Re: [Marxism] English radicals in support of Scottish independence

[Ratbag Media via Marxism]

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This obsession with the 'correctness' or not of Scottish independence,
as though it's a unique or un-welcomed  dynamic, is hard to relate to.
If you were to come visit the Antipodes, socialists here have
cohabited for decades and worked with (and been replenished from) many
ethnic groups with strong nationalist aspirations: Croatians, Kurds,
Greek Macedonians, Armenians, Sri Lankan Tamils, Irish...just to name
a few.

'Nationalism' ain't something you can treat paternalistically with a
score card. Indeed, key struggles in our region have been governed by
nationalist aspirations: Timor Leste/East Timor, Aceh, Irian Jaya/West
Papua, Bougainville (30 languages), Tamil Ealem... and there are major
conundrums presented by seeming contradictory perspectives  of Kanak
nationalism in Vanuatu  vs indigenous  manoeuvres to oppress
Indo-Fijians in Fiji.

Further offshore, national and regional independence is a growing
issue  in Hawaii, and in Mexico and other Central American
countries... and further south...even in Venezuela.

What happens in Scotland will also impact directly on Catalonia, the
Basque Country and the Six Counties.

Among many Australian Aborigines and Torress Strait Islanders survival
is formatted by the perspective of Aboriginal Sovereignty.
https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/13502

dave riley

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[Marxism] Crimea: The Opera

[Thomas Campbell via Marxism]

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http://calvertjournal.com/comment/show/3055/crimea-opera-socialist-realism-alexandrov


The London-based Calvert Journal was launched a couple years ago as a VTB
Bank-sponsored, avowedly "soft power" tool for winning over hipsters and
quasi-leftist art-world types to the (depoliticized) notion that Russia
under late-period Putinism 2.0 was awash with "creativity." It and the
related Calvert Foundation were publicly supported by, among others,
ex-Putinist finance minister Alexei Kudrin. The idea seemed dicey at the
time, especially since Putinism 3.0 was already kicking off. Now,
apparently, the full horror of what is going in Russia has finally dawned
on the Shoreditch hipsters, as evidenced by this review of the "opera-demo"
"Crimea."

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[Marxism] Mysterious Fake Cellphone Towers Are Intercepting Calls All Over The US

[Charles Faulkner via Marxism]

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anyone know what these are? 

http://www.sfgate.com/technology/businessinsider/article/Mysterious-Fake-Cellphone-Towers-Are-Intercepting-5731884.php
 



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Re: [Marxism] English radicals in support of Scottish independence

[Einde O'Callaghan via Marxism]

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Sent from my Sony Xperia™ smartphone

 DW via Marxism wrote 
> 
> I don't have a position on this question (simply because I haven't studied
> it) but i do have some questions. I could be wrong but they are not voting
> for a Republic. The Queen remains head of state, it seems, or will. Also
> the continued use of the Pound as their currency seems to . And there seems
> to be a general consensus the new Scottish entity will surrender their
> sovereignty to Europe pretty quickly. There seems to be a rip roaring
> debate on this question on the left in Scotland and the UK. I will read the
> articles posted by Richard and see what they have to say.
> 
> DW
> 
Think Norway and Sweden as discussed by Lenin - Norway remained a monarchy but 
Lenin supported the Norwegians' right of self-determination.

Einde O'Callaghan 

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[Marxism] Fwd: More Votes of No Confidence, a Weird Ad, and a Declaration of a Non-Emergency | Corey Robin

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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http://coreyrobin.com/2014/09/03/more-votes-of-no-confidence-a-weird-ad-and-a-declaration-of-a-non-emergency/

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Re: [Marxism] Scottish independence

[Ratbag Media via Marxism]

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Richard Fidler: "Neil Davidson ... the correct standpoint of revolutionary
socialist strategy...":

http://www.socialistproject.org/the-left/for-a-yes-vote-without-illusions-on-the-scottish-independence-referendum/

You mean obscurantist correctness like this:

"We need to begin with what I regard as fundamental principles. Socialists
cannot be nationalists for any nation, but especially not their own, even
if their nation is oppressed. What they can do is support certain national
movements and demands, up to and including secession. The basis for
deciding which-if any to support in any given situation is political, which
is not to say that it can be determined by the blunt instrument of the
'oppressed/oppressor' formula: there are situations where even oppressed
nationalities cannot be supported if their objectives are essentially part
of a greater imperialist strategy, as was the case for Pan-Slavism in 1848,
for Serbia in 1914 and for the Iraqi Kurds today. And Scotland is not, and
has never been, an oppressed nation."

