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South Africa: Marikana Killings a Wake-Up Call, Says Union Founder
by Jay Naidoo South Africans need calm heads to examine what caused the slaughter of 44 workers and police officers at the Marikana mine. The judicial commission of inquiry appointed by President Jacob Zuma may present the facts. But we have to go past who fired the first bullet. It will take painstaking commitment on…
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Foreigners flood into Syria to join battle to overthrow Assad
by Richard Hall Rebels in Syria are becoming increasingly radicalised as more and more foreign fighters join the battle to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, United Nations human rights investigators have warned. The UN team, expressing concern at the “increasing and alarming presence” of Islamist militants in Syria, said the numbers of human rights abuses…
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Editorial: Pussy Riot and the Media Bandwagon
By George Bialek “For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.” — H. L. Mencken As an American living in Moscow I have often been a witness to concrete examples of how the Western press, in particular that of the U.S. and U.K., grossly distort the narrative of major…
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Mayor goes to court to end Chicago teachers strike
By Jason Meisner and Hal Dardick Tribune reporters Chicago Public Schools students will miss a seventh day of classes Tuesday as Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s attempt to get the courts to quickly end the teachers strike did not produce immediate results. Instead, a judge opted to hear arguments on the mayor’s request Wednesday from the school…
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The Massacre at Sabra and Shatila, Thirty Years Later
A Never-Ending Horror Story by SONJA KARKAR It happened thirty years ago – 16 September 1982. A massacre so awful that people who know about it cannot forget it. The photos are gruesome reminders – charred, decapitated, indecently violated corpses, the smell of rotting flesh, still as foul to those who remember it as when…
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What’s Driving the Chicago Teachers Strike
Targeting Teacher Evaluations by BINOY KAMPMARK “This was a strike of choice, a bad choice for our children and not necessary,” decried an irritated Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. 350,000 students and 26,000 teachers have stayed out of classes now for two days as contract negotiations take place between Chicago Public School officials and the city’s…
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Chinese ships breach Japan’s naval border
Six Chinese ships have entered Japanese waters near a group of disputed islets claimed by both Beijing and Tokyo, refusing to follow the Japanese coast guard’s orders to vacate its territorial waters. Currently, six Chinese ships are stationed in the area, which Japan considers its territorial waters. Another two ships are stationed outside the disputed…
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Aliyaar, Indian Laborer, Gets His Hand Chopped Off by his Boss After Asking For $3 in Wages to Feed his Family
A manual labourer has allegedly had one hand chopped off by his employers after asking bosses for his salary. The incident happened on Sunday when the proprietors of an illegal alcohol making unit in India punished the man – identified only as Aliyaar – with an axe. He had asked for the three month’s wages…
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Islamist Libyan Rebels Kill US Ambassador to Libya in Attack on US Consulate
By Matt Spetalnick and Hadeel Al Shalchi (Reuters) – President Barack Obama branded the killing of the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans an “outrageous attack” on Wednesday and vowed to track down the perpetrators, while ordering a tightening of diplomatic security worldwide. The ambassador, Christopher Stevens, and the other Americans were killed…
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De-constructing the Middle Class Myth: Analysis of the Labor Aristocracy
The myth of the middle class is persistent in our society. Its existence is questioned only by those who question the system of capitalism itself, for the existence of a “middle class” is an ideological construction built to protect and preserve the antagonisms in capitalism. In The Myth of the “Middle Class,” we briefly summarized…
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