[Marxism] Britain: Push for for "ecocide" prosecutions for mass ecological destruction

[Stuart Munckton]

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 Push to prosecute mass ecosystem destruction as 'ecocide'
April 12, 2010

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/push-to-prosecute-mass-ecosystem-destruction-as-ecocide-20100411-s0ww.html

*LONDON: *A campaign to declare the mass destruction of ecosystems an
international crime against peace - alongside genocide and crimes against
humanity - is being launched in Britain.

The proposal for the United Nations to accept ''ecocide'' as a fifth ''crime
against peace'', which could be tried at the International Criminal Court,
is the brainchild of a lawyer-turned-campaigner, Polly Higgins.

The idea would have a profound effect on industries blamed for widespread
damage to the environment such as fossil fuels, mining, agriculture,
chemicals and forestry.

Supporters of an ecocide law also believe it could be used to prosecute
''climate deniers'' who distort science and facts to discourage voters and
politicians from taking action to tackle global warming and climate change.

''Ecocide is in essence the very antithesis of life,'' Ms Higgins said. ''It
leads to resource depletion, and where there is escalation of resource
depletion, war comes chasing behind. Where such destruction arises out of
the actions of mankind, ecocide can be regarded as a crime against peace.''

Ms Higgins, formerly a barrister in London specialising in employment, has
already had success at the United Nations with a Universal Declaration for
Planetary Rights, modelled on the human rights declaration. ''My starting
point was 'how do we create a duty of care to the planet, a pre-emptive
obligation to not harm the planet?'' she asked.

After a successful introduction at the UN in 2008, the idea has been adopted
by the Bolivian government, which will propose a full members' vote.

Ecocide is already recognised by dictionaries.

*Guardian News & Media*


-- 
“Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man'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's new at Links: Thailand, B olivia, N-power, Greens, Philippines, Chicka Dix on, Canada, COSATU on Terre’Blanche, Québec, Oscar Romero, climate

[glparramatta]

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What's new at Links: Thailand, Bolivia, N-power, Greens, Philippines, 
Chicka Dixon, Canada, COSATU on Terre’Blanche, Québec, Oscar Romero, climate

* * *
Subscribe free to Links - International Journal of Socialist Renewal - 
at http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=343373

You can also follow Links on Twitter at 
http://twitter.com/LinksSocialism or on Facebook at 
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10865397643

Visit and bookmark http://links.org.au and add it to your RSS feed 
(http://links.org.au/rss.xml). If you would like us to
consider an article, please send it to li...@dsp.org.au

*Please pass on to anybody you think will be interested in Links.

* * *


Thailand: Asia-Pacific left statement -- `Resolve crisis through
democracy, not crackdown!' 

By *Socialist Party of Malaysia* (PSM), *Working People's Association* 
(PRP) of Indonesia, *People’s Democratic Party* (PRD) of Indonesia, 
*Turn Left Thailand*, *Partido Lakas ng Masa* (PLM) of the Philippines*, 
Socialist Alliance* of Australia, *Solidarity* (Australia)
April 10, 2010 -- We are deeply concerned over the current situation in 
Thailand where military-backed Prime Minister Ahbisit Vejjajiva has 
declared a state of emergency and started a bloody crackdown amidst 
escalating protests calling for a fresh election.

* Read more 


Bolivia: Bittersweet victory highlights obstacles for process of
change 

By *Federico Fuentes*, Caracas
April 10, 2010 Although final figures will not be known until April 24, 
the results of Bolivia's April 4 regional elections have ratified the 
continued advance of the "democratic and cultural revolution" led by the 
country's first Indigenous president, Evo Morales. However, it also 
highlights some of the shortcomings and obstacles the process of change 
faces.

* Read more 


(Updated April 11) Thailand: Tyrants shoot the people to cling to
power; Time for immediate fresh elections


*STOP PRESS -- April 10, 2010*

By *Giles Ji Ungpakorn*

Soldiers armed with live and rubber bullets and CS gas have attacked the 
peaceful pro-democracy Red Shirts at various spots in the centre of 
Bangkok. At least 15 people, Red Shirts and one Japanese Reuters 
reporter, have been shot dead by armed troops using automatic weapons, 
and tanks [were used] against peaceful pro-democracy demonstrators. 
Hundreds more people have been injured. The military-backed government 
of Abhisit Vejjajiva has blood on its hands and should resign 
immediately. Some soldiers have been taken prisoner and weapons seized. 
Red Shirts outside Bangkok have seized many provincial headquarters.

* Read more 


Why James Hansen is wrong on nuclear power


By *Renfrey Clarke*
April 8, 2010 -- “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you 
do, sir?” Attributed to economist J.M. Keynes, that retort has always 
been good advice. Now that carrying on with “business as usual” 
greenhouse gas emissions has been revealed as a road to disaster, should 
environmentalists change their minds on nuclear power?

* Read more 


The Australian Greens: mainstream party or minor irritant?


