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Editorials
When deputy U.S. marshals came to the Washington, D.C., home of Banita Jacks to
serve her with eviction papers in January 2008, Jacks was arrested instead of
being thrown out onto the street....
Posted Dec 23, 2009
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It was an historic moment: a Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech that was an
apology for an imperialist war of occupation. More than that, it preemptively
laid out the justification for U.S. imperialist wars....
Posted Dec 16, 2009
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The tempestuous growth of capitalism, now several centuries old, is running
into a wall it finds unconquerable. What was once capitalism’s endearing
asset—dynamic growth—has turned into a noose around its neck. The unplanned, frenetic growth of
production that is characteristic of capitalism has produced an environmental
crisis of enormous proportions. No one knows for sure what will happen next,
but the scientists reporting to the climate talks in Copenhagen agree that the
planet is warming rapidly and little time remains to reverse this ominous
trend...
Posted Dec 10, 2009
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Even the most polished spinmasters, whose job is to convince the public
that fantasy is reality and the tail wags the dog, are having a hard time with
this one. The Honduran “election” of Nov. 29 was a dismal flop both
for the oligarchy’s coup makers and for the U.S. politicos behind
them....
Posted Dec 2, 2009
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If the test of any society is its ability to care for those most in need, U.S.
capitalism is failing dismally. Not only are over 15 million adults suffering
from record unemployment, but a Department of Agriculture report released on
Nov. 16 found 17 million U.S. children unable to consistently get enough to
eat....
Posted Nov 25, 2009
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Lynne Stewart, who is affectionately known as the
“People’s Lawyer” for her tireless defense of clients in
social justice and human rights cases, has been ordered to prison after her
bail was revoked....
Posted Nov 18, 2009
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Those who a year ago pinned their hopes on putting the Democratic Party back in
charge of the White House and the Congress showed their disappointment in the
recent election—mostly by not voting.
There are many reasons for this. The administration’s continuation of the
war in Afghanistan and spreading it to Pakistan is one very big reason, but the
health care bill that just passed in the House will only add to the
disillusionment.
So many compromises were made to get right-wing Democrats on board that what
was touted as a huge victory for reform has many elements that are actually a
step backward for the working class and especially for women....
Posted Nov 12, 2009
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What was Washington’s role in the Oct. 18 bombing in Iran that killed 29
people? Among the dead were a top officer and four other senior officers of the
Republican Guard who were meeting with Sunni and Shiite leaders in Sarbaz, a
city in the province of Sistan and Baluchestan near Iran’s southeastern
border with Pakistan and Afghanistan....
Posted Oct 29, 2009
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For anyone in U.S. capitalist society who does not see the connection between
racism and mass culture, consider the recent uproar involving the white,
ultra-rightist, extremely racist radio host Rush Limbaugh and his attempt to
invest in the National Football League’s St. Louis Rams....
Posted Oct 28, 2009
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The racism of Keith Bardwell, Louisiana justice of the peace in Tangipahoa
Parish, sent shock waves and cries of condemnation throughout the United States
and around the world. On Oct. 6 Bardwell refused to issue a marriage license to
Beth Humphrey and Terence McKay because she is white and he is Black.
It’s Bardwell’s policy not to marry interracial couples
because he alleges the children born of such unions will “suffer.”
Bardwell is no doubt outraged that President Barack Obama had an African father
and a white mother....
Posted Oct 21, 2009
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The U.S. remains one of only two developed countries in the world today that do
not provide health insurance for all their residents. More than 45,000 deaths
in the U.S. each year are due to lack of health insurance. Now the insurance
industry giants are doing everything in their power to prevent any genuine
health care reform....
Posted Oct 18, 2009
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Imperialist interests are the very opposite of the best interests of the Afghan
peasants and working people as well as those of the workers, unemployed and
oppressed in the U.S. The only acceptable strategy to serve those popular
interests is to get the U.S. and all NATO troops out of Afghanistan, now.
The anti-war movement here is hitting the streets this October to oppose this
war. Join those protests! ...
Posted Oct 12, 2009
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When, on Oct. 1, 1949,
Communist leader Mao Zedong looked out over a sea of faces in Beijing’s
Tienanmen Square and told the world, “China has stood up,” he spoke
as the leader of an earth-shaking revolution....
