[Marxism] Bernadette on 80th anniversary of Gernika

[Philip Ferguson via Marxism]

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https://rdln.wordpress.com/2017/04/26/irish-revolutionary-legend-bernadette-devlin-mcaliskey-on-80th-anniversary-of-gernika-guernica-bombing/
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[Marxism] Fwd: How the Ivy League Collaborates with Donald Trump | Dissent Magazine

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Unfortunately, top university officials at Columbia and Yale have chosen 
to crack this wall of resistance. They have found in Trump an ally in 
their longstanding efforts to resist graduate employees’ efforts to 
unionize. They are ready, in other words, to collaborate—a word I do not 
use lightly. From their presidents on down, university labor-relations 
officials are hoping that Trump and the people he will soon appoint to 
the National Labor Relations Board will weigh in on management’s side 
and against those who are exercising their democratic right to organize 
and bargain with the school.


In December and February, graduate employees at Columbia and Yale, 
respectively, voted to unionize. These workers, some of the most 
precarious on the university campus, had been enfranchised by an August 
2016 ruling of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)—a ruling 
delayed some years by Republican filibusters of Barack Obama’s 
appointees, but finally issued in the last leg of his presidency. In 
response, the two university administrations have only dug in their 
heels, throwing up every procedural hurdle they can find to impede the 
democratic will of their workers.


full: 
https://www.dissentmagazine.org/blog/yale-columbia-trump-nlrb-graduate-employee-union-busting

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[Marxism] Make No Mistake: There is a media blockade against Venezuela

[michael a. lebowitz via Marxism]

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Make No Mistake: There is a media blockade against Venezuela 



*Make No Mistake: There is a media blockade against Venezuela***

By *Rachael Boothroyd Rojas – Venezuelanalysis.com *, April 23rd 2017

Venezuela is in flames. Or at least parts of it is.

Since April 4th, opposition militants have been carrying out targeted 
acts of violence, vandalism and arson, as well as deliberately clashing 
with security forces in an attempt to plunge the country into total 
chaos and forcefully remove the elected socialist government. It is the 
continuation of an 18 year effort to topple the Bolivarian revolution by 
any means necessary — although you may have seen it miraculously recast 
in the mainstream media as “promoting a return to democracy” in the country.


A catalogue of the violence over the last 18 days is shocking – schools 
have been ransacked, a Supreme Court building has been torched, an air 
force base attacked, while public transport, health and veterinary 
facilities have been destroyed. At least 23 people have been left dead, 
with many more injured. In one of the most shocking cases of right-wing 
violence, at around 10pm on April 20th, women, children and over 50 
newborn babies had to be evacuated by the government from a public 
maternity hospital which came under attack from opposition gangs.


Anywhere else in the western world, this would have given way to 
horrified international and national calls for an end to the violence, 
and for the swift prosecution of those responsible – making it all the 
more scandalous that these incidents have at best been ignored, and at 
worst totally misrepresented by the international press. Instead, those 
tasked with providing the public with unbiased reporting on 
international affairs have opted to uncritically parrot the Venezuelan 
opposition’s claims that the elected government is violently repressing 
peaceful protests, and holding it responsible for all deaths in 
connection with the demonstrations so far.


This narrative cannot be described as even a remotely accurate 
interpretation of the facts, and so it is important to set the record 
straight.


·   To date, three people (two protesters and one bystander) have 
been killed by state security personnel, who were promptly arrested and 
in two cases indicted.


·   A further five people have been directly killed by opposition 
protesters, while one person has died as an indirect result of the 
opposition roadblocks in Caracas (Ricarda Gonzalez, 89, who suffered 
from a CVA and was prevented from getting to a hospital).


·   Five people have been shot in separate incidents near protests 
but under unclear circumstances. One of these victims was shot by an 
alleged opposition supporter from a high rise building, although the 
perpetrator’s political affiliation is yet to be confirmed.


·   Nine protesters appear to have died as a result of their own 
actions (at least nine were electrocuted in the recent looting of a bakery).


A cursory look at the reality reveals that the government is clearly not 
responsible for the majority of these deaths. However, to paraphrase a 
remark recently made by Venezuelan author Jose Roberto Duque, the “truth 
has suddenly become useless”.


The media has failed to go into too much detail surrounding the exact 
circumstances of these deaths; precisely because the truth presents a 
serious obstacle to their narrative that all these people were killed 
during pro-democracy peaceful protests at the repressive hands of the 
authoritarian regime. This narrative isn’t just overly simplistic; it 
distorts the reality on the ground and misinforms international audiences.


Take this deliberately misleading paragraph from an article written by 
Nicholas Casey, the New York Time’s latest propaganda writer for the 
opposition.


“Protesters demanding elections and a return to democratic rule jammed 
the streets of Caracas and other Venezuelan cities on Wednesday. 
National Guard troops and government-aligned militias beat crowds back 
with tear gas, rubber bullets and other weapons, and at least three 
people were killed, according to human rights groups and news reports.” 



