Re: [Marxism] Marxism Digest, Vol 147, Issue 12

2016-01-09 Thread A.R. G via Marxism
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Wow, what a crock of shit. Do you people not read the actual discussion
before throwing out accusations of rape apology?

Neither I nor Luko made the comments that are being attributed to either of
us. There is a difference between defending rape and refusing to maintain
that culture is the cause of rapes that happen. John Passant just posted an
article about this very thing that was quite good:
https://socialistworker.co.uk/art/41957/Sexism+is+not+a+foreign+import%E2%80%94German+socialists+respond+to+Cologne+attacks

I fail to see how my comments (or Luko's) are any different from the ones
voiced above.

Moreover, the discussion about religious fundamentalism is completely
misplaced. Whatever the facts are about the misogyny present in different
cultures, the simple fact is nobody has any idea what the religious views
or practices of the assailants was. All we know is that they were allegedly
North African. They may not even be migrants. North Africans have lived in
Germany for decades. The immediate knee-jerk presumption that rape by Arabs
or Muslims is somehow rooted in cultural backwardness -- completely
ignoring the pervasiveness of rape culture in Germany and having no
knowledge whatsoever as to the cultural or religious ideas of the
assailants -- is undeniably part of the racism. I do not know why this
needs such redundant explanation anywhere, let alone on a Marxist
list-serv.

- Amith

On Sat, Jan 9, 2016 at 5:03 PM, hari kumar via Marxism <
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:

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>
> >
> >1. Re:  Hundreds of sexual assaults in Cologne - what the hell
> >   happened ? any answers from German list members? (A.R. G)
>
>
>
> > I guess I am pretty stunned that ARG and Williams - feel it necessary to
> > minimise (a la "What was so bad") about that?
> >
> 1.  The fact that racists are looking for a vehicle ot attack on the
> refugee issue is only to be expected.
> 2. To deny that this is a serious issue - is to play into the hands of the
> racists.
> 3. There is no doubt that a misogynist viewpoint is expressed by various
> cultures. This is often exacerbated in cultures where religious
> fundamentalism is more the 'norm' than in the Western cultures many of us
> inhabit.  But that simply does not excuse the dissonance of many in the
> West who were remarkably generous to immigrants.
> 4. This veil of ultra-leftism - 'defend the immigrants-refugees whatever
> they do' - is remarkably short sighted.
> 5. That the police actions could have been better (Williams) may or may not
> be true. I do not know the layout in Cologne railway Station.
> The same however also happened in Hamburg. The same - albeit in differing
> history-circumstances happened in the North of England.
>
> Closing Leftist eyes to such events, simply allows a massive reactionary
> reverberation.
> Hari Kumar
>
> >
> >
> >
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Re: [Marxism] Marxism Digest, Vol 147, Issue 12

2016-01-09 Thread hari kumar via Marxism
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>
>1. Re:  Hundreds of sexual assaults in Cologne - what the hell
>   happened ? any answers from German list members? (A.R. G)



> I guess I am pretty stunned that ARG and Williams - feel it necessary to
> minimise (a la "What was so bad") about that?
>
1.  The fact that racists are looking for a vehicle ot attack on the
refugee issue is only to be expected.
2. To deny that this is a serious issue - is to play into the hands of the
racists.
3. There is no doubt that a misogynist viewpoint is expressed by various
cultures. This is often exacerbated in cultures where religious
fundamentalism is more the 'norm' than in the Western cultures many of us
inhabit.  But that simply does not excuse the dissonance of many in the
West who were remarkably generous to immigrants.
4. This veil of ultra-leftism - 'defend the immigrants-refugees whatever
they do' - is remarkably short sighted.
5. That the police actions could have been better (Williams) may or may not
be true. I do not know the layout in Cologne railway Station.
The same however also happened in Hamburg. The same - albeit in differing
history-circumstances happened in the North of England.

Closing Leftist eyes to such events, simply allows a massive reactionary
reverberation.
Hari Kumar

>
>
>
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[Marxism] Essure controversy, worth sharing with women you care about

2016-01-09 Thread Andrew Stewart via Marxism
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Watch this video from The Real News Network, I think you'll find it
interesting. This is a segment dealing with the very medically-dangerous
contraception method Essure, which is proving to be loaded with
side-effects. The issue is that it is an example of huge problems with the
Affordable Care Act's medical devices laws.

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=15409

-- 
Best regards,

Andrew Stewart
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[Marxism] This is Ireland: we do fight back

2016-01-09 Thread Philip Ferguson via Marxism
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https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/05/30/this-is-ireland-we-do-fight-back/

Plus: Ireland - this is what resistance looks like:
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/12/30/irish-lessons-this-is-what-resistance-looks-like/

We could do with some of this in NZ where things like workplace closures
are more likely to be met by workers bursting into tears than resisting.

Phil
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[Marxism] Richard Behal interview pt 3

2016-01-09 Thread Philip Ferguson via Marxism
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I've stuck up part three of a lengthy interview conducted by my friend Mick
Healy with legendary Irish republican veteran Richard Behal.

https://theirishrevolution.wordpress.com/2016/01/09/richard-behal-interview-pt-3/

Other recent material on The Irish Revolution blog includes. . .

Connolly, the Dublin Steampacket Company dispute and the 1916 Rising:
https://theirishrevolution.wordpress.com/2016/01/05/connolly-the-dublin-steampacket-company-dispute-and-the-1916-rising/
This is a fascinating article on an important industrial dispute that broke
out shortly before the Rising and Rayner argues it had a significant impact
on Connolly's role in the rebellion

James Connolly, imperialism and anti-imperialism:
https://theirishrevolution.wordpress.com/2015/12/09/james-connolly-imperialism-and-anti-imperialism/

Red nationalism of the blood or cultural gesture:
https://theirishrevolution.wordpress.com/2015/12/14/red-nationalism-of-the-blood-or-cultural-gesture/

Imperialism, Connolly and Lenin - some comments:
https://theirishrevolution.wordpress.com/2015/12/05/imperialism-connolly-and-lenin-some-comments/

James Connolly, Germany and the First World War:
https://theirishrevolution.wordpress.com/2015/12/03/james-connolly-germany-and-the-first-world-war-was-connolly-a-proto-lenin/

Phil
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[Marxism] NZ imperialism and Samoa

2016-01-09 Thread Philip Ferguson via Marxism
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Although most of the left in NZ treat NZ as if it is a neo-colony, the
reality is that it is an imperialist player. These days, it occupies a
position where it's role is one of a kind of boutique imperialism (to
borrow a phrase coined by my friend Tom O'Lincoln about Australia).

