[Marxism] Blue Ocean Event
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[Marxism] Russia: The Protest Movement is Younger, Poorer, and More Left Wing | Lefteast
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[Marxism] Instant Dreams; Be Natural | Louis Proyect: The Unrepentant Marxist
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. * Just by coincidence, two new documentaries do justice to two important but neglected figures in photography and motion pictures. “Instant Dreams”, which opens today at the Village East in New York and next Friday at the Laemmle in L.A., is tribute to the Polaroid camera that has been superseded by digital cameras, even if the question of whether newer technology is really superior to an older one artistically. In many ways, despite the convenience of CD’s, vinyl sounds better since analog is closer to the way we actually perceive reality. “Be Natural: the Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché”, which opens at the Laemmle today and at the IFC in New York next Friday, is a loving and inspired tribute to the first female director in history. Executive produced by Robert Redford and Jodie Foster (who also narrates), it establishes her as a major influence on film art with geniuses like Sergei Eisenstein and Alfred Hitchcock counting her as an important influence. If you appreciate photographic art and film aesthetics, these two documentaries are well worth your time. full: https://louisproyect.org/2019/04/19/instant-dreams-be-natural/ _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] The Mueller Report: Glenn Greenwald vs. David Cay Johnston on Trump-Russia Ties, Obstruction & More
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. * https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/19/the_mueller_report_glenn_greenwald_vs This exchange between Greenwald and Johnston pretty much puts paid to this whole dreary, dragged-out investigation. As Greenwald concludes: "I think Donald Trump is a huge danger and menace to the republic for a lot of reasons that David is very adeptly covering, and I really hope that we can now turn our attention to those things, now that we’re done with this espionage thriller that has dominated us for three years. I hope we can focus on the things that matter." _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] [pen-l] A Socialist Defector | Louis Proyect: The Unrepentant Marxist
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. * One of your best, Lou. On 4/19/2019 7:22 AM, Louis Proyect wrote: There are men who struggle for a day and they are good. There are men who struggle for a year and they are better. There are men who struggle many years, and they are better still. But there are those who struggle all their lives: These are the indispensable ones. – Bertolt Brecht, “In Praise of the Fighters” (song) full: https://louisproyect.org/2019/04/19/a-socialist-defector/ _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] A Socialist Defector | Louis Proyect: The Unrepentant Marxist
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. * There are men who struggle for a day and they are good. There are men who struggle for a year and they are better. There are men who struggle many years, and they are better still. But there are those who struggle all their lives: These are the indispensable ones. – Bertolt Brecht, “In Praise of the Fighters” (song) Arriving on a book tour for his newly published “A Socialist Defector: From Harvard to Karl-Marx-Allee” on April 23rd, Victor Grossman is a testament to Bertolt Brecht’s oft-quoted lyrics. At the age of 91, he has never ceded an inch to capitalism and imperialism. Indeed, the sense of outrage over the way in which East Germany was “liberated” pervades throughout this most necessary personal history is a reminder that “youthful rebellion” can be overrated. For that matter, his 68 articles for CounterPunch over the years are a testament to his undying revolutionary spirit as well as to CounterPunch’s age as well as political diversity. Unlike other periodicals on the left oozing youthful rebelliousness, the editors have a keen sense of the importance of contributions from our leftwing tribal elders from Ralph Nader to those who have passed on, like Uri Avnery. With a profound radicalization on the horizon in the USA, there is no substitute for relying on the insights of people who have gained hard-earned experience from earlier historical periods. As someone who was organizing anti-racist protests at Harvard University in 1947 as a Communist Party member, Grossman’s experience is essential for young people involved with Black Lives Matter today. The struggle against capitalism, racism, and imperialism is an epochal one and connecting the strands between fighters from different generations cannot be overestimated. full: https://louisproyect.org/2019/04/19/a-socialist-defector/ _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Maybe We’ll Be Better Off With a Clown as President
