February 2012
139 posts
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Students Physically Attacked for "Mic-Checking"... →
It says a lot about Zionist supporters of Israel that their immediate response to a non-violent “mic check” by Occupy Albuquerque and Palestine solidarity activists is to make recourse to brute violence and physical intimidation.
I mean, can one even imagine the media and political frenzy if a group of Palestinians or Muslims physically assaulted Zionist students in such a way at a...
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Republic Windows, redux? Workers occupy Goose... →
The original “Occupiers” are back on the scene — working class immigrants taking control of their factory, just like they did in 2008.
For all its talk about “new tactics,” the Occupy movement actually was preceded by these workers employing the age-old labor tactic of “sitting-in” and occupying one’s workplace.
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A group of about 65 workers...
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IL House panel approves Democrat-sponsored... →
Once again, fuck the Democrats. For every inch of ground they take away from women on the question of reproductive rights and autonomy, it becomes easier for the GOP to sweep in and demand even more …
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Illinois women who want to get abortions might be required to either view an ultrasound before the procedure or decline to do so in writing, under proposals that passed an Illinois...
Private Manning's prosecution begins |... →
Nicole Colson reports on the latest turns in the Obama administration’s prosecution of alleged whistleblower who exposed war crimes, Private Bradley Manning.
* Note: This article refers to Manning using male pronouns, in large part because the revelations of Mannin’s potential transgender identity continue to be mixed and it is still not clear that Manning prefers to be...
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Indian High Court Rules That the Decision to Abort... →
Proving once again that America is well behind the times and stands as one of the more backward nations in the world (see the politics of the entire GOP & much of the Democratic Party) …
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In a significant decision, the Punjab and Haryana High Court last week ruled that the right to abort a pregnancy in a marriage rests with the wife and not husband.
“A woman is not a machine in...
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The race to exploit resources in melting Arctic... →
Capitalism’s unthinking pursuit of profits across the globe is literally killing the planet.
Also, this is why I can’t stand the liberal acceptance of capitalism and the status quo which animates the politics of NPR and Marketplace …
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Arctic ice is breaking up faster than scientists expected, which is going to open up new shipping routes, more oil and gas exploration...
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BP Hauls in $7.7 Billion in Profits, Gulf... →
Capitalism sucks. In a sane world, the private property rights of the BP executives and shareholders would be immediately rendered null and void, and all of BP’s profits would be seized and used to fund income compensation and healthcare costs of Gulf Coast residents, as well as full and total ecological clean-up efforts for the region’s plant and wildlife.
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Oil giant BP, the...
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Science Finds Humans Aren’t Inherently Nasty |... →
See, humans are naturally inclined toward socialist behavior! That’s why the capitalist ruling class needs to make such immense use of various forms of ideological, economic, physical, and social coercion against us in order to keep its order in existence [i.e., prisons, media, police, politicians, scapegoating, racism/sexism/xenophobia, etc.]
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According to researcher Frans de Waal,...
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Obama Offers to Cut Corporate Tax Rate by 7% -... →
Surprise, surprise. Obama and the GOP stand shoulder-to-shoulder when it comes to putting the interests of Corporate America and the super-rich first. The effect of such a tax cut, if Obama gets his way, would essentially mean that the largest corporations in America would suddenly become billions of dollars wealthier. The same can’t be said for the 99% of us that don’t own...
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Santorum would limit prenatal testing for pregnant... →
Out of control, these right-wing bigots are. They not only want to bar women from having access to an abortion in all circumstances, they even want to bar women from having access to information about her own body which may (or may not) lead her to desire an abortion.
Forget the fact that it should be an absolute right of a woman to have access to all information regarding her body, her...
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“When the newspapers were full of alarms about Iran possibly developing a nuclear...”
– Howard Zinn on Kurt Vonnegut
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One third of Greeks support radical change via... →
Data produced by Greek survey organization Public Issue shows that in 2011 one third of the population agreed that ‘Our society must change radically through revolution.’
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Inspiring the masses to action? |... →
Jason Netek explains what Marxists have said about “propaganda of the deed.”
… In 1911, Leon Trotsky wrote that propaganda of the deed “belittles the role of the masses in their own consciousness, reconciles them to their powerlessness, and turns their eyes and hopes towards a great avenger and liberator who some day will come and accomplish his mission.”
