By GAETANA CALDWELL-SMITH "The Threepenny Opera." Book and lyrics by Bertolt Brecht, music by Kurt Weill, translation by Michael Feingold. Directed by Cary Perloff, American Conservatory Theatre (ACT), San Francisco. Many of Bertolt Brecht' s works have been and are being produced worldwide to celebrate Brecht's centennial, though he was born in 1898. When … Continue reading The Threepeney Opera
Month: October 1999
Editorial: Nuclear Disaster
The Sept. 23 catastrophe at the Tokaimura nuclear plant in Japan is a new warning of the dangers inherent in this industry that come from a pernicious intertwining of big capital and the capitalist state. The nuclear industry is a byproduct of the arms industry and not economically viable without state support. But this combination … Continue reading Editorial: Nuclear Disaster
Editorial: Against UN Intervention in East Timor
Mass support for the demand of the East Timorese people for independence from Indonesia was confirmed by a huge majority vote in the recent referendum. Working people and other opponents of political, social, and economic injustice wholeheartedly support the right to self-determination of the oppressed masses in East Timor. But the decision by the United … Continue reading Editorial: Against UN Intervention in East Timor
Our Readers Speak Out
Dear editor, I am writing especially to congratulate you on your July issue. Your coverage of the Balkan War was brilliant and in the best Marxist tradition. I found the discussion between Cockburn, George, and Seligman particularly stimulating. The Blair "New Labour" government has shown that the social democratic leopard has not changed its spots … Continue reading Our Readers Speak Out
Minnesota Farmers Facing Disaster
By ADAM RITSCHER As an example of the deepening crisis affecting small farmers across the country, the federal Farm Service Agency released a report this month predicting that nearly 6500 farmers were likely to lose their farms this coming year in Minnesota alone. That number represents almost 10 percent of small farmers in the … Continue reading Minnesota Farmers Facing Disaster
LABOR BRIEFING: SWEENEY RINGS WALL STREET’S BELL
From Gompers to Kirkland, the wealthy have periodically lauded organized labor's chieftains. The heads of labor's federations have been wined and dined at public fetes and private repasts, been awarded parchment scrolls and beribboned medals. But the captains of industry and commerce have never welcomed one of the union movement's commanders-in-chief into the belly of … Continue reading LABOR BRIEFING: SWEENEY RINGS WALL STREET’S BELL
Teamster flight attendants dump company-Hoffa agreement
By CHARLES WALKER "Wow! Northwest flight attendants really didn't like their contract proposal! ... Dumped 69 percent to 31 percent. That's impressive!" -IBT Vice President Chuck Mack After the national carhaul and Anheuser-Busch contracts were ratified, Teamsters President James Hoffa was looking for a hat trick with the ratification of a proposed five-year … Continue reading Teamster flight attendants dump company-Hoffa agreement
Detroit Teachers Defy Union Officials, Win Gains
By ANN ROBERTSON In one of the nation's biggest teacher strikes in years, 8000 Detroit teachers walked off the job on Aug. 31. The strike was carried out in defiance not only of their own union leadership, which urged them not to walk out, but in defiance of a Michigan law that rendered the … Continue reading Detroit Teachers Defy Union Officials, Win Gains
Youth in Action: Art For Mumia!
Sept. 11 marked the first National Day of Art to Stop the Execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal. Throughout the day and into the night artists, activists, and interested passers-by took part in artistic endeavors to raise awareness about Mumia's case, and express our anger as well as hope. In San Francisco, some of the local activities … Continue reading Youth in Action: Art For Mumia!
