[Marxism] Down and out in the American workforce

[Philip Ferguson via Marxism]

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A six-part series by *Laurence Peterson *documenting an example of downward
mobility in Post-Meltdown America

Start with part one and work your way through:

https://rdln.wordpress.com/2017/06/04/our-brand-is-uselessness/


See also: Diary of a US call centre worker:
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/09/11/where-talents-go-to-die-diary-of-a-us-call-centre-worker/
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Re: [Marxism] DSA Grows to 21,000 "Toward a New Socialist Party!

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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>From what I can see, the DSA leadership is more or less controlled by union
staffers, with the nonprofiteers like the Sierra Club running a close
second. The present leadership is a holdover from the past, when DSA was a
sleepy little backwater. It has more than tripled in size, though, mainly
with young former Berners. Will those new members go beyond Bernie? Are
they really serious about socialism, or is it just a nice pretty banner to
wave around?

Time will tell, especially if some serious socialists are there, explaining
the issues in clear terms.

As for Socialist Alternative: I seriously think that they have little or
nothing to offer as far as clearing up the situation. What can they say -
that socialists and the workers' movement must never support the Democrats?
Nope. That what's needed is a mass working class party, which the
Democratic Party (not just the "establishment" of the Democrats; the entire
party) can never be? Nope. That the union leadership is representing the
bosses and the Democrats in the unions? Nope.

That you should join Socialist Alternative? Ahhh. That they CAN say.

John Reimann

On Thu, Jul 6, 2017 at 7:16 PM, Mark Lause  wrote:

> In order to move forward, the DSA desperately needs a reasonable strategy
> and a current committed to it--and I don't mean any kind of entry sect.
>
> If it winds up in the hands of the wheeler-dealers and trimmers, it may
> well bog down and go nowhere.  However, as Peter Camejo suggested with the
> Greens, the newcomers joining an independent organization are making their
> choice for an independent organization.  If the future is in their hands,
> it can only be good for us.
>
> ML
>
>


-- 
"No one is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them."
Asata Shakur
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[Marxism] "Trotskyists" put down red carpet for obscure Stalinist blogger

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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On Friday, July 14th at the Solidarity Center in NYC, Stephen Gowans 
will be speaking on "Washington's Long War in Syria", his new pro-Assad 
book. Solidarity Center is the HQ of the International Action Center, 
the antiwar front of the Workers World Party, a group that emerged out 
of the Trotskyist movement in the fifties after the founder decided to 
back the Soviet tanks rather than the Hungarian workers in 1956. They 
are essentially Stalinists--much more so than the Communist Party.


Among the sponsors of the meeting is something called UNAC, the United 
Antiwar Coalition, that has a steering committee that is a mixture of 
WWP'er Sarah Flounders and independent Stalinists like Phil Wilayto.


But the largest party representation is from Socialist Action, a tiny 
sect led by Jeff Mackler. After splitting from the SWP, Mackler and 
other party veterans formed SA in the early 80s to rebuild a purified 
Trotskyist group. It has failed abjectly but like the group it split 
from, it soldiers on in the foolish notion that it is to the USA that 
Lenin's party was to Russia. Mackler is on the steering committee as is 
Marilyn Levin and Christine Gavreau, who like Mackler are in their 
seventies. This is definitely not a formation that is going to compete 
with the DSA for fresh blood.


Gowans is a piece of work. With a straight face, he writes things like this:

The US Library of Congress country study on Syria refers to “the
socialist structure of the government and economy,” points out that
“the government continues to control strategic industries,” mentions
that “many citizens have access to subsidized public housing and many
basic commodities are heavily subsidized,” and that “senior regime
members” have “hampered” the liberalization of the economy.

https://www.liberationnews.org/syrias-uprising-in-context-html/

Meanwhile, Bassam Haddad, no friend of the Syrian rebels, wrote this:

By the late 1990s, the business community that the Asads had created in 
their own image had transformed Syria from a semi-socialist state into a 
crony capitalist state par excellence. The economic liberalization that 
started in 1991 had redounded heavily to the benefit of tycoons who had 
ties to the state or those who partnered with state officials. The 
private sector outgrew the public sector, but the most affluent members 
of the private sector were state officials, politicians and their 
relatives. The economic growth registered in the mid-1990s was mostly a 
short-lived bump in consumption, as evidenced by the slump at the end of 
the century. Growth rates that had been 5-7 percent fell to 1-2 percent 
from 1997 to 2000 and beyond.


