I was sent this email by our UK comrade, Jonathan.
Hi all!
This may be of interest. http://anarchistvoi ces.wetpaint. com/ There
are 4 of my videos at present plus a documentary on @ in America. I am
eager to add similar videos if people are able to make them and upload
them to YouTube and give me the URL
best wishes, Jonathan
I should add that he is interested in 5 to 10 minute videos on practical matters, not ideological rants or propaganda.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
Utah Phillips
I am sad to say that the Utah Phillips, the great IWW bard
is no longer with us. Fortunately, I saw him perform at the
Vancouver Folk Festival in '06. He had the people entranced,
especially the younger set. I remember walking to the next
event and a young guy behind me was telling his girlfriend,
"You shoulda been there. There was this old guy who sounded
like Johhny Cash and had real radical songs." For a fine eulogy,
see; http://www.counterpunch.org/rovics05262008.html
Monday, May 19, 2008
Confirmed, Chilean Hamlet 14,000 Years Old
The long-held dogma that the Americas were not populated
until 12,000 years ago has been dealt a death blow by the
latest findings at Monte Verde in Southern Chile.
The site has been settled for 14,000 years and it is a
collection of about 6 or so huts, making it the oldest village
in the Americas. Monte Verde was first excavated in 1976
but the US archeology establishment refused to believe that
the site was as old as it seems. The latest evidence consists
of packets of seaweed that the people ate which
were C14 dated. See article;
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508143324.htm
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Lessons from Feminism
The Iraq war and occupation.
Lack of health care for all.
Rising energy prices.
Different problems. Same source.
The power and rights of business corporations.
The drive for war and occupation in Iraq derived in large part from the quest by US-based oil corporations to gain private (i.e. corporate) control over their vast oil reserves. Establishing permanent (what the US government calls “enduring”) military bases was fueled by the need to have protection of “our” oil once oil corporations move in. Never-ending war/occupation funding (supported by both the Republicans and so-called “anti-war” Democrats) was triggered by military contractors eager to re-supply the Pentagon with all the planes, guns, tanks and bullets they want…paid for with our tax dollars. Iraq reconstruction (in terms of projects and budget) sprung from Bechtel, Halliburton and other corporations waiting to jack up prices on no-bid contracts.
The number of persons without health care or inadequate health care continues to rise. More than 47 million US citizens are uninsured, 50 million more are one major health care crisis away from losing everything. The US spends twice as much per capita on health care than any other nation on the planet. Every other industrialized nation has a nationalized health care system except our nation. Private insurance corporations profit tremendously as the middle man increasingly denying coverage and by doing so, increase their botton line. They love the system as is and do all they can to ensure politicians don’t cut them out of the equation though a single-payer, patient- and doctor-run health care system.
Gas prices are at their historic high. Some of it, to be sure, has come from pure financial speculation – big money speculators have increasingly moved their assets from dollars to hard assets (oil and food at the moment). Some of the rise, however, seems sheer corporate greed. Yet, where has been the media exposes or Congressional hearings? Or significant federal funding for alternative energy? Thank the oil corporations.
The Iraq war and occupation.
Lack of health care for all.
Rising energy prices.
Different problems (and there are many others that could be highlighted). Same source.
The power and rights of business corporations.
Oil corporations.
Military contracting corporations.
Reconstruction corporations.
Insurance corporations.
Media corporations.
See a pattern?
The Strategic Corporate Initiative(1) asserts that anti-corporate/democracy activists around the world need more of a shared ideology, a common belief system. They claim what we need is what feminists possessed in the 1970’s.
This insightful report quotes Marjorie Kelley, who in The Divine Right of Capital, said:
It would not have been enough to see poor funding for girls’ athletics as one problem, unequal wages for women as a separate problem, and harassment in the workplace as still a different problem. These battles became one when their common source in sex discrimination was recognized. Yet today we chase after corporate pollution as one problem, low wages as another problem, and corporate welfare as still a third problem.
The authors of the Strategic Corporate Initiative claim that when we’re able to see the common source beneath many of our current problems (from the local to the global), we will become one movement.
That common problem is corporate power and rights.
Notes,
1. The Strategic Corporate Initiative
http://corporateethics.org/downloads/SCI_Report_September_2007.pdf
Lack of health care for all.
