[Marxism] Fwd: Syria crisis: David Cameron raises prospect of Assad staying in power to win Russian support for anti-Isis alliance | Middle East | News | The Independent

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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(Patrick Cockburn must have sat down and spoken to Cameron.)

David Cameron will remain open to the possibility of Bashar al-Assad 
remaining President of Syria in the short term when he goes to New York 
to address the UN on Sunday.


In an extraordinary U-turn since pushing for air strikes against the 
Assad regime in 2013, the Prime Minister is reportedly willing to 
side-line the issue of regime change in order to keep alive the prospect 
of a grand coalition to defeat Isis.


An alliance involving all of the West, Russia and powers in the region 
could turn the tide in the military campaign against the so-called 
“Islamic State” militant group – but Vladimir Putin has made it clear he 
will back Assad against any international intervention.


full: 
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-crisis-david-cameron-raises-prospect-of-assad-staying-in-power-to-win-russian-support-for-anti-a6668896.html

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[Marxism] Fwd: How America built its empire: The real history of American foreign policy that the media won’t tell you - Salon.com

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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(Perry Anderson evidently forgot everything he learned in the Trotskyist 
movement.)


All of that is true, but at the same time Stalin remained a communist 
who firmly believed that the ultimate mission of the world’s working 
class was to overthrow capitalism, everywhere. His immediate stance was 
defensive, but in the much longer run his expectation was offensive. In 
that sense, U.S. policies toward the USSR were not needlessly 
aggressive, as revisionists maintain, but perfectly rational. The two 
systems were mortal antagonists.


full: 
http://www.salon.com/2015/09/23/how_america_built_its_empire_the_real_history_of_american_foreign_policy_that_the_media_wont_tell_you/

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[Marxism] Australia now full member of Axis of Resistance

[Michael Karadjis via Marxism]

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Australia joins the ‘Axis of Resistance’
September 27, 2015
https://mkaradjis.wordpress.com/2015/09/27/australia-joins-the-axis-of-resistance/

Australia is the latest country to fully join the “Axis of Resistance” 
lining up behind the tyrannical dictatorship of Bashar Assad in Syria, 
using the excuse, as always,  of the rise of ISIS to justify supporting 
a regime whose main opponents are in fact not ISIS at all, but the 
Syrian masses, armed and unarmed, a vast rebel movement which has done 
far more to beat back ISIS than the Assad regime has either ever tried 
to do, or succeeded in doing the rare times it has tried.


People should not be fooled by this ruling class rhetoric: they are 
lining up with a regime that has bombed its country back to the Stone 
Age for four years straight, killed hundreds of thousands, tortured to 
death tens of thousands and driven millions into exile. That the result 
would be a degree of extremism, including the truly barbaric extremism 
of ISIS, is hardly a surprise; offering more of the same is hardly a 
solution. But the very deliberate ignoring of the overwhelming majority 
of the opposition to Assad, which is also opposed to ISIS, is not 
ignorance: it is the politics of ruling class solidarity.


I’ve said it till my throat is hoarse, but every new event seems to 
confirm it: while imperialist politicians may prefer Assad the person 
went away to better protect his Syrian ruling class regime as a whole 
against the masses, the one thing they will never do is actually support 
the masses rising up against the regime. It is class politics.


In recent days and weeks, US, British, German, Italian, Austrian and 
other leaders have one after the other declared either that Assad is a 
necessary part of the fight, er, “against ISIS,” or a necessary part of 
the “political solution” or “negotiated settlement,” even if he plays an 
allegedly “temporary” role. Cameron suggested 6 months; Kerry suggested 
the point wasn’t to say how long. Merkel seemed more straight out 
supportive. Meanwhile, Kerry has essentially welcomed the Russian 
build-up in support of Assad as a potentially constructive move that the 
US could partner with to, you know, “fight ISIS,” and Israeli leader 
Netanyahu took his top IDF generals to Moscow to organise how to 
“coordinate air operations” and share intelligence.