One of the places on the receiving end of NZ imperialism historically has
been Samoa.

Samoa: what NZ did:
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2011/08/28/samoa-what-new-zealand-did/

Depriving Samoans of immigration and citizenship rights:
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2011/08/29/depriving-samoans-of-immigration-and-citizenship-rights/

On NZ imperialism more generally, see:

New Zealand: neo-colony of junior imperialist?:
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/05/05/new-zealand-neo-colony-or-junior-imperialist/

NZ elite win seat on UN Security Council:
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2014/10/20/nz-elite-win-seat-at-un-security-council-dont-celebrate-organise/

And an interesting article by a leading Green Party figure, Keith Locke
(who osme folks here will remember, esp older Canadian cdes) who is now a
liberal-nationalist but once was a Marxist.  This is from when he was a
Marxist:
Campaigning against 'foreign control': is it progressive?:
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/09/22/campaigning-against-foreign-control-is-it-progressive/

Phil
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Re: [Marxism] About Amazon

2016-01-09 Thread Philip Ferguson via Marxism
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It's a great example of how capitalism creates these developments that
could be amazing, but completely distorts them because of the profit motive.

Phil


On Sat, Jan 9, 2016 at 4:08 PM, Andrew Pollack  wrote:

> Excellent piece. More proof that Amazon is objective socialization on
> steroids - and therefore ripe for the plucking once workers' struggles,
> especially by Amazon workers, pose the question of putting its technical
> and organizational advances in our hands.
>
> On Fri, Jan 8, 2016 at 8:14 PM, Philip Ferguson via Marxism <
> marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:
>
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>>
>> Amazon - the global digital East India Company of the 21st Century?:
>>
>> https://rdln.wordpress.com/2014/10/18/amazon-the-global-digital-east-india-company-of-the-21st-century/
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[Marxism] Fwd: Three Asian films | Louis Proyect: The Unrepentant Marxist

2016-01-09 Thread Louis Proyect via Marxism

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1. "Unlucky Plaza": a plot similar to "Dog Day Afternoon" with the comic 
genius of Nathaniel West.


2. "My Voice, My Life": a documentary about Hong Kong high school 
students in the lowest rung of a tracking system participating in a 
musical production aimed to improve their self-image and succeed in a 
highly competitive society.


3. "The Assassin": a snail-paced art film about feudal conflicts in 9th 
century China with an emphasis on art.


full: http://louisproyect.org/2016/01/09/three-asian-films/
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Re: [Marxism] German socialists respond to Cologne attacks - sexism is not a foreign import

2016-01-09 Thread Jeff via Marxism
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At 09:34 10-01-16 +1100, John Passant via Marxism wrote:
> Silke 
>Stöckle and Marion Wegscheider respond in this article for
German 
>socialist group Marx21, translated by Kate Davison and
re-published on 
>my blog from Socialist Worker
UK
>
>http://enpassant.com.au/2016/01/09/german-socialists-respond-to-cologn
e-attacks-sexism-is-not-a-foreign-import/

Thank you for posting this piece which undercuts the racist campaign by
correctly putting sexual assault in perspective.

It was especially refreshing to read after having been lectured by Luke who
insists (how would he know??) that the outrage had simply been manufactured
by the media whereas nothing too unusual happened. And that the police
chief had been fired "because he did not immediately push for a sharp
racial profiling in the official police report." Look, over 100 women filed
reports of being sexually assaulted (were they lying?) in a small area
during a short time period. If the police chief left in shame because his
department totally failed to protect women in such a case, then I'd be the
last to object. 

- Jeff

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[Marxism] German socialists respond to Cologne attacks - sexism is not a foreign import

2016-01-09 Thread John Passant via Marxism

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Dozens of women were sexually assaulted on New Year’s Eve in Germany. 
But rather than connecting the events to everyday sexist violence, 
politicians and the media have turned to stoking up racism. Silke 
Stöckle and Marion Wegscheider respond in this article for German 
socialist group Marx21, translated by Kate Davison and re-published on 
my blog from Socialist Worker UK


http://enpassant.com.au/2016/01/09/german-socialists-respond-to-cologne-attacks-sexism-is-not-a-foreign-import/







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Re: [Marxism] Hundreds of sexual assaults in Cologne - what the hell happened ??? any answers from German lis=?utf-8?q ?t_members=3F?=

2016-01-09 Thread Jeff via Marxism
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At 11:14 09-01-16 -0800, A.R. G via Marxism wrote:
>
>The fact that men
would carry out such a horrible act anywhere is
>deplorable. But you'll
notice how Nawaz is playing into the narrative that
>the rape was something
to do with culture.

At 14:36 09-01-16 -0500, Kathleen McCook via Marxism wrote:
>
> There is no justification. Comparing it to other
>places does not make it better. This was 100% wrong.

Amith and Kathleen are both right in what they say and if we are arguing
about something, that difference hasn't been spelled out. This is the sort
of incident that we are naturally reluctant to even approach: it feels like
defending either the women victimized in the incident, or refugees who are
victimized as a whole, risks displaying insensitivity to the other. However
that is only because of the narrative(s) surrounding the incident and the
context which includes oppression of women and oppression of refugees and
ethnic/religious minorities. Neither Amith nor Kathleen should be seen as
insensitive for concentrating on one or the other aspect of the tragedy.

However I can't say the same for the author of the article, who (as Amith
correctly points out) gives credence to racist theories that unfairly
associate Muslim or Arab culture with criminality. Much of what is written
in the article I'd completely agree with, but I could never endorse a
narrative that exudes such prejudice against Muslims and in effect against
refugees when they are under threat throughout Europe. That threat exists
as well in Germany where today Pegida (predictably) took advantage of the
issue in their anti-Muslim demonstration.

