The Largest Minority

July 3rd, 2009 by Manila Ryce

Alan Woods, editor of marxist.com, speaks to a meeting in London on June 25, 2009.

June 26th, 2009 by Manila Ryce

President Rafael Correa of Ecuador is unlike career politicians in the United States. He actually sees his job as not an end in itself but as a means to accomplish social justice. Correa is also an economist who was educated in the US and has displayed his Chavez-sized balls by rejecting his nation’s national debt as illegitimate and pledging to fight creditors in international courts. Democrats, take note. This is what an actual liberal looks and sounds like.

The president of Ecuador has criticised capitalism for its role in the global financial crisis, in a speech to delegates attending a United Nations conference on the state of the world economy.

Raphael Correa also suggested on Thursday that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, two bodies within the group of so-called Bretton Woods institutions, be dismantled.

“Patching up the Bretton Woods system, which we do not control, makes no sense for [developing] countries,” Correa said on the second day of the summit at the UN General Assembly in New York.

Making changes to the IMF and World Bank “would be an insufficient stop-gap solution,” he said.

“We are faced with a crisis unlike those [previously] provoked by capitalism.”

If the Bretton Woods bodies, which were set up in the aftermath of World War II, cannot be abolished they should at least hold less power over the world’s poor countries, Correa said.

Decisions on how to manage the global economy should instead be transferred to the United Nations, he said.

The three-day UN Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis is being attended by 140 developing nations, with most of them calling for changes to be made to the global economic system.

Scores of countries attending the conference have argued that the global downturn is due to reckless economic liberalisation and de-regulation of financial systems by Western nations.

But not a single representative of a developed country is attending the summit, highlighting the divide between richer and poorer nations on how the global financial system should be managed.

“We are now dealing with the consequences of excluding the majority from the decision-making process, but it is the majority that has to pay the worst consequences and the worst price for the errors made by - I’m sorry to say it - a greedy minority,” Miguel D’Escoto, the president of the UN General Assembly, told Al Jazeera.

read full article

June 23rd, 2009 by Guest

A universal health care system based on the single-payer model appears to be a bridge too far for President Barack Obama.

A single-payer system, such as Medicare for everyone, would provide health care for all.

President Lyndon Johnson had the courage to weigh in with all his clout to win passage of Medicare and Medicaid.

President Roosevelt put all his chips on the table to win passage of the Social Security Act that makes the elderly more secure.

All around the world, governments have long made medical care available for their citizens. Why not us?

Obama clearly has no stomach for the political battle that any single-payer plan would ignite. So he’s endorsed a step that would allow the government to provide health insurance coverage — not health care — to eligible people. Such government-sponsored health insurance is being considered in Congress as it writes health care reform legislation.

While the public plan option gets full consideration in Congress, the single-payer model has been unwelcome at the White House or on Capitol Hill.

Obama said part of the fierce opposition to health care reform has been fueled “by some interest groups and lobbyists — opposition that has used fear tactics to paint any effort to achieve reform as an attempt to, yes, socialize medicine.”

He made it clear that his idea of health care reform would allow patients to choose their own doctors and keep their own health plans.

Somehow government bailouts have been more palatable for Wall Street plutocrats who happen to be needy.

Obama stressed in a speech to the AMA in Chicago last week that he does not favor socialized medicine.

Some 47 million Americans are uninsured — many because some employers have dropped coverage in the economic downturn. Others lack insurance because pre-existing illnesses deny them access to private insurance. There also are millions with no way to pay for soaring health insurance payments because they have lost their jobs.

Nearly all Republicans and some moderate Democrats oppose any public plan option. These are the same lawmakers who receive many government-provided perks including health insurance.

In his remarks to the AMA, Obama warned against “scare tactics” and “fear mongering” by opponents of the public plan option, which the President said should be available to those who have no health insurance.

Obama rejected the “illegitimate concern that’s being put forward by those who are claiming that a public option is somehow a Trojan horse for a single-payer system.”

Obama should tear a page out of LBJ’s vote-getting manual and shame the heartless opponents.

The health of all Americans is our business.

source

June 21st, 2009 by Manila Ryce

When you combine two legends in their respective genres - Communist rapper Boots Riley and anarchist guitarist Tom Morello - you’ve got a dangerous mixture of passion and creativity poised to reclaim American youth culture from the bourgeois entertainment industry and their one dimensional focus group creations. Get Breckin Meyer to play the antagonist for your video and things are guaranteed to get awesomely weird.

