Socialist Action

Revolution? No thanks, we’re autonomists!

Socialist Action — Fri, 17 May 2013 03:17:01 +0000

By ANDREW POLLACK This is the first in a series of critical notes on Marina Sitrin’s “Everyday Revolutions: Horizontalism and Autonomy in Argentina” (Zed Books, 2012). Marina Sitrin is one of the most prolific, visible, and eloquent theorists of “horizontalism” and “autonomy” (hereafter referred to jointly as horizontalist autonomy). Thanks to her years of activism Read More >>

Women face triple economic burden

Socialist Action — Fri, 17 May 2013 01:28:13 +0000

By ANN MONTAGUE The economic burdens on women are triple—working in undervalued jobs, domestic work, and cutbacks in social services used by women. In the first place, women’s work continues to be undervalued and underpaid. Women are half the labor force and continue to earn 76 cents on the dollar earned by men. There remains Read More >>

Connecticut: Indefinite Detention

Socialist Action — Fri, 17 May 2013 01:03:20 +0000

Join us to discuss current developments in civil liberties and what to do next. Agenda to Include: Militarization of local police departments - Report by Isa Mujahid of the CT ACLU; Boston Marathon Bombing and the civil liberties fallout; Bradley Manning and the Upcoming demonstration on June 1st at Fort Meade; Lynne Stewart Defense and the campaign for her release; Guantanamo Bay hunger strike.

The New “State’s Rights”: Marriage Equality and Reproductive Justice

Adam Ritscher — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:44:40 +0000

http://www.laborstandard.org/New_States_Rights.htm

American Socialists & the Labor Party Question

Adam Ritscher — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:44:13 +0000

http://www.laborstandard.org/American_Socialists_and_Labor_Party.html

Three Sources & Three Component Parts of Marxism (Lenin, 1913)

Adam Ritscher — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:42:13 +0000

http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1913/mar/x01.htm

Black Agenda TV

Adam Ritscher — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:40:41 +0000

http://www.blackagendareport.com/content/black-agenda-tv-black-diamonds%E2%80%9D-south-africa%E2%80%99s-black-millionaires-act-middlemen-corporate-po

The Cesspool: Why Youth Sports Tend to Suck

Adam Ritscher — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:39:59 +0000

http://www.edgeofsports.com/2013-05-09-839/index.html

Obama Brands Assata Shakur a Terrorist

Adam Ritscher — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:36:39 +0000

http://www.blackagendareport.com/content/not-your-daddys-cointelpro-obama-brands-assata-shakur-most-wanted-terrorist

Algeria: Barbacha Boils Over

Adam Ritscher — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:34:16 +0000

http://www.internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article2963

Chicago school closings challenged

Socialist Action — Wed, 15 May 2013 01:36:00 +0000

By DAVID BERNT CHICAGO—Students, parents, and teachers from across the city are fighting back against what could be the largest school-closing plan in U.S. history. Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s handpicked school board has proposed closing 54 public elementary schools, primarily in the heavily African American south and west sides of the city, affecting more than 30,000 Read More >>

Days of Action against Drones

Socialist Action — Fri, 10 May 2013 02:29:12 +0000

By MICHAEL SCHREIBER April saw a coordinated series of protests against the Obama administration’s steadily escalating drone-warfare campaign. The National Days of Action Against Drones was endorsed by a number of U.S. groups, including United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC), No Drones Network, Code Pink, the American Friends Service Committee, and ANSWER. Thousands of people in Read More >>

Film: Baseball legend Jackie Robinson

Socialist Action — Fri, 10 May 2013 02:23:09 +0000

By GAETANA CALDWELL-SMITH “42,” written and directed by Brian Helgeland, starring Chadwick Bosemen, Harrison Ford, and Nicole Beharie. “42” is a fictionalized film biography that covers the years 1945 to 1947 in the life of baseball legend Jackie Robinson, when he rose from the Kansas City Monarchs, a Negro League team, to play with the Read More >>

Hartford, Conn.: Immigrant rights

Socialist Action — Thu, 09 May 2013 03:36:45 +0000

The Way Forward for Immigrant Rights: Comprehensive immigration reform is currently moving forward in Congress, but will this lead to justice for millions of immigrants? What do the provisions around a path to legalization, border security and guest-workers mean in the real world? Join us for a forum to analyze the proposed immigration reform and what can be done to stop deportations, create solidarity and build a movement capable of winning justice for all immigrants. Speakers include: Isa Mujahid - CT ACLU field organizer and longtime community activist; Daniel Piper - member of the CT Coalition to Stop Indefinite Detention, member of Socialist Action; Alok Bhatt - member of the Connecticut Immigrant Rights Alliance.

