By GERRY FOLEY Lawyers for Abdullah Ocalan, leader of the Workers Party of Kurdistan (PKK), who was condemned to death in Turkey at the end of June, held a news conference on July 20. They complained that they had not yet even been given the State Security Court's written verdict, despite the fact that it … Continue reading Kurdish Leader to Appeal Death Sentence to European Court
Month: September 1999
Mumia Abu-Jamal and the Radicalization of a Generation
The following speech, edited for space, was presented by Jeff Mackler to the Socialist Action National Educational Conference in San Francisco on Aug. 20. Mackler is the Co-Coordinator of the Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal and a member of the National Committee of Socialist Action. By JEFF MACKLER The state powers in Pennsylvania and … Continue reading Mumia Abu-Jamal and the Radicalization of a Generation
US Urges Japan to Rearm
By NAT WEINSTEIN In a brazen Aug. 26 New York Times editorial titled, "Japan Discovers Defense," this very influential voice of American imperialism tells Japan it must break with its post-World War II rejection of militarism and serve as window-dressing for a U.S.-led NATO-like "peace-keeping" force in Asia. The editors take care to express satisfaction with … Continue reading US Urges Japan to Rearm
Labor Briefing: KIRKLAND PASSES AWAY…WORKERS SAY, ‘WHO?’
Sundays are slow news days. Still America's papers put their obituary notices of former AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland, who died Saturday Aug. 14 at age 77, on the inside pages. An exception was The New York Times, which carried its piece on the front page, implicitly acknowledging Kirkland's standing as a labor lieutenant of capital. … Continue reading Labor Briefing: KIRKLAND PASSES AWAY…WORKERS SAY, ‘WHO?’
Teamsters Notebook: Hoffa Appoints Former Federal Prosecutor to End Intervention by Feds
By CHARLES WALKER At a July press conference at the Teamsters' Washington, D.C., headquarters, President James P. Hoffa announced a major step in his plan to entice the Feds to return the union's autonomy to the officialdom. Hoffa said that Edwin H. Stier, a former federal and New Jersey prosecutor, would oversee the union's anti-corruption … Continue reading Teamsters Notebook: Hoffa Appoints Former Federal Prosecutor to End Intervention by Feds
The Philosophy of Marxism
By NAT WEINSTEIN Following is a lecture given at the Socialist Action National Educational Conference, in San Francisco on Aug. 22, 1999. Lenin wrote a piece outlining the three component parts of Marxism. They also serve as the heart and soul of Scientific Socialism. They are what make scientific socialism a realistic-and therefore, … Continue reading The Philosophy of Marxism
Youth in Action: Why We Need a Revolutionary Youth Group
By PAUL M. Paul M. is a first-year student at San Francisco State University. Following are major excerpts from a talk he gave on Youth Day (Aug. 21, 1999) at the Socialist Action National Educational Conference.` What a revolutionary socialist youth group is able to do is to centralize all of the experiences and knowledge … Continue reading Youth in Action: Why We Need a Revolutionary Youth Group
Youth in Action: A Poem for Mumia
A Poem for Mumia Bulldozing through ignorance, violence, bigotry, shame, hatred, and silence To reach truth To embrace beauty To give life a place to live Demanding the most simple rights Means revolution In the land of the oppressed Home of the coward - who stole even the paper upon which he wrote our … Continue reading Youth in Action: A Poem for Mumia
Profits VS The Planet
by Roland Sheppard The Poisoning of Children and the Arrogance of Wealth A new book, "Work, Health, and Environment: Old Problems, New Solutions," edited by Charles Levenstein and John Wooding, points out that "lead toxicity is a significant problem not only in the workplace. It is also one of the most prevalent diseases of … Continue reading Profits VS The Planet
It’s Going to Get Hotter: Global Warming’s Looming Catastrophe
By PAUL SIEGEL Ross Gelbspan, "The Heat is On: The High Stakes Battle Over Earth's Threatened Climate." Addison-Wesley, 1997. 278 pp. $23. Global warming is not a speculative theory about something that may or may not happen in the future. The 2500 leading climate scientists of the world, brought together by the United … Continue reading It’s Going to Get Hotter: Global Warming’s Looming Catastrophe
Capitalism and War
By CAROLE SELIGMAN Following is the first installment of a two-part talk given by Carole Seligman, a National Committee member of Socialist Action, at the Socialist Action National Educational Conference, on Aug. 19, 1999. Soon the bloodiest century of human history, a century dominated by the imperialist stage of capitalism, will be over. … Continue reading Capitalism and War
On Clinton’s ‘Poverty Tour’ – and Leonard Peltier
COMMENTARY BY MUMIA ABU-JAMAL As summer baked the land, American President Clinton began his poverty tour, the first of his presidency into the poorest pockets of American life, where American dreams sour into grim nightmares. The president of the wealthiest nation on earth visited the Appalachians, the southern California neighborhood of Watts, and, among other … Continue reading On Clinton’s ‘Poverty Tour’ – and Leonard Peltier
East Timorese Defy Violence
As we go to press on Aug. 30, hundreds of thousands of residents of East Timor have cast their votes in a UN-supervised referendum for independence from Indonesia. Reports indicate that over 90 percent of registered voters went to the polls-in strong defiance of the pro-Indonesian militias. These death squads killed dozens of independence supporters … Continue reading East Timorese Defy Violence
Strike Hits South Africa
In the largest labor action since apartheid ended, hundreds of thousands of public workers held a one-day strike on Aug. 24. The action was a sharp rebuke to the newly elected African National Congress (ANC) government of Thabo Mbeki. Twelve unions-representing over 800,000 workers-took part. They included affiliates of the Congress of South African Trade … Continue reading Strike Hits South Africa
Haiti: A Case History of US Disruption
By LEO SCHWARTZ "Operation Uphold Democracy" was what President Clinton called the U.S./UN occupation of Haiti. The intervention that began on Sept. 19, 1994, with the landing of 21,000 troops, mainly from the United States, was to last only a few months. It has now lasted for five years. According to The New York Times, … Continue reading Haiti: A Case History of US Disruption
How Not to Fight the Klan!
By SHIRLEY PASHOLK CLEVELAND - For over a month, the local media focused on a Ku Klux Klan rally planned here for Aug. 21. Political posturing by Mayor Michael White, Cleveland NAACP President George Forbes, and the police department turned this into a long-running summer soap opera. But lost in this media circus was … Continue reading How Not to Fight the Klan!
FIGHTBACK: Religion VS Reality
by Sylvia Weinstein In August, the year of Our Lord 1999, the Kansas state Board of Education passed a decision to delete any references to Darwin's theory of evolution from the science curriculum in the Kansas public schools. The Board of Education seems to have based its ruling on the basis that "events witnessed by … Continue reading FIGHTBACK: Religion VS Reality
In Defense of Black Youth: Defend the Million Youth March!
For the second time in a year, Black youth in New York City are being denied their democratic right to assemble and demonstrate on their own streets. On Aug. 26, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani announced that he has denied a permit for the Sept. 4 Million Youth March (MYM) in Harlem, being organized by the … Continue reading In Defense of Black Youth: Defend the Million Youth March!