Seemed the Axis of resistance was getting unbearably long when out came 
French ultra-rightist Le Pen likewise declaring that Assad was the best 
option to fight ISIS, but France doesn’t need to strike “terrorist 
targets” in Syria itself, it would be better to just align with Russia 
and its greater resources to fight these terrorists 
(http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-27/le-pen-says-france-should-align-with-russia-on-approach-to-syria). 
Must be embarrassing how much that sounds like some of the voices coming 
out of the UK Stop Some wars Coalition.


Now back to Australia.

I say Australia has now “fully” joined the pro-Assad “Axis of 
Resistance” because it essentially already was a member under former PM 
Tony Abbott. Even though this article heralding the reactionary Liberal 
Party government’s “new” policy of explicit support for Assad, under the 
new Malcolm Turnbill leadership, suggests it is a break from Abbott’s 
“harder” position, in fact all it does is firm up the Abbott position.


When Abbott several weeks ago declared Australian bombers, already 
bombing ISIS in Iraq, would begin bombing in Syria as well, he asked, 
while we allegedly want Assad gone, “do our military ­operations 
contribute to that at this time?” and answered “No, they don’t.”


Moreover, for years now he has reiterated his view that the struggle in 
Syria was “baddies versus baddies,” ie, not just ISIS, but everyone 
fighting Assad is just as “bad” as the regime.


At this time, he made that clearer: ““It’s not easy to find moderates in 
that part of the world, particularly in Syria. At the moment the main 
forces are the gruesome Assad regime; the if-anything more diabolical 
Daesh death cult; and then of course there’s the people linked with 
al-Qa’ida. So it’s difficult to find effective moderates in Syria” 
(http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/terror/bashar-al-assad-not-in-our-sights-says-tony-abbott/story-fnpdbcmu-1227520260640?from=public_rss_source=The%20Australian_medium=email_campaign=editorial).


So now the new leadership, via the same Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, 
declares agreement with the “emerging view in some quarters that the 
only conceivable option would be a national unity government involving 
President Assad.” In fact, last April, as 

[Marxism] Senator Kerry joins the axis of resistance

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/27/world/middleeast/shifting-direction-kerry-aims-to-include-iran-in-efforts-to-end-the-conflict-in-syria.html
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[Marxism] Fwd: The Challenges of Russian Imperialism Today ? | Ukraine solidarity campaign солідарність України кампанія

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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http://ukrainesolidaritycampaign.org/2015/09/27/the-challenges-of-russian-imperialism-today/
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[Marxism] How Democracy Now helped to create the Syrian refugee crisis

[Clay Claiborne via Marxism]

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New from Linux Beach:


 How Democracy Now helped to create the Syrian refugee crisis
 


The current Syrian refugee crisis did not just suddenly descend upon 
Europe without notice. It took years of neglect while the Syrian 
government carried out a policy of war on civilians, even employing a 
strategy that involved specifically targeting children 
. 
It took years of silence while millions fled the violence to Jordan, 
and one in every fourth person in Lebanon became a Syrian refugee. It 
took years of hypocrisy in complaining about Turkey's failure to 
control it border while not mentioning the 2 million Syrians that have 
been forced across that border by violence.
*More...* 


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[Marxism] Paul Erlich and Erik Olin Wright vs the Pope

[Shalva Eliava via Marxism]

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Too bad their articles are behind the academic journal's pay wall.

Erlich's dismissal of the Pope's reasonable statement that overconsumption in 
the rich countries (and in the rich enclaves of the poor countries) is the real 
driver of environmental catastrophe is very revealing of the class biases 
coloring his analysis. Why anyone cares what he has to say anymore is beyond 
me...

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/24/popes-climate-stance-is-nonsense-rejects-population-control-says-top-us-scientist?CMP=ema_565a


Отправлено с iPhone

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[Marxism] Ireland: Who's afraid of the Easter Rising, 1916-2016

[Philip Ferguson via Marxism]

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Two old acquaintances of mine, James Heartfield and Kevin Rooney, have
written a very good book on the Easter 1916 rebellion in Ireland and how
the southern Irish establishment has had a very problematic relationship
with this key event in modern Irish history.

