Mois : novembre 2016

Published on RT, Nov 6, 2016.

Among the many ways in which the 2016 US presidential election has been out of the ordinary is the invocation of Russia as a looming threat to American democracy, basically putting “Putin on the ballot” in the words of the Washington Post. Continuer la lecture de « 'Red Scare 2', Russia and the 2016 US election »

Published on Informed Comment, by Juan Cole, Nov 4, 2016.

The Turkish government has detained 11 members of parliament from the leftist, feminist and pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP),including the party’s co-chairs. This step is intended to give Erdogan the majority in parliament he needs to make himself president for life, and to give Turkey (currently a parliamentary government) an imperial presidency on the Egyptian model. The pretext was that these MPs declined to testify in a witch-hunt inquiry. I.e., this is precisely McCarthyism.   Continuer la lecture de « Turkish Gov’t arrests 15 Opposition MPs in Further Descent into Dictatorship »

Published on New Statesman, by John McDonnell, Nov 2, 2016.

After four decades, the economic consensus is crumbling, what can politicians do next? Continuer la lecture de « UK: Caught at a crossroads, it's time to build an alternative to neoliberalism »

Published on The Bullet, Socialist Project’s E- Bulletin No 1324, by David Bush, editor at RankandFile.ca., Nov 3, 2016.

There is major disorientation on the left in many Western countries when it comes to Syria and about how antiwar activists should respond to events on the ground in Syria and Iraq. The highly complex nature of the Syrian war involving a multitude of foreign states and non-state actors would, in the best of times, present the left with a real challenge to find political clarity. The fact that this is occurring precisely when the antiwar movement in countries like Canada and the United States are relatively weak only adds to the confusion. Continuer la lecture de « Syria and the Antiwar Tradition »

an Open Letter to Law Enforcement and National Guard in North Dakota – Published on ZNet, by Winona La Duke, Ann Wright and Zoltan Grossman, Nov 2, 2016.

So you joined law enforcement or the National Guard because you wanted to uphold the law, protect innocent civilians against the bad guys, and help your community in times of need. Instead, they’re having you blockade unarmed people who are trying to hold a prayer vigil, chasing them with armored vehicles and ATVs, raiding their tipis and sweat lodges at gunpoint, and shooting them (and their horses) with pepper spray, concussion grenades, tasers, and rubber bullets. You thought you’d be the cop on the beat or the citizen soldier, and they’ve made you into the cavalry riding in with Custer. Continuer la lecture de « Public Servants or Corporate Security? »