But I absolutely applaud (and this is somewhat in answer to Dennis'
inquiry) today's counterdemonstration of over 1000 leftists which probably
looked like the one pictured at the top of the article. And I do think the
article is right to question "Why We Can’t Stay Silent on Germany’s Mass
Sex Assaults", though it isn't clear who "we" is supposed to be. I don't
think the counterdemonstrators today would have been "silent" on that issue
even if the focus of their demonstration is opposition to Pegida.

Most leftists (but not the author of the article, who truthfully calls
himself a "liberal" after all) are sophisticated enough to address a
criminal act or violence against women without expressing defensiveness
when the perpetrators are oppressed minorities, or likewise to address
racism when the racists are also oppressed as women or LGBTs for instance.
When we describe the criminality of the perpetrators in this instance, we
are undoubtedly joined by the 99% of refugees who did not participate in
this outrage and would happily see the criminals deported if it would
remove the basis for anti-refugee sentiment (which unfortunately it
wouldn't). 

Also:

At 15:32 09-01-16 -0500, Dennis Brasky via Marxism wrote:
>
>I forwarded this post because SOMETHING terrible happened in Cologne, yet I
>heard nothing about it here. Was the number of 400 men involved an
>exaggeration

The details of the incident have remained murky with numbers of
perpetrators variously reported as being several dozen to a thousand. I
suspect is was well less than 400 but this will probably never be known
because there was no documentation recorded at the time (police were
specifically absent) so information is based mainly on the reports of over
100 women who have stepped forward (surely many more victims haven't) who
would only have been aware of their immediate surroundings.

One important aspect that has been mentioned (but of course I have no
first-hand information in this regard) is that the main motive likely
wasn't sexual assault but robbery. Now I will be very clear that this is
not to be construed as an excuse or minimization of the sexual assault, any
more than a murder is less serious when it's committed in the commission of
a different crime. But what has been suggested is that the intention of the
perpetrators, organized as a group (or groups), was to rob the women of
their purses and mobiles while disorienting them by groping them. I don't
find that implausible because career criminals are among the least likely
sort to be sensitive to feminist issues or reluctant to engage in an
additional crime which they equally expect to get away with. So although
the sexual assaults were as inexcusable as in any other case, this
understanding (if correct) destroys the whole narrative connecting
"Muslim/Arab culture" to violence against women (and thus the thesis of the
article Dennis pointed us to).

Also, most reports did mention that the groups of men appeared to be Arab
or North African. And in the current context th

Re: [Marxism] Pierre Boulez - RIP

2016-01-09 Thread Louis Proyect via Marxism

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On 1/9/16 4:27 PM, Lüko Willms via Marxism wrote:


For me, Boulez is mainly the conductor of the famous centennial
production of Richard Wagner's "Ring", in Bayreuth 1976-78, joining
Patrice Cheraux  as director.

It needed two Frenchmen to strip "Ring des Nibelungen" from all the
pomp and false Germanic hero mythology. The stage design made it look
to be located in the time when Wagner wrote it, the German Reich's
"Gründerjahre" of industrial groth and "startups" becoming rich and
powerful.



Right. I will be writing about this the first chance I get. I have the 
DVD's and can't wait to watch it for the first time since it aired on 
PBS in 1983. You can see a much more modest version that was staged at 
Bayreuth in 1979 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ww4JHkloa8

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Re: [Marxism] Pierre Boulez - RIP

2016-01-09 Thread Lüko Willms via Marxism
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on Freitag, 8. Januar 2016 at 15:31, Dennis Brasky via Marxism wrote:

   For me, Boulez is mainly the conductor of the famous centennial production 
of Richard Wagner's "Ring", in Bayreuth 1976-78, joining Patrice Cheraux  as 
director. 

   It needed two Frenchmen to strip "Ring des Nibelungen" from all the pomp and 
false Germanic hero mythology. The stage design made it look to be located in 
the time when Wagner wrote it, the German Reich's "Gründerjahre" of industrial 
groth and "startups" becoming rich and powerful. 

   There is one red line going from beginning to end of this tetralogy, that 
love and power don't go together. And that all those  who try to take absolute 
power in their hands fail and go under, and at the end, all the heroes are dead 
-- except Loge, the half god of fire. 


Cheers, 
Lüko Willms
Frankfurt/Main, Germany
http://www.mlwerke.de
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Re: [Marxism] Rasist campaign about "Hundreds of sexual assaults in Cologne" - what the hell happened to factual reporting?

2016-01-09 Thread A.R. G via Marxism
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I agree with Luko. Others are reposting unreliable, agenda-driven source
material and racist explanations for what happened. That should not be
acceptable on Marxist list-serv. The badness of rape (or murder, or
terrorism) should not produce culturally reductionistic explanations for
these crimes. Marxists, for example, generally don't blame Jewish culture
for Zionism, or black culture for drug-related crimes, or "Islam" for the
9/11 attacks. Why is such reasoning being invoked here?

On Saturday, January 9, 2016, Lüko Willms 
wrote:

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>
>  on Samstag, 9. Januar 2016 at 17:38, Dennis Brasky via Marxism wrote:
>
>   What happened is that someone found out one or two days later that some
> women's complaints about being groped in the dense mass of people on both
> sides of the only door left open of the Cologne central rail station could
> be used for a huge racist campaign of scandalizing, arousing emotions,
> suppressing and falsifying facts. And this criminal in Cologne found a huge
> resonance in the bourgeois media from Rhine to Oder, from the coast to the
> Alps. The international French language TV program was the most outrageous
> -- for them it was 100 women being raped by 1000 Arabs.
>
>   And also on this list, the necessary mistrust against the bourgeois
> media is missing!
>
>   Now the Cologne police boss had to resign because he did not immedialy
> push for a sharp racial profiling in the official police report. The
> government and all bourgois forces call for more restrictions of democratic
> rights. Finally an optimal event to mobilise against the more than a
> million of refugees who came into Germany in 2015 (pop: >80 million), and
> to organize support for waging war against the Third World.
>
>   Actually there were two events:
>
>   Before continuing, open the Open Street Map of the place:
> >  The organge bordered area is the socalled "Domplatte",  surrounding the
> Cologne cathedral . To the place in front of the railway station
> "Bahnhofsvorplatz" is a wide flights of stairs, covering a difference of
> height of one or two storeys of a house.
> > or on Google Maps (with Satellite imagery)
> https://www.google.de/maps/@50.9416908,6.9570583,17z/data=!3m1!1e3
>
>   Up there, and down on the Bahnhofsvorplatz was the New Years eve
> celebrations going on, with fireworks which were, so the police, in some
> cases used in a very irresponsable way, like shooting horizontally from the
> Domplatte to the Bahnhofsvorplatz. This mass of about 1000 people, so the
> police then had been dispersed with a certain amouth of police violence.
>
>   The groping happened, according to my information, on both sides of the
> only door left open to the train station. The Cologne central station is
> open 24/7, but in the night hours there remains only one door open.
> Unfortunately also in the News Years night. So huge crowds assembled inside
> and outside of that door, being pressed very densely. In that situation
> most groping happened.
>
>The simple solution would have been to open all doors, to relieve the
> pressure.
>
>   But in the racist campaign no word of it.
>
>   Ich kann garnicht so viel essen wie ich kotzen möchte.
>
>
> Cheers,
> Lüko Willms
> Frankfurt/Main, Germany
> http://www.mlwerke.de
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Re: [Marxism] Huge racist campaign about "Hundreds of sexual assaults in Cologne" - what the hell happened to common sense and mistrust of the Corporate News Networks?

