Ireland: State Murder for Sex at 13 in Iran
9 Dec 2007
The Islamic Republic of Iran murdered Makwan Moloudzadeh, a lad of 21, on the cold morning of December 5. Makwan was dragged at dawn from his jail cell in the Kermanshah Central Prison and hanged in secret within the prison, without the required presence of his lawyer and family, for the so-called “crime” of having had anal sexual relations, which the authorities claimed was rape, with boys of his own age eight years ago, when he was 13.

Podur: Exchange on the Academic Boycott
9 Dec 2007
On November 28, 2007, Ryerson University in Toronto held a debate on “Academic Boycott and Academic Freedom” in the context of Israel/Palestine. Justin Podur wrote an article on the debate (http://www.

Almeghari: A local PFLP leader calls on Hamas to renounce hegemony over Gaza
9 Dec 2007
Local leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Jamil Majdalawi, called on Hamas on Saturday to renounce control over the coastal region. Majdalawi’s remarks came on the sideline of a large PFLP’s rally, marking the 40th anniversary of the installation of the leftist Palestinian party.

Fraser: The Perfect Storm of Campaign 2008
9 Dec 2007
Will the presidential election of 2008 mark a turning point in American political history? Will it terminate with extreme prejudice the conservative ascendancy that has dominated the country for the last generation? No matter the haplessness of the Democratic opposition, the answer is yes.   With Richard Nixon’s victory in the 1968 presidential election, a new political order first triumphed over New Deal liberalism.

Ford: Don’t Blame Blacks for the Crisis of Capital
8 Dec 2007
“Trading in speculative derivatives amounted to more than ten times the yearly value of all goods and services on Earth!”     The crisis in sub-prime housing lending is bad enough – it threatens to utterly derail the hopes and dreams of a huge chunk of what passes for the Black “middle class” in the United States. More than half of all Blacks that refinan.

Brutus: ‘No thanks’ to SA Sports Hall of Fame
8 Dec 2007
Dennis Brutus turned down his induction into the Sports Hall of Fame Wednesday night, at a Johannesburg ceremony with 1000 in attendance. He says is convinced he does not belong in an institution alongside players/administrators stained by apartheid, until they express regret for supporting racism in sport and for the indignity and hurt caused to fellow South African men and women.

Halliday: The mysteries of the American empire
8 Dec 2007
The debate on the future of American power – and what is increasingly (even casually) referred to as the American “empire” – is almost as old as the United States itself. It was Alexis de Tocqueville who, in the 1830s, anticipated a future dominated by the two continental states of Russia and America; and the Time magazine editor Henry Luce who, in 1941, on the eve of America’s decisive entry into both the Pacific and European wars, predicted “the American century”.

Bidwai: The Left: Rethink or Perish
8 Dec 2007
The Indian Left survived, even extended its influence, in the aftermath of Soviet-style socialism collapse. Yet in one year it has undone this and seriously damaged its credibility as a force which speaks for the underprivileged, the excluded, and which upholds the values and practices of inclusive democracy.

Fletcher: The Politics of Symbolism
8 Dec 2007
As we go deeper into the 2008 election season, I continue to be struck by the politics of symbolism that surround the race for the Democratic Party nomination. Perhaps if I were not as fearful as I am about both the situation in Iraq and the potential for a Bush-initiated war against Iran, I could sit back and be amused.

Weisbrot: Progressive Change in Venezuela and Latin America
7 Dec 2007
“He had faults, like other men; but it was for his virtues that he was hated and successfully calumniated.”—Bertrand Russell, on the American revolutionary Thomas Paine.

Gupta: The Theater of the Absurd
7 Dec 2007
The presidential race is about many things: money, branding, celebrity, the media and theatrics. The one thing it’s not about is politics.

Penn: Piano Wire Pupeteers: The Constitution, Media & Dennis Kucinich
7 Dec 2007
It’s been an odd week.  For me, a particularly odd week.

Hallmark: Leonard Weinglass Interview
7 Dec 2007
THE Miami Five’s lead attorney has earned international acclaim by achieving stunning victories in a string of the United States’ most historic civil rights cases. Those who have met veteran campaigner Leonard Weinglass cannot fail to be impressed by his quiet, unassuming manner combined with his commanding knowledge and unstinting commitment to social justice.

