Re: [Marxism] Suggestion to Xxxx Xxxxxxxxxx

[Les Schaffer]

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There is.  Thanks for catching this.

Les


On Aug 16, 2013, at 12:31 AM, Einde O'Callaghan  wrote:
> 
> I thought there was a rule here against using the names of members of the 
> list in subject lines.
> 
> Einde O'Callaghan
> 


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Re: [Marxism] VIJAY PRASHAD on the Libyan Revolution

[Daniel Rocha]

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Because I cannot see any tendency towards socialist ideals there or in
Syria. The most honest people in arms seems to be fighting for their necks
without any socialist strategy in mind.

That is true for most of the struggles in the region of the so called Arab
spring. It doesn't cut the litmus test of being a socialist struggle or
against a colonial power, like the palestinians, for who I don't care if
they are crazy jihadists or not, as long as they win.

2013/8/16 Clay Claiborne 

>
> Why is dissing revolutions in such a non-chalant way as you have here such
> a favorite pass-time of arm-chair so-called Marxists today?
>

-- 
Daniel Rocha - RJ
danieldi...@gmail.com

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Re: [Marxism] XXXXX XXXXXXX on the Libyan Revolution

[Einde O'Callaghan]

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On 16.08.2013 05:40, Clay Claiborne wrote:

I thought there was a rule here against using the names of members of 
the list in subject lines.


Einde O'Callaghan


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Re: [Marxism] Suggestion to Xxxx Xxxxxxxxxx

[Einde O'Callaghan]

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On 15.08.2013 14:04, Prashad, Vijay wrote:

I thought there was a rule here against using the names of members of 
the list in subject lines.


Einde O'Callaghan


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[Marxism] Censorship on Pham Binh's thenorthstar.info

[Joaquín Bustelo]

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Last night, or as close to as makes no difference, I posted a comment on 
thenorthstar.info about the Philly Socialists leadership retreat.


Tonight I revisited the site to see if there were further comments and I 
found this:


*  *  *

Joaquin Bustelo August 15, 2013 at 10:13 am

Your comment is awaiting moderation.

As the oldest among the 25 participants in the Philly Socialists 
leadership retreat ... [which was how my comment started].


*  *  *

Switching to a different browser, I was able to confirm that my comment 
was not visible to the general public.


Given this circumstance, I will no longer contribute to, comment on, or 
read thenorthstar.info, for several reasons:


a) I want to hear what people have to say when they decide to say it, 
not what Pham Binh decides can be read when he decides it can be read.


b) Given current U.S. legal norms, doing what Pham Binh is doing is way 
beyond stupid, it is SUICIDAL. If comments automatically post, then 
under U.S. law, the role of those running the web site is that of a 
telecommunications service provider. They are no more liable for 
anything that is said than a phone company is for a conversation I may 
have using its wires.


ON THE OTHER HAND, if the people running the site pre-screen and have to 
approve all posts, or even just the ones from the one miscreant who has 
adopted a coffee brand for a pen name, then those folks have just become 
the PUBLISHER of the comments and carry both civil and criminal 
liability for anything and everything that this miscreant or any other 
may have uttered on the web site comments.


Putting yourself in that position when the law allows you to avoid it is 
--frankly-- brain dead, but it really isn't a major concern of mine that 
Pham Binh and his friends are so cluelessly anal that they have their 
heads stuck up their asses so far that it is coming out of their fucking 
throats.


My concern is that by making themselves liable for what I say, they now 
have an incentive to turn into a provider of evidence for the state 
against me to lessen the share of culpability they carry as the 
publisher of what I said.


c) This is the fucking 21st Century. If Pham Binh wants to be in a group 
that issues imprimaturs and nihil obstats, I believe the Papist cult out 
of Rome is still in business. Or if Latin isn't his thing, he can always 
rejoin the ISO and volunteer to be on the committee that issues hall 
passes provided people hold up one or two fingers when requesting them.


*  *  *

Censorship.

Been there.

Done that.

Not doing it anymore.

And not putting up with it being done to me anymore either.

Joaquín


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Re: [Marxism] VIJAY PRASHAD on the Libyan Revolution

[Clay Claiborne]

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I would suggest you do your own research but I suspect you are just asking
rhetorical questions, but in any case here's what I found with the help of
Google.


On Thu, Aug 15, 2013 at 7:56 PM, Daniel Rocha  wrote:

>
> Are companies from NATO countries in control of their oil?
>


Libya to Sweeten Terms for Foreign Oil
Companies

Posted on 13 December 2012. Tags: Abdulbari Alarusi (Al
Arusi),
EPSA IV , EPSA
V,
Oil Contracts 

Reuters reports that Libya plans to improve the terms for foreign oil
companies ahead of its next licensing round, which could begin as early as
the third quarter of 2013.

OPEC member Libya has reserves of over 40 billion barrels,* but analysts
have warned that some of the toughest terms in the business could act as a
deterrent for companies*, some of which have yet to return after the 2011
civil war.