As one commentator to Davidson's piece quite rightly wrote about his
argumentation:'For a yes vote without any illusions there is any point
voting yes?'

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Re: [Marxism] English radicals in support of Scottish independence

[Ratbag Media via Marxism]

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Richard Fidler: "Neil Davidson ... the correct standpoint of revolutionary
socialist strategy...":

http://www.socialistproject.org/the-left/for-a-yes-vote-without-illusions-on-the-scottish-independence-referendum/

You mean obscurantist correctness like this:

"We need to begin with what I regard as fundamental principles. Socialists
cannot be nationalists for any nation, but especially not their own, *even
if their nation is oppressed*. What they can do is support certain national
movements and demands, up to and including secession. The basis for
deciding which-if any to support in any given situation is political, which
is not to say that it can be determined by the blunt instrument of the
'oppressed/oppressor' formula: there are situations where even oppressed
nationalities cannot be supported if their objectives are essentially part
of a greater imperialist strategy, as was the case for Pan-Slavism in 1848,
for Serbia in 1914 and for the Iraqi Kurds today. And Scotland is not, and
has never been, an oppressed nation."

As one commentator to Davidson's piece quite rightly wrote about his
argumentation:'For a yes vote without any illusions there is any point
voting yes?'

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Re: [Marxism] Scottish independence

[Richard Fidler via Marxism]

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Sandy posted his (her?) own article at http://tinyurl.com/na5azzm

Neil Davidson has replied with this, an important article that approaches
the question from the correct standpoint of revolutionary socialist
strategy, something that is largely overlooked by many radicals today:
http://tinyurl.com/mny9otu

Richard

-Original Message-
From: Marxism [mailto:marxism-boun...@lists.csbs.utah.edu] On Behalf Of
sandy McBurney via Marxism
Sent: September-03-14 6:41 PM
To: rfidle...@sympatico.ca
Subject: [Marxism] Scottish independence

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For a No Vote without Illusions: On the Scottish Independence Referendum

  
 
For a No Vote without Illusions: On the Scottish Indepen...
The working class in Britain has been created in over two hundred years of
common struggle against the British capitalist class and the British
capitalist state...  
View on www.socialistproject... Preview by Yahoo  

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Re: [Marxism] English radicals in support of Scottish independence

[Ratbag Media via Marxism]

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While I would have thought that support for Scottish independence -- esp
given Scottish history from Culloden to the Clearances and the First World
War -- was a 'no brainer' for any Marxist, I note a certain  preference
 for schematism inherent in the left No arguments. Good example: George
Galloway -- who is now trying to colonise Scotland on a NO! to independence
platform.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/scottish-independence-george-galloways-stirring-speech-in-defence-of-the-union-9566418.html

"I know which side I'm on. I'm with JK Rowling. Just say No."

The left no arguments in support of Cameron!

There's also a gross obscenity embedded in the argument that you can't
warrant independence BECAUSE you're not oppressed! How many times have the
oppressed been told that before by those who reap the benefits of their
exploitation!

However, what's often missing from  this discourse is the actuality of
lived experienced in contemporary Britain.

As Paul Mason  observes in
the Guardian:

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/31/scottish-independence-yes-vote-turnout-polls

"What this means is, even if the yes vote fails on 18 September, scoring
somewhere in the mid 40s, the pattern of all future Scottish independence
debates is set. Independence has become a narrative of the people against
big government; about an energised Scottish street, bar and nightclub
versus the sleazy elite of official politicsIf it happens there'll be a
lot of finger pointing, but it's obvious in advance where the biggest
problem lies: it's become impossible to express opposition to free market
economics via the main Westminster parties."

Indeed this is the point:the  independence movement in Scotland is a hub
for a broader dynamic that  goes back to the Poll Tax fight  and the
Thatcher Divide.It sits in the context of decades of neo-liberal austerity
 and serves to aggregate a collective discussion about the sort of society
the Scots can make together and how it could be reached. It also registers
 the collapse of the Labour Party and the Tories in Scotland and the rise
of new forces.

And some lefts want to argue that it's all a mistake! Or a distraction
from?

Of relevance to this is the significant and growing support for
independence among migrant groups within Scotland...which is an interesting
phenomenon  in light of UKIP activism in England.

dave riley

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Re: [Marxism] English radicals in support of Scottish independence

[DW via Marxism]

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John, I think you write this without reading the arguments.  If you read
the links provided by Richard, including the SSP one, and, the links I
found on the Weekly Worker as well as the one just posted Sandy McBurney
the debate is a lot richer than simply, even at all, about "British
privileges". It seems far more complex and goes to the question not simply
of self-determination but of *oppression* and if a united *British* working
class (which I would think excludes the Irish in the north of their island
currently occupied by the British) that the debate is far richer, far more
complex than you make it out to be...on both sides of the argument.