McNeill: Look Back in Anger
6 Dec 2007
A crop of new movies released to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre is set to again dredge up the controversy about one of the 20th Century’s most notorious events. How will Japan react?   One way to learn what happened in one of history’s most noxious but disputed episodes is to ask Mizushima Satoru.

Ireland: Putin Vote Rig Snares Gays
6 Dec 2007
The harsh crackdown on dissent in Vladimir Putin’s Russia that accompanied Sunday’s parliamentary elections also targeted gays, as more than a dozen gay activists—including Nikolai Alexeyev, the young lawyer who is the chief organizer of Moscow Pride—were arrested on December 2 inside a polling station in that nation’s capital.Alexeyev and his fellow activists were attempting to cast ballots which they had deliberately spoiled by writing “No to Homophobes” on them.

Hiro: The Zero-Sum Fiasco
6 Dec 2007
Bush’s woefully misguided invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003, carried out under false pretences, has not only drained the United States treasury, but reduced Washington’s standing in the Middle East in a way not yet fully grasped by most commentators. Whereas Washington once played off Tehran against Baghdad, while involved in a superpower zero-sum game with the Soviet Union, the Bush administration is now engaged in a zero-sum game, as a virtual equal, with Iran.

Barker: The Origins of the UN Democracy Fund
5 Dec 2007
The first two parts of this four part series of articles initially introduced the new head of the UN Democracy Fund, Roland Rich, which was followed by a critical examination of the ‘democratic’ background of a key former UN staffer, Mark Malloch Brown. Part three of this series will now examine the history of the UN Democracy Fund itself, and introduce some of the individuals who work with the Fund.

Christoff: Is Canadian Military Aid Funding Assassinations in the Philippines?
5 Dec 2007
 A history of popular rebellions is woven into politics in the Philippines, from the 1986 “People Power Revolution” of street protests that overthrew the US supported dictator, Ferdinand Marcos, to the ongoing left-wing guerrilla insurgency of the New People’s Army (NPA). Economic inequality is a central element fueling political turmoil and grassroots rebellions in the country.

Raina: Communalism and Terrorism
5 Dec 2007
I write this on the fifteenth anniversary of the demolition of the Babri mosque by fascist hordes of the Sangh Parivar, consequent upon the pogrom set in motion by Advani’s infamous rath yatra. Few events in the post-independence history of  India have  outfaced the founding principles of both the Freedom Movement and the Republic as decisively as that wanton and blood-thirsty challenge to the secular state.

harmon snow: Wasting America’s Wetlands
5 Dec 2007
It was not a hurricane named Katrina that wrecked the city of New Orleans. It was, quite simply, a warfare economy and a sold-out government.

Bailey: Vancouver 2010 Olympics
5 Dec 2007
Glen Bailey is the Director of the Crossroads Urban Center in Salt Lake City and was a spokesperson with Impact 2002 and Beyond, an Olympic watchdog group in Salt Lake City in the lead up to the 2002 Winter Olympics.  He spoke over the phone with Am Johal.

Rosen: “Iraq Doesn’t Exist Anymore”
5 Dec 2007
Nir Rosen, author of In the Belly of the Green Bird: The Triumph of the Martyrs in Iraq, has spent more than two years in Iraq reporting on the American occupation, the relationship between Americans and Iraqis, the development of postwar Iraqi religious and political movements, interethnic and sectarian relations, and the Iraqi civil war. His reporting and research also focused on the origins and development of Islamist resistance, insurgency, and terrorist organizations.

Kelly: Traveling Light
5 Dec 2007
Traveling with as light a load as possible is something I long for during long stretches away from home.  I routinely discard paperwork and periodicals, “recycle” gifts and give away clothing.

FS: Take action to save NOLA public housing
5 Dec 2007
Next Monday, Dec. 10, is International Human Rights Day.

Buffa: “Big Box Living Wage Ordinance” would benefit low-wage Wal-Mart workers, minimally impact shoppers, says new study
5 Dec 2007
Berkeley – Wal-Mart could increase its minimum wage to $10 per hour and greatly boost the well-being of its low-income workers with little financial impact on most shoppers, says a study released today by the University of California at Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education. Campus labor center researchers report that a “big box living wage” ordinance would provide significant and concentrated benefits to workers, mostly members of low-income fami.