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NATO 'Quran burning' triggers Afghan protests - Al... →
“Why do they hate us?”
Maybe it’s because NATO/U.S. forces represent an arrogant, insulting, foreign imperialist occupation of the Afghan people’s sovereign territory?
That’s just a guess, though …
Also, not to be nit-picky, but I do believe that it is considered a war crime for a foreign army to burn the cultural and religous symbols of the nation it is...
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Israel to 'free' Palestinian hunger striker - Al... →
Major victory for democracy activists against Israeli police-state repression and criminality.
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Lawyer for Khader Adnan says Israel has agreed to free West Bank baker refusing food for 66 days over his detention.
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Bolshevism versus Anarchism?
All Chris Hedges and the International Socialist Organization (ISO) want to do to OWS is what Felix Dzerzhinsky did to anarchists in the Russian Civil War. Sorry, you cannot whitewash political murder and torture, period.
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I recently came across this statement on Facebook. It is absurd and ahistorical on many levels. For posterity’s sake, I wanted to recreate my response to this...
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Yawning wealth gap at top of higher education... →
Vast inequality in America’s privatized, higher education system …
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For the 99% of colleges, it was a pretty good fundraising year.
For the 1% of super-wealthy elite, it was a much better one that catapulted them even farther ahead of the pack.
The latest annual college fundraising figures out Wednesday show donations to colleges and universities rose 8.2% in fiscal 2011, ...
mxtori asked: @Jordi Yha, I was gonna say on your fcbk that that's co-signed by Angela Davis and other high profiled grassroots organizers/organizations. The point of grassroots organizing is that the peopulation that's being affected are the ones being listened to/are the experts. The prison is responding in a fucked up way. but it't the occupiers fault.
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jordihall asked: Unfortunately 4,000+ men will spend 24 hours within the confines of a 8 X 4 foot cell without sunshine, exercise, classes, or work - in "lock down" all day on monday because of "occupiers" who never asked prisoners for their opinion and decided to Occupy San Quentin for the great publicity on Presidents Day. The resentment of the prisoners towards the occupiers is strong!
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Struggle Changes Consciousness: Public opinion...
Oftentimes, people ask how it’s possible for Americans to overcome backward ideas and become less racist, sexist, bigoted, and more class-conscious. The Occupy Wall Street movement provides a perfect example of how mass struggle and solidarity can change the worldview and perspective of millions of people.
To wit: A January 2012 Pew Research Center study found that,
As a result [of the Occupy...
"A movement has to control its own voice": The... →
Dan Georgakas is co-author of the book Detroit: I Do Mind Dying, which tells the story of the Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement (DRUM). DRUM was launched in 1968 when Black autoworkers led a wildcat strike at the Dodge Main plant in Detroit—in a challenge not only to the auto bosses, but to racist union leaders.
The RUMs, which came to be known under the umbrella name of the League of...
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How in the Hell are We Supposed to Grant... →
The state legislatures of Virginia and Oklahoma have continued to embarrass their reasonable constituents this week by passing legislation that defines fertilized eggs as “persons” eligible for the same rights as normal humans that aren’t multicelled, consciousless globs.
First Virgina and now Oklahoma have just this week passed ‘personhood’ bills that basically outlaw abortion completely in those states, granting more rights to zygotes than to actual human women. No exception for rape; incest; the health of the women; or even to save her life. Life begins at conception. Corporations and non-sentient bundles of tissue are ‘people.’ Women,...
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Female Dems Walk Out on House Contraception... →
This is awesome, but they also need to walk out of their own Party which has for years been ceding miles of ground to the right-wing on the question of abortion and reproductive justice.
I’m through with any Party which will not proudly stand up and lead the charge in the fight for women’s rights. Period. I’m done with compromise and niceties. We need revolutionary social...
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Oklahoma Senate Passes Personhood Act, Effectively... →
Right-wing bigots want to grant ‘personhood’ rights to everything but actual human women — corporations, zygotes, hedge funds.
Seriously, though. This is war. If we don’t move forward, we move backward. It’s not enough to simply elect liberal or Democrat politicians, either, so don’t let them off the hook. Remember when Obama signed into law a health care...