This is much more fascinating that I thought it was going to be...

DW

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[Marxism] Scottish independence

[sandy McBurney via Marxism]

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For a No Vote without Illusions: On the Scottish Independence Referendum

  
 
For a No Vote without Illusions: On the Scottish Indepen...
The working class in Britain has been created in over two hundred years of 
common struggle against the British capitalist class and the British capitalist 
state...  
View on www.socialistproject... Preview by Yahoo  

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Re: [Marxism] English radicals in support of Scottish independence

[John Obrien via Marxism]

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Do not have a position on weakening the British State?  
 
Some British lefties identify with the British State privileges and occupations,
but no surprise that all the Irish nationalists welcome a YES vote - to cause 
the
ending of the "United Kingdom" - that will directly aid the ending of the 
British
occupation of Northern Ireland.  
 
Perhaps one should understand The National Question that led to the Soviet Union
being the first and only nation for many years to give official recognition to 
the
nation of Ireland.  Perhaps DW does not realize there is a "connection" to the
Scotland and Ireland Independence struggles?
 
Always excuses by the privileged in England to identify with the real British 
imperialists
and offer fears of instability of having oppressed people having control of 
their
own nation, even when just a bourgeois democracy. The working people of Scotland
and Ireland will do better with a less powerful England!
 
 

 


 
> I don't have a position on this question (simply because I haven't studied
> it) but i do have some questions. I could be wrong but they are not voting
> for a Republic. The Queen remains head of state, it seems, or will. Also
> the continued use of the Pound as their currency seems to . And there seems
> to be a general consensus the new Scottish entity will surrender their
> sovereignty to Europe pretty quickly. There seems to be a rip roaring
> debate on this question on the left in Scotland and the UK. I will read the
> articles posted by Richard and see what they have to say.
> 
> DW
  

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Re: [Marxism] What gets you labeled a "foreign agent" in Russia these days

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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On 9/3/14 5:48 PM, Lüko Willms via Marxism wrote:



on Mittwoch, 3. September 2014 at 14:34, Thomas Campbell via Marxism wrote:


Local NGO Latest to Be Listed as ‘Foreign Agent’


   Just have a look at US-american laws.

   Search for "Voorhis" (or is itt "Voorhuis"?)



I don't know much about the problems NGO's face in the USA but I have 
been following the victimization of dissidents pretty carefully. Pussy 
Riot goes to prison for "sacrilege" while a couple of people who had 
sexual intercourse in St. Patrick's Cathedral in NYC in order to get 
mentioned on a shock jock radio show got a slap on the wrist. In Russia 
you can't even get permission to organize a gay pride demonstration 
while in NYC the Catholic Church finally dropped opposition to gay 
groups being contingents of the St. Patrick's Day parade. These freedoms 
were not gifts from the ruling class but won through struggle. Russia is 
in the throes of a nationalistic/Orthodox church deep freeze and it is 
regrettable that so many on the left cheer Putin on as if he is Che Guevara.



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[Marxism] Fwd: Salaita firing shows where Zionism meets neoliberalism at US universities | The Electronic Intifada

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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http://electronicintifada.net/content/salaita-firing-shows-where-zionism-meets-neoliberalism-us-universities/13826

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Re: [Marxism] What gets you labeled a "foreign agent" in Russia these days

[Lüko Willms via Marxism]

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on Mittwoch, 3. September 2014 at 14:34, Thomas Campbell via Marxism wrote:

> Local NGO Latest to Be Listed as ‘Foreign Agent’

  Just have a look at US-american laws. 

  Search for "Voorhis" (or is itt "Voorhuis"?)