Libya’s new Oil and Gas Minister, Dr. Abdulbari Alarusi [Al
Arusi](pictured),
has made it a top priority to consult with foreign oil firms on
how to make the country more attractive:

“*I’ve met different people from foreign companies, and they are
complaining about EPSA IV (the last round of Exploration and Production
Sharing Agreements), like Shell for instance. For EPSA V, there will be
better conditions.*

*“I would say August or maybe July we will start looking for bids.*“

Asked last 
weekwhether
Libya is likely to see another licensing round within the next 15
months, he said,* **“Could be, I am not sure, could be; it depends on the
situation here in Libya*“.

*(Source: Reuters)*

Libya to Invite Bids for Oil
Concessions

Posted on 16 March 2013. Tags: Abdulbari Alarusi (Al
Arusi),
Oil Contracts , oil
exports , oil
production

*By John Lee.*

Libyan Minister of Oil and Gas, Dr. Abdulbari Alarusi [Al
Arusi](pictured),
has told
*AFP* that Libya plans to invite bids from foreign firms for oil
concessions by the end of 2013.

He said there was strong demand from oil majors wanting to work in Libya,
which he described as “*a promising country with large surfaces which have
not yet been explored, both on land and at sea.*”

The Minister added that Tripoli plans to request a hike in its OPEC
production quota, from the current level of 1.5 million barrels per day to
1.7 million bpd, and said that initial talks with the cartel have already
started.

“*Our priorities are, firstly, to maintain the current production level
through regular maintenance and developing oilfields, and then security …
There have been certain incidents but this happens all around the world.
Overall, Libya is a secure country.*“

*(Source: AFP)*




> Are their proletariat as conscious as Venezuela's since their murder is
> 1/10 of theirs? Perhaps this a symptom shows how people are much more
> oppressed then before when militias runs around threatening people for
> random reasons to get money?
>

Venezuela has one of the highest murder rates in the world, 10 times
Libya's mainly because there are so many criminal gangs running around
threatening people for random reasons to get money.

In Libya, the fascist state was overthrown less than 2 years ago, Venezuela
has had a much longer post-revolutionary period to get its house in order.

 As to whether Libyans are "more oppressed then before", Ask any Libyan.
These are some of the things that aren't happening any more:

Ahmed went missing in Tripoli near the very beginning of the uprising. His
family now believes that he was arrested on February 22 and taken to the
notorious Adu Salim prison with many others. At the time they assumed he
had been shot dead and disappeared by soldiers, mercenaries or one of
Qaddafi's security services, like so many others.

So when a member of one Qaddafi's revolutionary committees told Ahmed's
father, *"We have your son, he is being held at Abu Salim prison. If your
family does not come out to demonstrate on Friday you will never see your
son again."*, they paid him

Re: [Marxism] VIJAY PRASHAD on the Libyan Revolution

[Daniel Rocha]

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Are companies from NATO countries in control of their oil?
Are their proletariat as conscious as Venezuela's since their murder is
1/10 of theirs? Perhaps this a symptom shows how people are much more
oppressed then before when militias runs around threatening people for
random reasons to get money?
Perhaps 349 political parties means 349 ways of funneling money towards
corrupt militias?


-- 
Daniel Rocha - RJ
danieldi...@gmail.com

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[Marxism] VIJAY PRASHAD on the Libyan Revolution

[Clay Claiborne]

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When I said my critique of Counterpunch was limited to their posts on
Syrian I wasn't so much being disingenious as I was being forgetful. You
are absolutely right that I did, at one point, allude to Counterpunch's
support for Qaddafi.

I did critique Thomas Mountain's Counterpunch "Is Libya the Next
Somalia?"
 in
my "The Left and the Arab Spring." 
> This is wishful thinking on Mountain's part. As a long time supporter
> of Colonel Qaddafi, Mountain wishes only bad things for the Libyan
> people that overthrew him. As we will see as we go through this, his
> latest piece on Libya in *counterpunch*, his analysis is based not on
> an examination of the reality in Libya now but on an extrapolation of
> what he believes must be the case based on his long held
> misconceptions about the country and Qaddafi's rule.
More...


I never got around to critiquing your "Libyan Winter" view of the Libyan
revolution so I will do so now, if only briefly. I just took a look at
your Counterpunch article:
> March 23, 2011
>
> Why Nothing Good Will Come of This
>
>
>   Intervening in Libya
>   
>
Do you still stand by your opinion that nothing good came of that?

Because it sounds like if you had your way, Benghazi and Misrata would
look like Homs and Aleppo and the people of Libya might still be
involved in a desperate struggle against the Qaddafi regime and his
Russian backers. Things may not be hunky-dory in Libya today but you
will find very few Libyan who have regrets. The Counterpunch crowd has
done everything it can to trash the Libyan Revolution, pointing up the
negative and not covering the positive. Yes, poat-Qaddafi Libya is still
a dangerous place, in 2012 it had a murder rate half that of Chicago and
one-tenth that of Venezuela, but few would feel safer in Aleppo than
Benghazi. 

I have given my own assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the
Libya Revolution elsewhere, including "The State of Libya."

and "Is Libya better off than it was?"