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. * NY Times Op-Ed, April 19, 2019 Maybe We’ll Be Better Off With a Clown as President By Alisa Sopova “No Promises, No Excuses!” Such is the only political message of the comedian who could soon lead one of Europe’s largest countries. That outcome may seem absurd. Yet it could be an opportunity. Volodymyr Zelensky scored a spectacular victory in the first round of Ukraine’s presidential election on March 31, winning some 30 percent of the votes, compared with about 16 percent for the incumbent, Petro O. Poroshenko. It was an astonishing result not only because the actor’s only political experience to date consists of playing the part of a president on TV, but also because he presented no platform, no policy proposal. Branding himself “Ze,” he campaigned mostly via social media postings and by touring the country with his comedy shows. Instead of substantive messages, he offered banter and mockery. When he was accused of being a clown instead of a serious candidate, Mr. Zelensky proudly agreed, posting a video selfie on Instagram with a round red nose superimposed on his face. His defiance has proved triumphant, and it may well make him president after the runoff vote on Sunday. Better to keep silent than to say anything in today’s Ukraine — the country with the least trust in its government, according to a recent Gallup survey. Since the Orange Revolution in 2004, politicians of all stripes have promised to defeat corruption and pull Ukraine out of the mire of its transition from communism. After so many lies, failures and disappointments, such promises have turned into cruel clichés. The government’s continuing war against the Russia-backed insurgency in eastern Ukraine has also created a toxic public discourse. Journalists have been called traitors simply for seeking accreditation from the separatist authorities of the Donbas region. Using the word “conflict” instead of “war” or “Russia” instead of “aggressor state” can destroy a reputation. Say something, almost anything, and you expose yourself to being called too pro-Russian, too pro-Western, too nationalistic or not patriotic enough. In this climate, Mr. Zelensky’s blank slate is an asset for him — as well as a canvas onto which people can paint whatever they want. And what do the people want right now? Apparently to punish Mr. Poroshenko for forgetting his own slogan to “live in a new way” from the 2014 election, and for returning instead to the comfort of the old, familiar Ukraine of corruption, poverty, inequality and dirty politics. Back then, a popular revolt had just toppled President Viktor F. Yanukovych, who fled the country in disgrace. The rejection of Mr. Poroshenko today is less thrilling but no less momentous. Just a few weeks ago, before the first round of voting, he was presenting himself as the only possible head of state, the nation’s savior. His political message had become markedly conservative. “Army. Language. Faith.” Those three ingredients, the president repeatedly emphasized, were the keys to the “unique national identity” of Ukraine — even though the country is bilingual and secular. At a rally in Cherkasy, central Ukraine, earlier this year, a local activist asked the president if he was going to fight corruption. Mr. Poroshenko answered, “I have a request for you: Light a candle — because you are a nonbeliever — and God will calm you.” He called the man, who had spoken in Russian, a “Moscow provocateur.” A video of the exchange went viral. Mr. Poroshenko’s arrogance was then punished in the voting booths. After that he began to lose his nerve. In the opening move of the campaigning for Sunday’s runoff, Mr. Poroshenko’s team posted billboards that portrayed him facing off with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. The move was widely ridiculed: Mr. Poroshenko, having nothing left to offer, appeared to be grasping at nationalist straws and trying to instill fear in a boogeyman. His staff promptly took down the ads. In a poll taken April 9–14, 17 percent of respondents said they intended to vote for Mr. Poroshenko and more than 48 percent for Mr. Zelensky. And while Mr. Poroshenko has misstepped since the first round of voting, Mr. Zelensky, true to form, has done little except mock his competitor. After challenging the incumbent to a debate, Mr. Zelensky stood him up last Sunday. (The two men disagreed about when to hold the event.) Another debate is scheduled for April 19. Mr. Zelensky’s supporters are often accused of confusing the TV comedy series in which he plays the president, “Servant of the People,” with real life. The charg
[Marxism] The Hustlers and Swindlers of the Mueller Report
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. * The New Yorker, April 18, 2019 The Hustlers and Swindlers of the Mueller Report By Masha Gessen There was a lull on social media among Russia watchers after the redacted Mueller report dropped, on Thursday. “Everyone is reading,” a friend of mine wrote. “It’s like a well-written detective novel.” I disagree. A masterfully constructed novel might spin different strands in order to tie them up neatly at the end, leaving the reader with the sense that the world has come into focus: motives are clear and mechanisms of malfeasance have been exposed. The Mueller report exposes the mechanisms and the motives, to be sure, but doesn’t tie anything together in the end. Rather than the story of a single crime masterminded by a single actor or entity, this is the story of many hustles, most of them unsuccessful. You’d be hard-pressed to find collusion among these hustlers—each of them has his own game. One of the first hustlers comes into the report on page 54. He is Jerome Corsi, whom the report identifies as an “author who holds a doctorate in political science.” He is also a conspiracy