces in Britain and elsewhere in the industrialized world, where gentrification and increasingly troubling privatization of public spaces goes largely unnoticed by a populace caught up in the day-to-day grind of living.
- Bolsonaro: a Monster Engineered by Our Media
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Jonathan Cook explains why the mainstream Western media prefer an extreme right-wing leader over one from the Left.
- Bolsonaro: a Monster Engineered by Our Media
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Jonathan Cook explains why the plutocrats and the mainstream media spokespeople much prefer a far-right populist like Jair Bolsonaro, or Donald Trump, to a populist leader of the genuine left.
- ECHR twisted logic: You can insult Christian but not Muslim religion
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Two recent rulings by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) demonstrate not only that it's a political and hypocritical organization. They also show the severe structural defects of human rights law in general.
- If We're on the Left, How Come We're Still Here?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Andrew Levine looks at why the Left is largely ignored by Trump's more radical followers and pundits.
- Architects of Mass Slaughter
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Detailed review of two books about the Indonesian Genocide.
- The Constitutional Root of Racism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at how the US Constitution enables racism by affording power to the states.
- The End of "The Great War"
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A thorough look at the ending of World War I, focusing especially on class conflict.
- Europe's Political Turmoil (Part I)
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Far-right parties are gaining ground all over Europe scapegoating immigrants and people of colour. The radical left has not come up with a competitive strategy for winning people over.
- Europe's Political Turmoil and the Rise of the Far Right
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the recent rise of far-right governments all over Europe and the failure of the left to effectively counter this.
- Is There a Gig Economy?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A data-heavy analysis questioning whether 'gig-economy' precarious jobs are indeed growing rapidly as reported.
- Jan and Carrol Cox, Political Activists
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Obituary for Jan and Carrol Cox, long-time activists from Illinois.
- Karl Marx in the 21st Century
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Looking at how Marx's theories can explain today's global crisis.
- Karl Marx: Revolutionary Heretic
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A celebration of Marx as a thinker who constantly adapted his ideas and thinking.
- Latin America Crises and Contradictions
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Detailed review of a collection of essays on Latin America.
- The Logic of Human Survival
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Review of a Marxist look at the concept of the Anthropocene.
- The Making of Corporate Empire
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Review of a book covering Henry Ford's "ethos of the assembly line" and how his racist views shaped it in different places.
- Marx and the "International"
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A rebuttal of the idea of Marx as Eurocentric and a white supremacist.
- Marx's Capital as Organizing Tool
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A guide to how the left could use Marx's Capital as a text for organizing.
- The Saga of a City Rising
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Positive review of a collection of essays about Black organizing in Mississippi. The review focuses on two of the essays with two "key takeaways."
- Slavery and Capitalism
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A review of a collection of essays about the economics of American slavery.
- Supreme Toxicity -- Confirmed
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Editorial about Brett Kavanaugh, the U.S. Supreme Court and the hopefulness of grassroots movements like #metoo and BLM spur people to take action.
- Triumph and Tragedy
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Le Blanc's sympathies with the Bolshevik project are clear, but this is no apologia. On the contrary, grounded in material and intellectual evidence, it is a work that helps us better understand the factors that shaped the choices the revolutionary leaders made and the alternatives paths that might have been open to them.
- Trump and Science
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Although Trump is called anti-science he simply continues a trend that started with Reagan. Calling him anti-science can mask how his policies and tactics are rational ideologies in the service of neoliberalism.
- Two Powerful Films on Indonesian Mass Terror
Film Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Short review of two films about Indonesian genocide.
- The Wars of Rich Resources
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Review of Bolivia's mid-20th century conflicts over resource extraction.
- Diverting Class War Into Generational War, Again
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Dean Baker provieds a counter argument to a New York Times article titled "65 or Older? Here's What We Owe Our Kids" by Glenn Kramon, which directs blame at Social Security and Medicare for the current struggles of the younger generation.
- Fact-Checking the Establishment's 'Fact-Checkers': How the 'Fake News' Story is Fake News
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the introduction of "Fake News" in the US and how is was used by both political parties in the lead-up to the 2016 US election, and moreover how it was propogated by the mainstream media and fact-checked by dubious verification sources.
- How Not To Skip Class: Social Reproduction of Labor and the Global Working Class
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
This essay refutes conceptions of what working class really means by reactivating fundamental Marxist insights about class formation that have been obscured by decades of neoliberalism. The author argues that the key to developing a sufficient understanding of the working class is the framework of social reproduction.
- Over 90% of the world's children breathe toxic air every day
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the WHO report on "Air pollution and child health: Prescribing clean air", a study of the heavy toll of both outdoor and household air pollution on the health of the world's children, particularly those living in low and middle-income nations.
- This Soviet-era ghost town is being reclaimed by nature and it's eerily beautiful
Resource Type: Film/Video
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Crumbling bricks, vines crawling up the walls and trees growing on roofs – see the silent beauty of an abandoned Soviet-era town nestled in the mountains of Abkhazia. In summer, you would have a hard time spotting Akarmara from above. The small town is almost entirely overgrown, with trees even growing on the few roofs that are still intact.
- Blasphermy, Religious and Secular
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
An essay on a European Court of Human Rights ruling and on changing forms of blasphemy law.
- Eulogy for Miriam
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Eulogy for Miriam Garfinkle (24 April 1954 - 15 September 2018) delivered by Ulli Diemer at Memorial gathering for Miriam on October 28, 2018.
- How the EU's principled pragmatism sows strife in the Middle East
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at how the European Union is creating greater instability, distrust, and casualties like Jamal Khashoggi, by trading fundamental values such as human rights for more practical avenues coined as "principled pragmatism".
- 'October Song' - A challenging portrayal of the Russian Revolution
Review of Paul Le Blanc, October Song: Bolshevik Triumph, Communist Tragedy, 1917-1924
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A review 'October Song,' Paul Le Blanc's book about the Russian revolution. Detailed with excerpts and criticism.
- Revolutionary Rojava: An polyethnic, feminist and anti-capitalist experiment
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A history of the Democratic Federation of North Syria as a beacon of hope in Syria's 8-year-long civil war.
- System change means dismantling patriarchy
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at patriarchy and the sexual division of labour, and why gender justice is fundamental for meaningful environmental justice, and moreover how grassroots, anti-capitalist feminism is key to system change.
- Karl Kautsky: From Pope to Renegade
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Once recognized as "The Pope of Marxism" for his popularization and systematization of Marxist ideas, Kautsky fell into obscurity following the Russian Revolution. In recent revival of interest in his politics, in both academia and on the political left, raises questions about the meaning of Kautsky's orthodox Marxism and about what a renewed revolutionary left should adopt from it as their own.
- 'City of Surveillance': Google-backed smart city sounds like a dystopian nightmare
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A Google-backed project to build the interconnected, data-driven ‘city of the future’ sounds like all George Orwell’s nightmares come true, and is now in the spotlight after a privacy expert resigned from the project in protest. Toronto’s Waterfront district used to be an industrial wasteland, but Sidewalk Labs – a sister company of Google – wants to turn that wasteland into a prototype ‘city of the future,’ where data helps planners micromanage every aspect of urban life.
- Revealed: The Saudi death squad MBS uses to silence dissent
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The MEE reveals information from a Saudi source with intimate knowledge of the Saudi intelligence services, about a death squad that operates under the guidance and supervision of Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
- Laurie Anderson on language, story and losing her archives to Hurricane Sandy
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Artist and performer Laurie Anderson discusses her recent book titled "All the Things I Lost in the Flood". The book was inspired by the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy in 2011, which destroyed Anderson's archive of work and memorabilia. The article contains a link to the interview on CBC Radio.
- Reflections on Chomsky's Voting Strategy: Why The Democratic Party Can't Be Saved
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Nick Pemberton explains why his opinion is different from that of Noam Chomsky on the matter of third party voting during US elections.
- Quiet, Please! The Latest Threat to the Big Wild
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the growing problem of noise pollution in Glacier National Park in Montana, where each summer helicopters carrying tourists fly low over the landscape.
- US 'Outrage' Over Slaying of US Residents Depends on the Nation Responsible
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
This article takes a look at the reasons why the US media managed to be outraged at the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi Arabia's government, yet there was no such reaction when Israel killed Furkan Dogan, a 19-year-old American citizen.
- Caught In The Cross Hairs - Media Lens And The Mystery Of The Wikipedia Editor
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Media Lens investigates the case of "Philip Cross", a person who has made hundreds of thousands of edits to Wikipedia pages in a campain against anti-war activists, critics of British and Western foreign policy as well as Media Lens itself.
- Climate-Driven 'Bugpocalypse'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
An alarming report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) shows that in addition to annihilating hundreds of mammal species, the climate crisis has also sparked a global "bugpocalypse" that will only continue to accelerate in the absence of action to stop planetary warming.
- A Marxist History of Capitalism (Book Review)
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A book review of Henry Heller's "A Marxist History of Capitalism" which restores class struggle to a central place in explaining how capitalism arose and grew, and can eventually be overcome.
- US plastic waste is causing global environmental crisis
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A recent ban in China, which normally takes in the largest proportion of US plastic waste, has left the US dumping plastic in other over-burdened countries, while waste still continues to pile up in the States. US plastic scrap exports dropped by almost a third in the first six months of 2018, as waste firms struggled to find a home for their plastic scrap.
- The dawn of our liberation: The early days of the International Communist Women's Movement
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
An examination of the early days of the international Communist Women's Movement (CWM). The article focuses on three points in particular: the CWM's ideas on women's emancipation, the relationship with non-communist women's movements and the problematic relationship with male comrades.
- The Doomsday Machine and Nuclear Winter
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The portion of an interview with Daniel Ellsberg, an American activist and former United States military analyst, who comments on thermonuclear war and its outcome.
- Lopez Obrador in Mexico: Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The newly elected President of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has been described by some in the U.S. as a radical socialist, however this article explains that he has already back-peddled on important pre-election promises.
- Anarchism and Kavanaugh
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Richman argues that without the current State, but rather with an Anarchistic one, the U.S. public would have been spared the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination episode.
- Brett Kavanaugh, the Supreme Court, and the End of Legal Neutrality
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court hearings destroyed any surviving myth of legal neutrality. Shultz explains why this may be a good thing, because it is time to recognize that the Supreme Court and its Justices are not politically neutral and that neither should they be.
- Plastic plague intensifies on remote southern islands
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at a report titled " Marine plastics threaten giant Atlantic Marine Protected Areas", which examines the alarmingly high concentrations of plastic on southern Atlantic islands and throughout the food chain.
- 'This is murder': French islanders want Paris to own up to poisoning their land with pesticide
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe in the Caribbean want France to take responsibility for polluting their land with a toxic pesticide. This article looks at the effects of Kepone, also called chlordecone, on the people of the islands, who now suffer from alarmingly high cancer rates and fertility problems.
- The voice of Hobsbawm
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at how the work and ideas of influential British Historian Eric Hobsbawm made an entry into the Indian intellectual scene, as well as his involvement in two crucial political and intellectual debates in Brazil that cemented his reputation there.
- Blanket Silence: Corporate Media Ignore New Report Exposing Distorted And Misleading Coverage of Corbyn
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A Media Reform Coalition report reveals that the corporate media in Britain have been producing an alarming amount of 'fake news' items, which includes a narrative that Jeremy Corbyn and Labour party are mired in an 'antisemitism crisis'. The corporate media have largely ignored the report, or any other reasoned criticism of their biased reporting.
- Socialist Register 2019
Volume 55: A World Turned Upside Down?
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Since the Great Financial Crisis swept across the world in 2008, there have been few certainties regarding the trajectory of global capitalism, let alone the politics taking hold in individual states. This has now given way to palpable confusion regarding what sense to make of this world in a political conjuncture marked by Donald Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ presidency of the United States, on the one hand, and, on the other, Xi Jinping’s ambitious agenda in consolidating his position as ‘core leader’ at the top of the Chinese state.
- Checkpoint Nation
Border agents are expanding their reach into the country's interior
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Even if you never leave the United States, you can encounter Border Patrol at the thirty-five fixed checkpoints and dozens of temporary checkpoints they operate deep in the interior. The locations of these checkpoints are not made public, but the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, has developed a project to track them.
- Paper Terrorism
Anti-government vigilantes wield a subtle weapon
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Such tactics have become known as paper terrorism, defined by Mark Pitcavage, a senior research fellow with the Anti-Defamation League, as "the use of bogus legal documents and filings, or the misuse of legitimate ones, to intimidate, harass, threaten, or retaliate against public officials, law enforcement officers, or private citizens."
- The Printed Word in Peril
The age of Homo virtualis is upon us
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
What I do feel isolated in -- if not entirely alone in -- is my determination, as a novelist, essayist, and journalist, not to rage against the dying of literature's light, although it's surprising how little of this there is, but merely to examine the great technological discontinuity of our era, as we pivot from the wave to the particle, the fractal to the fungible, and the mechanical to the computable.
- An interview with Mike Leigh
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Working on the film, there were people of various generations, from their twenties to people of my age, from the area, who said, 'I didn’t know about this.' And yet the massacre was widely reported and is a famous and significant, seminal event in the history of democracy in Britain, the labour movement, etc., etc.
- The Rise of the Intellectual Pornstar
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Once only found in society's margins, the pornography industry has developed into a multi-billion dollar business that is branching into the mainstream. The article explains that the industry, while still controversial, increasingly comments on the social problems of today and pushes for reforms in areas that other large industries are scared to.
- What Brett Kavanaugh Really Learned in High School: Make the Rules, Break the Rules and Prosper
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The accusations against Kavanaugh may be an open question but his behaviour in handling them proves he is unfit for the Supreme Court. This is reinforced by his previous evasiveness about his role in the Bush administrations torture policy which called his integrity into question long before Christine Blasey Ford made her accusations.
- On Militancy, Self-reflection, and the Role of the Researcher
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Researcher Jared Sacks examines and questions methodologies of social movement researchers through a self-reflective investigation into his own experience and work.
- Expansion of monocultures expels peasants from their lands
Repression intensifies against peasant leaders opposed to land grabs, evictions and the pollution of water sources.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In Guatemala a wave of violence at the hands of large agriculture corporations has been driving Indigenous people and peasants off their land.
- Miriam Garfinkle 1954 - 2018
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Obituary for Miriam Garfinkle, who died on September 15, 2018.
- Charges 'Without Merit' - Jeremy Corbyn, Antisemitism, Norman Finkelstein and Noam Chomsky
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A commentary on the anit-semitism claims by the British media regarding Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour party.
- The Omega Principle: A vicious circle of fish, cattle and capitalism (Book review)
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A review of Paul Greenberg's book "The Omega Principle: Seafood and the Quest for a Long Life and a Healthier Planet", which examines how the fishing industry that plunders the seas for tiny fish is supporting unsustainable industrial agriculture.
- Open Letter: Health Care Providers Support OPS and SCS
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
An open letter to Premier Doug Ford and Minister of Health Christine Elliot regarding the Ontario Government's recent hold on approvals for new overdose prevention sites (OPS). The letter is signed by over 800 physicians and medical personnel.
- The Fearless Benjamin Lay: The Quaker Dwarf Who Became the First Revolutionary Abolitionist
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The little-known story of an eighteenth-century Quaker dwarf who fiercely attacked slavery and imagined a new, more humane way of life.
- The Rise of Neoliberal Feminism
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Offers a new framework for understanding the kind of cultural work neoliberal feminism carries out. Examines the high-powered women and celebrities who are embracing this new variant of feminism.
- To overcome climate paralysis, unite for system change
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at how to break through the climate paralysis that has led to the environmental crisis that mankind is currently facing. Wallis indicates that by having identified who the enemy is, we know who our potential allies are- the other 99%.
- European Communist Parties and '68
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
One effect of the May 1968 uprisings was to highlight and/or hasten the split between communist parties and social movements in Europe.
- Fascist Attack in Chile
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
An open letter calling for international solidarity in the aftermath of an attack on the March for the Right to Free, Legal Abortion on Demand in Santiago, Chile where three women were stabbed.
- Historical Subjects Lost and Found
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Looking at the legacy of Marx in the West Indies.
- Janus and My Ode to Capital
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Looking at Marx and how to make him relevant to people through 40 years of teaching Capital.
- Joel Kovel (1936-2018)
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Obituary for psychiatrist, teacher and author Joel Kovel.
- Labor's Last Stand
Unions must either demand a place at the table or be part of the meal
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The slow degradation of workers' rights through the use of the courts has led to a weakening of negotiated power of unions and the retreat of organized labour.
- Martha (Marty) Quinn, 1939-2018
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Obituary for Martha Quinn, a founding member of Solidarity.
- Marx, Engels and the National Question
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A historical look at the role of class and nation-states in socialism.
- Marx Turns 200: A Mixed Gift
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A mixed but detailed review of a biography of Karl Marx. The author likes the Life material but has problems with the treament of the Works.
- Nicolas Calas: The Trotskyist Time Forgot
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A lengthy, detailed look at modern Trotskyist poet Nicolas Calas (1907-88).
- On the "Transformation Problem"
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Further discussion of Marx's "transformation problem." References a previous column reviewing Fred Moseley's "Money and Totality."
- The Power of Story, the Evidence of Experience
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Review of a book of oral histories of migrant farmworkers.
- Reply
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A reply by the author of "Money and Totality: A Macro-Monetary Interpretation of Marx’s Logic in Capital and the End of the Transformation Problem" to two previous responses to his book.
- Struggling for Justice
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Mainly postive review Keith Gilyard’s biography of organizer, educator, cultural worker and Black Left feminist Louise Thompson Patterson.
- Syria's Disaster, and What's Next
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Detailed description of Syrian crisis as of July 2018.
- A Template for Hate
Polarized politics and mainstream intolerance
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The rise of Hindu nationalist politics has led to communal violence, particularly around the status of cows, as they are considered sacred by Hindus. Inter-communal violence has increased with killings perpetuated by vigilantes and the mainstreaming of intolerance.
- An Unrepentant '68er's Life
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Review of an autobiographical book by May 1968 figure Daniel Bensaïd.
- Wellness Cures
Can hospitals learn to better treat Deaf patients?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The Deaf regularly move through the medical system without agency or dignity -- not because they cannot hear but because they are not given the opportunity to communicate. The onus for change is put on the Deaf themselves, often in terms of changing their own bodies to accommodate the hearing majority. What if, instead, the Deaf were consulted about what changes they would like, or how they would like for them to happen? What if they were invited to take part in shaping the next generation of doctors?
- Where to Begin?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The rise of socialist-identified candidates like Bernie Sanders and Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez are a hopeful resistance against the politics that resulted in President Trump. But people must organize outside of electoral politics to bring real change.
- The White World and Black Reality
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
White people on the left must deal with racism to create true solidarity and resist Trump's politics.
- Who Killed Marielle?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Marielle Franco, a Rio de Janeiro city councilwoman, whose murder is still unsolved, was a thorn in the side of the right-wing, repressive government. The fight she fought continues through with people people she represented.
- Worldwide "Moment of Madness"
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at 1968 a legendary year in history. Analysis of how student- and worker-led revolts played out in different parts of Europe.
- The Irishmen Who Fought in the Last Great Battle Against Spanish Fascism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
An account of the numerous Irishmen who were killed, injured, captured and who simply disappeared while volunteering to fight against the rising fascist tide during the Spanish Civil War.
- Revised NAFTA Shows Every Sign of Being Another Trump Scam
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the renegotiated North American Free Trade Agreement between the US and Mexico, a deal intended to force Canada, which has the strongest regulations, into signing on disadvantageous terms. Dolack explains why any new NAFTA will undoubtedly be a windfall for multi-national corporations at public expense.
- Engineering the climate could cost us the earth
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Political scientist Gareth Dale takes a look at Geoengineering as a "political technology" and institutional apparatus that is preventing effective climate action, and actually serves to reduce the sense of urgency needed for genuine and more effective structural change.
- Carrying capacity, technology, and ecomodernist confusion
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Biologist Michael Frieman responds to an article titled "The Earth's Carrying Capacity for Human Life Is Not Fixed" by Ted Nordhaus, an executive director of the Breakthrough Institute and strong proponent of ecomodernism. Friedman counters the idea that capitalist technology is capable of solving virtually any of the environmental problems generated by humankind while still making eternal capitalist growth possible- a viewpoint based on assumptions that are fraught with problems.
- No Remorse: Reflections on Radical "Purism"
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Street justifies his critical commentary on the disappointing presidency of Barrack Obama and the standard neoliberal manipulation of campaign populism and identity politics in service to big-money. He also takes a cynical look at the DMC, another party of corporations, as well as Bernie Sanders and what a Sanders Presidency might have looked like.
- Bolton calls on Al-Qaeda to stage more chemical attacks in Syria
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The latest statements from the US, France and UK warning against the use of chemical weapons in Syria leave many skeptical and disbelieving of the alarm cries, having seen this song and dance before. Chemical weapons accusations are among the most overused war propaganda tactic used by the West during the war on Syria.
- The deadly flood in Kerala may be only a gentle warning
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Arundhati Roy comments on the disasterous flooding in the Indian state of Kerala. While acknowleding various forces lead to the disaster, Roy also places blame on government mismanagement and ignoring the needs of the state's most disadvanted people.
- Lockheed Martin receives bloody images instead of cool weapons photos in failed Twitter campaign
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The world's largest defense contractor fails miserably in a social media campaign asking Twitter users to send them an "amazing photo" of a Lockheed Martin product.
- Corbyn's Labour Party is Being Made to Fail - By Design
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The embattled Labour party is reportedly soon to adopt the four additional working "examples" of anti-semitism drafted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). The full adoption of the IHRA definition of anti-semitism will be a victory for Israel and its apologists in Britain, who who have been seeking to curb all meaningful criticism of Israel.
- A Mighty Voice for Peace Has Gone Silent: Uri Avnery, 1923-2018
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A brief article in commemoration of Israeli human rights activist Uri Avnery, who died in Tel Aviv at the age of 94.
- NATO training Latvian military to quell 'civilian unrest' during largest drills in decades
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
NATO has launched war games in Latvia involving 10,000 troops, the largest training exercise since the country gained independence.
- What if the world started using US logic in its relations with America?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
You're sanctioned! You’re bombed! You're invaded! The US has plenty of punishments lined up for states which it claims are doing things wrong. But what if the rest of the world held the US to the same standards?
- How Canada could use the Saudi quarrel to help the Middle East - and itself
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Saudi Arabia's overreaction to Canadian criticism on human rights provides an opportunity for Canada to rethink Middle East policy. Such a policy, based on universal human rights, would greatly benefit not just Saudi Arabians but those in the broader Middle East, and also Canada.
- Africa's Pioneering Marxist Political Economist, Samir Amin (1931-2018)
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the pioneering work of Egyptian-French Marxian economist Samir Amin, who died on August 12, 2018.
- Corporate Media: the Enemy of the People
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
We on the Left don't need to reflexively and absurdly jump to the defense of imperial criminals at the instigation of that (well, yes) "enemy of the people" the U.S. corporate and so-called mainstream war, news, and entertainment media.
- Memoir From the Underground
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A review of the film "Memoir of War", directed by Emmanuel Finkiel, a semi-fictional memoire of writer Marguerite Duras who lived under a facist regime in Vichy France.
- My Longest Day: How World War II Ended for My Family
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
An essay excerpted from Hans-Armin Ohlmann's memoirs, which recounts his experiences growing up in Germany during the Second World War.
- An Updated and Improved Marxism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
An article that criticizes the stubborn immersion in the past by current Marxists and left wing intellectuals, and to comprehend activism and set goals in the twenty-first century requires a revision of the Marxian conception of revolution.
- Where Have All the Nazis Gone?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Thousands of "anti-fascist" protestors converged on the streets of the nation's capitol to deny a platform to (or just beat the snot out of) twenty or thirty racist idiots who were trying to assemble in Lafayette Square and stand around shouting racist slogans at each other.
- Chasing Shadows: Socialism Won't Go Away Because It is Capitalism's Antithesis
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The abstract forces of capitalism's dynamism create the conditions for ever more creative and novel ways to profit, which is why the Golden Age of postwar capitalism-which had a mix of capitalist and socialist economic features-evolved into the neoliberal period after the external oil shocks of 1973 and 1979. Those conditions created a transitional context to shift out of a regulated state-interventionist capitalism into the aggressive, free-market neoliberal variety lasting more than 30 years, leading us to the precipice of the present.
- Google keeps tracking you even when you specifically tell it not to: Maps, Search won't take no for an answer
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Google has admitted that its option to "pause" the gathering of your location data doesn't apply to its Maps and Search apps – which will continue to track you even when you specifically choose to halt such monitoring.
- The Stasi Project: Solving the World's Biggest Puzzle
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In Germany, a small team virtually piece together the history of a surveillance state in the Stasi Puzzle Project.
- There Is a Coordinated Campaign to Suppress Criticism of Israel
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Israel's human rights violations are accompanied by U.S. efforts to stifle dissent.
- Institutionalizing Intolerance: Bullies Win, Freedom Suffers When We Can't Agree to Disagree
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
As America has become ever more polarized, and those polarized factions have become more militant and less inclined to listen to -- or even allow for the existence of -- other viewpoints, we are fast becoming a nation of people who just can't get along. Here's the thing: if Americans don't learn how to get along--at the very least, agreeing to disagree and respecting each other's right to subscribe to beliefs and opinions that may be offensive, hateful, intolerant or merely different--then we're going to soon find that we have no rights whatsoever (to speak, assemble, agree, disagree, protest, opt in, opt out, or forge our own paths as individuals). In such an environment, when we can't agree to disagree, the bullies (on both sides) win and freedom suffers.
- "Right to Try" Is a Cruel Farce
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Drug companies want you to think they're providing glimmers of hope to terminally ill patients. Don't believe them.
- Thousands of Palestinians and Israelis Chant: 'No to the nation-state law, yes to equality'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Palestinian flags were seen held high during a demonstration in which tens of thousands of Arab Palestinians and Israeli Jews marched on Saturday, in Tel Aviv, to protest against the controversial Jewish Nation-State Law.
- American Exceptionalism: The Naked Truth
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A large number of Americans hold a deeply-held conviction that no matter what the US does abroad, no matter how bad it may look, no matter what horror may result, the government of the United States means well. American leaders may make mistakes, they may blunder, they may lie, they may even on many occasions cause more harm than good, but they do mean well. Their intentions are always honorable, even noble. Of that the great majority of Americans are certain.And Americans genuinely wonder why the rest of the world can’t see how benevolent and self-sacrificing America has been. Even many people who take part in the anti-war movement have a hard time shaking off some of this mindset; they march to spur America -- the America they love and worship and trust -- they march to spur this noble America back onto its path of goodness.
- Australia: Worst drought ever, but don't mention climate change!
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Despite record drought conditions in Australia and the numerous climate related disasters around the globe, the Australian goverment still refuses to acknowledge human-induced climate change.
- Venezuela: Maduro survives assassination attempt -- but journalism doesn't
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Venezuela was rocked on August 5, 2018 by an attempt to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro during a public event, using drones armed with explosives.But as more details of the attack became available, mainstream media coverage sought to sow doubt on the events, using words such as "apparent" or "alleged". It focused on the government using this "alleged" event to step up repression.
- Bangladesh: Challenge of the Students Uprising - Its historical background
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The students’ movement that erupted on 29 July following the death of two students in a tragic road accident in Dhaka spread to almost all the major cities of the country. Thousands of outraged school and college students laid siege to the streets of the capital Dhaka for a week demanding road safety across the country.
- Helping drought-stricken farmers requires recognising global warming and planning
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
All of NSW has now officially been declared to be in drought, and 57% of Queensland has officially entered its sixth year of the current drought (though there has been little real change from when 88% was declared to be in drought in March 2017).Droughts keep getting worse, and the changing climate means they will continue to do so.The Coalition's "solutions" start with denying that climate change is real.
- On 'Bullshit Jobs'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A review of the book "Bullshit Jobs: A Theory" by anthropologist David Graeber, which provides a classification for the many forms of employment, some which he deems not only meaningless and unfullfilling, but ultimately harmful to society.
- Yes, the Press Helps Start Wars
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
History shows that a jingoistic media can whip up support for hardline policies, as Trump rightly pointed out.
- Barcelona's Experiment in Radical Democracy
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Issues that Barcelona en Comu is tackling come up against limitations set by Catalan and Spanish law. The city lacks authority to regulate housing, although the city has created new affordable housing, and has successfully limited the reach of Airbnb.
- The Crisis in Corbyn's Labour Party is Over Israel, Not Anti-Semitism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
If there is indeed an anti-semitism problem in the UK's Labour party, it is not in the places where the British corporate media have been directing our attention. What can be said with even more certainty is that there is rampant hatred expressed towards Jews in the same British media that is currently decrying the supposed anti-semitism of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
- First they came for Alex Jones. Now Facebook bans Venezuela news site
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Days after the purge of Alex Jones from social media, Big Tech seems to have found another suitable target for apparent censorship. Facebook suspended the page of a prominent leftist news site writing about Venezuela.
- Israel Is The Real Problem
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Elite power cannot abide a serious challenge to its established position. And that is what Labour under Jeremy Corbyn represents to the Tory government, the corporate, financial and banking sectors, and the 'mainstream' media. The manufactured 'antisemitism crisis' is the last throw of the dice for those desperate to prevent a progressive politician taking power in the UK: someone who supports Palestinians and genuine peace in the Middle East, a strong National Health Service and a secure Welfare State, a properly-funded education system, and an economy in which people matter; someone who rejects endless war and complicity with oppressive, war criminal 'allies' such as the United States, Saudi Arabia and Israel.
- Siege and resistance in Gaza – For more than 10 weeks...
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Toufic Haddad, an activist, academic and author of Palestine Ltd: Neoliberalism and Nationalism in the Occupied Territory, spoke to Omar Hassan about the meaning of the protests – and what next in the struggle for the liberation of Palestine.
- 'Unprecedented': Staffers drown out reporters by clapping at Doug Ford news conference
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
When reporters tried to ask Ontario Premier Doug Ford questions at a Tuesday news conference about new funding to prevent gun violence, they were once again intentionally drowned out by applause.
- Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Fictions and Facts
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The New York Times reported that year, “Many historians believe the bombings [of] Hiroshima and then Nagasaki, which together took the lives of more than 200,000 people, saved lives on balance, since an invasion of the islands would have led to far greater bloodshed.” Many historians, perhaps; but not that many.
- Inside Google's Effort to Develop a Censored Search Engine in China
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Google analyzed search terms entered into a Beijing-based website to help develop blacklists for a censored search engine it has been planning to launch in China, according to confidential documents seen by The Intercept. Engineers working on the censorship sampled search queries from 265.com, a Chinese-language web directory service owned by Google.
- It's not a 'defense' of Alex Jones to argue that we're on a slippery slope of internet censorship
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The celebration on the Left at the quick-fire purge of Alex Jones and InfoWars from social media has been disturbing -- not because Jones' views deserve to be defended, but because his banning is a warning shot against dissent.
- Nine essential tools from ICIJ's data journalism and programming experts
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists' favorite data journalism tools, including: spreadsheets, Datawrapper, Jupyter Notebook, OpenRefine, Python and R, Talend Studio, SQL, Pandas, Neo4j + Linkurious.
- "What followed horrified us beyond our wildest imaginations": an eyewitness account of the Bangladesh student protests
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Like other high school students, Abdul Karim Rajib, 18, and Dia Khanam Mim, 17 had many hopes and dreams for their lives. One had hoped to become an army officer, the other, a banker. On July 29, 2018, around noon, the two teenagers were killed in the streets of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, by three buses speeding against each other for no reason other than to arrive first and cram as many passengers into their already overcrowded interiors, for maximum profit.
- Disabled People in UK Lead Fight Against Austerity
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In July 20,2018, John Clarke represented the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) at the International Deaf and Disabled People’s Solidarity Summit, in Stratford, east London that had been convened by one of our key allies in the UK, Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC). This powerful gathering was an important moment in the building of a resistance by disabled people as part of a broader international struggle against the forces of neoliberal austerity.
- Even the FBI Agrees: When Undercover Agents Pose as Journalists, It Hurts Real Journalists' Work
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The FBI doesn't want the public to know more about how its agents pose as journalists during undercover investigations.The government acknowledged in a court filing that FBI agents who pretend to be journalists create a chilling effect, making it harder for real journalists to gain trust and cooperation from sources.
- Eternity, nature, society and the absurd fantasies of the rich
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The wealthier they are, the more they fear that others will try to take their wealth. No wonder the super-rich are building bunkers to escape the apocalypse.
- The Unjust Prosecution of the Holy Land Foundation Five
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Miko Peled, in "Injustice: The Story of the Holy Land Foundation Five," his exhaustive study of the U.S. government's case against five defendants from a friendless minority, demonstrates how American justice has deviated so far from Blackstone that the courts can convict a hundred innocents for one who is guilty.
- Working Class Movement Must Be Independent
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A new chapter in the history of the South African working class was opened in Soweto on 21-22 July 2018, when representatives from over 147 South African working-class formations represented by 1000 delegates assembled to unite workplace and community struggles.
- Let Us Now Praise Infamous Animals
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In medieval Europe (and even colonial America) thousands of animals were summoned to court and put on trial for a variety of offenses, ranging from trespassing, thievery and vandalism to rape, assault and murder. The defendants included cats, dogs, cows, sheep, goats, slugs, swallows, oxen, horses, mules, donkeys, pigs, wolves, bears, bees, weevils, and termites. These tribunals were not show trials or strange festivals like Fools Day. The tribunals were taken seriously by both the courts and the community.
- The Lessons of the World Cup for our Victim Culture
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
That we are living in an age of victim culture is well-exemplified by an article recently published by the CBC suggesting that minorities "feel apprehensive about heading into the wild because they don't see themselves reflected in the outdoor industry and media." The underlying premise is that a paucity of representations of members of these groups constructs the outdoors as a kind of "unsafe space" of which people from these communities ask, according to the African-American author of a book called The Adventure Gap, James Mills, "'Do I belong here? And if somebody believes that I don’t belong here, will they do something to harm me?'"
- The other side of Gaza: Swimming, canoeing and 'trying' to be a child
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Here in Gaza, I want to tell this story. To show our audience a piece of a normal life, away from Hamas, or Israel's "terror" rhetoric, away from the diplomatic efforts, the political bargaining, away from the weekly Friday protests. Just show you something normal.
- Nazi-inspired jewellery, trinkets wiped from auction site
Polish anti-racist group convinces auction site to punish sellers and buyers trading goods bearing fascist symbols
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The anti-facist group Never Again has convinced an auction site to punish sellers and buyers trading Nazi memorabilia and other goods bearing fascist symbols.
- "Brutal and Sadistic": Noam Chomsky on Family Separation & the U.S. Roots of Today's Refugee Crisis
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
An interview with Noam Chomsky on the refugee crisis and the Trump administration's family separation policy. The article includes a link to the video interview.
- The Socialists of the Prairies
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Proyect talks about the arrival of the Prairie Trilogy at the Metrograph Theater on Friday, July 27th. The trilogy consists of three documentaries made in 1978 by John Hanson and Rob Nilsson about the radical movement in North Dakota during the heyday of the IWW, the Socialist Party, and the Nonpartisan League (NPL).
- Israel's 'nation-state law' parallels the Nazi Nuremberg Laws
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Israel's new 'nation-state' law follows in the footsteps of Jim Crow, the Indian Removal Act and the Nuremberg Laws.
- The Marxist and the Gamers: Reading, Fortnite, and My Students' Identities
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A school teacher reflects on the differences he sees in his students from past generations, notably the many young people who are avid online gamers.
- When Worse is the Enemy of Bad
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The claim that all that is wrong with America is due to the malignant machinations of Putin is the most blatantly false, potentially disastrous bucket of bullshit ever inflicted by the matrix on this ignorant, credulous, propagandized people.
- PayPal censors journalists who criticize Israel
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Under apparent influence from Benjamin Weinthal, PayPal chose to close down the account of the French online publication Agence Media Palestine. Such a move constitutes censorship as it denies journalists the means to raise money for their work and freedom to express ideas.
- Still 'world policeman': US expands overseas military presence with 300k troops in 177 states
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Trump is sticking to the policies of past administrations despite campaign claims that the US shouldn't be 'world policeman', experts told RT regarding Pentagon figures of 300,000 US troops in 177 states.
- If the doctor is listening, you have 11 seconds
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
U.S. study found that just 36% of doctors posed an open-ended question to get patients to talk.