Israel bombs Syria; U.S. signals support

Socialist Action — Tue, 07 May 2013 16:40:00 +0000

BY JEFF MACKLER No serious observer of Middle Eastern politics believes that the Zionist, colonial, settler, and racist state of Israel makes a single move before consulting with its U.S. benefactors. Indeed, the Israeli army and state depend on the billions annually allocated by U.S. imperialism to maintain Israel as its chief imperial representative in Read More >>

Demand compassionate release for Lynne!

Socialist Action — Tue, 07 May 2013 16:29:07 +0000

By JEFF MACKLER Civil rights attorney Lynne Stewart, who spent over 30 years defending the poor and oppressed, is confined to a prison cell at the Federal Medical Center, Carswell at Fort Worth, Texas. She has served three years of a 10-year sentence on frame-up charges concerning help she gave to her client, the blind Read More >>

New York: Sweatshops in Haiti

Socialist Action — Fri, 03 May 2013 05:11:04 +0000

Hear speakers from Haiti, Dominican Republic, and the U.S. on the fight against sweatshops in Haiti and around the world.

The road to achieving reproductive justice

Socialist Action — Fri, 03 May 2013 04:18:03 +0000

By CHRISTINE MARIE On April 25, Black women lawmakers, including Representative Barbara Watson, walked out of a Florida state legislative session to protest the introduction of an anti-abortion bill that would prohibit pregnancy terminations based on “race.” The bill, introduced by white Republican lawmaker Charles Van Zant, is typical of a spate of reactionary laws Read More >>

Los inmigrantes merecen legalización sin ataduras

Socialist Action — Wed, 01 May 2013 01:41:31 +0000

Por LISA LUINENBURG Millones de inmigrantes indocumentados y sus familias, amigos y aliados esperaron con esperanza la revelación, el martes 16 de abril, de la nueva propuesta de Reforma Migratoria Comprensiva. A pesar de las altas esperanzas, la nueva legislación incluye muchas provisiones represivas, por ejemplo más militarización de la frontera EEUU-México, nuevos programas braceros Read More >>

Immigrants need legalization without chains

Socialist Action — Wed, 01 May 2013 01:29:50 +0000

By LISA LUINENBURG Millions of undocumented immigrants and their families, friends, and allies waited with bated breath for the unveiling of the new proposal for Comprehensive Immigration Reform on Tuesday, April 16. Despite high hopes, the new bill includes many draconian provisions, such as more militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border, new guest-worker programs and biometric Read More >>

NDP slide to right sparks socialist opposition

Socialist Action — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 04:03:02 +0000

By BARRY WEISLEDER MONTREAL—Despite the move to water down the reference to socialism in the Federal New Democratic Party Constitution, the word remains, as does the working-class nature of the party. Indeed, socialism is still both a very lively topic and an active movement within the NDP. The party leadership certainly pushed hard to limit Read More >>

Thatcher: Don’t let them rewrite history!

Socialist Action — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 04:41:06 +0000

By DAVE KELLAWAY (From socialistresistance.org, the journal of Fourth Internationalists in Britain.) If we need yet another argument about why we must put our political energies into building a fighting alternative to One Nation Labour then compare and contrast these statements on the death of Margaret Thatcher: Ed Miliband MP, Leader of the Opposition, said: “I Read More >>

The Persecution of Lynne Stewart

Socialist Action — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:34:05 +0000

By CHRIS HEDGES (Reprinted from TruthDig.com. Letters from Lynne follow the article, with a petition for her release on medical grounds.) Lynne Stewart, in the vindictive and hysterical world of the war on terror, is one of its martyrs. A 73-year-old lawyer who spent her life defending the poor, the marginalized and the despised, including Read More >>

An ineffective solution to climate change

Socialist Action — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 03:03:18 +0000

By CHRISTINE FRANK Since 2008, chief climatologist and activist James Hansen has been proposing fee and dividend as a means to curtail fossil fuel use and draw down carbon in order to prevent catastrophic climate change—a very real prospect that is looming ever closer. He has advocated the plan as an alternative to market-based carbon trading Read More >>

Tuition battle in Connecticut

Socialist Action — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 02:51:53 +0000

By KORY YORKE and DANIEL ADAM WILLIMANTIC, Conn.— The students walked through an unfamiliar campus. Attempts by one of the more experienced marchers to start up chants were met with self-conscious and infrequent responses. They had travelled an hour by bus from Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) to Eastern Connecticut State University (ECSU) to protest Read More >>