 
Cheers, 
Lüko Willms


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[Marxism] Fwd: Human Rights Lawyer Arrested For Standing On NYC Sidewalk While Waiting For Children To Use Bathroom: Gothamist

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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http://gothamist.com/2014/09/03/nypd_sidewalk_arrest.php

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Re: [Marxism] English radicals in support of Scottish independence

[Richard Fidler via Marxism]

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Yes, debate there certainly is. As usual in such matters, the content of the
question is decided by the party that organizes the referendum -- in this
case, the Scottish National Party, very bourgeois. Hence the stuff about the
Queen, the pound, the EU membership, etc. But Scottish socialists have for
the most part found ways to participate with their own campaign. Here's
more, on the SSP website:  http://tinyurl.com/knmr482

RF

-Original Message-
From: Marxism [mailto:marxism-boun...@lists.csbs.utah.edu] On Behalf Of DW
via Marxism
Sent: September-03-14 4:29 PM
To: rfidle...@sympatico.ca
Subject: [Marxism] English radicals in support of Scottish independence

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I don't have a position on this question (simply because I haven't studied
it) but i do have some questions. I could be wrong but they are not voting
for a Republic. The Queen remains head of state, it seems, or will. Also
the continued use of the Pound as their currency seems to . And there seems
to be a general consensus the new Scottish entity will surrender their
sovereignty to Europe pretty quickly. There seems to be a rip roaring
debate on this question on the left in Scotland and the UK. I will read the
articles posted by Richard and see what they have to say.

DW

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[Marxism] Fwd: Keith Gessen · Why not kill them all?: In Donetsk · LRB 11 September 2014

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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While Mishin was quietly attending the rapidly growing anti-Maidan 
meetings, Enrique Menendez, a businessman, was himself getting worried. 
Menendez, who is named after his grandfather, a Spanish Republican 
soldier who retreated to France and after the war ended up in the USSR, 
is thirty years old. He grew up in a town fifty miles north of Donetsk 
and moved to the city after high school to seek his fortune. Too poor to 
afford university, he found he could navigate the media business, and 
got work at a growing internet company in Donetsk. Three years ago he 
started his own company, the Ad Factory, which did online marketing for 
businesses in Donetsk. He was doing well and had seven employees. But he 
began to feel his city slipping away from him.


In early March, Menendez and some other local professionals decided to 
organise a big pro-Ukraine meeting. Menendez was tasked with ensuring 
security for the protesters: everyone knew they might be attacked. He 
approached the staff of the newly appointed governor, but they couldn’t 
guarantee the protest’s safety; eventually he got in touch with the 
organised fans of Shakhtar Donetsk (shakhtar means ‘miner’ – Donetsk is 
coal country). These ultras, who had been supporters of Maidan, agreed 
to provide security. The meeting went off, thousands came, and at the 
end a group of men approached with sticks. The ultras were as good as 
their word and confronted the attackers, with the result that several of 
the ultras (as well as several of the attackers) ended up in hospital. 
This was as expected, but Menendez was discouraged.


The first thing he noticed was that the separatist forces were simply 
stronger: there were more of them in general, and there were more of 
them who were willing to employ physical violence. The second thing he 
noticed was that they were local. The third thing he noticed was that 
the police were at best passive and at worst openly hostile to the 
pro-unity protesters, and it didn’t get much better the higher up you 
went. In mid-March representatives of the post-Maidan Ministry of the 
Interior visited Donetsk. They met with civic leaders but most of all 
they met with the football ultras, and demanded that they arm themselves 
and prepare for battle against the pro-Russian forces in the city.


Menendez was furious. The government was coming to his city and trying 
to get football hooligans to beat up protesters. ‘Resolving conflicts – 
that’s what government is for. If you’re incapable of that, you’re not a 
government, you’re a profanation. Either from ignorance of the 
situation, or from understanding it full well, they were igniting a 
civil war.’


Menendez wanted to set up a dialogue with the pro-Russian activists, but 
his fellow pro-unity organisers wanted another rally. Menendez refused 
to participate. He thought it was unsafe, and on Facebook he discouraged 
people from attending. The march went ahead anyway. At the end of it a 
group of unity supporters was surrounded by a much larger group of 
separatists. The separatists threw bottles, cans and punches; at the end 
of it, one of the pro-unity marchers, the 19-year-old secretary of the 
local branch of the ultra-nationalist Svoboda party, was dead.


full: http://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n17/keith-gessen/why-not-kill-them-all

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[Marxism] English radicals in support of Scottish independence

[DW via Marxism]

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I don't have a position on this question (simply because I haven't studied
it) but i do have some questions. I could be wrong but they are not voting
for a Republic. The Queen remains head of state, it seems, or will. Also
the continued use of the Pound as their currency seems to . And there seems
to be a general consensus the new Scottish entity will surrender their
sovereignty to Europe pretty quickly. There seems to be a rip roaring
debate on this question on the left in Scotland and the UK. I will read the
articles posted by Richard and see what they have to say.