- Israel steps up its war on mixed marriages
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The Israeli government has long funded various efforts to try to prevent romantic relationships between Jews and non-Jews, both inside territories it controls and around the world. But a new program confirmed this month by the tourism ministry takes Israel's war on families of mixed religion or ethnicity to a new level.
- The Belem Ecosocialist Declaration: An historic document
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In 2008 more than 400 activists from 37 countries endorsed this statement of ecosocialist principles and goals. Today the Belem Ecosocialist Declaration remains an important consensus statement of ecosocialist principles and goals.
- Cooperative farming is the only solution to the present agriculture crisis
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the agricultural crisis in India and the economic realities the country faces in a market tilted in favour of America and Europe. Solutions include government policy based on science in the use of land and water, less reliance on pesticides and fertilizers, and a move towards cooperative farming.
- Banned in Pakistan
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Pakistan's decision to censor 'blasphemous' websites provides a new perspective on the attitudes of many Western liberals towards Charlie Hebdo.
- Israelis Just Keep Killing People, Stealing Land
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The recent killing of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip by Israeli sharpshooters following the "The Great March of Return" is outlined, as well as the ongoing futility of Israel's policy and actions against the self-governing Palestinian territory whose population are forced to live under dire conditions.
- Nelson Mandela's legacy hijacked to help West sell liberal agenda
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Wight explains why the distortion of Nelson Mandela's legacy by champions of Western liberalism is "sickening and obscene".
- Canada's Military shapes Coverage of Deployments
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the Canadian military's influence over news coverage. The article outlines the great lengths the military goes to shape information covering its missions, including the recent deployment to Mali.
- Israeli forces 'deliberately killed' Palestinian paramedic Razan
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Probe by Israeli rights group B'Tselem concludes that intentional fatal shot was fired at the Palestinian paramedic.
- A New Native-Led Strategy for Fighting Keystone XL
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Sacred crops planted by the Poca represent another legal barrier for the construction of the Keystone pipeline, as its intended path must now cross sacred historic sites owned by a sovereign tribal nation.
- ICE: The making of an American Gestapo
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Justin Akers Chacón, author of Radicals in the Barrio and co-author with Mike Davis of No One Is Illegal, takes an in-depth look at the troubling history and practices of a government agency that more and more people are calling to be abolished.
- Interview: Angela C. Wild of #GetTheLOut on Pride in London and Lesbian erasure
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Meghan Murphy interviews Angela C. Wild about the recent Lesbian protest at Pride in London and the state of the LGBT movement today.
- New Dark Age: Technology and the End of the Future
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
- Red Fawn Fallis and the Felony of Being Attacked by Cops
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The tackling, arrest and imprisonment of female protester Red Fawn Fallis near a Dakota Pipeline construction site is another example of corporate and government abuse of power. When it comes to women dissenters, particularly of black or indigenous dissent, US authorities have a significant history of intimidation and punishment.
- Reality check: Croatian uniform virtually identical to...
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Some media reports are ga-ga that the Croatian team will be wearing its red and white checkered uniform in the 2018 World Cup final on Sunday against France. Far from being innocent or fashionable, this is ominous. By allowing this uniform to be worn, FIFA is emboldening the Croatian fascists and their European allies such those in Ukraine.
- Starving and Bombed Children of Yemen Seek Entrapment in Flooded Thai Cave
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
While the world was gripped by media coverage of trapped Thai boys in a flooded cave, hundreds of thousands of children were killed and suffering in other parts of the world -- yet received little or no attention. This article examines what this tells us about ourselves and geopolitics.
- Parkdale tenants' campaign blames real estate agent for loss of rooming houses
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at 'displacement realty' in the Parkdale area of Toronto, where the selling affordable homes at inflated prices pushes new landlords into forcing out old tenants in order to increase rents.
- Why the food movement needs to understand capitalism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
To fully appreciate the challenges we face in transforming our food system we need to explore the economic and political context in which food is grown, sold and consumed in the world today.
- Lenin and the Bolshevik Party: A revolutionary collective
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The Russian Revolution of 1917 clearly reveals the complexities of Bolshevism – Lenin's party – as a revolutionary collective.
- Rethinking community organising
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Building a just, sustainable future will require transcending traditional community organising models. Working through existing institutions within the current system is not good enough.
- CEMB march at Pride 2018 in London: A Victory against Islamism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain marched in Pride in London on 7 July for LGBT rights in countries under Islamic rule; in 15 states or territories, homosexuality is punishable by death. The march was a victory against Islamist forces in Britain like Mend and East London Mosque that tried and failed to stop CEMB from marching with accusations of 'Islamophobia' aimed at imposing de facto blasphemy and apostasy laws.
- No Trump, No Clinton, No NATO
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Murray explains why the notion that those who do not want Clinton in power are therefore supporters of Trump is intellectually risible and politically dishonest.
- Changing the concept of "woman" will cause unintended harms
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
There are more things to consider than some trans activists would have you believe, argues Kathleen Stock.
- 'Fake news' a loosely-defined term used for political gain
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Commentary on a panel discussion of media representatives, part of the International Cybersecurity Congress, which discusses the topic of 'fake news'. The article includes a link to full video of the discussion.
- Israel is arming neo-Nazis in Ukraine
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A report on Israeli weapons and training being provided to anti-Semitic or neo-Nazi soldiers in the Ukraine.
- It's not a conspiracy theory – your phone really is watching you, research finds
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Scientists used an automated system to interact with apps, searching for any media files that had been sent from them -- particularly to a third party. It was in the course of searching for audio files that the researchers began to see that screenshots and video recordings were being sent to third parties instead.
- Justice Kennedy and the Myth of the Legal Neutrality
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The enduring myth in America that law and politics are separate is put into question at the end of 2017 with 5-4 decisions upholding President Trump's travel ban, the striking down mandatory public sector union fees, and the resignation of Justice Kennedy.
- When America Downed an Iranian Airliner and Celebrated It!
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Every 3rd of July Iranians commemorate the killing of 299 innocent people, including 66 children, by the US Navy. Adding to the tragedy is the American attitude towards this catastrophic event.
- Ex-Muslims: A community in protest
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
I see ex-Muslims as a community in protest: insisting on freedom from religion, and freedom of conscience. For the right to apostasy and blasphemy, without fear. Like the LGBT, anti-slavery, anti-colonialist, anti-apartheid, suffragette or civil rights movements, it’s a movement which insists upon our common humanity and equality – not upon difference or superiority. It’s a movement of people who refuse to live in fear and in the shadows, and who are speaking out for social change in unprecedented ways.
- The Official Fake News
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Emmanuel Macron, who was comfortably elected to the presidency, has instructed his parliamentary majority to provide him with a law against 'fake news' during election campaigns. The law would be a selective halt to the the dissemination of information with dangerous consequences.
- Why Ocasio-Cortez's Platform is So Great
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
By labeling her foreign policy platform "A Peace Economy," Ocasio-Cortez, using a phrase popular with the peace movement, makes the financial connection without shying away from the immoral and criminal and counter-productive character of war. The fact is that war endangers rather than protecting, erodes rights, militarizes police and society, destroys the natural environment, directly kills and injures and traumatizes and harms millions, and - on top of that - does the most damage through the diversion of resources from where they could do good.
- BDS Versus Settler-Colonialism
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Review of two books about pro-Palestinian political activism known as BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions.) Contains detailed discussion of history and current events covered in the books.
- Cesspools, Sewage, and Social Murder
Environmental Crisis and Metabolic Rift in Nineteenth-Century London
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Karl Marx's analysis of changes in British agriculture in the nineteenth-century provides the theoretical starting point for what is now known as 'metabolic rift theory'. This article considers an aspect of the theory that has not been much discussed in modern ecosocialist analysis- the environmental crisis that the accumulation of human excrement caused in urban areas, notably in London.
- Communism and Self-Management
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at workers' self-management in past regimes and their relevance to current debates.
- Disabling Barriers
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Review of a collection on disability rights.
- Endless War, Swirling Chaos
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The editors of Against the Current comment on current American global affairs, including the Singapore Summit, Iran and Palestine as well as the need for a new Anti-War movement.
- Exploitation, Alienation and Oppression
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Bakan discusses the varations of Marxism and proports that the best of the Marxist tradition resists orthodoxy. She considers the complexity and variation in the core concepts in Marx's work regarding inequality.
- #FreeSiwatu!
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Siwatu-Salama Ra, an activist, was arrested in Detriot for felonious assault despite the fact that Siwatu-Salama was acting to defend herself and her family.
- Gender, Race and Marx's Whiskers
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Roediger juxtaposes James and Marx quotations and discusses the iimplications for how Marx’s limits and his forward motion regarding race and gender might be understood together.
- India's Freedom Struggle Influenced by Marxism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In India Marxism has influenced revolutionary figures to varying degrees. As inequality rises a renewed interest in Marx that engages local philosophies could invigorate a proletarian movement.
- Just Transition: Let Detroit Breathe!
A talk by William Copeland
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
William Copeland presents the campaign, Let Detroit Breathe. The campaign's prinicipal aim is to help Detroiters win their right to breathe clean air.
- Letter to the Editors
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Georgakas responds to the book review of Finally Got the News in a previous issue of the journal. He was disheartened that pertinent political and artistic seeds that directly fed that period have been neglected.
- The Making of C.L.R. James
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A short, positive review of a graphic novel about CLR James.
- Mali disintegrates
‘People are rejecting injustice’
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Mali’s general election this month looks uncertain, with rebels -- partly inspired by Islamist jihadism -- offering an alternative source of law and order in the central regions.
- Marx and Organization
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Lause examines Marx's involvement in different organizations and argues that he seems never to have had a problem not being in an organization -- not because he accorded organization no importance, but rather that the importance he accorded it depended entirely on the demands of the class struggle around him.
- Marx, Our Contemporary
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Marx’s analysis uncovers essential features and defining tendencies of capitalism far better than alternative frameworks. Smith outlines five examples in how Marx remains our contemporary.
- Myron Perlman, Z"L: Working-Class Jewish Radical
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Memorial for Myron Perlman, union carpenter and social justice activist.
- On Economic Madness
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A mostly positive, informative review of "Marx, Capital, and the Madness of Economic Reason" by David Harvey.
- Ramp Hollow: The Ordeal of Appalachia - Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Review of Ramp Hollow: The Ordeal of Appalachia by Steven Stoll. Review discusses history of Appalachia as well as previous literature on the subject.
- Rev. Edward Pinkey Freed after 30 Months
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Michigan's Supreme Court has ruled that Berrien County Prosecutor improperly charged activist Rev. Edward Pinkney with five felony counts of election forgery.
- Revising Class: Lumpen in Literature
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Review of Ragged Revolutionaries by Nathaniel Mills. Marxist analysis of depression-era African-American literaature by Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, and Margaret Walker.
- The Soviets and Tsarist Debt
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A history of the Soviet's refusal to honor Tsarist debt afterthe 1971 revolution. Looks at the effect on Russia up to and after the end of the USSR.
- State of the UAW
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Since the 1979-1981 economic crisis, when the UAW convinced its members to make concessions to the Big-Three, auto-workers have been losing benefits, wages and programs. Feeley discusses the current state of UAW focusing on its leadership.
- Transformation Problem Unraveled
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Review of "Money and Totality: A Macro-Monetary Interpretation of Marx’s Logic in Capital
and the End of the 'Transformation Problem'" by Fred Moseley. Burkett provides a summary of the details of Moseley's theory.
- Israeli Government Fears Palestinian Cameras
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A report on a Bill by the Israeli Knessett that would criminalize the filming of Israeli soldiers in Palestine, with a proposed five year jail sentence for offenders.
- Stop Whining and Start Organizing
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A commentary on the state of the labour movment in the United States, which has been in a marked decline since the 1950's. Lindorff discusses why unions are vanishing, loss of membership, disassociation with the Democratic party, and the changes needed to reorganize and enforce workers' rights.
- UNRWA Does not Perpetuate the Conflict, the Conflict Perpetuates UNRWA
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In January, without warning, Donald Trump refsued to pay $305 million of his country's $365 million commitment to UNRWA. UNRWA, the UN agency serving Palestinian refugees, remains $200 million short of the funds it needs to provide humanitarian services for five million people, including 2/3 of the population of the Gaza Strip.This is not really a story about under-funding UNRWA. This is about the people who strenuously seek to eliminate it.
- The birth of the Cuban polyclinic
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
During the 1960s, Cuban medicine experienced changes as tumultuous as the civil rights and antiwar protests in the United States. While activists, workers, and students in western Europe and the United States confronted existing institutions of capitalism and imperialism, Cuba faced the even greater challenge of building a new society.
- Celebrating Canadian Multiculturalism Day
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
On this 27th day of June, let us reflect and give homage to not only all those people who have come from every corner of the world and by working together contributed to building this country of ours
- "I Really Don't Care, Do U?" the Mendacity of Evil
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
While Americans consider themselves well above the authoritarianism and atrocities of such regimes as Nazi Germany, the author takes a look at some disturbing connections and similarites with the United States.
- Kidnapper Trump as Symptom
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The current plight of asylum seekers in the United States and the traumatic separation of children from parents at the southern U.S. border, is the most recent American policy that is racially motivated.
- On Purpose, In Kabul
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Amid years of fighting and war profiteering the Afghan Peace Volunteers (APV) forge ahead with impressive work that demonstrates what needs to be done to rebuild the war-torn and economically devastated country.
- Painting a false picture
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A review of the book "The Wrong Story: Palestine, Israel and the Media" by Greg Shupak.
- Why Do Students Kill Their Class-Mates
Detachment, Isolation, Dehumanization, and Emotional Estrangement from Human Relationships
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A recently released phone video shot by 19-year-old Parkland, Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz, reveals a cold, callus young man who claims to "hate everyone and everything."
- The Defiance that Launched Gaza's Flaming Kites Cannot be Extinguished
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Now Israel is facing a new and apparently even tougher challenge: how to stop Palestinian resistance from Gaza using flaming kites, which have set fire to lands close by in Israel. F-16 fighter jets are equipped to take on many foes but not the humble kite.
- 15 Actions That Can Shut Down Trump's Assault on Immigrant Families
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A list of recommended actions that can be taken against the Trump Administration's policy toward immigrant families, some of which include: Expose for-profit detention corporations; Target mayor's offices, state capitals, and governor's mansions; Practice non-violence, as well as using the media to your advantage.
- Movers charged 10 times the agreed upon price, Oakville woman says
Last minute move went from about $250 to $2,200
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
An Oakville woman's simple $250 move deteriorated into a $2,200 nightmare earlier this month, she says. And now, the people she hired to do the move are not returning her calls.
- Why It Just Makes Sense for the U.S. to Withdraw from the UNHRC
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Having withdrawn from the Paris Accord, and the Iran deal; having broken with the world to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital; having provoked allies and rivals with trade war-triggering tariffs and personal insults; having shocked the world with talk of a Great Wall to keep out Mexicans (paid for by Mexico).
- A New COINTELPRO?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Malik discusses the revelations that the FBI is targeting Black Lives Matters and what Justice Department head Jeff Sessions calls “Black identity” extremists as well as the response to open racism and how to move forward.
- Young protesters are defying Israel's blockade with scraps of paper and plastic
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Five years ago, the film Flying Paper documented the successful efforts of Gaza’s children to set a new world record for mass kite-flying. The children defied Israel’s blockade, which prevents entry of most goods, by making kites from sticks, newspapers and scraps of plastic.
- Sanitized Radicals: Whitewashing 20th Century Socialists
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at some of the 20th century's most inspiring leaders, whose socialist views have been conveniently ignored by the Right and the mainstream American media.
- Grieve the Beloved Children: Israel and the War on Children
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A discussion of Israel's tactics in its campaign against Palestinians, which includes the use of deliberate provocation to incite retaliation, and the disturbing reality that results in large numbers of children's deaths.
- All in the family
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Three parents who have made Canadian history by winning a court's recognition as a legal family are still adjusting to their status as pioneers for polyamorous rights.
- How can environmental activists use social media? Part 3
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Has Twitter jumped the shark? Is Facebook now MySpace? Should environmental activists bother with social media - and does the Cambridge Analytica scandal mean we should boycott?
- Less Than Fundamental: the Myth of Voting Rights in America
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The story of voting rights in America is one of exceptionalism. In 1787 when the US Constitution was drafted the right to vote was absent from the text.
- Trump's War on Children is an act of State Terrorism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
State terrorism comes in many forms, but one of its most cruel and revolting expressions is when it is aimed at children. The Trump administration has detained more than 2,000 children, and the numbers are expected to grow exponentially in light of Trump's refusal to change the cruel policy.
- The U.S. Is Building Jails for Toddlers Because Trump "Doesn't Want to Look Weak"
The optics of Donald Trump's "zero-tolerance" immigration policy are - somehow - only getting worse.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the Trump Administration's "zero-tolerance" immigration policy, announced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions in April, 2018. The policy, which separated children from their mothers and detained them in caged facilities, caused outrage among both Democrat and Republican lawmakers.
- Unprecedented Cruelty Against Immigrants and Their Children
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Recently White House Chief of Staff, John Kelly backed up the policy when he explained that, "the children will be put in foster care or whatever." This comes at the same time as a new report revealed that there are some 1,500 undocumented children, who have been placed by federal authorities in homes of "sponsors," and are now missing in the system.
No other country has a policy of separating families who intend to seek asylum.
- How can environmental activists use social media? Part 2
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Environmentalist activists and major NGOs all spend a considerable amount of time on social media - as an immediate and direct connection to the public. But to what effect?
- A one of a kind culinary tour with food from some of the world's most dangerous places tonight
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A one of a kind culinary tour with food from some of the world's most dangerous places
happening tonight!
- Separating children from their families is nothing new, US has been doing it for decades
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
While the child-parent separation of asylum seekers at the southern U.S. border is closer to home for Americans, the United States has had a longstanding foreign policy of separating thousands of children from their parents on a daily basis.
- The fallacy of Israel's human shields claims in Gaza
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Desperately trying to justify the killing of unarmed protesters, Israel once again uses its 'human shields' mantra.
- How can environmental activists use social media? Part 1
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Environmental activists and NGOs spend a considerable amount of time Facebook posting and Tweeting. But the best use of social networks is about what you want to achieve. Alessio Perrone spoke to some experts in the field and gives some tips about how to use platforms successfully to promote social change
- Hundreds of children wait in large metal cages with foil blankets at Texas Border Patrol facility
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Inside an old warehouse in South Texas, hundreds of immigrant children wait in a series of cages created by metal fencing. One cage had 20 children inside. Scattered about are bottles of water, bags of chips and large foil sheets intended to serve as blankets.
- The Nightmare of Neoliberal Fascism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Henry A. Geroux gives his analysis on such subjects as fascism and white nationalism in the age of Trump, and the state of higher education in a time of Neo-liberalism.
- Democracy and Ecological Crisis
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In view of the global ecological problems which have arisen from aggressive market driven economies, the author examines what democracy and socialism really mean, and what a more environmentally responsible Post-Capitalism society might look like.
- Toronto gets its 1st Industrial Heritage District, highlighting history of Dundas and Carlaw
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Toronto's first-ever Industrial Heritage District is open in Leslieville - an area now home to some of the city's trendiest lofts.
- Toronto gets its 1st Industrial Heritage District, highlighting history of Dundas and Carlaw
'It's a fascinating rich history that's being brought to life,' Councillor Paula Fletcher says
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
An Industrial Heritage District opens in Leslieville, an area of Toronto now home to some of the city's trendiest lofts. The initiatve is part of an ongoing effort to promote an appreciation for the city's rich architectural, industrial, and cultural heritage.
- The NED's Useful Idiots
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
On Friday, June 8, 2018, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow augmented her nightly Russiagate fetish by extolling the merits of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), telling her huge audience that the NED, created in the 1980s by the Ronald Reagan administration, still does the "non-partisan hard work around the world, of promoting small D democracy and promoting the institutions of civil society that any culture needs in order to have a functioning democracy."
- Oliver Law, the Lincoln Brigade's Black Commander
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
General Colin Powell was three months old when at 33 tall, broad-shouldered Texas African American Oliver Law, became the first Black Commander of an American Army.The date was June 12, 1937.Law was selected by a committee of three white officers to lead this integrated army.Heard of Colin Powell but never heard of Oliver Law? Hardly surprising. Law’s not mentioned in school books or social studies classes, and has yet to find a place in most college texts or history courses. But Law made his mark on world history in June 1937and for very good reasons.
- Why Do Establishment Feminists Hate Sex Workers?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
On March 21st, 2018, U.S. Senate Republicans and Democrats joined together to overwhelmingly pass the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA); the House had earlier passed the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA).
- No such thing as socialist Zionism
The historic contradictions of the Zionist left are being played out in the death throes of Meretz, writes Tony Greenstein
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Greenstein discusses the historic contraditions associated with Labour Zionism and explains why the term 'Socialist Zionist' just cannot exist.
- She says federal officials took her daughter while she breastfed the child in a detention center
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Under the American zero tolerance policy at the southern U.S. border hundreds of children are being separated from their mothers and families, including babies and toddlers.
- 3 adults in polyamorous relationship declared legal parents by N. L. court
St. John's court ruling believed to be legal first for Canada
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In what is believed to be a legal first in Canada, a court in Newfoundland and Labrador has recognized three unmarried adults as the legal parents of a child born within their "polyamorous" family. Polyamorous relationships are legal in Canada, unlike bigamy and polygamy, which involve people in two or more marriages.
- Separating Migrant Families Is Barbaric. It's Also What the U.S. Has Been Doing to People of Color for Hundreds of Years.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the root of the current human rights crisis at the southern border, a crisis based primarily on racism and bigotry which has driven many American policies throughout the nation's history.
- The corporate media's world of illusions
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In fact, the Great Western Narrative has been developed and refined over centuries to preserve a tiny elite’s privileges and expand its power. The role of journalists like me was to keep feeding these illusions to readers so they would remain fearful, passive and deferential to this elite. It is not that journalists lie – or at least, not most of them – it is that they are as deeply wedded to the Great Western Narrative as everyone else.
- The Wrong Story: Palestine, Israel and the Media
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The Wrong Story lays bare the flaws in the way large media organizations present the Palestine–Israel issue. It points out major fallacies in the fundamental conceptions that underpin their coverage, namely that Palestinians and Israelis are both victims to comparable extents and are equally responsible for the failure to find a solution; that the problem is "extremists," often religiously-motivated ones, who need to be sidelined in favour of “moderates”; and that Israel’s uses of force are typically justifiable acts of self-defense.
Weaving together the existing literature with new insights, Shupak offers an up-to-date and tightly focused guide that exposes the distorted way these issues are presented and why each is misguided.
- Massacres and Morality
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
What can one say about the morality of Israeli soldiers who shoot unarmed protestors, and then are caught on camera cheering their kills? And how do we judge the civilian population of Israel, many of whom openly support and cheer their soldiers as they go about their work of killing Palestinians? And what can we say about the political leaders of other countries, Canada say, who sit down and smile and make deals with officials of the Israeli government at the very moment that the killing is going on?
- The New York Times' Second Assassination of Razan at-Najjar
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
On 1 June 2018, an Israeli assassin poised along "the largest concentration camp ever to exist" killed 20-year-old paramedic Razan al-Najjar. On 7 June 2018, the New York Times assassinated her a second time. It surely does not surprise that the Times provides yeoman’s service for Israeli hasbara.
- Other Voices: The Connexions Newsletter - June 10, 2018
Massacres and Morality
Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In the wake of Israel's brutal massacres of Palestinian protestors in Gaza in May and June 2018, Other Voices looks at the ways in which state terrorism is used to keep subjugated populations in line, at home or abroad. The issue also questions the morality of those who either support, or keep silent about, the violence of the oppressor.
- How the Guardian aided the anti-semites
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Who do you help when you censor a cartoon depicting Israel's well-documented war crimes against Palestinians – and do so on the grounds that the criticism of Israel is anti-semitic?
The answer is: you help anti-semites.
- What would you do if soldiers dragged your son out of bed in the middle of the night?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
After more than half a century of occupation, most Israelis can no longer imagine themselves in the place of the Palestinians. But if we cannot imagine what it is like to live under occupation, we must at least confront its brutal reality.
- Pret-A-Patriarchy – on "modest" fashion
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
"Modest" fashion is a fast growing industry with companies like Dolce & Gabbana, H&M, Marks and Spencer, DKNY, Zara and others all rushing to cash in. But while more choice is undoubtedly good, I have a problem with the labelling.
- Police Broke Into Chelsea Manning's Home with Guns Drawn - in a 'Wellness Check'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A video recording of a 'wellness check' by police in Maryland, USA, shows police officers arriving with weapons drawn. The incident sheds light on a very disturbing police procedure and whether law enforcement should be called at all as first responders in matters of mental health.
- The Ideal of a Free Media Died Long Ago
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Should the media include positive editorial content secretly paid for by major corporations, as London's Evening Standard newspaper has begun doing, according to new revelations?
Most of us instantly recoil from any blurring between editorial and advertising in the media. How would we know if what was reported was factual, truthful and newsworthy or there simply as public relations spin? How could we trust anything we read?
- The Ideal of a Free Media Died Long Ago
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Most of us instantly recoil from any blurring between editorial and advertising in the media. How would we know if what was reported was factual, truthful and newsworthy or there simply as public relations spin? How could we trust anything we read? But here's a seditious idea. Would that be such a bad thing? Maybe it would better if we were far more wary of the corporate media and began to think of it chiefly as a sales platform – selling us an ideology harmful to our individual welfare and that of our societies.
- Sacrificing Gaza: The Great March of Zionist Hypocrisy
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The Great March of Return is a startling, powerful expression of Palestinian identity and resistance. Thousands of Palestinians have come out, bravely and unapologetically, to say: “We refuse to remain invisible. We reject any attempt to assign us to the discard pile of history. We will exercise our fundamental right to go home.” They have done this unarmed, in the face of Israel’s use of deadly armed force against targets (children, press, medics) deliberately chosen to demonstrate the Jewish state’s unapologetic determination to force them back into submissive exile by any means necessary. By doing this repeatedly over the last few weeks, these incredibly brave men, women, and children have done more than decades of essays and books to strip the aura of virtue from Zionism that’s befogged Western liberals’ eyes for 70 years.
- The Syrian Observatory: Funded By The Foreign Office
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The UK funded a project worth £194,769.60 to provide the 'Syrian Observatory for Human Rights' with communications equipment and cameras.
- Gaza medic killed by Israel as she rescued injured
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Israeli occupation forces shot dead a volunteer medic and injured dozens of people as they continued their indiscriminate attacks on Palestinians taking part in Great March of Return protests in Gaza for the 10th consecutive Friday. Razan Ashraf Abdul Qadir al-Najjar, 21, was helping treat and evacuate wounded protesters east of Khan Younis when she was fatally shot on Friday evening. She was about 100 meters away from the boundary fence with Israel at the moment she was shot and was wearing clothing clearly identifying her as a medic.
- Takashi Nagai
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A brief biography of Takashi Nagai, a Catholic physician specializing in radiology. During WWII Nagai treated the wounded and was a survivor of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, after which he also treated its victims. Diagnosed with leaukemia, likely from his work in radiology, Nagai spent his remaining years as a teacher, author and devout Catholic. He was honoured with the title of Servant of God, the first step towards Catholic sainthood.
- This e-waste evangelist got into a battle involving Microsoft - and is going to prison for it
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Recycling entrepreneur pleaded guilty, sentenced for copyright infringement dealing with computer discs.
- Africa's whistleblowers
'All I did was tell the truth'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In Africa, those who denounce corruption face hardship and physical danger even when there’s a legal framework that should protect and guarantee them a fair hearing.
- Mozambique won't be Mato Grosso
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A popular movement centred on a small farming village in northern Mozambique has, for the moment, halted an attempt to move to cash-crop monocultures mainly for export.
- A search for roots and connections
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The post-third-way Labour Party is trying to encourage its many new activist members, especially among the young, to turn the party into a social movement.
- Surveillance Self-Defense
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A guide on how online surveillance works and the various tools and techniques the public can use to help protect themselves from spying.
- Trump's EU doormats
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The author demontrates the need for EU members to maintain their independence and sovereignty through the treatment and demands made of EU leaders by Trump concerning deals on Iran.
- Missing Children: The Pottery Barn Rule Revisited
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
If one in five American parents couldn't figure out where their kids were, most people would rightly see the phenomenon as a crisis and a national scandal. Grandstanding prosecutors with visions of gubernatorial campaigns dancing in their heads would conduct mass parental perp walks. Legislators would boost their presidential aspirations by co-sponsoring legislation requiring universal implantation of GPS trackers at birth.
- Nanking Massacre
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A summary of the massacre at Nanking (Nanjing) , which occurred over a period of six weeks starting on December 13, 1937. During this period soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army perpetrated horrific atrocities, and murdered Chinese civilians and disarmed combatants who numbered an estimated 40,000 to over 300,000.
- Confronting Germany's New Fascists in Berlin
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the rise of facism in Germany with the recent winning of seats, now with 92 representatives in the national Bundestag, by the five-year-old Alternative for Germany (AfD). This new found platform provides the party with a voice in every debate and the first speakers after those of the government.
- Eight Things I learned About Palestine While Touring Eight Western Nations
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The main theme of all my talks in various cultural, academic and media platforms was the pressing need to refocus the discussion on Palestine on the struggle, aspirations and history of the Palestinian people. But, interacting with hundreds of people and being exposed to multiple media environments in both mainstream and alternative media, I also learned much about the changing political mood on Palestine in the western world.
- Finding the truth amid Israel's lies
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The famous – and by now overused – expression that history is written by the victors can be countered in many ways. One way is by unpacking the victors’ publications in order to expose the lies, fabrications and misrepresentations, as well as their less conscious actions. A rereading of these open sources about the Nakba, mostly written by Israelis themselves, unlocks fresh historiographical perspectives on the big picture of that period – while declassified documents allow us to see that picture in a higher resolution. This reprise could have been done at any moment between 1948 and today – as long as historians were willing to employ the critical lens needed for such an examination. Rereading these open sources, especially in tandem with the numerous oral histories of the Nakba, reveals the barbarism and dehumanization that accompanied the catastrophe. The barbarism is common to settler communities in the formative years of their colonization projects and can sometimes be obscured by the dry and evasive language of military and political documents.
- Israel deliberately provoked the latest violence in Gaza, but you won't learn that in the NY Times
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The Times breathlessly and at length recounts Israeli anxiety over the limited attacks from Gaza: "Sirens blared again;" "cellphones were buzzing with alerts of incoming rockets."
- Israel deliberately provoked the latest violence in Gaza, but you won't learn that in the NY Times
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The Times breathlessly and at length recounts Israeli anxiety over the limited attacks from Gaza: "Sirens blared again;" "cellphones were buzzing with alerts of incoming rockets." The Times has a reporter in Gaza, Iyad Abuheweila, but the paper had nothing to say whatsoever about how Gazans were reacting to being under assault. Maybe their cellphones were also buzzing, and their children were also afraid?
- Israeli minister threatens to destroy Gaza "once and for all"
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
As Israel bombed it dozens of times in the past day, a senior Israeli minister has incited the total destruction of Gaza.
- Joyless in Zion
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Israel is held in contempt by much of the western world, and Israelis know it even as they get down to the hard business of shooting border-crossers. The New York Times did a piece suggesting that Israelis have a conscience about the violence they poured forth at the Gaza border, and they hope that it was the right thing to do. But Gideon Levy says they have lost their conscience; and that was my impression too from interviewing Israeli Jews in West Jerusalem. I talked to 20 people. Every one expressed support for the killings. There was simply no dissent.
- Local Autonomy: A Key to Protection of the Ecosystem
Apo Island's Protected Landscape and Seascape
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In his book, The Plundered Seas, Michael Berrill called the Grand Banks and Georges Bank maybe the saddest story of overfishing.Berrill’s solution was the management of Large Marine Ecosystems.
- 'Our Rivers are Black with Coal' - living with Siberia's mines
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the aggressive coal mining industry in Siberia where local opposition and human rights are ignored, and indigenous communities and ecosystems are being destroyed.
- Video: IJV and CJPME tell Israeli trade Minister Eli Cohen and the Canadian Trade Minister to #EndApartheidTrade and divest from the Israeli-Canadian arms trade
Resource Type: Film/Video
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
- Fathi Harb burnt himself to death in Gaza: Will the world notice?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Self-immolation is more than suicide. That can be done quietly, out of sight, less gruesomely. In fact, figures suggest that suicide rates in Gaza have rocketed in recent years. But public self-immolation is associated with protest.
- MST Letter to the Brazilian People
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
We call on the Brazilian society as a whole to build and participate in the Congress of the Brazilian People, organized by the Brazil Popular Front, to be the space for discussion and organization on the country's problems and the structural measures
- Say 'I Love You'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A commentary on the issue of gun violence in schools in the United States, and the current lack of leadership which narrowly places blame on the shooter rather than tackle the more complex issues and policies which could make a difference.
- The Simulation of Democracy
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The global capitalist ruling classes have been stuck with "democracy" ever since, or, more accurately, with the simulation of democracy.
- 13 protesters against copper plant in India killed after police open fire
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Public protests at the copper smelter plant of Sterlite Industries in the town of Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu, India, were met with police fire during the last two days, with 13 protesters killed and and hundreds injured.
- Trump, the NYPD and the People We Call 'Animals'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the reckless use and dissemination of de-humanizing pejorative language, notably by President Donald Trump and some police agencies in the United States, which has consequences for the public who interact with police and for society as a whole.
- You Can't Commit Genocide Without the Help of Local People
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
How do you organise a successful genocide – in Turkish Armenia a century ago, in Nazi-occupied Europe in the 1940s, or in the Middle East today? A remarkable investigation by a young Harvard scholar – focusing on the slaughter of Armenians in a single Turkish Ottoman city 103 years ago – suggests the answer is simple: a genocidal government must have the local support of every branch of respectable society: tax officials, judges, magistrates, junior police officers, clergymen, lawyers, bankers and, most painfully, the neighbours of the victims.
- A Faustian Bargain with the Climate Crisis
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Take as our inspiration the temptations of capitalist individualism set before us, we make the exact same bargain. The difference in this case however is that we know the disaster is coming; we don't even need to worry about what our spidey senses say, 97% of all climate scientists agree that the capitalist mentality that sees the world as an infinite resource and infinite garbage dump is warming the atmosphere. We have even less excuse.
- YIMBYs Exposed: The Techies Hawking Free Market "Solutions" to the Nation's Housing Crisis
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Anti-displacement activists hate them. Tech firms and big developers love them -- and shower them with cash.
- Baran & Sweezy versus Marx
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In response to the editors' question 'Where was Marx in 1968?," Daum chooses to comment briefly on one topic: the anti-Marxist influence of Paul Baran and Paul Sweezy’s book Monopoly Capital.
- Editorial Statement: Introducing Insurgent Notes on Marx in 1968
Insurgent Notes vol. 17
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The editors introduce the focus of this issue: How present or absent was the thought of Karl Marx in 1968?
- From Catholicism and the working class to communism and Marx
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Garvey describes his childhood growing up in a Catholic community in New York and explains how Marx and Marxism were episodically present in the later periods of his life but first engagement with them was not nearly as deep as it needed to be. He asserts that in the 1960s Marx and Marxism that were on offer in the world of political practice were, more often than not, caricatures. What was needed in 1968 and beyond was not simply more Marx but a different Marx. At the end, he sketchs out some ideas of what a different Marx might have been and what difference it might have made.
- Getting to Marxism in Wisconsin and Iowa
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Dave Ranney recounts his experiences during the 1960s which led him to accepting Marxism. He emphasizes his experinces in Southeast Asia during the 1960s which exposed covert Americian military action in the region. Other formative experiences include those as an university professor in Wisconsin and Iowa where he witnessed and joined campus movements.
- Marx in 1968 in France
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In a personal essay, Coleman describes his personal experiences in France from 1966-1968.
He highlights significant number of Marxists teaching in both high schools and secondary settings. Furthermore, he discusses how the working class perceived in the Marxist far left, Trotskyist and Maoist press before May 1968.
- Marx in 1968: Report on a Journey
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Harvey Goldman discusses his intellectual jounrey during the 1960s in relationship to Marism. As a member of SDS, Goldman was engaged actively in student activism.
- Marx is dead, long live Marx!
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Duran describes 1968 as an an "ideological revolution which unquestionably affected the dominant revolutionary ideology, Marxism, and here begins my contribution, which I will divide into two large sections: an account of the situation in Spain, and then the rebirth of
Marxism, and why we can say: 'Long live Marx!'"