After following up his role in Rage Against the Machine with the more mellow Audioslave and a subsequent solo career, Morello once again takes up his beloved role in Street Sweeper as the front and center DJ who uses a guitar rather than turntables. To compliment that foundation, Boots delivers the ammunition like only a genuine rapper who’s perfected his craft can, spitting thoughtfully condensed imagery with every line.

This is the soundtrack of the revolution. Bump it loud enough for the walls of capitalism to come crashing down (lyrics available below the fold).
Read the rest of this entry »

June 20th, 2009 by Manila Ryce

If the submissions from liberal bloggers for the 93rd edition of Carnival of the Liberals is any indication of the health of our so-called “liberal movement” in America, then I’m sad to report we’re in tough shape. Hardly any that I received were critical of the Democratic Party. They were either laughable neo-con diatribes about the Socialist menace of the Obama Administration or lazy articles about Sarah Palin being ridiculous, which is as easy as shooting moose in a barrel. What we were looking for, and what you’ll find below, are honest leftist critiques of the current power structure, which happens to be Democratic at the moment. Unfortunately, most of the liberal blogosphere seems content on kicking their feet up for the next four years.

As a liberal not beholden to any party, it seems to me as though Democrats deal in piecemeal reform while Republicans move in huge world-changing steps. The idea that it’ll take an entire Obama presidency just to undo some of what George Bush fucked up is proof of that. We may take 1 triumphant step forward during a Democratic presidency, but are then pulled back 10 steps during a Republican presidency. Piecemeal reform sedates our fervor, allowing liberals to accept what they can get rather than fight for what they deserve. Marriage equality, single-payer health care, environmental protection, and troop withdrawal are all moral issues which can not be compromised in order to appease conservative and/or corporate interests.

It’s time to demand huge changes in our country. If we can’t do it when the Republican Party is in utter disarray then it will never happen.

• And nothing exemplifies the necessity for some of that classic liberal audacity more than the issue of health care. Guest blogger and fellow potty mouth Allison Kilkenny takes a look at Kennedy’s health care bill, explaining why anyone claiming to be a representative of the American people who then fights against a single-payer system should be severely beaten (and perhaps treated in Canada to dispel their single-payer fears?).
• Next is BuelahMan, who’s ended his long-standing feud with the corporate whores at YouTube to bring us a video commentary from Bill Maher concerning the failings of the corporate whores in the Obama Administration.
• But what about Iran? After all, that’s what all the twits are talking about these days. Well you’re in luck because The Unrepentant Marxist exposes the double standard of Obama’s disapproval of Iran, yet odd approval of other despotic regimes which benefit our capitalist interests in the region.
• Speaking of despotic regimes we’re comfy with, Obama’s speech in Cairo was hailed as a step forward by the Left. Prominent anti-war activists Jeremy Scahill and Anthony Arnove take a look after said speech at how the administration is Rebranding War and Occupation.
• A more recent speech was given by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in which he finally allowed for the creation of a defenseless and divided Palestinian State with illegal settlements and without East Jerusalem. Hooray! Obama applauded the continued legitimization of annexation, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing as a “step forward” for the peace process. I wonder what a step backward looks like. Can you goose-step backwards?
• While we’re on the contradictory pro-war leftist tip, it is with great pleasure that I introduce an article by Cindy Sheehan on After Downing Street regarding “faux-gressive” organizations. Cindy was widely supported by the Left until she started criticizing Democrats for the same crimes she criticized Republicans for. She has since been marginalized by hypocrites who once touted her as a courageous voice of peace.
• And if we’re going to celebrate the idea of millions of people mobilizing for change after years of oppression, we would be remiss not to also mention the struggle of the people of Latin America with an article about the Obama Administration’s attempts to subjugate more brown people and reign in revolution with a continuation of Bush-era policies. Nice dress though Hillary. I bet they can still smell the sulfur.
• If you have the strength to wade through the latest pics of Lindsay Lohan’s tits and apolitical comedy clips, you may find an actual article on The Huffington Post. This is one of them.
• Barney Frank is an Uncle Tom. Oh no he didn’t!
• And last but not least we have a humorous article from The Onion because satire sometimes tells the truth in ways we’re unable to.

This Way to the Egress.

I hope you all enjoyed the carnival ladies and gentlemen. Please consider hosting a Carnival of the Liberals yourself. It’s a fun time, it’ll make you popular, and you’ll start growing hair in weird places.

June 19th, 2009 by Manila Ryce

Delivering a sermon during Friday prayers at Tehran University, Khamenei backed the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the president after the June 12 election.

