By JOHN POTTINGER "Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal," by Eric Schlosser. Perennial of HarperCollins Publishers, 2002. 383 pp., $13.95. "As American as a small, rectangular, hand-held, frozen, and reheated apple pie." Far from being a run-of-the-mill exposé on calories and fat grams in fast food, "Fast Food Nation" … Continue reading BOOK REVIEW: Fast Food Nation
Month: October 2002
Michael Jordan Wears Armband for ‘Resistance’
By SUE DOUGHNEM Basketball superstar Michael Jordan, who recently announced that he will return for a second season with the Washington Wizards, has decided to display solidarity with a variety of causes by wearing a black armband during games. After discussing his new season with the Wizards at a press conference, Jordan was asked … Continue reading Michael Jordan Wears Armband for ‘Resistance’
Youth in Action
Sacrificial lambs in the Afghan war By ANDREW OLSEN (Duluth YSA) Many of us have heard stories of friendly fire being reported in the news during the Gulf War, Yugoslavia, and now Afghanistan. The recently reported case was that of an American pilot mistaking Canadian infantry/artillery night training exercises for hostile surface-to-air fire. He dropped … Continue reading Youth in Action
Bush Employs Taft-Hartley Act to Intervene in Dock Workers Struggle
By CHARLES WALKER Though the Taft-Hartley Act has been on the books for over five decades, it has never been used to end an employer-led lockout. Never, that is, until Oct. 8, when the Bush administration came down hard on the bosses' side in the contentious West Coast contract dispute over jobs and the future … Continue reading Bush Employs Taft-Hartley Act to Intervene in Dock Workers Struggle
Aid Needed for Hugo Blanco
Below is an appeal sent out by the Fourth International on Sept. 17, calling for financial assistance for Hugo Blanco, the famous Peruvian Trotskyist peasant leader. The funds are to cover medical expenses. We recently learnt of the emergency hospitalization of our comrade Hugo Blanco. Victim of a brain hemorrhage while visiting the peasant communities … Continue reading Aid Needed for Hugo Blanco
Coca-Cola Workers Murdered By Terror Squads in Colombia
The following interview was done in Colombia by Joergen Hassler and published in the Aug. 8 issue of Internationalen, the weekly newspaper of the Socialist Party (Swedish section of the Fourth International, Socialist Action's sister organization in Sweden), from which we have translated it. "Six of our comrades have been murdered by paramilitaries at … Continue reading Coca-Cola Workers Murdered By Terror Squads in Colombia
Teamsters Ranks Still Between a Rock and a Hard Place
By CHARLES WALKER In the Nation of Sept. 29, labor commentator David Moberg, senior editor of In These Times, rightly says that the neither the government's intercession into the Teamsters Union nor internal efforts at reform have yet succeeded in establishing "a culture of democracy within the union." Nevertheless, Moberg suggests, the government's 12-year supervision of the union … Continue reading Teamsters Ranks Still Between a Rock and a Hard Place
FILM REVIEW: Who is Murdering the Women of Juárez?
By GAETANA CALDWELL-SMITH SEÑORITA EXTRAVIADA A film by Lourdes Portillo. In English and Spanish with English subtitles, 2001. When documentary filmmaker Lourdes Portillo first heard about the serial murders of young women occurring in her home country and that the numbers had grown from 160 to more than 300 since 1994, she had to act. … Continue reading FILM REVIEW: Who is Murdering the Women of Juárez?