- Marx and Marxism in Berkeley in 1968
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Setting context by describing the early twentieth century political landscape in Berkeley, Goldner continues to describe his experince as a student at UC Berkeley by discussing local, national and international contexts for my encounter with Marx in Berkeley, 1968.
- A Political Education and Militant Intervention Before, During and After May ’68
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In the context of the Algerian War for independence, Charroussart discusses his political education and activism before, during after 1968 in relation to Marixsm.
- Studying Marx
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Buhle discusses how often participants in "The Movement" were not formally educated in Marxism but rather held self-studies conducted individually and in groups.
- The Italian Long ’68
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Taddeo describes how the charateristics of 1968 continued in Italy passed 1968 and his subsequent participation in various movements. He explains that with the struggles of 1977 and the repression that followed, one can say that the social ferment begun in Italy in 1968 had exhausted itself.
- Wild at Heart: Keeping Up With Margie Kidder
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Margie Kidder died on Sunday in her house in Livingston, Montana. It's not that she hadn’t had close calls with the Reaper before.
- An Interview with Norman Finkelstein: "I'm Not Betraying the Legacy of My Parents in Order to Make Myself Palatable."
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Norman Finkelstein is among the leading scholars on the Israel-Palestine conflict in the United States. His work primarily focuses on the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict and the Nazi Holocaust. For decades, he has advocated for a two state solution on the June 1967 borders, a "just solution to the refugee question," an end to the Israeli settlements in Palestine, the deconstruction of the border wall, the right to clean water, and an end to the occupation, the Gaza blockade, and the use of force against the Palestinians.
- Israel Commemorates Nakba with Mass Murder at the Gaza Fence
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
On the 70th anniversary of the Nakba, the "catastrophe" that resulted in the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, and the theft of their lands, homes, and even their household possessions, the message today was clear: the Israeli state is prepared to maintain its apartheid state by any means necessary. The catastrophe for the Palestinians was the birth of Israel and was celebrated by the Israeli state with tear gas, bullets and the blood of Palestinians.
- "Killing Gaza" captures culture of resistance
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Watch Killing Gaza, absorb the atmosphere of siege and listen to the testimonies of the trapped. You might then understand why so many chose to rush the gates.
- American Jews Stand Against the U.S. Embassy Move and Israel's Mass Killing of Protesters in Gaza
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
This is the ongoing Nakba: Celebrating the annexation of Jerusalem while gunning down Palestinian protesters
- CJPME Condemns Israeli Shooting of Canadian Doctor, Slaughter of Gaza Protesters
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) condemns Israel’s shooting of London, ON based doctor Tarek Loubani, shot while attending the wounded in Gaza.
- My Experiences in 1968 in Working-Class Turin
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Lepore recounts his experiences growing up in 1968 in working class Turin. He highlight the influence of the newspaper, Lotta Comunista, its developed Marxist approach and his subsequent involvement with, and then commitment to, that group.
- 'Today is one of the most tragic days in the history of the Jewish people: one American Jews response to the Gaza massacre
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In this open letter to the Westchester Israel Action Committee by congregant Howard Horovitz, Horovitz asks "When will we stand up, as human beings, as a committee and as a Temple, to condemn the massacre of Palestinians on the Gaza border?"
- West's failure to act will be cause of the next Gaza massacre
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Jewish Israelis celebrate, and governments around the world stand by passively, as Israel massacres Palestinians in Gaza. Inaction by Western governments ensures that Israel will feel embolded to commit further massacres in the future.
- On Nakba Day Palestinians in Gaza explain why they joined the 'Great March of Return'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Palestinian refugees in their own words, on the 70th anniversary of the creation of Israel. In the context of the 2018 opening of the USA embassy in Jerusalem.
- A New Politics? Movements, Power and Transformation
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Hilary Wainwright’s latest book, A New Politics from the Left (Cambridge, UK: Polity Press), represents a timely appeal for a democratic, participatory, and bottom-up political transformation.
- When Covering Up a Crime Takes Precedence Over Human Health: BP's Toxic Gulf Coast Legacy
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
On April 20, 2010, BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded. Over the next 87 days, it gushed at least 200 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, creating the worst human-made environmental disaster in US history and afflicting the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
- The future of the Nakba
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
If the Nakba’s most salient features are the theft of Palestinian land and the expulsion of the Palestinians from their land, and subjecting the lands that could not be stolen and the people who could not be expelled to systematic control and oppression, then, it would be most inaccurate to consider the Nakba as a discrete event that refers to the war of 1948 and its immediate aftermath. Rather, it should be historicized as a process which spanned the last 140 years, beginning with the arrival of the first Zionist conquerors to colonize the land in the early 1880s. In addition, Israeli leaders continue to regale their own people and the world with assurances that the Nakba is not just a past and present process of dispossessing the Palestinian people of their lands and expelling them, but rather one that must continue to preserve the future survival of Israel. The Nakba then turns out to be not just a past event and an ongoing process in the present, but a calamity that has a decidedly planned future ahead of it. If so, what might that future be?
- Israel at 70: Why Gaza's refugees and their descendants will never forget their violent expulsion
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Tuesday marks the anniversary of the start of the exodus from what became Israel, an event Palestinians call the Nabka (catastrophe). Sarah Helm visits Gaza to hear the views of residents old and young about their past and future
- The May '68 Events and Revolution in the West
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The political explosion fifty years ago in May 1968 in France has become a key historical marker for the Left. In an outburst of political revolt, workers seized factories and students occupied universities bringing France to a halt in a series of massive general strikes.
- What's it like for a social movement to take control of a city?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Ada Colau surprised many when she won the election to become mayor of Barcelona. The housing rights activist was part of a deep social movement aiming for participatory democracy. But this latest article from the Symbiosis Research Collective examines how winning the election was just the first step
- Why Everyone Is Wrong about the Censorship Fight at Universities
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The silencing of part-time instructors is the real free speech crisis
- A Brief History of American Torture
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The recent appointment of Gina Haspel as Head of the CIA reopens a dark chapter in US history -- the "enhanced interrogation", or torture of men, women and children. It also emphasizes the fact that no American officials who sanctioned, devised, supervised or implemented torture have ever been brought to justice for these crimes against humanity.
- Free and Accessible Transit Now
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Transit is a critical issue for many people in Toronto, as in all major urban areas. More is at stake than reducing traffic congestion and gridlock. Free transit opens the door to a broader transformation of urban life and the current social system. Our 'Red-Green' vision is socialist, based on the working class, environmentally just, internationalist, and transformative.
- Killing Children: From Ireland to Palestine
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The most tragic casualty in a conflict is that of a child, the most disturbing casualty in a conflict is that of a child killed purposely. In Palestine there is a disturbingly tragic high rate of children killed by those sporting the uniform of Israeli armed forces.
- What if Ida B. Wells Depended on Facebook?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The work of Ida B. Wells, the crusading journalist who forced Americans to pay attention to lynchings and human rights abuses, is a reminder why we need a tax-dollars-funded, and journalism focused, commitment to public media.
- Who is Afraid of Venezuelan Democracy?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
We are witnessing before our eyes a scenario of subversion and disqualification of Venezuela’s democracy.
- De-Briefing Academics: Unpaid Intelligence Informants
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Many academics frequently engage in what government officials dub 'de-briefing'! Academics meet and discuss their field-work, data collection, research finding, observations and personal contacts over lunch at the Embassy with US government officials or in Washington with State Department officials.
- 2018: When Orwell's 1984 Stopped Being Fiction
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A commentary on The Guardian's news story "Revealed: UK's push to strengthen anti-Russia alliance". Cook questions facts and the terminology used in the Guardian article, a form of 'journalistic fraud', which promotes the UK government's policy towards Russia.
- Defining Israel as a "Jewish State"
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The definition of what is a "Jewish State" and "what is a Jew" is a fundamental part of this debate. The "Jewish State" is like no other. It uses a concept of Jewish nationality which is like no other definition of nationality. It is the Jewish character of the State that is given preference to all other considerations and gives superior rights to Jews over the non-Jewish population in Israel.
- Who's Funding the White Helmets?
Reality Check
Resource Type: Film/Video
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
You've no doubt heard of the White Helmets, aka the Syria Civil Defense. They claim to be a neutral entity in Syria. They say they are just helping people caught in the middle of a civil war. But are they? Follow the money and you will find numerous ties to government funding from not only the U.S., but the U.K., Netherlands, Denmark and Germany. We untangle these ties to the White Helmets in a Reality Check you won't get anywhere else.
- Denver Post Editor Who Criticized Paper's Ownership Resigns
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Chuck Plunkett said he knew that he was risking his job as the editorial page editor of The Denver Post when he wrote an impassioned editorial last month blasting the newspaper's hedge-fund owners as "vulture capitalists" who had hobbled Colorado's largest newspaper with deep layoffs and cost-cutting. On Thursday, Mr. Plunkett resigned after he said an executive who oversees the newspaper refused to run another sharp-edged editorial Mr. Plunkett had written for this Sunday's newspaper.
- The 'One Democratic State Campaign' program for a multicultural democratic state in Palestine/Israel
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
As the Leonard Cohen song goes, ":everybody knows" the two-state solution is dead and gone. Zionism’s 120-year quest to Judaize Palestine – to transform Palestine into the Land of Israel – has been completed. Every Israeli government since 1967 has refused to seriously entertain the notion of a genuinely independent and viable Palestinian state alongside the state of Israel.
- Though Invisible to Us, Our Dead Are Not Absent
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A reminder that the world is a beautiful place, and we must save it by listening to the voices of those who have passed, who instilled us with life, love and the spirit of resistance.
- A Tool to Combat Washington's Middle East Wars
Book review: "The Plot to Attack Iran: How the CIA and the Deep State have Conspired to Vilify Iran"
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A Review of Dan Kovalik's book "The Plot to Attack Iran: How the CIA and the Deep State have Conspired to Vilify Iran", which provides a concise overview of US imperial conduct since WWII and the disturbing hypocrisy and deceit of the US Government and media.
- What your government can't tell you about drug prices
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
One of the best kept commercial secrets? The price governments pay for brand name drugs
- FC St. Pauli: Antifascist, Antiracist
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Haasen describes the political activism of FC St. Pauli footbal team and its supporters in Hamburg, Germany. Having once supported the Nazi Regime, this club has radiically changed it stance to become a vocal supporter of antiracism, antifascism and humanitarian efforts.
- Gazan Gandhis: Gaza Bleeds Alone as 'Liberals' and 'Progressives' Go Mute
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Tens of thousands of protesters, raising Palestinian flags continue to hold their massive rallies across the Gaza border. Despite the high death toll and the thousands maimed, they return everyday with the same commitment to popular resistance that is predicated on collective unity, beyond factionalism and politics.But why are they still being largely ignored? It is politically convenient to criticize Palestinians as a matter of course, and utterly inconvenient to credit them, even when they display such courage, prowess and commitment to peaceful change.
- Privatization is Killing Us: Dispatches from the Capitalist War on Society
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at various sectors of society that are suffering under privatization in the United States- including education, the prison system, healthcare, and the environment.
- African Americans and Immigrant Workers
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Malik discusses job competition and tensions between Afrcian Americans and Hispanic workers, more specifically between African Amercians and undocumented workers. He illustrates this through the example of a conflict in a Chicago bakery.
- Animating the Great Migration and After
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Brian Dolinar reviews Pioneering Cartoonists of Color by Tim Jackson.
- Barbara Ehrenreich Isn't Afraid to Die
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at Barbara Ehrenreich's book "Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, The Certainty of Dying, and Our Illusion of Control", where she questions current cultural practices, our sense of 'self', and advocates for a broader acceptance of death's inevitability.
- Can a Minority Overthrow the Majority?
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Feeley reviews Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America by Nancy MacLean.
- Confronting the Right: An Introduction
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
An overview of issues related to confronting the right, including questions surrounding the labelling of free speech as hate speech.
- Defending 'Our Democracy'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Despite the onsought of attacks on American democracy, groups like the teachers in West Virginia, Oklahoma and Kentucky and the Parkland surviors through their activism are defending America's democracy.
- Doubts about 'Novichoks'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Briefing notes developed from ongoing research and investigation into the use of chemical and biological weapons during the 2011-present war in Syria conducted by members of the "Working Group on Syria, Media and Propaganda".
- For Campus Free Speech
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Bose describes the right-wing incursion on universities and his troubled feelings about the climate of intellectual fear among some on the campus left. He elaborates on this by discussing the demands for speaking engagements for right-wing pundits to be cancelled.
- London Pub Crawl with Karl Marx
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
An account by Wilhelm Liebknecht of an incident which occured during a 'beer trip' -pub crawl- between Karl Marx, other Germans, and some Englishmen.
- Marx at 200; Capital at 150
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Holmstrom discusses the relevance of Marx's Das Capital in understanding modern and historical economic systems. Specifically, she looks at the themes of exploitation, gender, race and capital.
- Marx's Ecology: Recovered Legacy
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Löwy says that while mainstream ecologicail theory has been dismissive of Karl Marx, serious research in recent decades has recovered some of his very important insights on ecological issues.
- Modernity and Negations
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Finkel reviews The End of Jewish Modernity and What is Modern Israel? He says they offer complementary perspectives on some of the tragedies confronting today’s world, and their historical backgrounds.
- 1917 and the Colonial Revolution
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Solenberger discuss the 1917 Russian Revolution and the subsequent spead of the communist movement internationally. He focuses on the conditions which led to the rapid spread of its ideas and how in 1920 the movement went from being on the offense to defence.
- On the 'Duty to Protect'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
On April 14, 2018, U.S.-British-French forces launched a missile strike on alleged Syrian chemical weapons facilities, citing as justification the 'duty to protect'. Finkel make it clear that this attack was illegal under international law.
- Organizing Workers Strikes Against War and Repression
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A Brief History of Labour Strikes Against Imperialist Wars and Reaction
- Popular Front Counter-Memories
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Ehlers reviews Anti-Imperialist Modernism: Race and Transnational Culture from the Great Depression to the Cold War by Benjamin Balthaser.
- Remembering Joanne Landy
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Farber recalls the life and work of Joanne Landy. She is remembered as a supporter and organizer for a radical democratic politics opposed to oppression and exploitation throughout the world.
- Review Essay: Are Strikes Over?
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Moody reviews and critiques Riot. Strike. Riot: The New Era of Uprisings by Joshua Clover.
- "Ruthless Criticism of All That Exists"; Against the Current vol. 194
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In October 1864, Marx drafted the inaugural rules for the International Working Men's Association (First International). Its opening lines were a hymn to freedom and self-activity: "the emancipation of the working classes must be conquered by the working classes themselves."
- Taking on the Far-Right Menace
An Interview with Mark Bray
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Diana Feeley and David Finkel interview Mark Bray, author of The Anti-Fascist Handbook and professor at Darmouth College. Bray answers questions about his book, facism, tracking the racist right and tactical issues.
- An Urban Teacher Union Epic
Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Swerdlow reviews A Fight for the Soul of Public Education: The Story of the Chicago Teachers Strike. She suggests that the 2012 Chicago teachers strike can be used as a model to persuade the public that public employees and their labour organizations benefit society and lead to effetive change.
- What Fascism is, and Isn't
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
By examining historicial fascist movements, Oppenheimer delineates what is and isn't fascism and also explores the common themes between the alt-right and its fascist predecessors.
- Where It All Began: The Dawn of 'Fake News'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
While today's political smear campaigns and propaganda have gotten more sophisticated and subtle, the underlying ethics remain as maggoty as ever.
- Yemen's Turn
Resource Type: Unclassified
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The Arab Spring, numerically strong but politically weak, failed to break this destructive dynamic. With the corpse of Arab nationalism in a state of advanced decay and the principal opposition, the Muslim Brotherhood, desperate for a deal with Washington, the 2011 uprisings were easily confiscated by the US to further its own aims in the region. Despite its many national peculiarities, the ruinous war in Yemen has to be viewed in this context.
- Help wanted from Canadian Mothers, for Mothers in Malawi
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
It's easy for Canadian mothers to find proper health care for themselves and their children. In Malawi, it is not. Pregnant women will walk for hours or days to reach a health facility or camp out beside one, so they have a safe place to give birth.
- WADA reveals worst doping cheaters in 2016, Russia not even in top 5
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
While Russian national athletics federations (RUSAF) still remain suspended by international sports governing bodies as part of the crackdown over its alleged state-sponsored doping system, a new report by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) indicates that Russia is far from the worst offenders in 2016.
- Toronto's film industry grows, but at what cost?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
While high profile film productions are increasing in Toronto, the article questions whether taxpayers are getting good value for the billions of dollars of public money being invested into the film industry's expansion in the city.
- The Attack on Wilderness From Environmentalists
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Wildlands are being lost across the globe, and some conservation groups are assisting in that loss by proposing lesser protective status.
- Defenders of Copyright Troll Victims Urge Congress to Reject the "Small Claims" Bill
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A dedicated group of attorneys and technologists from around the U.S. defend Internet users against abuse by copyright trolls.
- The League of Assad-Loving Conspiracy Theorists
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
So the global capitalist ruling classes' War on Dissent is now in full swing. With their new and improved official narrative, "Democracy versus the Putin-Nazis," successfully implanted in the public consciousness, the corporatocracy have been focusing their efforts on delegitimizing any and all forms of deviation from their utterly absurd and increasingly paranoid version of reality.
- Privately run prisoner transport company kept detainees schackedl for 18 days
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The inhumane treatment of people by a prisoner transport company puts into question the use of privately hired companies, where incentive to pick up as many detainees as possible for financial gain supercedes the basic human rights of their charges.
- Russia and the War Party
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A critical look at the book "Russian Roulette", by Michael Isikoff and David Corn, which examines alleged Russian interference in the 2017 U.S. election.
- For the love of books: Mobile libraries around the world
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the people behind mobile libraries serving communities from Nigeria to the Netherlands.
- Gideon Levy: A Voice of Sanity from Israel
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In spite of a systemic policy of demonization, Israeli journalist and human rights activist Gideon Levy continues denouncing the Israeli government and the crimes against Palestinians.
- Girls Reduced to Being Repositories of Communal and Religious Identities in Kashmir
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The rape and ruthless murder of an eight-year old girl in Jammu province underscores the brutal gender violence that is a consistent feature of the political thuggery that grips the subcontinent.
- In Middle East Wars It Pays to be Skeptical
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In the context of Western air strikes on alleged Syrian biological weapons sites on 14 April, 2018, the history of the bombing of the Abu Ghraib baby milk factory in 1991 underscores the need for permanent scepticism towards claims by U.S. and Western governments that they know exactly what is happening on the ground in Syria.
- Just When You Thought 'Russiagate' Couldn't Get Any Sillier
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The lawsuit against the Trump campaign, the Russian government and WikiLeaks is simply the latest version of what the DNC has been doing since 2016, which is trying to fob blame for its loss of an election it should have won.
- Unit 731: How Leaders of Japan's WWII Germ Warfare Unit Ended Up Working for the US
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the post-war collaboration between the United States and members of Unit 731, a germ warfare branch of the Imperial Japanese Army that conducted horrific and lethal experiments on Chinese civilians and Allied prisoners.
- Other Voices: The Connexions Newsletter - April 21, 2018
Their Interent or Ours?
Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The Internet, which was at one time a free and open space for sharing information and ideas, has been privatized and twisted to serve the profit-making agenda of huge corporations, working hand-in-glove with governments which want to suppress opposition and alternatives. What can we do about it? Is it our Internet or theirs?
- Palestine: MSF teams in Gaza observe unusually severe and devastating gunshot injuries
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
MSF medical staff report receiving patients with devastating injuries of an unusual severity, which are extremely complex to treat.
- Their Internet or Ours?
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The Internet, at one time a free & open space for sharing information & ideas, has been privatized & twisted to serve the profit-making agenda of huge corporations, working hand-in-glove with governments which want to suppress opposition & criticism.
- Their Internet or Ours?
Introduction to the April 21, 2018 issue of Other Voices
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
What happened to the Internet? The Internet, which was at one time a free and open space for sharing information and ideas, has been privatized and twisted to serve the profit-making agenda of huge corporations, working hand-in-glove with governments which want to suppress opposition and alternatives. What can we do about it? Is it our Internet or theirs?
- Government Mass Murder
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
"This is not an assault." Twenty-five years ago, that was the lie blaring over government loudspeakers as the FBI and the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) carried out its plan to obliterate the Branch Davidians, an integrated group that formed as a breakaway from the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Orchestrated and overseen at the highest levels of the Clinton administration, the 19 April 1993 assault outside Waco, Texas, engulfed the Branch Davidians’ Mount Carmel commune in an inferno that killed over 80 people, including some two dozen children.
- Liberation of Dalits: Key to Indian Workers Revolution
Review of Ants Among Elephants: An Untouchable Family and the Making of Modern India
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Ants Among Elephants is both a family memoir and a political history.
- A Tale of Two Atrocities: Douma and Gaza
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Compare the intense media coverage of an alleged Syrian chemical attack to the near silence accorded the horrific civilian massacre perpetrated by Israeli soldiers in Gaza, at the very same time.
- 'The Forced Displacement of Palestinians Never Truly Ended
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
As Israel celebrates its 70th anniversary, a child and grandchild of exiled Palestinian reflects on the Nakba, where 750,000 were driven from their homes or fled in terror following massacres of Palestinian civilians by Jewish militias.
- As lies on Syrian gas attack unravel, US and UK shift to claims of Russian "cyber war"
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
An examination of the alleged gas attack in Syria as pretext for yet another war against a Middle Eastern nation, the suppression of anti-war sentiment, and the legitimization and crackdown on democratic rights and censorship of the Internet under the banner of combating Russian cyber warfare.
- Challenging Capitalism through Workers’ Control
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
From the upheavals of the early 20th century to the neo-liberal re-structurings of the late 20th century emerges the common feature of 'worker's control' -- a movement to protect jobs and communities.
- Exposing Canary Mission
A Resource for College and University Leaders
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A report on Canary Mission, a secretive and non-academic political organization that uses their website to engage in defamatory attacks against college students, academics and others who report on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and advocate for Palestinian rights.
- Facebook says it tracks non-users but doesn't 'sell people's data'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Facebook admits it also collects data on people who are not users of their service, yet what they do with that data is unclear.
- Fisk Puts to Test the Free-Press Myth in Douma
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Veteran Middle East corrrespondent Robert Fisk was the first western correspondent to arrive in Douma following the US, UK and French attacks on Syria. Based on first hand interviews Fisk's account is clearly honest about what he reported and certainly plausible, yet respected British newspapers like the Guardian gave his reports a cursory if not hostile treatment.
- Robert Fisk's Douma Report Rips Away Excuses for Air Strike on Syria
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A report by respected journalist Robert Fisk shows that there is a highly credible alternative explanation for the aftermath of the alleged gas attack in Douma, Syria. His report, including an eyewitness account by a senior doctor, counters the video evidence used by the US to justify the air strikes on the region. It was an attack that should never have taken place before inspectors were able to investigate and report their findings.
- His father brought hundreds of Jewish tailors to Canada - now he's stitching together their
'It opened the doors,' Larry Enkin says of the Tailor Project
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Larry Enkin hopes to document the history of the immigrant tailors who came to Canada under the The Tailor Project. The project was initiated by his father Max Enkin following WWII, which brought approximately 2,000 displaced people from Europe to Canada to work in the clothing industry.
- Don't Fall for the Chemical Weapons Convention Justification
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the interventionalist arguments in support of Western air and missile attacks in Syria, and the false claim that the attack was justified under international law because it was a response to the use of banned chemical weapons.
- IJV deeply concerned about politically-motivated firing
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV) is deeply concerned about the firing of Kevin Metcalf, a staff person at Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE), following a statement he issued in the name of the organization condemning recent attack
- President Trump's War Crime is Worse than the One He Accuses Assad of
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The single most important thing that happened Friday night when the US military on President Trump's orders launched a wave of over 100 cruise missiles against Syria was that once again the US violated the most profound international law of war: initiating a war of aggression against a nation that posed no threat, imminent or otherwise, to the US or its allies.
- War is just f**king wrong
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Jacobs explains the underlying capitalist imperative of waging war.
- What's Kinder Morgan's Real End Game?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
An ultimatum has been imposed by Texas based Energy Infrastructure company, Kinder Morgan,that they will cancel the Trans Mountain Pipeline Extension at the end of May 2018 unless clarity is provided by the government. Klein argues that Kinder Morgan knows that the pipeline is already doomed, due to external economic factors and Indigenous opposition.
- Call me radical, but journalists should be able to pledge support for Palestinian journalists: Neil Macdonald
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Journalist Neil MacDonald defends journalistic freedom and safety following a statement issued by the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE), an organization that faltered in carrying out its mandate.
- Remembering Ireland's Great Famine
A review of Black '47 a soon to be released film about the famine in Ireland
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The Irish film, Black 47 (Director Lance Daly) is about the worst year of the catastrophic Irish famine and is set in the west of Ireland in 1847. The story centers around an Irish soldier, Feeney (James Frecheville), returning from serving the British Army in Afghanistan only to find most of his family have perished in the Famine or An Gorta Mor (the Great Hunger) as it is known in Gaelic.
- US media love war more than they hate Trump & egg him on to strike Syria
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
US media outlets are recklessly promoting war with help from neocons, including Arab American right-wingers who do not represent the views of the region they are demanding Trump bomb.
- War, lies and censorship
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Damon cautions news consumers that there is precedent for dissemination of government propaganda in the Anglo-American mainstream media when leaders are preparing to take part in military action.
- "Al Qaeda's MASH Unit": How the Syrian American Medical Society Is Selling Regime Change and Driving the US to War
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) is not merely a group of Syrian doctors tending to the wounded in war torn areas, nor is it an objective and relaibale source on chemical attacks and other atrocities. This article explains that SAMS is actually a politically enaged organization that has for years been actively seeking to overthrow the Syrian government.
- "Before all else a revolutionist": Marx and the Question of Strategy
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
If we begin listening to the voices of those he conversed with, we can stop seeing Marx as the source of infinite quotes and begin to view him instead as a comrade on a common path – a path that he walked before us, always in conversation, and often in dispute, with many of his contemporaries.
- Killing Mosquitoes: The Latest Gaza Massacres, Pro-Israel Media Bias And The Weapon Of 'Antisemitism'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The most recent brutality against Palestinians, and brazenness with which the killings were carried out, is yet another demonstration of the Israeli contempt for the people it tried to ethnically cleanse in 1948.
- Misleading figures on greenhouse gas emissions
Letter to the editor
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A letter to the editor from an oil industry apologist (April 12) tries to excuse the Alberta oilsands’ growing carbon emissions with the argument that Canada accounts for “just” 1.6 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Even if that figure were accurate, it would mean that Canada is producing emissions which are more than three times as large as its proportion of the world’s population.
- Facebook: A Cooperative Transformation
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Facebook represents a standard for a global model of concentration of wealth and power in the 21st century, joined by companies like Google, Amazon, and Uber. Entrepreneurs with computer skills and good or lucky timing have privatized and enclosed the global information commons and have enriched themselves by providing services for free or for reduced prices to the billions.
- Taking the World to the Brink of Annihilation
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Western neoconservatives and hawks are driving the international situation to increasing tension and danger. Not content with the destruction of Iraq and Libya based on false claims, they are now pressing for a direct US attack on Syria.
- Argentine Newspapers Recuperated by Workers' Cooperatives
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
An economic recession in Argentina that culminated in intense protests and the resignation of then-president Fernando de la Rua, also fostered the phenomenon of companies being recuperated by its workers as a cooperatives. In the last two years the majority of companies recuperated have been media outlets, which opens up new possibilities for journalism in the country.
- Debunked: How VoA journalist pushed fake news story on 'Russian tanks crossing into Ukraine'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The easily-verifiable false claim by Voice of America journalist that Russian tanks were filmed entering Ukraine was shared thousands of times before being debunked. The journalist, however, refused to issue a retraction.
- UN Security Council Rejects Proposal for Investigation Into Syria Chemical Allegations
Russian envoy urges US, allies to refrain from attacking Syria
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A UN Security Council resolution proposed by Russia has been voted down, with Western nations fighting against it. The resolution would've called for a formal investigation into the alleged Syrian chemical weapons attack on Saturday.
- Despite Gaza Massacre, Israel Remains Immune From Criticism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Imagine for a moment that it was not the two million Palestinian in Gaza, who are mostly refugees from 1948, but the six million Syrian refugees in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan who had staged a march to return to the homes that they have lost in Syria since 2011. Suppose that, as they approach the Syrian border, they were fired on by the Syrian army and hundreds of them were killed or injured. The international outcry against the murderous Syrian regime in Washington, London, Paris and Berlin would have echoed around the world.
- Palestine: IFJ demands justice following the killing of a journalist in Gaza
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joined its affiliate, the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate (PJS), in condemning the killing of Palestinian photojournalist Yasir Murtaja and the wounding of at least 7 more journalists in Gaza.
- Eight reasons why the latest Syria chemical weapons attack allegations are almost certainly complete nonsense
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A discussion on the chemical attack in Douma, Syria, and why the allegations are likely false.
- If only we could revive the fruitful tension between Martin Luther King and Malcolm X
Reflections on Dr King’s death have overlooked how his liberal universalism and Malcolm X’s separatism gave each other strength
Resource Type: Unclassified
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Kenan argues that conflict averse approach to activism blunts the edge of contemporary social movements for change.
- The Economics Behind the Skripal Poisoning
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The question is why are they doing this with Russia? Why are they imposing sanctions and mounting a great publicity campaign?
- A Letter to CBC: Your Biased Coverage of the Land Day Massacre
The following letter was sent yesterday to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation regarding their biased coverage of the Land Day massacre
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Chairperson of the Canada Palestine Association, Hanna Kawas, presents a letter to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, alleging editorial interference by pro-Israel lobbying group 'Honest Reporting Canada' in their coverage of the land day killings of unarmed civilians by Israeli government forces.
- US Isn't Leaving Syria -- but Media Lost It When Possibility Was Raised
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The US military exists to fight wars. It is the most heavily armed, most violent organization in the world. Saying that it should continue to occupy Syria, and most of the mainstream media do, is a way of saying that the war in that country should continue. In fact, it’s a call for escalation of that war.
- Ecuadorean Villagers May Still Triumph Over Chevron
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Michael Krauss, a lawyer who teaches "ethics" at a law school named after the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, recently posted a blog on the Forbes website entitled "The Ecuador Saga Continues: Steven Donziger now owes Chevron more than $800,000" (Forbes 3/14/2018). Kraus says that Chevron has basically triumphed over evil...
- Guidelines for police in dealing with mentally ill people
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
An investigative report report by the CBC shows that more than 460 people in Canada have "died in encounters with police" since the year 2000.
- Digital occupation: What's behind Israel's social media in Arabic
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Israeli social media accounts in Arabic aim to normalise Israel's occupation and whitewash its image, Palestinians say.
- Laura Ingraham's advertisers aren't really staging a boycott. It's a capital strike
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
There are no regulations or laws preventing or even restricting capital strikes in the form of corporate activism, therefore social and political aspirations of capital always have an effective instrument on hand; yet the same cannot be said for labour.
- Most Canadians killed in police encounters since 2000 had mental health or substance abuse issues
More than 460 people have died in encounters with police in Canada since 2000
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
More than 460 people have died in encounters with police across Canada since the year 2000, and a substantial majority suffered from mental health problems or symptoms of drug abuse, a CBC News investigation has found.
- License to Kill
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Halimi places alleged Russian involvement in the attempted assasination of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in the context of routine extrajudicial killings by the wider inernational security services.
- Top 10 Civil-Rights Songs
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Upon the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., some of the more popular civil-rights songs are remembered. The article includes online links to music videos.
- Facebook and the Rise of Anti-Social Media
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
For those who haven't thought about it, the internet is insidious because of the very capacity that Cambridge Analytica claims to be able to exploit: customization. Users have limited ability to confirm the authenticity of anything they see, read or hear on it. Print editions can be compared and contrasted-- technology limits print media to large-scale deceptions. With the capacity to create entire realms of deception -- identities, content, web pages and entire online publications, trust is made a function of gullibility.
- Trump's Protectionism: A Great Leap Backward
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
US Presidents, European leaders and their academic spokespeople have attributed China's growing market shares, trade surpluses and technological power to its "theft" of western technology, "unfair" or non-reciprocal trade and restrictive investment practices. President Trump has launched a 'trade war' – raising stiff tariffs, especially targeting Chinese exports – designed to pursue a protectionist economic regime.
- Courrieres Mine Disaster 1906
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The devastating mine disaster in 1906 that killed over 1,000 workers in Courrieres, France, is remembered.
- How the Guardian became the West's Pravda
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Cook says that the British newspaper The Guardian has become a mouthpiece for the establishment.
- Why aren't we expelling Israel's diplomats?
Letter to the Editor
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2108
Canada expelled Russian diplomats on the strength of unsubstantiated allegations that Russia was involved in the poisoning of a former spy in Britain. Will Canada now expel Israeli diplomats in condemnation of Israel's latest massacre in Gaza?
- Assange's internet blackout & Skripal case part of propaganda war that risks real one
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
John Pilger condemns the mainstream media for its role in acting as an uncritiical conduit for government propaganda.
- Beyond Implementation: Policy Considerations for Secure Messengers
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The importance of secure Messenger tools goes beyond just reliable technology, it must be developed and have its infrastructure maintained by a trustworthy group with a history of responsible stewardship.
- For first time in 70 years, Palestinians return to their villages
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
To commemorate Land Day, group of Palestinian refugees returned to the villages they were expelled from in 1948.
- Engaging the Popular Imagination; Engaging the Holy Week culture
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Holy Week, in the Christian religious tradition, comprises an important series of events that take place in many communities in the Mediterranean, Latin America and beyond around this time – events commemorating Jesus Christ's entry to Jerusalem, his last supper with the Apostles, together with his passion, death and resurrection. These commemorative events extend well beyond religious devotion and piety.
- Gun Control in Old East Germany
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In Communist-run East Germany weapons and ammunition were strictly controlled. Rifles, though privately-owned, were locked up at the hunting clubs, usually connected with the forest rangers' home and station.
- If John Bolton Is Right, Pearl Harbor Was Perfectly Legal
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Michigan attorney Kary Love explores the legal basis for a pre-emptive attack on North Korea by the USA.
- Off the Map: Disabilities and Just Mobility
People with disabilities who rely on local public transit are getting squeezed between gentrification and austerity.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
An examination of the tensions between investment driven public transit improvements and displacement of less affluent residents; with particular reference to people with mobility issues or disabilities.
- The Skripal Poisonings and the Ongoing Vilification of Putin
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Pinning the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter by a nerve agent on the Russian state makes little sense, and is an attempt by the West to futher villify Putin who actually had little to gain by ordering such an action.
- The anti-semitism paradox damaging Labour
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the damaging effect of anti-semitism for the political left, which is being exploited in a tactic to stifle class solidarity and subvert a genuinely progressive Labour leadership.
- Demand for atheism rises in countries under Islamic rule
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The rise of atheism in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia is something we have been speaking about for some time now. The Iranian Baztab Now website warned of a tsunami of atheism amongst Iranian youth. The #ExMuslimBecause hashtag initiated by the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain became viral overnight with over 120,000 Tweets from 65 countries.
- Community forest management against illegal timber logging
Indigenous communities comply with strict rules to ensure the regeneration of the forest and protect water sources.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Guatemala is hit hard by mudslides caused by deforestation. Government-led initiatives created in consultation with Indigenous communities have been successful in preserving forests and promotiing sustainability.
- Gina Haspel's CIA nomination demands the United States account for its history of torture
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
President Trump's nomination of Gina Haspel to head the CIA has stirred objections from many quarters. Dorfman recounts the impact of state sanctioned torture in Chile.
- New website gives Torontonians a glimpse of the city's past
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Sidewalk Labs has unveiled a interactive map based on City of Toronto Archives images that allows people to view old pictures of Toronto by clicking on a map. However, the mapping is often wrong.
- Other Voices: The Connexions Newsletter - March 25, 2018
Looking for Answers, Creating Alternatives
Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
This issue of Other Voices features people who are questioning and challenging the way the world works and trying to create better alternatives.
- Amnesty International: Trumpeting for War… Again
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
One would expect a human rights organisation to be intrinsically opposed to war, but AI is a cheerleader of so-called humanitarian intervention, and even "humanitarian bombing".