New York: Ecosocialist conference

Socialist Action — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 17:09:57 +0000

For a list of speakers and workshops, and to order tickets in advance, contact: http://ecosocialistconference.eventbrite.com

Maduro wins in Venezuela

Socialist Action — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 16:29:11 +0000

By MARC ROME (Updated on May 4) In the April 14 Venezuelan presidential snap election, the late Hugo Chavez’s chosen successor, Nicolas Maduro, edged out his right-wing opponent, Henrique Capriles. “Chavismo” will continue in power after Chavez, although with the weakest mandate since Chavez’s defeat in the 2007 constitutional referendum. Less than 300,000 votes separated Read More >>

Autoridades de Connecticut se unen a la ofensiva contra inmigrantes

Socialist Action — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 04:28:04 +0000

Por DANIEL ADAM Josemaría Islas está enfrentando deportación. Un residente de New Haven, Connecticut, Islas fue detenido el 2 de Julio del 2012 por intento de robo de una bicicleta. No hubo absolutamente ninguna evidencia para la acusación. El acusador no pudo identificar a Islas y nunca perdió la posesión de su bicicleta. La defensa Read More >>

Women & coming working-class fightback

Socialist Action — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 15:53:34 +0000

By CHRISTINE MARIE This article is based on a portion of the resolution on the oppression of women, written by the author, that was approved by the 2012 Socialist Action convention. “Such demands [from the women’s liberation movement] go to the very heart of the specific oppression of women exercised through the family and strike Read More >>

Holy smoke! How about equal time?

Socialist Action — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 15:46:40 +0000

By BARRY WEISLEDER Saturation coverage by the corporate media of a recent resignation and election in Vatican City showed how the ruling rich impose certain ideas. Even in an increasingly secular world, privileged elites continue brazenly to push ideological opiates. It helps them, I suppose, that in Pope Francis the patriarchal plutocracy has found a Read More >>

Philadelphia: Drone Warfare

Socialist Action — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 06:01:25 +0000

Local officials join crackdown on immigrants

Socialist Action — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 05:48:57 +0000

By DANIEL ADAM HARTFORD—Josemaria Islas is facing deportation. A resident of New Haven, Conn., Islas was arrested last July 2 for attempted bicycle theft. There was absolutely no evidence for the charge. The accuser could not identify Islas, and never lost possession of his bike. Islas’ defense even produced evidence that he was at work and Read More >>

Cyprus bank crisis rocks Europe

Socialist Action — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 04:18:34 +0000

By ANDREW POLLACK The outrage of workers in Cyprus against a plan to “save” the country’s finances by seizing cash in small depositors’ accounts forced the country’s parliament to vote unanimously in late March against it. The plan was intended to avert the wrath of the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank, and the Read More >>

New Britain, Conn.: Film on education

Socialist Action — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 00:00:40 +0000

Film showing: This documentary made by New York parents and teachers, “The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman," refutes so-called education "reform" proposals.

After Chavez: Which way for socialism?

Socialist Action — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 04:30:36 +0000

By MARC ROME Hugo Chavez, the outspoken and charismatic anti-imperialist president of Venezuela for the past 14 years, passed away on March 5 after succumbing to heart failure and a two-year bout with cancer. About 2 million traveled from across Venezuela to pay their last respects, some demanding that they be armed to defend what Read More >>

The Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal

Adam Ritscher — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 01:26:14 +0000

Presentation on political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal, followed by a political talking circle where everyone is invited to share a conversation topic. Noon, 1506 N. 19th St. in Superior, WI. Sponsored by Socialist Action.

Berkeley: Lynne Stewart Must Not Die!

Adam Ritscher — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 00:53:28 +0000

A public forum to save the life and win the freedom of radical attorney Lynne Stewart, suffering from Stage 4 lung cancer • Victim of a government frame-up conviction on charges of aiding and abetting terrorism •Imprisoned for ten years for defending the civil liberties and democratic rights of the Egyptian cleric (the “blind sheik’) Read More >>

West Coast Socialist Conference

Adam Ritscher — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 00:49:00 +0000

SOCIALISM VS. CAPITALISM 2013 Socialist Action West Coast Educational Conference Friday, April 26 7:00 pm: Registration 7:30 pm: Challenging Capitalism’s Inherent Evils: The Fight Against Racism, Sexism, Homophobia, Islamophobia, & Anti-Immigrant Discrimination • Glen Ford, Executive Editor, Black Agenda Report • Vanessa Aldrich, Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal • Sky Keys, Socialist Action National Education Committee Read More >>