DW

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[Marxism] In defence of free speech; in defence of the Socialist Alternative club at Monash University in Australia against its banning by Zionists

[John Passant via Marxism]

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If you support Palestine, and if you support free speech, I call on you to 
support Socialist Alternative at Monash University and across Australia in 
defence of Palestine, in opposition to Pyne's higher education armaggedon and 
to join the fight against political repression.
 
http://enpassant.com.au/2014/09/04/in-defence-of-free-speech-in-defence-of-the-socialist-alternative-club-at-monash-university-against-its-banning-by-zionists/

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[Marxism] English radicals in support of Scottish independence

[Richard Fidler via Marxism]

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Two excellent articles on the Scottish independence referendum, to be held
September 18

Scotland: Independence without borders, by Hilary Wainwright
http://links.org.au/node/4022

Scots voting no to independence would be an astonishing act of self-harm, by
George Monbiot
http://tinyurl.com/kd83ywt

-- Richard


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[Marxism] Palestine Will Win

[Ron Jacobs via Marxism]

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http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/09/03/palestine-will-win/

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[Marxism] Fwd: American White Nationalists To Hold Conference With Russian And European Far Right

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Will Kagarlitsky and Annis make an appearance?


WASHINGTON — The white nationalist think tank the National Policy 
Institute is holding a conference in October in Hungary that will 
feature Alexander Dugin, a Russian nationalist thinker who is 
increasingly popular in Kremlin circles.


Richard Spencer, the president of NPI and a former writer at the 
American Conservative, said the conference, which will also feature 
figures from the ascendant European far right, would be the first of its 
kind for NPI outside the United States. It’s part of an effort to reach 
out to “European traditionalists” all over the world, he said, and the 
relationship with Dugin is just beginning: a publishing arm attached to 
NPI will publish a book this fall by Dugin, who this week called for 
Ukraine to be “cleansed” of the Ukrainian “race of bastards.”


full: 
http://www.buzzfeed.com/rosiegray/american-white-nationalists-to-hold-conference-with-russian#1mvgx62


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[Marxism] How Amerli resisted ISIS

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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NY Times, September 3 2014
Waging Desperate Campaign, Iraqi Town Held Off Militants
By AZAM AHMED

AMERLI, Iraq — The children lined the unkempt boulevard in this northern 
Iraqi town on Tuesday to welcome some of the men who had saved them from 
the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.


Convoy after convoy of armed men raced past, blaring victory music from 
loudspeakers and bristling with weaponry. They waved as the young 
residents clapped and chanted religious slogans, celebrating the men who 
had broken the militants’ chokehold on Amerli and allowed in the first 
shipments of food and water in nearly three months.


It took an odd coalition of Iraqi and Iranian militias backed by 
American air support to drive off the ISIS fighters. But for long weeks 
before, the minority Shiite Turkmens who live here held the line, waging 
a desperate campaign for survival as they took up arms to protect the 
estimated 15,000 residents.


Amid daily shelling and at least four major assaults by ISIS, the people 
subsisted on onion soup and dry bread. Children joined the front lines 
during the day because there were not enough men for two shifts. Without 
gas, families cooked on open fires fueled by sheep dung.


The siege of Amerli is thought to be the first time a town has managed 
to keep the militants at bay since the group, which now calls itself the 
Islamic State, began its march through wide areas of Iraq. By Monday, 
aid from the United Nations had begun reaching the starving residents.


“The families in this village are so brave,” said Abu Abdullah, the 
commander of the Kataib Hezbollah militia that aided the residents. 
“There was no water, no electricity, no food and no milk for children, 
but they stood and fought ISIS.”


On Tuesday, the colorful flags of at least four militias competed for 
prominence on the streets and buildings of Amerli. Along with the banner 
of Kataib Hezbollah, an Iraqi group unrelated to the better-known 
Lebanese Hezbollah, were those of the Badr Brigades, Saraya al-Salam and 
Asaib Ahl al-Haq.


The fact that American air power had helped was not as celebrated. Some 
of the militiamen had fought the Americans after the invasion of Iraq in 
2003. Mr. Abdullah spoke for many when he said, “We do not like the 
Americans, and we didn’t need their airstrikes.”


In a video released Tuesday, the killer of Steven J. Sotloff, an 
American journalist, made an apparent reference to the United States’ 
strikes near Amerli.


In Amerli, Mr. Abdullah said his men had arrived on Iraqi military 
helicopters about two weeks into the siege. They carried aid and 
weaponry, but also specialized skills. Among them were experts in 
communications, operations and explosives.