- The Meaning of Heritage in an Age of Identity
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A discussion of the meaning of heritage in the current age of identity politics, and why there is a need to reject the nativist, or clash of civilizations, and the multicultural approaches to heritage.
- Israeli hackers reportedly gave Cambridge Analytica stolen private emails of two world leaders
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Israeli hackers reportedly gave information from the hacked emails of two world leaders to Cambridge Analytica, the political-research company at the centre of a massive Facebook-data scandal.
- Police release video of Uber self-driving vehicle accident in Arizona
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
- No Spirit Of Liberty - The Salisbury Case, Corbyn And The Need For Dissent
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at recent 'Mainstream' media coverage, notably the Guardian and BBC, which has been instrumental in presenting a misleading image of Prime Minsiter May as a stable leader, and yet presents Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in a much less flattering light.
- How They Sold the Iraq War
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The war on Iraq won't be remembered for how it was waged so much as for how it was sold: it was a propaganda war, a war of perception management.
- In Run-Up to Vote to End Yemen War, MSNBC Remains Totally Silent
MSNBC outflanked from the left by Breitbart
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Johnson expresses concern about the lack of MSNBC coverage of the role of the USA in the conflict in Yemen since 2015.
- Raleigh police are asking Google to provide user data for all people near crime scenes
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Police in Raleigh, North Carolina, have presented Google with warrants to obtain data from mobile phones from not just specific suspects who were in a crime scene area, but from the mobile phones of all people in the area
- Revolutionary Optimism: Journeys in Radical Politics Past and Present
Resource Type: Film/Video
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
On the "Reality Asserts Itself" program of The RealNews network, Prof. Leo Panitch is interviewed by host Paul Jay. Discussion topics include his political leanings, the rise of Jeremy Corbyn, the UK Labour Party, and whether radical change is indeed possible.
- Violet McNaughton: the Mighty Mite Reformer From Saskatchewan
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Violet McNaughton deserves recognition as one of Canada's greatest and most formidable adult educators and co-operator of the twentieth century bar none
- Amazon's Initiative: Digital Assistants, Home Surveillance and Data
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at technological developments such as Amazon Echo and Google Home, which are less innovations than intrusive tools utilized by big data companies to mine personal information and condition human approaches to the way information is shared.
- Of a Type Developed by Liars
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Porton Down scientists are not able to identify the nerve gas as being of Russian manufacture, and have been resentful of the pressure being placed on them to do so. Porton Down would only sign up to the formulation "of a type developed by Russia" after a rather difficult meeting where this was agreed as a compromise formulation.
- School Shootings: Who to Listen to Instead of Mainstream Shrinks
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Clinical psychologist Bruce Levine discusses the prevailing cynicism and hopelessnes among young people in the United States -- about their country and their future. In particular the article focuses on troubled young people who have lost any connection with adults and view the world as an uncaring place, and are commonly prescribed medication such as anti-depressants.
- Superunknown: Scientific Integrity Within the Academic and Media Industrial Complexes
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Mattis provides an analysis of the competing priorities of scientists, funders and the media that together, create a perfect storm of "unscientific science".
- The Tip of the Iceberg: My Lai Fifty Years On
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
- What is Organizing?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Morgan reviews the history of Organizing in the USA and provides advice to activists on how to organize in an inclusive, constructive, way.
- Will We Ever See Al Jazeera's Investigation Into the Israel Lobby?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
So when am I going to be able to watch Al Jazeera's hard-hitting investigation into Israel’s powerful lobby in the United States? Remember Al Jazeera? The tough, no-holds-barred Middle East satellite channel that transformed Qatar into a media empire whose reports frightened dictators and infuriated potentates and presidents alike? Why, George W Bush once wanted to bomb its headquarters in Doha – so it must have been doing something right. It even has an office in Jerusalem.
- Why They Hate Margaret Atwood
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
On March 9, a University of Alberta English professor named Julie Rak headlined a speaking event that was billed as a showdown on the issue of "bad feminism." A promotional poster done up in a boxing motif included a picture of Rak on one side, and legendary Canadian author Margaret Atwood on the other.
- Illegal logging: An organized crime that is destroying Latin American forests
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A recent report indicates that Illegal wood trafficking is the most profitable crime against natural resources, and allows other crimes to flourish, including deforestation, labor exploitation, land invasions, tax evasion, document forgery and state corruption.
- Illegal logging: An organized crime that is destroying Latin American forests
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Illegal timber trafficking is a complex type or ogranized crime that involves other crimes such as tax evasion, labor exploitation, and land invasion. Countries in Latin America need to work together to fight this crime.
- No Fare Is Fair: A Campaign for Free Public Transit in Toronto
Why Do We Need Free Transit?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Public transit should be a right for everyone in Toronto. Using subways, buses, and streetcars shouldn't require paying fares, or user fees, that penalize riders with lower incomes.
- All Fire and Fury in Ukraine
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Using Oliver Stone's 'portentious' documentary film 'Ukraine on Fire' as a basis for discussion, the article looks beyond the mainstream media and public discourse on the events and developments in the country which ultimately framed the public's view of the situation.
- The End of Policing & Police: A Field Guide
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A Field Guide to the Police is a study of the indirect and taken-for granted language of policing, a language we're all forced to speak when we talk about law enforcement. The book refuses to see the world as police do, instead it contends that when we talk about police and police reform, we speak the language of police legitimation through the art of euphemism. State sexual assault becomes "body-cavity search," and ruthless beatings become "plain compliance." Like any other field guide, it reveals a world that is hidden in plain view. In entries like "Police dog," "Stop and frisk," "Rough ride," and scores more, the authors show how "copspeak" obscures the true meaning and history of policing. This book will arm activists on the streets--as well as anyone with an open mind--on one of the key issues of our time: police violence. The book argues that a redefined language of policing might help us chart a future free of police and police violence.
- nerve agent case for 'action' on Russia
Official claim that 'Novichok' points solely to Russia discredited
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The case against Russia using the nerve agent Novichok is undermined by earlier reports by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which previously declared that they have no evidence for the existence of a Russian Novichok programme.
- Notes on Terminology
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at common and popular terminology and 'labeling', especially in the media, which at times is not only inaccurate and misleading, but also diminishes or softens the severity of an event.
- Say No to 'Hardening' the Schools with Zero Tolerance Policies and Gun-Toting Cops
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The last thing the school system needs is harsher penalties and armed guards which turn students into 'inmates'. Schools in the Unites States are already heavily policed, with School Resource Officers (SRO) funded by the Deptartment of Justice, and harsh penalties for kids as young as 4-5 years old.
- Popular airlines flagged for safety system non-compliance
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The regulatory breach was uncovered by Transport Canada agents during a 2016 visit to the airline's Etobicoke offices, where inspectors reviewing maintenance records also found planes had not received required work.Sunwing is one of several popular commercial airlines that have been flagged for widespread non-compliance by Transport Canada, the details of which are contained in government surveillance reports that are not public and must be obtained through Access to Information legislation.
- America's Troll Farm Media
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the American mainstream media, which is in a constant search of sensation, scandal, gossip, and above all -- profit.
- Crisis of the State, Crisis of the Left
Articulating Socialism After the Anarchist Moment
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
'Augmenting the left' -- that is, finding ways to build new organizational alliances, expand practices of resistance, and culturally envision and collectively build toward a better world -- is not just a worthwhile project, but also an essential one. Human survival may depend upon it. In this regard, it must be recognized that there is also a crisis of the various post-Marxisms, especially to the extent that they tried to replace class as the central structural pivot around which different forms of oppression and counter-hegemonic emancipatory struggles condense.
- The leaders of the American Womens March have spoken: Jews are unwelcome on the feminist left
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Columnist Emma Teitel draws attention to the problematic relationship between US Women's March organizers and antisemetic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
- How Palestinian women led successful non-violent resistance
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Two women share their stories of how they peacefully protested during both Intifadas and challenged Israel's occupation.
- Barbarism: Texas judge ordered electric shocks to silence man on trial. Conviction thrown out.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the controversial use of the stun belt, a pain inducing device used to control prisoners, which was recently used by a judge within a court of law in the state of Texas.
- 'Follow Your Bliss' - The Tweet That Brought Corporate Journalism To The Brink Of A Nervous Breakthrough
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Don't write for the "mainstream". Don't write for money. Don't write for prestige. Just "follow your bliss" by writing what you absolutely love to write to inspire and enlighten other people. Write what seems interesting, important and true, and give it away for free.'
- Hamilton anarchist space, The Tower, has been vandalized
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The city's local anarchist social centre, The Tower, has been vandalized. The damage comes days after a masked mob that dubbed itself "The Ungovernables" caused $100,000 in damage during a vandalism spree on Locke Street.
- Baum, Gregory
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A brief biography of Gregory Baum, one of Canada's most influential and controversial theologians and a participant in the Second Vatican Council.
- Google Is Helping the Pentagon Build AI for Drones
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Google has partnered with the United States Department of Defense to help the agency develop artificial intelligence for analyzing drone footage, a move that set off a firestorm among employees of the technology giant when they learned of Google's involvement.
- City closes foot path to school where 11-year-old student was killed by a driver
Jim Karygiannis, Councillor for Ward 39, says decision was not made lightly
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Following years of advocating for a safer walkway for pedestrians, the death of a child leads to a closure and further safety measures.
- The risks of becoming a Google city
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Plans for a high tech custom-connected community by US company Google raises significant concern from experts. With sensors monitoring and recording daily life there are troubling questions in matters of freedom and privacy, as well as potentially negative implications for the poor and less privileged residents of the city who stand little to gain from efficient privately operated communities.
- Anti-BDS bills expected to feature prominently at AIPAC
Annual meeting to push for measures that counter boycott Israel campaign as rights groups call bills 'unconstitutional'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
At the annual meeting of AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee), the lobbying group's agenda is set to propose measures to counter the growing campaign to boycott Israel and its West Bank settlements. At the centre of discussion are anti-bocott bills, described by critics as laws designed to curb the not-for-profit Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement- a human rights movement that supports Palestinian rights.
- Suspect in Lahore blasphemy case fighting for his life
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A Christian resident of Lahore says he attempted suicide as interrogators forced him to perform oral sex on cousin.
- Suspect in Lahore blasphemy case fighting for his life
A Christian resident of Lahore says he attempted suicide as interrogators forced him to perform oral sex on cousin.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Christians and other minorities, who make up about two percent of Pakistan's 207 million population, are disproportionately targeted by blasphemy laws, which prescribe a mandatory death penalty for anyone found guilty of "defiling the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad". There is increasing violence associated with the laws, with at least 74 people killed in attacks motivated by blasphemy accusations since 1990.
- The Geography of Marxism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
David Harvey is a geographer and a Marxist. A collection of his works titled The Ways of the World was recently published in paperback. A collection pulled from his writing and lectures, the works are insightful, both in their approach to the world and the manner in which he combines geography and Marxism.
- How Neoliberal Fundamentalism Helped Make Trump President
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A common, headache-inducing media narrative has surfaced since the election in 'mainstream' liberal U.S. publications they can no longer trust, such as The Washington Post or New York Times: that the true decline of U.S. democracy, the true dominance of U.S. corporate power in public life, and the true deterioration of the 'American Dream' has at last begun to arrive with the victory of Donald Trump.
- After the Grenfell Tower Fire
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the grave injustice surrounding the Grenfell Tower fire, from the way residents were treated before and after the disaster and the austerity measures that exacerbated it - such as cuts to fire departments.
- Dialectics of Revolutionary Learning
Book review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Review of the book Revolutionary Learning: Marxism, Feminism and Knowledge by Sara Carpenter and Shahrzad Mojab.
- The Fight for Housing, 1967-68 & Milwaukee NAACP Commandos
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A history of The Commandos, an offshoot of the NAACP Youth Council formed in Milwaukee in the 1960s. Their main fight was against segregated housing.
- For International Women's Day: Honoring the Fighters
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Brief descriptions of Ahed Tamimi, Asma Jahangir, Heather Heyer, Berta Cáceres, Erica Garner, and Tarana Burke in honour of International Women's Day.
- Gaza girl awaiting surgery reunited with her mother in West Bank
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
After getting an Israeli-issued medical permit, Inam al-Attar traveled without her parents from Gaza Strip to West Bank.
- Honduras: U.S. Support for Repression & Fraud
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The US has supported the illegitimate election in Honduras. The people continue to resist despite deaths, disappearances and incarcerations by the military.
- #MeToo for All Women
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The #MeToo movement exposed systems that abuse and silence of women. It's important to note that these systems are not just individual professions or university administrations but they are enabled by the larger system of capitalism.
- MLK: To the Promised Land
Charles Williams interviewing Michael Honey
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Interview with Michael Honey author of the study, To the Promised Land: Martin Luther King and the Fight for Economic Justice.
- Moroccan Catastrophic Convergence
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The convergance of injustices in Morocco - climate change, neoliberalism, political suppression - make for a completely untenable situation. This could make people hopeful since it makes radical change the only possibility.
- The New Poor People's Campaign
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Though there has been progress in electoral politics since the days of MLK this success leaves many people behind. The New Poor People's Campaign seeks to create a grassroots movement to counter that.
- The 1970s: Finally Got the News!
Charles Williams interviews Brad Duncan
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Interview with Brad Duncan, editor of Finally Got the News: The Printed Legacy of the U.S. Radical Left, 1970-1979.
- 'NSA-proof' Tor actually funded by US govt agency, works with BBG, FBI & DOJ - FOIA docs
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Newly released documents reveal that The Tor Project, a supposed safeguard against a surveillance state, has received funding from US government agency the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), and cooperates with intelligence agencies.
- One Hundred Years, "We" Past and Present
Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A review of Steve Bloom's epic poem about the Russian Revolution.
- The Patriarchal Stranglehold
Book review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A review of the book Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny by Kate Manne.
- William A. Pelz
Obituary
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Obituary for labour history scholar and activist William A Pelz.
- Readings: Intersectional Black Activists
Domestic Worker Organizers, 1960s-1970s
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A brief history and suggestions for further reading on 1) Black women fighting for labor rights for domestic workers, 2) Callie Houses's struggle for reparations 3) Sojourner Truth and her fight for emancipation and suffrage for Black women.
- Reproductive Justice in an Age of Austerity
Book review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Reviews of two books about reproductive rights.
- Sex and the Russian Revolution
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The philosophy of the October Revolution contained radical ideas around sexual politics which have been forgotten today. Drawing parallels to today's issues on gender and sexuality could help a new generation get into radical labour politics.
- Single Payer: What Will It Take to Pass It?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Single payer healthcare needs to be implemented in a universal, sweeping move. Incremental changes will only impede progress.
- A Window on Inhuman Detention
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A first-hand account of the inhumane conditions of immigration detention by a Korean woman seeking asylum in the US.
- Worldwide Wobblies Remembered
Book review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A review of the essay collection Wobblies of the World: A Global History of the IWW.
- The Authoritarians Who Silence Syria Questions
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the unchallenged western media narrative on Syria and notably recent commentary by Brian Whitaker, the Guardian's former Middle East editor, who is opposed to experts in the study of propaganda setting up a panel - the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media - which aims to "provide a source of reliable, informed and timely analysis for journalists, publics and policymakers" on Syria.
- Large Archive of Hannah Arendt's Papers Digitized by the Library of Congress
Read Her Lectures, Drafts of Articles, Notes and Correspondence
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Many people read the German-Jewish political philosopher and journalist Hannah Arendt as something of an oracle, a secular prophet whose most famous works -- her essay on the trial of Adolf Eichmann and her 1951 Origins of Totalitarianism -- contain secrets about our own times of high nationalist fervor.
- ACLU sues US over separation of mother, child seeking asylum
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
American Civil Liberties Union accused the U.S. government of unlawfully separating a Congolese woman and her 7-year-old daughter by holding them in different immigration facilities 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) appart.
- The Curse of Energy Efficiency
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The more 'efficient' our technology, the more resources we consume in a downward spiral of catastrophe.
- Microfinance or Debt Trap? What the Poor Don't Know
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Qazi's article outlines how poorly designed microfinance initiatives harm rather than help low income borrowers.
- James Laxer - Canadian iconoclast 1941-2018
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Obituary for the prominent campaigner, author and academic James Laxer, who passed away February 23rd 2018.
- Where's the Beef Stroganoff? Eight Sacrilegious Reflections on Russiagate
Street, Paul
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Street expresses his frustration with the US political establishment in light of the 2017-2018 FBI investigation into alleged foreign intervention in the 2016 US presidential election.
- Ryan Coogler's Black Panther: A hollow "defining moment" cloaked in identity politics
A review of the film 'Black Panther'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A conventional Hollywood "blockbuster," chock full of action sequences, explosions and the rest.
- Gaza: Who or What Has a Right to Exist?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at Norman Finkelstein's book "Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom", which investigates the Israeli attacks on Gaza such as Operation Cast Lead (2008-09), the Mavi Marmara (2010), and Operation Protective Edge (2014).
- Pakistan / Gilgit-Baltistan: Advocate Ehsan Ali, a symbol of political sanity
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In Gilgit-Baltistan, one of the most politically sensitive regions of Pakistan, the author explains why it is important to recognize and support people like Ehsan Ali, who is a vocal human rights activist and a symbol of interfaith harmony.
- The Car of the Future Will Sell Your Data
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
As "smarter" vehicles provide storehouses of personal information, carmakers are building databases of consumer preferences that could be sold to outside vendors for marketing purposes, much like Google and Facebook.
- The Crisis of Social Democracy: From Norway to Europe
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
With social democratic parties in Europe suffering poor election results and significant setbacks, this article puts the current crisis in historical context, and how resolution and success will depend on more radical solutions.
- Disinformation: In the Philippines, political trolling is an industry - this is how it works
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In the Philippines, influential personalities and online 'trolls' are credited with winning Rodrigo Duterte the presidency in 2016. This article examines the chief architects of disinformation who continue to vociferously share 'fake news' and silence dissenters.
- Ecological Sustainability, Inequality and Social Class
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Raju Das connect sustainability to metabolism, reproduction, and value of labour power.
- Indictment of Russians over US election meddling is case of pot calling the kettle black
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
WorldNetDaily writer and former US Department of Defense official F. Michael Maloof recalls past US foreign policy adventures in light of claims of Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election.
- Lawsuit accuses DC police of collusion with far right
An advocacy group has filed a lawsuit alleging that police broke protocol by working with a far-right organisation.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Federal prosecutors and the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) in Washington, DC, colluded with far-right groups in cases against anti-Trump protesters, a recently filed lawsuit alleges.
- Remembering Italy's Cervi brothers amid far-right surge
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The Cervi brothers in Italy are famous for leading the local peasant resistance against Benito Mussolini's rule. Today, Adelmo Cervi is still a leading voice against the rise of far-right populist parties in Italy.
- Hearts and Minds: How do People Change?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
If we want to change the world, we need other people - millions, eventually hundreds of millions of others - to agree that the world needs changing and to join us in changing it.
It's a daunting prospect. How can we reach and persuade those who may have voted for the likes of Donald Trump and those like him in other countries, or who are not interested in engaging in 'politics' at all?
- Mueller Indictment - The "Russian Influence" Is A Commercial Marketing Scheme
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
An explanation of why the U.S. Justice Department's indictment is based on a misunderstanding of the commercial activities of a Russian marketing company in U.S. social networks.
- Other Voices: The Connexions Newsletter - February 17, 2018
Hearts and Minds: How do People Change?
Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
How can we reach the millions we need to reach and engage if fundamental change is to happen? How can we accomplish the essential task of persuading a majority of the population that a fundamental social and economic transformation is necessary? Even more importantly, what will it take for people to come together and act collectively to bring about that transformation? What can we do to help make this happen?
- The Boomerang Effect: How Netanyahu Made Israel an American Issue, and Lost
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Trends in US opinion polls indicate that Israel is not just losing support and overall appeal among large sections of American society but also among the newer generation of American Jews, a worrying change in US public opinion for the Israeli government.
- Stop replacing London's phone boxes with corporate surveillance
New connected kiosks are replacing London's payphones. Every time you use them, you're allowing Google, BT and Primesight to track you
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Concerns over privacy in London, UK, as Google, BT and Primesight provide free wifi and phone charging in exchange for allowing the consortium to identify users and track their movements through the city.
- Syria strikes back as Israel discovers its warplanes aren't invincible
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The recent shooting down of an Israelli jet by the Syrian Army brings attention to the numerous recent incursions into Syrian territory by Israel. It also highlights vulnerabilities of the Israelli military which is assuredly on course for another conflict with Hezbollah, an organization that has grown in strength since 2006.
- What You Don't Know About Abolitionism: An Interview with Manisha Sinha on Her Groundbreaking Study
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Manisha Sinha draws attention to the role of Black abolitionists in ending slavery in the USA in her book: The Slave's Cause: A History of Abolition.
- To stop migration, stop the abuse of Africa's resources
Europe should tackle migration not by deploying troops, but by curbing economic abuse and destablisation.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
On January 17, Italy's parliament approved the deployment of up to 470 troops in Niger to combat "irregular migrant flows" and the trafficking of people towards Libya, and, from there, to Europe. A number of other European countries are pursuing similar policies, including France, Germany, and Spain.
- Kenya's 'Erin Brockovich' defies harassment to bring anti-pollution case to courts
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Phyllis Omido is leading a landmark class action demanding a clean-up and compensation from a lead-smelting factory accused of poisoning local residents - including her own son.
- A puzzling moment in the park
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A woman, a German Shepherd, a conversation, and a game of fetch.
- Canada's Deadly Diplomacy and the Plight of Political Prisoners in Honduras
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the political crisis in Honduras since the Nov. 26 election, which has led to brutal and deadly government crack-downs by military police and other state forces of Honduras. Described as state-led terrorism, it is being tacitly supported by funding from Canadian taxpayers.
- '54 Palestinians die' as Israel refuses medical permits
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
According to Rights groups, Israel is responsible for 54 deaths in the besieged Gaza Strip in 2017 due to a lack of medical permits.
- Intellectual Property Regime Undermines Equity, Progress
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Developing countries must reject the intellectual property rights regime imposed on them by powerful foreign monopolies in recent decades.
- The Killing Season: A History of the Indonesian Massacres, 1965-66,
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
- The Face Off: Law Enforcement Use of Face Recognition Technology
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Face recognition is poised to become one of the most pervasive surveillance technologies, and law enforcement's use of it is increasing rapidly. However, the adoption of face recognition technologies like these is occurring without meaningful oversight, without proper accuracy testing of the systems as they are actually used in the field, and without the enactment of legal protections to prevent internal and external misuse.
- FashMaps website tracks neo-Nazis in the US
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
As Daily Stormer struggles to keep an online home, a new anti-fascist site aims to track neo-Nazis' meetings in the US.
- Lissa Lucas Dragged Out of West Virginia House Judiciary Hearing For Listing Oil and Gas Contributions
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Mokhiber's article summarizes the case of political candidate Lissa Lucas, whose testimony against a bill "that would allow companies to drill on minority mineral owners' land without their consent" was censored by the court.
- Mozambique's farmers battle to keep land in Nakarari
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Parenti and Liberti examine the Nakarari community's ongoing resistance to commercial agricultural planning.
- Norman Finkelstein and Dr. Mads Gilbert
Resource Type: Film/Video
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A discussion with professor and author Norman Finkelstein about his book "Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom".
- On Resistance: BDS and Israel's Declining Support Among Diaspora Jews
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Like its predecessor movement decades ago in South Africa, assessing the success of BDS against Israel today necessarily rubs up against the tension between Israeli Hasbara (propaganda) and its reality as an effective organizing tool against it throughout the world.
- Against the odds: Why customers often lose in battles with banks
Complaint system wears people down and usually rejects claim, consumer advocate says
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Banking customers with complaints about lost deposits face significant obstacles, with those looking for help dealing with a complaints system that is designed to wear people down and usually siding in favour of the banks.
- Black Politics After 2016
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A article on the significance of race in American politics, particularly since the 2016 election, and the symbiotic relation between antiracist politics and Democratic neoliberalism.
- Fake News and the Gatekeepers of Truth
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at misinformation or 'fake news' and how it has changed from the past; while only governments and prominent figures could once manipulate public opinion, today it is anyone with online access.
- Fragmented Power: Portugal in Revolution, 1974-1975
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In Portugal the underground Armed Forces Movement's long-planned coup d'etat to bring down the Estado Novo regime was a success; however it was relatively short-lived despite the modest intentions of its organizers. This article takes a look at the popular initiatives that brought Portugal to the brink of a socialist revolution and why it failed.
- After Alleged Election Fraud and Protests, Honduran Congress Moves to Regulate Hate Speech Online
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The Honduran Congress is debating a law that seeks to regulate hate speech and "fake news" on the Internet. Honduran activists and opposition political parties say the proposal would function as a gag law aimed at silencing government critics.
- Foxconn: The Myth and Reality of the Welfare Queen
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Social scientists who have studied the welfare system before and after the Clinton era welfare "reforms" have exposed the notion that women on public assistance were "welfare queens" as a myth.
- How Apple is Paving the Way to a 'Cloud Dictatorship' in China
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Apple Inc. is set to hand over the operation of its iCloud data center in mainland China to a local corporation, but Apple has not explained the real issue. With the move a state-owned big data company controlled by the Chinese government will have access to all the data of its service users in China; this will allow the state apparatus to jump into the cloud and look into the data of Apple's Chinese users.
- How to Use Critical Thinking to Spot False Climate Claims
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
This article outlines ways to address common climate-contrarian arguments, all of which contain errors in reasoning that are independent of the science itself.
- The Power Struggle in Catalonia, or the Staging of a Tragicomedy
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
One, a consolidated power, is the Spanish state. The other, an emerging power, drives the project to create a state of its own, a project promoted by nationalists and pro-independence currents. These include a fraction of the divided system (PdeCat, erc and cup) and some social organizations (the Catalan National Assembly, Omnium Cultural and some trade unions) -- with the support of an important part of society.
- Syria: The Assad regime - a response to Marcel Cartier
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A response to Marcel Cartier's article "Vanguards of Humanity: Why I support Afrin & the Rojava Revolution", which denounces the Turkish invasion of Afrin and calls for solidarity with Rojava. While author Slee agrees with the call for solidarity, there is disagreement with some fundamental points in Cartier's article.
- Brazil's Largest Newspaper Quits Facebook, Accuses it of Harboring 'Fake News'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The Brazilian media conglomerate Folha de S. Paulo, made the decision to rebel against Facebook by ceasing to publish content, saying the decision stems primarily from Facebook's recent change on users' news feed which aims to reduce the amount of content and favour posts by friends and family. The paper says Facebook is effectively banning professional journalism from its pages in favour of personal content and 'Fake News'.
- Defending Afrin means defending the women's revolution
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Since January 20, 2018 the Turkish army has been attacking the Kurdish region of Afrin in the Democratic Federation of North Syria; among the casualties are women, children and many refugees. In this message to the world a confederation of women's organisatons in Afrin call upon all women worldwide to join their struggle.
- Haiti: An Example of Fake News by Omission
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The main problem with the mainstream media today, as in the past, is not 'fake news' but what is left out of articles dealing with controversial issues.
- How a backwards shirt led to a lesson in kindness for P.E.I. kindergarten class
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Students show their support for one of their own.
- Keep seeing Mondoweiss in your news feed following changes at Facebook
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
As most of you by now know, Facebook has recently made big changes to how users see content from publishers like Mondoweiss.
- 'A Load Of Tosh'– The BBC, 'Showbiz News' And State Propaganda
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
BBC News reporting on international relations, with particular reference to 2017-2018 tensions with Russia, relies heavily on state propaganda.
- NYT op-ed describing Israel as a place of refuge is missing the word, Palestinians
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A rebuke by author Levine to the New York Times op-ed written by Susan Silverman titled "How Did Israel Become A Place of No Refuge?".
- Soros & the £400k Question: What constitutes 'foreign interference' in democracy?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The news that US billionaire Soros donated £400k to an anti-Brexit group came on the day that YouTube said they found no evidence of Russian interference in Brexit.
- Thursday morning ping pong: The little sport doing big things at Toronto retirement home
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Patterson is one of many at the Salvation Army Meighen Retirement Residence who've become dedicated ping pong players, benefiting from the physical and cognitive exercise, according to staff at the home.
- What 'News' Media in U.S. And Allied Countries Never Report
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Newsmedia effectively ban reporting corruptness of newsmedia -- even of media that stand on the opposite side of the political divide.
- A conversation with film historian Max Alvarez
How the #MeToo campaign echoes the McCarthyite witch hunt of the 1940s and 1950s
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Clearly, this is not as organized a political campaign as the one that took place in the 1940s and 1950s, but the climate is chillingly similar in terms of the massive capitulation and conformity in the entertainment industry.
- Here's what war with North Korea would look like
A full-blown war with North Korea wouldn't be as bad as you think. It would be much, much worse
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the chilling logistics and devastating loss of life a full-blown war between the USA and North Korea would cause.
- Jeff Bezos' Quest to Find America's Dumbest Mayor
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Baker questions the wisdom of cities offering online-retailer Amazon tax and infrastructure incentives to host the company's second head quarters.
- Propaganda! Pardon me, is mine really bigger than yours?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
They say Propaganda! In the West, both the mainstream media and even some of the so-called progressive outlets are shouting: "Those Russians and Chinese and the others like them, they are at it again! Their vicious propaganda is infiltrating our democratic, freedom-loving countries, spreading confusion and chaos!"
Yes, ban or at least curb RT, contain TeleSur, and if at all possible, throw Press TV to the dogs. And put the writers of NEO, Sputnik, Global Times and other foreign outlets on that proverbial Western mass media 'no fly list'.
- Science's pirate queen
Alexandra Elbakyan is plundering the academic publishing establishment
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A profile of open access academic publishing activist Alexandra Elbakayan and the ongoing conflict between academics and for-profit academic publishing houses.
- Will The Conspiracy Against Trump and American Democracy Go Unpunished?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The American people do not realize the seriousness of the Russiagate conspiracy against them and President Trump. Polls indicate that a large majority of the public do not believe that Trump conspired with Putin to steal the presidential election, and are tired of hearing the media prostitutes repeat the absurd story day after day. On its face the story makes no sense whatsoever.
- Can a minority rule a majority in perpetuity?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A review of "Israel: Democracy or Apartheid State?" by Josh Ruebner. Subjects include the question of one or two states, and whether Israel should be considered democratic or an apartheid state are among numerous topics addressed in the book.
- Foreign Policy for Sale: Greece's Dangerous Alliance with Israel
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
For a brief historical moment, Alexis Tsipras and his political party, Syriza, ignited hope that Greece could resurrect a long-dormant Leftist tide in Europe. A new Greece was being born out of the pangs of pain of economic austerity, imposed by the European Union and its overpowering economic institutions – a troika so ruthless, it cared little while the Greek economy collapsed and millions of people experienced the bitterness of poverty, unemployment and despair.
- In Sweeping War on Obesity,Chile Slays Tony the Tiger
New regulations, which corporate interests delayed for almost a decade,require explicit labeling and limit the marketing of sugary foods to
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The Chilean government, facing skyrocketing rates of obesity, is waging war on unhealthy foods with a phalanx of marketing restrictions, mandatory packaging redesigns and labeling rules aimed at transforming the eating habits of 18 million people.
- A library without books? OSU and other universities purging dusty volumes
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A library without books? Not quite, but as students abandon the stacks in favour of online reference material, university libraries are unloading millions of unread volumes in a nationwide purge that has some print-loving scholars deeply unsettled.
- Resistance is life: Mehmet Aksoy's last letter to his family
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A tribute authored by family and friends to Mehmet Aksoy, a hero of Kurdistan and the internationalist struggles against capitalism, colonialism and fascism.
- Facebook announces latest step in censorship campaign, prioritizing "local news"
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the social media giant will prioritize news from 'local sources' in the News Feed displayed to users. This is the third move this year in a roll-out of updates by Facebook aimed at censoring online information.
- A 14-Year-Old Girl Forced Alone and at Night Into the Gaza Cage. Another Routine Mishap for Israel's Occupation
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
How did a 14-year-old Palestinian girl who has never set foot in the open-air prison of Gaza find herself being dumped there by Israeli officials – alone, at night and without her parents being informed?The terrifying ordeal – a child realising she had not been taken home but discarded in a place where she knew no one – is hard to contemplate for any parent.And yet for Israel's gargantuan bureaucratic structure that has ruled over Palestinians for five decades, this was just another routine error. One mishap among many that day.
- Is political pressure behind YouTube's video labeling?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
YouTube has started labeling videos by government-funded media after their recommendation program was the subject of a Guardian investigation and a letter from the Senate Intelligence Committee's ranking Democrat.
- On our way to the moon? A snapshot of feminist marches which shook the world.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The authors tell the story of the Midsummer's day 1908 'Votes for women' Suffragist rally and the March 1971 Women's Liberation Movement Demonstration in Hyde ParK, London.
- Up Against the Ivy Wall: the Columbia Insurrection at 50
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
"My plan was to major in English and become a professor," she writes in an essay titled "Stopping the Machine" that's collected in A Time to Stir: Columbia '68, a new 438-page book (Columbia, $35) which is edited by filmmaker Paul Cronin. Rosahn explains that at the start of the protests, she was a "leftish Democrat" and that in the course of the rebellion she became "a devoted student radical."
- Academics Who Serve as Israel's Useful Idiots
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
How derisively would we have treated an academic - an expert in human rights, no less - who argued back in the 1980s that those who supported a boycott of apartheid South Africa must have been secretly anti-white or anti-Christian because they did not equally prioritise a boycott of Israel?
- Africa: New evidence of ongoing corporate looting
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A World Bank report indicates a massive depletion of Africa's natural wealth by transnational corporations (TNC). There are two ways to address TNC capture of African wealth: bottom-up through direct action that blocks extraction, or top-down through significant reform.
- Bring on Solutionary Rail!
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at Solutionary Rail, a people-powered campaign to electrify America's railroads and open corridors to clean and renewable energy.
- 'I really want to find it before I die': why are we so fascinated by lost books?
From the Book of Kells to Walter Benjamin, literary history is marked with tantalising absences – which two bibliophiles have made it their
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Essay on the allure of rare and lost books, inspired by Giorgio van Straten's recent work, " In Search of Lost Books".
- Rebel Without a Clue: Autonomy and Authority in the American Public School
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The high school dropout is a revolutionary without having recovered the sense of dignity of failure, in a system of authoritarian control. Blaming the dropout is to blame the victim of institutional abuse of power exercised within youth indoctrination centers carrying the misnomer, school. Is it possible that the problem is mainly systemic and not due to the personal faults of the dropout? Is it possible that the education system itself contributes to young people dropping out of high school? Is it possible that capitalism is the root cause?
- Without a Popular Movement We Don't Stand a Chance: Andreas Malm on Climate Change
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
An interview with the author of "Fossil Capital and The Progress of This Storm", who says there are reasons to be hopeful but significant progress will require a global movement of unprecedented scale.
- Immigration and Cultural Loss
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
While immigration has brought major changes in the physical character of British cities and in the rhythm of social life, it is not alone in driving social changes nor is it even the most important driver of social change.
- Teen On Birthright Trip Hadn't Expected To See So Many Dead Palestinians
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Satire.
- Iranian police arrest 29 women over protests against compulsory hijab
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Iranian police have arrested 29 women in the capital, Tehran, after they protested against a law that makes wearing the hijab compulsory.
- Korea: What the Generals Aren't Telling You
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Hamilton points out that the 24 nuclear power stations in South Korea represent high risk targets in a retaliatory attack from North Korea.
- How the internet 'punishes' Palestinians
Tech giants Google, Airbnb and PayPal accused of shaping false narratives with policies in Palestinian territories.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Multinational tech companies, including Google, Facebook and PayPal are being accused of complicity in rights violations and in shaping false narratives with regard to policies in Palestinian territories.
- Liberal Totalitarianism and the Trump Diversion
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Baraka warns against enthusiastic embrace of the FBI as a "neutral political force populated by people of unreproachable character" in light of their well documented history of politically motivated targetting of civil rights activists.
- "Mr. Boston": Meet the Man Who Secretly Helped Daniel Ellsberg Leak Pentagon Papers to the Press
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Interview with historian Gar Alperovitz. Alperovitz has revealed for the first time the key role he and a handful of other activists played in helping whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg leak to journalists the Pentagon Papers -- a 7,000-page classified history outlining the true extent of the U.S. invasion of Vietnam.