I see you called Libya a stalemate
 just six weeks
before Tripoli fell in "Libya as Proxy."
 In it you also
speak of "NATO's war on Libya."  I regard that as a very pro-Qaddafi
view of the situation. Certainly he would have no objection to that
formulation but I know that the Libyan revolutionaries would. This is
what I said about such a formulation ( a commonly held pro-Qaddafi
position among the non-interventionist Left) of the situation at the
time
:
> IMHO this is already taking a position that equates the Qaddafi regime
> with /"Libya."/ NATO would argue that their military activities are
> against the forces of the Qaddafi regime not Libya, and frankly the
> revolutionaries would agree. As a matter of fact there is very little
> evidence that NATO has attacked Libyan population centers or
> infrastructure in the way they did in Iraq. [see my How Many Libyans
> has NATO Killed?
> 
> for details and background]
You say:
> Libya is the first battleground of a new "cold war," this one not
> between the U. S, and the Russia, but between the G7 (and its military
> arm, NATO) and the BRICS (who have not much of a military arm).
BRICS had plenty of weapons for Qaddafi however, and both Russia and
China might dispute your assessment of their military power.

But where are the Libyan revolutionaries in your formulation, in fact
where are they in this article? I think your calling the Libyan
revolution a proxy war is subject to the the same critique I made in my
current piece on Counterpunch and Syria. This article rendered the
thuwar invisible. 

It also sounds like, just months before the complete victory over
Qaddafi, you promoted a defeatist (.i.e. counter-revolutionary) view of
the military situation ("stalemate") and favored a position that would
still leave Qaddafi in power:
> If the NATO chiefs could pressure the Benghazi Transitional Council to
> back down from its maximalist position (Qaddafi must go immediately),
> Zuma suggested, the way could open for peace talks. 
What you call NTC's "






y
maximalist position", i.e. 

[Marxism] Re: Marxism Digest, Vol 118, Issue 24

[Robert Schardein]

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Apologies - subject line for previous post should have read: Re: Lenin, Stalin 
and the muddle-headed physicist



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Re: [Marxism] Marxism Digest, Vol 118, Issue 23

[Robert Schardein]

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"I find it somewhat amusing that you seem to consider politics as having the 
same level of complexity as quantum physics; if this were so, I am afraid very 
few people could participate in the democratic debates."

This has to be one of the most epistemically upside-down statements I've ever 
read.

But now that you've managed to singlehandedly dispatch with centuries of 
metaphysics in the space of a single sentence, please, Dr. Bricmont, be so kind 
as to gift us all with a fundamental theorem of geopolitics which would provide 
the benighted social scientists, activists, revolutionaries and political 
prisoners with the tools necessary to draw a hard line between anti-systemic 
movements worth supporting, and those which must be dismissed as obviously 
reactionary.

Once you have answered the challenge, you might find someone in biology (a few 
ticks down on your epistemologically-inverted ladder) who might be better 
equipped to speak in more colloquial terms so that primitives who "participate 
in democratic debates" can put the simple matter of political struggle to rest.

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[Marxism] The Junta's Bloody Hand

[Ron Jacobs]

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http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/08/15/the-cairo-junta-and-its-washington-paymasters/
http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/08/15/the-cairo-junta-and-its-washington-paymasters/

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Re: [Marxism] Lenin, Stalin and the muddle-headed physicist

[h0ost]

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On 08/15/2013 08:52 AM, jean bricmont wrote:
> 
> 
> I find it somewhat amusing that you seem to consider politics as
> having the same level of complexity as quantum physics; if this were
> so, I am afraid very few people could participate in the democratic
> debates.

Typical arrogance of a politically ignorant scientist. Learn from the
very best in your trade, read Einstein's writings about politics, and
the complexities thereof, and how being fluent in quantum physics (or
any branch of physics) does not make you a master in the lowly pursuit
of politics.


> Next, I am afraid that your addiction to dialectics (aka muddle
> headed thinking) prevents you from grasping the point I am trying to
> make (maybe politics is as difficult as quantum physics, after all,
> at least for "marxists"), which is that the left should not

Don't let you visceral dislike of "marxists" cloud your understanding of
dialectical thinking. Maybe if you actually thought about this, you
would discover that "such muddled thinking" is a very big part of
everyday thinking in physics today? I'm talking about

> 
>not run to support every possible revolutionary movement in the world with 
>empty gestures.
> 

What a naive, child-like approach to politics.  It is part of the
broader left's tradition to extend solidarity and support every
revolutionary movement in the world.  This includes "empty gestures"
such solidarity, signing of petitions, as well as the entire spectrum of
political action.

Look, it's ok to be a liberal, who thinks of himself as a leftist.  It
happens all the time.

It is also ok to be a physicist, who thinks that their mastery of
abstract ideas and higher mathematics makes them overqualified for the
lowly art of politics.

(disclaimer: prior to focusing on the low-IQ field of the social
sciences, my background was in mathematics. So the notion of completely
ignorant, arrogant and misguided "hard" scientists on the topic of
politics, was part of my daily life).

Just be honest.  Start calling yourself a liberal elitist, with a
special sensitivity towards misunderstanding marxist politics.