Casey opted to omit the fact that none of those three deaths has so far 
been attributed to security forces, and one of the victims was an army 
sergeant killed by protesters themselves. Moreover, those on the 
receiving end of the “tear gas and rubber bullets” are not quite the 
“peaceful protesters” he so disingenuously implies. Anyo

[Marxism] Marine Le Pen Gets a Lift From an Unlikely Source: The Far Left

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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(This article is really much more of an op-ed than reporting and reminds 
me of the venom directed against Jill Stein.)


NY Times, April 25, 2017
Marine Le Pen Gets a Lift From an Unlikely Source: The Far Left
By ADAM NOSSITER

PARIS — The far-right leader Marine Le Pen faces an uphill battle in 
France’s presidential runoff, less than two weeks away. But she saw 
daylight through a small window on Tuesday, and from an unlikely source: 
her defeated counterpart on the far left.


Alone among all of France’s major political personalities, Jean-Luc 
Mélenchon, the leader of his own “France Unsubjugated” movement, who 
finished a strong fourth in Sunday’s voting, has refused to endorse Ms. 
Le Pen’s opponent, the former economy minister Emmanuel Macron.


Mr. Mélenchon’s critics say his obstinacy is petulant, wounded pride 
that can only help Ms. Le Pen’s National Front. But it also speaks to 
the passions that Mr. Macron, a seemingly mild-mannered centrist, 
provokes in large parts of the French electorate, far left and far 
right, who share a view of the 39-year-old former investment banker as a 
fire-breathing incarnation of evil market culture.


As populism and anger over the impacts of globalization energize much of 
the electorate, Mr. Mélenchon’s stand has added a new element of 
uncertainty into the final round of voting on May 7.


It has also set off a dynamic in the French race much like when Hillary 
Clinton defeated Senator Bernie Sanders in the Democratic presidential 
primaries last year — leaving his supporters, still in the thrall of 
populism, up for grabs as traditional party allegiances broke down.


Mr. Mélenchon’s 19.6 percent of the vote Sunday is now a rich booty — 
triple the score of the mainstream Socialist Party, whose collapse has 
elevated Mr. Mélenchon to be de facto leader of the French left. He even 
won in big cities like Marseille and Lille.


But it is not clear where that vote will now go, not least because 
far-left populism and far-right populism may have more in common than 
the seemingly vast gulf between them on the political spectrum would 
suggest.


Mr. Mélenchon, 65, a former Trotskyite, ran a campaign denouncing banks, 
globalization and the European Union — just like Ms. Le Pen.


A grizzled orator with a penchant for Latin American dictators, he has 
the same forgiving attitude she does toward the Russian president, 
Vladimir V. Putin.


Both were competing for working-class voters suspicious of the global 
financial elite. Mr. Macron had already “ruined the lives of thousands 
of people” with his pro-market policies, Mr. Mélenchon said during the 
campaign.


And like Ms. Le Pen, Mr. Mélenchon regularly attacked the news media 
during the campaign. On election night, after his defeat, he tore into 
what he called “mediacrats” and “oligarchs.” They were “rejoicing” over 
“two candidates who approve and want to maintain the current 
institutions” of government, the longtime fan of Castro and Hugo Chávez 
said.


The shared lines of attack gave the candidates at the political extremes 
their best showings ever, if from opposite ends of the spectrum. Mr. 
Mélenchon almost doubled his 2012 result, refused to concede for hours 
and then attacked both finalists, refusing to distinguish between them.


In that, he is alone. Across the board, politicians and other former 
candidates have urgently counseled their supporters to vote for Mr. 
Macron to block Ms. Le Pen’s path to the Élysée Palace.


The French call this the “Republican Front,” and it has proved effective 
at preventing the National Front — perceived by many in France as a 
threat to democracy — from taking power before.


Mr. Mélenchon is having none of it.

Instead, his party has announced an internet “consultation” of his 
followers, with three choices offered for the May 7 vote: a blank 
ballot, a vote for Mr. Macron or an abstention. A vote for Ms. Le Pen is 
not one of the choices, and Mr. Mélenchon’s aides insist that is the 
last thing they want.


On Tuesday, a furious online debate continued on a site linked to Mr. 
Mélenchon’s party, with one poster saying Mr. Macron and Ms. Le Pen 
represented “the failure of the system” and others agonizing over 
whether to abstain or vote blank.


Critics of Mr. Mélenchon — and they have become numerous in both the 
Socialist Party and in Mr. Macron’s camp — say a blank ballot or 
abstention can only help Ms. Le Pen.


“It’s his pride. It’s led him to make an extremely serious mistake,” a 
leading Socialist member of Parliament, Malek Boutih, said in an 
interview Tuesday. “He’s given them a huge boost,” he said of the 
National Front.