2016-01-09 Thread Lüko Willms via Marxism
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 On Samstag, 9. Januar 2016 at 21:32, Dennis Brasky via Marxism wrote:

> What is the position of Die Linke and others on the German Left, 
> or are they silent, which only allows the far right to exploit it?

  There were two demonstrations in Cologne today, one rightists racist 
"Pegida", one of left forces against that. 

  But to my impression, also the party Die Linke, who wants to be part of  a 
bourgeois government, whose party leadership is strongly pro-Israel, gives way 
largely to the pressure of that huge racist campaign. 

 
Cheers, 
Lüko Willms
Frankfurt/Main, Germany
http://www.mlwerke.de
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Re: [Marxism] Hundreds of sexual assaults in Cologne - what the hell happened – any answers from German list members?

2016-01-09 Thread A.R. G via Marxism
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Hi,

What does this have to do with religion? Do you know the religious beliefs
of the attackers?

On Saturday, January 9, 2016, Kathleen McCook via Marxism <
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:

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>
> Deeply appreciate you chose to address.Conservative religions often mean
> repression for women.
>
> On Sat, Jan 9, 2016 at 3:32 PM, Dennis Brasky via Marxism <
> marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu > wrote:
>
> >   POSTING RULES & NOTES  
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> > *
> >
> > I forwarded this post because SOMETHING terrible happened in Cologne,
> yet I
> > heard nothing about it here. Was the number of 400 men involved an
> > exaggeration, and if so, what are your sources? What is the position of
> Die
> > Linke and others on the German Left, or are they silent, which only
> allows
> > the far right to exploit it?
> >
> > On Sat, Jan 9, 2016 at 2:14 PM, A.R. G  > wrote:
> >
> > > I can't say I'm happy with the narrative Dennis is giving us. The
> author
> > > of the Daily Beast article that has been posted is written by the head
> of
> > > an anti-Muslim thinktank, Quilliam. Quilliam sports former Nazis and
> > other
> > > trashy anti-immigrant types. He has also co-written a book with
> > anti-Muslim
> > > "new atheist" Sam Harris. That may not negate his point of view but it
> > > should be indicative of where his concerns lie.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > _
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Re: [Marxism] Rasist campaign about "Hundreds of sexual assaults in Cologne" - what the hell happened to factual reporting?

2016-01-09 Thread Lüko Willms via Marxism
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 on Samstag, 9. Januar 2016 at 17:38, Dennis Brasky via Marxism wrote:

  What happened is that someone found out one or two days later that some 
women's complaints about being groped in the dense mass of people on both sides 
of the only door left open of the Cologne central rail station could be used 
for a huge racist campaign of scandalizing, arousing emotions, suppressing and 
falsifying facts. And this criminal in Cologne found a huge resonance in the 
bourgeois media from Rhine to Oder, from the coast to the Alps. The 
international French language TV program was the most outrageous -- for them it 
was 100 women being raped by 1000 Arabs. 

  And also on this list, the necessary mistrust against the bourgeois media is 
missing! 

  Now the Cologne police boss had to resign because he did not immedialy push 
for a sharp racial profiling in the official police report. The government and 
all bourgois forces call for more restrictions of democratic rights. Finally an 
optimal event to mobilise against the more than a million of refugees who came 
into Germany in 2015 (pop: >80 million), and to organize support for waging war 
against the Third World. 

  Actually there were two events: 
  
  Before continuing, open the Open Street Map of the place: 
>  or on Google Maps (with Satellite imagery) 
> https://www.google.de/maps/@50.9416908,6.9570583,17z/data=!3m1!1e3 

  Up there, and down on the Bahnhofsvorplatz was the New Years eve celebrations 
going on, with fireworks which were, so the police, in some cases used in a 
very irresponsable way, like shooting horizontally from the Domplatte to the 
Bahnhofsvorplatz. This mass of about 1000 people, so the police then had been 
dispersed with a certain amouth of police violence. 

  The groping happened, according to my information, on both sides of the only 
door left open to the train station. The Cologne central station is open 24/7, 
but in the night hours there remains only one door open. Unfortunately also in 
the News Years night. So huge crowds assembled inside and outside of that door, 
being pressed very densely. In that situation most groping happened. 

   The simple solution would have been to open all doors, to relieve the 
pressure. 

  But in the racist campaign no word of it. 

  Ich kann garnicht so viel essen wie ich kotzen möchte. 


Cheers, 
Lüko Willms
Frankfurt/Main, Germany
http://www.mlwerke.de
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Re: [Marxism] Hundreds of sexual assaults in Cologne - what the hell happened – any answers from German list members?

2016-01-09 Thread Kathleen McCook via Marxism
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Deeply appreciate you chose to address.Conservative religions often mean
repression for women.

