GPJA #488 (2 of 2): International news and analysis

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

“You’re not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can’t face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or says it.” – Malcolm X (U.S. civil rights activist, 1925-1965)

“There is hunger for ordinary bread, and there is hunger for love, for kindness, for thoughtfulness; and this is the great poverty that makes people suffer so much.” Mother Teresa

“Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.” – Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own

“When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw.” – Nelson Mandela

“A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth.” – Albert Einstein

FACTS OF THE WEEK

FEATURES

2013 In Review: Power, Politics and Resistance http://www.democracynow.org/2014/1/1/2013_in_review_power_politics_and

The rise of the military’s secret military – They’re called Special Operation Forces — and they’re everywhere http://www.salon.com/2014/01/08/the_rise_of_the_militarys_secret_military_partner/

Workers Stand With Locked-Out Ikea Staff http://morningstaronline.co.uk/a-2dab-Workers-stand-with-locked-out-Ikea-staff#.UsD3A_QW18E

The Media’s Absurd Hysteria About Teens and Pot: There’s very little data to suggest that cannabis causes long-lasting memory problems or an increased risk of schizophrenia. http://www.alternet.org/drugs/media-peddling-dangerous-myths-about-long-term-risks-smoking-pot-teenagers

Ripe for rebellion? http://www.economist.com/news/21589143-where-protest-likeliest-break-out-ripe-rebellion

The Poverty of Capitalism: roundtable http://www.redpepper.org.uk/the-poverty-of-capitalism-roundtable/

Held hostage by Big Pharma: a personal experience http://www.redpepper.org.uk/held-hostage-by-big-pharma-a-personal-experience/

Noam Chomsky: We’re no longer a functioning democracy, we’re really a plutocracy http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/12/27/noam-chomsky-were-no-longer-a-functioning-democracy-were-really-a-plutocracy/

Glenn Greenwald Keynote on 30c3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEJIR0-KJu0

The Media Should Stop Pretending Marijuana’s Risks Are a Mystery — The Science Is Clear http://sandiegofreepress.org/2013/12/the-media-should-stop-pretending-marijuanas-risks-are-a-mystery-the-science-is-clear/

Turing pardoned almost 60 years after state persecution killed him https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/55596

WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange Calls on Computer Hackers to Unite Against NSA Surveillance http://www.democracynow.org/2013/12/31/wikileaks_julian_assange_calls_on_computer

“Drugs Aren’t the Problem”: Neuroscientist Carl Hart on Brain Science & Myths About Addiction http://www.democracynow.org/2014/1/6/drugs_arent_the_problem_neuroscientist_carl

The Politics of War Casualty Counts, from the “GWOT” to Syria http://www.juancole.com/2014/01/politics-casualty-counts.html

FROM OUR HISTORY

Eugene Debs: Dreaming of a red Christmas http://peoplesworld.org/eugene-debs-dreaming-of-a-red-christmas/

WORLD ECONOMIC CRISIS

Puzzle or Misreading? Stagnation, Austerity and Left Politics Sam Gindin http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/920.php

Change of Guard at the Fed, the Specter of ‘Secular Stagnation,’ and Some Questions of Monetary Theory http://tinyurl.com/nwbwvkv

LAND, LABOUR AND THE ENVIRONMENT

The Sixth Mass Extinction: Why Climate Scientists’ Hair is on Fire http://www.juancole.com/2013/12/extinction-climate-scientists.html

Indigenous and farmer communities in Ecuador score a major victory over Chevron http://www.nationofchange.org/significant-victory-ecuadorians-oil-pollution-case-against-chevron-1387468354

Warsaw Climate Talks Go Up in Smoke by Chris Williams http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/914.php

Monsanto, the TPP and global food dominance http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/2188967/monsanto_the_tpp_and_global_food_dominance.html

John Bellamy Foster: Marx and the rift in the universal metabolism of nature http://links.org.au/node/3652

CULTURAL DISSENT

‘MINGUS’: Powerful And Heartbreaking Documentary Portrait Of The Jazz Giant http://dangerousminds.net/comments/mingus_powerful_and_heartbreaking_documentary_portrait_of_the_jazz_giant

What the Fuck You On About? M.I.A. struggles on Matangi to render a sense of the future, but that makes it all the more engaging writes Alexander Billet. http://www.redwedgemagazine.com/5/post/2013/12/what-the-fuck-you-on-about.html

The 25 Most Popular Street Art Pieces Of 2013 http://www.streetartnews.net/2013/12/street-art-news-top-25-2013.html

Monumental Myths: Film. Directed by Tom Trinley. 2004. 47 minutes. Inspired by the book, “Lies Across America,” this film presents the historic myths and facts about a few iconic monuments in the United States. http://zinnedproject.org/materials/monumental-myths/