“Th

[Marxism] Fwd: Judge Blocks Trump Effort to Withhold Money From Sanctuary Cities - The New York Times

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/25/us/judge-blocks-trump-sanctuary-cities.html
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[Marxism] Fwd: CUNY Struggle | Louis Proyect: The Unrepentant Marxist

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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In the two decades I spent working as a programmer at Columbia 
University, I used to read the Chronicle of Higher Education to keep up 
trends in information technology but was also sure to keep abreast of 
issues in the university more germane to my Marxist politics such as the 
“culture wars” and more recently the status of adjunct professors. I had 
more than a passing interest in the latter since I have become familiar 
with their plight through my own close connection to someone who started 
out as an adjunct and now is a tenure-track professor.


full: https://louisproyect.org/2017/04/25/cuny-struggle/
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Re: [Marxism] Mr. Chomsky

[Tristan Sloughter via Marxism]

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Postol's "analysis" is so confusing to me that I have to ask if this is
really the report he is critiquing
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/04/11/world/middleeast/document-Syria-Chemical-Weapons-Report-White-House.html

Is there another report I can't find?

His argument, and the one picked up the most by others it seems and he
expands on in an addendum, is that the "sarin canister" in the crater
shows clear evidence it was not dropped from a plane in a bomb but
instead had an explosive laid up against it on the street.

The problem is, I can't find anywhere in the report that claims the tube
in the crater was the "sarin canister".

Am I missing something or is Postol really arguing against himself?

-- 
  Tristan Sloughter
  "I am not a crackpot" - Abe Simpson
  t...@crashfast.com
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[Marxism] A further appeication of Pat Brain!

[Anthony Brain via Marxism]

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 The lessons which Pat Brain teaches those radicalisng today after nearly 60 
years as a Trotskyist? by Anthony Brain

  
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The lessons which Pat Brain teaches those radicalisng today after nearly 6...
 Pat Brain (my Father) who died on January 25th of this year had a lot of 
abilities. He was born on November 3rd ...  |   |

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Re: [Marxism] Fwd: The Democrats delivered one thing in the past 100 days: disappointment | Cornel West | Opinion | The Guardian

[Ralph Johansen via Marxism]

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Louis Proyect wrote

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/apr/24/democrats-delivered-one-thing-100-days-disappointment


Only for those who had appointments. Cornel West the sanctimonious 
liberal can't let go.



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[Marxism] Mr. Chomsky

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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(Ofer Neiman on FB)

Mr Chomsky,

I am writing an article about your position on Syria and I would 
appreciate some clarifications.


1. Today you once again referenced Theodor Postol to argue that Assad 
might not have been responsible for the chemical attack. You have said 
that Postol is a "credible commentator" and a serious analyst. As I 
pointed out to you earlier, there are several reasons to doubt Postol's 
expertise, the main one being that Postol has admitted relying on a 
pro-Assad youtube star for his analysis. I am assuming your endorsement 
isn't based on appeals to Postol's authority alone. What did you find 
persuasive about Postol's argument?


2. You framed the question as a contest between the White House's claims 
and Postol's critique. Why did you ignore eye-witness testimonies, 
journalistic reports, WHO's analysis, Medicins Sans Frontiers's 
judgment, and the OPCW's conclusions? (Not to mention open-sources 
verifiable investigations form Bellingcat and chemical experts like Dan 
Kaszeta)


3. You claimed that while reporting from the regime's side has its 
limitations, reporting from rebel territories is not possible at all 
because if journalists don't report what rebels want them to, they could 
get their "heads chopped off". Since I had referenced it in my previous 
exchange, you surely cannot be unaware of the fact that AFP journalists 
had reported from the scene in Khan Sheikhoun and that the site was also 
visited by the Guardian's Kareem Shaheen. Beyond Idlib, journalists such 
as Clarissa Ward and Nagieb Khaja have done excellent reporting for CNN 
and Al Jazeera from inside rebel territory. Are you aware of their work? 
If not, then what were you basing your judgment on? I hope you weren't 
repeating claims from by the regime-embedded Patrick Cockburn who, as I 
pointed out to you earlier, has a checkered record.


4. You said it doesn't make sense for Assad to use chemical weapons 
against civilians. Some might say it didn't make sense for the US to 
drop the atomic bomb on Japan. Have we been too credulous in accepting 
US responsibility for Hiroshima and Nagasaki? And if the chemical attack 
doesn't make sense to you, does this mean you consider the murder of 
13-year-old Hamza al Khatib sensible? (He was tortured, his genitals 
were severed, his body was burned, and he was shot thrice before his 
decomposing body was returned to his parents.)


5. If you don't think Assad carried out the chemical attack, then who do 
you think did it? Who do you think has the capacity?


6. If you don't think the regime was responsible for the attack, why do 
you think Russia blocked the UN investigation?


I look forward to your reply"
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