By MITCH USMC 05-09 The author is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps in Iraq and a member of Socialist Action. Can hazing build strong bonds in military, school, or athletic associations? No it cannot. The opposite is true. Hazing is about breaking down an individual to conform. Its about fear and obedience. It … Continue reading Stand with Greek soldiers against hazing
By ANN MONTAGUE The British Labour Party has emerged with more than 200,000 new members and 30 additional seats in Parliament. This has surprised the Tories as well as some of the Labour Party Members of Parliament (MPs), who were shocked to hear union members shouting, “We killed Blairism.” The party’s resurgence gathered steam with … Continue reading Britain sees an invigorated Labour Party and weakened Tories
By BILL ONASCH Off the Job Training—Of the 700,000 members of the Communications Workers of America, 150,000 work for AT&T—making them second only to UPS as the biggest unionized private sector employer in the U.S. But since deregulation “broke up” the virtual telephone monopoly of Ma Bell in the 1980s, a single national contract has … Continue reading Labor Briefing for June 2017
By CHRISTINE MARIE and ANN MONTAGUE This is a particularly important moment to be considering the meaning of the Russian Revolution for women, LGBTQI activists, and gender politics. We have seen the protests against the Misogynist in Chief by more than 3 million U.S. women being channeled into clubs to rebuild the Democratic Party in … Continue reading Women & gender politics in the Russian Revolution
By MARTY GOODMAN “Chasing Trane,” a documentary film by John Scheinfeld. “Trane is now a scope of feeling. A more fixed traveler, whose wildest onslaughts are gorgeous artifacts not even deaf people should miss.” — Amiri Baraka, poet, jazz critic, and activist In July 1967, I heard on a late night jazz radio show in … Continue reading Films: John Coltrane Lite
By ANDY STOWE Elizabeth Windsor, the English queen, isn’t supposed to make political statements, but on June 16 she announced to the world that she thinks Tory Prime Minister Theresa May is a morally gutless coward and a useless leader. Of course, she didn’t quite put it that way. Instead, she met survivors of the Grenfell … Continue reading Grenfell Tower tragedy shows the Tory government is illegitimate
By JOHN SCHRAUFNAGEL — ST. PAUL, Minn. — Four to five thousand people rallied at the State Capitol and marched through the streets of St. Paul on June 17, outraged over the unfair trial and unjust verdict in the case of Officer Jeronimo Yanez. Many said they had been hopeful but were not surprised that … Continue reading Thousands protest “not guilty” verdict for Philando Castile’s killer
A displaced resident of the now destroyed Grenfell Tower in London told the press after the June 14 pre-dawn fire: “A building like that wouldn’t fly in a rich area. But because everyone here is poor and working class—that’s why it happened.” For years, residents of the 24-story tower block had complained to local government … Continue reading Grenfell Tower fire in London: Some quick facts
By KAREN SCHRAUFNAGEL On Saturday, June 10, the Islamophobic group ACT (American Congress for Truth) for America held “Marches Against Sharia” in over two dozen cities across the United States. Emboldened by President Donald Trump and his strong anti-Muslim rhetoric, the group that the Southern Poverty Law Center considers one of the top hate groups … Continue reading Protesters tell right-wing ‘Anti-Sharia’ marches: ‘Muslims are welcome here’
By MARK UGOLINI Democratic Party Mayors Eric Garcetti and Rahm Emanuel proudly declare that they run “Sanctuary Cities.” They claim that Los Angeles and Chicago offer “sanctuary” for immigrants; that local police will neither ask about immigration status, nor will they detain immigrants for ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). These reassurances are phony, designed to … Continue reading No sanctuary for immigrant workers in Chicago and Los Angeles
By MARTY GOODMAN Beginning on May 19, thousands of textile sweatshop workers in Haiti walked off the job or laid down inside their textile assembly plants to protest their starvation wages. The workers are demanding a raise from $4.67 per day to $12.47 per day, a raise not tied to increased production quotas for workers. … Continue reading Haiti erupts in strikes and protests
CHRIS HUTCHINSON interviews JEAN ROCH-FORT Emmanuel Macron, a French banker and longtime establishment politician, emerged victorious on a “third party” ticket in this year’s French elections. His victory follows the breakdown of the traditional center left and right capitalist parties through major corruption scandals. The candidate of the Republicans, a center right-wing party, Nathan Fillon, … Continue reading French election results: No choice for workers
By RALPH SCHOENMAN The scope of the murderous assault by U.S. imperialism on the Iraqi city of Mosul—with its genocide-scale war crimes—was beginning to filter into the mainstream media. And then—just as Trump, the Democratic Party, the Joint-Chiefs of staff, and the U.S. intelligence apparatus were about to be indicted for these war crimes before … Continue reading Shifting the blame: The cover-up of U.S. war crimes in Mosul
By MICHAEL SCHREIBER “We’re getting out!” President Trump declared before the press and a knot of governmental officials who had gathered in the White House Rose Garden on June 1. “In order to fulfill my solemn duty to protect America and its citizens, the United States will withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord.” Trump characterized … Continue reading Trump spurns Paris Climate Accord
By the MOBILIZATION FOR MUMIA COALITION In the latest attempt to further deny freedom to Mumia Abu-Jamal, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office has contemptuously refused to release the files they were ordered to make public by Common Pleas Court Judge Leon Tucker. On April 24, Abu-Jamal’s 63rd birthday, his attorneys presented an appeal before Judge Tucker … Continue reading Philadelphia DA’s office refuses to release Mumia files
By JOHN LESLIE Since the presidential inauguration, far-right forces have been mobilizing under the slogan of free speech. Right-wing demonstrations began in February with a clash between rightists and anti-fascist activists who were intent on stopping a speech by Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos. This confrontation gave the so-called alt-right the opportunity to play the victim … Continue reading Mass mobilization and solidarity can defeat the far right