Bread and Puppet Theater Founder Peter Schumann on 50 Years of Art and Resistance http://www.democracynow.org/2013/12/26/bread_and_puppet_theater_founder_peter

Direct your anger at the greedy rich, not the Wolf of Wall Street film http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/02/the-wolf-of-wall-street-backlash-jp-morgan-bofa

Adam Hanieh on his new book: ‘Lineages of Revolt: Issues of Contemporary Capitalism in the Middle East’ http://links.org.au/node/3658

BOLIVIA

Foreign companies demand Bolivian state millions in compensation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXHEiqObV-A&feature=youtu.be

CAMBODIA

Cambodian police fire on striking garment workers http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/03/cambodian-garment-workers-injured-police-open-fire

Cambodian troops quash protest at garment factory http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/cambodian-troops-quash-protest-at-factory/2014/01/02/a69afbaa-73a1-11e3-bc6b-712d770c3715_story.html

CANADA

We Can Beat The Right And Win The Fight At Canada Post by Doug Nesbitt and David Bush http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/913.php

Forum to probe experiments on Alberni residential school children http://www.albernivalleynews.com/news/234683481.html

The Geopolitical Ecology of Empire’s Ally – An Interview with http://www.systemiccapital.com/infant-mortality-rate-in-cuba-30-lower-than-florida/ Greg Albo and Jerome Klassen http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/923.php

Exploding oil trains: Coming to a Vancouver neighbourhood near you? http://www.rogerannis.com/exploding-oil-trains-coming-to-a-vancouver-neighbourhood-near-you/

First Nations Fight Against the Frackers by Brian Ward http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/924.php

CHILE

Venezuela and Chile: Election wins advance left agenda http://links.org.au/node/3657

CUBA

An Interview with René González, of the Cuban 5 http://blackagendareport.com/content/interview-ren%C3%A9-gonz%C3%A1lez-cuban-5

Mandela Is Dead: Why Hide The Truth About Apartheid? http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article37250.htm

Free pamphlet to download: `Cuba — How the workers and peasants made the revolution’ http://links.org.au/node/1451

Infant mortality rate in Cuba 30% lower than Florida http://www.systemiccapital.com/infant-mortality-rate-in-cuba-30-lower-than-florida/

EGYPT

‘Tahrir Doctors’ co-founder elected sec-gen of Egyptian doctors union http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/89561.aspx

Egypt court jails anti-Mubarak activists for 3 years http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-court-jails-anti-mubarak-activists-3-years-000021081.html

The US/EU-endorsed roadmap to hell in Egypt http://www.rogerannis.com/the-useu-egyptian-roadmap-to-hell/

Egypt’s Counterrevolution http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/31/opinion/egypts-counterrevolution.html

FRANCE

French workers at Goodyear tyre plant take bosses captive http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/06/french-workers-bosses-hostage-goodyear-amiens

Almost half of French approve of locking up bosses http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/04/07/us-france-bosses-idUSTRE5362ME20090407

GREECE

Our present is your future – Fantastic series of short documentaries from Reel News about the crisis in Greece and the working class response http://libcom.org/library/our-present-your-future

HONDURAS

In Honduras, Resistance Against Ruling Party Continues Despite Peril http://inthesetimes.com/uprising/entry/16015/in_honduras_resistance_against_ruling_party_continues_despite_peril/

Honduras and the dirty war fuelled by the west’s drive for clean energy http://www.theguardian.com/global/2014/jan/07/honduras-dirty-war-clean-energy-palm-oil-biofuels

INDIA

John Pilger: In India, a spectre for us all, and a resistance coming http://johnpilger.com/articles/in-india-a-spectre-for-us-all-and-a-resistance-coming

IRAQ

Iraq’s Sunni Civil War http://www.juancole.com/2014/01/iraqs-sunni-civil.html

IRELAND

Even the Olives are Bleeding. 1976 documentary on Irish involvement in the Spanish Civil war https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMu4x3q70xM

“Government is a gang of charlatans” – Joe Higgins walks out of Irish parliament and calls for mass boycott of new water tax http://www.socialistworld.net/doc/6601

JAPAN

Fukushima two years on: a dirty job with no end in sight http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/dec/03/fukushima-daiichi-tsunami-nuclear-cleanup-japan

Homeless People Recruited for Dangerous Fukushima Clean-Up Are then Underpaid and Exploited http://www.alternet.org/world/reuters-investigation-finds-homeless-recruited-work-fukushima-nuclear-clean

KOREA

Rail union agrees to end strike http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2013/12/30/64/0301000000AEN20131230002853315F.html

LIBYA

Libya, two years after Gaddafi

MEXICO

Zapatista Uprising 20 Years Later: How Indigenous Mexicans Stood Up Against NAFTA “Death Sentence” http://www.democracynow.org/2014/1/3/zapatista_uprising_20_years_later_how