Mr. Abdullah said his forces had joined those inside Amerli to help beat 
back the ISIS militants. He refused to say how many of his fighters had 
assisted, to offer operational details or to expound on why his men had 
come at all. He said only that his troops were willing to take on the 
mission.


“Everyone heard the calls for help, but not everyone answered,” he said. 
“We answered.”


By the time the militias began arriving, ISIS had surrounded the town 
entirely. To the west, they were two kilometers away; to the east, just 
500 meters. Residents had dug giant trenches in the mud around Amerli. 
Some had planted improvised explosive devices in the earth surrounding 
the town, hoping to keep ISIS out.


They had been planning for a long time. The day Mosul fell, tribal 
leaders in Amerli called a meeting in the town mosque to discuss their 
options, sure that the militants would eventually reach them, according 
to one of the leaders, Sheikh Shahab Ahmed Barash.


The men swore an oath on the Quran to protect the town. They would not 
flee as others had. The leaders began to divide the town into areas, 
typically by landmarks. One leader had the cemetery. Another had the tower.


ISIS made four major assaults on the town, sometimes with more than 100 
men at a time and the benefit of armored vehicles.


But the biggest fight the residents of Amerli faced was against hunger, 
as the militants’ cordon kept supplies from entering.


During a series of interviews with commanders, several struggled to 
remember exact dates that major attacks had occurred. Ibrahim Hamid Ali, 
an elder in Amerli, believes the first assault began shortly after 6 
p.m. on July 17, when the militants stormed the perimeter the residents 
had set up.


“We were told not to leave our positions,” said Mr. Barash, who controls 
an area in Amerli where about 200 families live. “If they broke through, 
then we would decide what to do.”


Mr. Barash and others said the fight lasted until dawn, when the Iraqi 
Air Force began to hit the areas un

[Marxism] Fwd: dutch renaissance - bookforum.com / current issue

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Editor of neoconservative "Weekly Standard" adores Perlstein's "The 
Invisible Bridge".


http://www.bookforum.com/inprint/021_03/13631

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[Marxism] Fwd: Myth and Reality of the South African Experience or, The Difference Between Mandela and Morgan Freeman | Opinion | teleSUR

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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The social and economic results after 20 years of post Apartheid 
democracy are absolutely disastrous. There does not seem to be any 
discontinuity in its relationship with the IMF and the World Bank (both 
are the economic arms of the U.S. oligarchy, in case you were born 
yesterday) and the economic results are indeed worse today than during 
Apartheid.


South Africa is now in fact now among the 5 lowest ranked economies in 
Africa, in spite of being an economic giant in the region (but only due 
to its size and its resources). Official records show that there is a 
25.6% rate of unemployment (probably much higher in fact). The poorest 
40% are now 50% poorer than during Apartheid, in other words, the poor 
are getting much poorer. In fact, 17 out of 51 million South Africans 
are only surviving thanks to a Welfare program called Social Grant. (see 
B. Lugan)


Murder rates have soared to unprecedented levels and the country is now 
among the 10 most dangerous places on the planet, with about 31 
intentional homicides a day. (source: UNODC). In fact, and though the 
exact figures might still be the subject of experts debate, it can be 
said that over 3,000 white farmers have been murdered since the end of 
Apartheid. We are far from the Rainbow Nation of Nelson Mandela’s speeches…


full: 
http://telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Myth-and-Reality-of-the-South-African-Experience-or-The-Difference-Between-Mandela-and-Morgan-Freeman-20140903-0004.html


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[Marxism] Fwd: 'Worse Than Anything Seen in 2, 000 Years' as Megadrought Threatens Western States | Common Dreams | Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/09/03/worse-anything-seen-2000-years-megadrought-threatens-western-states

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[Marxism] Fwd: Resisting the New McCarthyism | Solidarity

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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Further evidence of an organized campaign against pro-Palestinian 
professors.


http://www.solidarity-us.org/site/node/4239

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[Marxism] Fwd: The smoking gun: Russian column confirmed in Krasnodon | EUROMAIDAN PRESS | News and Opinion from Across Ukraine

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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http://euromaidanpress.com/2014/09/02/the-smoking-gun-russian-column-confirmed-in-krasnodon/

Will Kagarlitsky now eat his words?


For anyone in Donetsk, Lugansk, Odessa, Kharkov (and even Kiev) who has 
held out hopes that Putin’s Russia will solve all the problems through 
its solidary [sic] intervention, recent events will have been a sobering 
disappointment. But this disappointment will simply benefit the 
movement. Not only must the revolution rely on its own strength, but it 
already has enough strength to be successful. This is especially true 
since regardless of the position taken by the Kremlin, the sympathy of 
Russian society remains on the side of the insurgent people of a 
fraternal country.


