MLToday | The Electronic Journal of Marxist-Leninist Thought | Latest Updates http://mltoday.com/ Mon, 06 Sep 2010 17:04:59 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://mltoday.com//images/M_images/rss.png http://mltoday.com/ MLToday | The Electronic Journal of Marxist-Leninist Thought | Latest Updates http://mltoday.com/en/action-alerts/action-alerts/call-for-massive-demonstration-926.html One nation is about reordering our nation's priorities to invest in our most valuable resource — our people. Sun, 22 Aug 2010 17:49:17 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/marxist-theory/on-the-opportunist-theory-of-21st-century-socialism-918-2.html This piece, originally published in the the newspaper Rizospastis on December 13, 2009 was recently reprinted by 21stcenturymanifesto: politics, analysis, action and culture from the left in Britain (http://21stcenturymanifesto.wordpress.com/) Authored by Dimitris Karagiannis, it is a sharp criticism of theories of 21st century socialism. The positive developments that have taken place during the last years in several Latin American countries (Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, recently in El Salvador, Honduras), to a different extent and depth in each country, have created important expectations as well as various confusions and illusions throughout the world. Sat, 21 Aug 2010 10:31:13 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/labor-movement/corporations-create-more-jobs-overseas-than-in-united-states-921.html Have you been looking all over the place for the millions of jobs the United States has lost in recent years? I finally found some of them today: They went overseas! Unfortunately, new data [1] out from the Commerce Department is no surprise. The Daily Labor Report [2] (subscription required) summarizes Commerce’s new findings: Thu, 19 Aug 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/communist-forum/impressions-of-the-cpusa-convention-914-2.html Editor’s note:  a number of delegates to the recent CPUSA convention have forwarded to MLToday the following document, reflecting their considered, collective opinion of the 29th CPUSA Convention.   Many friends and comrades have asked us:  what really happened at the CPUSA Convention on May 21-23, eleven weeks ago, at Party headquarters in New York City?  Wed, 18 Aug 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/commentary/human-rights-and-iphones-920.html I have read The New York Review of Books off and on for forty years. Generally, I take it to be an easy way to follow trends in US liberal thinking. It stands as a bridge between prominent academics and a self-conscious educated, elite class. For some, it is the source for the last word in cocktail party discussions. For others, it is a channel to drift arcane, scholarly controversies towards a larger audience Mon, 16 Aug 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/books-arts-and-literature/film-the-day-diplomacy-died-916-2.html Bernie Dwyer and Roberto Ruiz Rebo have produced some excellent short documentaries about Cuba: Mission Against Terror (the story of the 5 Cuban political prisoners jailed in the U.S, One Man’s Story: Philip Agee, Cuba and the CIA, an interview with Agee about the CIA covert war against Cuba.  Now this new film exposes the 75 so-called “independent journalists” and” independent librarians” arrested and jailed in Cuba in 2003. Many have just been released. It interviews Jose Pertierra, lawyer seeking to extradite terrorist Posada Carriles from the U.S. to Venezuela, Vicky Huddleston, head of the U.S. Interests Section 1999-2002, Wayne Smith, the anti-U.S. blockade former head of the Interests Section (1979-82), and Ricardo Alarcon, president of Cuba’s National Assembly. Through the stories of 4 Cubans recruited by the Cuban government who worked as undercover agents in the “dissident” movement, the film explains how the US Interests Section worked to create and finance civil disobedience and an internal opposition in Cuba.  Interestingly one of the four Cubans recruited was actually a bona fide independent journalist in Cuba. Fri, 13 Aug 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/social-and-economic-conditions/homeless-poles-living-on-barbecued-rats-and-alcoholic-handwash-925.html A British charity for the homeless says that migrants from eastern Europe who do not qualify for benefits are sleeping rough in appalling conditions in London. Eastern Europeans in the UK are often left to fend for themselves if they lose their jobs and some end up sleeping rough. Homeless migrants from eastern Europe in London who are unable to get benefits have become so impoverished that they are eating rats and drinking lethal cocktails of alcoholic handwash, a homeless charity has warned. Thu, 12 Aug 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/imperialism/women-s-rights-in-afghanistan-924-2.html Anyone worried about the revival of the Taliban ought to be hoping for the revival of the Communists. While worries are expressed about “women’s precarious rights in Afghanistan … seeping away” [1] there was a time when the rights of Afghan women were much stronger, and stronger still among the people who shared a common culture with Afghans but lived in Soviet Central Asia. While US journalists draw attention to worry that a US troop withdrawal, and the possible return of the Taliban to government, will imperil the few rights women have gained, US establishment journalism expressed few concerns about the loss of women’s rights when Washington backed the misogynist Mujahedeen in its fight against a progressive government in Kabul that sought to free Afghan women from the grip of traditional Islamic practices. Mon, 09 Aug 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/communist-forum/joint-declaration-of-the-colombian-and-venezuelan-communist-parties-a-call-for-unity-and-for-peace-917.html The Communist Parties of Colombia and Venezuela recently issued a joint declaration in which they analyze the situation provoked by the Colombian government [that forced Venezuela to break off diplomatic relations.] They call upon both peoples to lift up as one the banners of unity and to demonstrate massively for peace. The declaration appeared over the names of Nelson Farjardo, member of the National Executive Committee of the Colombian Communist Party (PCC) and Carolus Wimmer, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Venezuela. It appears below in its entirety.  English translation by W. T. Whitney, Jr. Thu, 05 Aug 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/national-liberation/lolita-lebr-n-presente-922-2.html I did not come to kill, I came to die I contemplate these words and cannot help but cry To think I never really knew her, and some may question why? I was born in America, and lost my sense of pride To be a Puerto Rican was to go against the tide So many teachers here, so many lies I thought that Puerto Ricans were something to despise But now I can look up, her words are written in the Sky Despierta Boricua, I did not come to kill, I came to die. How those words reverberate in my mind. These words should be carved into her tombstone. Can there be a greater testament to her commitment and unwavering purpose? These words fill me with inspiration, these words reawaken and fortify my sense of what it is to be Puerto Rican and the responsibility we all must share in the struggle... Joe Felix Thu, 05 Aug 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/iraq-war/the-us-isnt-leaving-iraq-its-rebranding-the-occupation-919-2.html Obama says withdrawal is on schedule, but renaming or outsourcing combat troops won't give Iraqis back their country. For most people in Britain and the US, Iraq is already history. Afghanistan has long since taken the lion's share of media attention, as the death toll of Nato troops rises inexorably. Controversy about Iraq is now almost entirely focused on the original decision to invade: what's happening there in 2010 barely registers. Wed, 04 Aug 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/palestine/resolution-on-palestine-passed-by-the-united-antiwar-conference-unac-923-2.html Resolution on Palestine Passed by the United National Antiwar Conference (UNAC) July 23-25, 2010 Albany, New York Principle requires the antiwar movement take further steps in putting the rights of Palestinians, and opposition to US support for Israeli violations of their rights and war waged against them, at the center of our discussions, our demands, and our activities. Whereas: Wed, 04 Aug 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/palestine/if-kosovo-why-not-palestine-911-2.html On July 22, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion on the following question posed to it by Serbia: Is the unilateral declaration of independence by the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government of Kosovo in accordance with international law? By a 10-4 majority, the court ruled that, because general international law contains no applicable prohibition of declarations of independence , Kosovo's declaration of independence in February 2008, coordinated with and supported by the American and most EU governments and subsequently recognized by 69 countries, did not violate general international law. The clear implication is that no declarations of independence violate international law and that all are therefore legal . Tue, 03 Aug 2010 17:14:28 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/communist-forum/greek-communists-condemn-anti-people-decisions-of-the-government-908-2.html The parliament approved with the votes of the MPs of the social democrat PASOK the amendment of the Ministry of Employment that bans any increases in wages that exceed those included in the collective labour agreement signed by the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises and the majority of the Confederation of the Trade Unions in the private sector (GSEE). This agreement imposes a three-year wage-freeze while in the previous period the government proceeded to a drastic increase of direct taxation on public consumption goods and inflation increases at a rate of 6%. In other words, it promotes the reduction of workers' purchasing power. Tue, 03 Aug 2010 16:28:10 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/iraq-war/obama-drops-2009-pledge-to-withdraw-combat-troops-from-iraq-912-2.html WASHINGTON - Seventeen months after President Barack Obama pledged to withdraw all combat brigades from Iraq by Sept. 1, 2010, he quietly abandoned that pledge Monday, admitting implicitly that such combat brigades would remain until the end of 2011. Herson Blanco carries a mock coffin draped in an American flag during a protest march calling for an immediate end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on March 2010 in Washington, DC. US public support for the Iraq and Afghan war and President Barack Obama's handing of the conflict has hit an all-time low after the leak of secret military documents, a poll showed Tuesday. Obama declared in a speech to disabled U.S. veterans in Atlanta that America's combat mission in Iraq would end by the end of August, to be replaced by a mission of supporting and training Iraqi security forces . That statement was in line with the pledge he had made on Feb. 27, 2009, when he said, Let me say this as plainly as I can: by Aug. 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end. Tue, 03 Aug 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/cuba/gerardo-hern-ndez-is-released-from-isolation-910-2.html 




Gerardo Hernández is out of the hole !

 Gerardo Hernández, Cuban Five hero, has just been released this morning from isolation after an intense campaign by his attorneys and thousands of supporters around the world, including nearly a thousand emails to the Bureau of Prisons generated by the National Committee's appeal. 

 Tue, 03 Aug 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/cuba/a-challenge-to-the-us-president-915-2.html A few days ago, an article that contained a number of facts related to the oil spill that occurred 105 days ago was published. President Obama had authorized the drilling of that well because he trusted the capabilities of modern technology to produce oil – which he wanted to be available in abundance - thus relieving the United States of the dependence on the foreign supplies of such a vital product for the present civilization.  The excessive consumption of oil had already led to a vigorous protest by the environmentalists. Not even George W. Bush ever dared to take that step, given the bitter experience in Alaska with a tanker that carried the oil extracted from that area. Tue, 03 Aug 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/commentary/rahm-emanuel-big-biz-should-thank-this-president-900-2.html 
Rahm Emanuel, White House Chief of Staff, told POLITICO's Ben White yesterday that rather than recoiling against Obama, business leaders should be grateful for his support on at least a half dozen counts: his advocacy of greater international trade and education reform open markets despite union skepticism; his rejection of calls from some quarters to nationalize banks during the financial meltdown; the rescue of the automobile industry; the fact that the overhaul of health care preserved the private delivery system; the fact that billions in the stimulus package benefited business with lucrative new contracts, and that financial regulation reform will take away the uncertainty that existed with a broken, pre-crash regulatory apparatus. Sun, 01 Aug 2010 11:15:33 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/electoral-politics/no-other-way-to-get-there-an-exchange-897.html The following comment by Emile Schepers was posted to the People's World site (www.peoplesworld.org) on the article, No Other Way to Get There by Sam Webb (People's World,  June 24, 2010). I can't agree that the task of pushing the Democratic Party to the left has to wait until the ultra-right has shriveled up like the Wicked Witch of the West. That would be a long, long wait. Even under socialism, the ultra-right is likely to survive for a considerable time, and periodically flare up and do harm. Consider the case of Hungary: Recently a big electoral advance shocked the world for the Jobbik party. This party has revived the demands of the old feudal nobility and its hangers on who are angry at the loss of their estates in Slovakia and Rumania  at the end of the First World War! The tendency ran Hungary in the pre-war years, and then went completely underground during forty years of socialism, and now here it is again. I agree with Sam Webb that the crucial thing is the grassroots coalition, and also that it is advancing at the base, but I have to note that it is not only the ultra-right and the GOP who work to weaken that coalition, but right-trending sections of the Democratic Party also. Fri, 30 Jul 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/political-economy/obama-expedites-arms-exports-906.html A lesser-known wire service, McClatchy Newspapers, reports on an undereported trend in deregulation. WASHINGTON — The United States is currently the world biggest weapons supplier — holding 30 per cent of the market — but the Obama administration has begun modifying export control regulations in hopes of enlarging the U.S. market share, according to U.S. officials. President Barack Obama already has taken the first steps by tucking new language into the Iran sanctions bill signed in early July. His aides are now compiling the munitions list, which regulates the sale of military items. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/imperialism/an-anti-war-movement-that-wont-cave-to-obama-or-israel-899-2.html A renewed anti-war movement is under construction, one that breaks decisively from the Cult of Obama, demands an end to all U.S. aid to the Israeli apartheid regime, and calls for immediate, total and unconditional withdrawal of all U.S. troops, mercenaries and contractors from Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan, and the immediate closing of all U.S. bases in those countries. Wed, 28 Jul 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/imperialism/the-sinking-of-the-cheonan-and-its-political-uses-901-2.html Much has been written about the sinking of the South Korean corvette Cheonan, and the evidence is widely regarded as clearly pointing to North Korean culpability. In the Western press, the case has generally been presented as solid and irrefutable. The tragedy is seen as one more example of North Korean perfidy.   Yet, doubts persist. Wed, 28 Jul 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/imperialism/why-are-us-marines-disembarking-in-costa-rica-902-2.html With votes secured from the official National Liberation Party (PLN), the 
Libertarian Movement, and Justo Orozco, the evangelical congressman from the
 Costa Rican Renovation party, on July 1st, the Costa Rican Congress
 authorized the entry into that country of 46 warships from the U.S. Navy,
 200 helicopters and combat aircraft , and 7,000 Marines.

