[Marxism] Fwd: The FBI Takes Charge: The Establishment May be Done with Trump | New Politics
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * After nearly four months of President Donald Trump’s chaotic presidency surrounded by controversies and scandals, the American establishment has decided to take things in hand. That is the meaning of deputy attorney general Rod J. Rosenstein’s appointment of Robert S. Mueller III to serve as special counsel to investigate ties between the Trump administration and Russia. Mueller, who had served as the FBI director from 2001 to 2013 under presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, has both the confidence of the establishment and the political independence that will allow him to pursue the issue without fear of presidential interference. Mueller’s appointment suggests that the American corporate, political, and military elite may have had enough of Trump’s unstable, unproductive, and dangerous behavior and are prepared to drive him from office. Trump’s thoughtless tweets, his off-hand remarks on the most important domestic and foreign policy questions, and his erratic political behavior, all of which have led to the paralysis of the Republican congressional agenda, stand in the way both of the dominant neoliberal political establishment supported by many Republican and Democratic politicians, and of the far-right Freedom Caucus, which is anxious to destroy last remnants of the New Deal and the Great Society social welfare programs of the Golden Years of 1939 to 1979. full: http://newpol.org/content/fbi-takes-charge-establishment-may-be-done-trump _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Fwd: Abacus: Too Small to Jail | Louis Proyect: The Unrepentant Marxist
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Opening tomorrow at the IFC Center in NYC, “Abacus: Too Small to Jail” is a documentary that chronicles the five year legal struggle of the founder, top officers (his daughters) and lower-level staff to defend themselves against District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. (the son of Jimmy Carter’s Secretary of State) who charged them with bank fraud felonies having absolutely no merit. The Abacus Federal Savings Bank was a mom-and-pop operation located on the Bowery in Chinatown between a herb medication shop and a noodle parlor. It was founded by lawyer and real estate investor Thomas Sung in 1985 to meet the needs of the immigrant community that distrusted the big banks that operated in Chinatown. Even if they had Chinese tellers and managers, it was nearly impossible for an immigrant to get a loan or a mortgage. full: https://louisproyect.org/2017/05/18/abacus-too-small-to-jail/ _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] An ICE Arrest After A Workers' Comp Meeting Has Lawyers Questioning If It Was Retaliation | WBUR News
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[Marxism] More fuel for the fires of hell
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-19/roger-ailes-fox-news-founder-dead-at-77/8539618 _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Fwd: Who’s Afraid of the White Working Class?: On Joan C. Williams’s “White Working Class: Overcoming Class Cluelessness in America” - Los Angeles Review of Books
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Good for Roediger This is a must read. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Assadist ties to the far right
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * This was a FB post by Amal Saad, a Professor of Political Science, Lebanese University and author of works on Hizbullah. She is okay with smearing Syrian rebels as terrorists but is uncomfortable with people like Paul Antonopoulos or Tim Anderson doing so as well: I know a lot of people are going to hate me for saying this, but it needs to be said: The "Resistance Axis" camp needs to engage in some self-reflection and realize that a significant portion of its adherents are aligned with right-wing fascist movements in the West, and are pinning their hopes on the likes of Le Pen; these are the same people who previously wagered on Trump. This disturbing alliance is neither strategic nor ideologically defensible. 