Posted Oct 1, 2009
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As the G-20 Summit prepares to descend upon Pittsburgh, the city
has been thrust into the spotlight. While the dignitaries that represent the G-20 countries are shown a
“revitalized” downtown Pittsburgh, they will not see the conditions
of neighborhoods that surround downtown....
Posted Sep 23, 2009
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Workers World welcomes President Hugo Chávez
of Venezuela, who will be attending the opening of the United Nations
General Assembly in New York City. Progressives in the United States must also find ways to express their solidarity with another Latin American leader, President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras....
Posted Sep 23, 2009
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WORKERS WORLD PARTYand newspaper endorse and are actively
helping to build the Jobs March to take place in Pittsburgh on Sept. 20, as
well as the Tent City that follows.
Why is this march, which begins in the historically African-American section of
a city that once was the steel center of the United States, so important?...
Posted Sep 16, 2009
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The death penalty in the United States should be abolished because it functions
as a potent agent of racism and class oppression. African Americans and
Latino/as represent the majority of those on death row. And executions are
reserved almost exclusively for the poor. Ninety percent of those awaiting
execution could not afford to hire a trial attorney....
Posted Sep 9, 2009
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The hint is becoming loud and clear in the official media of the U.S. ruling
class: The Pentagon is on the verge of a massive escalation of the war in what
they now call the “Af/Pak theater.” An Aug. 31 attack on a NATO
arms convoy in Pakistan near the Afghan border that blew up 18 trucks served to
underscore the drama of this decision....
Posted Sep 4, 2009
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It is now nearly two months since an illegal, unconstitutional, brutal military
coup deposed the legitimate president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, and installed
an illegitimate coup regime. The 13 Honduran oligarch families and their
U.S.-trained Honduran generals found Zelaya too friendly with President Hugo
Chávez of Venezuela. Too friendly also with Honduras’ poor. He was
ousted....
Posted Aug 26, 2009
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What do the July unemployment statistics mean for the working class? Most
bourgeois economists expressed undue optimism. They’re optimistic mostly
because the rising stock market and jump in banking profits has brought
optimism back to the capitalists, who pay the economists’ salaries....
Posted Aug 13, 2009
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On Aug. 8, the New York police physically assaulted and
arrested members of Juanita Young’s family during a cookout. Young has been outspoken against police brutality following
the 2000 shooting death of her son, Malcolm Ferguson, by a plainclothes
detective....
Posted Aug 12, 2009
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In the imperialist media, there is no equality among victims or alleged victims
of state repression.
In June a young woman was killed in Iran. It is unclear who killed her or why.
Yet Iran is a U.S. “enemy,” and so the whole world knows her given
name—Neda. Her face quickly showed up on the T-shirts of protesters.
By Aug. 4, the usurpers in Honduras had killed six people who were peacefully
protesting the military coup. Unless you follow the progressive
Spanish-language press, you might not know this even happened. Of course you
haven’t heard their names....
Posted Aug 9, 2009
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Racial profiling is another expression of institutionalized racism rooted in a
white supremacist ideology under capitalism. In the U.S., racial profiling has
tragically become a way of life, like eating, sleeping and breathing. Being
targeted based on the color of your skin or your nationality is a terrible
burden to bear for any person of color, whether you live in the inner city,
barrio, a reservation or in an upper-middle-class suburb....
Posted Jul 29, 2009
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When the U.S. scientific-military establishment,
through NASA, put a person on the moon, it was a very big deal. It generated
such excitement and optimism; somehow this technological breakthrough would
usher in a better, more enlightened period in human history
Well, that was four decades ago, when the United States military was involved
in another horrible war that brought nothing but suffering and misery to the
peoples of Southeast Asia and the U.S. In fact, the Apollo moonwalk may have
prolonged that catastrophe, because it bolstered the sagging prestige of the
U.S. at a time when rejection of imperialist war and plunder was growing around
the world....
Posted Jul 22, 2009
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The death of Robert S. McNamara on July 6 at age 93 gives new meaning to the old
adage that “only the good die young.” McNamara was secretary of
defense under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson and was the
principal architect of the U.S. war against Vietnam....