 While the various published stories do not allow a clear view of the
 decision's origins, the limited evidence available seems to indicate that it
 was Washington who asked for the presence of the troops. Sat, 17 Jul 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/labor-movement/greek-workers-block-el-al-office-in-athens-909-2.html Today, early in the morning, trade unions of PAME blocked the counter of the Israeli airline EL-AL in the Eleftherios Venizelos airport of Athens for two hours, causing delay to the flight 542 from Athens to Tel Aviv. Wed, 14 Jul 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/commentary/the-sources-of-wars-907-2.html On July 4, I said that neither the United States nor Iran would give in: one, prevented by the pride of the powerful, and the other because it has the capacity and the will to fight oppression, as we have seen so many times before in the history of mankind. In nearly every war, one party wishes to avoid it and, sometimes, the two parties do. This time it will happen although one of the parties does not wish it. That was the case of the two World Wars of 1914 and 1939, only 25 years apart. The carnage was awful in both wars, which would not have erupted had it not been for previous miscalculations. Both defended imperialist interests and believed they could accomplish their goals without the exceedingly high price finally paid. Mon, 12 Jul 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/palestine/five-years-of-boycotts-divestment-and-sanctions-905.html The global trade union movement has consistently demonstrated its courage and commitment to human rights by adopting concrete, ground-breaking labor-led sanctions against oppressive regimes in a show of effective solidarity with oppressed peoples around the world. Adopting BDS measures has become the most prominent form of trade union solidarity with the Palestinian civil society in general, and the Palestinian working class in particular. Fri, 09 Jul 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/electoral-politics/what-is-the-1-priority-for-progressives-898-2.html The following appeared on the People's World website, July 5, 2010. Rick Nagin is a District and National CPUSA leader in Ohio. Bruce Bostick is a retired Ohio steel worker active in the United Steelworkers of America (USWA). Rick Nagin July 5, 2010 Defeating the Republicans in November must be the top priority for all progressives. The pundits tell us incessantly that Democrats will lose seats and possibly control of Congress because usually (but not always) this is what happens to the party in power in midterm elections. The Republicans hope this narrative will help demoralize Democratic voters, but their main message is that President Obama and the Democrats are responsible for the unrelenting economic crisis. Tue, 06 Jul 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/commentary/life-boats-for-the-masses-903-2.html In 1795, the justices of Berkshire County established a scale of relief for the poor and underemployed in England. This revolutionary departure from the draconian, punitive English Poor laws established a base line of survival or minimum standard of living to be guaranteed to those whom circumstances placed below this level. Known as the Speenhamland system, this approach soon prevailed throughout England. As Karl Polanyi pointed out in his essential book, The Great Transformation, Speenhamland effectively established, for the first time, a right to live. It was abolished in 1834. Polanyi remarked, Indeed, nothing could be more obvious than that the wage system imperatively demanded the withdrawal of the 'right to live' as proclaimed in Speenhamland – under the new regime of the economic man, nobody would work for a wage if he could make a living by doing nothing. In other words, the logic of capitalism is inimical with a right to live. Tue, 06 Jul 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/socialism-today/a-letter-on-the-present-upsurge-of-worker-action-in-china-890-2.html Translator's note: Regarding the present upsurge of worker action in China, liberals have used their discursive power in the overseas media to frame the strike wave as a tale of workers' struggle for 'independent unions,' as if this were a repetition of Solidarnosc. What do Chinese workers want? What is the direction of the Chinese workers movement? Those who support the movement and are concerned about the fate of the working class should provide an account matching the reality of the movement. This letter of support provides a perspective different from those predominant in the mainstream media. Uphold the Constitution, Respect and Ensure Human Rights, Support Honda Workers' Just Struggles, Condemn Foxconn's Inhumane Management Sun, 27 Jun 2010 09:15:50 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/communist-forum/a-chinese-contribution-at-international-communist-seminar-883-2.html How the Communist Party of China Safeguards Workers' Interests During Crisis. Since the global financial crisis broke out, the Communist Party of China has let government and trade unions play their full role in safeguarding workers' interests with regard to employment and social security, etc. Sat, 26 Jun 2010 19:37:21 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/commentary/the-tyranny-of-bonds-887-2.html V. I. Lenin wrote over ninety years ago that under the general conditions of commodity production and private property, the 'domination' of capitalist monopolies inevitably becomes the domination of a financial oligarchy. He elaborated that The supremacy of finance capital over all other forms of capital means the predominance of the rentier and of the financial oligarchy. I will leave it to the curious reader to examine Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism for the persuasive argument that stands behind this prescient claim. But rest assured, it follows from a deep understanding of Marx's exposure of the logic of capitalism and the evidence available in Lenin's time. Ironically, this now ancient projection – this forecast of the dominance of finance capital - speaks more to the economic crisis now raging globally than the host of Nobel laureates who pontificate about the cause of the downturn that began in 2008. Thu, 24 Jun 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/imperialism/on-the-g8-g20-summits-in-toronto-880-2.html To all Fraternal Communist Workers’ Parties, Revolutionary National Liberation Organizations: Dear Comrades and Friends, As you are well aware, the G8/G20 Meetings are being held in Toronto , Canada this week. We are enclosing the statement issued by the Central Executive of our Party with respect to these imperialist-dominated Summits. Comradely yours, Central Office, Communist Party of Canada Wed, 23 Jun 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/imperialism/international-agencies-fund-venezuelan-opposition-879-2.html A revealing report published in May 2010 by the FRIDE Institute, a Spanish think tank, prepared with funding from the World Movement for Democracy (a project of the National Endowment for Democracy-NED), has disclosed that international agencies are funding the Venezuelan opposition with a whopping US$40-50 million annually. This exorbitant amount of financing well exceeds the approximately $15 million previously believed to have been channelled to Venezuelan opposition groups via the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the NED. Mon, 21 Jun 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/books-arts-and-literature/south-of-the-border-oliver-stone-does-chavez-888.html Cuban leader Fidel Castro was interrogated some years ago by the New York Times, demanding to know why freedom of the press is not allowed in Cuba. Meaning, of course, beyond buzzwords, the inclusion of pro-capitalist reporting. To which Fidel's checkmate reply was something like, we'll allow that to happen when you allow a communist reporter on the staff of the New York Times. Now years later, this reality in the more than ever corporate owned US media is far from a laughing matter, where the lines between who owns big business and who finances and controls the US media and what constitutes so-called news, are hopelessly blurred. Not to mention the concurrent pressure on journalists to self-censor in order to keep their jobs, in particular in the face of significant newsroom layoffs now with the economic crisis kicking in. Mon, 21 Jun 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/struggles-for-equality/acorn-leader-says-critics-mounted-mccarthy-era-war-against-the-poor-892-2.html The former president of the now-dissolved activist group ACORN struck back at Republicans, Democrats and even the Obama Administration Thursday after a federalreport cleared the organization of misusing federal funds and election fraud. In an exclusive interview with Raw Story -- her first public remarks since the report's release -- ACORN's Bertha Lewis said the findings of the Government Accountability Office proves the withering criticism against ACORN  that all but shuttered the group was an orchestrated right wing attack against the poor. Fri, 18 Jun 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/struggles-for-equality/foreclosure-storm-minorities-swept-up-in-greater-numbers-894.html A tornado of foreclosures spawned by the subprime mortgage collapse has disproportionately flattened black and Hispanic homeowners, according to new research by the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), sucking hundreds of billions of dollars in wealth from communities of color. Fri, 18 Jun 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/struggles-for-equality/a-struggle-to-stop-resegregation-889.html Struggle to stop resegregation of Wake County schools heats up as 4 civil rights activists are arrested in North Carolina Raleigh, NC - Four activists were arrested during a Wake County Board of Education meeting, June 15, as the struggle to stop the resegregation of Wake County schools intensifies. The civil disobedience action was carried out to protest a 5-4 vote by Wake County's majority conservative board to end Wake's busing program. The demonstrators locked arms and sang We Shall Overcome during the meeting. They were arrested when they did not stop. Thu, 17 Jun 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/labor-movement/wftu-chief-speaks-to-ilo-886-2.html Speech of WFTU General Secretary, Mr. George Mavrikos, at the 99th International Labor Conference – Geneva, Plenary Session, June 16th 2010 Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to start my intervention at the plenary session of the 99th International Labor Conference (ILC) with a criticism of all those who absolved the government of Colombia and who condemned the government of Venezuela. Those are inacceptable decisions that reduce the ILO's prestige. They show that objectivity is not governing, but injustice, darkness and secret negotiations. We condemn those trade unionists that betrayed their class and who agreed to those decisions. Wed, 16 Jun 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/palestine/jewish-challenges-to-zionism-on-the-rise-in-the-us-891-2.html In June 2010, two opposite ends of the Jewish political spectrum will vie for one historical moment. As Israel and the Zionist movement struggle to maintain their century-long pull on Jewish minds, a new project is emerging to rechart the course away from Zionism and toward embracing a renewed commitment to a shared humanity. Mon, 14 Jun 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/commentary/a-blow-waiting-to-happen-884-2.html On Tuesday, June 8, I wrote the Reflection On the threshold of tragedy around midday; later I watched Randy Alonso’s Roundtable television program, broadcast at 6:30 p.m. as usual. That day, the outstanding and eminent Cuban intellectuals taking part in the Roundtable replied to the program director’s acute questions with eloquent words which greatly respected my opinions, only that they did not believe that there would be any reason for Iran to reject the possible decision – now known – adopted by the Security Council in the morning of June 9 in New York – doubtless one agreed among the leaders of the five powers with a right to the veto: United States, Britain and France, with those of Russia and China.he veto: United States, Britain and France, with those of Russia and China. Thu, 10 Jun 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/imperialism/us-expands-special-ops-881-2.html Special Operations forces have grown both in numbers and budget, and are deployed in 75 countries, compared with about 60 at the beginning of last year. In addition to units that have spent years in the Philippines and Colombia, teams are operating in Yemen and elsewhere in the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia. Sun, 06 Jun 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/cuba/the-federal-government-paid-journalists-to-sabotage-trial-893.html Is it coincidence or conspiracy? Supporters of five Cuban intelligence agents now serving lengthy sentences in US federal prison following controversial espionage convictions, say federal government documents detailing payments made by a US government-run anti-Castro propaganda operation to prominent Miami-area journalists prove a conspiracy. Articles by those journalists and others, a federal appeals court once noted, contributed significantly to inflaming “pervasive community prejudice” in Miami which made it impossible for the agents known as the Cuban Five to receive a fair trial. Sun, 06 Jun 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/imperialism/global-war-spending-rises-in-2009-885.html Worldwide military expenditure in 2009 totalled an estimated $1531 billion, according to new figures released today by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). This represents an increase of 5.9% in real terms compared to 2008 and an increase of 49% since 2000. SIPRI today launches the 2010 edition of its Yearbook on Armaments, Disarmament and International Security. In addition to the release of its much anticipated military expenditure figures, Yearbook 2010 offers an authoritative account and analysis of recent developments in a number of security-related fields. The global financial crisis, the conflict in Afghanistan, and nuclear weapons and disarmament are among some of this year's cross-cutting security themes. Wed, 02 Jun 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/palestine/a-call-for-global-response-to-killings-on-freedom-flotilla-871.html We Gaza-based Palestinian civil society organizations and international activists call on the international community and civil society to 
 pressure their governments and Israel to cease the abductions and killings in
 Israel's attacks against the Gaza Freedom Flotilla sailing for Gaza, 
 and begin a global response to hold Israel accountable for the murder of 
 foreign civilians at sea and illegal piracy of civilian vessels carrying
 humanitarian aid for Gaza.