After Bashar al-Asad succeeded his father in 2000, the architects of 
Syria’s economic policy sought to reverse the downturn by liberalizing 
the economy further, for instance by reducing state subsidies. Private 
banks were permitted for the first time in nearly 40 years and a stock 
market was on the drawing board. After 2005, the state-business bonds 
were strengthened by the announcement of the Social Market Economy, a 
mixture of state and market approaches that ultimately privileged the 
market, but a market without robust institutions or accountability. 
Again, the regime had consolidated its alliance with big business at the 
expense of smaller businesses as well as the Syrian majority who 
depended on the state for services, subsidies and welfare. It had 
perpetuated cronyism, but dressed it in new garb. Families associated 
with the regime in one way or another came to dominate the private 
sector, in addition to exercising considerable control over public 
economic assets. These clans include the Asads and Makhloufs, but also 
the Shalish, al-Hassan, Najib, Hamsho, Hambouba, Shawkat and al-As‘ad 
families, to name a few. The reconstituted business community, which now 
included regime officials, close supporters and a thick sliver of the 
traditional bourgeoisie, effected a deeper (and, for the regime, more 
dangerous) polarization of Syrian society along lines of income and region.


http://www.merip.org/mer/mer262/syrian-regimes-business-backbone

None of this ever entered the ideological cocoon of the Marcyite wing of 
the American left that now includes Socialist Action. Indeed, nothing 
that took place within Syria held even the slightest interest for them. 
These are people who get their ideas from ZeroHedge, Moon of Alabama, 
Global Research, Information Clearing House and other bottom-feeding 
click-bait outlets of the lunatic left.


Sad, really.















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[Marxism] Fwd: [New post] States Get Safety Report Cards: Winners and Losers

[Richard Sprout via Marxism]

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Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Confined Space" 
> Date: July 6, 2017 at 5:35:03 PM EDT
> To: "Richard Sprout" 
> Subject: [New post] States Get Safety Report Cards: Winners and Losers
> 
> 
> New post on Confined Space
> 
> 
> States Get Safety Report Cards: Winners and Losers
> by Jordan
> It's report card time and states are lining up to get their grades
from the National Safety Council.The State of Safety: A State-by-State
Report graded states in three categories: Road Safety, Home Safety and
Workplace Safety.  No state received an overall "A" grade, but several
states received "Bs," including the state in which I live (Maryland),
the state in which I was born (Illinois), the state in which I grew up
(California) and the state where my sister lives (Oregon.)  Just sayin'.
> 
> NSC President and CEO Deborah Hersman, noting that preventable deaths
are at an all-time high, said “Safety is no accident. We lose more than
140,000 people because of events we know how to prevent. This report
provides states with a blueprint for saving lives, and we hope
lawmakers, civic leaders, public health professionals and safety
advocates use it to make their communities measurably safer.”
> 
> The study found that, nationally, more than 146,000 people died last
year from preventable accidents, a 7 percent increase over 2014.
> 
> We here at Confined Space world headquarters are, of course, most
interested in the workplace safety area where only two states, Illinois
and Washington, received "As." B's went to Colorado, Minnesota,
Maryland, DC, Oregon, Alaska, Maine, New Hampshire and Connecticut.
> 
> The worst states for workplace safety, according to the NSC, are
Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, South Dakota, Idaho, Wyoming and
Kansas.
> 
> States were graded on three categories for workplace safety:
Prevention, Preparedness and Enforcement (50%); Workers Compensation
(25%) and Worker Health and Wellbeing (25%)
> 
> Prevention, Preparedness and Enforcement took into account such items
as whether a state had requirement for health and safety programs and
health and safety committees, as well as public employee OSHA coverage,
workplace violence laws and "existence of multi-line telephone system
enhanced 911 program for employers."  The report notes that OSHA
estimates that establishing safety and health programs can reduce
injuries by 15 to 35% for employers that do not currently have a
program.
> 
> I didn't know what an enhanced 911 program was. Turns out it "provides
dispatchers with precise caller location within a building or campus
when a landline is used and ensures swift first response in case of an
emergency."  OK, I'll buy it.
> 
> The Workers’ Compensation category looked at key measures like maximum
benefits and length of coverage, and Worker Health and Well Being looked
at states' ability to control key workplace environmental risk factors
by implementing drug-free and anti-smoking laws, as well as workplace
wellness laws.
> 
> OK, well that was fun. My main quibbles would be that I don't think
any state should receive a passing grade (certainly not above a "C" if
they don't provide OSHA coverage for public employees. I would
definitely knock Colorado, New Hampshire and Washington DC out of the
"Bs." And I have issues with the Drug Free Workplace laws -- depending
on what they say, how they're administered and what safeguards they have
to ensure that they aren't used to retaliate against workers for
reporting injuries.
> 
> Oklahoma came in 41 out of 51 in the workplace safety and health
category and their Labor Commissioner, Melissa McLawhorn Houston, is
pissed!  Houston objected to the state's "F" grade on workplace safety
and wrote a letter to the NSC it to revise Oklahoma's grade. "Oklahoma's
public sector incidence rate, 3.8 per 100 workers, is lower than the
national average at 5. The Oklahoma Department of Labor also provides
free, confidential safety consu> OK, so this does not impress me. With no OSHA 
law, it's hard to trust
any public sector injury and illness rates. And every state "provides
provides free, confidential safety consultations," which are, by the
way, 90% funded by federal OSHA.
> 
> I'm not sure if Houston offered to stay after school or do extra
credit, but my general feeling is that if she has nothing better to do
than conduct media interviews and write letters complaining about her
NSC grades, the state has bigger problems.
> 
> So for you delinquents out there,  get back to work. Lives are at
risk.  Buckle down. There's always next year.
> 
> We'll be watching.
> 
> Jordan | July 6, 2017 at 