- Champions Of Democracy - From Fake News To Imposed Insanity
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
While social media is largely blamed for the proliferation of 'fake news', it is through social media where the corporate media commentariat are exposed. Readers are now at last able to see some rational dissent, this is the up-side to social media that the 'mainstream' cannot even discuss.
- How to create an ecological society
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A review of the book "Creating an Ecological Society: Towards A Revolutionary Transformation" by Fred Magdoff and Chris Williams, which addresses different aspects of the debate on the politics of the environment.
- The Real Burning Man
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Driving converted delivery trucks, Roadtreks,vintage RVs, "skoolies" and the odd Prius, a few thousand gather in defiance of consumerist society.
- Buy Banned Books
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The article takes a look at 'banned books' in the social media era, where the 'imagination police' dominate and a form of 'fictional aparteid' is taking place, and moreover why we have a duty to buy them.
- Mass Incarceration
New Jim Crow, Class War, or Both?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, Lewis analyzes racial and class disparities in incarceration.
- Thailand: Junta orders pro-democracy leaders charged with inciting rebellion
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The junta has ordered seven of the most prominent pro-democracy activists charged with crimes including sedition after they launched a protest campaign calling for general elections to be held in November.
- Volkswagen faces new twist in emissions scandal as allegations of animal testing emerge
Ten macaque monkeys exposed to diesel emissions to see the impact on their bodies
Resource Type: Unclassified
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
German automaker Volkswagen is facing a new round of criticism after the company was found to have funded tests of its diesel engine emissions on captive monkeys as part of an attempt to brand its vehicles as clean, safe and healthy.
- From Moral Outrage to Moral Panic: the Limits of Public Rage
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
There has been forceful break from the culture of silence that has long protected men from being held accountable for their misdeeds. While rage emerges against male sexual abuse, some progressive feminists have raised concerns that this movement may slip into 'moral panic' and a possible conservative, neo-puritan anti-sex campaign.
- How the 'free' media dupe us on climate change
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Commentary on a segment of Al Jazeera's programme The Listening Post on why climate scepticism persists only in what it terms the "Anglosphere media", that is, those in the United States, UK, Australia and Canada.
- Hue Back When: the Bloodbath in Vietnam Was Us
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at Mark Bowden's book "Hue 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam", which provides a two-sided perspective on a particularly tragic moment in the Vietnam War.
- Claude McKay's Lost Novel
Review of Amiable with Big Teeth; Against the Current vol. 192
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Review of Amiable with Big Teeth, a novel by the African-American revolutionary activist and writer Claude McKay.
- The FBI's Maoist Faction
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The following is based on research by Aaron J. Leonard and Conor A. Gallagher for their book, A Threat of the First Magnitude: FBI Counterintelligence & Infiltration from the Communist Party to the Revolutionary Union - 1962-1974, (London: Repeater Books, 2018).
- Fruits and perils of the 'bloc within': The Comintern and Asia 1919-25 (Part 3)
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The most advanced experience of Communist alliance with national revolutionists occurred in Indonesia (Dutch East Indies) prior to the Baku Congress. However, it was not mentioned at the congress, even though one of its architects – the Dutch Communist Maring (Henk Sneevliet) – was present in the hall. Maring had been a leader for many years of revolutionary socialist Dutch settlers in Indonesia, who had achieved the remarkable feat of transforming their group into one predominantly indigenous in leadership, membership, and programmatic orientation. The key to success had been a close alliance with a mass national-revolutionary organization of the type described by the Second Congress, called Sarekat Islam.
- New Orleans' History of Struggle
Review of Development Drowned and Reborn; Against the Current vol. 192
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A review of Development Drowned and Reborn which is a novel by Clyde Woods.
- On Justice And Vengeance
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
- Should Communists ally with revolutionary nationalism? The Comintern and Asia 1919-25 (Part 2)
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
But how would the proposed alliance of workers' and national uprisings be effected? This strategic issue was addressed in the Comintern’s Second Congress, held in Moscow 9 July-7 August 1920.
- Toward a global strategic framework: The Comintern and Asia 1919-25 (Part 1)
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The revolutionary activists who founded the Communist International (Comintern) in 1919 had little contact with movements for national and colonial liberation outside Russia. Nonetheless, only a year later, in July 1920, the Comintern adopted a far-reaching strategy for national and social revolution in dependent countries, later termed the anti-imperialist united front.
- The Hollow Ethics of Israel's Liberals
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Although sympathetic to the plight of African immigrants, when it comes to the Palestinians most liberal Israelis sound little different from Netanyahu's supporters, both concerned with maintaining Israel as a fortress Jewish state.
- Struggle for equal rights for Palestinians is 'right choice,' and will lead to 'significant exodus of Jews' - Henry Siegman
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Everyone should read Henry Siegman's long piece in the National Interest on the "Implications of President Trump's Jerusalem Ploy." Siegman is a great leader because he has bucked the American and Jewish establishment, of which he is a member, to declare that the two-state solution is dead and buried. He is also a prophet inasmuch as he is counseling American Jewry to give up its attachment to Zionism as a dead letter, no different from a Christian state here, and so prepare itself for a future in which Israel is isolated as a pariah state and there is a "significant exodus of Israel’s Jews." His words are astounding because Siegman, a Holocaust survivor now in his late 80s, was himself a Zionist, and head of the World Jewish Congress. His bravery in renouncing the animating political faiths of his life-- it's inspiring.
- The Great British Empire Debate
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Malik discusses the complex issues of British colonialism, its many painful legacies and how it should be dealt with in such fields as academia and politics.
- Let Me Be Frank: Francesco Serpico, A Genuine Actor
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
When you see injustice and corruption, when you open your eyes and see lying and deceit everywhere, you must be your own hero; you must be courageous and act.
- Privatizing the IRS
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The headline in the New York Times on January 10, 2018, a few short days before Congress decided it was easier to shut down the government than to legislate, announced that the I.R.S. "paid $20 million to collect $6.7 million in Tax Debts." At first blush the reader assumed this was a story that had somehow crept into the newspaper by mistake and escaped the attention of the articles editor. The reader who thought that could be forgiven for being surprised at seeing the story. That is because that story had appeared in the New York Times and other publications on two earlier occasions.
- Raising Consciousness About The Color of Law
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at "The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America" by auther Richard Rothstein, and how racial segregation is the underlying cause of much of the country's social and economic problems.
- Sex, Scandals and Power
#MeToo Mania and the Democrats' "Resistance"
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A wide range of behavior -- including flirtation and innuendo, a vulgar text or a crude joke, not to mention unpleasant sex -- is being lumped together with real crimes of coercion and assault. Those called out for sexual impropriety, no matter how trivial, how unproven or how long ago, run the media gantlet, are declared guilty and their careers ruined.
- Trump & the Fed: US Shadow Bankers About to Deepen Control of US Economy
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
What's sometime referred to as 'shadow bankers' have been running the economy and drafting US domestic economic policy since Trump took office. 'Shadow' banks include such financial institutions as investment banks, private equity firms, hedge funds, insurance companies, finance companies, asset management companies, etc. They are outside the traditional commercial banking system (e.g. Chase, Bank of America, Wells, etc.) and virtually unregulated. Shadow banks globally now also control more investible liquid assets than do the world's commercial banks.
- Intersectionality is a Hole. Afro-Pessimism is a Shovel. We Need to Stop Digging, Part 1 of 2
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Dixon argues that intersectionality - or, rather, its interpretation by the so-called "US left" - decenters class struggle in its effort to equalize oppressions.
- Jackson Rising: At Last, a Real Strategic Plan
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Moser reviews Jackson Rising: The Struggle for Economic Democracy and Black Self-Determination in Jackson, Mississippi.
- A Lavish Bollywood Musical Is Fueling A Culture War In India
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Review of the controversial 2018 Bollywood film "Padmaavat". Qureshi summarises the politically charged campaign of misinformation and resulting sectarian violence that has dogged its release.
- "Show Me Your Papers!" Roundups, Checkpoints and National ID Card
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
With the government empowered to carry out transportation checks to question people about their immigration status within a 100-mile border zone that wraps around the country, you're going to see a rise in these "show your papers" incidents. That's a problem.
- What happened to Brown is fundamentally wrong. Every man in the world is now vulnerable
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
For all the other moments #MeToo has wrought, the Patrick Brown story is seminal: A political leader is cut down like a sapling in the forest in a matter of hours, and none of his colleagues, in and outside of the Ontario Conservative party, and including the Ontario premier and the prime minister of Canada, have one word to say in the defence of fair play or the presumption of innocence.
- The Algiers Accords: Decades of Violations and Silence
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
This week marks the 37th anniversary of a pledge made by the United States in 1981:
The United States pledges that it is and from now on will be the policy of the United States not to intervene, directly or indirectly, politically or militarily, in Iran’s internal affairs.
This week also marks 37 continuous years of the United States failing to uphold its pledge: the 1981 Algiers Accords.
- If you're going to blame a cyberattack on North Korea, you'd better show your work
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Transit operator Metrolinx says it was hit by North Korean hackers. Experts want evidence
- An Inside Look At The Accounts Twitter Has Censored In Countries Around The World
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
BuzzFeed News has identified more than 1,700 Twitter accounts that have been blocked in at least one country. The list provides an unprecedented glimpse into Twitter's collaboration with national groups and governments -- democratic and authoritarian alike -- and provides new details about a surge in blocked accounts in Germany, France, and Turkey.
- Iran: Compulsory veiling is abusive, discriminatory and humiliating; end the persecution of women for peacefully protesting against it
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Amnesty International criticizes Iran's compulsory veiling laws, arguing that they are not only harmful to women, but fundamentally unconstitutional.
- Me Too's Misguided Pursuit of Equality: Drop the Spirit of Vengeance and Defend Dignity Instead
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
With Me Too’s focus where it is, on man’s injury to woman, the capitalist for-profit system can wash its hands. Eyes glued to salacious details are off the oppressive economic order that has over time erased our cultures, communities and is set to destroy all life on the planet.
- Peterson unmasks stitch-up of TV interviews
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Jonathan Cook on Jordan Peterson’s recent interview with Channel 4’s Cathy Newman.
- The Trials of Africa and the Real Dr. King They Want Us to Forget
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at some of Martin Luther King Jr.'s views beyond those emphasized by the mainstream media, where he pushed beyond 'liberal' America and his strong anti-war and global solidarity values were unapologetically linked to the fight against racism and poverty.
- Ursula K. Le Guin - Rest in Power
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Obituary celebrating Le Guin's contributions as a community activist, a fighter for feminism, peace, freedom of speech, access to knowledge for everyone, and radical democracy in addition to her literary acclaim.
- Call-Out Culture Is a Toxic Garbage Dumpster Fire of Trash
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the "Call-out" culture where individuals who express opinions are quickly reprimanded online with derogatory labels; a mass media social comdemnation often without any sort of due process, which ultimately spreads a fear to engage in controversy or voice opinions that are even slightly outside the tide of contemporary thinking.
- For an international coalition to fight Internet censorship
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In this open letter from the International Editorial Board of the World Socialist Web Site, the threat and consequences of internet censorship and reduction in access to information is highlighted.
- The War Against "Fake News" is a War on Us
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Barely a day passes without a new development in the war on social media -- that is, the war on us. Today, it is a report that Twitter has emailed hundreds of thousands of its users, warning them that they shared "Russian propaganda".
- Behind the Money Curtain: A Left Take on Taxes, Spending and Modern Monetary Theory
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Taxes do not fund government spending.That's a core insight of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) whose radical implications have not been understood very well by the left. Indeed, it's not well understood at all, and most people who have heard or read it somewhere breeze right past it, and fall back to the taxes-for-spending paradigm that is the sticky common wisdom of the left and right.
- It's Time to Call Economic Sanctions What They Are: War Crimes
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Cockburn argues that economic sanctions impose collective punishment on the general population rather than targetting the people in power.
- Other Voices: The Connexions Newsletter - January 21, 2018
What are we eating?
Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
What are we eating? A simple question which opens up a labyrinth of devilishly complex issues about production and distribution, access to land, control of water, prices, health and safety, migrant labour, and much else.
For millions of people, the answer is brutally simple: not enough to survive. UNICEF estimates that 300 million children go to bed hungry each night, and that more than 8,000 children under the age of five die of malnutrition every day. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that 12% of the world's population is chronically malnourished.
How is this possible in a world where there is an enormous surplus of food, where farmers are paid not to grow food?
A short answer is that food production and distribution are driven by the need to make profits, rather than by human needs.
- What are we eating?
Introduction to Other Voices, January 21, 2018
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
What are we eating? A simple question which opens up a labyrinth of devilishly complex issues about production and distribution, access to land, control of water, prices, health and safety, migrant labour, and much else.
For millions of people, the answer is brutally simple: not enough to survive. UNICEF estimates that 300 million children go to bed hungry each night, and that more than 8,000 children under the age of five die of malnutrition every day. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that 12% of the world's population is chronically malnourished.
How is this possible in a world where there is an enormous surplus of food, where farmers are paid not to grow food?
- Apple and the Guardian: Partners in a Death Spiral
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
This report on Apple CEO Tim Cook's visit to a UK school to promote the company's new coding curriculum for schoolchildren could hardly be a better illustration of the way the Guardian newspaper serves as a key propagandist for aggressive global corporate capitalism, helping to create for it a façade of humanitarianism.
- The data war behind net neutrality
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The fight for the enormous volume of information the public generates with every search and click is the most precious commodity for big data companies, and the winner stands the most to gain with the end of Net Neutrality.
- King St. middle-finger approach seems like an odd way to deal with lost business
For people who say business is down because of streetcar traffic, the owners have chosen a really bizarre way to try to welcome riders in
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Toronto business owners protest Theatre District anti-congestion measures with a sculpture of a middle finger (obscene gesture).
- A Liberal Pillar Of The Establishment - 'New Look' Guardian, Old-Style Orthodoxy
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Respected liberal media like the New York Times and Guardian are key battlegrounds in the relentless elite efforts to control public opinion.
- Tax Havens and the Other Paris Agreement
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Paradise & Panama papers, Canada & red herrings, and the international agreement on tax havens with "enough loopholes to drive a fleet of Ferraris through"
- A Threat of the First Magnitude: FBI Counterintelligence & Infiltration from the Communist Party to the Revolutionary Union - 1962-1974
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A Threat of the First Magnitude reveals the untold story of the FBI informants who penetrated the upper reaches of organizations such as the Communist Party, USA, the Black Panther Party, the Revolutionary Union and other groups labeled threats to the internal security of the United States.
- Yanis Varoufakis's Self-Incriminating Account of the Greek Crisis - Parts 3 and 4
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Yanis Varoufakis traces his collaboration with Alexis Tsípras and his alter ego, Nikos Pappas, back to 2011. That collaboration gradually broadened, starting with 2013, to include Yanis Dragasakis (who became vice-Prime Minister in 2015). There is a constant in the relations between Varoufakis and Tsípras: Yanis Varoufakis constantly argues for changes in the political programme that Syriza had adopted. Varoufakis tells us that Tsípras-Pappas-Dragasakis themselves clearly wanted to move toward an orientation that was different from, and significantly more moderate than, the one their party had adopted.
- The Atomized and Siloed U.S. Left
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
We're increasingly siloed as organizers and protesters. The environment literally decays as we watch, and the Trump administration is hard at work dismantling what environmental regulations there are.
- Bitcoin's energy usage is huge - we can't afford to ignore it
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the use of cryptocurrency, its astonishingly high use of electrical power and why there is a need to take it seriously as a climate threat.
- The Business of Bullshit
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Bullshit business is about the meaningless language conjured up in schools, in banks, in consultancy firms, in politics, in the media and, of course, in thousands of business schools releasing MBA-certificated managers who are then spreading the meaningless managerial buzz-word language of bullshit business around the world. Bullshit business can indeed take over organizations crowding out their core purpose – profit-maximization.
- The Collaboration Trap
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Most of environmental/conservation groups in the West are participants in various public land collaboratives.Most participating collaborative members are made up of people who generally believe in exploiting natural landscapes for human benefit. As a generalization, there is overwhelming representation in such collaboratives by people who speak for the resource extraction industry or their sympathizers like rural county commissioners, ORV enthusiasts, and so forth.
- Force of Evil: Abraham Polonsky and Anti-Capitalist Noir
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Policy lies at the heart of Abraham Polonsky’s Force of Evil, arguably the most anti-capitalist film ever to emerge from Hollywood. Released 70 years ago to puzzled critics and an indifferent public, over time it would achieve cult status among devotees of film noir while offering a tantalizing glimpse of what might have been accomplished by Polonsky and other members of the Hollywood Left had the blacklist not intervened.
- How Big Pharma Infiltrated the Boston Museum of Science
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Mental illness is a highly stigmatized, life-long condition, that millions do not even realize they have and only a pharmaceutical drug can fix says Pharma and its operatives.
- Uber Used Clandestine Technology Tool To Thwart Police Raids
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Uber uses a number of technological tools for tax evasion, undermining competition and monitoring customers and drivers.
- GI Coffeehouses Recalled: a Compliment From General Westmoreland
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The New York Times has published an op-ed piece by historian David Parsons about the coffeehouses started near US bases during the War in Vietnam.
- Toronto does not need to hire more police officers
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
As you contemplate the push by the Toronto Police Association to have more police officers hired, remember that the issue is not the need for more officers, but featherbedding.
- Why "Coercive Diplomacy" is a Dangerous Farce
Offering to talk while threatening military force hasn't worked in 30 years.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In the context of rising tensions between the USA and North Korea 2017-2018, historian and journalist Gareth Porter, details the history of failure of "Coercive Diplomacy" as a tool in US foreign policy.
- The Forgotten Socialist History of Martin Luther King Jr.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
King believed that a multiracial working-class movement was required to overcome the failings of capitalism.
- Justice for Hassan Diab and the Unbearable Banality of Evil
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Deutsch examines the case of Dr. Hassan Diab - a sociology professor and Canadian citizen who was accused of bombing the Rue Copernic Synagogue - and uses it to critique international and domestic justice systems.
- Monbiot Is a Hypocrite and a Bully
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
It is time for George Monbiot’s legion of supporters to call him out. Not only is he a hypocrite, but he is becoming an increasingly dangerous one. Turning a blind eye to his behaviour, or worse excusing it, as too often happens, has only encouraged him to intensify his attacks on dissident writers, those who – whether right or wrong on any specific issue – are slowly helping us all to develop more critical perspectives on western foreign policy goals than has ever been possible before.
- Outspoken professor stokes free-speech debate at East Coast university
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
An associate professor at Acadia University is facing a growing backlash over incendiary social media comments, stoking a national debate about free speech on campus amid calls for his ouster from the Wolfville, N.S., school.
- The suffering of surrogacy: A veteran feminist spells it out
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In Surrogacy: A Human Rights Violation Dr Renate Klein takes on the surrogacy industry with plenty of sass and hard evidence. A dogged feminist academic and publisher for over thirty years, her critique of neoliberal capitalism is always underpinned by an authentic concern for women’s wellbeing and a focus on patriarchal structures. She never fails to point out the power differentials. She completely rejects surrogacy in all its forms.
- Typewriters Still Smoking? An Interview with Underground Press Maven John McMillan
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
An Interview with Underground Press Maven John McMillan, who is an associate professor of history at Georgia State University in Atlanta, with degrees from Michigan State and Columbia, and the author of the best book about the underground press. Smoking Typewriters: The Sixties Underground Press and the Rise of Alternative Media in America (Oxford University Press)
- Gentrification and Class Struggles in Barcelona, Spain: Interview with Etcétera Collective
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In an interview with the Barcelona-based collective Etcetera, the processes of urban development in one of the fastest gentrifying cities in Spain and their implications for potential movements and struggles are examined.
- Am I a bad feminist?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
My fundamental position is that women are human beings, with the full range of saintly and demonic behaviours this entails, including criminal ones. They're not angels, incapable of wrongdoing. Nor do I believe that women are children, incapable of agency or of making moral decisions.
- The Guardian, White Helmets, and Silenced Comment
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The Guardian recently published an article claiming that critical discussion of the White Helmets in Syria has been 'propagated online by a network of anti-imperialist activists, conspiracy theorists and trolls with the support of the Russian government'. Many readers were dismayed at this crude defence of a – presumably – pro-imperialist perspective, and at the unwarranted smearing of reasoned questioning based on evidence from independent journalists.
- This Is Why Carrots Cost More Than Twinkies
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
An examination of the role of Government-subsidized crop insurance, farm loans, tax credits, agricultural research and education, as well as environmental and public-health exemptions for farming, on the cost of food production and how that transfers to the consumer.
- World War I: Crime and Punishment
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Jacques Pauwels' The Great Class War is a contribution to the ideological front in the struggle for a world without wars, for in resetting the story of that war in the Marxist frame, he loosens our ties to idealist interpretations that obscure the class nature of wars, naturalize war as an inevitable part of life, and force us to assume and share a guilt that largely rests on the shoulders of a profiteering and exploitative class, which holds the power of decision making through its control of political, economic, military, police, and media powers and grants us a vote that is largely cosmetic.
- Barbed-Wire Imperialism: Britain's Empire of Camps, 1876-1903, by Aidan Forth - Review
Internment in the colonies served a darker purpose beyond aid efforts
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A book review of Aidan Forth's "Barbed-Wire Imperialism: Britain's Empire of Camps, 1876-1903", which provides new insights and ulterior motives behind Britain's aid efforts in southern Africa.
- Ahed Tamimi Offers Israelis a Lesson Worthy of Gandhi
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Sixteen-year-old Ahed Tamimi may not be what Israelis had in mind when, over many years, they criticised Palestinians for not producing a Mahatma Gandhi or Nelson Mandela.
Eventually, colonised peoples bring to the fore a figure best suited to challenge the rotten values at the core of the society oppressing them. Ahed is well qualified for the task.
- What Happened to H E Harris
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Those of us who started in philately over thirty years ago remember H E Harris. Harris was the largest stamp dealer in the mid twentieth century, growing rapidly during the Great Depression with the Captain Tim radio show. Harris was a leading promoter of philately with album publishing and approvals so that by 1975 Harris had tens of thousands of customers.
- Comrade Bernard
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A review of Bernard Goldstein's "Twenty Years with the Jewish Labor Bund: A Memoir of Interwar Poland", a firsthand account of the struggles of the Jewish working class in Poland between the two World Wars.
- Eric Hobsbawm’s histories
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Eric Hobsbawm was the author of, among many other works, a classic quartet on modern world history, The Age of Revolution, The Age of Capital, The Age of Empire and Age of Extremes. Hobsbawm was widely respected as one of the greatest historians of the left and one of the greatest historians of the 20th century more generally.
- Fishers under siege
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A review of Penny McCall Howard, Environment, Labour and Capitalism at Sea: "Working the Ground" in Scotland.
- The language of the unheard
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A book review of "A People's History of Riots, Protest and the Law: The Sound of the Crowd" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017) by author Matt Clement.
- Lenin and the Tsarist Duma
A review of August H Nimtz, Lenin’s Electoral Strategy from Marx and Engels through the Revolution of 1905: The Ballot, the Streets—or Both
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Donnelly reviews Nimtz's two volume account of Lenin's pre-revolution electoral strategy and summarises the thesis that Lenin's critique of reformism in parliamentary democracy was rooted in the conclusions of Marx and Engels.
- Marxism, class and revolution in Africa: the legacy of the 1917 Russian Revolution
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
This article assesses the influence of 1917 on African liberation movements and explains how it influenced struggles against and beyond colonialism.
- The PCP in the Portuguese Revolution 1974-5: crisis, state and revolution
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
How did the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP), loyal to the Soviet Union deep into the second half of the 20th century, react to a social revolution in 1974-5? The moments are rare when we can study workers' revolutions in a European country where the Communist Party had a decisive influence. I argue here that the revolution happened despite the party, not because of it. The USSR wanted above all to maintain the equilibrium of the Cold War, and Portugal was, in the division made at Yalta and Potsdam in 1945, in the NATO sphere. The PCP was faithful to that policy.
- The radical Robert Burns
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
For many people the only association they have with the work of Robert Burns is singing Auld Lang Syne at New Year celebrations or at annual Burns Supper events. The real Burns, the radical, revolutionary Burns, is rarely even hinted at in these events. Instead what we have is a sentimentalised, romanticised portrayal of Burns as what Henry Mackenzie called "that heav'n taught ploughman". MacKenzie was a lawyer, novelist and editor of The Lounger magazine in which he reviewed Burns's work. Burns admired some of Mackenzie's work; indeed one of his favourite novels was his Man of Feeling (1771). Mackenzie, however, was scornful of Burns's use of vernacular Scots "which greatly damps the pleasure of the reader".
- The Button, the Wall and the Myth of Nations
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
North Korean sanctions, the border wall with Mexico, and the "toxic" role of nationalism with regards to international relations and domestically in the US are discussed.
- GMOs, Global Agribusiness and the Destruction of Choice
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
One of the myths perpetuated by the pro-GMO (genetically modified organisms) lobby is that critics of GMOs in agriculture are denying choice to farmers and have an ideological agenda. The narrative is that farmers should have access to a range of tools and technologies, including GM crops. But GM agriculture is not 'feeding the world', nor has it been designed to do so. The choice for farmers between a technology based on broken promises and conventional non-GMO agriculture is no choice at all.
- Causes behind Iran's protests: A preliminary account
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The causes of the uprising that has been rocking the Islamic Republic of Iran for a week now are unsurprisingly both structural and contingent.
- US J20 defendants: 'Waiting is part of the punishment'
The first six people have been acquitted, but the 188 remaining Inauguration Day defendants have yet to go to trial.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Alleged anti-fascist protestors, controversially arrested at the 2017 US presidential inauguration, await trial and or sentencing in 2018.
- All You Fascists Bound to Lose
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at Shane Burley's new book "Fascism Today: What It is and How to End It", which examines the current fascist movement and the opposition to it in the United States.
- Corporate Coercion and the Drive to Eliminate Buying with Cash
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Consumer freedom and privacy are examined as coercive commercialism quickly moves toward a cashless economy, when all consumers are forced into corporate payment systems from credit/debit cards, mobile phones and perhaps even through facial recognition technology.
- How the System Got Trumped: Cambridge Analytica's Electoral Psyops Campaign
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Available from Cinema Libre Studios, "Trumping Democracy" provides the key to understanding how we have ended up with the most unpopular president in history.
- Mining History Written in Blood
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Domestic coal mining history above and below ground lives on the pages of Written in Blood: Courage and Corruption in the Appalachian War of Extraction edited by Wess Harris (PM Press, 2017). The anthology unpacks the industry, people and communities of a coal-rich region, amplifying relevant class and gender issues over a century.
- The Truth About "Trailer Trash"
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
"Trailer trash" remains one of the last unquestioned relics of political incorrectness in our nation. As a toxic slur, the "trailer trash" brand works to stigmatize an entire category of people marginalizing them from mainstream society.
- Current Developments in Iran
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
An update on the new wave of demonstrations that started December 28, 2017 in Mashhad, the second-largest city in Iran, and why dissent is different from that of 2009.
- Sci-fi author Judith Merril and the very real story of Toronto's Spaced Out Library
A prolific author and pioneer Merril's donation of 5,000 items started the Toronto Public Library's massive speculative fiction collection.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The story of Judith Merril's work promoting and developing Science-fiction writing in Canada, and the founding of the Rochdale Library, which later became the Spaced Out Library.
- Trump threat to cut Palestine aid could 'unravel Oslo'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
US President Donald Trump's threat to withdraw aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) would deprive Washington of its influence on the body, and could cause the Oslo accords to unravel, analysts say.
- Does the Bitcoin frenzy make any sense at all?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The author explains how the strange story of a "crypto-currency" reveals the underlying irrationality of a system that is designed to work for the rich only.
- Life without Limits: The Delusions of Technological Fundamentalism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In a routinely delusional world, what is the most dangerous delusion? This delusion is not limited to one country, one group, or one political party, but rather is the unstated assumption of everyday life in the high-energy/high-technology industrial world. This is the delusion that we are -- to borrow from the title of a particularly delusional recent book -- the god species.
- Report From Southeast Asia
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A general commentary on work and economic conditions in parts of Southeast Asia, and possible comparisons with the ferment in Eastern Europe prior to 1917.
- South Sudan archivists fear loss of historical texts
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
South Sudan doesn't have a museum, so thousands of archival documents are sitting in a small building in the capital, Juba, waiting for a national archives to be built. The project will also need the help of international donors to get off the ground, and the ongoing conflict has made it difficult to secure funding.
- Fallen Pan, Furious Women, and the Failure of Soulless Feminism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The excited triumphal coverage of the Me Too Movement conveys the fatal devaluing of imagination - and the banning of thoughtful discourse as well as passionate enthusiasm - that defines and shackles the liberal mind during this excruciating Trumpian moment we’re sharing.
- Pakistan: Teachers and Farmers Protests Brutally Crushed in Sindh
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
On December 25, 2017, primary, secondary and high school teachers in Karachi held a defiant protest against the Sindh government due to its refusal to provide them with permanent jobs despite having agreed to do so in 2014. The provincial government is refusing to honor its agreement even after forcing teachers to pass a rigorous examination conducted by the National Testing Service and the University of Sindh.
- Seven Forbidden Words: On the Uses of Censorship
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In December 2017, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) moved to take ideological control of the agency's budget-writing process. A Trump appointed official presented a directive to the agency's departments listing seven words that were not to be used in budget preparation.
- Thousands march in Ukraine to mark Nazi collaborator Bandera's birthday
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Some 6,500 people across Ukraine took part in marches on the first day of the year to mark the birthday of Stepan Bandera, a Ukrainian nationalist leader considered a hero in the country despite his violent past and history of collaboration with the Nazis.
- After 10 years, Hassan Diab is finally free
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Hassan Diab is freed by French authorities after what was deemed a bungled case and rush to judgment, one which zeroed in on Diab with unjust finger-pointing from B'nai Brith.
- Archive That, Comrade!
Left Legacies and the Counter Culture of Remembrance
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Archive That, Comrade! explores issues of archival theory and practice that arise for any project aspiring to provide an open-access platform for political dialogue and democratic debate.
- As the World Burns
Combustion Engines; There Will Always Be Fires
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A two essay report that examines the causes and costs of large wildfires. The first essay titled "Combustion Engines" takes a look at a 'mega-fire' that raged across Montana in 2017, placing blame on global warmimg, mismanagement by authorities, and the building of houses in high rish areas. The second essay, "There Will Always Be Fires", describes the conditions that led to huge blazes in Portugal which are largely attributed to the introduction of of the highly flammable eucalyptus.
- Before the Deluge
How Washington sealed Puerto Rico's fate
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the problems facing Puerto Rico prior to Hurricane Maria, which was already a plundered and mis-managed society with crumbling infrastructure long before the hurricane struck.
- Black Nationalism, Black Solidarity
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Malik explains examines Black Nationalism and its relationship to a Marxist analysis of nationalism of oppressed peoples.
- The Bodies in The Forest
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
An excerpt from Gessen's book "Never Remember: Searching for Stalin's Gulags in Putin's Russia", published by Columbia Global Reports. The book examines Stalin's extensive network of labour camps that held and killed millions of prisoners in 1930s to the 1950s.
- Bypassing Dystopia
Hope-Filled Challenges to Corporate Rule
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Joyce Nelson explores global examples of active and creative resistance to the iron grip of corporatism on our economies and imaginations.
- Can the Working Class Change the World?
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at how the working class and its allies can oppose capitalism to bring radical change.
- Capitalism: A Crime Story
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Harry Glasbeek explains how liberal law strives to reconcile capitalism with liberalism, while giving corporate capitalism privileged treatment under the law.
- Catalunya: 'Only the People Save the People'
Against the Current vol. 192
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
- Celebrating Miriam Garfinkle
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Miriam Garfinkle is my hero.
- Clarion Alley Confronts a Lack of Concern
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Clarion Alley's thought-provoking, provocative, clever and often political art was created by those determined to leave a record of their existence and experience and to give voice to marginalized and disenfranchised communities.
- Climate Justice: Hope, Resilience, and the Fight for a Sustainable Future
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Stories of the impact of and resistance to climate change from grassroots activists around the world.
- Cold as Ice
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
An excerpt from a letter written in 1897 to the editor of the British newspaper the 'Daily Chronicle'. The letter is included in "The Annotated Prison Writings of Oscar Wilde", published by Harvard University Press. The letter is an appeal and commentary on the harsh and cruel treatment of children being held in English prisons.
- Combat Obscura
Resource Type: Film/Video
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Footage of combat in Afghanistan from the Marine Corps' official videographer.
- Cursed Fields
What the tundra has in store for Russia's reindeer herders
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Noah Sneider visits the Yamal Peninsula in Russia where an outbreak of anthrax is killing herds of reindeer and engdangering the lives of the local people. Rising temperatures and a particularly hot summer have led scientists to conclude that climate change is the most credible explanation for its deadly return.
- The Death of a Once Great City
The fall of New York and the urban crisis of affluence
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Kevin Baker takes a close look at the changes to his home city of New York over the past forty years. He notes that while some of the more undesirable aspects of New York in the 1970's have improved, such as crime, dirt, garbage- the new and more gentrified city masks significant problems, the most notable being a growing housing crisis.
- Drinking Poblems
A Kansas town confronts a tap-water crisis
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the health crisis in Pretty Prairie, Kansas, where Nitrate from farms has polluted the water supply for three decades. Elizabeth Royte takes a look at the town's history and social climate in order to understand why the problem was left for so long.
- Empty Suits
Defamation law and the price of dissent
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at lawsuits filed by companies that are intended to censor, intimidate, and silence dissenters by burdening them with the cost of a legal defense- known as SLAPP or strategic lawsuits against public participation.
- The End of Eden
Climate change comes to the end of civilization
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the devastating environmental outlook in Iraq, where climate change has led to rising temperatures and a dramatic drop in precipitation. Further exacerbating the environmental problems are decades of mismanagement, war, and regional politics.
- Estar Baur (1920-2017)
Against the Current vol. 192
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
With the passing of Estar Baur, Dianne Feeley discusses Baur's life as a lifelong socialist activist.
- A Flag for Trump's America
The power of strength
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the Blue Lives Matter slogan and flag, which became a symbol for the U.S. police counter-movement advocating that those who are prosecuted and convicted of killing law enforcement officers should be sentenced under hate crime statutes. It was started in response to Black Lives Matter.
- Florida Students Confront Spencer
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Aliya recounts her experience protesting the Richard Spencer event at the University of Florida.
- Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The Gaza Strip is among the most densely populated places in the world. More than two-thirds of its inhabitants are refugees, and more than half are under eighteen years of age. Since 2004, Israel has launched eight devastating “operations” against Gaza’s largely defenseless population. Thousands have perished, and tens of thousands have been left homeless. In the meantime, Israel has subjected Gaza to a merciless illegal blockade.
What has befallen Gaza is a man-made humanitarian disaster.
Based on scores of human rights reports, Norman G. Finkelstein's new book presents a meticulously researched inquest into Gaza’s martyrdom. He shows that although Israel has justified its assaults in the name of self-defense, in fact these actions constituted flagrant violations of international law.
- Harvey's Toxic Aftermath in Houston
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Wingard exposes the enviromental devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey. The hurricane caused chemical spills and explosions which Wingard says forecast a pending enviromental crisis.
- A History of International Women's Day in words and images
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
An online history of International Women's Day, which includes visual materials and numerous photographs from each decade.
- How the UAW Can Make It Right
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Aswar discusses how the UAW lost the vote at the Nissan plant in Mississippi and proposes that Organized laboUr adapt Opertaion Dixie to move forward.
- How to Start a Nuclear War
The increasingly direct road to ruin
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A chilling look at the security measures and processes behind the U.S. nuclear weapons system. The article examines how safeguards and procedures have evolved, including more recent efforts to curb the President's absolute authority to push the button.
- If These Walls Could Talk
The strange history of our futile border fortifications
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
From ancient times to the present day, the article takes a look at the reasoning behind physical barriers that society's construct to divide nations, and the historical fact that they usually fail.
- Illiberal Values
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Walter Kirn reflects on the Liberalism of his youth and how the principles that attracted him in the 1970's have changed, and are particularly eroded in the era of Trump.
- Indigenous Sovereignty & Socialism
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
- International Women's Day
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The annual day for recognition of and struggle for women's economic, social and political rights.
- Israel: Democracy or Apartheid State?