Posted Jul 16, 2009
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More than 20 million workers find themselves stranded without
the paychecks needed to pay for daily expenses in addition to debts: medical
bills, credit card debt, mortgages and car payments. The media are right about one thing. This IS capitalism. This IS how it works.
It’s a hellish system, especially in a period of economic
crisis....
Posted Jul 8, 2009
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The media’s focus shifted June 29 from Central Asia to Central America.
The lies continued in the corporate media, only with fewer items on Iran, at
least this side of the Atlantic. It still showed the power of the Big
Lie—two Big Lies in this case, where an omnipresent media machine gives
the impression that everyone believes something and therefore it must be
true.
The first lie is that there was significant electoral fraud that stole the
election for the incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. There is no evidence
that this is so. ...
Posted Jul 1, 2009
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In these times of the Internet, we have to remember that disinformation spreads
with the same lightning speed as information. what happened to Neda Agha-Soltan? We admit it. We don’t know.
But you don’t know either....
Posted Jun 24, 2009
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The first thing to make clear about the Iranian election is that the U.S. and
other imperialist states have no right to intervene. The media here are now
filled with moralizing, even racist scolding of Iran over the election results.
Who are they to act so hoity-toity? Remember George W. Bush’s open theft
of the 2000 election in Florida?...
Posted Jun 17, 2009
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When it became clear that the countries of the Organization of American
States—all but one—would vote on June 3 to readmit Cuba to
membership, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, representing the one,
walked out.
Cuba has applauded the efforts of member countries to finally reverse its
expulsion from the OAS, which Washington had engineered in 1962 after the
failure of its invasion of Cuba. But Havana has said “no thanks” to
reentering the OAS, which for half a century has done Washington’s
bidding....
Posted Jun 10, 2009
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On May 26, President Barack Obama nominated federal judge Sonia Sotomayor to the
U.S. Supreme Court. In this historic move, she became the first member of the
Latina/o community to be named to the high court in its 220-year history, and
only the third woman....
Posted Jun 3, 2009
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Anyone in the United States who pays attention to the corporate news media must
think that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea just violated the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Right? Except that no such treaty exists....
Posted May 27, 2009
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The government of Sri Lanka has proclaimed victory over the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Elam, a guerrilla army that for a quarter century has fought to create a
separate state for the oppressed Tamil people in this fertile island country
off the southern tip of India. The military campaign against the Tamil Tigers
has been a very bloody one, with thousands of Tamil civilians dead....
Posted May 21, 2009
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On May 19, in cities across the U.S. and globally, demonstrations, rallies,
petition drives and other actions brought worldwide pressure on Georgia Gov.
Sonny Perdue to stop the wrongful imprisonment and execution of Troy Anthony
Davis....
Posted May 20, 2009
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The U.S. Air Force bombed and strafed villages
with heavy machine guns in the Farah province of Afghanistan on the evening and
night of May 4. Survivors buried 113 bodies, including
many women and children. Later, more bodies were pulled from the rubble and
some victims who had been taken to the hospital died....
Posted May 13, 2009
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More and more, U.S. imperialism is making Pakistan a battleground in its ugly
war to achieve unchallenged control of western Asia. And more and more, the
Pentagon’s cold, high-tech ratcheting up of death and destruction is
driving the Pakistani people into open resistance....
Posted May 6, 2009
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The human version of swine flu
has hit Mexico most severely, with the United States a close second. Politically, the greatest threat is that right-wing demagogues will try to
scapegoat Mexicans, especially Mexican immigrants, for the epidemic’s
spread. ...
Posted Apr 29, 2009
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May 1 is May Day—International Workers’ Day. It
began in the United States a long time ago during the struggle for the
eight-hour work day, but that history is not well known here, and for good
reason. The scions of capitalism who feed us their ideology don’t want
workers and oppressed people to know their own history of struggle.
But this year, like every year, workers around the world will take part in
demonstrations, meetings and other actions to mark May Day. In Cuba and other
socialist countries, May Day is a holiday that celebrates the role of workers
in creating a new society....
Posted Apr 26, 2009
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There was a time when the captains of finance and industry were proud of
the label capitalist. Would you prefer an economy geared to meeting people’s needs (socialism)
or geared to producing profits for a few (capitalism)?...
Posted Apr 19, 2009
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The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected Mumia Abu-Jamal’s appeal for a new
trial without even giving any reasons. ...