>  Send list
> submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your
> options at:
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>


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Re: [Marxism] Lenin, Stalin and the muddle-headed physicist

[Rajesh Roy]

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So we now have a new category of left, the "interventionist left".. the 
vanguard of this list is wont to refer to another type of left, the 
"anti-imperialist left".. and the politically correct type of left in this list 
is of course the "interventionist left".. the minority who are of the 
"anti-imperialist left" are often bull-dozed into silence.. 

the point made regarding empty gestures is so true.. with no success in any 
serious political organization or mobilization at home, there may be an 
unconscious need to seem to belong to a "revolution" happening at another 
place..  maybe hence this cheerleading on the internet..but wish there was more 
tolerance and mutually respectful discussion of opposing views..



 From: jean bricmont 
To: rajeshcher...@yahoo.co.in 
Cc: Activists and scholars in Marxist tradition 
 
Sent: Thursday, 15 August 2013 8:52 AM
Subject: Re: [Marxism] Lenin, Stalin and the muddle-headed physicist

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Re: [Marxism] Suggestion to Clay Clairborne

[Clay Claiborne]

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I believe I limited my critique of Counterpunch to their view on Syria. I
would love to see something by Lou on Syria in Counterpunch, or Binh or me,
or anyone else that is a supporter of the Syrian Revolution.

I don't think I've even seen anything in Counterpunch that is supportive of
the Syrian Revolution or even that considers it a revolution. If you know
of any please enlighten me.

I am quite confident that, on balance, they are promoting counter
revolutionary views on Syria and they do so with little integrity as these
posts often contain "facts" that are demonstrably false, as I showed in
that article and as I said in it, it is not without reason that they don't
allow comments.

My most in depth critique of Counterpunch on Syria can be found here.

*Counterpunch: So Wrong on
Syria*

It has also been translated to Arab here and has received strong support
among Syria revolutionaries.

*كاونتربانش : الخطأ الكبير في
سوريا*

The fact that that post remains unanswered I take as just one more proof
that they are less interested in dialogue than they are in promoting a
specific view on the Syrian conflict.

More, later

Clay Claiborne, Director
Vietnam: American Holocaust 
Linux Beach Productions
Venice, CA 90291
(310) 581-1536

Read my blogs at the Linux Beach 



On Thu, Aug 15, 2013 at 5:04 AM, Prashad, Vijay
wrote:

> ==
> Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
> ==
>
>
> Dear Clay Clairborne,
>
> I don't know you, so forgive this intrusion.
>
> I saw on the Marxmail list that you had posted an essay called "More
> Opportunist Lies on Syria from Counterpunch."
>
> In that article you write, "Counterpunch has time and again shown that it
> has no integrity when it comes to reporting on people's revolts against its
> 'anti-imperialist' heroes like the fascist dictatorships like Mummar
> Qaddafi and Bashar Assad."
>
> I have written for Counterpunch from the 1990s. Since the move to the web,
> I have regularly written for the website. During the Arab Spring, I have
> been on of the stable of people who have written for Counterpunch, mainly
> regarding the struggles in Libya.
>
> By making the kind of sweeping generalization that you make, you erase the
> writing that people like myself do on the Counterpunch website. It would be
> inconceivable to portray the work I have done as treating either Qaddafi or
> Assad as anti-imperialist heroes. In fact, my work runs on a much different
> track than what you denounce. Are you suggesting that the writing that I,
> and others, do on Counterpunch does not define its work "time and again"?
>
> Jeffrey is better equipped to say this, but I will give you my impression:
> Counterpunch is an anti-systemic website with a wide range of writers, many
> of whom would not agree with each other (one of the regulars is Lou
> himself). There is no strict editorial line, as far as I can tell, and that
> is for the better. The editors obviously have a view, which is a good
> thing, but they do not publish only what is strictly in accordance either
> with their views or with that of their other writers.
>
> I was one of the first to sign the petition that Bricmont attacks. I think
> his comment on the statement was very poorly done. But that's his mess.
>
> You are of course entitled to draw broad strokes denunciations of whom you
> wish. To be more credible, however, you (and Bricmont) would be better
> suited to a bit more nuance and accuracy.
>
> Best Wishes,
>
> Vijay.
>
> 
> Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu
> Set your options at:
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>

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[Marxism] Relief can be revolutionary | Red Pepper blog | Red Pepper

[Louis Proyect]

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Basmet Amal are one of four local relief and development organisations, 
each dealing with a region of the town, that feed into a broader council 
comprised of relief and social affairs, military-security, political and 
media-comms committees. The fire service consists of Free Army soldiers 
and locals legging it to burning buildings with whatever supplies of 
water they can muster. Ambulances have been targeted by the regime, with 
those donated from outside re-sprayed to disguise their function. These 
too are run by volunteers.