Rising energy prices.
Different problems. Same source.
The power and rights of business corporations.
The drive for war and occupation in Iraq derived in large part from the quest by US-based oil corporations to gain private (i.e. corporate) control over their vast oil reserves. Establishing permanent (what the US government calls “enduring”) military bases was fueled by the need to have protection of “our” oil once oil corporations move in. Never-ending war/occupation funding (supported by both the Republicans and so-called “anti-war” Democrats) was triggered by military contractors eager to re-supply the Pentagon with all the planes, guns, tanks and bullets they want…paid for with our tax dollars. Iraq reconstruction (in terms of projects and budget) sprung from Bechtel, Halliburton and other corporations waiting to jack up prices on no-bid contracts.
The number of persons without health care or inadequate health care continues to rise. More than 47 million US citizens are uninsured, 50 million more are one major health care crisis away from losing everything. The US spends twice as much per capita on health care than any other nation on the planet. Every other industrialized nation has a nationalized health care system except our nation. Private insurance corporations profit tremendously as the middle man increasingly denying coverage and by doing so, increase their botton line. They love the system as is and do all they can to ensure politicians don’t cut them out of the equation though a single-payer, patient- and doctor-run health care system.
Gas prices are at their historic high. Some of it, to be sure, has come from pure financial speculation – big money speculators have increasingly moved their assets from dollars to hard assets (oil and food at the moment). Some of the rise, however, seems sheer corporate greed. Yet, where has been the media exposes or Congressional hearings? Or significant federal funding for alternative energy? Thank the oil corporations.
The Iraq war and occupation.
Lack of health care for all.
Rising energy prices.
Different problems (and there are many others that could be highlighted). Same source.
The power and rights of business corporations.
Oil corporations.
Military contracting corporations.
Reconstruction corporations.
Insurance corporations.
Media corporations.
See a pattern?
The Strategic Corporate Initiative(1) asserts that anti-corporate/democracy activists around the world need more of a shared ideology, a common belief system. They claim what we need is what feminists possessed in the 1970’s.
This insightful report quotes Marjorie Kelley, who in The Divine Right of Capital, said:
It would not have been enough to see poor funding for girls’ athletics as one problem, unequal wages for women as a separate problem, and harassment in the workplace as still a different problem. These battles became one when their common source in sex discrimination was recognized. Yet today we chase after corporate pollution as one problem, low wages as another problem, and corporate welfare as still a third problem.
The authors of the Strategic Corporate Initiative claim that when we’re able to see the common source beneath many of our current problems (from the local to the global), we will become one movement.
That common problem is corporate power and rights.
Notes,
1. The Strategic Corporate Initiative
http://corporateethics.org/downloads/SCI_Report_September_2007.pdf
Sunday, May 11, 2008
The Movement of Occupied Factories In Brazil
Not only is there a factory occupation/workers self-management movement in Argentina, but one also exists in Brazil. Here is the story of one such factory, occupied and run by its workers for the last five years, and now facing police oppression. See:
http://www.marxist.com/brief-history-movement-occupied-factories-brazil.htm
Saturday, May 3, 2008
The Results of Authoritarian Parenting
From "For Whom He Wore Black", an excellent article
in the May issue of THE REPUBLIC
In The Politics of Denial, (MIT Press, 1996), political
psychologists Michael Milburn and Sheree Conrad write that
while punitive parenting elicits immediate obedience, it tends
to worsen children’s behaviour over time. Children subjected
to it are at greater risk in later life of suicidal thoughts,
depression, drug addiction, and health problems, and of being
abusive towards their spouses and their own children.
They’re also more likely to display aggressive behaviour, and
to both tolerate violence and approve of its use. Punitive
parenting impairs creativity and problem-solving, and can lead
to lifelong anxiety and anger issues. The more punitive the
parenting, the worse the risks become.
For the complete article see:
http://republic-news.org/archive/187-repub/187_nenonen.html
Anarchist May Day Photos
Barcelona Anarchists
Madrid Anarchists
Edmonton AnarchistsA series of photos taken in Europe and North America of the
anarchist May Day celebration see:
http://www.anarchistblackcat.org/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=746
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