“Candidates were put forward into public eye, everyone could judge for themselves … they have identified the person they wanted,” he said.

Khamenei refuted accusations of vote rigging, and insisted the poll was an “absolute and definitive victory”.

Ruling out fraud behind Ahmadinejad’s victory, he said “the Islamic establishment will never manipulate people’s votes and commit treason.

“The legal structures and electoral regulations of this country do not allow vote rigging.”

He said that any doubts concerning the results must be investigated through legal channels and called on supporters of defeated candidates to cease street protests, adding, “otherwise they will be responsible for its consequences, and consequences of any chaos”.

Farzad Agha, an Iranian analyst, told Al Jazeera: “This clearly is a threat to the demonstrators and supporters of the opposition candidates … He is saying that if you continue we will deal with you.”

read more…

June 18th, 2009 by Guest

More bullshit from the party that convinced Americas the rule of law would be restored if they were given your vote. The picture below may remind you of another wiretapping crook, but this crime is actually a hundred times worse than Watergate.

The chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee came to the defense of the National Security Agency today, saying that the federal agency didn’t commit flagrant abuses in its program to intercept American’s phone calls and emails — but stopped short of denying that the agency had overstepped its bounds or broken the law.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) responded to comments made by Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ), chair of the House Select Intelligence Oversight Panel, in a New York Times story, that he was ”increasingly troubled by the agency’s handling of domestic communication.”

The Times reported that the NSA’s “recent intercepts of the private telephone calls and e-mail messages of Americans are broader than previously acknowledged,” and that that there are “legal and logistical difficulties” with the Agency’s monitoring of domestic communications.

The NSA has the “ability to collect and read domestic e-mail messages of Americans on a widespread basis,” the Times said — even though the agency’s mandate is to monitor communications between the U.S. and foreign points.

“Some actions are so flagrant that they can’t be accidental,” Holt told the newspaper.

In a hearing today, Sen. Feinstein said: “Everything that I know so far indicates that the thrust of this story — that there are flagrant actions to collect content of this collection [sic] — just simply is not true to the best of my knowledge.”

According to the Associated Press, Holt is standing by his remarks to the Times. His spokesperson, Zach Goldberg, confirmed today that the House Representative had “nothing to add or retract.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) of the Senate Judiciary Committee criticized Attorney General Eric Holder, for refusing to declare that the warrantless wiretapping program started under the Bush administration is against the law. Holder testified before the committee today.

“I was disappointed by Attorney General Holder’s unwillingness to repeat what both he and President Obama had stated in the past – that President Bush’s warrantless wiretapping program was illegal,” Feingold said in a statement. “For an administration that has repeatedly stated its intention to restore the rule of law, this episode was a step backward.

“While the Attorney General restated his belief that the program was inconsistent with the FISA statute, his testimony today, and the administration’s delay in withdrawing the Bush Administration’s legal justifications for the program, are troubling,” Feingold said.

Earlier this year, the Justice Department said it had limited the NSA’s practice of monitoring domestic communications.

source

June 16th, 2009 by Manila Ryce

I’ve never seen this interview before so props to Phalary for posting it on her own blog.

Tupac was named after Túpac Amaru II, an Incan revolutionary who led a Peruvian uprising against the Spanish. While early pioneers like NWA may have laid the foundation to put Cali on the map, Pac had a revolutionary spirit strong enough to shape the entire personality of the West Coast to this day.

Fallen Rock & Roll legends are often referred to by their last names by fans as a sign of respect. In contrast, the hip-hop community honors its heroes with affectionate abbreviations like “Pac” or “Biggie,” as if they were close family and not unapproachable gods. So great is this undying affection for Pac that the man and the art are intertwined as two parts of one whole. To love hip-hop and not love Tupac is an unforgivable contradiction.

While the media described Tupac’s philosophy of “Thug Life” as a call for criminal conduct, it was actually a philosophy of liberation which encompassed many classically liberal principles such as the right to food, health care, education, and self-defense. Tupac was not satisfied with legitimizing a thieving American power structure by asking it for handouts like a slave. Rather, he advocated standing up to your oppressor as an equal and taking what you are entitled to.

“The tragedy of Tupac is that his untimely passing is representative of too many young black men in this country. If we had lost Malcolm X at 25, we would have lost a hustler nicknamed Detroit Red. If Martin Luther King died at 25, he would’ve been a local Baptist minister who had not yet arrived on the national scene. And if I had left the world at 25, we would have lost a big-band trumpet player and aspiring composer — just a sliver of my eventual life potential.” - Quincy Jones