Capitalism damns the environment

Socialist Action — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 04:07:41 +0000

By JEFF MACKLER Capitalism, the system—Chinese, American, or European style—has struck yet another devastating blow against all humanity. One of the world’s largest solar-panel manufacturing plants, employing 10,000 Chinese workers at the city of Wuxi on China’s east coast, has declared bankruptcy—a victim of its own “success” and capitalism’s inherent drive to destruction. The Wuxi Read More >>

NYPD guns down another Black youth

Socialist Action — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 17:56:24 +0000

By MARTY GOODMAN The African American community is reeling from the cop murder of Kimani “Kiki” Gray. The killing has sparked outrage resulting in street protests from New York City to San Francisco. Kimani was shot dead on March 9 in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, when two NYPD cops fired 11 shots at the 16 year Read More >>

Inside Israel’s killing machine

Socialist Action — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 17:49:32 +0000

By GAETANA CALDWELL-SMITH “The Gatekeepers,” a film directed by Dror Moreh, who also conducted the interviews. “The Gatekeepers” is a riveting documentary film that reveals the behind-the-scenes actions of one of Israel’s key tools for maintaining its repressive rule over the Palestinians—the Shin Bet (appellation for Israel Security Agency or ISA, formerly Mossad). The film Read More >>

Activists discuss how to stop frack attack

Socialist Action — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 03:05:54 +0000

By CHRISTINE FRANK Three hundred grassroots activists met in Dallas the first weekend in March to share information, network, and strategize over how to end the hydro-fracturing of shale gas in their rural and suburban communities. The Marcellus, Utica, Eagleford, and Barnett shales were well represented, the latter two being in Texas. It was in the Barnett Read More >>

Public workers see women’s pay inequity

Socialist Action — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 02:59:56 +0000

By ANN MONTAGUE SEIU 503 announced it supports a living wage for its workers in Oregon, and is taking the issue to the bargaining table and possibly to the streets. While President Obama has proposed an increase in the Federal Minimum Wage to $9 an hour, SEIU doesn’t believe that is the solution. Oregon’s minimum Read More >>

Climate movement must tackle profit system

Socialist Action — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 21:34:12 +0000

By DANIEL ADAM The struggle against climate change is registering real signs of progress. The rise of indigenous struggles in Canada, including the “Idle No More” movement, and the two national mobilizations against the Keystone XL pipeline in the U.S. are particularly significant. Bipartisan backing for the acceleration of the most vile extraction methods in Read More >>

A new Arab revolt?

Socialist Action — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 21:00:35 +0000

By ANDREW POLLACK In recent weeks the masses of Egypt and Tunisia have re-entered the streets and taken workplace action in significant numbers, boldly defying their rulers out of dissatisfaction with how the latter are throttling the promise of their revolutions. In response the parties in power in each country—bourgeois populist parties with an Islamist Read More >>

Issues for movement against sexual violence

Socialist Action — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 02:35:28 +0000

By CHRISTINE MARIE Book Review: Kristin Bumiller, “In An Abusive State: How Neoliberalism Appropriated the Feminist Movement Against Sexual Violence” (Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2008). On Feb. 14, the streaming videos of the flashmobs of young women determined to claim a violence-free life set my feminist heart to humming. But the hum quieted a Read More >>

Congress makes workers pay for crisis

Socialist Action — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 05:30:51 +0000

By JEFF MACKLER In today’s era of U.S. and worldwide capitalist austerity, not a day or month passes when the corporate media do not inform us that the nation faces yet another economic crisis. From the deficit crisis, in which the U.S. budget falls short $1 trillion yearly; to the “fiscal cliff” crisis, wherein “across-the-board” Read More >>

Rally for SF City College

Socialist Action — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 04:52:51 +0000

SF City College threatened by privatization

Socialist Action — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 04:38:56 +0000

By DON HARMON and KAREN SCHIEVE City College of San Francisco (CCSF), with 85,000 students on seven campuses, is under attack from powerful and monied forces, such as JP Morgan Chase, Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch, Goldman Sachs, and Lumina Foundation. These corporate giants are in collusion with the layer of secondary bureaucrats who are doing Read More >>

Mass climate change protest in DC

Socialist Action — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 05:14:33 +0000