Where Russia itself is concerned, the ruling layers are at risk of 
remaining in the hole they have painstakingly dug for themselves. By 
surrendering their positions on the Ukrainian question, they are turning 
against themselves the patriotic moods whose rise they have fostered in 
every conceivable way over the past few months. Of course, no facts will 
ever convince people who consider Putin an irreproachable hero or, on 
the other hand, a fairy-tale villain. But such people, even if they spam 
70 per cent of the internet with their ravings, are nevertheless a minority.


full: http://links.org.au/node/3838

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[Marxism] What gets you labeled a "foreign agent" in Russia these days

[Thomas Campbell via Marxism]

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http://sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=100&story_id=40657

Local NGO Latest to Be Listed as ‘Foreign Agent’
By Sergey Chernov
The St. Petersburg Times
Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Ella Polyakova, the chairwoman of the Soldiers’ Mothers of St. Petersburg
and a member of the Russian Presidential Council on Human Rights, believes
that the recent listing of her organization as a “foreign agent” may be
connected to her report about the alleged arrival of a large number of
Russian troops injured in Ukraine to St. Petersburg, she told The St.
Petersburg Times this week.

On Aug. 29, the Ministry of Justice included the non-governmental
organization, which defends the rights of soldiers, recruits and their
families, in its register of foreign agents, i.e. NGOs allegedly involved
in political activities and receiving foreign funding. Introduced as a law
in 2012, the term “foreign agent” for many is reminiscent of Soviet-era spy
mania.

The organization was listed soon after Polyakova reported that a flight
with about 100 Russian troops injured in Ukraine had arrived in St.
Petersburg. On Aug. 26, Polyakova told the Moscow-based liberal television
channel Dozhd that the injured troops were reportedly taken to the Kirov
Military Medical Academy in the city. In an interview later that day with
RBK, she said that she had received this information from journalists and
was re-checking it with them.

Speaking to The St. Petersburg Times earlier this week, Polyakova said that
only circumstantial evidence about the presence of the injured troops in
St. Petersburg has since become available. She referred to a story by the
Fontanka.ru news service, which reported that about seven military
ambulances with flashing lights and accompanied by military traffic police
vehicles were seen in the city on Aug. 28. She also mentioned Aug. 29 media
reports about a Russian paratrooper who was detained in Ukraine and, after
being passed to the Russian side, was transported to a burn center in St.
Petersburg.

The Ministry of Justice said on its website that it based its decision to
label the organization as a foreign agent on a report from the St.
Petersburg Prosecutor’s Office. However, this decision was made despite a
lawsuit by the NGO against the prosecutor’s office for conducting a number
of illegal raids on the organization that is still being heard in court in
St. Petersburg.

According to Polyakova, what the prosecutor’s office interpreted as
“political activities” were simply anti-war statements made by the
Soldiers’ Mothers of St. Petersburg, as well as reporting on human rights
abuses in the army.

“We said, ‘No to war in Crimea’ — we had posted the statement on our
website. They have also made a very vague accusation of ‘influencing the
public opinion,’” Polyakova said.

“We made two reports about the violations of human rights in the army and
handed them in to [Defense Minister Sergei] Shoigu, among others. This was
seen as us allegedly influencing state policies. But our stance on this is
the following; our state policy is not to wage war but to defend human
life; the state policy is not to fight against neighbors but solve
conflicts peacefully by the means of diplomacy. That’s what we think state
policies are and not a violation of Russian laws. We have no law which
would say the opposite.”

Polyakova also denied any foreign funding, saying that the organization was
funded by two grants from the Russian government. “We have one grant from
the National Welfare Fund and the other is a presidential Civic Dignity
grant,” she said.

After the NGO was branded as a foreign agent, Polyakova said that the
organization will have to put the term on its documents and be subject to
closer attention from authorities.

“For instance, take when a soldier is being beaten in a certain military
unit,” Polyakova said.

“In such cases, we write letters to the Investigation Committee, to the
Military Prosecutor’s Office, to the commanders and ask them to ensure his
safety. And now there should be a notice saying [the NGO] ‘performs the
functions of a foreign agent,’ which essentially means that it’s written by
spies. It also implies additional checks, increased attention, audits twice
a year…there’s a lot there.”