Basmet Amal have big plans and they want to see replicated these 
throughout the country. They've re-started a primary school for children 
who have missed two years of learning; they've opened a low-priced 
products supermarket to counter local over-inflation through scarcity 
and unscrupulous traders (inflation in Ma'arra is currently at 400%); 
they have managed composition and distribution of 30, monthly aid 
packages of flour, cooking oil, dried milk, salt, sugar, and beans; they 
support widows through 500SP donations from overseas donors as well as 
development of crafts projects; they are building a shampoo and soap 
factory; sourcing low priced and free medicines; supporting the local 
field hospital and yet to come, - a womens' recreation centre with gym 
and swimming facilities, to strengthen women physically and emotionally 
for generations to come.


full: http://www.redpepper.org.uk/relief-can-be-revolutionary/


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Re: [Marxism] Lenin, Stalin and the muddle-headed physicist

[Louis Proyect]

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On 8/15/13 8:52 AM, jean bricmont wrote:

There are of course revolutionary movements that beg the US to intervene
on their side and the "trick" of the pro-intervention left is to call to
"support" these movements. Of course they (the pro-intervention left )
have no means to directly intervene, so in effect they ask the US
government to intervene but, unlike their neo-cons brothers, they don't
say  so explicitly, which makes their discourse hard to understand to
anyone outside their circle, and so, even more irrelevant.

I hope this is accessible even to a dialectician.



Bricmont, one other thing. When you sneered at that "Western left" that 
signed a petition against Bashar al-Assad, your ignorance of geography 
matched that of your ignorance of Marxist dialectics. Are you so in love 
with yourself that you cannot realize when you are making an ass of 
yourself? The emperor's new clothes...



https://www.change.org/petitions/solidarity-with-the-syrian-struggle-for-dignity-and-freedom

Abbas Beydoun, (Poet, Lebanon)
Abdellatif Zeroual, (Left activist, Morocco)
Abdeslam Cherkouk, (Journalist, Morocco)
Abir Saksook, (Architect and activist, Lebanon)
Adam Hanieh (SOAS University of London, United Kingdom)
Aida Seif Ell Dawla, (Human Rights Activist, Egypt)
Akram Zaatari, (Artist, Lebanon)
Ala Hlehel, (Author, Palestine)
Ali Amin Suwaid, (Writer, Syria)
Ali Atassi, (Journalist, Syria)
Amahl Bishara, (Tufts University, United States)
Amr Al-Azm, (Shawnee State University, Activist and board member of The
Day After NGO, Syria)
Amr Saeddeine, (Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium/ Palestine)
Ania Loomba, (University of Pennsylvania, United States)
AnnJanette Rosga, (Human Rights Researcher, United States)
Asef Bayat (University of Illinois, United States)
Ashok Chowdhury, (India)
Aziza Chaouni, (University of Toronto, Canada/Morocco)
Azmi Bishara, (writer, Palestine)
Bassem Chit, (Socialist Forum, Lebanon)
Bernadette Daou, (leftist militant, Lebanon)
Budour Hassan, (Author, Palestine)
Can Irmak Özinanır, (Faculty of Communication, Ankara University, Turkey)
Chandra Talpade Mohanty, (Feminist Scholar-Activist, India/United States)
Deepa Kumar (Rutgers University, United States)
Dyala Hamzah, (Université de Montréal, Canada)
Elias Khoury, (Writer, Lebanon)
Faraj Bayrakdar (Poet, Syria)
Farouk Mardam Bey (Intellectual, Syria)
Fawaz Traboulsi, (Writer, Lebanon)
Ghassan Hage  (University of Melbourne, Australia/ Lebanon)
Ghassan Makarem, (Socialist Forum, Lebanon)
Ghayath Naisse, (Surgeon, Left Revolutionary Current, Syria)
Hamid Dabashi, (Columbia University, United States/ Iran)
Hani al-Sayed (American University in Cairo, Syria/ Egypt)
Hazem al-Azmeh (Intellectual, Syria)
Ibrahim Al-Assil, (Syrian Non-Violent Movement, Syria)
Ibrahim Jalal, (Artist, Syria)
Issam Aburaya, (Seton Hall University, United States)
Jihad Yazigi (Journalist, Syria)
Jihane Sfeir (Université Libre de Bruxelles, Lebanon/ Belgium)
Karmen Abou Jaoudeh, (Legal activist, Lebanon)
Khaled Khalifa, (Novelist, Syria)
Khaled saghieh, (Journalist, Lebanon)
Khawla Dunia, (Activist, Syria)
Kifah Kayal, (Activist, Palestinian ex-political prisoner, Palestine)
Kmar Bandana (Université de La Manouba, Tunisia)
Leyla Dakhli, (Researcher, CNRS, France)
Loulouwa Al Rachid, (Journalist, Saudi Arabia)
Manijeh Nasrabadi, (New York University, United States/ Iran)
Maria Koundoura (Emerson College, United States/ Greece)
Marisol de la Cadena, (UC Davis, United States/ Peru)
Mehdi Meftah, (Militant, France)
Mirza Waheed (Novelist, United Kingdom)
Mohamad Ali Attassi, (Writer, Syria/ Lebanon)
Mohamad Al Bardan, (Syrian Non Violent Movement, United States/ Syria)
Mohammad Moeini, (University of Massachusetts, United States/ Iran)
Mohammed Bamyeh, (University of Pittsburgh, United States)
Mona Abaza, (American University in Cairo, Egypt)
Muhammad Ali Khalidi, (York University, Canada)
Muhammad Idrees Ahmad, (Writer and Sociologist, Scotland)
Nader Atassi, (Writer, Syria / United States)
Nadia Fadil, (KU Leuven, Belgium)
Nadim N. Rouhana, (Tufts University -- United States, and Palestine)
Nadine Bekdache, (Designer/ Activist, Lebanon)
Nadje Al-Ali, (SOAS, University of London, United Kingdom)
Nasser Rabbat, (MIT, United States/Syria)
Nidal Al-Azraq, (United States/ Palestine)
Nimer Sultany, (SUNY Buffalo Law School, United States/Palestine)
Omar Dahi, (Hampshire College, Syria/ United States)
Omar Dewachi, (American University of Beirut, Iraq/Canada)
Omnia El Shakry, (UC Davis, United States)
Oussama Mohamad (Film maker, Syria/ France)
Ozlem Goner, (CUNY, Turkey/ United States)
R. Radhakrishnan (UC Irvine, United States/ India)
Rabha Attaf, (Reporter, France)
Raed Firas, (Activist, Syria)
Raed Khartabil, (Activist, Syria)
Rashid Khalidi (Columbia Univer