By JAMES THOMAS On Sunday, Feb. 17, as many as 50,000 people rallied and marched in winds and near freezing temperatures in Washington, D.C., to protest Transcanada’s proposed Keystone XL Pipeline. The demonstration, dubbed Forward On Climate Change, is believed to have been the largest climate change action in U.S. history. The Sierra Club, 350.org, Read More >>

NY school bus strike ends in defeat

Socialist Action — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 05:40:01 +0000

By MARTY GOODMAN NEW YORK—Some 8800 school bus drivers and helpers (called “matrons”) returned to their jobs on Feb. 16 after losing a bitter month-long strike over the city’s cancellation of job security guarantees, known as Employee Protection Provisions (EPP). The EPP includes seniority-based hiring, training, health care, and benefits. Now when private bus companies, Read More >>

The Case for Socialism

Socialist Action — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 21:52:29 +0000

The con that knows no borders

Socialist Action — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 04:55:31 +0000

By BARRY WEISLEDER Book Review: Will Ferguson, “419” (Penguin Canada, Toronto, 2012, 399 pages). How are the sins of imperialism visited upon the common people of the “rich” countries? One way is “419.” That is the law against fraud in the criminal code of Nigeria. It is also the title of the Giller Prize-winning book by Read More >>

The Legacy of Malcolm X

Socialist Action — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 02:44:25 +0000

Part II of Socialist Action’s 1992 resolution, “Black Self-Determination and Socialist Revolution.” Malcolm X’s evolution was a precursor of the coming generalized working-class radicalization. He was clearly influenced by the revolutionary events on a world scale that involved genuine revolutionaries of all colors in a united working-class struggle for emancipation from wage slavery. Symptomatically, in Read More >>

Oppressed communities & self-defense

Socialist Action — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 06:06:25 +0000

By DANIEL ADAM The Newtown, Conn., shooting on Dec. 14 has produced a wave of fear. Like other violent tragedies that shake confidence in humanity and heighten feelings of vulnerability, the shooting has widened openings for reactionary politics that threaten the struggles of working and oppressed people. The two prominent responses to the Sandy Hook Read More >>

Movement rises against XL pipelines

Socialist Action — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 05:54:43 +0000

By BARRY WEISLEDER The movement to oppose Keystone XL is huge in Canada. It ranges from activists and scientists to indigenous peoples of the threatened Canadian plains and boreal forests, where the tar sands are located. It includes rural farmers and ranchers, and important sections of the labour movement. Dave Coles, President of the Communications, Read More >>

Philadelphia: East Coast Socialist Conference

Socialist Action — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 05:49:06 +0000

SCHEDULE — 1 p.m.: Arab Revolution. 2:30 p.m.: Panel discussion: Behind the Attacks on Women. 4 p.m.: Panel: Fracking & Climate Change. 7 P.M.: The War on Our Communities: Less Jobs & Schools / More Prisons & Repression (with Glen Ford, Pam Africa, Tony Monteiro, Sally Gerhardt, and Adam Shils). PRE-REGISTER ONLINE AT http://socialistactionconference-efbevent.eventbrite.com/ . CHECK OUT OUR FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE AT http://www.facebook.com/events/420858274664181/

Django & Lincoln: Hollywood’s Anti-history

Socialist Action — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 05:36:08 +0000

LINCOLN & DJANGO: HOLLYWOOD'S ANTI-HISTORY Django & Lincoln: Hear Daniel Alley and Anthony Battey analyze these two blockbuster films that denigrate the struggle for Black liberation.

Black self-determination & socialism

Socialist Action — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 06:20:15 +0000

To commemorate Black History Month, we are reprinting the first part of the 1992 Socialist Action resolution, “Black Self-Determination and Socialist Revolution in the United States.” African Americans are an integral part of the American working class. They are also an oppressed nationality, and we support their right to self-determination up to and including the Read More >>

Obama: Corporate politics in disguise

Socialist Action — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 04:57:19 +0000

BY JEFF MACKLER President Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address on Jan. 21 represented a verbal departure from the record of corporate subservience that marked his first four years in office. His 2009 inaugural opened with, “I thank George Bush for his service to our nation,” a promise to the corporate elites who run the United States Read More >>

Lincoln, Emancipation and Hollywood

Adam Ritscher — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 21:19:22 +0000

Race, Class & Struggle: Whose Story? Speaker: Dave Riehle Sunday, Feb 17, 2:00 PM, Mayday Bookstore, 301 Cedar Ave S, Mpls Sponsor: Socialist Action Dave Mayday Bookstore, 301 Cedar Ave Mpls

CLPP Feminist Conference

Adam Ritscher — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 20:03:00 +0000