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Josh Ruebner draws on personal anecdotes and reflections, historical documents, and legal analyses to answer one of the most pressing issues in international affairs today: is Israel a democracy or does its separate and unequal treatment of the Palestinian people render it an apartheid state?
- Killing Gaza
A documentary film about life under siege
Resource Type: Film/Video
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Independent journalists Max Blumenthal and Dan Cohen documented Israel’s 2014 assault on Gaza during the war, and chronicled its horrific aftermath. As they waded through the rubble of Gaza’s destroyed border regions, they turned a camera onto the survivors of the slaughter and let them speak for themselves. Dan returned, week after week, to capture on film the daily struggles of the people of Gaza as they suffered through one of the worst winters in recorded history, and then weathered the sweltering summer heat without electricity and -- in many cases -- without homes. While giving voice to the pain of a people under siege, Cohen and Blumenthal also highlighted Gazans’ inspiring acts of creative resistance, from painting to break-dancing to literature, that allow them maintain their humanity in the face of deprivation and war. Yet this film is much more than a documentary about Palestinian resilience and suffering. It is a chilling visual document of war crimes committed by the Israeli military, featuring direct testimony and evidence from the survivors.
- The Kurdish Crisis in Iraq and Syria
Against the Current vol. 192
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In discussion of right of self-determination for the between 28 and 35 million Kurdish people in Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran, the author considers the current polticial landscape.
- Language for Resisting Oppression
Review of Revolutionary Keywords for a New Left
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Review of the Revolutionary Keywords for a New Left by Ian Parker.
- Leon Rosselson on Gaza
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In Gaza the slaughter was premeditated and calculated. The snipers were primed to kill. They had their orders. They used the protesters, men women, children, for target practice. According to the latest reports, 109 Palestinians?—?including children, one an 8 month old baby -- have been killed and over 6,000 wounded, including nearly 1000 children. The wounds were particularly debilitating because Israeli soldiers used dumdum bullets which expand when they enter the body. The bullets used are causing injuries local medics say they have not seen since 2014. The entrance wound is small.The exit wound is devastating, causing gross comminution of bone and destruction of soft tissue.
- Lessons from James Baldwin
Review of James Baldwin: The FBI File; Against the Current vol. 192
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A review of James Baldwin: The FBI File, a novel edited by William J. Maxwell which sets out an interpretive frame,through which readers may study his excerpts his file from the FBI.
- Looking for Calley
How a young journalist untangled the riddle of My Lai
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Seymour M. Hersh looks back at the 1969 My Lai Massacre where hundreds of unarmed civilians were massacred by U.S. Army soldiers. As a young freelance journalist in Vietnam Hersh gained recognition for exposing the atrocity and its cover-up, and ultimately helped turn public opinion against the war.
- Man of the Trees: Richard St. Barbe Baker, the First Global Conservationist
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A biography of Richard St. Barbe Baker
- A Marxist History of Capitalism
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A short history of capitalism by a history professor at University of Manitoba
- The #MeToo Revolution Edtorial
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The editors ask whether the #MeToo Movement will be different than other moments in which sexual abuse was revealed, and propose that organized labour can play a role in ensuring harassment-free work enviroments.
- Midian Farm
Resource Type: Film
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
From 1971 - 1977, Midian Farm was a back-to-the-land social experiment created by a community of urban baby boomers from Toronto. Part of the youth counterculture movement during a period of social and political re-imagining, its utopian vision eventually collapsed. More than four decades later, filmmaker Liz Marshall unearths a transformative piece of family and Canadian history.
- The Minds of Others
The art of persuasion in the age of Trump
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In a divided America, seven writers explore the ways that persuasion operates in our lives- from the intimate to the far-reaching, and ultimately how we can pursuade others to see things the way we do.
- Miriam Garfinkle
Memories, Stories, Photos, Articles, Statements, Interviews, Letters, Actions, Activism, News
Resource Type: Website
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
This page is dedicated to the memory of Miriam Garfinkle (1954 - 2018). It provides links to Miriam’s articles and interviews, letters; accounts of her activism and organizing; stories from some of the occasions when Miriam’s activities landed her in the news; photo albums; and tributes to Miriam. There is a separate page, Moments with Miriam, on which more 100 people share stories of Miriam.
- Mobbed Up
How America boosts the Afghan opium trade
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Touted by the US as fueling terrosism, the author takes a closer look at the opium trade in Afghanistan and reveals a situation far more complex; notably drug lords manipulating US commanders and Western involvement ironically creating explosive opium growth.
- Moments with Miriam
Resource Type: Website
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
This page was created to enable Miriam Garfinkle’s friends, family, and the people whose lives she touched, to share their stories, memories, and photos.
- The Moral Economy of the Iranian Protests
Beset by inequality and corruption, Iran's provincial working classes are revolting against the revolution's broken promises
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the root causes of the widespread protests that have been taking place, primarily in provincial towns, throughout Iran. Persistent unemployment and inflation, overdue wages and pensions, environmental degradation, and ponzi schemes are a far cry from the social justice vision that animated and united the revolutionary forces of 1979.
- No Exit
The ongoing abuses of Australia's refugee policy
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A first person account of the refugee crisis in Australian detention centres. At great expense the Australian government holds detainees offshore in crowded camps, many of whom are stranded and living under deplorable conditions.
- NPR Runs IDF Playbook, Spinning Killing of 17 Palestinians
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The article looks at the NPR reporting on the killing of 17 palestinians, which follows a pro-Israel bias that dates back for years.
- Obstruction of Justice
Why the criminal justice system is ill-equipped to prosecute rape charges
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Author Charlotte Shane examines why the U.S. justice sytem is incapable of effectively adjudicating rape, moreover the profound psychological and societal issues inborn in our culture that produces rapists. Shane takes a look at the film "I Am Evidence", directed by Trish Adlesic and Geeta Gandbhir, as a starting point for discussion.
- The October Revolution: Its Necessity & Meaning
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
On the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, Mandal examines the necessity and meaning of the October Revolution.
- The Omega Principle: Seafood and the Quest for a Long Life and a Healthier Planet
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Looking at the hype around the benefits of omega-3 as well as the impact its extraction has on the environment.
- Open and Hidden Horrors
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Before Trump's December 6, 2017 recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, American aggression and its results were apparent in the Middle East and Africa.
- The Other Whisper Network
How Twitter feminism is bad for women
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Katie Roiphe takes a closer look at the #MeToo movement, particularly the use of Twitter and social media which can dangerously be used to rouse extremes in a similar way that Trump has energized his supporters.
- The Pictures
Securing Peter Hujar's place among the greats
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In his will American photographer Peter Hujar left his entire photographic archive to his friend Stephen Koch. In this article Koch explains why he embarked on a journey to usher Hujar's work into posthumous notoriety, and ultimately how the photographs changed his life.
- The Plot to Attack Iran
How the CIA and the Deep State Have Conspired to Vilify Iran
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A summary to the US war against Iranian democracy and the complex situation in the Middle East.
- Portrait of an Icon
Review of Becoming Belafonte: Black Artist, Public Radical
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A review of Becoming Belafonte: Black Artist, Public Radical by Judith E. Smith.
- The Progress of This Storm
Nature and Society in a Warming World
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
An attack on the idea that nature and society are impossible to distinguish from each other.
- Punching the Clock
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
An excerpt from David Graeber's book "Bullshit Jobs" published by Simon and Schuster. Graeber, a professor of anthropology at the London School of Economics, looks at the existence of meaningless work and the psychological and societal harm that results.
- Race and the Logic of Capital
Review of Class, Race, and Marxism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A review of Review of Class, Race, and Marxism by David Roediger.
- Racial Terror & Totalitarianism - Book Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A review of Race and the Totalitarian Century: Geopolitics in the Black Literary Imagination
by Vaughn Rasberry.
- Rage Against the Machine: A War vs. Consensus
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
As it stands now, even if the unlikely liberal wet dream of a Trump impeachment actually comes to pass, the theocratic Mike Pence will simply assume office. No doubt cities like New York and Boston will initially erupt in celebration. But should it really be that long before the realization dawns that the real work remained ongoing?
- Seeds of Resistance: The Fight to Save Our Food Supply
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Food production in the age of climate change and corporate control.
- Sources News Release Archive 2018
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
News releases from 2018.
- Surveillance Self-Defense
Resource Type: Website
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Modern technology has given those in power new abilities to eavesdrop and collect data on innocent people. Surveillance Self-Defense is EFF's guide to defending yourself and your friends from surveillance by using secure technology and developing careful practices.
- Swap Meet
Wall Street's war on the Volcker Rule
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A look at the opposition to the Volcker Rule, originally proposed by former United States Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, which restricts US banks from making certain speculative investments that do not benefit customers.
- Theorizing the Soviet Bureaucracy
Review of Trotsky and the Problem of Soviet Bureaucracy
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A review of the book: Trotsky and the Problem of Soviet Bureaucracy by Thomas M. Twiss.
- Transgender Children and Young People
Born in Your Own Body
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A collection of essays about the current theory and practice of transgendering children.
- US, UK and France 'Inflicted Worst Destruction in Decades on Raqqa'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Amnesty International reports that air and artillery strikes by the US and allies inflicted devastating loss of life on civilians in the Isis-held city of Raqqa. It is a report that contradicts claims by the US, Britain and France, that they precisely targeted Isis fighters and positions during the four month siege.
- What Really Happened With Lesbian Protestors At Pride London Yesterday?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
A campaigning group, called 'Get the L Out', protesting harassment of young lesbians for same-sex attraction are being smeared in the media as marching against 'against trans women'.
- Why There are Few Christians Left in the Holy Town of Bethlehem
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
This is the time of year when they have a chance to break out of an isolation enforced in concrete since Israel enclosed the town with a "separation wall" more than a decade ago.
- William ('Bill') Pelz:
Againist the Current vol. 192
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In memoriam, Patrick M. Quinn and Eric Schuster discuss the life and contributions of William ('Bill') Pelz, a well-known socialist activist and prolific scholar in the field of European and comparative Labour History.
- Alternative Canada 150 project redraws history to spotlight untold stories
Born from opposition to Canada 150, Remember Resist Redraw posters are being used in schools across Canada
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
During Canada 150 celebrations, a project titled "Remember Resist Redraw" releases illustrated posters depicting a variety of stories often left out of traditional history textbooks -- stories of oppression, inequality, racism, and colonialism.
- Ta-Nehisi Coates is the neoliberal face of the black freedom struggle
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Coates represents the neoliberal wing of the black freedom struggle that sounds militant about white supremacy but renders black fightback invisible. This wing reaps the benefits of the neoliberal establishment that rewards silences on issues such as Wall Street greed or Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and people. The disagreement between Coates and me is clear: any analysis or vision of our world that omits the centrality of Wall Street power, US military policies, and the complex dynamics of class, gender, and sexuality in black America is too narrow and dangerously misleading. So it is with Ta-Nehisi Coates’ worldview.
- Why Is Allergan Partnering with the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe?
Inside the bizarre world of patent law.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe has invested in a portfolio of patents, their status as a soverign-entity allows the holder to circumvent the "inter partes review" if a patent dispute is raised, increasing the value of their holdings.
- Action this Thursday, City allowing respite spaces to be lost
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
City allowing respite spaces to be lost despite shelters being full and directive from council to maintain respite capacity
- Betty Peterson Leaves a Legacy of Peacework
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
It is with great sadness and immense appreciation of her contribution to peace and justice that we let you know of the peaceful passing of our mentor, inspiration and “grandmother with a hug”, 100 year-old Betty Peterson. Long-time Nova Scotia
- China: Human Rights activist detained for six months without charge
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Since September 2017, human rights activist Zhen Jianghua has been in police detention and his lawyer Ren Quanniu has been denied access to his client. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) demand the immediate release of Zhen Jianghua.
- Connexions Other Volices - June 10, 2018 - Massacres and Morality
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In the wake of Israel's brutal massacres of Palestinian protestors in Gaza in May and June 2018, Other Voices looks at the ways in which state terrorism is used to keep subjugated populations in line, at home or abroad.
- Creating a worldwide Nakba 70th anniversary community thorough Action
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
With the 70th anniversary of the Deir Yassin Massacre on April 9, and especially with Gaza's heroic "Great March of Return" leading to May 15, the world's attention is being drawn to the Nakba like never before. To mark Nakba Day, nakba70action.org
- CWF Reminds Canadians to Nominate Nature Heroes for Awards
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The Canadian Wildlife Federation reminds Canadians that it’s the final week to submit nominations for the national Conservation Achievement Awards. The deadline for applications is Jan. 31.
- Disability and Immigration Rights Groups Call on Immigration Minister to Do the Right Thing
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Advocates are calling on Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen to do the right thing: repeal sections of the Immigration Act that deny permanent residency to an entire family if a member of the family is sick or has a disability.
- Emmanuel International Canada (EIC) applauds the Government of Canada
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Emmanuel International Canada (EIC) applauds the Government of Canada for tabling historic accessibility legislation aimed at breaking down barriers for Canadians with disabilities.
- Emmanuel International Canada (EIC) is taking part in the nation-wide celebration of International Development.
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Emmanuel International Canada (EIC) is taking part in the nation-wide celebration of International Development. Established 27 years ago by Global Affairs Canada, International Development Week (IDW) is a tradition unique to Canada.
- Emmanuel International Canada Celebrates World NGO Day
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Emmanuel International Canada Celebrates World NGO Day. World NGO Day to raise awareness and recognize the importance of the NGOs worldwide.
- Hearts and Minds: How Do People Change?
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Hearts & Minds: How do people change? Feb 17 Connexions Other Voices asks How can we reach the millions we need to reach and engage if fundamental change is to happen? See https://www.connexions.org/Media/CXNL-2018-02-17.htm
- IFJ welcomes lowest number of killings of journalists for a decade but warns "no room for complacency"
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) warns there is no room for complacency despite recording the lowest number of killings of journalists since 2007.
- IJV Canada statement on the 70th Anniversary of the Nakba
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Let this latest string of massacres be a wake up call to the world. We call on Canadians, and fellow Jewish Canadians in particular, to join us not only in acknowledging and mourning the Nakba, but in doing all that we can to put an end to it.
- India: Two journalists killed in 24 hours
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Sandeep Sharma and Naveen Nishchal were both killed in separate vehicle incidents in India on Monday, March 26. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate the National Union of Journalists (India) condemn the killings
- Interview Opportunity with Chopsticks+Forks, Founder and entrepreneur Jusep Sim
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Interview Opportunity with Chopsticks+Forks, Founder and entrepreneur Jusep Sim
- Looking for answers, creating alternatives - Connexions Other Voices March 25, 2018
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The March 25, 2018 issue of Other Voices, the Connexions newsletter, features people who are questioning and challenging the way the world works and trying to create better alternatives.
- Malaysian government tables 'Anti-Fake News' bill
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate the National Union of Journalists; Peninsular Malaysia (NUJM) in criticizing the so-called anti-fake new bill and the heavy penalties.
- Media Release - IFIC Announces New Senior Management Appointments
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Toronto, ON - January 24, 2018 - The Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC) President and CEO Paul C. Bourque, Q.C. has announced two new appointments to IFIC’s senior management team – Carolyn Quick to the position of Vice President, Pu
- Media Release - IFIC Releases Monthly Statistics for December 2017
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Toronto, ON - January 19, 2018 - The Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC) announces that for the month ending December 31, 2017, the assets under management (AUM) for the mutual funds industry totalled $1.48 trillion. AUM decreased by $6.7
- Media Release - IFIC Requests Creditor Protection for RDSP Beneficiaries
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Toronto, ON - January 9, 2018 - In a submission made on January 5 to the Government of Canada, the Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC) requested an amendment to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act that would give beneficiaries of Registered
- Opening of Moss Park Armouries Necessary But Temporary Measure: More Permanent Shelter Beds Needed
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Warming centres will save lives this winter but conditions within most are appalling and they don’t necessarily meet the City’s own shelter or public health standards. We need permanent beds in the downtown core and we need them now.
- Our Statement on Syria
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
VOW condemns the devastating attack on Syria
- Recognizing World Water Day 2018
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
2018 marks the 25th anniversary of World Water Day held every year by the United Nations and recognized by millions around the Globe.
- Richard McGowan Executive Director Emmanuel International Canada congratulates the Finance Minister Hon. Bill Morneau and the Federal Government of Ca
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Richard McGowan Executive Director Emmanuel International Canada congratulates the Finance Minister Bill Morneau and the Federal Government of Canada’s commitment announced in the 2018 Federal Budget to increase investment in international assistan
- The Isolation of Julian Assange Must Stop
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
We call on the government of Ecuador to allow Julian Assange his right of freedom of speech.
- There's No Such Thing As "Free" Preschool Say Day Care Operators
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Ontario's independent licensed child care centres question whether the Liberal Government's latest election promise-- "free" preschool --will actually benefit families, or just result in more centre closures, higher taxes and greater government debt
- Thirteen journalists injured in bloody repression of Gaza protests
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Thirteen journalists covering protests in Gaza were injured on Monday, 14 May when Israeli military opened fire on Palestinian protesters along the Gaza border.
- Thousands Marching In Gaza
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
In Gaza, thousands are marching -- one of the many unarmed actions planned over 45 days which will build through May 15, when Palestinians mark 70 years since hundreds of thousands were made refugees during the war of 1948.
- UN call to stop attacks on Palestinian journalists
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
The IFJ has welcomed calls by United Nations Special Rapporteur Michael Lynk that freedom of the media and the rights of journalists must be respected and that Israel should stop targeting Palestinian journalists.
- VOW Demands Peaceful Resolution for the Crisis in North Korea
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
Re: Worsening humanitarian and human rights impacts of UN sanctions on the DPRK. To Honourable Members of UN 1718 Sanctions Committee (DPRK). This letter comes to you from the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace (VOW) and
- What are we eating? asks January 21 issue of Other Voices
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2018
Published: 2018
What are we eating? A simple question which opens up a labyrinth of devilishly complex issues about production and distribution, access to land, control of water, prices, health and safety, migrant labour, and much else..
- U.S. elections rank last among all Western democracies
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Are US elections fair and democratic? A detailed look at the data and methodology that questions the integrity of elections.
- Welcome to the Witchhunt
or Would the Labour Party Expel Einstein for Antisemitism?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
- Companies race to gather a newly prized currency: Our body measurements
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The mining of data by clothing companies in the form of documented body measurements raises concerns over privacy and misuse of our most personal information.
- Corporate America Unmasked
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
While US public views seem generally favourable about American corporations, an extensive study by psychologist Dr. Gary Brumback concludes that leadership, particularly in large corporations, is found to be morally depraved and their organizations often dysfunctional.
- Alternative Toronto: 1980 - 1995
Resource Type: Website
First Published: 2017
Published: 2018
A community archive and historical map of Toronto’s alternative cultures, scenes and spaces of the 1980s and early 1990s.
- Ethiopian workers 'beaten and robbed' by Saudi police
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A group of undocumented Ethiopians told The Associated Press news agency that after being captured by Saudi police officers they were subject to serious abuses, including beatings and filthy prison conditions as well as witnessing shootings during roundups.
- Why is the West praising Malala, but ignoring Ahed?
Is an empowered Palestinian girl not worthy of Western feminist admiration?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Khoja-Moolji examines the lack of media response to the plight of 16 year-old Ahed Tamimi, detained for allegedly assaulting an Israeli soldier during a confrontation at her home during which Israeli soldiers shot a fourteen-year-old child.
- Venezuela declares Craib Kowalik, Canada's Chargé d'Affaires in Caracas, persona non gratas
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Last week Venezuela declared Canada's chargé d'affaires in Caracas persona non grata. In making the announcement the president of the National Constituent Assembly Delcy Rodriguez denounced Craib Kowalik's "permanent and insistent, rude and vulgar interference in the internal affairs of Venezuela."
- Apple sued for deliberately slowing down older iPhones
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A lawsuit was filed in California against technology giant Apple after the company admitted to slowing down their older iPhone models.
- The Great Unraveling: Using Science and Philosophy to Decode Modernity
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
All of this ecological destruction has been driven by America’s most popular exports: capitalism and imperialism. William Hawes talked about using science and philosophy to decode modernity.
- How Inequality Kills
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The Global March of Neoliberalism: The World Inequality Report 2018
- Not by Bread Alone
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Anarchists in the Spanish Civil War focused on people's daily needs--who doesn't love hot, buttered toast? People in Spain were starving--they needed food. People--were homeless and needed homes; people were jobless and needed something to do; people were rejected from their communities needed to be included. Anarchists focused on these practical, attainable and above all human needs. And, these are the basic rights that should undergird all human social organizations.
- Turning Perpetrators into Healers
Resource Type: Unclassified
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Innocent people -- or "innocently guilty" people, like the junior senator from Minnesota -- often get unfairly hung out to dry. Should he have to resign? Who among us (Roy? Donald?) hasn't committed worse transgressions? And shouldn't a person's positive achievements be factored into the severity of his punishment, at least when no permanent damage has occurred?
- In Praise of the Telescopic Perspective: A Reflection on Living Through Turbulent Times
Perspective to lift the blinders of our cultural moment
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Maria Popova has found solace in taking a more telescopic view - not merely on the short human timescale of her own life, looking back on having lived through a Communist dictatorship and having seen poems composed and scientific advances made under such tyrannical circumstances, but on far vaster scales of space and time.
- The Big Lie About the Tax Bill: Why Bosses Will Never Raise Wages
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The big lie underlying the $1.5-trillion Trump/Republican Congressional tax bill is that Corporations will pass much of it on to workers in the form of higher wages, and to consumers in the form of lower prices.
- The Internet is Already Broken
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Nick Pemberton's article on the already broken internet.
- Sex, Drugs and Rollickin' Roles: Christmas and Our Ever-Changing Relationship with Nature
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The benefits of industrialisation have come at price as industry and technology the world over pushes nature further and further into ecological crises. Christmas has become the vehicle for the worst excesses of industrialisation, commercialisation and commodification.
- South Asia: Murderous majorities
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Drawing from essays and recent literature the author discusses the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya in Burma/Myanmar, and the broader historical context of majoritarian nationalism in South Asia where majoritarian violence has been a shortcut to power.
- South Sudan: Volunteers Gather Names of South Sudan's Uncounted War Dead
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The names of 5,000 victims of violence appear in the "Remembering the Ones We Lost" project, a memorial to people who have died in seven decades of conflict.The project invites witnesses to submit details of killings or disappearances through an online form or by text message, the information is then collated by volunteers.
- What is Happening in Catalonia and Spain?
Resource Type: Unclassified
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Vincente Navarro explains the historcal background to the Catalonian independence referendum results in 2017, and notes the political challenges this movement will face.
- How Brazil’s Sex Workers Have Been Organized and Politically Effective for 30 Years
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
In Brazil, sex work remains politically and socially contentious. But thanks to a staunch sex worker movement in the country, the people who actually do the work have made themselves key contributors to the debate.
- How Brazil's Sex Workers Have Been Organized and Politically Effective for 30 Years
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Sex workers in Brazil have been organizing for 30 years and have influenced politics to the extent that the government recognizes sex-work as an official occupation. They are celebrating the anniversary in part with an exhibit of photographs taken by sex-workers.
- Import and Die: Self-Sufficiency and Food Security in India
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
While there are clear signs that India needs to achieve greater food self-sufficiency, there is also a World Bank-backed agenda for the future of India where the majority of farmers don't have much of a role.
- Marxism, feminism and transgender politics
Resource Type: Unclassified
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
An examination of feminism and transgender politics through a Marxist lens.
- Adapt or Die: Millennials, Technology, and Net Neutrality
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The Internet is changing the way we think, concentrate, and process information. Studies are showing the Internet is lowering our concentration because the Internet offers constant distractions. It’s reducing our attention span, and it’s ruining our interpersonal communication skills. Basically this technology is dehumanizing us.
- Half of UK sees The Sun tabloid as 'negative influence'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Half of Britons see one of the UK's largest tabloids, The Sun, as a negative influence on society, according to a new poll.
- Musta'ribeen, Israel's agents who pose as Palestinians
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Musta'ribeen, or mista'arvim in Hebrew, is a word that is derived from the Arabic "musta'rib", or one that is specialised in Arabic language and culture. In Israeli security terms, the word denotes security forces who disguise themselves as Arabs and carry out missions in the heart of Palestinian societies or other Arab countries.
- Collective Memory and Cultural Amnesia
Introduction to the December 17, 2017 issue of Other Voices
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Our society is obsessed with the short-term present. It devalues memories and the past. That's the nature of capitalism, especially the speeded-up hypercapitalism of today. The past is useless: profits are made by getting rid of the old and replacing it with something new.
- Other Voices: The Connexions Newsletter - December 17, 2017
Collective Memory and Cultural Amnesia
Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Our society is obsessed with the short-term present. It devalues memory and the past. But there are those who do remember, and who work to preserve and share our collective memory. But they have to contend with those of us who see historical memory as a way of contributing to the struggle for a different world. For us, knowledge of history is subversive, and remembering can be a form of resistance.
- A history of violence: Growing up in CAR
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A child born from rape and a young gunshot victim grow up amid CAR's cycle of violence.
- The U.S. is Not a Democracy, It Never Was
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
There is no contradiction or supposed loss of democracy because the United States simply never was one. This is a difficult reality for many people to confront, and they are likely more inclined to immediately dismiss such a claim as preposterous rather than take the time to scrutinize the material historical record in order to see for themselves
- Zionism in the Light of Jerusalem
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
- Surveillance firms spied on campaign groups for big companies, leak shows
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
British Airways, the Royal Bank of Scotland and Porsche are among five large companies that have been identified as having paid corporate intelligence firms to monitor political groups that challenged their businesses, leaked documents reveal.
- A damning indictment of the Ontario Liberal government's private power strategy
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Private power is a great deal for private power owners, writes Thomas Walkom. For the rest of us, not so much.
- Israeli soldiers filmed harassing schoolchildren in occupied Hebron
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Footage shot in Hebron in occupied Palestinian territory shows Israeli soldiers routinely harassing teachers and schoolchildren on a number of occasions. Rights activists say it is part of a state policy aimed at forcing Palestinians to leave the city.
- Province ignored whistleblowers who warned about child abuse at its training schools
An ongoing Star investigation of alleged physical, sexual and emotional abuse at the schools for troubled youth between the 1960s and the 19
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
An investigation of alleged physical, sexual and emotional abuse at Ontario training schools between the 1960s and the 1980s found that two officials warned the province of brutal and sadistic treatment at the hands of staff -- warnings the province appears to have ignored.
- 'Reporters Without Scruples' fails to derail revelatory conference on White Helmets
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The Geneva Press Club (GPC) announced an event that would present the darker side of the Oscar-winning, multi-million-dollar internationally funded White Helmets, operating in Syria alongside Jabhat al-Nusra (Al-Nusra Front) and other US Coalition-armed & financed terrorist groups.The event was entitled "They Don't Care About Us – White Helmets True Agenda."
- Israel uses Palestinian land to illegally dump toxic waste
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Israel dumps unknown waste and military garbage in a disposal site in Kisan village, in the occupied West Bank.
- Syrian boys caught in 'vicious cycle' of sex abuse: UN
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Syrian men and boys, in their war-torn country and abroad, have suffered "a vicious cycle" of sexual abuse with more devastating consequences than previously reported, according to the United Nations new report "We Keep it in Heart".
- Toronto music teacher sues after principal, VP call folk song racist
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A Toronto music teacher is suing her principal, vice-principal and the public school board for defamation after the administrators sent an email to the school community apologizing that a well-known folk song - "Land of the Silver Birch" - was performed at a school concert, calling it "inappropriate" and "racist."
- Transit decisions must remain local, former city planner says
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The Toronto Region Board of Trade seeks to plunge us into a massive transit amalgamation process.Reminiscent of arguments made two decades ago touting the efficacy of the megacity, the board sees magical solutions for revenue shortages, better planning, superior service levels, and the adoption of modern technologies through the creation of a mega transit corporation, Superlinx.
- What Happens When the Government Uses Facebook as a Weapon?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
It's social media in the age of "patriotic trolling" in the Philippines, where the government is waging a campaign to destroy a critic -- with a little help from Facebook itself.
- As Egypt Arrests and Tortures Gay People, It Enlists the Help of Pro-LGBTQ PR Firm in Washington
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The public relations firm APCO has taken on a $1.2 million annual contract to work with Egypt's notorious spy services, the General Intelligence Directorate, to promote the Egyptian government’s interests in D.C.
- Evicting the Underclass
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A Chinese government campaign to expel migrant workers from Beijing is designed to reap greater profits from urban land and reserve the city for elites.
- Finland: 100th anniversary of workers' revolution drowned in blood
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A look at the Workers' Revolution in Finland, a source of inspiration and a powerful example of the strength of collective struggle.
- International Olympic Committee bans Russia from 2018 Olympics in political provocation
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board announced Tuesday that it had decided to ban the Russian Olympic team from participating in the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.
- Postmedia and Torstar deal results in "largest closure of newspapers on single day in Canadian History
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is concerned by the deal between Canada's two largest newspaper publishers, Postmedia and Torstar, which have decided to swap more than forty local newspapers with each other, and subsequently shut down most of these newly acquired newspapers in regions where they compete with other existing publications.
- Resistance to Antibiotics: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The growing resistance to antibiotics and other antimicrobials due to their overuse and misuse both in humans and animals has become an alarming global threat to public health, food safety and security, causing the deaths of 700,000 people each year.
- The rising repression of social protest in Latin America
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
On 17 October, 2017, the corpse of Santiago Maldonado appeared in the Chubut River. The young activist had been missing for 80 days. The suspense surrounding Maldonado’s whereabouts aroused a great sense of unease in a country where the word “disappeared” brings to mind the 30,000 victims of the civic-military dictatorship that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983.
- Violence Against Women: Why The UN Secretary-General Got It Wrong
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Burrowes argues that efforts to resolve violence aganist women are futile unless the focus shifts to preventing emotional and physical violence against children, with particular emphasis on boys.
- Who Voted for Germany's New Nazis?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Klikauer examines the rise of the far-Right in Germany, with reference to unresolved inequalities post re-uinification, changing demographics and media interests.
- Another peace activist, Raza Khan, goes missing in Lahore
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Raza Mahmood Khan, a Peace activist and social worker, went "missing" in Lahore on Dec. 2, 2017, shortly after he had organised a public discussion about a recent demonstration that ended in ignominious surrender to those seeking power in the guise of religion.
- The Anti-Empire Report #153
Cold War Number One: 70 years of daily national stupidity. Cold War Number Two: Still in its youth, but just as
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A comentary on current events in Russian and US relations which may be entering a new Cold War, as well as a look back at events through the Cold War period from 1948 to the 1980's.
- Broadband monopolies to censor Internet content
Behind the FCC plan to abolish net neutrality
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The recently released plan by the American Federal Communications Commission to abolish net neutrality has evoked mass opposition across the US and around the world.
- Class Dismissed: Identity Politics Without The Identity
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
In a capitalist society, work is at the core of identity, In the United States there are sharply divergent attitudes between professionals and the working class.
- The FBI's Perjury Trap of the Century
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
John Brennan, Jim Comey, Sally Yates, Peter Strzok and a passel of deep state operatives -- all of whom baldly abused their offices, set a perjury trap designed to snare Mike Flynn as a first step in relitigating and reversing the voters' verdict.
- The Government Is Trying to Make It Impossible For Reality Winner to Defend Herself in Court
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The Justice Department is engaged in a multi-pronged effort to hamstring Reality Winner's defense against charges of violating the Espionage Act behind cumbersome classification rules.
- How Bosses Use 'Open Shop' Campaigns to Crush Unions
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Chad Pearson's book "Reform or Repression: Organizing America's Anti-Union Movement" and Lane Windham's new book "Knocking on Labor's Door: Union Organizing in the 1970's and the Roots of a New Economic Divide", take a historical look at anti-union tactics through the 20th century, and demonstrate how Unions can regroup, reform and fight back.
- How Israel is digitally policing Palestinian minds
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Israeli authorities have been arresting and holding hundreds of Palestinians it accuses of fanning the flames of violence in the occupied West Bank and Israel.
- Power and Protest: The Electoral Tactics of Leftist Social Movements
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The central difficulty for left social movements is determining electoral tactics that will enable them to win both in the short run and in the middle run. On the surface, it seems that winning in the short run conflicts with winning in the middle run.
- The public humiliation and destruction of Metropolitan Opera conductor James Levine
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The decision by the Metropolitan Opera in New York City to suspend James Levine, its longtime musical director (1976-2016), from any further conducting engagements is the latest victory for the New York Times and the champions of the new repression.
- Tearful Liberal MP should accept James Bezan's fifth apology and move on
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Comes a time to draw the line, to note that not all remarks of a sexual nature are actually sexual in nature, that not all talk that is debatably inappropriate must be censored, that sometimes a bad line is just a bad line and that the #metoo movement does not require every woman to recall and publicize every slight, real or imagined, ever inflicted upon her by every man in the world.
- This Israeli Presentation on How to Make Drone Strikes More "Efficient" Disturbed Its Audience
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Research backed by the U.S. and Israeli military scandalized a conference near Tel Aviv earlier this year after a presentation showed how the findings would help drone operators more easily locate people -- including targets -- fleeing their strikes and better navigate areas rendered unrecognizable by prior destruction.
- Trump's Transition Team Colluded With Israel. Why Isn't That News?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Hasan asks the question: why aren't more members of Congress or the media discussing the Trump transition team's pretty brazen collusion with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to undermine both U.S. government policy and international law?
- Untouchable - The Uses And Misuses Of 'Genocide Denial'
Resource Type: Unclassified
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
One of the wonders of contemporary propaganda is the extent to which corporate commentators are in denial about their use of the term 'genocide denial'. Clearly, they believe they are using a neutral, objective term to describe indisputable facts of genocidal killing and ugly refusals to recognise those facts. The delusion is quickly exposed when we ask a few simple questions. For example: how often do we see 'mainstream' commentators describing US-UK sanctions on Iraq from 1990-2003 as 'genocidal', as affirmed by senior UN diplomats? How often do journalists describe supporters of the devastating Bush-Blair war on Iraq, the Obama-Cameron war on Libya, or May's war on Yemen as 'genocide deniers'? Can we imagine someone who supported the war on Libya being called an 'Obama apologist'? Like 'terror' and 'terrorism', 'genocide' and 'genocide denial' are simply not terms that are applied to Western actions. This really awesome level of bias points to the reality that 'genocide denial' is a propaganda term overwhelmingly used to portray Official Enemies as morally and intellectually despicable, in fact untouchable. As used in the 'mainstream', the term is antirational, an attack on honest debate.
- The BDS movement is about justice for Palestine
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The University of Ottawa Israeli Awareness Committee (IAC) blocked a Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) resolution presented by the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO). The BDS movement is a call to action from Palestinians seeking justice and equality, while the IAC is a pro-Israel lobby group which works with the Israeli Embassy and others to promote the Israeli government to students.
- How Russia-gate Rationalizes Censorship
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The Russia-gate hysteria has spread beyond simply a strategy for neutralizing Donald Trump or even removing him from office into an excuse for stifling U.S. dissent that challenges the New Cold War, reports Joe Lauria.
- Uncertainty shapes immigrant life in the United States
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Immigrants in the United States without legal residency or who were admitted on a temporary basis feel that their lives have become much more complicated in 2017 because of the current Republican administration's intention to expel thousands of Latin Americans even though they are successfully integrated into the local economy and have no criminal record.
- The myth of one Jewish nation
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Zionism is an anti-Semitic creed. It was so right from the beginning. Already the founding father, Theodor Herzl, a Viennese writer, penned some pieces with a clear anti-Semitic slant. For him, Zionism was not just a geographical transplantation, but also a means of turning the despicable commercial Jew of the diaspora into an upright, industrious human being.
- The President of Honduras Is Deploying U.S.-Trained Forces Against Election Protesters
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, using the specter of rampant crime and the drug trade, won extensive support from the American government to build up highly trained state security forces. Now, those same forces are repressing democracy.
- 33rd Anniversary Of The Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The escape of about 40 tonnes of methyl isocyanate (MIC) – a highly toxic chemical – from a storage tank on the premises of the pesticide plant of Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) in Bhopal – the capital of the State of Madhya Pradesh – on the night of 02/03 December 1984 resulted in a horrendous disaster in the city, which was inhabited by about 900,000 persons then.