 We salute the courage of all those who have organized this aid 
 intervention and demand a safe passage through to Gaza for the 750 people of 
 conscience from 40 different countries including 35 international politicians 
 intent on breaking the Israeli-Egyptian blockade. Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:40:03 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/commentary/the-empire-and-the-war-reflections-by-comrade-fidel-877-2.html Two days ago, I said in a few words that imperialism was unable to solve the extremely serious problem of drug abuse, which has become a scourge for the people all over the world. Today, I wish to deal with another issue that I consider of major significance. The current danger that the United States attacks North Korea, following the recent incident in the territorial waters of the latter, could perhaps be thwarted if the President of the People’s Republic of China decides to exercise the right to veto --a prerogative that country totally dislikes-- with respect to the agreements currently under discussion at the UN Security Council. Tue, 01 Jun 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/palestine/world-peace-council-condemns-israel-attack-on-humanitarian-vessel-868-2.html The World Peace Council (WPC) denounces in the strongest way the brutal aggression by Israeli Special Forces against the solidarity mission composed by six ships carrying humanitarian aid for the Palestinian people. The murderous operation of the Israeli government and its military took place in the International waters in front of the Palestinian Gaza Strip against civilians on board of the ships which tried to approach the Gaza ports. Mon, 31 May 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/commentary/debt-greece-and-the-fightback-869-2.html Debt means different things to different people. For a family with two modest income jobs (if they're lucky enough to have jobs), a mortgage and two kids in college, debt is the only route to having a reasonable standard of living with some guarantee of the satisfaction of health care needs or other insurances against the contingencies of life. Debt and its burdens count as a withdrawal against future income and wealth. For most people – and most people fit this profile to some extent – mortgages, credit cards, home equity loans and other forms of borrowing – are the only bridge to a level of comfort available to the previous generation of working people. For the professional and small business class – what Marx called the petite-bourgeoisie – debt is the mechanism that provides a standard of living that establishes a common bond and identity with the very rich. Jumbo mortgages, expensive car loans, small business loans, and lines of credit support membership in the clubs, associations, and parties of the wealthy, while greasing the track of access to business and social contacts. Mon, 31 May 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/commentary/this-country-needs-a-few-good-communists-895.html Chris Hedges, a non-Communist journalist, for many years a war correspondent, reflects on the state of the US Left. The witch hunts against communists in the United States were used to silence socialists, anarchists, pacifists and all those who defied the abuses of capitalism. Those “anti-Red” actions were devastating blows to the political health of the country. The communists spoke the language of class war. They understood that Wall Street, along with corporations such as British Petroleum, is the enemy. They offered a broad social vision which allowed even the non-communist left to employ a vocabulary that made sense of the destructive impulses of capitalism. But once the Communist Party, along with other radical movements, was eradicated as a social and political force, once the liberal class took government-imposed loyalty oaths and collaborated in the witch hunts for phantom communist agents, we were robbed of the ability to make sense of our struggle. We became fearful, timid and ineffectual. We lost our voice and became part of the corporate structure we should have been dismantling. Mon, 31 May 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/struggles-for-equality/blacks-in-memphis-losing-decades-of-gains-874-2.html For two decades, Tyrone Banks was one of many African-Americans who saw his economic prospects brightening in this Mississippi River city. A single father, he worked for FedEx and also as a custodian, built a handsome brick home, had a retirement account and put his eldest daughter through college. Sun, 30 May 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/commentary/terrorism-cause-and-effect-862-2.html Terrorists and terrorism have become Washington's monomania since 9/11, guiding the foreign/military policies of the American superstate and holding its population in thrall. Fri, 28 May 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/commentary/an-unnatural-disaster-867-2.html Where I was wrong, said President Obama at his press conference on Thursday, was in my belief that the oil companies had their act together when it came to worst-case scenarios. Fri, 28 May 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/labor-movement/san-francisco-labor-and-the-arizona-boycott-870-2.html Oppose Arizona's Apartheid-like Laws and Support the National Boycott of Arizona Whereas, the state of Arizona recently enacted laws legalizing racial profiling by law enforcement [SB 1070], making failure to carry immigration documents a crime, and banning the teaching of ethnic studies [HB 2281] – measures reminiscent of South Africa under apartheid; and Mon, 24 May 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/cuba/cuban-parliament-condemns-racist-us-law-863-2.html Cuba's parliament has passed a resolution condemning Arizona's racist and xenophobic new immigration law. National Assembly of People's Power deputies proclaimed their solidarity with those who are facing the brutal violation of their human rights in the US, according to a report in Thursday's edition of Communist Party daily Granma. The Arizona law was signed by Governor Jan Brewer on April 23. Fri, 21 May 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/imperialism/the-sinking-of-the-cheonan-another-gulf-of-tonkin-incident-858-2.html While the South Korean government announced on May 20 that it has overwhelming evidence that one of its warships was sunk by a torpedo fired by a North Korean submarine, there is, in fact, no direct link between North Korea and the sunken ship. And it seems very unlikely that North Korea had anything to do with it. That's not my conclusion. It's the conclusion of Won See-hoon, director of South Korea's National Intelligence. Won told a South Korean parliamentary committee in early April, less than two weeks after the South Korean warship, the Cheonan, sank in waters off Baengnyeong Island, that there was no evidence linking North Korea to the Cheonan's sinking. (1) South Korea's Defense Minister Kim Tae-young backed him up, pointing out that the Cheonan's crew had not detected a torpedo (2), while Lee Ki-sik, head of the marine operations office at the South Korean joint chiefs of staff agreed that No North Korean warships have been detected...(in) the waters where the accident took place. (3) Notice he said accident. Thu, 20 May 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/political-economy/i-write-to-you-from-a-disgraced-profession-857-2.html The following is the text of  Professor James K. Galbraith‘s written statement to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee delivered a few days ago. Professor Galbraith teaches at the University of Texas at Austin.  Readers may be interested to know that he is the son the famed liberal Democrat economist John Kenneth Galbraith. Chairman Specter, Ranking Member Graham, Members of the Subcommittee, as a former member of the congressional staff it is a pleasure to submit this statement for your record. I write to you from a disgraced profession. Economic theory, as widely taught since the 1980s, failed miserably to understand the forces behind the financial crisis. Concepts including “rational expectations,” “market discipline,” and the “efficient markets hypothesis” led economists to argue that speculation would stabilize prices, that sellers would act to protect their reputations, that caveat emptor could be relied on, and that widespread fraud therefore could not occur. Not all economists believed this – but most did. Tue, 18 May 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/communist-forum/general-conclusions-nineteenth-international-communist-seminar-882.html The Communist Parties facing the deepening of the capitalist systemic crisis. The consequences of the economic crisis and the intervention of Communist parties. I. The deepening of the crisis of the system 1. The Declaration of the 2009 ICS made the following observation: The capitalist system is confronting the most serious crisis since the depression of 1929. We are not speaking of a transitory and cyclical recession but of a generalized crisis of the capitalist system, with its roots in the sphere of production. This crisis will be long and deep, and we are merely at the beginning of it. This prospect has been confirmed by facts. A crisis on all levels continues to hit the entire planet, the main imperialist centres (US, EU, Japan) as well as the majority of other countries, particularly the developing countries. Sun, 16 May 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/marxist-theory/communism-represents-the-best-and-highest-aspirations-of-the-human-race-872-2.html Marx Oration, May 16, 2010 at the Gravesite of Karl Marx in Highgate Cemetery, London, delivered by Jean Turner, Honorary Secretary, Society for Cooperation in Russian and Soviet Studies Two works vital for understanding the development of the human race and the origin of life on earth were published in the mid-19th century – The Manifesto of the Communist Party by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels  in 1848 and Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species in 1859. Both works were ground-breaking in that, by empirical methods, they produced a scientific analysis that refuted previous religious and philosophical concepts of the world in which we live. Sun, 16 May 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/imperialism/twenty-first-century-anti-imperialism-859.html On May 15, 2010 in Dublin, Ireland Andrew Murray gave the James Connolly Memorial Lecture. Andrew Murray is the chairperson of the Stop the War Coalition in Britain. James Connolly is evidently a man of our times. He stood at the juncture of three great movements one hundred years ago, movements which shaped the world of the twentieth century. Sat, 15 May 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/marxist-theory/current-issues-of-the-communist-movement-896.html In the Collection of Articles and Contributions you can get acquainted with the positions and analyses of KKE on current issues of the international Communist movement. Click on the image to the left to download the Collection of Articles and Contributions. In the first chapter titled The situation of the international Communist movement you can find two articles on the ideological and political problems the international Communist movement  faces. The articles also include the assessments of KKE on the course of the international Communist movement and the International Meetings of Communist and Workers' Parties as well as the perception of KKE on the formation of a Communist pole by the Communist parties that defend Marxism-Leninism, the necessity of the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism and the timeliness of socialism. Sat, 15 May 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/communist-forum/greetings-greek-cp-to-cpusa-856.html Athens, Thursday, 13 May 2010 Communist Party USA National Committee New York Dear comrades, We would like to thank you for the information regarding your 29th party convention and to extend our greetings to the delegates. Our parties have met in the past in common struggles for workers’ rights, in the struggle against anti-communism, for the defense of socialism and the Soviet Union, for the unity of the communist movement on the basis of our revolutionary principles and traditions. Thu, 13 May 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/communist-forum/for-a-cpusa-that-honors-the-soviet-experience-theres-no-avoiding-an-ideological-struggle-in-our-pa-855.html There's no avoiding an ideological struggle in our Party over twentieth-century socialism. The CPUSA's partisan view of the Soviet Union (1917-1991) is rooted neither in nostalgia nor obsession, nor unthinking habit. It is a commitment to the truth and to principle. The class struggle is sharpening. Working people will be entering our movement. Most people join Communist Parties because they admire the people in our parties who are waging — often leading — struggles. Tue, 11 May 2010 17:17:40 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/communist-forum/our-fading-presence-843.html Editors' Note: This is a contribution to pre-convention discussion. The CPUSA and May Day in New York:  An Indication of Our Fading Presence and a Call for Serious Reconsideration This year, May Day in New York City was indeed a special occasion. For the first time in decades, May Day was not only widely acknowledged, but widely celebrated. Here converged AFL-CIO unions alongside radical and moderately progressive groups and a bevy of militant immigrant groups. For the first time in decades, the expected May Day throngs would far exceed the space a park could offer and the New York Police Department had to grant organizers not only large public spaces, but the international workers' holiday literally took back the streets: rally sites swelled over downtown squares and entire sections of lower Manhattan were sectioned off by the police, who were also out in vast numbers. Rallying and marching on May Day, standing shoulder to shoulder with comrades, union sisters and brothers, environmentalists, peace activists, and radicals of every stripe inspired visions of the May Days of yore. Fri, 07 May 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/communist-forum/message-to-the-workers-of-south-africa-861-2.html Throughout April, together with our allies, the SACP (South African Communist Party) waged a campaign to intensify the struggle against corruption. We launched the 34-days of intensified struggle on the 29th March at a highly successful seminar on corruption in Braamfontein. Through April, and in honour of our fallen hero, Comrade Chris Hani, we carried forward the campaign in communities and in work-places. On Friday 30th April there was a massive SACP-led march in Durban against corruption led by our general secretary Comrade Blade Nzimande, and COSATU (Congress of South African Trade Unions) general secretary, Comrade Zwelinzima Vavi. Wed, 05 May 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/communist-forum/the-ligachev-story-a-tale-for-our-time-842-2.html A central mystery of the collapse of the Soviet Union was why the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) more or less passively allowed Mikhail Gorbachev and those around him to dilute Marxist-Leninist ideology,  weaken the Communist Party, and finally dismantle socialism itself.   This mystery was perfectly symbolized by the life of Yegor Ligachev,  the CPSU’s deputy leader in the first years of Gorbachev and a thoroughgoing Marxist–Leninist who supported the early reforms by Gorbachev, particularly those aimed at enhancing openness, free discussion and modern technology, but completely opposed the ultimate direction of perestroika — the marginalization  of the CPSU, the shattering of the Soviet Union, and the turn toward capitalism. (../index2.php?option=com_content sectionid=0 task=edit hidemainmenu=1 id=842) Mon, 03 May 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/political-economy/obamas-war-machine-part-2-846-2.html Part 2 - America's Nuclear Intentions The Nuclear Posture Review is of great importance because it concerns the most deadly weapons in the world. The report is overflowing with ambiguity. First it notes that President Obama seeks a world without nuclear weapons, but that he recognizes it may not be possible in his lifetime. Then it notes that after the Cold War The threat of global nuclear war has become remote, but the risk of nuclear attack has increased because a terrorist may seek to bring a nuclear weapon into the United States. We assume this does not mean it is more dangerous today that during the Cold War, but it's not entirely clear. Sun, 02 May 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/political-economy/obamas-war-machine-part-1-845.html Part 1: The Pentagon's Game Plan There's more war in America's future — a great deal more, judging by the Obama Administration's reports, pronouncements and actions in recent months. These documents and deeds include the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), the Ballistic Missile Defense Report, the Nuclear Security Summit in New York, and the May 3-28 UN Non-Proliferation review conference, as well as the continuing Bush-Obama wars in the Middle East and Central Asia, and the 2011 Pentagon war budget request. Sat, 01 May 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/books-arts-and-literature/the-murder-of-cactus-848-2.html They have extracted the insides of Mother Earth and buried our poisoned people in the cemetery of human misery. A cactus flourishes in the desert that is liberty in Middle America. It grows with drops from the sprinkling of pain and from the unity of the peoples. Its spines store up and give off water. They are filters that purify communities of cyanide and metals that poison the human body and the heart of Mother Earth Cactus has the courage and love of the woman who embraces struggles of the indigenous, peasants, and workers. She is pursued and assassinated by thugs, armies, and the police, those faithful protectors of coffers enriched through the hunger and the historic suffering of the peoples. Fri, 30 Apr 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/commentary/the-debt-scam-844-2.html Tuesday, April 27, 2010 is a red letter day for the harbingers of debt disaster. That date marks the first meeting of the new National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, a commission established by President Obama to outline cuts in government spending to reduce the national debt. Wed, 28 Apr 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/struggles-for-equality/arizona-legalizes-racial-profiling-851-2.html The conservative states' rights mantra sweeping our country has led to one of the most egregious wrongs in recent U.S. history. New legislation in Arizona requires law enforcement officers to stop everyone whom they have reasonable suspicion to believe is an undocumented immigrant and arrest them if they fail to produce their papers. What constitutes reasonable suspicion ? When asked what an undocumented person looks like, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, who signed SB 1070 into law last week, said, I don't know what an undocumented person looks like. The bill does not prohibit police from relying on race or ethnicity in deciding who to stop. It is unlikely that officers will detain Irish or German immigrants to check their documents. This law unconstitutionally criminalizes walking while brown in Arizona. Mon, 26 Apr 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/cuba/the-insanities-of-our-era-849-2.html There is no alternative but to call things by their true name. Anyone with minimal commonsense can observe without much effort how little realism remains in the current world. When United States President Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Michael Moore stated Now please earn it! That witty comment pleased a lot of people for its acuity, although the Norwegian committee’s decision was perceived by many as no more than demagogy and an exaltation of the apparently inoffensive politicking of the new president of the United States, an African American, a good speaker and an intelligent politician at the head of a powerful empire enveloped in profound economic crisis. Sun, 25 Apr 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/social-and-economic-conditions/death-of-a-nation-russia-841.html Editor's note: the following video is part 1 of a series of 6 successive videos (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeK6spOIVro) . Videos 2 through 6 can be found on the right of the screen. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the West has purposefully ignored the devastation which resulted. The West merely shrugged its shoulders in 2005 when Putin called the collapse the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century. A once great country is now nearing terminal collapse. By 2050 Russia may have lost 50% of its population. Male life expectancy has plummeted as never before in recorded history. It is now 56. In this chaos opportunism has reached new depths. Oligarchs stole billions of dollars of assets which under Soviet times had belonged to all people. These are like new tsars, embraced by church and state. Violence and the rise of the far-right is turning Russian against Russian on the basis of ethnic origin. Drug abuse, alcoholism, suicide, abject depression flow from a people who once worked together for a better and brighter Communist future. In its place is emptiness. The rise in mortality is unprecedented in a developed country. It's as though the country is at war Thu, 22 Apr 2010 19:45:10 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/communist-forum/for-a-return-to-the-cpusas-antiwar-principles-839.html Perhaps the most catastrophic consequence of our Party leadership's loss of its working-class and Marxist-Leninist bearings has been its de facto acquiescence to the U.S. occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.