On Sat, Jan 9, 2016 at 3:32 PM, Dennis Brasky via Marxism <
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:

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>
> I forwarded this post because SOMETHING terrible happened in Cologne, yet I
> heard nothing about it here. Was the number of 400 men involved an
> exaggeration, and if so, what are your sources? What is the position of Die
> Linke and others on the German Left, or are they silent, which only allows
> the far right to exploit it?
>
> On Sat, Jan 9, 2016 at 2:14 PM, A.R. G  wrote:
>
> > I can't say I'm happy with the narrative Dennis is giving us. The author
> > of the Daily Beast article that has been posted is written by the head of
> > an anti-Muslim thinktank, Quilliam. Quilliam sports former Nazis and
> other
> > trashy anti-immigrant types. He has also co-written a book with
> anti-Muslim
> > "new atheist" Sam Harris. That may not negate his point of view but it
> > should be indicative of where his concerns lie.
> >
> >
> >
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Re: [Marxism] About Amazon

2016-01-09 Thread Clay Claiborne via Marxism
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It looks like I am heading into the eye of this storm.

When started my job with Rackspace a little over a year ago it represented
a return to the ranks of the industrial proletariat which I left more than
30 years ago when I worked as a Motor Inspector (electrician) at Bethlehem
Steel and an experimental machine electrician at Honeywell. Working as a
Linux Sysadm in San the Antonio HQ for 3 months was an eye opener, 4000
workers in a half-million sq. ft. of converted mall space in a depressed
area of town and aptly named "the Castle."  I hadn't worked at a place this
big since Bethlehem's Vernon works in the late 1870's. This experience was
very different, yet strangely, the same.

Now I'm a work-from-home racker, but still part of the team of several
thousand sysadms, dcops, netsec, dbas and infrastructure techs collectively
called "the engine room" in the company. All this stuff we do on the
Internet requires an engine room to maintain it and I work in it 40hrs. a
week - today is an ETO day.

So what does this have to do with Amazon, by now you are probably
wondering? I'm getting there, but first on background:

Rackspace grew up as an open source software company in San Antonio, has
contributed to the OSS community, particularly in supporting the open stack
OSS cloud software and Linux. I has also been influenced by Linux community
values, which is why it located in a depressed community, partnered with
local schools to build the cloud academy, has long been on Forbes' best
places to work list, and would hire someone like me. So how it had grown up
to a 6K employee company with facilities from London to Hong Kong and still
maintain the kind of work environment I've generally only seen at small
shops.

But even as I started, the winds of change were blowing, and not a good
wind. As I was coming in the door, the founding ceo was headed out and the
new ceo was away fighting takeover bids from some of the bigger players in
cloud. Wolves were beaten back but management said Rackspace would have to
become more productive to survive. Capitalist pressures will Trump the best
of intentions.

Rackspace is the leader in managed cloud. Amazon in biggest player in cloud.

Already there was an article from the NYT or WSJ about working for Amazon
in the tech area that was making the rounds in the engine room as a
cautionary tale emphasizing what we'd already heard from the Amazon
refugees in our ranks, when management announced a new partnership with
Amazon. It seems we are going to be managing part of their cloud for them.

So that's where things stand now going into 2016. We are to be trained on
the Amazon cloud, and with it, the Amazon methods? grumble-grumble. Already
last year they introduced this new thing they call "metrics." This year
looks to be a "clash of civilizations." Everybody welcomes the Amazon
business but nobody wants to find themselves working for Amazon or like
Amazonians.

I got this job so I could continue my political work but for a Marxist,
this is a situation that is pregnant with possibilities.


Organize!

Clay


Clay Claiborne, Director
Vietnam: American Holocaust 
Linux Beach Productions
Venice, CA 90291
(310) 581-1536

Read my blogs at the Linux Beach 


On Fri, Jan 8, 2016 at 7:08 PM, Andrew Pollack via Marxism <
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:

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> *
>
> Excellent piece. More proof that Amazon is objective socialization on
> steroids - and therefore ripe for the plucking once workers' struggles,
> especially by Amazon workers, pose the question of putting its technical
> and organizational advances in our hands.
>
> On Fri, Jan 8, 2016 at 8:14 PM, Philip Ferguson via Marxism <
> marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:
>
> >   POSTING RULES & NOTES  
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> > *
> >
> > Amazon - the global digital East India Company of the 21st Century?:
> >
> >
> https://rdln.wordpress.com/2014/10/18/amazon-the-global-digital-east-india-company-of-the-21st-century/
> > _

Re: [Marxism] Hundreds of sexual assaults in Cologne - what the hell happened – any answers from German list members?

2016-01-09 Thread Dennis Brasky via Marxism
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I forwarded this post because SOMETHING terrible happened in Cologne, yet I
heard nothing about it here. Was the number of 400 men involved an
exaggeration, and if so, what are your sources? What is the position of Die
Linke and others on the German Left, or are they silent, which only allows
the far right to exploit it?

On Sat, Jan 9, 2016 at 2:14 PM, A.R. G  wrote:

> I can't say I'm happy with the narrative Dennis is giving us. The author
> of the Daily Beast article that has been posted is written by the head of
> an anti-Muslim thinktank, Quilliam. Quilliam sports former Nazis and other
> trashy anti-immigrant types. He has also co-written a book with anti-Muslim
> "new atheist" Sam Harris. That may not negate his point of view but it
> should be indicative of where his concerns lie.
>
>
>
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[Marxism] Between Utopia and Counter-Revolution - the Lifes of Werner and Emmy Scholem

2016-01-09 Thread Marcus via Marxism
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A friend and comrade of mine and a very good historian explored and researched 
the life and legacy of Werner Scholem.

Hope some people here find it interesting. Feel free to get in touch with Ralf 
for further exchanges.

Marcus

--

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Apologies for cross-posting, as some of you may have seen this already, but I 
wanted to draw your attention to a short documentary based on my research on 
the German-Jewish Communist Werner Scholem. It features an interview with his 
daughter Renee who witnessed his arrest in 1933 - an impressive scene.

The 17-minute long film is now on YouTube in German with English subtitles, you 
will find the link below. If interested just take a look and spread the word, I 
would really appreciate it!

best greetings from Berlin,

Ralf Hoffrogge

***

"Between Utopia and Counter-Revolution - the Lifes of Werner and Emmy Scholem" 
(documentary by Niels Bolbrinker, Germany 2014, English subtitles, 17minutes)

Walter Benjamin derided him as a “rogue” in 1924. Josef Stalin described him as 
a “splendid man”, though soon changed his mind, referring to him an “imbecile”. 
Ernst Thälmann, chairman of the German Communist Party, took a similar stance, 
warning his fellow comrades against the dangers of “Scholemism”. For the 
philosopher Gershom Scholem, however, Werner was first and foremost his older 
brother.