1) As the Trump regime has demonstrated, there is no guarantee that a right-wing government will conduct a ME policy any different from a liberal/Democratic one. In fact, these movements are as beholden to Israel and Saudi Arabia, if not more, than the liberals, and by extension are even more hostile to Iran and Hizbullah than them. 2) In supporting the right, not only are we condoning racism, Islamophobia, misogyny, xenophobia etc. we are treating them as though they are less dangerous and lesser injustices than the sectarian policies supported by liberals. How is Islamophobia and xenophobia a better guarantee for minority rights than sectarianism? Many in this camp have prioritized the protection of minorities and secularism, while completely losing sight the initial reason Hizbullah and Iran supported the Assad government: resistance to imperialism and Israel. What is more, how can there be room for Islamophobia in this camp when Syria's key allies--Iran, the Iraqi PMU and Hizbullah--are Islamists? 3) Even if people aren't familiar with progressive values, they merely need look to Hizbullah for some guidance on this. Look at Hizb's cautious embrace of Russia, who Nasrallah described as an ally but "NOT part of the Resistance Axis" because of its ties to Israel. Hizbullah doesn't even consider the Iraqi government as part of this Axis, because of its ties to the US, only the PMU. Moreover, Nasrallah has decried the dangers of xenophobia and racism against Syrian refugees. Back in 2009, Hizb even refused to meet with Jimmy Carter, although Hamas did, because it rejected any association with the US political establishment. And he was hardly a right wing racist nut. 4) How can we consider ourselves "free" once we liberate Syria from the Takfiri scourge if we did so with the help of the West's alt-right, who consider colonialism "a good thing" as Le Pen recently declared? How are we free from imperialism if this is how we achieve victory? We are so focused on "freedom from" that we have lost sight of what we want to be "free for." A "cause" that isn't anchored in a wider theoretical and ideological framework, i.e. a progressive solidarity movement that sees its interests aligned with the interests of the working poor, the refugees, African-Americans, Muslims and other minorities in the US and Europe, and the oppressed of the global South, is not a cause anymore but a movement that just seeks to "win." A cause that relies on the enemies of the oppressed is no longer a cause but is reduced to narrow, parochial interests, a movement that wants "Our Team" to win no matter the price. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Major decisions face Québec solidaire at its forthcoming congress
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Quebecs broad party of the left, Québec solidaire (QS), will open a four-day congress on May 19 in Montréal the 12th congress in its 11-year history. The delegates face a challenging agenda. It includes the final stage of adoption of the partys detailed program, a process begun eight years ago; discussion of possible alliances with other parties and some social movements including a proposed fusion with another pro-independence party, Option nationale; and renewal of the partys top leadership. Québec solidaire has attracted unusual media attention in recent months in the wake of the February announcement by Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, the best-known leader of Quebecs massive student strike in 2012, that he had decided to join the party and become its candidate to replace QS leader Françoise David, who resigned in January, as the member of the National Assembly for the riding (constituency) of Gouin in Montréal. Nadeau-Dubois often referred to as GND also announced that he would campaign for election at this congress as the partys male co-spokesperson. He is widely expected to win the Gouin by-election now scheduled for May 29. GNDs announcement, accompanied by his sharp attack on Quebecs political class which for 30 years has betrayed Quebec, prompted a flood of new membership applications; within a few days the QS membership grew by about 5,000, a 50% increase. An opinion poll at the time credited QS with 16% popular support, only 6 percentage points behind the Parti québécois in Montréal.[1] These were welcome developments for the party, which has failed since its founding to elect more than three MNAs under Quebecs undemocratic first-past-the-post electoral system. Also, although QS benefited from the militancy and popular support of the students struggle in 2012, gaining 4,000 new members for a time, it has suffered from a relative demobilization of social movement activists since then, although the ecology movement in opposition to climate change appears to be gaining in momentum. Full: http://tinyurl.com/l7lxx77 --- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG. http://www.avg.com _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Fwd: Donald Trump Said Saudi Arabia Was Behind 9/11. Now He’s Going There on His First Foreign Trip.