 This failure of political leadership invites comparison to the betrayal of the Socialist parties of the Second International on the eve of World War I, when, in an about-face from their prior solemn antiwar declarations, their deputies voted for military appropriations to wage war against workers in neighboring countries.

 The failing by our Party's present leadership to discharge i

ts anti-imperialist duty was glaring under George W. Bush and continues to this day. It's had a profoundly destabilizing effect on the U.S. antiwar movement, and has no doubt played a role in the severe weakening of at least one major antiwar coalition.

 Tue, 20 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/communist-forum/zionism-is-a-form-of-racism-840.html In the Preconvention Discussion Document on U.S. international affairs and foreign policy, the two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli impasse is held up as being  the only solution that enables the Palestinian people to realize their hopes and struggle for national sovereignty, and that enables the Jewish people of Israel to PRESERVE THEIR SENSE OF A PREDOMINANTLY JEWISH STATE. [caps are mine-GH] If someone in our party were to state either publicly or to other comrades in private that segregation in our country is the only way to preserve black people's dignity and realize their hopes, as well as enable the white population to preserve their sense of a predominantly white state , the problem would be quite clear. Tue, 20 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/cuba/in-defense-of-cuba-837.html To the Editors: Good People, One can find online at http://www.porcuba.org/ a statement En defensa de Cuba. If you do not read Spanish, clicking on the middle flag will translate the statement into English. The statement condemns the economic and media assault that Cuba is being subjected to as an act against the human and political rights of a people that decided to forge a different path. The signers demand respect for the internal processes of the Cuban people in deciding and exercising its democracy, and adherence to the universal principles of no intervention, in accordance with the United Nations. Sat, 17 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/struggles-for-equality/stimulus-seen-failing-jobless-blacks-847-2.html Some estimates suggest that at one point last year, black male unemployment in Red Hook [Brooklyn, New York] hit 46 percent. In March, as the national unemployment rate remained at 9.7 percent for the third straight month, the rate for black men rose to 20.2 This month's edition of City Limits magazine presents a comprehensive investigation of the causes, consequences and political controversy of black male joblessness. In this web extra, we look at why some feel the federal stimulus bill has come up short. In a recent column, the chairman of the board that oversees the federal stimulus program went on the defensive against the chorus of attacks his agency has faced, aiming to shoot down critiques such as Why is the Recovery Board wasting so much money funding stupid projects? Wed, 14 Apr 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/communist-forum/by-their-fruits-you-shall-know-them-825.html It is remarkable that the 10-page pre-convention discussion document  “New Opportunities to Grow the Party” does not mention that CPUSA membership declined 60 percent since the last convention, falling from  2500 to 1000 members. These estimates are authoritative. The former is from Comrade Danny Rubin’s “Are We Overlooking Anything in the Fight to Build the Party?” (April 4, 2005) in which he cites a June 2004 report by Comrade Sam Webb. The latter number was used by Comrade Bobbie Wood.  Wed, 14 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/communist-forum/kicking-it-up-a-notch-826.html What I find missing from the call on our Party to join in the impending struggle for jobs is the Communist plus. I believe it has been missing for quite a number of years in our party. The two quotes below help to clarify what the plus is all about. From the Communist Manifesto: Wed, 14 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/labor-movement/reclaiming-may-day-in-new-york-city-832.html Editors' note: May Day rallies sprang from the US working class movement in the 1880s. In the heyday of the CIO,  May Day was a mass event. But in the  US it became a casualty of McCarthyism and the Cold War, though left-wing groups valiantly worked to keep the tradition allve. In the last few years, spearheaded by immigrant worker groups, many of them Latino, May 1 has revived as a day of mass worker protest.  Below is a statement issued by the May Day March and Rally in New York City. NEW YORK CITY MAY DAY MARCH RALLY May 1, 2010 United for change now!  Labor and Immigrant Rights Jobs for All! We refuse to pay for an economic crisis we did not create! Who We Are We are united — the employed and the unemployed, the documented and the undocumented, the organized and the unorganized, the people of diverse races and ethnicities who live and work in New York City.  We are the members of scores of labor unions, immigrants’ rights organizations and community groups. We are the great working-class majority. Tue, 13 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/communist-forum/for-marxism-830.html In the booklet that contains the Main Discussion Documents on pp. 24-25, under the heading of MARXISM, it says the following: Marxist methodology absorbs and metabolizes new experience; it gives special weight to new phenomona. It isn't about timeless abstractions, pure forms, ideal types, categorical imperatives unsullied by inconvenient facts... Marxist methodology insists on a concrete presentation of every question and an exact estimate of the balance of forces at any given moment. Tue, 13 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/communist-forum/pre-convention-comment-831.html Upon reading much of the pre-convention discussion I must agree with Michael Scheinberg's points in Kicking it up a  Notch, and also some of the comments on Party democracy. While not wanting to play into sectarianism, these are areas of vital importance to our Party. Many of us do good work within working class struggles but how do we maintain that all-important Communist Plus ? That is what defines our work. It is an absolute necessity to enlarge class consciousness if we are to truly defeat the ultra-right and undermine its growth among the least educated of our class. I believe the best approach is a consistent anti-corporate line that must be shown as the basis of every issue. Let's face it, the reason what is possible within the system we now have is that the system itself is owned by corporate interests which have undermined and stolen representative democracy. More and more, otherwise non-politicized people are realizing that. Tue, 13 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/struggles-for-equality/slavery-denial-in-ol-virginny-836.html April 2011 will mark the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War. There will undoubtedly be new books published, speeches made and commentaries written to mark this watershed event. That is as it should be, but the governor of Virginia has given us a preview of the ugly sentiments that will be celebrated and lies that will become accepted as truth if they are not responded to swiftly. Despite the fact that his last two predecessors had ignored the tradition, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell felt compelled to resurrect the celebration of Confederate History Month. His declaration of the commemoration began as follows: “WHEREAS, April is the month in which the people of Virginia joined the Confederate States of America in a four-year war between the states for independence that concluded at Appomattox Courthouse;…” Tue, 13 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/commentary/when-does-an-accident-become-a-crime-828.html ...waiting at the gate, we are waiting at the gate...while the miners' kids and wives wait at the gate... Woody Guthrie From 1900 until 1950, over 95,000 US workers were killed in coal mines, nearly as many as died in World War I and exceeded only by military deaths in the Civil War and World War II. Millions more were injured in this period. While records were not required, a conservative claim by the Bureau of Mines estimates that 140,000 miners were injured in 1914 alone, roughly 18% of all miners employed. Millions more went undiagnosed with black lung disease and severe arthritis. As recently as the 1990's, over 21,000 injuries occurred annually in coal mining, despite far fewer employed at that time in the industry. Sun, 11 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/commentary/us-imperialism-hard-pressed-to-see-reality-827.html At the April 5, 2010 press briefing at the US Department of State, with Assistant Secretary of State Philip J. Crowley as spokesman, some unidentified member of bourgeois media asked this question and Assistant Secretary Crowley gave this answer. QUESTION: And also, in Venezuela. Venezuela and Russia – there is this thing that they want to buy and the Russians apparently want to sell them about $5 billion worth of weapons. Have you anything on this? Do you consider this a threat? Do you know which kind of weapons? MR. CROWLEY: Well, what relationships governments have is up to them. What they do in those relationships is, again, a matter of a bilateral issue between Venezuela and Russia. We don't care. On the other hand, to the extent that Venezuela is purchasing military equipment, we're hard-pressed to see what legitimate defense needs Venezuela has for this equipment. Our primary concern is not – if Venezuela wants to acquire these – this equipment, we can probably think of better things that could be invested on behalf of the Venezuelan people. Sat, 10 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/cuba/fidel-on-young-comunist-league-of-cubacopenhagen-834.html I had the privilege of following directly the voices, images, ideas, arguments, faces, reactions and applause of the delegates taking part in the final session of the  Ninth Congress of the Young Communist League of Cuba held at the Convention Center last Sunday, April 4. The TV cameras show details from much better angles and distances than can be perceived by the eyes of those attending any of these events. It is no exaggeration to say that to me it was one of the most touching moments of my long and hazardous life. I could not be there but I felt inside like someone engaged in a journey along the ideas for which he has fought three fourths of his life. However, ideas and values would be worthless for a revolutionary who did not feel it is his duty to fight every minute of his life to overcome the ignorance we all come with into the world. Thu, 08 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/cuba/we-will-defend-the-truth-with-our-ethics-and-our-principles-835.html Editor's note: This was the lead editorial in Granma on April 8th.  Granma is the official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba. We will defend the truth with our ethics and our principles