As the 100th anniversary approaches, they are still not sure how to deal
with this troublesome event.

James has written a few paragraphs about the book for the irish revolution
blog.  See:
https://theirishrevolution.wordpress.com/2015/09/28/whos-afraid-of-the-easter-rising/

One of the problems of the state not being overly keen to commemorate it is
the 'danger' that New Sinn Fein will appropriate it.  In fact, the
Shinners' commemorations already look like they'll be rather more
impressive than the state's own:
https://theirishrevolution.wordpress.com/2015/02/08/shinners-seize-the-moment-socialist-republicans-need-a-serious-alternative/

Phil
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[Marxism] London Verso Books event on the future of the global economy

[Philip Ferguson via Marxism]

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*Tuesday, 6 October, 6.30-8pm*

Venue: The Institute of Contemporary Arts, The Mall, London SW1Y 5AH

Topic: The Future of the Global Economy

Speakers: James Meadway, Mary Robertson, Tony Norfield

Admission fee: £10 (£7 for ICA members)

This is the first session in a series run by Verso Books, entitled,
'Radical Thinkers: Crisis Economics'. See their advertisement here
.

Tony will be discussing financial aspects of the crisis.
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[Marxism] Is Maduro taking Chavismo down the pragmatic path? Part 2 of interview with Steve Ellner

[Stuart Munckton via Marxism]

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In the first part of the interview (available here
) conducted by *Evaristo Marcano*, *Professor
Steve Ellner* contextualized government politics that favored those
businesspeople who did not support the general strike of 2002-2003.
According to him, the strategy was relatively successful from a political
viewpoint, but not an economic one. In the second part of the interview,
Ellner argues that populist policies also have to be contextualized in
order to be objectively analyzed. At the same time, he calls for a critical
examination of the assertion that the government’s social programs and
labor policies have generated low levels of productivity.

http://links.org.au/node/4579

-- 
“Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is humanity’s
original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made,
through disobedience and through rebellion.” — Oscar Wilde, Soul of Man
Under Socialism

“The free market is perfectly natural... do you think I am some kind of
dummy?” — Jarvis Cocker
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[Marxism] What way to freedom - Che vs Gandhi

[Philip Ferguson via Marxism]

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Demystifying the Mahatma:
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2012/10/02/creepy-old-gandhi-demystifying-the-mahatma/

The legacy of Che: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2011/10/17/the-legacy-of-che/

And on Che's African episode:
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2014/10/09/in-review-che-in-africa/
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[Marxism] Iranian activists call on governemtnto end support for Assad

[Dennis Brasky via Marxism]

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http://www.juancole.com/2015/09/iranian-activists-support.html
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[Marxism] Greece: SYRIZA's scores clear win amid high abstention, more austerity

[Stuart Munckton via Marxism]

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By Dick Nichols

SYRIZA pulled off a remarkable victory at the September 20 Greek election.
Although burdened  by its acceptance of the draconian third memorandum of
Greece's creditors and eight months of rule in the midst of recession,
closed banks and capital controls, SYRIZA's vote fell by only 0.88% and its
parliamentary seats by just four.

http://links.org.au/node/4580

-- 
“Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is humanity’s
original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made,
through disobedience and through rebellion.” — Oscar Wilde, Soul of Man
Under Socialism

“The free market is perfectly natural... do you think I am some kind of
dummy?” — Jarvis Cocker
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[Marxism] Lady Bo “Mother of Rock ‘N’ Roll” Dies at 75 Years-Old

[Greg McDonald via Marxism]

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http://sheshredsmag.com/lady-bo-mother-of-rock-n-roll-dies-at-75-years-old/

Peggy Jones, later known as Lady Bo, was an innovative and expressive
guitarist who was an original part of Bo Diddley’s sound from 1957 to 1962
and influential in her own songwriting and musical endeavors thereafter.
Although there is no obituary currently published, a few hours ago
today,Ponderosa
Stomp Foundation —an annual music
festival taking place in New Orleans, LA—who hosted Lady Bo in 2011
announced her death. A few days prior, husband and bass player Wally Malone
wrote on his Facebook page,  “Today is one of the saddest days of my life.
My wife and partner of 47 Years has been called up to that great rock &
roll band in the heavens to be reunited with Bo Diddley, Jerome Green and
Clifton James”. Peggy Jones played a pivotal role in rock and roll and
remained a main source of inspiration for hundreds of musicians to follow.
Her immense dedication, passion and talent will forever be remembered and
influential in the history of music. Rest in peace Lady Bo. We love you.