Re: [Marxism] DSA Grows to 21,000 "Toward a New Socialist Party!

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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 Socialist Alternative is right about the significance of the growth of
DSA. But I don't agree with what they call for.

They call for a new mass socialist party, or something of the sort.
Instead, they should be explaining that all parties are based on one class
or another and what's needed is a mass working class party in the US. (They
should also be explaining that the Democratic Party - the ENTIRE party -
not just its "establishment" -  is a party of the owners of capital - the
capitalist class.) That leads to how such a party could be born. One
possibility is through a series of independent, working class candidates
for public office. As such a tendency developed, it would tend to come
together to coordinate and further their efforts. That would mean the
beginnings of a working class party - one that should and probably would
have socialist policies of some sort or another.

I also very strongly disagree with their call on DSA to form some sort of
federated socialist party where the different socialist groups would
affiliate but in their own federations. On the one hand that sounds too
much like the approach of many anarchists of organizing coalitions based on
different "affinity groups". The end result is that the coalition never
really comes together as a whole. In the case of what S. Alt. is calling
for, it would mean an absolute zoo, a form of organizing that would
encourage a situation where every little socialist group would fit in as
that "socialist party" of, by and for itself. Madly fighting for their
particular "line" to be adopted and competing with every other little group
to scoop up whatever recruits there are to be had.

It would be paralyzed by this sectarian infighting.

By the way, I've noticed that quite a few Socialist Alternative members
have left S. Alt. and have joined DSA. And why not? After all, what is the
principled difference in practice between them? The DSA leadership supports
the Democrats and so does S. Alt. Nor does either have any real differences
with the union leadership. The main difference is a matter of degrees, so
if you're going to go in for that sort of politics, why not join the bigger
group?

John Reimann

-- 
"No one is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them."
Asata Shakur
Check out:https:http://oaklandsocialist.com and //
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[Marxism] "Single Payer or socialized medicine?

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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The "single payer" health care campaign should be supported because it
moderately opens up the question of the "free" market, but it nowhere near
resolves the problem. Single payer would accelerate the hospital merger and
acquisition frenzy, leading to even more hospital closures. What the
workers movement should fight for is socialized medicine, as part of an
overall struggle to transform society. Here's why.
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2017/07/06/us-health-care-single-payer-or-socialized-medicine/

-- 
"No one is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them."
Asata Shakur
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[Marxism] pollen is food

[Dennis Brasky via Marxism]

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https://delanceyplace.com/view-archives.php?3372
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[Marxism] Harrisburg Police Look to Militarize Their Force In the Age of Trump

[Richard Sprout via Marxism]

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https://ragingchickenpress.org/2017/07/05/harrisburg-police-look-to-militarize-in-the-age-of-trump/


Sent from my iPhone

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[Marxism] NYT reporter's memoir shows how violence and 'ooga-booga' stories dominate Africa coverage

[Richard Sprout via Marxism]

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http://mondoweiss.net/2017/07/reporters-violence-dominate/?utm_source=Mondoweiss+List_campaign=444a262d15-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_medium=email_term=0_b86bace129-444a262d15-398578789_cid=444a262d15_eid=14d9fc4201


Sent from my iPhone

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[Marxism] Political Gingervitis: Episode 12-A United Front? Part 2

[Andrew Stewart via Marxism]

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https://rimediacoop.org/podcast/political-gingervitis-episode-12-a-united-front-part-2/

-- 
Best regards,

Andrew Stewart
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[Marxism] Fwd: Pseudo-left silent on Seymour Hersh’s exposé of US strike against Syria - World Socialist Web Site

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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(Long live the pseudo-left.)