 The empire and its allies have launched a new crusade in an attempt to demonize Cuba. Its powerful political and media machinery has set in motion a colossal operation of deception with the object of discrediting the revolutionary process, destabilizing the country and provoking the conditions for the destruction of our social system.

 Thu, 08 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/imperialism/us-imperialists-are-hard-pressed-838.html At the April 5, 2010 press briefing at the US Department of State, with Assistant Secretary of State Philip. J. Crowley as spokesman, some unidentified member of bourgeois media asked this question and Assistant Secretary Crowley gave this answer. QUESTION: And also, in Venezuela. Venezuela and Russia – there is this thing that they want to buy and the Russians apparently want to sell them about $5 billion worth of weapons. Have you anything on this? Do you consider this a threat? Do you know which kind of weapons? MR. CROWLEY: Well, what relationships governments have is up to them. What they do in those relationships is, again, a matter of a bilateral issue between Venezuela and Russia. We don't care. On the other hand, to the extent that Venezuela is purchasing military equipment, we're hard-pressed to see what legitimate defense needs Venezuela has for this equipment. Our primary concern is not – if Venezuela wants to acquire these – this equipment, we can probably think of better things that could be invested on behalf of the Venezuelan people. But our primary concern is that – that if Venezuela is going to increase its military hardware, we certainly don't want to see this hardware migrate into other parts of the hemisphere. And we would simply remind Venezuela that through a number of accords has responsibility for transparency in its acquisitions and must make clear about the purpose of acquiring these materials. Mon, 05 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/cuba/speech-to-cuban-ycl-850-2.html Main Address by Army General Raul Castro Ruz, President of the State Council and the Council of Ministers and Second Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee, at the Closing Session of the 9th Congress of the Young Communist League, Havana, April 4, 2010, Year 52 of the Revolution Delegates and Guests, Comrades all: It has been a good Congress, since last October when it began with the open meetings attended by hundreds of thousand of youths and continued with the evaluation meetings conducted by the organization from the rank and file through the municipal and provincial committees where the agreements were worked out that would be adopted in these final sessions. If there is anything we have had aplenty in the little over five years that have passed since Fidel made the closing speech at the 8th YCL Congress, on December 5, 2004, that is work and challenges. Sun, 04 Apr 2010 01:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/cuba/cuban-aid-to-haiti-deeds-not-words-814.html Speech by Bruno Rodríguez Parilla, Cuban minister of foreign affairs, at the Haiti donors meeting Mr. President, The international community has a tremendous debt with Haiti where, after three centuries of colonialism, the first social revolution on the American continent took place, an act of boldness that the colonial powers punished with close to 200 years of military dictatorships and plunder. Its noble and hardworking people are now the poorest in the Western hemisphere. We all have the moral obligation to contribute additional financial resources and greater cooperation to Haiti, not only for its reconstruction but, in particular, for its development. Thu, 01 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/communist-forum/for-peace-no-to-nato-808.html Dear Comrades: We would like to thank all the parties that already have signed the joint resolution initiated by the Working Group of the International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties under the title For Peace, No to NATO. Below is the text of the resolution with the up-to-date subscribers list. This resolution remains open for subscription of all the Communist and workers Parties. Therefore, the  parties that have not yet signed it, and are willing to do it, can communicate their decision to the International Department of Portuguese Communist Party via email (internacional@pcp.pt) or fax (+351217969824). With fraternal greetings on behalf of the International Department of the Portuguese Communist Party, Ângelo Alves, Member of the Political Bureau of the PCP In a context marked by an ever-deeper structural crisis of capitalism, by deeper exploitation of the workers and peoples, by inter-imperialist rivalries and by complex processes of realignment of forces on a world level, imperialism is embarking on new anti-democratic thrusts and militarist interventions, and is advancing with coercive solutions trying to perpetuate itself and defend its class interests. Wed, 31 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/cuba/even-dressed-in-white-posada-is-still-a-terrorist-812.html 
If there's one thing Emilio Estefan knows how to make, other than money, it's propaganda. 

In the Nineties, he and Gloria appeared in a photograph on Page One of The Herald holding a check for a donation for some cause or another. The check was the size of a classroom blackboard.

 I did a caricature about them that showed them riding in their Rolls-Royce. At a corner, there's a beggar with a sign that says I work for food. They lower the window and tell the man: And we donate for publicity. 

 Both complained about it to David Lawrence, who was then the Herald's publisher. Lawrence phoned me and asked if I had anything personal against the Estefans because I had poked fun at their donation. I said, no, I didn't have anything against them but I had a beef against the newspaper for putting them on the front page with that ridiculously large check. The more anonymous the philanthropy, the more glorious it is, I said. Lawrence laughed, agreed and hung up.