Mexican citizens arrest police, seize control of town http://www.systemiccapital.com/mexican-citizens-arrest-police-seize-control-of-town/

PACIFIC

Chiefs fight for land http://www.samoaobserver.ws/home/headlines/8639-chiefs-fight-for-land

PALESTINE

Israel’s New Racism: The Persecution of African Migrants in the Holy Land http://www.thenation.com/video/176762/israels-new-racism-persecution-african-migrants-holy-land

Israeli protests: a refugee’s story – As tens of thousands of migrants demonstrate in Tel Aviv, one man describes what happened when he went home to Sudan http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/06/israel-refugees-protest-sudan

An Interview with Max Blumenthal – Inside Israel’s Apartheid State http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/01/02/inside-israels-apartheid-state/

‘Convicted of genocide, Israel prepares new Holocaust’ http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/12/04/338136/israel-prepares-to-commit-new-genocide/

Almost 1 million in need of food aid in Gaza: UN http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/12/19/340742/almost-1-million-gazans-need-food-aid/

BDS: Permanent address for Palestinian solidarity http://www.arabnews.com/news/493796

Conversation with Ilan Pappe: We Don’t Have the Luxury to Wait Any Longer http://www.palestinechronicle.com/conversation-with-ilan-pappe/#.UreeHPQW18F

The Holocaust survivor whose life is in danger again http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/the-holocaust-survivor-whose-life-is-in-danger-again-2134223.html

Thousands of Jerusalem children denied basic services by Israeli apartheid http://electronicintifada.net/content/thousands-jerusalem-children-denied-basic-services-israeli-apartheid/13043

‘Children in cages’: Human rights group accuses Israel of torture http://rt.com/news/israel-children-torture-palestine-044/

‘NYT’ changes ‘Palestinians’ to ‘Arabs’ and removes Israeli responsibility for Gaza shortages http://mondoweiss.net/2014/01/palestinians-responsibility-shortages.html

Mike Marqusee: ‘If not now, when?’ On BDS and ‘singling out’ Israel’s apartheid http://links.org.au/node/3653

Recognizing Israel as a Jewish State is like saying the US is a White State http://www.juancole.com/2014/01/recognizing-israel-saying.html

PHILIPPINES

The Philippines is devastated as much by unfair debt as typhoon Haiyan – By Christmas Eve, a country struggling with foreign loans and climate change will have spent $1bn on debts in seven weeks http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2013/dec/23/philippines-devastated-unfair-debt-typhoon-haiyan

SAUDI ARABIA

Modern Day Slavery: 126 Nepali Women rescued by Nepali embassy in Saudi Arabia. http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1072927?ref=feeds%2Flatest

SOUTH AFRICA

NUMSA calls for new movement for socialism, end to ANC alliance http://links.org.au/node/3642

Revisiting a Cde Moss vision http://terrybellwrites.com/2013/12/22/revisiting-a-cde-moss-vision/

Democratic Left Front: Together, a new South Africa is possible http://links.org.au/node/3646

Reminiscences About Nelson Mandela and the US Anti-Apartheid Movement http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/01/01/meeting-mandela/

SYRIA

Patrick Cockburn: U.S. Turns Blind Eye as Saudis Fund Jihadists in Syrian Conflict http://www.democracynow.org/2013/12/18/patrick_cockburn_us_turns_blind_eye

ROJAVA: SYRIA’S UNKNOWN WAR http://www.vice.com/vice-news/rojava-syrias-unknown-war?utm_source=vicetwitterus

TIMOR LESTE

Trail of murder: Indonesia’s bloody retreat – How the murder of a journalist in East Timor in 1999 impacted the life and work of Al Jazeera’s Step Vaessen. http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/aljazeeracorrespondent/2013/10/trail-murder-indonesia-bloody-retreat-201310307281244674.html

TURKEY

Urban Rally in Kadikoy https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.210945649090839.1073741940.151285425056862&type=1

UK

If you think people shouldn’t have kids if they can’t afford them, think again http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/17/cant-afford-kids-hardline-tories?CMP=twt_gu

Britain’s Involvement In Torture And Kidnap ‘Truly Shocking’ http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/12/19/torture-britain-shocking-rendition_n_4472453.html

Russell Brand On Boris Johnson, David Cameron, Tony Blair, Ed Miliband And His Political Heroes http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/11/05/russell-brand-politics_n_4218714.html

Miners strike lies: thirty years of hurt http://www.counterfire.org/index.php/articles/opinion/16895-miners-strike-lies-thirty-years-of-hurt

UKRAINE

Support Ukrainians but do not legitimize the far-right and discredited politicians! by Volodymyr Ishchenko http://www.criticatac.ro/lefteast/support-ukrainians-but-not-far-right/

USA

‘The Country You Destroyed’: A Letter to George W. Bush by Ralph Nader http://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/01/03