theorist, a Swift Boater, and a birther. In his interviews with investigators, Corsi claimed to have alerted the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, to the impending publication, by the Washington Post, of the “Access Hollywood” tape, on which Donald Trump boasted of forcibly kissing women and grabbing women by the genitals. Corsi appears to have claimed credit for insuring that Assange released the first trove of e-mails stolen from the Clinton campaign chairman, John Podesta, within an hour of the publication of the tape. The special counsel could not find anyone who could corroborate Corsi’s claims. It appears that Corsi might have lied (though Corsi has denied this). Corsi’s hustle is like most of the other hustles in this story: he is inflating his own importance. Next, on page 61, comes Henry Oknyansky, a.k.a. Harry Greenberg, a Russian-born Florida businessman, and Alexei Rasin, identified as a Ukrainian involved in Florida real estate. The two met with the Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone in May, 2016, and offered to sell damaging information on Hillary Clinton, which Rasin claimed to have obtained while working for Clinton. Stone rejected the offer. Mueller found no evidence that Rasin was ever connected to Clinton, and the special counsel was unable to locate Rasin himself. Page 67 marks the arrival of big-time hustlers: the father and son Aras and Emin Agalarov and their sometime associates Irakly Kaveladze and Robert Goldstone. Aras Agalarov is a Moscow real-estate mogul. Kaveladze is his deputy and representative in the United States. Goldstone is a British music producer who served as a go-between for Agalarov’s contacts with Trump. Agalarov wanted to build a Trump-branded tower in Moscow. The Trump Organization explored the option but, by September, 2014, appears to have lost interest in the Agalarovs, only to take up negotiations the following year with two other potential partners in Moscow. In this battle of hustlers, Felix Sater, a Soviet-born New York lawyer and convicted felon, emerges. He imagines bigger and better than the rest of them. In a now famous November, 2015, e-mail to the Trump attorney Michael Cohen, Sater promised the world: a ribbon-cutting ceremony from Trump Tower Moscow that would feature Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin onstage together—and this, he claimed, would win Trump the Republican Presidential nomination. (“And possibly beats Hillary and our boy is in,” he added hopefully.) Sater proceeded to string Cohen along with promises of arranging a meeting with Putin. Frustrated, Cohen decided to reach out to the Russian President himself, by writing to a publicly available e-mail address for Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov. His first message didn’t go through because he misspelled the address, but eventually he made contact with Peskov’s assistant. Sater jumped back in, trying to take control of the communication. Claiming to be coördinating with Peskov and promising a meeting with Putin, Sater arranged for Cohen to travel to the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, in June, 2016. Cohen went so far as to get his travel arrangements and credentials, but then concluded that Sater was misrepresenting his connections and was not acting on Peskov’s behalf after all. Cohen didn’t go to Russia. At the St. Petersburg forum, Putin, in an onstage interview with Fareed Zakaria, made fun of the American media’s obsession with his imagined regard for candidate Trump. “I said that he is colorful,” Putin said. “
[Marxism] Using the Law to Build a Socialist Society
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[Marxism] New EPDE publication "Russian Interference, and Where to Find It" - European Platform for Democratic Elections
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[Marxism] Remember the Warsaw Ghetto uprising!
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. * On this day, 76 years ago, the Warsaw Ghetto uprising started. We should remember this event, partly because of the heroism of its actors but also because it shows the very best that human beings are capable of. Marek Edelman was one of the very few survivors of that uprising, and he later wrote a first person account of the conditions in the Warsaw Ghetto under the Nazis and of the uprising itself. One of the all-time great history books. Here is a book review of Marek Edelman's book. https://oaklandsocialist.com/2016/04/19/anniversary-of-warsaw-ghetto-uprising/?fbclid=IwAR2N6KVJok8V56TawvT9C8aowPSS8VP7QDyPCT2D4RITgQxOFiqtFeSCavA -- *“In politics, abstract terms conceal treachery.” *from "The Black Jacobins" by C. L. R. James Check out:https:http://oaklandsocialist.com also on Facebook _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Life or death | Richard Seymour on Patreon
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. * There is a Facebook group titled “faster than previously expected “. “New evidence suggests that permafrost is thawing much faster than previously thought,” the report warns. Indeed, a recent study found that Siberian permafrost at depths of up to 30 feet warmed a remarkable 1.6°F (0.9°C) from 2007 to 2016. “ https://thinkprogress.org/devastating-arctic-warming-locked-in-warns-un-48e55348514b/?fbclid=IwAR0wSivemUVavrre9RLtU9-lcvZrE-VL_LEUS46wMTeFPwOCbcJ5TggUufA _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