From Abortion Rights to Social Justice: Building the Movement for Reproductive Freedom 27TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE FOR STUDENT AND COMMUNITY ACTIVISTS HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE, AMHERST, MA Civil Liberties and Public Policy’s annual conference connects activists from across the U.S. and internationally to build a stronger movement for reproductive justice and social change. We support intergenerational dialogue, encourage Read More >>

Midwest Socialist Educational Conference

Adam Ritscher — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 19:28:04 +0000

Midwest Socialist Action Educational Conference There will be five presentations, each followed by discussion, on Saturday April 27. The first four will be at the North Kansas City Library, 2251 Howell St, NorthKansas City, Missouri. The fifth and final session of the day will be held in the Breakfast Room of the Conference Hotel, less than Read More >>

Egyptian regime attacks protesters

Socialist Action — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 04:50:00 +0000

By ANDREW POLLACK The regime headed by President Mohamed Morsi shot down dozens in protests in Egypt at the end of January. All the while it continued to meet with International Monetary Fund officials to dicker over the terms of a promised loan, terms that it knows can only be enforced if militancy in the Read More >>

Django: Pulp Western look at slavery

Socialist Action — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 04:43:35 +0000

By GAETANA CALDWELL-SMITH Django Unchained, a film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. “Django Unchained” takes place in 1858, two years before the Civil War—the year that William Wells Brown published the first Black drama, “Leap to Freedom,” John Brown held an anti-slavery convention, Abraham Lincoln said “A house divided against itself cannot stand,” and Read More >>

Behind the French & U.S. attack in Mali

Socialist Action — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 05:19:04 +0000

By CHRISTINE MARIE On Feb. 1, The New York Times published a major article by Adam Nossiter and Neil MacFarquhar entitled “Algeria Sowed Seeds of Hostage Crisis as It Nurtured Warlord.” The warlord in question is Iyad Ag Ghali, who heads Ansar Dine, one of the three Islamic groups that The Times says threatened to Read More >>

Prison hinders Lynne Stewart’s cancer care

Socialist Action — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 15:57:45 +0000

BY JEFF MACKLER (UPDATED with a new letter from Lynne.) More than two years ago radical attorney and human rights activist Lynne Stewart, now serving the third year of a 10-year prison sentence based on frame-up charges of conspiracy to aid and abet terrorism, was given a clean bill of health following surgery for breast Read More >>

‘Purity’ myth hurts young women

Socialist Action — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 23:58:07 +0000

By DAWN ROSE “Your body is a wrapped lollipop. When you have sex with a man, he unwraps your lollipop and sucks on it. It may feel great at the time, but, unfortunately, when he’s done with you, all you have left for your next partner is a poorly wrapped, saliva-fouled sucker.” –Darren Washington, abstinence Read More >>

Popular movements organize in Honduras

Socialist Action — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 18:59:19 +0000

By ANN MONTAGUE At 3 a.m. on June 28, 2009, Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and his wife Xiomara were kidnapped from their home at gunpoint by 10 hooded Honduran soldiers and put on a plane that flew directly to the U.S. military base on Honduran soil called Palmerola. From there they were eventually flown to Read More >>

Two unions join against Kaiser

Socialist Action — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 07:27:06 +0000

By MARIE MARTIN On Jan. 3, the CNA (California Nurses Association) issued a press release to announce their fightback campaign against California’s large hospital chains such as Kaiser and Sutter Health. They were also announcing an affiliation agreement with NUHW (National Union Of Healthcare Workers). This is not a new relationship, as the two unions Read More >>

No to French intervention in Mali!

Socialist Action — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 06:10:16 +0000

Statement by National Secretariat of the PST (Socialist Workers Party, Algerian section of the Fourth International), Jan. 17 — After the Ivorian episode in 2010, the French military intervention in Mali, with its colonialist overtones, is above all an expression of France’s determination to regain its “African garden”, which is being gnawed away at by Read More >>

A musical for rebellion

Socialist Action — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 17:57:07 +0000

By TYLER MACKINNON With Oscar night right around the corner, this iconic book-turned-play-turned-film is taking theatres by storm—and for good reason. “Les Miserables” combines superb drama, action, romance and tragedy. Written by French literary giant Victor Hugo over a century and a half ago, it is remarkable, if not a bit depressing, to see how Read More >>

Superior, Wis.: “Socialism and a Snack”

Adam Ritscher — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 21:27:00 +0000

You’re invited to the second of our monthly “Socialism and a Snack” discussions. We’ll provide a snack to share, you bring a conversation topic to talk about! Then we just go around the table, and take turns discussing everyone’s topic. Our goal is to provide a light hearted, welcoming space where people can come to Read More >>

Minneapolis: Frack sand mining

Adam Ritscher — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 21:24:44 +0000

Mining in Wisconsin, from iron ore to frack sand. Carl Sack, and environmental and labor activist in Madison, and member of Socialist Action, will be the speaker.