According to Polyakova, her NGO is planning to file an inquiry with the
Prosecutor’s Office to find out the exact grounds of its inclusion in the
foreign agents register and file a complaint with the court on the
decision. She said the Soldiers’ Mothers of St. Petersburg would also
support the initiative by Russian Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin, who proposed to
amend the foreign agent law.

“For the time being, we have to abide by the law; what else we can do if
the law is like this?” Polyakova asked.

The Soldiers’ Mothers of St.

[Marxism] My Razor Sharp interview 2 September

[John Passant via Marxism]

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This is the link to my 30 minute interview on 2 September with Sharon Firebrace 
on Razor Sharp. It deals with Iraq, the Islamic State, war, the US Alliance, 
government popularity, budget distractions, unemployment, and many many other 
matters.
 
http://enpassant.com.au/2014/09/03/my-razor-sharp-interview-on-2-september-2014/

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[Marxism] What's new at Links: Kurds & IS, Marx & feminism, South Africa & Marikana, Ukraine, Pakistan, Ireland, Thomas Sankara, Scotland

[glparramatta via Marxism]

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What's new at Links: Kurds & IS, Marx & feminism, South Africa & 
Marikana, Ukraine, Pakistan, Ireland, Thomas Sankara, Scotland


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   Kurds search for unity amid relentless fight to defeat 'Islamic
   State' thugs 

By *Dave Holmes*
September 2, 2014 -- Across northern Syria and Iraq, Kurdish forces are 
locked in fierce battles with the murderous "Islamic State" (IS) armed 
force. Whether directly or indirectly, the whole Kurdish people is being 
drawn into this struggle.


 * Read more 


   Marxism and feminism: Was Marx a 'class determinist'?
   

Review by *Barry Healy*

September 1, 2014 -- /Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal/ 
-- For the most part the Marxist movement has a had a troubled 
relationship with the women's liberation movement. While some Marxists 
(such as those organised in Australia's Socialist Alliance) have no 
problem with feminism, others have choked on the thought of a rebellious 
movement that does not fit neatly into their paradigm of a workers-led 
revolution.


 * Read more 


   South Africa: Two years on, Marikana massacre still reverberates
   

By *Federico Fuentes*, Johannesburg
August 29, 2014 -- On August 16, activities were held across South 
Africa to mark the second anniversary of the Marikana massacre in which 
34 striking mineworkers were slain by state security forces.


 * Read more 


   Behind the Kiev/NATO war on the people of eastern Ukraine
   

The following is an edited version of a talk by Roger Annis on August 
22, 2014, that was delivered to a session of the Peoples Social Forum 
that took place in Ottawa from August 21 to 25. Also on the panel was 
David Mandel, a professor of political science in Montreal and expert in 
the history of the working class movements in Russia and Ukraine.


 * Read more 


   Pakistan: A 'soft' military coup? 

By *Farooq Tariq*

August 30, 2014 -- Claims and counter claims by Imran Khan's Pakistan 
Tehreek Insaaf (PTI), Mullah Tahir Qadri's Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) 
and the governing party of Pakistan, the Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN), of 
who contacted the army chief first for "mediation" or "facilitation" 
have puzzled the vast majority of people in Pakistan.


 * Read more 


   Ireland: Gerry Adams reflects on 20th anniversary of IRA cessation
   

August 31, 2014 -- Sinn Féin president and TD for Louth *Gerry Adams* 
reflects on the 20th anniversary of the IRA cessation of military 
operations on August 31, 1994. Adams highlights the urgent need for the 
British and Irish governments to tackle outstanding issues bedevilling 
the political process in the north and which threaten the progress that 
has been made.


 * Watch 


   Burkina Faso: Thomas Sankara inspires new generation of
   anti-government activists 

By *Brian Petersen*
August 15, 2014 -- In 1987, Blaise Compaoré overthrew Sankara and took 
over the presidency. 27 years later, Sankara's ghost may be coming back 
to return the favour.


 * Read more 


   David Mandel: Understanding the conflict in Ukraine
   

By *David Mandel*
August 24, 2014 -- The Ukrainian conflict, like most political 
phenomena, is multi-dimensional and highly complex. As such, it calls 
for a holistic -- dialectical, if you wish -- approach. But to judge by 
US and NATO spokespersons and by their mass media, there is only one 
really decisive factor that explains everything: Russia's imperialism, 
Vladimir Putin's determination to dominate and further dismember the 
Ukraine as part of his plan to restore the Soviet empire. In this 
simplistic view, Ukraine, with benevolent support from the West, would 
be quite capable of dealing with its problems and would soon be on its 
way to becoming a prosperous, West