 Wed, 31 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/communist-forum/adopted-resolutions-texas-state-cp-convention-820.html Party Upholds Class Struggle at Texas State Convention The following resolutions were passed by the Texas state convention Sunday. [March 28] 1. Be it resolved the party adheres to the principle expressed by Marx and Engels in the Communist Manifesto that workers of the world must unite. In accordance with this principle, the party urges its members and others to support peaceful, legal, anti-imperialist actions that express the solidarity of this party with our class brothers and sisters. 2. Be it resolved that the organizing department of the party be reinstated when feasible with the mission of coherently facilitating the recruitment of new membership and Marxist Leninist education and the connection with appropriate party organs. 3. Be it resolved that in the future if funds and membership allow, the print edition of the People's World be reinstituted. Also, be it resolved that the party continue to periodically publish documents which will express the political line on current issues of struggle. 4. Be it resolved that the party affirm the primacy of the class struggle between the working class and the capitalist class.  March 30, 2010 http://houstoncommunistparty.com/party-upholds-class-struggle-at-texas-state-convention/ Tue, 30 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/communist-forum/a-canadian-discussion-contribution-829.html I was recently surprised to be called far left by a veteran member of the CPUSA, a leading supporter of the strategy and tactics of your party leadership. The charge was made in the course on an online discussion of the anti-war marches of March 20, 2010. In Canada, people with my political orientation and commitments are unexceptional rank and file members of the Communist Party of Canada. Tue, 30 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/communist-forum/on-party-democracy-817.html At a time when the Party needs to organize its members in the fight for jobs, healthcare, and against U.S. imperialist ventures, one might ask what is the relevance of the struggle for democracy in our Party? Is it a diversion from the real tasks at hand? The answer is NO! On the contrary, it is integrally related to our ability to use all our resources to draw the correct conclusions and to put them into action. If our clubs are the places where ideology and strategy are translated into action and are the direct contact with the masses, then their input is critical to the decision making process even between National Conventions. The following is from a discussion document titled The Nature, Role and Work of the Communist Party written in 2006. Sam Webb is the author. Mon, 29 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/commentary/marxist-fundmentalism-821.html As much as things have changed since Karl Marx's time, his fundamental insights about the nexus of labor, exploitation, and profit remain the best guide to understanding capitalism and capitalist crisis. Theorist have come and gone, spinning elaborate revisions or alternatives based upon concepts of under consumption, over production, imbalance, disequilibrium, etc. Many have found in changing features of capitalism - like monopolization, automation, vertical integration, de-centralization, chip and robot innovation, globalization, financialization, etc - the altering of the logic of capitalist production and its inclination to dysfunction. Still others have seen changes in ownership and management relations as changing the dynamics of capitalist accumulation. While all of these reflect truths and useful perspectives, they miss or obscure the engine that drives all capitalist processes: the pursuit of profits through the exploitation of labor by the capitalist enterprise. For Marx, the expression of this engine and its propensity to misfire lies in the struggle to maintain profits against its intrinsic tendency to decline. Call me a fundamentalist, but I believe this was, and remains, the best, if not only, road to understanding capitalist crisis, including the current deep downturn. Mon, 29 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/struggles-for-equality/the-struggle-for-the-equality-and-emancipation-of-women-815.html The Struggle for the Equality and Emancipation of WomenSeminar of Communist and Workers' Parties, Brussels Opening Speech by Aleka Papariga, General Secretary, KKEA hundred years have passed since the second International Conference ofsocialist women adopted the proposal of the German Clara Zetkin, one ofthe greatest personalities of women's international labour revolutionary movement, on the celebration of the 8th March as the anniversary of working women's sacrifice on 8th March 1857 in New York.In our opinion, this year's anniversary gives us a great chance to assess the role that the communist movement played in the struggle for gender equality, for the women's emancipation in the course of a century. At the same time, it is urgent to discuss according to which strategy and tactic will we tackle with the deterioration of the women'sposition under the conditions of the capitalist crisis, as a special issue and integral element of the life of the worker's families of the working people in general. Fri, 26 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/imperialism/cuba-beating-the-hurricane-824.html Cuba has become expert in protecting its citizens against the impact of tropical storms. The secret to their success: education and a system that relies on clear communication between the Met Office, Civil Defence and the media. Despite being one of the poorest countries in the Caribbean, the people of Cuba are among the best prepared against hurricanes. Every year the whole country takes part in a two-day training session in risk reduction for Hurricanes, complete with full simulation exercises and dramatic rescue operations, which allow the evacuation of people in a record time. Visit: Youtube to watch the video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN9D-QmIwko feature=player_embedded) Thu, 25 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/social-and-economic-conditions/diary-of-a-wimpy-health-care-bill-813.html Passage of President Obama's healthcare bill proves that Congress can enact comprehensive social legislation in the face of virulent rightwing opposition. Now that we have an insurance bill, can we move on to healthcare reform? As an organization of registered nurses, we have an obligation to provide an honest assessment, as nurses must do every hour of every day. The legislation fails to deliver on the promise of a single standard of excellence in care for all and instead makes piecemeal adjustments to the current privatized, for-profit healthcare behemoth. When all the boasts fade, comparing the bill to Social Security and Medicare, probably intended to mollify liberal supporters following repeated concessions to the healthcare industry and conservative Democrats, a sobering reality will probably set in. Thu, 25 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/communist-forum/thoughts-on-a-call-to-united-action-818.html Recognizing today's reality, the Organizing Committee wrote that the convention: comes in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Millions of working people have lost their jobs, their homes, their means of survival. Hunger and homelessness stalk the land. Desperation and anger are growing. Our convention must address this worsening humanitarian crisis. The document continues: The U.S. Senate must immediately pass the $174 billion 'Jobs for Main Street' bill already approved by the House, that extends unemployment compensation and creates new jobs. This can be won. This juxtaposition of problem (the first quote) and proposed solution (the second quote) illustrates  a disconnect between the economic and systemic violence being perpetrated on the working class and the proposals that our Party is advancing in response. Wed, 24 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/communist-forum/from-anti-ultra-right-to-anti-monopoly-819.html I recommended in my first piece that the Party move from anti-ultra-right to anti-monopoly struggle, with an emphasis on the final destination - socialism. I argued that this was the only way to grow the Party. Some object on the grounds that the anti-ultra-right fight has not been won. There have been a couple of contributions playing variations on the ultra-right has not been decisively defeated theme. That's the argument for not moving to an anti-monopoly focus. There are several flaws in it. First - it reflects a mechanical ideology-centered approach to political progress that takes no account of material conditions. First we defeat the right-most ideology, then we move on down the line. Recession, depression, or boom is irrelevant to so robotic a strategy. Just the opposite - the anti-ultra right phase was correct mainly because the capitalist economy was on the whole booming from the 80s through the mid 00s. The economy dictated the basic terrain of struggle, which was an advantageous one for capital. That is what forced a defensive battle focused only on the most reactionary elements of capital - anti-ultra-right. Right now the capitalist system is choking, lurching like a bloodthirsty vampire in the moments before the dawn. It is sucking blood from the state while at the same time squeezing workers into ever greater exploitation and joblessness. Banks and bosses are the targets of indignation not just on the left but among the public at large. This is the moment for an offensive against monopoly capital with the backdrop of promotion of the socialist alternative. Wed, 24 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/cuba/health-reform-in-the-united-states-810.html Barack Obama is a fanatical believer in the imperialist capitalist system imposed by the United States on the world. God bless the United States, he ends his speeches. Some of his acts wounded the sensibility of world opinion, which viewed with sympathy the African-American candidate's victory over that country's extreme right-wing candidate. Basing himself on one of the worst economic crises that the world has ever seen, and the pain caused by young Americans who lost their lives or were injured or mutilated in his predecessor's genocidal wars of conquest, he won the votes of the majority of 50% of Americans who deign to go to the polls in that democratic country. Out of an elemental sense of ethics, Obama should have abstained from accepting the Nobel Peace Prize when he had already decided to send 40,000 soldiers to an absurd war in the heart of Asia. Wed, 24 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/commentary/obama-inside-man-for-the-greatest-heist-in-history-816.html Glen Ford delivered the following remarks to a panel discussion of the Left Forum, at Pace University, New York City, on March 20. The discussion was titled, Race and Recession: Will a Rising Tide Lift All Boats? The old, rich man's slogan, A rising tide lifts all boats – that Obama now claims as his own – has been discredited from any number of angles. I'd like to add another layer of contempt. The phrase takes for granted, as a truism, that you can count on the economic tides rolling in, and then rolling out again, like the ocean. The phrase takes for granted that this system, with its ups and downs, is as permanent as the tides. The implication is that we are simply in a deep downturn in the economy – a cyclical situation – that will inevitably, at some point, lead to an upturn, like the tide coming back in. So, when one says that A rising tide lifts all boats, in addition to promising the poor that something better will be coming to them with the next upturn in the cycle, you are also expressing confidence that this capitalist system is eternal – as permanent as the push and pull of the tides. When Barack Obama first said that a rising tide lifts all boats, his administration was only 100 days old. It had only been a little over half a year since the Great Crash of 2008. But there was Obama, saying essentially that nothing too much out of the ordinary had happened, after all. Yes, the tide was out, but it would be back in again, as always, to lift all boats. And, in the meantime, don't rock the boat with questions about Black unemployment and other such nuisances and irritants. Just wait for the tide. Sat, 20 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/imperialism/the-anti-venezuela-election-campaign-811.html Venezuela's election is not until September, but the international campaign to delegitimise the government has already begun