Fracking destroys our health, climate

Socialist Action — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 19:04:24 +0000

By CARL SACK Several protests took place in 2012 against hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a process that extracts natural gas from shale bedrock by injecting highly toxic chemicals thousands of feet underground. The fracking boom has killed livestock and contaminated drinking water supplies in several states. The movement to ban fracking continues to gain steam Read More >>

Obama and the Black community

Socialist Action — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 18:52:04 +0000

By GLENN FORD Presentation given on Dec. 14 in New York City by Glenn Ford, executive editor of Black Agenda Report (www.Blackagendareport.com). Ford’s speech was at a forum, “Post-presidential Election Analysis: Domestic & Global Impact — Will Things Fall Apart?” Transcription and slight editing by Marty Goodman. Usually when people talk about post-election assessments they want an Read More >>

Harvesting discontent

Socialist Action — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 20:12:43 +0000

http://www.internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article2864

Garment workers demand arrest of Tazreen Fashion’s owner

Socialist Action — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 20:12:06 +0000

http://www.internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article2865

Muslim Brotherhood coup and popular reaction

Socialist Action — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 20:11:22 +0000

http://www.internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article2866

NPA: NO! to French military in Mali

Socialist Action — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 20:10:23 +0000

http://www.internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article2862

Protests in Egypt

Socialist Action — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 18:17:29 +0000

By ANDREW POLLACK Following mass protests in November against President Mohammed Morsi’s decree granting himself new dictatorial powers, millions returned to the streets to protest his announcement of a snap referendum to be held in mid-December for a draft constitution hastily written by an assembly dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood after most secular and liberal Read More >>

Cuba’s new economic reforms

Socialist Action — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 01:32:42 +0000

By JEFF MACKLER Following is an edited version of the resolution on Cuba’s new economic reforms, adopted by the 2012 National Convention of Socialist Action (U.S.). The original draft was prepared by the author. The Dec. 1, 2010, announcement by the Cuban Federation of Labor that the jobs of some 500,000 workers would be terminated Read More >>

Expansión del S-Comm

Socialist Action — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 20:49:28 +0000

Por LISA LUINENBURG El 12 de diciembre el Director del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE, por sus siglas en ingles), John Morton, cuya agencia opera bajo el control del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (Department of Homeland Security, DHS, por sus siglas en inglés), anunció que el controversial programa 287(g) llegará a su Read More >>

Cuaderno de España: el Cuidado de la Salud

Socialist Action — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 20:33:13 +0000

Por CHRISTOPHER HUTCH MADRID- “¡La sanidad no se vende, se defiende!” exigió la pancarta principal detrás de que miles de trabajadores de la salud marcharon el 7 de enero del 2013. Estos trabajadores de la salud se conocen como la “Marea Blanca,” debido a los blancos de laboratorio que se llevan muchos durante las protestas. Ellos son la voz de Read More >>

Lincoln: Images of History

Socialist Action — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 18:25:31 +0000

By DAVID RIEHLE “Remembrance for a great man is this. The newsies are pitching pennies. And on the copper disk is the man’s face. Dead lover of boys, what do you ask for now?” (“In a Back Alley,” Carl Sandburg, ca 1910-12) What was Sandburg getting at here? The “copper disk,” the ubiquitous Lincoln penny, Read More >>

Notebook from Spain: Health care

Socialist Action — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 01:38:59 +0000

By CHRIS HUTCH This is the first in a series of on-the-scene reports about the workers’ movement in Spain. Socialist Action will feature these articles throughout the coming months. MADRID—“Health care is not to be sold, it is to be defended!” demanded the lead banner that thousands of health-care workers marched behind on Jan. 7. Read More >>

New York: Haiti report-back

Socialist Action — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 17:57:49 +0000

Eyewitness accounts of conditions in Haiti, three years after the earthquake. Speakers: Marty Goodman, Socialist Action; David Wilson, Weekly Update on the Americas; Tony Savino, photojournalist.