*A brief history of Peggy Jones A.K.A Lady Bo*

Peggy Jones was born on July 19th, 1940 in New York City where she  grew up
 and attended Manhattan’s High School for the Performing Arts. She trained
in opera, tap dancing, and ballet. Her life and music took a new direction
when she met Bo Diddley for the first time; Diddley was so shocked to see a
young woman with a guitar that he initiated conversation, eventually
inviting her to play with him in his dressing room after a show. Jones
quickly became a session musician in Bo Diddley’s band before officially
joining as a full time member. During this time, Diddley taught her how to
play in his distinctive open tuning and she began to make bold use of
effects which contributed greatly to her style. Jones and Diddley traded
back and forth between rhythm and lead guitar so effortlessly that it often
sounded like one player. Jones herself once said, “You couldn’t tell one
guitar from the other unless you were there.” Together they created the
sound that would define rhythm and blues guitar in the sixties. During her
first stint with Diddley’s band she contributed guitar and vocals to
recordings such as “Road Runner” and “Hey Bo Diddley.” She demonstrated her
skill and animated style on the 1961 recording “Aztec,” which she played
all of the guitars, but is often mistakenly attributed to Bo Diddley.

In addition to her work with Bo Diddley’s band, Jones had a rich solo
career. She formed her own band, The Jewels (also known as The Family
Jewel, Lady Bo and the Family Jewel, The Fabulous Jewels, Little Jewel and
the Family Jewel, and Lady Bo and the BC Horns). Jones left Diddley’s band
in 1961 to focus on her work with the Jewels which went on to become one of
the most popular touring bands on the East Coast. During this time she also
released singles with groups such as the Bop Chords and the Continentals
and even briefly joined James Brown’s backing band. When Jones rejoined Bo
Diddley in 1970 her entire band came with her and became his new backing
band. At their first show back together the crowd was so excited to see
them back on stage together that they chanted “Lady Bo”—thus creating
Jones’s famous nickname.

Peggy Jones always displayed a wonderful willingness to experiment with new
guitars, effects, and sounds. Her enthusiasm for new guitar technologies
helped balance out Diddley’s reliance on the cigar box guitar that made him
famous, and allowed the band to evolve sonically over the course of time.
Though she typically favored Gibson guitars, Lady Bo also played more
experimental instruments such as the Roland guitar synthesizer and used
their unique sounds in ways not often heard in rhythm and blues guitar.
Lady Bo is seldom given the recognition she deserves for helping create the
sound that would define rhythm and blues for decades, but her sonic
influence will remain a significant part of music history.
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[Marxism] Je suis Karen

[John Passant via Marxism]

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Je suis Karen

The real extremists sit in Canberra and in the board rooms across the 
country. It is not Karen who invaded Iraq, or Afghanistan. It is not 
Karen who is bombing Syria. It is not Karen killing black men and women 
in custody. It is not Karen driving Aboriginal people off their land to 
open it up for big mining companies. It is not Karen killing women in 
relationships or doing very little about it. It is not Karen increasing 
inequality and poverty in Australia. It is not Karen attacking Medicare. 
It is not Karen attacking penalty rates and wages. It is not Karen who 
is stopping equal love.   It is not Karen locking up and abusing 
thousands of innocent people on Manus Island and Nauru.


As Howard Zinn so eloquently put it our problem is not civil 
disobedience; it is civil obedience.


http://enpassant.com.au/2015/09/27/je-suis-karen/

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