. Venezuela has an election for its national assembly in September, and the campaign has begun in earnest. I am referring to the international campaign. This is carried out largely through the international media, although some will spill over into the Venezuelan media. It involves many public officials, especially in the US.   Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/commentary/a-political-conundrum-803.html Sixteen months ago, political commentators and analysts felt they had a handle on the mood of US citizens. All saw the election of Obama and the sweep of Congress as a powerful rejection of the politics of the Bush era, including a repudiation of the extreme-right agenda associated with it. Roughly 20-25% of the electorate still tenaciously embraced the bizarre brew of religious zeal, rabid nationalism, racism, and social retardation, but polls – like the detailed, twenty year survey of “Trends in Political Values and Core Attitudes” conducted by The Pew Research Center – showed a decided tilt towards more socially progressive, government-directed policies on the part of the US population. Some pundits even spoke of a sea-change in US politics: the emergence of a new democratic and progressive era as potent as the so-called “Reagan Revolution. Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/cuba/declaration-of-the-national-assembly-of-peoples-power-805.html In the aftermath of a campaign orchestrated essentially by powerful European media companies, which have viciously attacked Cuba, and following a sullied debate, the European Parliament has just passed a condemnation resolution against our country manipulating sentiments, distorting facts, deceiving people and obscuring reality. The pretext has been the death of an inmate first punished for common crimes and then manipulated by US interests and the mercenaries at its service. This man refused to eat despite all warnings and the intervention of Cuban medical specialists. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/communist-forum/pre-convention-discussion-tailing-the-democrats-forsaking-struggle-799.html Why was the CPUSA leadership estimate of the Obama Administration so wrong? The November 2008 presidential election was a democratic milestone in US politics. The joy and pride of people of color and tens of millions of others in the election victory of a Black person in a country disfigured by centuries of racism has been altogether legitimate. However, such sentiments are not a Marxist-Leninist, all-sided, scientific analysis of the class substance of the new Obama Administration. Obama’s pro-corporate and pro-imperialist policies have disappointed and angered working people, particularly working people of color. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/communist-forum/pre-convention-discussion-critique-of-cpusa-statement-on-international-affairs-794.html The CPUSA presents the document World Realignments, Shifting Balance of Forces for pre-convention discussion. This presentation of the Party's approach to international affairs gives short shrift to growing anti-imperial outrage. It offers no program relating to anti-imperialist mobilization. The document elaborates upon tactics and methodology seen as useful for ameliorating U.S. foreign policy embarrassments. That emphasis has little to do with the concerns of many people who, horrified at imperialist excess, identify themselves as socialists. In weighing the CPUSA as a possible political home, they could come across this summary purporting to give general direction on international affairs. They will find little mention there of victims of U.S. imperialism: the tortured, the imprisoned, the starving, the migrating, and the wounded and killed in U.S. wars. Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/communist-forum/has-the-cpusa-leadership-vetoed-the-first-significant-antiwar-marches-since-obama-took-office-795.html The first significant anti-war marches since Obama took office, planned for the March 20 anniversary of the Iraq war , in light of Communist Party USA 29th National Convention official discussion document: International Issues and US Foreign Policy. Medea Benjamin of Codepink has written that ...March promises to be a revival of sorts. Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/communist-forum/pre-convention-discussion-cpusa-at-the-crossroads-798.html The Communist Party USA offers the best political hope for working people in this country. At a time of great change in the United States, the CPUSA has the experience and history to lead important struggles. With these opportunities come significant questions for our party. The decisions, tactics and conclusions offered by party leadership over the last couple of years demand examination. We believe that our party is at a crossroads and we must make major changes in ideology and practice in order to end years of stagnation and dwindling membership. Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/communist-forum/pre-convention-discussion-the-struggle-for-socialism-surrounds-us-800.html The issues facing the Gary, Indiana, unionized public school custodians struggling against layoffs and privatization are similar to those facing working families across our nation. These issues cannot be addressed by an electoral struggle or an economic struggle alone. A multi-dimensional, complex struggle is daily underway to limit exploitation by expanding working class power and which, simply because of the logic of the struggle, can only be resolved by winning socialism. Custodians are fighting for adequate staffing to do their jobs, cleaning supplies, substitutes when one of the permanent workers is out sick or on vacation, and equipment. The struggle includes demonstrations, lobby days, food distributions to laid off custodians, supporting elected officials, fighting grievances against arbitrary and inequitable treatment, building internal unity in support of united action around these issues and in support of the union, and more. Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/communist-forum/pre-convention-discussion-against-the-anti-communist-impulse-getting-our-history-right-801.html Recently in our pre-convention discussion, the issue of communist history was raised in Ari Goldman's For Truth and Reconciliation . It is true that communist history is a vital area of discussion. However, the sentiments expressed in Truth and Reconciliation owe far too much to the bourgeois distortions that are passed off as the history of communism. Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/cuba/a-reply-to-counter-revolutionaries-796.html To: Carmelo Díaz Fernández Minaldo Ramos Salgado María Elena Mir Marrero Emilio Jerez Oliver Víctor Manuel Domínguez García Reinaldo Cosano Alén From: Bill Preston and Carl Gentile, Co-Chairs of the U.S. Labor for Friendship with Cuba trade union delegation. Re: An answer to the accusations, innuendos, insinuations, and fabrications regarding the Delegation's visit to Cuba and its meeting with the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba (CTC), the Workers' Central Union of Cuba. Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/national-liberation/bolivar-beats-monroe-celac-is-born-802.html Introductory note by translator: This article, accessible in Spanish at the URL below, concerns the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), formed recently at a gathering in Cancun attended by every nation in the Western Hemisphere, except Canada and the United States. What they did is of enormous significance, wrote former Cuban President Fidel Castro. No other institutional event of the past century in our hemisphere is so transcendental, he explained. Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/communist-forum/joint-statement-of-communist-and-workers-parties-of-the-eu-countries-804.html Below, the joint statement of Communist and Workers Parties of the EU Countries was drafted by the Workers' Party of Belgium, the CP of Greece, and CP of Ireland on the occasion of the EU Summit of Heads of States of February 11. The statement remains open for further endorsements. Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/imperialism/what-do-empires-do-797.html When I wrote my book Against Empire in 1995, as might be expected, some of my U.S. compatriots thought it was wrong of me to call the United States an empire. It was widely believed that U.S. rulers did not pursue empire; they intervened abroad only out of self-defense or for humanitarian rescue operations or to restore order in a troubled region or overthrow tyranny, fight terrorism, and propagate democracy. But by the year 2000, everyone started talking about the United States as an empire and writing books with titles like Sorrows of Empire, Follies of Empire,  Twilight of Empire, or Empire of Illusions--- all referring to the United States when they spoke of empire. Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/commentary/ukraine-five-years-after-the-orange-revolution-807.html Five years ago, my colleague, Louise Michel, and I posted several articles on MLToday divulging the intrigues behind the Ukraine Presidential elections. Michel placed the celebrated “Orange Revolution” in the context of the other orchestrated “color” revolutions organized and encouraged by NGO’s funded by EU governments and the US. Michel and I “sought to expose the enormous amount of money and resources flowing into these countries from such noble sounding institutions as the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the International Republican Institute (IRI), the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), and many others”. “It was apparent to [me]” she wrote, “that these ‘popular risings’ were far from spontaneous, but rather highly manipulated, and compatible with US foreign policy objectives”. She recounted “AP reporter Matt Kelley's revelations about more than $65 millions worth of US influence peddling in the Ukraine…” Michel argued persuasively that the contested election and the subsequent new election were more properly viewed as a coup, rather than victory for democracy. She cited a New York Times writer, C.J. Chivers, who “exposes some of these machinations… [T]he Times article really chronicles how the Ukraine government's decision to halt the highly orchestrated, well funded opposition demonstration in Kiev were thwarted by the surreptitious, behind-the-scenes maneuvers of high ranking security and military officials within the government. They used their influence to undermine the government response.” Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/communist-forum/pre-convention-discussion-the-old-bug-of-right-opportunism-returns-788.html Editors' note: The following pre-convention discussion article was posted at the URL below. From time to time we will post contributions likely be of interest to readers. Although Marxist-Leninist terminology has fallen out of vogue with the top leadership of our Party, there's no avoiding the use of precise, scientific language if one is to analyze contemporary phenomena from a Communist point of view. To do so would be like trying to have a discussion of Newtonian physics without using words like force or matter. For several years our Party has been suffering from the corrosive effects of what Marx, Lenin and other Marxists called opportunism, specifically right opportunism. This was not name-calling on their part, but was instead an attempt to define a historically determined phenomenon that persists to this day. Sat, 20 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/imperialism/the-world-is-in-crisis-with-dark-clouds-ahead-791.html Remarks of Al Marder, President, US Peace Council, to the World Peace Council Secretariat  meeting at Katmandu, Nepal. Comrades and Friends: I wish to thank the Nepal Peace and Solidarity Council for providing the opportunity to come together to exchange ideas and proposals at this critical period for united action against the continuing and accelerated drive of imperialism that threatens world peace. We must seize this occasion to fulfill our historic responsibility to seek to unite the global peace movement in common struggle for peace. We recognize that our brothers and sisters in countries throughout the world, in many forms and many organizations, are struggling for national independence, for sovereignty, for the right to determine their own destiny, for peace. The World Peace Council, founded in the cauldron of anti-imperialism and internationalism, must reach out as never before, to seek common ground with all those forces, to forge a “superpower,” a global people’s movement for peace and justice. Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/palestine/israels-new-strategy-sabotage-and-attack-the-global-justice-movement-790.html An extraordinary series of articles, reports and presentations by Israel's influential Reut Institute has identified the global movement for justice, equality and peace as an existential threat to Israel and called on the Israeli government to direct substantial resources to attack and possibly engage in criminal sabotage of this movement in what Reut believes are its various international hubs in London, Madrid, Toronto, the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/commentary/the-class-war-where-things-stand-789.html The singular contribution that Marxism offers to the theory of the working class movement is the idea of exploitation as well as a way to gauge its intensity. Prior to the pioneering efforts of Marx and Engels, those sympathetic to the miserable conditions of working people brought on by the rise of industrialization pointed to the grinding poverty and short, brutal lives of employees and urged reforms and relief. They failed to locate these conditions in the very logic of capitalism. They failed to find the source of these conditions in the relation between capital and wage-labor. Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/imperialism/will-obamas-record-war-budget-lead-to-us-victory-in-afghanistan-dont-bet-on-it.-792.html President Barack Obama has increased the Pentagon's perennially-bloated annual spending spree to its greatest magnitude since World War II : $708 billion. Congress eventually will overwhelmingly approve Obama's war budget request for fiscal year 2011, which takes effect in October. The Obama Administration's funding recommendation was announced Feb. 1. The next day Reuters reported that Shares of major U.S. defense contractors rose on Monday after the Obama Administration unveiled a defense budget... that seeks a 3.4 percent increase in the Pentagon's base budget and $159 billion to fund missions in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Thu, 11 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/electoral-politics/lenin-britain-and-elections-822.html Text of a speech to the Communist Party trade union and political cadre school Wortley Hall, 6 February 2010 In addressing questions of the Communist Party in Britain and its relation to the Labour Party and elections, Lenin applied Marxist principles which provide a valuable starting-point for our analysis today. And he applied them to the concrete conditions in Britain and internationally at the time, some of which have disappeared, some changed a little, some transformed and others new. I would identify three cardinal principles as follows: Sat, 06 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/marxist-education/on-distorting-the-history-of-the-second-world-war-in-education-793.html There is only one historical truth, the one written by the peoples! The Fourth European Communist Meeting education was held in Brussels on February 5th. This year the meeting engaged with the distortion of the history of the Second World War in the process of education.  The meeting was organised by the Communist Party of Greece and took place in the building of the European Parliament.  Twenty-five representatives from European Communist and workers parties participated in the meeting. During the meeting the participants presented facts from school and academic books about the falsification of the Second World War history; they unveiled the goals of this campaign and referred to their experiences from their action against the ideological manipulation of the youth. There are contributions from specific parties such as  CP Greece, Communist Workers' Party of Russia, CP of Malta, German CP, Workers' Party of Belgium, CP  of Slovakia, and CP of Britain. The meeting issued the following joint statement: Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/communist-forum/pre-convention-discussion-save-the-party-784.html Editors' note: The following pre-convention discussion article was posted by the editors of Political Affairs to that magazine's web site on January 30. For full information about the CPUSA's pre-convention discussion go to www.cpusa.org. Save the Party! By Dean Christ, Kevin Kyle, and Joan Phillips We think the CPUSA convention, postponed several times, cannot come soon enough. We believe the Party has been heading in a wrong direction in far too many ways. Sat, 30 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/imperialism/a-nation-on-its-knees-785.html Haiti has suffered, and continues to suffer, from the malign interference of foreign powers. The question: Whose fault is Haiti's devastation? The earthquake was clearly an act of God, but the mess which is the world's response to the disaster was a genuine human débacle. Consequently justice and simple Christian morality demand that those guilty of merciless attacks on the Haitians for their supposed incompetence be identified and named for once.  After all, there has to be an end to two centuries of attacks on Haiti by white westerners, many of whom presented themselves, and continue to present themselves, as Christians. Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/cuba/we-send-doctors-not-soldiers-777.html In my Reflection of January 14, two days after the catastrophe in Haiti, which destroyed that neighboring sister nation, I wrote: In the area of healthcare and others the Haitian people has received the cooperation of Cuba, even though this is a small and blockaded country. Approximately 400 doctors and healthcare workers are helping the Haitian people free of charge. Our doctors are working every day at 227 of the 237 communes of that country. On the other hand, no less than 400 young Haitians have been graduated as medical doctors in our country. They will now work alongside the reinforcement that traveled there yesterday to save lives in that critical situation. Thus, up to one thousand doctors and healthcare personnel can be mobilized without any special effort; and most are already there willing to cooperate with any other State that wishes to save Haitian lives and rehabilitate the injured.” Sat, 23 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/labor-movement/hey-democrats-remember-us-773.html Jeff, you guys at the Union Hall aren't listening to us! You're talking out of both sides of your mouth. We're fighting the benefits tax, and now you're telling us to vote for someone who will tax our benefits! The guys here are voting for Scotty Brown. That was just one of the calls and e-mails that I received during the week before the Senate vote in Massachusetts. An AFSCME delegate to our labor council calculated the impact of the Obama tax on union plans and e-mailed us all to Vote Brown! Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/imperialism/shed-a-tear-for-democracy-786.html Supreme Court’s Citizens United Will Unleash Flood of Corporate Money in Elections; Public Citizen Calls for Constitutional Amendment to Reverse Decision Shed a tear for our democracy. Today, in the case Citizens United v. FEC, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that corporations have a First Amendment right to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence election outcomes. Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/electoral-politics/shed-a-tear-for-democracy-787.html Supreme Court’s Citizens United Decision Will Unleash Flood of Corporate Money in Elections; Public Citizen Calls for Constitutional Amendment to Reverse Decision Shed a tear for our democracy. Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/imperialism/u.s.-china-military-tensions-grow-772.html Even though the U.S. military budget is almost ten times that of China's (with a population more than four times as large) and Washington plans a record $708 billion defense budget for next year compared to Russia spending less than $40 billion last year for the same, China and Russia are portrayed as threats to the U.S. and its allies. China has no troops outside its borders; Russia has a small handful in its former territories in Abkhazia, Armenia, South Ossetia and Transdniester. The U.S. has hundreds of thousands of troops stationed in six continents. While Gates was in charge of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and responsible for almost half of international military spending he was offended that the world's most populous nation might desire to deny others countries the ability to threaten it. Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/imperialism/obamas-foreign-and-military-policy-774.html A year has gone by since Sen. Barack Obama assumed the presidency, replacing George W. Bush, who was among the worst chief executives in American history. The election of an African American to the White House is an historically positive development. And his first year in office has shown his superiority to Bush and his defeated opponent, rightist Sen. John McCain, in several areas. Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/imperialism/history-of-a-haitian-holocaust-778.html 
 For Gates, appointed by Bush and allowed to hang around by Obama, it's security first. That was his lesson from Hurricane Katrina. Blackwater before drinking water. 
 1.
 Bless the President for having rescue teams in the air almost immediately. That was President Olafur Grimsson of Iceland. On Wednesday, the AP reported that the President of the United States promised, The initial contingent of 2,000 Marines could be deployed to the quake-ravaged country within the next few days. In a few days, Mr. Obama?