- The long ecological revolution
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Up until the rise of the ecological movement in the late twentieth century, the conquest of nature was a universal trope, often equated with progress under capitalism (and sometimes socialism). To be sure, the notion, as utilized in science, was a complex one. As Francis Bacon, the idea's leading early proponent, put it, "nature is only overcome by obeying her." Only by following nature's laws, therefore, was it possible to conquer her.
- Philippines: when the police kill children - Kulot, Carl, Kian...
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Murders of several teenagers in the Philippines suspected to have been killed as part of the government's war on drugs.
- Internets Past
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
This article discusses the Internet and the problems with prevailing public concern over Net neutrality. The author advocates for an alternate way forward, and a need to bring political economy back to the agenda by viewing corporations as political actors and the technology corporations as powerful commercial players with their own agendas.
- Stop Shock Now: Psychiatry's War Against Women and the Elderly
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Today, most people including many health professionals are surprised to learn that electroshock (ECT) is still prescribed. As we also know, women, particularly elderly women, are the main targets of electroshock -- women over 60 and many in their 80s or 90s have been shocked in Canada.
- Watermelons, Nooses, and Straight Razors: Stories from the Jim Crow Museum
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Watermelons, Nooses, and Straight Razors uses images from the Jim Crow Museum, the nation's largest publicly accessible collection of racist objects. These images are evidence of the social injustice that Martin Luther King Jr. referred to as "a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be exposed to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured." Each chapter concludes with a story from the author's journey, challenging the integrity of racial narratives.
- A dramatic suicide in a 'court' of fake justice
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
After a war crimes tribunal rejected his appeal, a Bosnian Croat general drank poison and died. His last words resonate with many in the Balkans, who regard the court as a tool of US and NATO that has not fostered justice, but only made war wounds worse.
- Fighting for Their Water and Their Lives, Communities Take Direct Action Against Barrick Gold in the Dominican Republic
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
People who live near the Pueblo Viejo gold mine iin Dominican Republic struggle to gain accountabilty from the Canadian-owned companies running it. Their environment has been poisoned and they want funds for 600 families to be relocated.
- Major study shows species loss destroys essential ecosystems
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Long term research by German ecologists proves that loss of biodiversity has "direct, unpleasant consequences for mankind."
- Withdrawal of RT America's accreditation on Capitol Hill 'dire development'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The US congressional press office has revoked RT America's accreditation on Capitol Hill, citing its 'foreign agent' status.
- The Blue-Collar Hellscape of the Startup Industry
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The tactics and work environments at tech companies, including Amazon, show a disregard for the fundamental health, safety and humanity of low-tier workers, demonstrating what laissez-faire startup-styled late capitalism really looks like.
- Borneo: Island Devastated, People Oblivious
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Borneo is now synonymous with mining and logging, as well as with terrible plantations that have already cannibalized most of the land. Nothing is being produced, but everything has been extracted.
- Depraved Treatment of Drug War Captives on US Coast Guard Ships
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Wessler provides details in an interview transcript on how the United States Coast Guard routinely subjects individuals alleged to be involved in the transport of cocaine between South America and Central America to such conditions.
- Occupy: The Fall of the Oakland Commune
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
For many people, the Occupy movement was an initiation into radical politics, an experiment in decentralized and nonhierarchical movement-building, and a glimpse at the possibility for a new kind of society. Yet the whole thing was over in just a few weeks -- a crisis quieted, a moment of hope extinguished.
- Strike Friday at Amazon.it
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Amazon workers at the Castel San Giovanni hub launched their first strike on Black Friday 2017. The facility is Amazon's largest in Italy, where the retail giant employs up to four thousand workers, less than half of whom have a permanent contract.
- Beating wives if they refuse sex is OK, according to books in Britain's Islamic schools
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
An educational watchdog in Britain finds reading material in some Islamic schools to be out of step with mainstream Muslim thinking.
- Cutting Cords to Kurds: Facebook's Foreign Policy
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The recent deletion and suspension of Facebook accounts of Kurdish supporters provides further troubling evidence that the popular social media company has been censoring the Kurdish resistance for the past five years.
- NY comedian Randy Credico targeted in Russia investigation over 'links to Assange'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
New York comedian Randy Credico has become the unlikely focus of the US government's Russia investigation. He believes the US is trying to use him as a pawn to undermine WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been dubbed a "demon" by the CIA director.
- Politics Without Politics
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Jonathan Smucker's recently published book Hegemony How-To: A Roadmap for Radicals offers a flawed road map for rebuilding the Left.
- U.S. Coast Guard operating secret floating prisons in Pacific Ocean
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
In the war on drugs, the U.S. Coast Guard is reportedly turning its cutter ships into floating prisons.
- US & Europe's farcical hypocrisy over Russian foreign media law
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The US and the European Union rushed to condemn Russia's new media laws restricting foreign entities. At the same time, they assume the unilateral right to hound Russian news outlets as "foreign agents."
- Google's de-ranking of RT in search results is a form of censorship and blatant propaganda
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A commentary on the recent admission by an executive of Google's parent company (Alphabet) that special algorithms are being created to filter RTs news in order to make it appear less prominently in Google's search results.
- Susan Sarandon: 'I thought Hillary was very dangerous. If she'd won, we'd be at war'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
An article about actress Susan Sarandon who discusses politics, sexism in Hollywood, female empowerment and her career.
- It flies, and it snoops: Norway's pricey F-35s caught sending 'sensitive data' to US
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Norway's new F-35 fighter jets boast an impressive array of high-tech gadgetry, but Norwegian defense officials were surprised to learn of one unadvertised feature: the pricey plane relays sensitive data back to its US manufacturer, Lockheed Martin.
- Quebec City police arrest 44 at far-right protest and counter-demonstration
Police laud co-operation from far-right group La Meute, but had to use tear gas to keep sides apart
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A report on a protest and clash between demonstrators when several hundred members of far-right groups, including La Meute and Storm Alliance, marched in the rain to a convention centre that was hosting a major policy meeting of the Quebec Liberal party.
- The Great American Sex Panic of 2017
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
What interest of sanity or reason is served by this reckless lumping together of flicks of the tongue and forcible rapes into the single broad-brush term “sexual misconduct,” as though there is no important difference between an oafish pat or crude remark at an office party and a gang rape?
- Protecting individual privacy -- with a large dose of hypocrisy
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
In a prominent half-page article in Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, the Toronto Star, columnist Emma Teitel criticizes "the media" for invading the privacy of the daughter of a prominent politician.
- Two Decades of Monsanto's Illegal Actions, Frauds and Crimes in India
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Over the two decades since Monsanto entered India, it has violated laws, deceived Indian farmers by making unscientific and fraudulent claims, extracted super profits through illegal royalty collection by violating India’s Patent and Intellectual Property laws, pushed farmers into debt, and, as a consequence of the debt trap, to suicide.
- God: A Human History - a rescue attempt by Reza Aslan
Book review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Gods and religions have caused so much distress that even those who have spent a lifetime apologising for and ignoring the doctrinal foundations of their abuses must make a rescue attempt.
- From an Open Internet, Back to the Dark Ages
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Can anyone still doubt that access to a relatively free and open internet is rapidly coming to an end in the west? In China and other autocratic regimes, leaders have simply bent the internet to their will, censoring content that threatens their rule. But in the "democratic" west, it is being done differently. The state does not have to interfere directly -- it outsources its dirty work to corporations.
- Google's Eric Schmidt admits political censorship of search results
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Recent remarks by the Executive Chairman of Google's parent company confirm charges that the company has been deliberately altering its search algorithms and taking other measures to prevent the public from accessing information that is critical of the US government.
- Survival? Symptoms of Breakdown
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Government policies are driven primarily by short-term political gain and corporate power, so there needs to be a massive public demand for control of the economy towards sustainability. The alternative is no human future.
- Syria, 'Experts' and George Monbiot
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Investigative journalist Gareth Porter has published two exclusives whose import is far greater than may be immediately apparent. They concern Israel’s bombing in 2007 of a supposed nuclear plant secretly built, according to a self-serving US and Israeli narrative, by Syrian leader Bashar Assad.
- Israel's settlements: 50 years of land theft explained
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Today, between 600,000 and 750,000 Israelis live in these sizeable settlements, equivalent to roughly 11 percent of the total Jewish Israeli population. So why have these housing compounds caused so much rancour and been called a threat to the prospect of peace in the Holy Land? Follow this journey to find out.
- The Nuclear Enterprise Is on Autopilot
CounterSpin interview with William Hartung on nuclear overkill
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Janine Jackson interviewed William Hartung about nuclear overkill for the November 17, 2017, episode of CounterSpin.
- France Is Debating Whether French Is Sexist
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
In early September, French President Emmanuel Macron paid a visit to Villers-Cotterets. An hour's drive north of Paris, the village boasts as its main attraction the ancestral home of Alexandre Dumas pere."France was made through its language," he observed, when "the king decided in this chateau that all of those living in his realm had to speak French." Understandably, the children did not correct Macron: The edict simply made French, not Latin, the administrative language of the kingdom. As for the "French," they continued to speak a dozen different languages and hundreds of patois for the next 300 years or so.
- Google will 'de-rank' RT articles to make them harder to find - Eric Schmidt
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The Executive Chairman of Google's parent company Alphabet states that the company will engineer specific algorithms for news services RT and Sputnik to make their content less prominent on the search engine's news delivery services.
- Israel's Ploy Selling a Syrian Nuke Strike
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Evidence now available shows that there was no nuclear reactor in the Syrian desert, and that the Israelis had misled George W. Bush's administration into believing that there was in order to draw the United States into bombing missile storage sites in Syria.
- Making Nuclear Weapons Usuable Again
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A chilling look at the urge of both President Trump and key figures in the Pentagon to normalize nuclear weapons as a basic war-fighting tool in the American arsenal.
- On the 800th Anniversary of the Charter of the Forest
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A Keynote Address, Delivered in the State Rooms at the House of Commons, 7 November 2017 about the Charter of the Forest.
- Imagining a New Social Order: Noam Chomsky and Robert Pollin in Conversation
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Noam Chomsky and Robert Pollin discuss how the left can save the US from neoliberal excesses.
- Istvan Meszaros and Marx's theory of alienation
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The article explains how alienation can only be overcome by collective action which challenges capitalist relations of production.
- The colour-coded Israeli ID system for Palestinians
Israel's control over the Palestinian population is based on a system of colour-coded IDs in the occupied territories
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A look at the colour-coded system of Palestinian population control that has remained in place in Israel for five decades; it still affects everything from freedom of movement to family unity.
- The German Revolution (World Revolution for Beginners Part III)
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
It's really important to understand that the Nazis made real appeals to the working class, not very successfully, but they considered themselves to be a party that was for a workers' revolution, but for a German Workers Revolution. So, that’s something often lost in translation when people just say "Nazis" or "National Socialists".
- Lenin and Luxemburg (World Revolution for Beginners, Part I
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Both of these people are great revolutionaries and there are libraries of books written about them. So in two hours, I’m going to try to sort of summarize what I think is really important about them.
- Stalin and Trotsky (World Revolution for Beginners Part II)
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Last week, we were talking about Lenin and Luxemburg, and I was trying to work up some notes for today; I just realize that the topic of Stalin and Trotsky is far more complicated. Why? First of all, because it was in this period that Bolshevism became an international phenomenon.
- Excerpts from secretly recorded meeting between Wilfrid Laurier University grad student and faculty
Resource Type: Audio
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Lindsay Shepherd, a Wilfrid Laurier University graduate student and teaching assistant, landed in hot water with the university over a video clip, featuring controversial University of Toronto professor Jordan Peterson, she used in a critical thinking course. After receiving complaints, the university claimed she created a toxic environment. Shepherd had a meeting with faculty and administration, here are excerpts from the secretly recorded conversation.
- ICIJ Releases Paradise Papers Data From Appleby
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A look at data released from the Paradise Papers investigation, a global journalistic collaboration that exposed offshore deals of political players and corporate giants. A team of journalists explored a trove of 13.4 million records from two offshore firms and 19 secret jurisdictions.
- Suppressing TVO video, stifling free speech, is making Wilfrid Laurier unsafe
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The university is wrong to castigate a grad student and teaching assistant for showing to her students a debate on TVO’s The Agenda that featured controversial professor Jordan Peterson.
- Transgender refugee defies critics by inviting military recruiters to a trans job fair
Trans group calls job fair 'extremely disrespectful' and 'a racist act'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A transgender Kenyan refugee is defiant in the face of accusations she's being racist and "inherently violent," for inviting the Canadian Armed Forces to a job fair aimed at helping transgender people find work.
- A creeping quiet in Indian journalism?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
How a combination of government pressure, harassment by political activists, commercial actors including both advertisers and some media owners, is exercising a chilling effect on Indian journalism.
- The Motherboard Guide to Not Getting Hacked
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Do you want to stop criminals from getting into your Gmail or Facebook account? Are you worried about the cops spying on you? Motherboard Staff have answers on how to protect yourself. This is Motherboard's comprehensive guide to digital security, which will be regularly updated and replaces some of our old guides. This guide is also available as a printable PDF.
- Rethinking the challenge of anti-Muslim bigotry
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
In 1997 the British anti-racist organisation the Runnymede Trust published its highly influential report Islamophobia: A Challenge for Us All. Twenty years on, the Runnymede Trust has brought out a follow-up report Islamophobia: Still a Challenge for Us All, which is a stock-take on current views, and facts, about the issue.
- Why Are Police In The USA So Terrified?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The routine killing of innocent civilians by the police has become a national crisis despite concerted attempts by political and legal authorities and the corporate media to obscure what is happening.
- In search of the common good
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
This essay examines the historical change in the meaning and understanding of the 'common good', particularly between ancient times and the modern world, and also takes a look at the social and political changes of recent decades that have shaped how we look at the issue.
- Richest 1% have more money than poorest half of world's population
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The bottom half of adults in the world collectively own less than the richest one percent, according to a Credit Suisse report. The gap between the super-rich and the poor has significantly grown since the global crisis.
- Forcing RT to register as 'foreign agent' is a 'horrendous blow to press freedom'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The US government ultimatum that forced news agency RT to register as a 'foreign agent' has drawn condemnation from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which calls the action a "troubling precedent."
- An open letter from Jewish academics and elders to McGill's administration regarding false allegations of student anti-Semitism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
This letter was sent Nov. 13 to Principal Suzanne Fortier, Provost Christopher Manfredi, and Secretariat Board of Governors and Senate Maria Kontzidis.
- Warning to Spanish (and Other) Whistleblowers: Anonymous Boxes which ARE NOT ANONYMOUS
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Citizens' victories in the struggle against corruption, sometimes requiring information to be provided through safe anonymous channels like Xnet's Mailbox for reporting corruption, have catalysed a proliferation of similar initiatives within governments and institutions.
- Kichwa community commits to eco-sustainable tourism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
In Ecuador the Sani Isla Indignenous community runs a sustainable eco-tourism business. Although in close proximity to oil companies they do not cooperate with them and are in legal disputes with them due to the impact of pollution.
- Cambridge slammed for 'censoring' Palestine BDS event
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Cambridge University is accused of censorship after it threatened to ban a meeting about the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, unless the Palestinian academic chairing it was removed and replaced with its own choice.
- Left parties
Introduction to the November 11, 2017 issue of Other Voices
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
"There is no alternative." That is capitalism's message in the neo-liberal era. The rich keep getting richer and richer, millions of people are unemployed, millions more are trying to survive on precarious, marginal, and part-time work, hundreds of millions are without health care, housing, education, or clean water. Environmental collapse is increasingly likely, masses of people are fleeing wars and economic disasters, nuclear war is a real danger. And all that the corporate elite, the corporate media, and the mainstream political parties have to offer is their insistence that there is nothing we can do about it: there is no alternative.
- Other Voices: The Connexions Newsletter - November 11, 2017
Left Parties
Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
In recent years, there have been repeated attempts to build left political parties and coalitions, i.e. parties to the left of the established social democratic parties which have long become part of the neoliberal capitalist mainstream. Left parties have emerged out of mass movements in countries like Spain (Podemos), Germany (Die Linke), and Greece (Syriza). In Latin America, in the last two decades, left movements or parties have formed governments in Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil, and Uruguay. What these new left parties/movements have in common is a strategy of engaging in grassroots organizing and also running in elections. They all describe themselves as socialist, though in many cases their programs are more reminiscent of what social democrats used to advocate decades ago: reforms that would tame and manage capitalism rather than abolish it. Their ultimate vision may be a world without capitalism, but their immediate proposals are more modest and incremental, though still significantly to the left of the neo-liberal consensus.
- Lissa Mary Donner
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Peacefully, but not without a fight, Lissa Mary Donner died November 8, 2017, surrounded by the love of family and friends.
- In Search of Los Angeles' Lost Socialist Colony, Llano del Rio
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
In search of the ruins of Llano del Rio, a socialist colony founded in 1914 by Job Harriman, looking to create a utopian community.
- Kaspersky Lab in crosshairs since exposing US & Israeli spies behind Stuxnet
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The campaign to discredit Kaspersky Lab dates back to 2010, when the Russian-based cybersecurity firm uncovered the origin of the Stuxnet malicious computer worm which ruined Iran's nuclear centrifuges.
- Noam Chomsky And The BBC: A Brief Comparison
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A recent interview with 88-year-old Noam Chomsky once again demonstrates just how insightful he is in providing rational analysis of Western power and the suffering it generates. By contrast, anyone relying on BBC News receives a power-friendly view of the world, systematically distorted in a way that allows the state and private interests to pursue business as usual.
- On the Intolerant Left
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Julian Vigo's concern with the growing pattern of intellectual and political intolerance he's witnessed within allegedly progressive circles.
- Thought police strike again as Wilfrid Laurier grad student is chastised for showing Jordan Peterson video
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A Wilfrid Laurier University teaching assistant has been identified as “transphobic” and sanctioned for last week showing her class an excerpt of a video debate involving the controversial University of Toronto psychology professor Jordan Peterson. In fact, her supervising professor, Nathan Rambukkana, told her that by showing the video to her “Canadian Communication in Context” class, “it basically was like … neutrally playing a speech by Hitler …”
- CIA wrote code 'to impersonate' Russia's Kaspersky Lab anti-virus company, WikiLeaks says
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
WikiLeaks published documents exposing the elaborated malware suite used by the CIA to hack, record and control modern hi-tech appliances worldwide.
- Reframing Migration: A Conversation With Historian Sunil Amrith
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The 2017 MacArthur Genius Fellowship recipient's interdisciplinary work on the Bay of Bengal teaches us that movement and migration are central forces in the making of Asian -- and global -- history.
- Setting the Record Straight: The Beirut Barracks Bombing
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The White House wants to blame Iran, but they're wrong. I was there.
- Yemen Doctors: Hundreds Will Die Within a Week to Saudi Blockade
Key Medicines Have Run Out in Yemeni Capital
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
In the past month, Saudi Arabia's naval blockade of Yemen, has tightened dramatically, and even vital medications and food are virtually impossible to import.
- Coverage of sexual harassment claims carelessly blurs lines between minor misconduct and real abuse
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
It is undeniably a great thing that abusers like Harvey Weinstein are finally receiving their comeuppance, however overdue it may be. But in the aftermath of Weinstein’s downfall, we’re at risk of broadening the definition of sexual harassment too widely.There is a vast difference between genuine sexual harassment, abuse or rape — and minor misconduct, flirting or otherwise inappropriate behavior in the workplace (or anywhere else). Yet, in recent weeks, the two have been dangerously conflated.
...
Have we just decided to do away with the presumption of innocence, or at the very least the idea that these matters should be dealt with through lawyers and courts, not on Facebook and Twitter? Are we supposed to completely ignore the possibility that just maybe, an accusation could be false?
This kind of trial by social media is dangerous. A simple tweet can brand a person as a rapist who deserves to lose their job and have their lives utterly destroyed in an instant — on nothing more than the say-so of another person.
Sterile culture
A couple of weeks ago, Adam Sandler found himself in the firing line when he touched actress Claire Foy’s knee twice during The Graham Norton Show. Some viewers were so outraged by the contact Sandler had made with Foy’s knee that she was forced to release a statement saying she was not angry or offended by Sandler’s gesture. If this kind of behavior is classed as sexual harassment or as outrageously inappropriate as some viewers suggested, we appear to be on our way toward living in a completely sterile, robotic and puritanical world where nobody can say or do anything for fear of pious backlash from the political correctness police.
There is also an insulting, sexist and patronizing element to all of this which makes women out to be weak-minded, overly sensitive creatures who can’t even handle a sexual joke being told in their presence. Or who are so vulnerable that they simply can’t be left alone to fend for themselves. One POLITICO journalist recently suggested that a good way to limit sexual harassment would be to make closed-door meetings in the workplace a fireable offense.
- The FBI Blindly Hacked Computers in Russia, China, and Iran
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Recent court papers indicate that the FBI repeatedly broke into devices overseas as part of ordinary criminal investigations; in countries hostile to the U.S. this could have significant geopolitical fallout.
- How Big is My Tribe? The Crisis in Catalonia
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A look at recent divisive events in Catalonia, Britain and the US, proposing that we should really be concentrating more on important universal issues such as inequality, influence peddling, profit-only deregulation, and offshore tax havens.
- Nation That Says It Can't Afford Medicare for All Has Spent $5.6 Trillion on War Since 9/11
Because, as new study notes, wars force the question: "What we might have done differently with the money spent?"
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A new analysis offers a damning assessment of the United States' so-called global war on terror, and it includes a "staggering" estimated price tag for wars waged since 9/11—over $5.6 trillion.
- Canada's Impossible Acknowledgment
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada released its final report in 2015 with ninety-four calls to action, and renewed hope that the nation would finally confront its darkest history with tangible action. This article looks at why this process has yet again stalled, one which repeats the cycle of promises and yet again does not deliver.
- Think Mass Shootings Are Terrorism? Careful What You Wish For
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
In the United States there is no law enforcement or policy reason to apply the entirety of international terrorism law domestically. Doing so would not improve the ability to investigate, prosecute, or punish domestic terrorism, and it would come with unwanted consequences.
- Dennis J. Banks, Naawakamig (1937-2017) - Cofounder of the American Indian Movement
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Under cofounder of the American Indian Movement, Dennis Banks, AIM became the most powerful Native movement of the twentieth century, galvanizing indigenous people throughout the United States, Canada, and beyond.
- As Wildfires Raged, Insurers Sent in Private Firefighters to Protect Homes of the Wealthy
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Another manifestation of extreme inequality in the United States: fire protection for the rich only.
- Hollowing out democracy and law
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The recent actions of the Catalan government are not those of politicians respecting democracy. The reaction of the Madrid government, which criminalize political dissent, are equally disturbing.
- Poor Whites and Slavery in the Antebellum South: An Interview with Historian Keri
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Historian Keri Leigh Merritt presents a comprehensive study of this malignant and overlooked aspect of slavery in her new book Masterless Men: Poor Whites and Slavery in the Antebellum South (Cambridge University Press). This is an interview with her.
- The Revolution Party
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The accumulating failures of both Communist and Social Democratic parties over the past 50 years was accompanied by a marked shift on the radical left toward a broad-ranging ‘movementism’ – whether in its pressure-group or protest-oriented dimensions. As Jodi Dean has recently argued, those trying thereby to escape 'the constraints of party’ often reduced it to 'the actuality of its mistakes’ while ‘its role as concentrator of collective aspirations and affects [was] diminished if not forgotten.'
- Can You Say "Conflict of Interest"? Not at the UN
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Exposing the ways that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) allows oil giants to shape negotiations.
- Don Draper Rules: Russian Ads and American Madness
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
So we've finally seen some of the social media ads which we are told skewed the entire election in 2016 and constituted a key part of the internet assault on America launched by Vladimir Putin's "troll army." Scary stuff blazoned across front pages and screen scrolls everywhere. But before going on, perhaps we should find out what makes a social media account part of Putin's invasion force?
Well, according to Twitter, it is ANY account created in Russia.
- The Serious Price of the Hyperconvenient Economy
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The rapid "progress" towards greater convenience will induce dependency, ignorance of the product and service and more loss of voice, self-determination and self-reliance.
- Title IX Witchhunts, Anti-Sex Frenzy and Bourgeois Feminism
Unwanted Advances: Sexual Paranoia Comes to Campus - A Review
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Is the specter of sex haunting the campus? Under the pretense of targeting sexual harassment and assault, university administrations have been whipping up a climate of fear and imposing neo-Victorian values. As the recent book Unwanted Advances - Sexual Paranoia Comes to Campus (HarperCollins Publishers, April 2017) argues, "The new campus codes aren't preventing nonconsensual sex; they're producing it.” Written by Northwestern University professor and self-described left-wing feminist Laura Kipnis, the book exposes the vastly expanded definitions of sexual assault, which criminalize anything from drunken hook-ups to student-professor romance and even allow for consent to be withdrawn retroactively.
- 'We're designing minds': Industry insider reveals secrets of addictive app trade
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A look at the science and psychology behind the 'technological arms race' which seeks to keep people fixated on their smartphones.
- Who’s Afraid of Corporate COINTELPRO?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
On November 30, 2016, presumably right at the stroke of midnight, Google Inc. unpersoned CounterPunch. They didn't send out a press release or anything. They just quietly removed it from the Google News aggregator. Not very many people noticed.
- Confessions of a (verified) Russia-linked Twitter Bot
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Twitter's defines any user who has "ever logged in, at any time, from Russia" as being "Russia-linked." This is taking the new McCarthyism to ridiculous levels.
- Tabloids do not represent the working class
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
It should come as little surprise that media owned and run by unscrupulous billionaires like Rupert Murdoch and Richard Desmond should be more concerned with protecting the party of big business than it is with the wellbeing or interests of working class people. We need to call out the tabloid media for what it is – run by and for the elites.
- Ecuadoreans Won't Back Down in Fighting Chevron-Texaco Over Amazon Oil Disaster
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A class-action lawsuit first filed in 1993 against Chevron-Texaco has taken its toll on the lawyers and Ecuadorean people seeking justice for environmental damage. Hope for justice and healing drives people to not give up.
- Geri Allen: A Tribute
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
By the time Geri Allen, the pianist, composer and Detroit native who died June 27, 2017 at the age of 60, arrived in New York City in 1984, she had finished one of the most rigorous formal educations then available for an aspiring jazz musician, and it showed
- The Ghosts of St. Louis Future
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Maxwell provides an analysis of the court decision by Judge Timothy J. Wilson's acquital of Jason Stockley, the white St. Louis cop charged with the first-degree murder of Anthony Lamar Smith (a 24-year-old African American).
- Higher Education for Hire
The Capitalist University: The Transformations of Higher Education in the United States since 1945
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Book review of Henry Heller's The Capitalist University: The Transformations of Higher Education in the United States since 1945.
- Honduras Since the 2009 Coup
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
As this is being written, news arrives of arrests and serious charges filed against 14 community members of a poor area of Choluteca for opposing land grabs to build a solar energy plant; 28 small farmers in the northern Agujn Valley criminalized for trying to keep and work their land; and 31 university students and three human rights defenders facing jail after government attacks on student protests in Tegucigalpa.
- How Imperialism Works Today
Imperialism in the Twenty-First Century: Globalization, Super-Exploitation, and Capitalism's Final Crisis
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Book review of John Smith's Imperialism in the Twenty-First Century: Globalization, Super-Exploitation, and Capitalism's Final Crisis.
- Identities and Solidarity
On Anti-Semitism: Solidarity and the Struggle for Justice
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Book review of On Anti-Semitism: Solidarity and the Struggle for Justice, published by Jewish Voice for Peace.
- 'Inappropriate Behaviour' - Michael Fallon, Yemen, And The 'Mainstream' That Is Anything But
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A look at 'mainstream' journalism, a product of corporate conformity and a deference to power that is anything but mainstream.
- Iran: The Impact of October
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The Russian Revolution had a profound influence on the revolutionary movement in the countries neighbouring the new Soviet Republic, and Iran was no exception.
- Keeping the Faith
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A book review: We Were Eight Years In Power (written by Ta-Nehisi Coates)
In Ta-Nehisi Coates's work, we encounter white supremacy not as a political ideology, but as the defining feature of the U.S. polity -- its essential nature.
- One Hundred Years of the Balfour Declaration
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The Balfour Declaration then not only legitimized the Zionist project in Palestine and transformed it into a contender in international relations. It in effect precipitated the spread of Zionism among British Jews.
- Open Letter to the People of the United States from Puerto Rico, A Month After Hurricane Maria
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
An open letter to the people of the U.S., following the devastating effects of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico.
- The Philipinnes: War Against the Poor
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is responsible for a so-called "war on drugs" that is costing thousands of lives and is increasingly concentrating power in his own hands.
- The Political and Rhetorical Strategies of Martin Luther King
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
What we can learned from Martn Luther King about political and rhetorical strategy, as well as movement building and organizing.
- Power to the Soviets
Book Review of October: The Story of the Russian Revolution
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Book review of China Miéville's October: The Story of the Russian Revolution.
- Principles of Organizing
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Explores the culture of organizing, the challenging and confusing dialectical tension that is every organizers terrain: change and continuity, the personal and the political, ideals and interests, planning and opportunity, and the transitions from evolutionary to revolutionary forms of unionism.
- Punitive Neoliberalism in Puerto Rico
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Examines current debates in Puerto Rico using two concepts, punitive neoliberalism and financial melancholia.
- Resisting Capital's Disasters
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Trump represents the twisted and half-deranged face of a systemic assault on virtually every facet of the social safety net, workers' rights, and the entire public sector -- apart from the bloated permanent war economy.
- A Response to the Anti-Defamation League
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The Anti-Defamation League's statement published in Detroit Jewish News (July 24, 2017, "Jewish Voice for Peace Increases Anti-Israel Radicalism") contains numerous distortions, which can't all be addressed in detail in the limited space available to us here.
- Sweden's Potato Revolution
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Together with the other Nordic countries Sweden was spared from the First World War but suffered food shortages and other hardships due to the surrounding conflicts.
- Theodore W. Allen's Legacy
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Theodore W. "Ted" Allen (1919-2005) was an anti-white supremacist, working-class intellectual and activist, whose work on the centrality of struggle against white supremacy is growing in importance and influene 98 years after his birth.
- Theodore W. Allen: Working-Class Scholar
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Theodore W. Allen was an independent, anti-white supremacist, working-class scholar when he pioneered his "white skin privilege" analysis in the mid-1960s and when he wrote The Invention of the White Race in the 1990s.
- Toxicity and Resistance
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
In a political moment that tends to inspire overwhelming anger, apprehension and fear rather than hope or energy, I suggest that we look towards those who have made resistance a daily part of their lives out of necessity and determination.
- Trials of the Russian Revolution
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Book reviews of The Dilemmas of Lenin: Terrorism, War, Empire, Love, Revolution by Tariq Ali; The Russian Revolution: When Workers Took Power by Paul Vernadsky; The Russian Revolution: A New History by Sean McMeekin; and Russia in Revolution: An Empire in Crisis, 1890 to 1928 by S. A. Smith.
- Trump and Duterte
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Philippines President Duterte presents himself as a nationalist who is especially opposed to the continuing strong influence of the former colonial power, the United States.
- White Supremacy/ Identity Politics
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Can cop violence and anti-Black racism be permanently defeated so long as white supremacist ideology permeates the ruling class and society?
- Why Is There No 'Saudi-Gate'?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
For decades, the DC establishment has been on the payroll of a foreign terror state. But because it's Saudi Arabia, you won't hear a peep.
- World War I and Afterward: Upheaval, Repression and Terror
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Following the April 1917 U.S. entry into World War I, a massive months-long strike wave occurred as workers in those industries, booming with wartime orders demanded improved conditions and better wages that were rapidly being outstripped by war-bred price increases.
- America's "Open Door Policy" May Have Led Us to the Brink of Nuclear Annihilation
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The article takes a critical look at the potential outcome of North Korea's stigmatized relationship with the United States. It considers the role of US-produced propaganda against North Korea in relationship to the disparity between the militaries of the two countries.
- Big Business and Hitler
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
This book discusses the multiple multinationals doing business with Germany during the Second World War, including American companies such as General Motors, IBM, Standard Oil and Ford, which may explain America's late entry into the war and Hitler's support from powerful businesses despite the horrendous actions of the Nazis'.
- Google, Amazon, Netflix mount lobby crusade on Trudeau Liberals
Amazon had 99 registered contacts with the government last year, Google had 37
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The numerous meetings between top Liberal Government officials and U.S. tech giants not only smack of favouritism, but also raise ethical questions and concerns over deregulation.
- How to steal a billion-dollar American election with a pocketful of rubles
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
On the absurdity of the narrative that claims that nameless Russians stole the multi-billion-dollar American election with pocket change.
- Is Russiagate dead? Paul Manafort & Kiev caught up in FBI dragnet, Kremlin not mentioned
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
- Racists and xenophobes find fertile ground in violent online world
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Spend enough time hunting terrorists or wandering dystopian wastelands in online games and you're bound to come across players hurling xenophobic and racist taunts at each other -- from the openly Islamophobic in Europe to Korean and Japanese gamers bickering over disputed islands.
- Undocumented special-needs girl in federal custody after emergency surgery
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
An undocumented 10-year-old girl with cerebral palsy was taken into US Customs and Border Protection custody shortly after emergency gallbladder surgery in Texas in a case that advocates say shows the harmful extent of the President's hard line on immigration policies.
- Anthem Protestors Should Stop Mucking Around and Make Their Demands
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The "anthem protests" have gone on for two years now, but so far the players have not presented a specific set of demands.Why? Do the players simply want to use Sunday football as a platform for raising awareness of racial injustice and police brutality or is there something else going on here?
- The Politcal Economy of Fascism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
For all of the millions of words written about the fascist danger posed by Donald Trump, there are very few devoted to an actual analysis of fascist economics both as ideology and state policy.
- Sticks and Stones: Free Speech and Punching Politics
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The author explains why he does not agree with those who believe that right wing 'facist' groups should be denied the right to express their views, either by physical means or force of law.
- Cowardly New World: Alternative Media Under Attack by Algorithms
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
An insidious assault is underway against alternative media on the internet. Leftist and progressive websites have been suffering significant declines in traffic. Some have had online income sources cut. Many others have been publicly defamed.
The only voices speaking the truth, says Kollibri terre Sonnenblume, are those on the fringes and we must amplify them however we can. Some suggestions:
* Read/view alternative media stories and share them in whatever venues you can.
* Stop consuming mainstream media and stop posting links to it.
* Actively support alternative media by donating money, time or other resources.
* Stop using Google as your search engine; I recommend DuckDuckGo. You will be surprised at how much you've been missing.
* Become the media: take your own photos or video and write up stories yourself for whatever outlet will take your work, even if that's only your own blog.
- I'm looking to sue: Black activist says Twitter banned her as 'Russian bot'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Among the 201 Twitter accounts suspended from the platform for "Russian interference" in the 2016 US election was an African-American activist from Atlanta. Now she has come forward, telling RT she may sue the company for the unjustified suspension.
- Russia-gate Breeds 'Establishment McCarthyism'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Russia-gate provides cover for an Establishment attack on Internet freedom and independent news, while traditional defenders of a free press and civil liberties are joining the assault or staying on the sidelines.
- Baum, Gregory - obituary
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Obituary for renowned Canadian theologian Gregory Baum, 94, who died Oct. 18, 2017.
- The Character of the Russian Revolution: Trotsky 1917 vs. Trotsky 1924
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
An analysis of the evolution of Leon Trotsky's views from 1917 to 1924.
- Goodbye to Golden Rice? GM Trait Leads to Drastic Yield Loss and "Metabolic Meltdown"
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
While proponents of Golden rice have blamed its failure to reach the market on "over-regulation" of GMOs and on "anti-GMO" opposition, the latest research suggests that problems intrinsic to GMO breeding are what have prevented researchers from developing Golden Rice suitable for commercialization.
- The Harmful Effects of Antifa
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
An historic opportunity is being missed. The disastrous 2016 presidential election could and should have been a wakeup call. A corrupt political system that gave voters a choice between two terrible candidates is not democracy.
- Indigenous population growing rapidly, languages surging: census
Data also reveals on-reserve First Nation housing getting worse
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The Indigenous population in Canada continues to rapidly outpace the growth of the rest of the country while Indigenous languages are showing a strong resurgence, according to census data released Wednesday by Statistics Canada.
- The Just Society Movement
For the Poor by the Poor - A Model for Grassroots Activism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The Just Society Movement (1968 - 1972) was a short-lived but remarkably successful Toronto based grassroots social and political advocacy network run by and for Toronto’s poorest residents.