Socialist councillor Kshama Sawant’s inauguration speech http://links.org.au/node/3656

Sawant Ignites Crowd, Wins over 10-Year-Olds at Inauguration http://www.seattleweekly.com/news/thedailyweekly/950487-129/sawant-ignites-crowd-wins-over-10-year-olds

Democracy needs whistleblowers. That’s why I broke into the FBI in 1971 http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/07/fbi-1971-burglary-hold-government-accountable?CMP=twt_gu

Now We Know. JPMorgan Chase is Worse Than Enron http://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/01/07-12

How Change Takes Place in the United States: The Minimum Wage http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-weisbrot/how-change-takes-place-in_b_4555211.html

India Flap derives from America’s Gulag Practices and Far-Right Supreme Court: The militarization of American police and humiliating practices of routine strip and cavity searches are the real culprits in the current diplomatic dispute between the United States and India. http://www.juancole.com/2013/12/americas-practices-supreme.html

The Best Reporting on the North Carolina Takeover http://billmoyers.com/2014/01/03/the-best-reporting-on-the-north-carolina-takeover/

From Funding Climate Deniers to Shadowy Groups, Koch Brothers Network Spent $400 Million in 2012 http://www.democracynow.org/2014/1/7/from_funding_climate_deniers_to_shadowy

The Myth of Health Care’s Market http://mag.newsweek.com/2014/01/03/myth-health-cares-free-market.html

Exclusive: Dying Lawyer Lynne Stewart’s Jubilant Return Home After Winning Compassionate Release http://www.democracynow.org/2014/1/2/exclusive_dying_lawyer_lynne_stewarts_jubilant

Mother of homeless man found dead says system failed her son http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/local-govt-politics/mother-homeless-man-found-dead-says-system-failed-/ncHTR/

How America abandoned its “undeserving” poor http://www.salon.com/2013/12/21/how_america_abandoned_its_undeserving_poor/

Guantanamo: Twelve Years of US War Crimes http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=11251

Robert Reich Takes on Ryan Adviser Who Claims Income Inequality is Not a Problem – See more at: http://crooksandliars.com/2013/12/robert-reich-takes-ryan-adviser-who-claims#sthash.iUjvm7K7.dpuf

Jobless Benefits Cut for 1.3 Million, Despite Highest Long-Term Unemployment Since World War II http://www.democracynow.org/2013/12/30/jobless_benefits_cut_for_13_million

Thousands of black and Latino kids lost their schools in 2013 http://www.msnbc.com/melissa-harris-perry/what-happens-when-kids-lose-their-schools

Why Are US Special Operations Forces Deployed in Over 100 Countries? http://www.thenation.com/article/177797/why-are-us-special-operations-forces-deployed-over-100-countries

USA – WORKERS REVOLT

The Minimum Wage and McDonald’s Welfare http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-17/the-minimum-wage-and-mcdonald-s-welfare.html

Wal-Mart’s dirty partners pay up: Fired workers win thousands http://www.salon.com/2013/12/17/wal_marts_dirty_partners_pay_up_fired_workers_win_thousands/

Amazon May Get Its First Labor Union in the U.S. http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-12-17/amazon-may-get-its-first-labor-union-in-the-u-dot-s

How America Created a Low-Wage Work Swamp http://www.alternet.org/print/food/how-america-created-low-wage-work-swamp

A Win for 15: Could SeaTac prove a bellwether for the low-wage worker movement? http://inthesetimes.com/article/15994/a_win_for_15/

Union Decline and Income Inequality in the States, 1979-2009

13 States Will Raise Their Minimum Wage For The New Year http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/23/raise-minimum-wage_n_4493673.html

The “middle class” myth: Here’s why wages are really so low today http://www.salon.com/2013/12/30/the_middle_class_myth_heres_why_wages_are_really_so_low_today/

Nick Turse, Special Ops Goes Global http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175790/tomgram%3A_nick_turse%2C_special_ops_goes_global/#more

Multi-millionaire Steve Forbes Has a Cynical Plan to Keep Working People Down http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/multi-millionaire-steve-forbes-has-cynical-plan-keep-working-people-down

USA – SPYING SCANDAL

Animation: NSA data mining program probably unconstitutional, judge says https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIy3X1jPgbI&feature=youtu.be

Glenn Greenwald: The NSA Can “Literally Watch Every Keystroke You Make” http://www.democracynow.org/2013/12/30/glenn_greenwald_the_nsa_can_literally

VIETNAM

Jonathan Schell, Seeing the Reality of the Vietnam War, 50 Years Late http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175639/jonathan_schell_gates_of_hell

YEMEN

UN rights experts ‘seriously’ concerned about Yemen drone strikes http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/90133/World/Region/UN-rights-experts-seriously-concerned-about-Yemen-.aspx