 Sun, 17 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/imperialism/the-coups-d-tat-in-latin-america-and-the-dangers-facing-venezuela-782.html Puerto Rican attorney Alejandro Torres Rivera looks at the very real threat facing Venezuela and provides evidence that the threat against Venezuela is certainly not a bizarre idea. It is up to all of us, as this year begins, to redouble our solidarity with the Venezuelan people and the defense of their Revolution. Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/social-and-economic-conditions/more-or-less-on-reform-of-health-care-775.html Claudia Chaufan, MD, is an Argentine physician and assistant adjunct professor in the Institute for Health and Aging and Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. She is also vice president of the California Chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program. According to its web site, PNHP supports single-payer national health insurance - a system in which a single public or quasi-public agency organizes health financing, but delivery of care remains largely private. Dr. Chaufan talks to, and writes for, lay and expert audiences on the social dimensions of the diabetes epidemic and on single-payer health care reform. This is a recent email interview with her. Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/commentary/how-not-to-create-jobs-781.html The Associated Press reports that after studying in detail over $21 billion in stimulus projects designated for road and bridge construction in the Administration's first stimulus program, they found no discernible change in local employment associated with the completion of these projects. One of the five economists who reviewed their work stated: There seems to me to be very little evidence that it's making a difference. Another economist commented: In terms of creating jobs, it doesn't seem like it's created very many. It may well be employing lots of people, but those two things are different. (Spending Fails to Stimulate Jobs, Matt Puzzo and Brett J. Blackledge, 2-12-10) Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/imperialism/chiquita-lauded-for-human-rights-abuses-779.html Super Criminals In its most recent edition, the magazine, Super Lawyers, gave its cover story to the General Counsel of Chiquita Brands International, praising him for navigating the complex and difficult waters of Colombia. What it failed to mention is the trail of tears in Latin America left behind by Chiquita, formerly United Fruit, the architect of the 1954 coup in Guatemala as well as the 1928 massacre of striking banana workers in Cienaga, Colombia memorialized in One Hundred Years of Solitude. The following letter, by union labor lawyer, Dan Kovalik, highlights the contradictions in the applause given to Chiquita. We note that, just after this letter was written, Chiquita also received (quite ironically) a sustainability award for its business abroad. 
 Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/labor-movement/why-we-march-in-arizona-780.html The National Day Laborer Organizing Network, (NDLON) is an alliance of 41 organization dedicated to the defense and organization of immigrant day laborers in the United States. NDLON is the organizing force behind a March on Phoenix set for January 16, two days before the Martin Luther King national holiday. Its theme is Stop the Hate! Arpaio's America is not Our America! The NDLON web site is http://www.ndlon.org. Pablo Alvarado, executive director of NDLON, authored the statement below which appeared January 9 in the Mexican newspaper La Jornada. Sat, 09 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/books-arts-and-literature/review-can-capitalism-last-a-marxist-update-770.html It was hoped that Danny Rubin's Can Capitalism Last? would fill an important gap in Marxism for the post-Soviet world, enriching theory with new data especially from today's United States. Unfortunately, those hopes have not been realized. The author's answer to the title question, Can  Capitalism Last? amounts to “maybe yes, maybe no.” To be fair, Rubin presents clear explanations of some basic Marxist concepts. Sat, 09 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/labor-movement/u.s.-trade-union-delegation-to-cuba-the-struggle-to-uphold-cubas-right-of-national-sovereignty-776.html Bill Preston and Carl Gentile organized a U.S. Trade Union Research Delegation that will visit Cuba on January 10-17, 2010. The Delegation’s research on trade unions in Cuba will be facilitated by the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba (CTC), the Workers’ Central Union of Cuba, the country’s national labor federation. Bill and Carl organized a diverse group of full-time labor activists who are elected officials and staffers with AFL-CIO and Change to Win affiliated unions. They built unity among Left and Center forces around demands to end the U.S. ban on travel to Cuba, end the U.S. economic embargo against Cuba, and establish normal diplomatic and trade relations with Cuba. Bill and Carl are now working to develop the Delegation’s awareness of the importance and urgency of the additional demand to free the Cuban Five. Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/commentary/a-change-in-direction-nope-768.html With the New Year, Sam Webb, the chairman of the CPUSA has offered some new, ostensibly self-critical assessments of the Obama Administration's first twelve months. (Observations One Year In (http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/9213/)). Ostensibly self-critical because his latest thinking on wrong estimates that we allegedly made, overuses the second person plural, as if the blunders were made just as much by his party colleagues. A more honest leader would own up to the truth that the blunders were his. Webb's observations are prompted by two facts: One, his prior assessment is fully out-of-step with nearly the entire left and many of the centrist forces that have now developed a critical posture towards the Administration. A year ago, most saw the Obama election as signaling a qualitative change from the policies identified with the prior Administration. It is no secret that the majority of the left viewed Obama as a progressive and interpreted his campaign positions as a road map to the restoration of Great Society, if not New Deal, policies. In essence, they  hoped the election of a young visionary with a modest background and a Democratic Congressional majority could begin to overturn the neo-liberal agenda born late in the Carter Administration and fully matured in the Reagan years. I did not share that view, nor did my colleagues at MLToday. In fact, we argued vociferously that it was both naïve and dangerous. And now reality is intruding on that comforting image, with disappointment widespread. From the health care reform fiasco to the expanding imperialist wars, from the coddling of  finance capital to the dire crisis of working people, from the escalation of hostility towards Cuba to the complacency about Israeli aggression, and most recently, the shabby performance at the Copenhagen summit, there are few signs of the expected sea change in US politics. Even The Nation magazine and MoveOn are beginning to vocally reflect this disappointment. Obama-mania is on life support, if not dead. Thu, 07 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/palestine/us-trade-unions-out-of-step-on-bds-759.html The US trade union top leadership is out of step with the growing Boycott Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement in the world's trade unions against apartheid Israel. The newly elected head of the AFL-CIO, Richard L. Trumka condemned the spreading campaign: And tonight, let me tell you that, so long as I'm president, you will never have a stronger ally than the AFL-CIO. That's why we're proud to stand with the JLC to oppose boycotting Israel. -- Remarks, Jewish Labor Committee 2009 Annual Human Rights Dinner, October 27, 2009. (Source: http://monthlyreview.org/mrzine/trumka291009.html) Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/national-liberation/continental-bolivarian-movement-significance-for-socialists-760.html Milestones along the way to socialism of the 21st Century – a home grown expression for a Latin American phenomenon - are worth noting. Some are more obvious than others: left elections victories in Venezuela, Bolivia, and Ecuador, along with items such as plans for a 5th International, formation of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, and celebration of the 51st anniversary of victory of the Cuban revolution. Some candidates for the list, however, might not survive a cut, due to sectarian divisions plaguing left struggle. Center-left advances in Brazil, Uruguay, El Salvador, Paraguay, and Nicaragua, for example, might not count as socialist success stories. There are those, too, who shy away from reminders of armed struggle. The newly formed Continental Bolivarian Movement (MCB), accused of supporting the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), comes under the latter heading. Yet the fact of 1300 delegates from 30 countries attending its Constitutive Congress December 7-9 in Caracas would, as an important event (dictionary definition), seem to qualify as a milestone. Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/social-and-economic-conditions/only-insurance-fat-cats-win-758.html Letter to the editor, Albuquerque Journal, Albuquerque, New Mexico January 6, 2010 H. Edward Hanway, the chairman and CEO of Cigna Corporation, one of the largest private insurance companies, has a great deal to be thankful for this holiday season. Cigna, which had a profit of over $1 billion in 2007 and paid Hanway $30.16 million in 2008, has fared quite well in both the House and Senate health reform plans. Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/cuba/matt-lawrence-and-brothers-to-the-rescue-to-the-back-of-the-class-761.html The holiday season behind us at last, Machetera can finally turn her attention back to her vast publishing empire and her overflowing mailbox. As faithful readers know, occasionally I’ll elevate a letter from the comment section to a post of its own, if it merits a point by point response.  The writer of this particular letter, a certain Matt Lawrence, writing from an email address created in homage to the amusing name of his “fictional” pilot character, Trig Combs, has begun copying and pasting his letter not only to Machetera but to other solidarity activists writing on behalf of the Cuban Five.  Copying and pasting is sheer laziness – if you’re going to defend terrorists like Brothers to the Rescue, the least you can do is try to be original – but then again, that camp has never been known for its excess of brainpower.  (Note to Lawrence: hangar is spelled with an “a” unless it’s the kind you put in your closet.) Lawrence’s primary purpose in writing appears to be to hawk his book.  To borrow Obama’s pet phrase, let me be clear.  That’s not going to happen here.  His secondary purpose is to smear the courageous Cuban Five.  That’s really not going to happen here. Tue, 05 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/imperialism/smart-power-at-work-762.html How does the US State Department pursue its interests in Cuba? Why does it appear to undertake talks with Cuba on matters of common interest, implicitly with an eye to improving relations, while continuing to promote dissidence and subversion on the island with the goal of overthrowing the government? 

 The Department itself explains its approach on its Web page, American Smart Power : Diplomacy and Development Are the Vanguard.

 The page notes that Military force may sometimes be necessary to protect our people and our interests. But diplomacy and development will be equally important in creating conditions for a peaceful, stable and prosperous world. That is the essence of smart power – using all the tools at our disposal. The latter are listed as follows.

 Foreign Policy Tools
: Negotiating, persuading and exerting leverage
. Cooperating with our military partners and other agencies of government [i.e., the Pentagon, CIA, Treasury, Commerce and other departments]
. Partnering with NGOs, the private sector and international organizations
. Using modern technologies for public outreach
. Empowering negotiators who can protect our interests while understanding those of our negotiating partners

. Mon, 04 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/commentary/marx-in-copenhagen-755.html Goodbye Africa, goodbye South Asia; goodbye glaciers and sea ice, coral reefs and rainforest; it was nice knowing you. Such was UK Guardian writer George Monbiot's dismay as the recent Copenhagen Climate Conference ended without a binding agreement. Mexico's La Jornada newspaper blamed the meeting's failure on a web of interests that are the main obstacle to reaching a serious accord, including governments and their accomplices in the corporate and financial world. The profligate burning of fossil fuels has accompanied corporations' economic expansion, accumulation, and incessant quest for profit. In the course of this quest, capitalism imposes what is in effect a scorched earth strategy, writes Monthly Review editor John Bellamy Foster. Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/palestine/israel-resembles-a-failed-state-757.html One year has passed since the savage Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip, but for the people there time might as well have stood still. Since Palestinians in Gaza buried their loved ones — more than 1,400 persons, almost 400 of them children — there has been little healing and virtually no reconstruction. According to international aid agencies, only 41 trucks of building supplies have been allowed into Gaza during the year. Sun, 27 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/imperialism/us-military-aggression-against-venezuela-escalating-753.html Caracas, 20 December – Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez revealed today on his Sunday television and radio program, Aló Presidente, that unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, have illegally entered Venezuela's airspace during the past several days. A few days ago, one of these military planes penetrated Venezuela as far as Fort Mara, a Venezuelan military fort in the State of Zulia, bordering Colombia. The drone was seen by several Venezuelan soldiers who immediately reported the aerial violation to their superiors. President Chávez gave the order today to shoot down any drones detected in Venezuelan territory. Chávez also directly implicated Washington in this latest threat against regional stability by confirming that the drones were of US origin. Sun, 20 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/cuba/hypocrisy-on-cuba-second-nature-for-imperialists-745.html Sometimes when it comes to Cuba, the divide between words and deeds – or non-deeds – is too great. That's no surprise, of course, but there comes a point where silence is not golden, and lies need to be exposed. That's especially true about Cuba. U.S. imperial rulers work hard to keep Cuba below the radar of public awareness. Take, for example, President Obama's speech in Oslo. He says: The promotion of human rights cannot be about exhortation alone. At times, it must be coupled with painstaking diplomacy. That's a non-deed in regard to Cuba. I also know that sanctions without outreach — and condemnation without discussion —  can carry forward a crippling status quo. To square words with deeds, Obama could drop sanctions on Cuba or reach out and/or discuss. Sat, 12 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/opportunism-reformism-revisionism/another-dark-day-in-cpusa-history-739.html The resolution below, against the US escalation in Afghanistan, was rejected by the CPUSA leadership with only two recorded dissenting votes. Proposed before its mid-November regular meeting, the National Committee (NC) refused to consider the resolution on November 15, instead referring it to the National Board (NB) for further, expanded discussion. That NB discussion, which finally took place on December 2, the day after Obama's war speech at West Point, voted against the resolution by a vote of 34-2. The Editors Sat, 12 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 http://mltoday.com/en/subject-areas/imperialism/warmonger-obama-picks-up-peace-prize-736.html Obama collects the Nobel peace prize after sending even more troops to Afghanistan US President Barack Obama has accepted his Nobel Peace Prize, just nine days after sending 33,500 more US troops to prosecute his bloody counter-insurgency war in Afghanistan. In a speech at the glitzy acceptance ceremony in Oslo Mr Obama insisted that the instruments of war do have a role to play in preserving the peace. He went on to quote what fellow Nobel peace laureate Dr Martin Luther King observed at the same ceremony in 1964: Violence never brings permanent peace - it solves no social problem: it merely creates new and more complicated ones. Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100