Congress: Smaller paychecks for workers

Socialist Action — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 00:58:28 +0000

By USMAN KHAN YUSUFZAI New Year’s Day has come and gone; the impending “fiscal cliff” disaster that so occupied the fears of politicos and businessmen throughout the country has, at the 11th hour, been averted by heroic deal-making by Republican and Democratic legislators. They made some “tough decisions” in the face of the (manufactured) crisis Read More >>

Obama plan: no real immigrant ‘reforms’

Socialist Action — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 00:59:11 +0000

By LISA LUINENBURG The Los Angeles Times recently reported that President Obama is planning a major push for Comprehensive Immigration Reform in early 2013. Early reports state that the proposed bill would likely include provisions for increased border militarization, more employer sanctions (which could include increased use of programs like E-verify), and special work visas Read More >>

Syria rebels gain: U.S. threatens intervention

Socialist Action — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 01:17:26 +0000

By ANDREW POLLACK In the last month, all the factors fueling the Syrian civil war have taken on added weight and consequence. These include, on the one hand, massacres by the regime, positioning of imperialist powers for post-Assad influence, and financing by Gulf states of Islamist fighters from abroad; and impressive rebel military successes and Read More >>

Films: Abandoned Detroit / Chasing Ice

Socialist Action — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 00:49:24 +0000

By GAETANA CALDWELL-SMITH “Detropia,” a documentary film, written and directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady. “Detropia,” created by noted documentarians (“Jesus Camp”) Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, is a powerful film about the demise of Detroit, one of America’s largest cities, home of Motown and General Motors, whose economy had been based on the Read More >>

Hartford: The Fiscal Cliff

Socialist Action — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 17:50:30 +0000

The forum is for workers and students who are fed up with the austerity forced upon us by Congress and the president.

Revolutionary socialist politics (Part 2)

Socialist Action — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 17:29:47 +0000

This is our second installment of major excerpts from the Political Resolution adopted at the August 2012 Socialist Action National Convention in Minneapolis. Today we are witness to a new world armaments race, with every major power striving to increase its military arsenal. This clearly indicates the desperate need of all capitalist nations to protect, Read More >>

The new assault on civil liberties

Socialist Action — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 00:55:55 +0000

This is a section of the Political Resolution approved at the August 2012 Socialist Action National Convention in Minneapolis. The past few years have seen a rapid and alarming rise in government attacks on basic civil liberties. Any underestimation of the gravity of this assault would be a serious mistake. It is not our intention Read More >>

Pakistan: Between bureaucracy & theocracy

Socialist Action — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 23:13:39 +0000

By USMAN KHAN YUSUFZAI The modern history of the two extremisms in Pakistan, Islamic and neoliberal, is rooted in the interactions between Pakistan and the United States. It was in 1979 that the relationship between the United States and Pakistan shifted dramatically; prior to that, American support to Pakistan was mostly based around countering Soviet Read More >>

Northland Anti-War Coalition Antiwar Picket

Socialist Action — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 19:27:24 +0000

Friday, Dec. 21: The Northland Anti-War Coalition will be holding an antiwar picket from 5 – 6pm at the corner of Lake Ave. & Superior St. in Duluth, MN.Corn

Una Carta Abierta

Socialist Action — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 19:26:20 +0000

Foto: Julius Arscott / Acción Socialista

Discutamos la Reforma Migratoria: Una Carta Abierta En 2010, dos propuestas de una Reforma Migratoria Comprensiva salieron a un nivel nacional. Más allá que una reforma que refuerza la militarización de las fronteras y excluye a muchas personas, Acción Socialista siempre ha luchado para una legalización justa para todos los inmigrantes y trabajadores sin documentos. Read More >>

“Stop the MN Wolf Hunt”

Socialist Action — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 19:24:07 +0000

Monday, Dec 17th: The Twin Cities Climate Crisis Coalition will be hosting a forum titled “Stop the MN Wolf Hunt” at 7pm at MayDay Books, 301 Cedar Ave., Minneapolis, MN.

Duluth City Council Voting on MN ASAP Bring the War Dollars Home Resolution

Socialist Action — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 19:00:38 +0000

Monday: Dec. 17th: The Duluth, MN City Council will be voting on the MN ASAP Bring the War Dollars Home resolution. Gather in front of City Hall at 5:45pm for a rally, followed by the City Council meeting at 7pm.

How can we combat global warming?

Socialist Action — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 13:10:41 +0000

By BILL ONASCH The following oral report was given to the Socialist Action National Convention, held in Minneapolis in August. The once most prominent global-warming denier in the scientific world, Berkeley physics professor Richard Muller, recently wrote in The New York Times, “Call me a converted skeptic. Last year, following an intensive research effort involving Read More >>