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Another illustration why Trump's words mean less than his actions. The one thing this bastard could do to boost his popularity is announce a major infrastructure project that will put a million men and women to work at a starting wage of $25 but his New Dealish type rhetoric was nothing but rhetoric. https://theintercept.com/2017/05/18/donald-trump-said-saudi-arabia-was-behind-911-now-hes-going-there-on-his-first-foreign-trip/ _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Fwd: Tesla factory workers reveal pain, injury and stress: 'Everything feels like the future but us' | Technology | The Guardian
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * The appetite for Musk’s electric cars, and his promise to disrupt the carbon-reliant automobile industry, has helped Tesla’s value exceed that of both Ford and, briefly, General Motors (GM). But some of the human workers who share the factory with their robotic counterparts complain of grueling work pressure they attribute to Musk’s aggressive production goals, and sometimes life-changing injuries. Ambulances have been called more than 100 times since 2014 for workers experiencing fainting spells, dizziness, seizures, abnormal breathing and chest pains, according to incident reports obtained by the Guardian. Hundreds more were called for injuries and other medical issues. full: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/18/tesla-workers-factory-conditions-elon-musk _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Fwd: Hanford is Ripe for a Radioactive Explosion
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[Marxism] Fwd: Reading Capital Today | Michael Roberts Blog
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Over the next few months, I shall try to critique Harvey’s and other scholars’ analysis as we head towards the Capital.150 symposium. But you can see some of the differences that I and other scholars have already raised with Harvey’s views, particularly on the causes of crises here. David Harvey’s contribution to understanding Marx’s great work has been invaluable. But there are other readings that have also made an important contribution, if less well known. For example, out in Los Angeles, Frieda Afary, a philosophy MA and librarian, has been conducting community-based readings of Capital throughout this year. But perhaps, the most useful guide in reading Capital today is a new book by Joseph Choonara, A Reader’s Guide to Marx’s Capital (not published until July). Choonara takes the reader through each chapter of Volume One with some clarifying analysis and relevant comment to help. Choonara says that “It is designed to be read in parallel with Capital itself, with each chapter of this book consulted either before or after digesting the relevant sections of Marx’s work.” The aim, unlike that of Harvey’s more comprehensive approach in his video lectures, is “instead to dwell on those areas that are the most vital to an overall understanding of the work and those that most often confuse, drawing on my own experience teaching Capital to left-wing audiences of students and workers over the past decade”. For, in Choonara’s view, Marx attempted in Capital to see capitalism from the point of view of labour and aimed for a working-class audience. Capital clearly does the former, but whether it achieved its aim of reaching working class readers is more doubtful. Choonara’s guide can help here. full: https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2017/05/18/reading-capital-today/ _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Fwd: Who’s Afraid of the White Working Class?: On Joan C. Williams’s “White Working Class: Overcoming Class Cluelessness in America” - Los Angeles Review of Books
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * A while back John Emerson, a Rutgers professor and FB friend, posted a link to an article by Joan Williams explaining why her father and other white workers were voting for Trump. I called the article bullshit as did most other of Emerson's friends in a lengthy thread. Here is my good comrade and friend David Roediger's take on Williams that should be *very* interesting. https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/whos-afraid-of-the-white-working-class-on-joan-c-williamss-white-working-class-overcoming-class-cluelessness-in-america/ _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Fwd: Nearly half of U.S. voters support Trump impeachment, poll shows - NY Daily News
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Their system tried hard to offer us something better than Trump in 2015-16. Not only did it fail, but it is no closer to having anything better with which to replace him. Republican elders have been rejected repeatedly or, like the younger ones, simply not that widely trusted. They are producing a large number of fresh-faced women and spokesmodels of color among the GOP consultants, strategists and commentators circulating through the 24/7 news shows. And the Democrats really have nothing more to offer than they did before. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] "Leninism" and Scientology [was: Reflections on the “party question”]
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * It takes political conditions that have to ask "the party question" of us. Otherwise, it's entirely an abstraction of dubious meaning shared among a relative handful of people. We should keep the matter in mind, of course, but until there's serious movements (and I don't mean things that fall dead on their face because the Democrats ask them to), nothing is forcing an answer to that question. The American equivalent of the Chartists, the old land reformers merit consideration in this, along with--and, perhaps especially, the political abolitionists. After some initial false starts, these forces combined their efforts in a numerically small but broad electoral effort that denied both the Democrats and Whigs majorities in the wake of the Mexican War. Starting in New York and then in Massachusetts, they began what became an unraveling of the two-party system--that is, the legitimated the idea of not voting for either of the proslavery parties. The strength of raising the question of slavery in a political way became widespread enough that it posed "the party question" in a serious way. ML _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