Werner and Gerhard, later Gershom, had rebelled together against their 
authoritarian father and the atmosphere of national chauvinism that permeated 
Germany during the first world war. Inspiring his younger brother to take up 
the Zionist cause, Werner himself underwent a long personal journey before 
deciding to join the struggle for Communism. Werner Scholem climbed the party 
ladder in both parliament and party headquarters quickly. He pushed forward the 
“Bolshevisatin” of the KPD while serving as leader of its apparatus, only to be 
expelled as an opponent of Stalin in 1926. Werner Scholem was arrested in 1933 
under mysterious circumstances. To great surprise he was declared innocent by a 
Nazi court in 1935 but never released from prison, and was ultimately murdered 
in the Buchenwald concentration camp in 1940.

The filmmaker Niels Bolbrinker has portrayed Werner Scholem´s life in the short 
documentary "Between Utopia and Counter Revolution". It features an impressive 
Interview with Scholem ´s daugther Renee Goddard (*1923) who talks about her 
family and the tragic arrest of her parents after the Nazis took power in 1933. 
The film is based on a recent biography written Ralf Hoffrogge, published in 
2014: Werner Scholem - eine Politische Biographie, UVK Publishers, Konstanz. 
The work is about to be translated from German into English and will be 
published as part of the "Historical Materialism" book series with Brill 
Publishers.

Full documentary on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQv-ieP7D2k&index=1&list=PL386363754EF67D7A

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Re: [Marxism] Hundreds of sexual assaults in Cologne - what the hell happened – any answers from German list members?

2016-01-09 Thread A.R. G via Marxism
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Your point being? I did not downplay or rationalize the rape. I disagreed
with Nawaz' "cultural" explanations for why the crime happened. Do you
agree with those explanations? Do you think rapes like this are the
provenance of backward minority groups?

On Saturday, January 9, 2016, Kathleen McCook  wrote:

> No, it is not at all. There is no justification. Comparing it to other
> places does not make it better. This was 100% wrong.
>
> On Sat, Jan 9, 2016 at 2:33 PM, A.R. G  > wrote:
>
>> That it is clearly and obviously not what I said.
>>
>> On Saturday, January 9, 2016, Kathleen McCook > > wrote:
>>
>>> So, you are saying this is ok? That women deserve this because some
>>> cultures have deep-seated sexism? And to find it abhorrent is racist?
>>>
>>

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Re: [Marxism] Hundreds of sexual assaults in Cologne - what the hell happened – any answers from German list members?

2016-01-09 Thread Kathleen McCook via Marxism
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No, it is not at all. There is no justification. Comparing it to other
places does not make it better. This was 100% wrong.

On Sat, Jan 9, 2016 at 2:33 PM, A.R. G  wrote:

> That it is clearly and obviously not what I said.
>
> On Saturday, January 9, 2016, Kathleen McCook  wrote:
>
>> So, you are saying this is ok? That women deserve this because some
>> cultures have deep-seated sexism? And to find it abhorrent is racist?
>>
>
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Re: [Marxism] Hundreds of sexual assaults in Cologne - what the hell happened – any answers from German list members?

2016-01-09 Thread A.R. G via Marxism
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That it is clearly and obviously not what I said.

On Saturday, January 9, 2016, Kathleen McCook  wrote:

> So, you are saying this is ok? That women deserve this because some
> cultures have deep-seated sexism? And to find it abhorrent is racist?
>
> On Sat, Jan 9, 2016 at 2:14 PM, A.R. G via Marxism <
> marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu
> > wrote:
>
>>   POSTING RULES & NOTES  
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>> *
>>
>> I can't say I'm happy with the narrative Dennis is giving us. The author
>> of
>> the Daily Beast article that has been posted is written by the head of an
>> anti-Muslim thinktank, Quilliam. Quilliam sports former Nazis and other
>> trashy anti-immigrant types. He has also co-written a book with
>> anti-Muslim
>> "new atheist" Sam Harris. That may not negate his point of view but it
>> should be indicative of where his concerns lie.
>>
>> The fact that men would carry out such a horrible act anywhere is
>> deplorable. But you'll notice how Nawaz is playing into the narrative that
>> the rape was something to do with culture.
>>
>> For starters, many of the stories are exaggerated, mimicking the
>> racialized
>> propaganda about the black rape threat to white women that was and still
>> is
>> circulated by white supremacists. From what I can piece together from
>> accurate sources, there were 20-30 hooligans at a party of 1,000 people
>> that began groping and in some cases raping women. The only thing that
>> made
>> it remotely about "culture" was the complexion of some of the attackers.
>>
>> The rape reminded me of what goes on in Us fraternities, at some rock n
>> roll concerts, etc. It is gross and fucked up, and yet it appears that the
>> defining features of such incidents are young men in raucous environments
>> that do not respect women. Nawaz' comments about people in third workd
>> countries grabbing women as they like, outside of being a very strange
>> distortion, does not appear to have any relevance here other than to
>> suggest that when young Arab men behave as their white counterparts do,
>> that their heritage -- not widespread sexism in party and youth culture --
>> is blameworthy.
>>
>> The simple reality is that North African societies, like most societies,
>> have deep-seated patterns of sexism, but those patterns do not exist in a
>> void. Incidents like the one in Cologne should not be used to drive this
>> kind of narrative.
>>
>> On Saturday, January 9, 2016, Dennis Brasky via Marxism <
>> marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu
>> > wrote:
>>
>> >   POSTING RULES & NOTES  
>> > #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
>> > #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived.
>> > #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern.
>> > *
>> >
>> > Germany’s welcoming euphoria at receiving 1.1 million asylum seekers in
>> > 2015
>> > <
>> >
>> http://news.yahoo.com/germany-recorded-1-1-mn-asylum-seekers-2015-093542978.html
>> > >
>> >  may have just turned a similarly dark corner. More than 120 criminal
>> > complaints have been filed by women in Cologne
>> > <
>> >
>> http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2016/01/05/1-000-men-coordinated-sexual-assault.html
>> > >
>> >  who say they were subjected to public sexual assault or robbery,
>> including
>> > at least two alleged street rapes, all in one night. The 400 men
>> accused of
>> > being behind this mass attack
>> > <
>> >
>> http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/01/06/world/europe/coordinated-attacks-on-women-in-cologne-were-unprecedented-germany-says.html
>> > >
>> >  formed coordinated rings around the women. They have been universally
>> > described as being of North African and Arab appearance. Police are
>> > examining
>> > <
>> >
>> http://www.ksta.de/politik/sotenoch-kein-taeter-vom-koelner-hauptbahnhof,15187246,33198026.html
>> > >
>> >  Internet forums and chat groups on the working assumption that it is
>> > unlikely 400 men just met by accident.
>> >
>> > Though this all occurred on New Year’s Eve, the absolute scandal is
>> that we
>> > only found out about it five days later. Amid accusations that it
>> > deliberately covered the incident up in order not to spark panic, the
>> > public broadcaster ZDF was forced to issue an apology
>> > <
>> >
>> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germ