Fissures in South African Communist Party
By GORAN KARRMAN On Oct. 1, tens of thousands of protesters marched in Johannesburg, demanding an end to the African National Congress-led government's program to privatize state resources, which has resulted in job losses. The demonstration was part of a two-day nationwide general strike, which was supported by the Congress of South African Trade Unions … Continue reading Fissures in South African Communist Party
BOOK REVIEW: Martin Amis Rewrites the Russian Revolution
By JOE AUCIELLO British writer Martin Amis, best known as a novelist, has just published a short, nonfiction book about communism, the Russian Revolution, Stalin, and the blindness of British intellectuals (especially his father) to the Gulag. The book is titled "Koba the Dread," and it is absolutely dreadful. We'll get soon enough to the … Continue reading BOOK REVIEW: Martin Amis Rewrites the Russian Revolution
BOOK REVIEW: Washington’s Secret Dealings with Islamist Oil Interests
By PAUL SIEGEL Jean-Charles Brisard and Guillaume Dasquié, "Forbidden Truth: U.S.-Taliban Secret Oil Diplomacy and the Failed Hunt for Bin Laden." Thunder's Mouth Press/Nation Books, 2002. 249 pp. $12.95. "Forbidden Truth" is a translation of a book that was published in Paris two months after the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center. … Continue reading BOOK REVIEW: Washington’s Secret Dealings with Islamist Oil Interests
Zionists Are Wrecking Social Base of Palestinian Community
By GERRY FOLEY As they anticipate a U.S. strike against Iraq and thereby against Arab nationalism, the Zionist rulers continue to step up their pressure on the Palestinian population. (The Israeli minister of defense, Benjamin Ben Elizer, says that he expects the U.S. assault on Iraq to begin between mid-November and mid-December.) The Israeli press … Continue reading Zionists Are Wrecking Social Base of Palestinian Community
Democrats Follow Bush on the Road to War
By JOE AUCIELLO When the president insisted that Congress declare war, a liberal Republican rose up in the Senate to voice his opposition. The Senator condemned "the Wall Street view." Instead, he asked, "To whom does the war bring prosperity? Not to the soldier," the man ready "to shed his blood and to die if … Continue reading Democrats Follow Bush on the Road to War
Bush Reaffirms US First-Strike War Policy
By JEFF MACKLER The final draft of a 33-page foreign policy document titled "The National Security Strategy of the United States" was leaked to The New York TImes on Sept. 19 before its submission to Congress. "Bush to Outline Doctrine of Striking Foes First," was the headline describing the text that The Times argues represents a "new … Continue reading Bush Reaffirms US First-Strike War Policy
Thousands March Nationwide Against US War on Iraq
A couple of days before Congress began discussing the administration's war bill, tens of thousands of antiwar protesters made their views known in the streets. On Oct. 6, marches and rallies took place around the United States under the slogan, "Not in Our Name." In the largest action on Oct. 6, a crowd estimated at … Continue reading Thousands March Nationwide Against US War on Iraq
European Antiwar Protesters Mobilize
On Sept. 28, the same day as large U.S. demonstrations took place against the threatened war against Iraq, at least half a million people marched in London and Rome to make the same point. In fact, Irish radio estimated the London march alone to be half a million. The organizers said 400,000. British Prime Minister … Continue reading European Antiwar Protesters Mobilize
Commentary by Mumia Abu-Jamal: The Hunger for War
Mumia recorded a tape of the following essay, which was played at antiwar rallies nationwide on Oct. 6, 2002. By MUMIA ABU-JAMAL "There never was a good war, or a bad peace." - Ben Franklin One is always somewhat bemused when one hears the voices of those Americans (and others) who call on TV call-in … Continue reading Commentary by Mumia Abu-Jamal: The Hunger for War
Brazil’s Presidential Elections: Lula Wins Near Majority First Round
By GERRY FOLEY Workers Party candidate Luis Ignacio da Silva (Lula) won over 46 percent of the vote in the first round for the Brazilian presidency, while the candidate of the outgoing Cardoso administration, Jose Serra, got only 24 percent. Two other candidates that criticized the government from the left, Ciro Gomes and Anthony Garotinho, … Continue reading Brazil’s Presidential Elections: Lula Wins Near Majority First Round
NO WAR FOR OIL! US HANDS OFF IRAQ!
By GERRY FOLEY The Bush administration's head-long rush to war was glaringly exposed in its response to the Iraqi government's agreement to allow the return of arms inspectors. The reaction of the White House was immediately to raise the ante; for them the return of inspectors is not enough. U.S. officials drafted a resolution for … Continue reading NO WAR FOR OIL! US HANDS OFF IRAQ!