- Don't Call the Cops If You're Autistic, Deaf, Mentally Ill, Disabled or Old
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
When people entering the police service are trained to be military warriors instead of peace officers, tense situations involving some of our society's more vulnerable people will more likely end violently.
- The FBI's Forgotten Criminal History
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The FBI has a long record of both deceit and incompetence. Five years ago, Americans learned that the FBI was teaching its agents that "the FBI has the ability to bend or suspend the law to impinge on the freedom of others." This has practically been the Bureau's motif since its creation in 1908.
- Google wants to run cities without being elected. Don't let it
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A new initiative will see Alphabet – the parent company of Google – take charge of redeveloping a waterfront district in Toronto. Here's why that's troubling.
- Land and Racism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A look at the Jewish National Fund (JNF), an organization subsidized by Canadian taxpayers, and its exclusionary land policies.
- Pay to play: Facebook rolls out nightmare scenario for publishers on its network
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Proposed changes to the way Facebook handles posts from publishers and businesses may result in publishers having to pay Facebook to promote their stories so that people can see them.
- 'Pay to play': Facebook rolls out nightmare scenario for publishers on its network
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Facebook is testing out a change to their network in six markets. As a result, posts from some publishers and businesses will be removed from the site's News Feed section. The change has caused a dramatic drop in referral traffic to news outlets.
- What if You Had to Worry About a Lawsuit Every Time You Linked to an Image Online?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
- What Makes Americans Proud
The Anti-Empire Report #152
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Donald Trump thinks that everyone will be impressed that the American military has never been stronger. Lucky for the man … his seeming incapacity for moral or intellectual embarrassment.He’s twice blessed. His fans like the idea that their president is no smarter than they are. This may well serve to get the man re-elected, as it did with George W. Bush.
- Why We Must Fight for the Right to Repair Our Electronics
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
In an era when reparations to electronics such as digital devices is becoming increasingly more difficult, pending U.S. legislation could force manufacturers to make repair parts and information available at fair prices.
- Guardian Sells False Image of an Open Jerusalem
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A Guardian essay on a new Israeli open-rooftops project in Jerusalem, part of a Season of Culture, sadly falls into a standard trap for feelgood articles of this kind. It fails to provide the main context for Jerusalem: that the native Palestinians live under a belligerent Israeli occupation that is ultimately trying to evict them from the city.
- Israel maintains robust arms trade with rogue regimes
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Israel's collusion with Myanmar's military is part of a pattern of military aid to rogue regimes that goes back decades, and reflects the importance of the arms trade to Israel's economy.
- Senators 'Stunned' to Learn US Has 1,000 Troops in Niger
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee members recently confirmed they were "stunned" by the revelation that the US had upwards of 1,000 ground troops operating inside the country of Niger, sparking new questions about war authorization.
- Why So Many White Supremacists Are into Veganism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Not many realize that numerous white nationalists are vegan and vegetarian, a dietary decision with origins from one of the movement's bedrock beliefs: the concept of "blood and soil."
- Gender segregation is humiliating and damaging
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The author looks at gender segregation, drawing on her own personal experiences in Iran but also in a broader context and the resulting psychological damage done to girls from a very young age.
- The U.S. Will Invade West Africa in 2023 After an Attack in New York - According to Pentagon War Game
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
By 2021, according to the war game's scenario, AQIM boasts an estimated 38,000 members spread throughout Algeria, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger, and a network of training camps in Mauritania, as well as outright bases in Western Sahara.
- The Killing of History
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Pilger examines Ken Burns' documentary about the Vietnam War and the ongoing revisionist history it presents, as well as the acquiescence of the American 'left' in the era of Trump.
- Clinton, Assange and the War on Truth
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
An overview of an interview with Hilary Clinton by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation to promote her score-settling book about why she was not elected President of the United States.
- Proof of concept: An insurgent left can achieve electoral success - even in Canada
Resource Type: Unclassified
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The article looks at Vancouver's current political climate on the municipal level. Jean Swanson's recent support placed her in second place in a civic election, and demonstrates the city's shift to the centre - left.
- Tomorrow Belongs to the Corporatocracy
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Virtually every major organ of the Western media apparatus (the most powerful propaganda machine in the annals of powerful propaganda machines) has been relentlessly churning out variations on a new official ideological narrative designed to generate and enforce conformity.
- Two Soviet Spies Who Deserve a Posthumous Nobel Peace Prize
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Klaus Fuchs and Theodore Hall, both scientists working on the Manhattan Project, should receive posthumous Nobel Peace Prizes for actions that almost certainly saved millions of innocent lives.
- Cambridge University students given trigger warnings for Shakespeare plays
Academics say degree of sensitivity will 'curtail academic freedom'
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Warnings to Cambridge students regarding violence in course materials brings about discussion over student development and ultimately academic freedom and censorship.
- The Right-Wing Assault on the Truth in India Claims the Life of Another Journalist
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Journalist, activist and writer Gauri Lankesh, was gunned down on the night of Sept. 5, 2017, by a suspected right-wing extremist for her published views in a tabloid paper.
- American Teaching Hospitals: Where Pelvic Exams Under Anesthesia Happen
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Before undergoing a liver biopsy at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, I asked my surgeon's nurse whether I was to be catheterized for the procedure. In response to this perfectly legitimate question the knave sardonically replied: "I'm really not supposed to say this, but what difference does it make? You're going to be under general anesthesia."
- The conspiracy to censor the Internet
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The political representatives of the American ruling class are engaged in a conspiracy to suppress free speech. Under the guise of combating "trolls" and "fake news" supposedly controlled by Russia, the most basic constitutional rights enumerated in the First Amendment are under direct attack.
- The Decertification of Iran Speech: Refuting Trump
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Despite the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) declaring each time it has reported - most recently in August 2017 - that Iran is in total compliance with its agreements in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Donald Trump has now carried through on his threat to decertify Iran.
- Facespook! Social Media Giant Becomes Arm of US Intel
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Facebook, the world's top social media platform, is reportedly seeking to hire hundreds of employees with US national security clearance licenses. Purportedly with the aim of weeding out "fake news" and "foreign meddling" in elections.
- 'Fake news' or free speech: Is Google cracking down on left media?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Left leaning progressive websites say they are being unfairly penalized by Google's efforts to stamp out fake news.
- How the Nazis Used Jim Crow Laws as the Model for Their Race Laws
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
An interview with James Q. Whitman about his new book "Hitler's American Model: The United States and the Making of Nazi Race Law".
- Israeli Soldiers Shut Down Media Outlets In The West Bank
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Israeli soldiers and secret security officers invaded media outlets in dawn raids in several parts of the occupied West Bank. The media outlets provide services to Palestinian TV stations such as Al-Aqsa and Al-Quds.
- Life and Death After the Steel Mills
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
In her study of a community devastated by industry's flight, anthropologist Christine Walley raises questions about how to create and support meaningful work in a postindustrial world.
Steel mills were the economic backbone of many cities across the Midwest and Northeast until the 1980s. When the industry left, former workers not only took a hit economically -- they also felt displaced and suffered disillusionment and a loss of identity.
- No, US Didn't 'Stand By' Indonesian Genocide - It Actively Participated
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Within the coverage of the newly declassified telegram that proves the US actively participated in the Indonesian genocide the media frames Washington as a passive onlooker rather than active participant. This not only lessens the government's culpability; it also tells readers that if the US is to be faulted, it's to be blamed for not doing enough. That's a handy attitude to cultivate for the next time you want to sell a "humanitarian" war.
- On Catalonia: Debates in the Greek Left
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Without the burden of self-censorship or "political correctness" on our backs, let us examine what the possible secession of Catalonia actually means and where it could potentially lead.
- The racist worldview of Arthur Balfour
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A look at British foreign secretary Arthur James Balfour, whose Declaration of 1917 led to the expulsion of Palestinians.
- Where the world's appetite for fish matters most
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Illegal over-fishing by Chinese and other foreign vessels is severely affecting the economy and food securty of West African nations.
- Big Data is Accelerating Corporate Control of the Global Food Supply
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A summary of the report "Too Big to Feed: Exploring the Impacts of Mega-Margers, Consolidation and Concentration of Power in the Agri-Food Sector," published by The International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems.
- Blueprint for a Progressive US: A Dialogue With Noam Chomsky and Robert Pollin
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
In the Trump era, what would an authentically populist, progressive political agenda look like? What would a progressive US look like with regard to jobs, the environment, finance capital and the standard of living? What would it look like in terms of education and health care, justice and equality? In an exclusive interview with C.J. Polychroniou for Truthout, world-renowned public intellectuals Noam Chomsky and Robert Pollin tackle these issues.
- A brief dictionary to help understand the US far right
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A break down of some of the most important phrases, terms and numerology that are used by the far right online.
- Expert panel identifies unacceptable toll of food and farming systems on human health
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The UN Committee on World Food Security in Rome has today launched a new report examining the impact of chemical intensive, industrial food system on human health.
- Google Is So Big, It Is Now Shaping Policy to Combat the Opioid Epidemic. And It's Screwing It Up.
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A snap decision by Google has begun to reshape the drug treatment industry, tilting the playing field toward large conglomerates-- the precise opposite outcome Google had hoped to achieve.
- Journalism as We Knew It Is Never Coming Back
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
It’s old news that Donald Trump abuses reason, knowledge, decency and dark-skinned people. If you are paying attention, each one of his assaults on decency, intelligence and knowledge will feel urgent, ridiculous or both. Each day he threatens grave damage to actual human beings and the rest of Planet Earth, and each day he demonstrates his incapacity to do anything but inflict more damage.
- 1965-1966: Files Reveal US had Detailed Knowledge of Indonesia's Anti-Communist Purge
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Declassified files have revealed new details of US government knowledge of and support for an Indonesian army extermination campaign that killed several hundred thousand civilians during anti-communist hysteria in the mid-1960s.
- The police are not here to protect you
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
It is a liberal fantasy that policing exist to protect us from the bad guys, rather it serves more to manage and suppress those on the losing end of economic and political arrangements.
- The police are not here to protect you
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The police spend little of their time making arrests, and most crimes are not solved, writes Alex Vitale - their real purpose is social control
- The Popular Front Didn't Work
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The Communist Party's 1930s popular front strategy weakened the labour movement and empowered the Democratic Party, a strategy that would be even more destuctive to the socialist left today.
- The Popular Front Didn't Work
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
This article focuses on the recent growth of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Through a historical overview of worker's parties in the United States, the article discusses the party's vision for the future.
- Hillary Clinton Just Told Five Blatant Lies About WikiLeaks
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
During an interview with ABC's Sarah Ferguson, while promoting her new book about her loss in the 2017 presidential election, Hillary Clinton told five lies about the WikiLeaks.
- In Myanmar, Anti-Terrorism Is Cover for Ethnic Cleansing
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A brutal crackdown in Myanmar under the guise of anti-terrorism is really ethnic cleansing against a long-persecuted Rohingya minority.
- 6 underrated Marxists who don't get enough love
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A look at six less celebrated Marxists: Gavril Miasnikov, Ngo Van Xuyet, Clara Zetkin, Martin Glaberman, Mariarosa Dalla Costa, and Ambalavaner Sivanandan; who participated in working class movements such as the 1918 German revolution, the 1945 Saigon Commune and the strikes in the car factories of Detroit.
- 6 underrated Marxists who don't get enough love
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
It's a sad fact that many of the most radical Marxists, whose participation in working class struggle and ideas challenged not only capitalist society but also the social democratic and Leninist tendencies in the workers' movement tend to get ignored by anarchists and Marxists alike.
- A Tale of Two Islands
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A look at the two island nations of Cuba and Puerto Rico in the aftermath of devastating hurricanes; one is a poor socialist state and the other a territory of one of the richest countries in the world.
- When a hurricane swept through Toronto, this firefighter made the heartbreaking first rescue attempt
Hurricane Hazel caused 81 deaths and more than $1B in damages in 2017 dollars
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
On the wet and windy evening of Oct. 15, 1954, Hurricane Hazel was bearing down on the city. The fire department was to take no unnecessary risks in the storm, which had already claimed more than 400 lives in Haiti and close to 100 in the United States. As it spiralled towards Canada, Hazel merged with a cold front, intensifying the system.
- When a Radio Host Interviews a War Criminal, Is It Churlish to Ask About His War Crimes?
A letter to New York's popular WNYC-NPR radio host Brian Lehrer
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
An open letter to NPR radio host Brian Leher, critizing the host for not providing greater context and background for his guest Elliott Abrams, who was a go to-guy for U.S.-funded terrorism, and helped arrange the overthrow of democratically elected governments throughout Latin America and the Middle East.
- Historic Speaker's Corner Becomes Site of Anti-feminist Silencing and Volence
Efforts to silence feminist speech have taken a violent turn
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The "What is gender" debate at the historic Speaker's Corner in London turned vitriolic and violent when opposing organizations accused the discussion of potentially inciting "transmisogyny."
- Marxist Theories of the State Played out in Venezuela
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The implications of Marxist state theories developed by Nicos Poulantzas and Ralph Miliband are useful for framing issues related to leftist strategy in twenty-first century Venezuela.
- Trump Is the Only One Losing Out by Refusing to Certify the Iran Deal
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
While commentators across the world struggle to adequately convey their outrage over Trump's withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear agreement, Iran is calculating that nothing they do will be quite so damaging to US interests as Trump himself.
- Trump Is the Only One Losing Out by Refusing to Certify the Iran Deal
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
As President Trump withdraws certification of the nuclear agreement with Iran, commentators across the world struggled for words to adequately convey their outrage and contempt. A favourite term to describe Trump is as "a wrecking ball", but the phrase suggests a sense of direction and capacity to strike a target which Trump does not possess.
- In Sarnia's Chemical Valley, is 'toxic soup' making people sick?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Experts and documents cast doubts on whether industry and Ontario government are revealing levels of benzene in areas where residents live right near oil and gas facilities.
- Left-Wing Drexel Professor Who Opposes Free Speech Has His Curtailed
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Outspoken Drexel University associate professor George Ciccariello-Maher has been put on-leave by his employer, stiring the debate about academic freedom and free speech.
- Victory in Stagnation?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
An analysis of the direction of the German left party, Die Linke, in the wake of the 2017 national elections.
- Council committee to tackle what some claim is a new loophole for landlords
Landlords' group says suite meters are a fair way for tenants to budget their power consumption
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
There's growing concern among municipal politicians and tenants advocates about a relatively new practice by landlords called "suite metering" -- and the issue's set to be discussed at city hall Friday. Suite metering allows landlords to stop supplying electricity to their tenants, and instead hire a broker who installs a meter in each unit. The tenant then pays rent to the landlord, and a separate monthly electricity payment to the broker.
- The Flint Militants
Eighty years ago, the Flint Sit-Down Strike showed the power of a determined rank and file and a class-conscious leadership
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
In 1937 hundreds of autoworkers seized two General Motors (GM) plants in Flint, Michigan, paralyzing the massive corporation's production line. The workers' new tactic - the sit-down strike - threatened to fundamentally change the balance of power between workers and management.
- Kansas Is Punishing a Teacher for Following Her Church's Guidance to Boycott Israel
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
As part of her employment with a state program in Kansas a woman was asked to sign a statement proclaiming she not boycott Israel, a clear violation of her first amendment rights says the American Civil Liberties Union.
- Why the truth about the death of anti-apartheid activist matters
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The murder of school teacher and activist Ahmed Timol is but one of many stories of injustice hidden by apartheid, and left mostly untouched since 1994.
- Chomsky clarifies position on the cultural boycott of Israel
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Prof. Noam Chomsky makes the essential point: the presence of international artists in Israel is used by the government to cover up its occupation and human rights abuses.
- Indigenous resistance: my fight for land and life in Colombia
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
On World Day of Indigenous Resistance, Wayúu woman ANGELICA ORITZ shares her experience as a human rights defender, living and fighting for the future of her community in the shadow of the largest opencast mine in Colombia.
- Rural Americans and the Language Too Many People Use to Talk About Them
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
With the rural-urban divide more pronounced now than it has been in generations, the author takes a closer look at the derogatory language too many people use, as well their meaning and contradictions.
- White Nights: Before Charlottesville Was in the Spotlight, Police Arrested Their Most Prominent Critic in the Middle of the Night
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Within two weeks of voters in Charlottesville going to the polls to decide on the city's next district attorney, the candidate vowing to rein in police abuse and roll back mass incarceration was arrested in the middle of the night and bound for a police station.
- Catalonia: The Revolt of the Rich?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The Catalonian rebellion, similar to Scottish separatism, is an uprising of the rich against the poor, the protests of a liberal society against the remnants of a redistributive social state.
- New Archival Collections: How to Know What’s New at Your Favorite Repository
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
New archival collections at your favorite repository may be the long-awaited key to solving your family history mysteries! But how can you keep up with what’s new at archives and libraries? Professional archivist Melissa Barker shares her favorite tips.
- Unprecedented data trove maps China's growing global reach and self-interest of its aid
China and U.S. 'neck and neck' in foreign assistance spending
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The new data on more than 4,300 projects of China in 150 countries indicate those contributions -- if not the means -- have in total, almost matched those of the world's largest foreign aid donor, the United States.
- Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein's "Responsible Encryption" Demand is Bad and He Should Feel Bad
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein delivered a speech about what he calls "responsible encryption" today. It misses the mark, by far.
- Antifa in Theory and in Practice
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
In recent weeks, a totally disoriented left has been widely exhorted to unify around a masked vanguard calling itself Antifa, for anti-fascist. Hooded and dressed in black, Antifa is essentially a variation of the Black Bloc, familiar for introducing violence into peaceful demonstrations in many countries. Imported from Europe, the label Antifa sounds more political. American Antifa looks very much like a middle class wedding between Identity Politics and gang warfare.
- Antifa in Theory and in Practice
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A masked vanguard calling itself Antifa, for anti-fascist, is just a variation of the Black Bloc, which is familiar for introducing violence into peaceful demonstrations in many countries. Imported from Europe, the label Antifa serves the purpose of stigmatizing those it attacks as "fascists", yet despite its imported name Antifa in the U.S. is basically just another example of America's steady descent into violence.
- Meeting the Challenge of the Right
Introduction to the October 9, 2017 issue of Other Voices
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
When we talk about the Right, it is well to keep in mind that "the Right" is by no means a unified political force or organization, but rather a label used to describe a disparate collection of ideologies, parties, groups, and individuals.
- Other Voices: The Connexions Newsletter - October 9, 2017
Meeting the Challenge of the Right
Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Challenging the Right requires not only anti-fascist actions in the street, but organizing to reach those who may be attracted the the appeal of the Right and offering an alternative social vision. This issue of Other Voices offers a number of articles, books, and films offering different perspectives on meeting the challenge of the right.
- The Seeds of Agroecology and Common Ownership
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
With platitudes about 'feeding the world', the corporate agribusiness/agritech industry is destroying the commons and democracy and displacing existing localised systems of food production. In fact the increasingly globalised industrial food system is responsible for some of the most pressing political, social and environmental crises we are facing.
- The Seeds of Agroecology and Common Ownership
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A political-economical critique of modern agriculture and the urgent need to establish societies run for the benefit of the mass of the population, as well as a system of food and agriculture that is more democratically owned and controlled.
- Ghosts of Spadina Expressway haunt us still
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
More than 45 years after the Spadina Expressway was cancelled, its ghosts exist among us in the form of expropriated properties.
- 1688 Germantown Quaker Petition Against Slavery
Wikipedia article
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The 1688 Germantown Quaker Petition Against Slavery was the first protest against African-American slavery made by a religious body in the English colonies.
- Why Canada's farm industry is ripe for change
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Ottawa is touting agri-food as an area where Canada's economy can grow globally -- and temporary foreign workers have a key role to play.
- Germany's Network Enforcement Act: Legal framework for censorship of the Internet
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
On October 1, 2017, the Network Enforcement Act took effect in Germany. Under the cover of a fight against "fake news" and "hate speech," it creates a legal framework for censorship of the Internet.
- Socialist Register 2018
Volume 54: Rethinking Democracy
Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
We have conceived this 54th volume of the Socialist Register on Rethinking Democracy as a companion volume to the 2017 volume on Rethinking Revolution. As we put it in the preface to that volume: ‘The "political event" of gaining state power, whether by taking parliament or in a collapse of the existing political regime, has proven time and again to be less crucial than the social revolution of building capacities for self-government and the democratization and socialization of institutional resources … The "event", in itself, … will never be a sufficient condition for the exploited and oppressed to build their own capacities for establishing collective, rather than competitive, ways of living through developing socialist democracy.'
- The Spirit of Late Capitalism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A look at Pentecostalism, one of the world's fastest growing religious movements, which preaches a seductive message to the marginalized: that religious prayer, not political action, is a solution to their earthly woes.
- Warnings from First Americans: Insidious Changes Are Underway that Will Affect Us All
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Rural America In These Times spoke to Native Americans--people whose survival requires being extremely well informed about what all branches of the federal government are up to. From their vantage point as sovereign entities with direct government-to-government relationships with the United States, the tribes have a unique perspective on issues including voting rights, the economy, the extractive industries' hold over this administration and more.
- The Catalan Chain Reaction
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The article discusses the chain reaction of viral social media support surrounding Catalonia's drive for "independence", which has alarmingly resurrected civil war-era rhetoric. However the most dangerous consequences are a domino effect in regions elsewhere if the separatists are ultimately successful.
- New group challenges role of Israel lobby inside Labour Party as effort to undermine Corbyn
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Jeremy Corbyn's recent declaration of support for the Palestinian cause came as sections of his party's establishment demonstrated that they are determined to undermine his leadership; the issue they have selected as his Achilles' heel relates directly to the debate about the Palestinians.
- The NRA's Latest Terrorist Attack on U.S. Soil
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
It's long past time to start understanding the giant mass shootings that have become part of the new-normal fabric of life in the United States as terrorist attacks on the U.S. populace conducted by the nation’s plutocracy through one of its key and rightward campaign funding, lobbying, and policy organizations -- the National Rifle Association (NRA).
- American Rape of Vietnamese Women was Considered "Standard Operating Procedure"
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Comparing testimony from Vietnamese women and American soldiers, Gina Marie Weaver, in her book Ideologies of Forgetting: Rape in The Vietnam War, finds that rape of Vietnamese women by American troops during the US invasion of Vietnam was a "widespread", "everyday occurrence" that was essentially "condoned", even encouraged, by the military, and had its foundation in military training and US culture.
- Disobeying Spain: the Catalan Referendum for Independence
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
On October 1, 2017, all across Catalunya ballot boxes were ripped from people's hands by masked police and a dangerous violence was unleashed, at random, upon some of the 2,262,424 people who stood in long lines to cast their vote. The repression dealt by the Spanish State to prohibit the Catalan Referendum, in every bloodied baton and ever rubber bullet, transformed the day from a question of independence to a question of democracy.
- A Jewish Atonement for Zionism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A review of “Not by Might, nor by Power": The Zionist Betrayal of Judaism, by author Moshe Menuhin. Drawing from personal experience, the book is a methodical and chronological survey of Jewish nationalism.
- On the Extreme Margins of the Centennial of the October Revolution: The Legacy of 1917 We Can Affirm
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The year 1917 is most closely associated with the Russian Revolution, but it is important to locate that revolution in the global tidal wave of working-class struggle from 1917 to 1921 (continued up to 1927 in China), which forced the end of the first inter-imperialist world war (1914–18).
- The Russian Hack That Wasn't
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Glenn Greenwald of The Intercept exposes the fake news put out by the US Department of Homeland Security (an euphemistic name for a Big Brother operation that spies on US citizens) that Russia hacked 21 US state elections, news that was instantly spread around the world by the presstitute media.
- The Ecosocialism of Joel Kovel
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Joel Kovel has been a prestigious and best-selling writer on psychotherapy, a militant left activist from the middle 1960s onward, an eco-theorist and an explorer of the world just beyond our sense perceptions.
- Istvan Meszaros: Capitalism and Ecological Destruction
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
In memorium to Istvan Meszaros, an excerpt of his writing shows how he was one of the first Marxists to identify the global environmental crisis as a central contradiction of late capitalism.
- A Foodie's Guide to Capitalism: Understanding the Political Economy of What We Eat
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Capitalism drives our global food system. Everyone who wants to end hunger, who wants to eat good, clean, healthy food, needs to understand capitalism. This book will help do that.
- 'It's like they never existed': Toronto monument will honour mistreated British Home Children
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Over eight decades 115,000 children in Britain living in squalid conditions were sent to Canada for a better life, only to be exploited as workers by foster families and often suffering deplorable abuse.
- Karl Marx's Ecosocialism: Capital, nature, and the unfinished critique of political economy
Resource Type: Book
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A re-evaluation of Karl Marx's views on ecology.
- That rotten stench in the air? It’s the smell of deadly gas and secrecy
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Documents obtained through freedom-of-information requests and from whistleblowers, including internal correspondence and inspection reports, disclose serious infractions and failures in performance by oil and gas companies; yet regulatory standards remain largely unchanged and H2S incidents and risks remain hidden from the public.
- 'There's no sense in speaking up' despite deadly gas risks
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
An investigation into oil industry in Saskatchewan reveals a culture of secrecy fuelled by oil industry money, the province's reliance on that money, and the threats and intimidation that have followed those who have spoken out.
- The Future Belongs to the Blasphemers
A message from ex-Muslims to mark International Blasphemy Day
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Some people believe that disagreeing with deeply held beliefs is hate. It is not. I want to remind you that many of the most powerful ideas, ideas that changed our world were once heretical. I want to remind you that many of the most radical thinkers and reformists in past eras were blasphemers against the established order of their day.
- I wanted to understand why racists hated me. So I befriended Klansmen
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Daryl Davis befriended Ku Klux Klan members in order to gain some understanding of the organization, their beliefs and hatred.
- Memento Mori: a Requiem for Puerto Rico
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Puerto Rico is dying. Let those words sink in.Three and a half million people are without power, water, fuel, food, and support. This isn’t some uninhabited atoll.
- Bequests
Leaving a social justice legacy
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Many of us have made working for social justice a lifetime commitment. If you are thinking about leaving a legacy for social justice that will live on, you might want to consider leaving a bequest to Connexions in your will.
- Bullied BBC? Alternative media returns fire on claims it's waging 'war' on the corporation
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Alternative media accused of waging "guerilla warfare" against the BBC by its former political editor Nick Robinson say they are just providing balance to the 'biased' government-funded corporation.
- Connexions welcomes your support
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Your contribution to Connexions will help us preserve the memories, experiences, strategies, success, failures and visions of those who have worked for social justice over the years so that future generations can learn and be inspired by them.
- The Plague of Nationalism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Catalan nationalists insist that "self-determination" is an inalienable right and cannot be curbed by the Spanish Constitution. Well, then, why stop with an "autonomous community" as Catalonia is designated? Why don’t provinces everywhere have the right to declare their independence? How about cities? Or neighbourhoods?
- Russian officer who prevented nuclear disaster in 1983
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Stanislav Petrov single handedly prevented the nuclear destruction of the United States and the USSR, and only a handful of Communist leaders knew about the apocalypse he averted.
- Trump, fake news and the war on dissidents
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A rebuke to a recent Guardian article titled "If mainstream news wants to win back trust, it cannot silence dissident voices", where journalist Nick Robinson claims that the left and right are the peddlers of the same "fakery" in attacking the media.
- While US, North Korea Both Make Threats, Only One Has Killed Millions of the Other's People
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Despite bombastic threats from both the Unites States and North Korea, the mainstream media plays down the simple fact that it is North Korea that is isolated and facing overwhelming military superiority.
- The 24 hour day: women, work and class
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Movements of women, as well as those involving large numbers of women, will increasingly be features of resistance to neoliberalism. The extent to which they succeed will be the extent to which they are able to challenge the class basis of neoliberalism, and its consequences.
- A Visit to Germany's Flyover Country
The AfD Heartland
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
- Why Don't We Demand 1st Amendment Rights on the Job?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Most workers in the US who speak their minds are at the risk of being fired, and have little recourse if they are let go for publicaly expressing opinions that aren't shared by the boss.
- Colonialism Never Gives Anything Away for Nothing
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Decolonization is a violent phenomenon exemplified in Zohra Drif’s memoir, "Inside the Battle of Algiers: Memoir of a Woman Freedom Fighter."
- Memo to Jacobin: Ecomodernism is not ecosocialism
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Ian Angus challenges a left-wing magazine that promotes geoengineering, nuclear power, carbon storage and other techno-fixes as solutions to climate change.
- An ordinary Labour member just gave the most moving speech of the party conference so far
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
An ordinary member's speech to the Labour Party conference left the audience stunned. And it's one that everyone needs to hear, as the moving address reflects a crisis in the UK.
- Any White Cop Can Kill a Black Man at Any Time
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Any white cop can kill a black man at any time and the cop will not go to jail, exemplified in the Jason Stockley, Anthony Lamar Smith case.
- The Cancer in Blue: Cop Documentaries
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
John Ridely's film "Let it Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992" is a 144-minute kaleidoscope of interviews and television news footage that climaxes in the riots that followed the acquittal of four cops who were captured on home video by a man named George Holliday as they were beating Rodney King with steel batons.
- The Censorious Vortex of the "Flash News" Barons
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
For decades, the factors that decided what noteworthy stories would not find their way into print or on the air came down to the media's ignorance, laziness or from advertising restraints. For too long, the explosive material for good journalism in these and other areas had remained hidden in plain sight.
- Islamophobic U.S. Megadonor Fuels German Far-Right Party With Viral Fake News
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
An American website, the Gatestone Institute, is peddling fake news focused on anti-immigration and anti-Islamic rhetoric that many fear will influence the upcoming German federal election.
- Poison in the Fields: Agriculture as Chemical Warfare
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Highly poisonous chemicals ( that were originally designed as weapons of war) have been allowed for many decades, under successive Government policies, to be sprayed on crop fields all over the UK, and with literally no protection at all for the many millions of rural citizens living or attending schools in the locality of such chemically treated areas. (In fact, there is actually no protection for rural residents and communities in the majority of other countries around the world either!)
- Who Are the "Alt-Right"? On the Rise of Reactionary Hatred and How to Fight it
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
With much of the public discussing strategies for how best to fight right-wing extremism, the need for constructive solutions is greater than ever. First and foremost, it’s important to point out that public support for far-right extremists is miniscule. The vast majority of Americans reject this movement's violence and hatred. According to a Marist survey from the summer of 2017, just 4 percent of Americans said they support "white supremacy movement" or "white nationalism." Similarly, just 6 percent embraced the term "alt-right" Still, there is a legitimate concern that support for right-wing bigotry may grow in the future if left unchecked.
- Whose Streets? Their Streets
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
If people don’t believe that the police in America are the greatest threat to civil society then they've been asleep for years, and comatose just this week. Or they're white, privileged and/or accepting of brutality against their own fellow citizens.
- Why Won't American Media Tell the Truth About What's Happening in Venezuela?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Unlike Brazil and Argentina, Venezuela has been victimized by a number of factors outside of its control, but especially a precipitous drop in the price of oil, the country's main source of revenue.
- Jacobin and ecomodernism: Two replies
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Two readers, David Schwartzman and David Walters, respond to criticism of Jacobin magazine's special issue on climate change.
- The left wing opposition in Italy during the period of the Resistance
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
An account of the groups to the left of the PCI, during WW2 by independent Marxist historical researcher Arturo Peregalli. It was first published in 'Revolutionary History, Vol.5, No.4', and translated by Barbara Rossi and Doris Bornstein.
- Drowning in the waste of Israeli settlers
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Several decades ago, the al-Matwa spring in Salfit city would often be crowded with Palestinians hiking in the valley and families picnicking alongside the clear, flowing stream. Now, however, the sewage flowing through the spring, the rancid smell that engulfs the valley, and the mosquitoes swarming the area have left the valley largely deserted.
- Free Speech for the Right? A Primer on Key Legal Questions and Principles
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The rise in national attention to the "alt-right" and fascist-white supremacist protesters has raised questions about the parameters of free speech in America. When can free speech be limited, if ever? What are the implications of attempting to limit controversial speech? And what precedents has the Supreme Court set regarding free speech?
- Greece mourns slain anti-fascist rapper Pavlos Fyssas
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A self-professed Golden Dawn member stabbed leftist rapper Killah P to death in Piraeus on September 18, 2013.
- The Problem is Fascists, Not Those Who Stand Up To Them
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The ongoing debate of recent weeks around how, or if, to confront demonstrations of white supremacists and fascists is the latest manifestation of arguments the Left and liberals have been having for many years. For this is not simply a question of tactics but incorporates broader ideas of how we conceptualize the threat from the extreme Right.
- Race v. Class? More Brilliant Bourgeois Bullshit from Ta-Nehesi Coates
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Coates is either flat-out lying or woefully ignorant when he argues that "the left" is disinterested in the big and significant problems of racial identity and racial justice. The longstanding legitimately Left progressive agenda addresses both race and class at one and the time. It does not accept Coates' false dichotomy between class and race.
- Rainbow Coalition or Class War?
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Is there any reason to think that Redneck Revolt and the new Rainbow Coalition will turn out differently from the People's Party? American history shows that any political group, left, right or center, that fails to challenge in practice the white community and the institutions and patterns that maintain it will reinforce an identity that has led countless potentially progressive movements to ruin and whose capacity to do harm is by no means exhausted -- no matter how vigorously it denounces “racism” and capitalism and how many coalitions it enters with non-whites. Simply put, white people organized as whites are dangerous to the working class and to humanity, and white people with guns organized as whites are doubly so -- and this is true regardless of the intentions of the organizers.
- U.S. real estate lobbyists turn blind eye to rising sea level threats to waterfront properties
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
All along the coast of the southeast United States, the real estate industry confronts a hurricane. Not the kind that swirls in the Atlantic, but a storm of scientific information about sea-level rise that threatens the most lucrative, commission-boosting properties.
- The Genocide of the Rohingya: Big Oil, Failed Democracy and False Prophets
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
To a certain extent, Aung San Suu Kyi is a false prophet. Glorified by the west for many years, she was made a 'democracy icon' because she opposed the same forces in her country, Burma, at the time that the US-led western coalition isolated Rangoon for its alliance with China.
- 100 Percent Wishful Thinking: the Green-Energy Cornucopia
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A growing body of research has debunked overblown claims of a green-energy bonanza.
- The Russian Hacking Story Continues to Unravel
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
An examination of the text from a recent report by an IBM executive, which disproves the claim that Russia interfered in the US elections or hacked the servers at the DNC.
- Anti-Fascist Self-Defense: From Mussolini's Italy to Trump's America
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
A conversation with Mark Bray, a political activist, historian and a lecturer at Dartmouth College and author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook.
- Myanmar Rohingya Face "Textbook Example of Ethnic Cleansing"
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
As hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims flee violence in Myanmar's Rakhine State, thousands that remain in the country face mass atrocities at a scale never seen before.
- Preferred Conclusions -- The BBC, Syria And Venezuela
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
In 2013, it was remarkable to see the BBC reporting claims from Syria on a daily basis in a way that almost always blamed the Syrian government, and President Assad personally, for horrendous war crimes. But as the New York Times reported last month, the picture was rather less black and white.
- Rohingya and the Myth of Buddhist Tolerance
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Since their citizenship rights have been progressively revoked between the 1940s and '80s, thousands of Rohingya men, women and children have been subjected to murder and rape, their villages have been raised to the ground and more than a million have fled to neighboring countries without much protest from the world beyond.
- Radical White Workers During the Last Revolution
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The long-lost story of anti-racist, radical white working class activism has been restored by Amy Sonnie and James Tracy in their invaluable book: Hillbilly Nationalists, Urban Race Rebels, and Black Power: Community Organizing in Radical Times.
- Years Before Charlottesville, Tribes Urged Yellowstone National Park to Change the Names of a War Criminal and a White Supremacist That Defile Sacred Land
We're Still Waiting
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
Chief Stan Grier explains why historical figures who advocated genocide and white supremacy must be not continue to be commemorated at Yellowstone National Park, a sacred land to Indigenous communities for at least 10,000 years.
- Berkeley Republicans Hope More Left-Wing Riots Will Create "Pedestal" For Conservative Movement
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
The students hosting conservative pundit Ben Shapiro at University of California, Berkeley this week say their fingers are crossed in the hopes for a left-wing protest that could amplify his message.
- Cultural Imperialism and the Seeds of Catastrophe: Ripping Up The Social Fabric of India
Resource Type: Article
First Published: 2017
Published: 2017
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