Re: [Marxism] Hundreds of sexual assaults in Cologne - what the hell happened – any answers from German list members?

2016-01-09 Thread Kathleen McCook via Marxism
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So, you are saying this is ok? That women deserve this because some
cultures have deep-seated sexism? And to find it abhorrent is racist?

On Sat, Jan 9, 2016 at 2:14 PM, A.R. G via Marxism <
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:

>   POSTING RULES & NOTES  
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> *
>
> I can't say I'm happy with the narrative Dennis is giving us. The author of
> the Daily Beast article that has been posted is written by the head of an
> anti-Muslim thinktank, Quilliam. Quilliam sports former Nazis and other
> trashy anti-immigrant types. He has also co-written a book with anti-Muslim
> "new atheist" Sam Harris. That may not negate his point of view but it
> should be indicative of where his concerns lie.
>
> The fact that men would carry out such a horrible act anywhere is
> deplorable. But you'll notice how Nawaz is playing into the narrative that
> the rape was something to do with culture.
>
> For starters, many of the stories are exaggerated, mimicking the racialized
> propaganda about the black rape threat to white women that was and still is
> circulated by white supremacists. From what I can piece together from
> accurate sources, there were 20-30 hooligans at a party of 1,000 people
> that began groping and in some cases raping women. The only thing that made
> it remotely about "culture" was the complexion of some of the attackers.
>
> The rape reminded me of what goes on in Us fraternities, at some rock n
> roll concerts, etc. It is gross and fucked up, and yet it appears that the
> defining features of such incidents are young men in raucous environments
> that do not respect women. Nawaz' comments about people in third workd
> countries grabbing women as they like, outside of being a very strange
> distortion, does not appear to have any relevance here other than to
> suggest that when young Arab men behave as their white counterparts do,
> that their heritage -- not widespread sexism in party and youth culture --
> is blameworthy.
>
> The simple reality is that North African societies, like most societies,
> have deep-seated patterns of sexism, but those patterns do not exist in a
> void. Incidents like the one in Cologne should not be used to drive this
> kind of narrative.
>
> On Saturday, January 9, 2016, Dennis Brasky via Marxism <
> marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:
>
> >   POSTING RULES & NOTES  
> > #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
> > #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived.
> > #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern.
> > *
> >
> > Germany’s welcoming euphoria at receiving 1.1 million asylum seekers in
> > 2015
> > <
> >
> http://news.yahoo.com/germany-recorded-1-1-mn-asylum-seekers-2015-093542978.html
> > >
> >  may have just turned a similarly dark corner. More than 120 criminal
> > complaints have been filed by women in Cologne
> > <
> >
> http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2016/01/05/1-000-men-coordinated-sexual-assault.html
> > >
> >  who say they were subjected to public sexual assault or robbery,
> including
> > at least two alleged street rapes, all in one night. The 400 men accused
> of
> > being behind this mass attack
> > <
> >
> http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/01/06/world/europe/coordinated-attacks-on-women-in-cologne-were-unprecedented-germany-says.html
> > >
> >  formed coordinated rings around the women. They have been universally
> > described as being of North African and Arab appearance. Police are
> > examining
> > <
> >
> http://www.ksta.de/politik/sotenoch-kein-taeter-vom-koelner-hauptbahnhof,15187246,33198026.html
> > >
> >  Internet forums and chat groups on the working assumption that it is
> > unlikely 400 men just met by accident.
> >
> > Though this all occurred on New Year’s Eve, the absolute scandal is that
> we
> > only found out about it five days later. Amid accusations that it
> > deliberately covered the incident up in order not to spark panic, the
> > public broadcaster ZDF was forced to issue an apology
> > <
> >
> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/12085182/Cover-up-over-Cologne-sex-assaults-blamed-on-migration-sensitivities.html
> > >
> >  for failing to include the assaults in its main evening news broadcast.
> It
> > appears that, as the authorities and the media

Re: [Marxism] Hundreds of sexual assaults in Cologne - what the hell happened – any answers from German list members?

2016-01-09 Thread A.R. G via Marxism
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I can't say I'm happy with the narrative Dennis is giving us. The author of
the Daily Beast article that has been posted is written by the head of an
anti-Muslim thinktank, Quilliam. Quilliam sports former Nazis and other
trashy anti-immigrant types. He has also co-written a book with anti-Muslim
"new atheist" Sam Harris. That may not negate his point of view but it
should be indicative of where his concerns lie.

The fact that men would carry out such a horrible act anywhere is
deplorable. But you'll notice how Nawaz is playing into the narrative that
the rape was something to do with culture.

For starters, many of the stories are exaggerated, mimicking the racialized
propaganda about the black rape threat to white women that was and still is
circulated by white supremacists. From what I can piece together from
accurate sources, there were 20-30 hooligans at a party of 1,000 people
that began groping and in some cases raping women. The only thing that made
it remotely about "culture" was the complexion of some of the attackers.