Youth in Action: YSA Active on LA Campuses
With the ushering in of a new school year, the Los Angeles YSA has a optimistic outlook on our tasks and perspectives for the upcoming months. We plan educational forums on a variety of issues such as affirmative action, the Cuban Revolution, and the Black Panthers. We will be active with the Affirmative Action Coalition, … Continue reading Youth in Action: YSA Active on LA Campuses
Youth in Action: The Million Youth March
By ASI-YAHOLA SOMBURU On Sept. 4, I had the pleasure of going to Harlem with my father, Kwame Somburu, to attend the rally that Khallid Abdul Muhammad and the New Black Panther Party that he leads named the Million Youth March. Harlem was alive that day! On television prior to the event there were … Continue reading Youth in Action: The Million Youth March
The Threepeney Opera
By GAETANA CALDWELL-SMITH "The Threepenny Opera." Book and lyrics by Bertolt Brecht, music by Kurt Weill, translation by Michael Feingold. Directed by Cary Perloff, American Conservatory Theatre (ACT), San Francisco. Many of Bertolt Brecht' s works have been and are being produced worldwide to celebrate Brecht's centennial, though he was born in 1898. When … Continue reading The Threepeney Opera
CHINA: 50th Anniversary
By ZHANG KAI It is half a century since the Chinese revolution scored a victory and the People's Republic of China was set up, and with the changes in the relations of production and in class relations, the economy acquired possibilities for rapid growth. According to official statistics, China's GDP rose from 67.9 billion … Continue reading CHINA: 50th Anniversary
Globalization: The Achilles Heel of Capitalism
By LYNN HENDERSON With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the pundits of capitalism-its politicians, economists, media publicists, and corporate leaders-confidently proclaimed a new era. This new era has been described using a number of terms, such as "The New World Order" and "The New World Market Economy." But the term that prevailed and … Continue reading Globalization: The Achilles Heel of Capitalism
Why Capitalism Founders in Russia
By NAT WEINSTEIN A scandal broke in the mass media on Aug. 19, when the Bank of New York admitted to cooperating with money-laundering of some $4 billion to $10 billion swindled from the Russian people by Stalinist bureaucrats and capitalist tycoons. (Russian bureaucrats and tycoons, more often than not, are the same people.) … Continue reading Why Capitalism Founders in Russia
Capitalism and War
By CAROLE SELIGMAN Below is the second installment of excerpts from a talk given by Carole Seligman, the acting national secretary of Socialist Action, at the Socialist Action National Educational Conference, on Aug. 19, 1999. In the first part of this series, which appeared in our September issue, Seligman discussed why capitalism leads to … Continue reading Capitalism and War
Belfast Court Reviews Order Against Troublesome Journalist
By GERRY FOLEY On Sept. 23, two Northern Ireland High Court judges began a judicial review of a court order on well-known Irish journalist Ed Maloney, the Northern Ireland editor of the Dublin Sunday Tribune. Maloney was directed to give the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) his notes from an interview with one of their … Continue reading Belfast Court Reviews Order Against Troublesome Journalist
Puerto Rican Political Prisoners Accept Clemency
By GERRY FOLEY President Clinton's decision to grant clemency to a group of Puerto Rican nationalist prisoners who have already served more than 10 years in prison on political charges has become a major political issue in the United States. That is indicated, among other things, by the editorial in the Sept. 23 New … Continue reading Puerto Rican Political Prisoners Accept Clemency
‘Mumia Awareness Week’
By JEFF MACKLER The week of Sept. 19-25, "Mumia Awareness Week," saw countless marches, rallies, teach-ins, concerts, car caravans, film showings, and other coordinated actions to publicize the case of innocent death row political prisoner, Mumia Abu-Jamal. Organizers estimate that the original goal of 100 cities was far exceeded with college and university events … Continue reading ‘Mumia Awareness Week’
Mumia Responds to Denial of his Appeal by Supreme Court
It was not unexpected that the Supreme Court would deny my appeal. The Supreme Court hears only a tiny percent of the cases that are brought before it, roughly 75 out of 7000 in one semester or a term of the Court. I entertained no expectations that mine would be granted. We have to remember … Continue reading Mumia Responds to Denial of his Appeal by Supreme Court
FIGHTBACK: Creative Police Work
FIGHTBACK by Sylvia Weinstein Creative Police Work There is another big scandal in the Los Angeles Police Department. The last major scandal was the beating of Rodney King. Cops had stopped his car and were beating him until he had lost consciousness; he was then accused by the policemen of having beaten them. … Continue reading FIGHTBACK: Creative Police Work
NY Forum on East Timor
Gerry Foley, Socialist Action's international editor, spoke Oct. 29 on the situation in East Timor at a meeting held at the Brecht Forum in New York City, along with radio journalist Amy Goodman and War Resisters' League representative John Miller. The event was organized by the New York branch of Socialist Action. About 100 people … Continue reading NY Forum on East Timor
Military Shoots Protesters in Streets of Jakarta
By GERRY FOLEY The Indonesian government and military have suffered their third major defeat in the last two years at the hands of student protesters with broad support among the population of the country's main city, Jakarta. The fighting in Jakarta Sept. 23-24 revived the image of a country gripped by a revolutionary crisis, … Continue reading Military Shoots Protesters in Streets of Jakarta
The Ongoing American Farm Crisis
By ADAM RITSCHER The roots of the current farm crisis reach back into the 1970s. At that time farmers were rushing to buy and rent more land and machinery to take advantage of a huge increase in the export of agricultural products overseas being orchestrated by the U.S. government. Banks were anxious to lend … Continue reading The Ongoing American Farm Crisis
US Supreme court Rejects Mumia Abu-Jamal’s Appeal
By JEFF MACKLER On Oct. 4, the U.S. Supreme Court opened its fall term by releasing a list of all cases in which it denied defendants a "writ of certiorari." Death row political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal was among those listed. Jamal had filed his petition on April 22. Pennsylvania Gov. Thomas Ridge is expected … Continue reading US Supreme court Rejects Mumia Abu-Jamal’s Appeal