The pseudo-left has followed the lead of the mainstream press in 
studiously ignoring Hersh’s article. As of this writing, the article has 
received no mention whatsoever in Socialist Worker (the publication of 
the International Socialist Organization), International Viewpoint (the 
organ of the Pabloite United Secretariat), Jacobin (a magazine tied to 
the Democratic Socialists of America) or Socialist Alternative’s website.


These publications and the organizations to which they are tied claim 
association with socialism, Marxism and even Trotskyism. They all claim 
to oppose imperialism and the right-wing presidency of Donald Trump. 
Yet, after Hersh—the veteran investigative journalist who exposed the My 
Lai Massacre during the Vietnam War—provides detailed evidence that the 
Trump administration’s pretext for bombing a former colonial country was 
known to be false, they say nothing.


There is no politically innocent explanation for the pseudo-left’s 
silence on Hersh’s article. The ISO and International Viewpoint, in 
particular, have supported US imperialism in Syria. They function as 
political adjuncts of the Democratic Party and the sections of the state 
with which it is allied.


full: http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/07/05/hers-j05.html
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[Marxism] Fwd: Syria agrees that Sarin was used in Khan Sheikhoun – Brian Whitaker – Medium

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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https://medium.com/@Brian_Whit/syria-agrees-that-sarin-was-used-in-khan-sheikhoun-4dfea8c32d62
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[Marxism] Fwd: WHY ASPECTS OF PSYCCHOANALYSIS AS AN INTERGRATED SCIENCE CAN BE INCORPATED INTO MARXISM’ A REPLY TO ULTRA-LEFT SECTARIAN APPROCH SUSAN ROSENTHALIN THE BY ANTHONY BRAIN | defendtrotskyis

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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https://defendtrotskyism.wordpress.com/2017/07/06/why-aspects-of-psycchoanalysis-as-an-intergrated-science-can-be-incorpated-into-marxism-a-reply-to-ultra-left-sectarian-approch-susan-rosenthalin-the-by-anthony-brain/
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[Marxism] Fwd: DSA Grows to 21,000 – Toward a New Socialist Party! | Socialist Alternative

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Socialist Alternative is quite a bit more optimistic than me. I hope 
their optimism is warranted. I am getting tired of this capitalism bullshit.


https://www.socialistalternative.org/2017/07/05/dsa-grows-21000-socialist-party/
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[Marxism] Fwd: Last Men in Aleppo | POV | PBS

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Airs next Monday. Won't be available as VOD, as far as I know.

http://www.pbs.org/pov/lastmeninaleppo/
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[Marxism] Fwd: More drivel from the carpenters union leadership

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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http://www.thenorthstar.info/?p=13564
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[Marxism] Fwd: Iran Helps Destroy Assad/Hersh Propaganda Line Over Sarin Attack in Northwest Syria - EA WorldView

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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http://eaworldview.com/2017/07/iran-helps-destroy-assadhersh-propaganda-line-over-sarin-attack-in-northwest-syria/
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[Marxism] Fwd: Four documentaries | Louis Proyect: The Unrepentant Marxist

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Reviews of:

1. "A Bold Peace": Costa Rica abolished its army in 1948. How that 
happened and how the country became--as a result--the Sweden of Central 
America.


2. "Santoalla": Murder mystery set in rural Spanish village that pitted 
an enterprising Dutch couple and the only inhabitants of Santolla who 
resisted change of any sort. The term "rural idiocy" applies here.


3. "Rumble": the contributions made by American Indians to popular music.

4. "The War Show": PBS documentary about Syria available as VOD until 
August 1.


https://louisproyect.org/2017/07/05/four-documentaries-2/
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Re: [Marxism] Syrian Democratic Council calls on Arab and international community to pressure Turkey over war plans

[mkaradjis . via Marxism]

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Yeh, what goes around comes around.