The rape reminded me of what goes on in Us fraternities, at some rock n
roll concerts, etc. It is gross and fucked up, and yet it appears that the
defining features of such incidents are young men in raucous environments
that do not respect women. Nawaz' comments about people in third workd
countries grabbing women as they like, outside of being a very strange
distortion, does not appear to have any relevance here other than to
suggest that when young Arab men behave as their white counterparts do,
that their heritage -- not widespread sexism in party and youth culture --
is blameworthy.

The simple reality is that North African societies, like most societies,
have deep-seated patterns of sexism, but those patterns do not exist in a
void. Incidents like the one in Cologne should not be used to drive this
kind of narrative.

On Saturday, January 9, 2016, Dennis Brasky via Marxism <
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:

>   POSTING RULES & NOTES  
> #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
> #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived.
> #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern.
> *
>
> Germany’s welcoming euphoria at receiving 1.1 million asylum seekers in
> 2015
> <
> http://news.yahoo.com/germany-recorded-1-1-mn-asylum-seekers-2015-093542978.html
> >
>  may have just turned a similarly dark corner. More than 120 criminal
> complaints have been filed by women in Cologne
> <
> http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2016/01/05/1-000-men-coordinated-sexual-assault.html
> >
>  who say they were subjected to public sexual assault or robbery, including
> at least two alleged street rapes, all in one night. The 400 men accused of
> being behind this mass attack
> <
> http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/01/06/world/europe/coordinated-attacks-on-women-in-cologne-were-unprecedented-germany-says.html
> >
>  formed coordinated rings around the women. They have been universally
> described as being of North African and Arab appearance. Police are
> examining
> <
> http://www.ksta.de/politik/sotenoch-kein-taeter-vom-koelner-hauptbahnhof,15187246,33198026.html
> >
>  Internet forums and chat groups on the working assumption that it is
> unlikely 400 men just met by accident.
>
> Though this all occurred on New Year’s Eve, the absolute scandal is that we
> only found out about it five days later. Amid accusations that it
> deliberately covered the incident up in order not to spark panic, the
> public broadcaster ZDF was forced to issue an apology
> <
> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/12085182/Cover-up-over-Cologne-sex-assaults-blamed-on-migration-sensitivities.html
> >
>  for failing to include the assaults in its main evening news broadcast. It
> appears that, as the authorities and the media were choosing between
> stirring up racial tension and these women’s rights, we were faced with a
> conspiracy of silence.
>
> full:
>
> http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/01/08/why-we-can-t-stay-silent-on-germany-s-mass-sex-assaults.html
> _
> Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm
> Set your options at:
> http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/amithrgupta%40gmail.com



-- 
- Amith
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[Marxism] Guardian: Unions brace for supreme court case that could be a heavy blow to liberals

2016-01-09 Thread Shalva Eliava via Marxism
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Since all the public service unions endorsed/are backing Hillary, maybe it's 
not such a bad thing...

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jan/09/supreme-court-friedrichs-case-public-sector-unions-doom

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[Marxism] Hundreds of sexual assaults in Cologne - what the hell happened – any answers from German list members?

2016-01-09 Thread Dennis Brasky via Marxism
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Germany’s welcoming euphoria at receiving 1.1 million asylum seekers in 2015

 may have just turned a similarly dark corner. More than 120 criminal
complaints have been filed by women in Cologne

 who say they were subjected to public sexual assault or robbery, including
at least two alleged street rapes, all in one night. The 400 men accused of
being behind this mass attack

 formed coordinated rings around the women. They have been universally
described as being of North African and Arab appearance. Police are
examining

 Internet forums and chat groups on the working assumption that it is
unlikely 400 men just met by accident.

Though this all occurred on New Year’s Eve, the absolute scandal is that we
only found out about it five days later. Amid accusations that it
deliberately covered the incident up in order not to spark panic, the
public broadcaster ZDF was forced to issue an apology

 for failing to include the assaults in its main evening news broadcast. It
appears that, as the authorities and the media were choosing between
stirring up racial tension and these women’s rights, we were faced with a
conspiracy of silence.

full:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/01/08/why-we-can-t-stay-silent-on-germany-s-mass-sex-assaults.html
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[Marxism] Fwd: On the Effort to Exonerate Team USA for the Rise of ISIS | Rogue Nation

2016-01-09 Thread Louis Proyect via Marxism

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Former Jacobin contributor and Assadist tool David Mizner peeved at 
Jacobin for publishing one article out of ten thousand breaking with the 
"anti-imperialist" consensus. Salvage gets slimed as well:



Both Jacobin and Salvage claim that Assad’s releasing jihadists in from 
prison in 2011 contributed mightily to the rise of ISIS. Salvage, the 
magazine founded by Richard Seymour and his comrades, says Syria’s 
ex-prisoners are one of the three primary forces within IS, along with 
Iraqi Baathists and foreign fighters. It didn’t deign to provide any 
evidence, so I went looking for some.


This post by Kyle Orton says that, “In May and June 2011, the regime 
turned loose from its prisons violent jihadists.” But he links to two 
articles covering the Syrian’s government granting of general amnesty, 
which the press depicted at the time as an attempt to placate the 
opposition. The opposition itself received it as such. “Too little too 
late,” said one member of the opposition.


Nonetheless, Orton goes on to say that in 2011 the Syrian government 
released future jihadist leaders Abu Musab, Hassan Abboud, Zahran 
Alloush, and Ahmed Abu Issa. I suppose I’ll take his word for it, but 
these bad men didn’t join ISIS. They joined Al Qaeda, Ahrar al-Sham, 
Jaysh al-Sham, and Suquor a-Sham, respectively. These groups are indeed 
brutal and reactionary—and they are proxy forces of US client states 
trying to overthrow the Syrian government.


http://roguenationblog.com/2016/01/08/on-the-effort-to-exonerate-team-usa-for-the-rise-of-isis/

Mizner is hardly worth a response since he is so intellectually 
challenged but you'd think he'd be at least informed sufficiently to 
understand that ISIS did not exist in 2011 so nobody could have possibly 
joined it. It was formed in 2013, two years later. What a fucking dummy.

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[Marxism] Fwd: First Wednesday: The Fight Against Daesh - YouTube

2016-01-09 Thread Louis Proyect via Marxism

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Panel includes Robin Yassin-Kassab.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbF6i_GwxTA
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