[Marxism] Jeff Bezos And His Robot Butler

[Louis Proyect]

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Science fiction written by a programmer in Maine...


Wednesday, August 14th, 2013
Stories
I May Not Harm Jeff Bezos
Rusty Foster | August 14th, 2013

Do you know what kind of heat twenty-five billion dollars puts out? 
Large concentrations of money have always been surrounded by thick 
walls. Most people think the walls are there to protect the money from 
us. The secret is that the walls are there to protect us from the money.


I am Jeff Bezos's robot butler. I cannot harm Jeff Bezos, or through 
inaction allow Jeff Bezos to come to harm. Mr. Bezos is kind of a 
traditionalist. But I'm sitting in the money room, deep in the lowest 
levels of the Flying Dragon Lair, and wondering what exactly constitutes 
harm.


Is it good for anyone's soul to possess twenty-five billion dollars? Is 
Mr. Bezos being harmed right now, by the glowing heap of semi-molten 
money in front of me?


A susurration hisses through the cooling pipes that run throughout the 
money and provide the Flying Dragon Lair with heat and hot water. Mr. 
Bezos must be running his bath.


full: http://www.theawl.com/2013/08/i-may-not-harm-jeff-bezos


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[Marxism] Essay compares letting people play football to the Tuskegee experiment | Inside Higher Ed

[Louis Proyect]

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A New Tuskegee Experiment?
August 15, 2013
By Lewis Margolis and Gregory Margolis

In a situation with unsettling similarities to the infamous "Tuskegee 
Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male," youth and college 
football players today are part of what amounts to a massive and 
unethical experiment in concussions. The Tuskegee Study violated basic 
bioethical principles of respect for autonomy (participants were not 
fully informed in order to make autonomous decisions), nonmaleficence 
(participants were harmed, because treatment was withheld after it 
became the treatment of choice), and justice (only African Americans 
were recruited). As at Tuskegee, the concussion experiment violates 
basic bioethical principles. Until the pathological processes of 
concussions are understood and methods of prevention are tested, there 
should be major changes in the game of football to decrease, if not 
eliminate, this primary cause of head trauma in young men.


The football concussion experiment differs from the Tuskegee Study in a 
key way, namely, concussion investigators are not knowingly misleading 
subjects to participate as was done at Tuskegee. Indeed, what makes the 
comparison so illuminating is that coaches, parents, and health 
professionals all have the best interests of youth at heart. 
Nevertheless, efforts are only recently under way to define the level of 
risk, refine the diagnostic techniques, and explore effective treatment 
for head injuries, all while it is well-known that the forceful 
collisions that are intrinsic to tackle football place hundreds of 
thousands of youth and young men at risk of harm from acute and chronic 
neurological damage. Furthermore, according to data from the National 
Collegiate Athletic Association, in 2009-10, for the first time, the 
percentage of African-American males composed the largest segment of 
football players (45.8 percent), greatly exceeding the percentage in the 
U.S. population (slightly less than 13 percent). This means that 
African-American football players face a disproportionate exposure to 
the risk of concussions and their consequences.


full: 
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2013/08/15/essay-compares-letting-people-play-football-tuskegee-experiment



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[Marxism] Student protesters accuse Florida Atlantic University of violating their First Amendment rights | Inside Higher Ed

[Louis Proyect]

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Free Speech or Heckling?
August 15, 2013
By Carl Straumsheim

A predictable pattern of events played out at Florida Atlantic 
University this spring: An Israeli speaker gave a presentation on 
campus, and pro-Palestinian students protests. But the way they 
protested -- by interrupting his talk -- has renewed a debate over free 
speech.