In the first place though I'll just emphasise that I agree that Turkey
and Russia are engaged in a joint counterrevolutionary endeavour and
dirty deal behind the backs of both Arab and Kurdish rebels and
peoples in northern Syria, though actually the main target of the
proposed Russian-Turkish occupation of Idlib is HTS (ie, the coalition
dominated by the former Nusra front, now JFS), or at least to try to
force a war between the FSA/rebels and HTS so they can destroy each
other (which just happens to be the long-term US strategy, as I detail
in an article forthcoming in Marxist Left Review).

And certainly if it did happen that Turkey were to invade (with
Russian connivance) Kurdish Afrin, then that should be condemned and
all support given to the YPG/SDF to resist. And IF the FSA/rebels now
loosely allied to Turkey let themselves be involved in such an attack,
they would reveal themselves as mere proxies and betrayers of their
own cause. In other words, IF they did so, and it is a big IF, they
would be acting in exactly the same way as the YPG acted in February
2016 when it invaded rebel-held, Arab majority towns in northern rural
Idlib (Tal Rifaat, Menagh etc) with the direct support of the
invading, blood-drenched, Russian air force.

But you see, that's the point. Despite the SDC statement that Chris
sends here, and despite quite a lot of article titles on this issue
the last week or so, nearly all indicators are that Turkey/FSA are not
about to invade "Afrin" at all, but rather to simply seize back the
Tal Rifaat/Menagh/northern Aleppo region between Aleppo city and
Azaz/Mare(which Russia/YPG failed to seize that time). The FSA/rebels
are entirely justified in re-taking their occupied territories, and if
it is in bad taste that they re-take them from the YPG with Turkey's
help, well, given they were stolen in the first place with Russia's
help, that is the pot calling the kettle black.

The main reason Turkey wants to seize this region rather than Afrin
proper (for now at least) is that Turkey wants to link the
Azaz-Mare-al-Bab-Jarablus northern Aleppo region, that it
semi-controls with FSA/rebel groups, to Idlib province. As part of the
counterrevolutionary Russia-Turkey-Iran (and quietly US-Jordan) Astana
deal for "de-escalation" zones controlled by various foreign powers to
quash any ongoing rebellion against Assad, Idlib is going to be
Russian-Turkish. In exchange for Russia allowing Turkey to help the
FSA to take back *precisely the regions* that Russia helped the YPG
conquer last year, Turkey agrees (but needs no encouragement) to go in
and try to smash HTS, using the built-up grievances all FSA and rebel
groups (including Ahrar al-Sham) have with HTS (they were at war in
Idlib several months ago). But while the basis of the FSA/rebel
opposition to HTS is of course valid and revolutionary, by doing it as
Turkish proxies (backed by Russia and the US which have continually
bombed HTS in Idlib), at the time when HTS alone among rebel groups
has opposed the entire Astana process and the entire Turkish
intervention since the beginning mid-last year, HTS has gathered
support as the group claiming to continue the "resistance" to Assad
and his regional and imperialist backers while the others are accused
of selling out.

All this however leaves a number of variables. Firstly, while all the
FSA and rebel groups rightly oppose HTS, to date they have only fought
it on their own terms, and their own terms have mostly meant
defensively. They have always rejected launching a full-frontal attack
on Nusra/JFS/HTS at US behest, especially in a situation like this
where they are being asked not only to attack HTS, but at the same
time to *not* fight the main enemy, ie, the fascist regime. They have
always understood this US drive for them to go to open war against
Nusra (as opposed to ISIS, against whom they make open war based on
their own needs and decision) as a plot to get the anti-Assad forces
to commit mutual suicide, or indeed to boost the "resistance"
pretensions of Nusra, allow it to dominate the rebels, and thereby
have an excuse for the US to more actively aid Assad/Russia in bombing
it to smithereens. So it is unclear how far they will go in acting as
proxies for Turkey/Russia in the same endeavour when they refused to
do so for the US.

The second variable is whether Turkey does indeed decide to turn its
guns against Afrin, as opposed to merely clearing the YPG occupation
out of Tal Rifaat etc (of course Turkey has already been occasionally
bombing Afrin, a crime itself, but that is a different thing).
Obviously that would be Turkey's bigger aim. 

[Marxism] Fwd: Reinaldo Iturriza: ‘What is at stake is the fate of Venezuela’s revolutionary democratic experiment' | Green Left Weekly

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[Marxism] Fwd: Bolshevism in Yiddish | New Politics

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