Posted Apr 8, 2009
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People will gather on Wall Street April 3 and 4 to stage a focused political
protest against the core center of the U.S. and worldwide capitalist system,
now in its most severe crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The
protesters are among those searching for a strategy to rescue the working
class. The question in the minds of those who want to take the struggle further
is: What’s next?...
Posted Apr 2, 2009
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Unemployment is up. Banks are stealing homes. Washington is throwing
trillions at the bankers. And the wars keep feeding the military-industrial
complex. It’s past time to bring the demands of the working class
directly to the heart of the U.S. ruling class: Wall Street. End U.S. wars of
occupation. Use government funds to rescue workers instead of bankers....
Posted Mar 29, 2009
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It’s easy to find editorials in the corporate press knocking the Employee
Free Choice Act. This isn’t one of them....
Posted Mar 22, 2009
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Just when the capitalist economic meltdown has the world by the throat, the
Pentagon reminds us it can pose an even more urgent danger.
The threat is of U.S. military aggression against the People’s Republic
of China....
Posted Mar 11, 2009
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The Obama administration’s recent announcement that Washington will
boycott the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia,
and Related Intolerance should give pause to anyone who thinks that the U.S.
has fundamentally changed its domestic and foreign policy to now provide help
for oppressed peoples or nations....
Posted Mar 4, 2009
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Sending 17,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan to reinforce that country’s
occupation will just add another chapter to the nightmare caused by 30 years of
U.S. imperialist intervention in that country....
Posted Mar 2, 2009
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It is impossible to find objective reporting about the Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea in the U.S. corporate media. When Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton went to Japan and China recently for her first official visit to Asia,
she did what no diplomat is ever supposed to do: launched into a wildly
speculative and personal attack on DPRK leader Kim Jong Il. Instead of
chastising her for poisoning the atmosphere and precluding the
“openness” in foreign relations promised by the new administration,
the media gleefully egged her on....
Posted Feb 25, 2009
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Nadya Suleman, the mother of octuplets born on Jan. 26, immediately ran into a
well-orchestrated cacophony of vitriol. Much of the furor has centered on the
33-year-old California woman’s mental stability or lack thereof in
bringing eight more children into the world on top of the six she already has....
Posted Feb 19, 2009
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Marxists consider a vote to be a measure of the political consciousness of the
working class and oppressed peoples. In Venezuela, the vote on the referendum
Feb. 15 thereby showed that the bulk of the Venezuelan workers and poor
approved the government’s orientation toward socialism....
Posted Feb 18, 2009
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Feb. 6 was the 33rd anniversary of the arrest of Native political prisoner
Leonard Peltier....
Posted Feb 14, 2009
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Much has been written about the staggering numbers piling up in this economic
crisis—the high levels of unemployment, home foreclosures, etc. Most
often, they appear in the financial pages of the corporate press as just
another economic category, as if workers are nothing but a commodity, a
calculation in the equation to determine just how much profit they will make
for the bosses....
Posted Feb 5, 2009
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For millions of people the inauguration of Obama was viewed as a breath of
fresh air following eight years of the Bush regime, which became synonymous
with war for empire, an almost complete dismissal of the plight of workers, the
poor and oppressed peoples, and the deepening economic crisis. There is
understandably a strong feeling of validation amongst Black and other oppressed
peoples with the Obama victory....
Posted Jan 28, 2009
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Even in the U.S., where the population has been inculcated with racist,
imperialist and chauvinist ideology, George W. Bush is clearly one of the most
unpopular and hated presidents in history....
Posted Jan 22, 2009
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Anyone who watches the Israeli slaughter in Gaza, armed and backed by the U.S.
government, and understands what is behind it will want to do what is possible
to make it stop....
Posted Jan 15, 2009
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The choice of Rick Warren to
deliver the inaugural invocation, is a reminder,
a lesson for all of us who dream of a world free of racism, imperialist war,
sexism, LGBT oppression, exploitation....
Posted Jan 11, 2009
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The news from Iraq is starting to remind veteran political analysts of the
events four decades ago in South Vietnam as successive U.S. puppet governments
disintegrated under the weight of tremendous popular sentiment, with a
liberation war knocking at the door....
Posted Dec 22, 2008
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