The protest occurred during a presentation on April 19 by Israeli Col. 
Bentzi Gruber titled “Ethics in the Field: An Inside Look at the Israel 
Defense Forces,” when five members of the FAU Students for Justice in 
Palestine unfurled a banner that read "WAR CRIMINAL" and accused Israeli 
troops of committing war crimes. The students were escorted out,  then 
continued their protest outside the venue as the event proceeded, 
according to a police report.


full: 
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/08/15/student-protesters-accuse-florida-atlantic-university-violating-their-first



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[Marxism] Algerian Memories: An Interview with Henri Alleg

[Louis Proyect]

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Algerian Memories: An Interview with Henri Alleg
Aug 13 2013 by VOMENA

At a time when Edward Snowden and Bradley Manning are both being called 
traitors by their own government in the “Land of the Free,” Henri Alleg, 
another great whistleblower, who 55 years ago was also jailed and called 
a traitor by the government of France – creator of the modern human 
rights – just died 2 weeks ago in Paris at the age of 91.


Mr. Alleg, who became famous in 1958, after the publication of his book 
The Question, on the systematic torture the French colonial regime in 
Algeria inflicted upon the Algerian people, was born in England in 1922, 
the son of an Ashkenazi Jewish couple that immigrated to France while he 
was still a child. At the age of 18, wanting to travel the world, on his 
way to Australia, he stopped in Algeria where he remained, eventually 
becoming a public school teacher. Remarkably for a European, a young, 
idealistic Alleg, who would later become a member of the Algerian 
Communist Party, felt closer to the Indigenous population of Algeria 
than to his fellow Europeans who had colonized that country, 
instinctively identifying with the oppressed population and later 
joining the struggle for independence.


After losing his job as a Jewish born teacher during the German 
occupation of France in 1950, he joined the progressive newspaper Alger 
Républicain. He became Editor in chief of that newspaper which suffered 
from heavy military censorship and eventual closure, and by 1955 he had 
to go into hiding from the French colonial authorities.


In 1957, after a long manhunt, the French authorities located and 
arrested Henri Alleg on suspicion of “undermining the power of the 
state.” And he was transferred to a secret location in Algiers where he 
was brutally and systematically tortured along with other independence 
activists. He was then transferred to the infamous Barberousse prison on 
the outskirts of Algiers where he proceeded to secretly write a detailed 
account of the torture practices used against him – an account spirited 
out of prison by his lawyer.


full: 
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/13556/algerian-memories_an-interview-with-henri-alleg



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[Marxism] The Konyism of Samantha Power, US Ambassador to the United Nations

[Louis Proyect]

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by Vijay Prashad

http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/13584/the-konyism-of-samantha-power-us-ambassador-to-the


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[Marxism] Welcome to the new dystopia, where children are charged for their own care | Richard Seymour | Comment is free | theguardian.com

[Louis Proyect]

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Welcome to the new dystopia, where children are charged for their own care

Worcestershire council's proposal suits those who are reshaping the 
state into something that cares only for income streams


by Richard Seymour

Throughout the whole of my conscious childhood, I knew social workers in 
one form or other. I'm glad I did. They're nowhere near as unpleasant as 
everyone says they are.


People find social workers annoying because of the necessarily 
paternalistic and bureaucratic aspects of what they do. They process 
dysfunctions in society with some limited resources and techniques, 
without being able to address the underlying causes. Sometimes they also 
bring a certain middle-class moral judgment to the role, something 
which, in my experience, becomes more prevalent the more senior the 
social work professional is.


From about the age of 14, I knew them as the hated authority – "staff" 
– when I was "in care" at an adolescent unit. This was not a 
disciplinary institution, although a list of my petty misdemeanours at 
that point would have resembled Cartman's confession ("and then this one 
time …"). It was just a place, underfunded and not very pleasant, where 
mostly damaged working-class children lived when there was nowhere else 
to put them.


full: 
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/14/worcestershire-council-children-care



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[Marxism] Eleanor Kasrils was arrested 50 years ago

[Louis Proyect]

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TRIBUTE TO A HEROINE – FIFTY YEARS AFTER ELEANOR KASRILS DETENTION & ESCAPE
By Ronnie Kasrils

Exactly fifty years ago, Eleanor Logan, a young woman with ANC 
connections was detained by the Durban Security Police on August 18th, 
1963. She steadfastly refused to answer questions, consequently 
withstood brutal interrogation, fought back by going on a hunger strike, 
feigned a mental breakdown, and was transferred to the Fort Napier 
mental asylum in Pietermaritzburg. Held in a lock-up for the criminally 
insane she made a dramatic escape six weeks later.
I met Eleanor in Durban in 1960 in the wake of the Sharpeville massacre 
and a year later we became lovers. That was a dangerous and dramatic 
time in South African history. Eleanor was one of that rare breed of 
white South Africans who became actively involved in the liberation 
struggle against the apartheid system, at a time when the ANC-led 
Movement embarked on violent resistance. She did remarkable things with 
humour, verve and courage and engaged in a personal duel of wits with 
her brutal Security Police captors.


It was at Griggs, the city bookstore where she worked, that Eleanor was 
arrested a month after the Rivonia arrests of Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki 
and others. We had been living together for two years and I was on the 
run from the police, wanted with others for numerous sabotage operations 
that had rocked the city. They believed she knew where I and fellow 
accomplices were hiding. In fact Eleanor was herself a member of 
Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) and was a key contact of the underground. She had 
secreted four of us at her parent’s desolate property outside Durban off 
the national highway near Kloof.  She continued to link us with Bram 
Fischer and what remained of the national leadership in Johannesburg. It 
was during her detention, and information extracted from other 
detainees, that the security police began to realise that Eleanor was 
involved in far more seditious activity than simply aiding me.


This surprised them although she had participated in protest 
demonstrations against the apartheid government’s repressive laws 
including the draconian Sabotage Bill allowing for 90 days detention 
without charge or trial. When it became law mid-way through 1963 many 
Durban activists were detained amongst them Billy Nair, Curnick Ndlovu, 
M.P. Naicker, Riot Mkwanazi,  Sunny Singh and others and later Ebrahim 
Ebrahim. A few young people such as Eleanor were prepared to come 
forward and take on responsibility despite the huge risks. She had 
already been assisting Helen Joseph and Durbanite Dr. Gunum in providing 
succour to banished people in Natal.


Eleanor was an elegant, slender young woman, a divorcee with a young 
daughter. Scots-born, but always regarding herself as South African, she 
came from a moderately privileged background. Her parents, Helen and 
Jimmy Logan, were Scots emigrants, well-known in Durban business, art 
and book circles. Eleanor was born in Scotland in 1936 whilst her father 
was undergoing an engineering apprenticeship and was brought to Durban 
at the end of that year. She grew up in the city attending Durban Girl’s 
College before studying art. Following her divorce she went to work as a 
shop assistant at Griggs Bookstore and soon engaged in trade union 
activity as well as joining the ANC-aligned Congress of Democrats. A 
naturally discreet person who never sought the limelight few would have 
believed Eleanor was involved in so-called subversive activities. Her 
revulsion for apartheid cruelty had led her to join the Liberal Party 
but following the Sharpeville massacre she was drawn to the ANC-led 
liberation movement. With state violence and repression on the increase 
she came to understand the need for armed resistance and became actively 
involved in the early operations of MK. She acted as a get-away driver 
for our MK unit and participated in attacks on a Special Branch office, 
the Durban Post Office and the felling of electric pylons which plunged 
the city and much of the Natal province into darkness. For this latter 
operation dynamite was used and she had played an important role in 
assisting an MK raiding party gain access to a depot where the 
commercial explosives were stored. On a reconnaissance visit to the site 
she had noted the brand and serial number of a padlock on the main gate 
and then shopped around Durban’s hardware stores until she found an 
exact copy. The MK unit had no need to use the heavy bolt cutters they 
carried when the key she provided them with gave silent access to the 
compound. In fact Eleanor must rank as one of the earliest, if not the 
first, female MK members to have participated in actual operations. She 
was not without fear but managed 

[Marxism] Suggestion to Clay Clairborne

[Prashad, Vijay]

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Dear Clay Clairborne,

I don't know you, so forgive this intrusion.

I saw on the Marxmail list that you had posted an essay called "More 
Opportunist Lies on Syria from Counterpunch."

In that article you write, "Counterpunch has time and again shown that it has 
no integrity when it comes to reporting on people's revolts against its 
'anti-imperialist' heroes like the fascist dictatorships like Mummar Qaddafi 
and Bashar Assad."

I have written for Counterpunch from the 1990s. Since the move to the web, I 
have regularly written for the website. During the Arab Spring, I have been on 
of the stable of people who have written for Counterpunch, mainly regarding the 
struggles in Libya.

By making the kind of sweeping generalization that you make, you erase the 
writing that people like myself do on the Counterpunch website. It would be 
inconceivable to portray the work I have done as treating either Qaddafi or 
Assad as anti-imperialist heroes. In fact, my work runs on a much different 
track than what you denounce. Are you suggesting that the writing that I, and 
others, do on Counterpunch does not define its work "time and again"?

Jeffrey is better equipped to say this, but I will give you my impression: 
Counterpunch is an anti-systemic website with a wide range of writers, many of 
whom would not agree with each other (one of the regulars is Lou himself). 
There is no strict editorial line, as far as I can tell, and that is for the 
better. The editors obviously have a view, which is a good thing, but they do 
not publish only what is strictly in accordance either with their views or with 
that of their other writers.

I was one of the first to sign the petition that Bricmont attacks. I think his 
comment on the statement was very poorly done. But that's his mess.

You are of course entitled to draw broad strokes denunciations of whom you 
wish. To be more credible, however, you (and Bricmont) would be better suited 
to a bit more nuance and accuracy.

Best Wishes,

Vijay.


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[Marxism] Cairo official death toll passes 500

[Sebastian Clare]

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23711534

My god... What a massacre. I have never regarded Morsi or the MB with
anything but antipathy, but this is appalling. Horrific.

Would any leftist have the gall to support the Military government now?

Solidarity,
Seb

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Re: [Marxism] Contradictions of WC Consciousness

[Marv Gandall]

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On 2013-08-14, at 8:56 PM, turb...@aol.com wrote:

> Sorry. My last post was intended for the lbo listserve.

For the curious, my reply to Jim Creegan's post:

http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/pipermail/lbo-talk/Week-of-Mon-20130812/002360.html

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