The following speech was delivered as the 10th Annual Juanita Nielsen 
Lecture, on March 23, 2010. Sylvia Hale is a Greens member of the NSW 
state parliament, elected to the Legislative Council (upper house) in 
2003. Juanita Nielsen was a campaigner against the big business 
development of Kings Cross, Sydney, who disappeared in 1975, and widely 
suspected of having been kidnapped and murdered by crime figures 
associated with property developers.

* Read more 


Philippines: Ric Reyes for Pasig mayor -- a model electoral campaign
for the left 

/ /By *Reihana Mohideen*
April 7, 2010 -- Ric Reyes' campaign for mayor of the city Pasig was 
formally launched at a 5000-strong local rally on March 26. The march, 
the biggest to be held in that city for many years, snaked its way on a 
"long march" through the working-class sections of Pasig. Ric Reyes' 
campaign is a model campaign for the left – an example of how to conduct 
a united, principled and effective electoral intervention.

* Read more 


The thoughts of `Chairman' Chicka Dixon; `The Fox has the last laugh


*/"I believe every woman of this planet is my sister. I believe every 
man on this planet is my brother. Like all Kooris 

Re: [Marxism] "Climategate" Researchers Largely Cleared

[S. Artesian]

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DW:  David S. perhaps I overstated your view...I'm sure you and Louis are 
opposed  to the use of coal as a means of generating electricity AND that 
you are  aware of at least the bigger problems with its use.
___

The more you try to defend what you said, the more fucked up it gets.  You 
didn't say that Louis and I didn't oppose coal as a means of generating 
electricity.  You said Louis and I did not give a flying fuck, a rat's ass, 
about the deaths caused by the production of coal.  That's not an 
overstatement, that's a slanderous pile of steaming bullshit.  Have I made 
myself clear as to what part of your epistle I take exception to?  The part 
where you accuse Louis and me of not at all objecting to the death of coal 
miners.

I don't care what Louis said or didn't say about wind power and solar power, 
or hamster power.  I made a slightly humorous remark about your ridiculous 
comparison of nuclear radiation to chocolate, and you respond with bullshit 
slander.

I can think of some things stupider than advocating nuclear power for 
electricity generation rather than advocating for the socialization of 
utilities, but, given the fact that GE and the energy companies who have 
brought us everything from PBCs in the Hudson River to the coal waste water 
disaster in Tennessee will be the same companies designing, managing and 
operating the nuclear plants,  I can't think of many things stupider.

Should I repeat this one more time?

OK, I'll just copy and paste it below
===

DW:  David S. perhaps I overstated your view...I'm sure you and Louis are 
opposed  to the use of coal as a means of generating electricity AND that 
you are  aware of at least the bigger problems with its use.
___

The more you try to defend what you said, the more fucked up it gets.  You 
didn't say that Louis and I didn't oppose coal as a means of generating 
electricity.  You said Louis and I did not give a flying fuck, a rat's ass, 
about the deaths caused by the production of coal.  That's not an 
overstatement, that's a slanderous pile of steaming bullshit.  Have I made 
myself clear as to what part of your epistle I take exception to?  The part 
where you accuse Louis and me of not at all objecting to the death of coal 
miners.

I don't care what Louis said or didn't say about wind power and solar power, 
or hamster power.  I made a slightly humorous remark about your ridiculous 
comparison of nuclear radiation to chocolate, and you respond with bullshit 
slander.

I can think of some things stupider than advocating nuclear power for 
electricity generation rather than advocating for the socialization of 
utilities, but, given the fact that GE and the energy companies who have 
brought us everything from PBCs in the Hudson River to the coal waster 
disaster in Tennessee will be the same companies designing, managing and 
operating the nuclear plants,  I can't think of many things stupider.

Should I repeat this one more time?




- Original Message - 
From: "DW" 
.net 



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Re: [Marxism] "Climategate" Researchers Largely Cleared

[Louis Proyect]

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DW wrote:

> of Louis's case, he comes back with an ultra-left position that argues, it
> seems, unless address the underlying capitalist cause of all this mess, we
> shouldn't be offering solutions.

There's this book by Leon Trotsky I kinda think might help you to 
understand what kind of demands socialists should raise. It is called 
the Transitional Program. Some people say Programme, I am not sure. In 
any case, that's my basic approach after all these decades. You, of 
course, are entitled to pursue the Spiked Punch Program. Maybe you 
should draft your version of the article I posted from the Spiked Punch 
website earlier, about how the U.S. should go full blast ahead with 
nuclear power, "panic-mongering" leftists be damned. That would be good 
for a chuckle.


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Re: [Marxism] Greetings all

[Christian]

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On 4/11/2010 9:29 PM, Jason Matthes wrote:
> Hey everyone! This is my first post here. Just introducing myself, my
> name's Jay. It's good to be here.
>
>

Hi, Jason. I'm new here also. Welcome.


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Re: [Marxism] "Climategate" Researchers Largely Cleared

[Christian]

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On 4/11/2010 9:25 PM, DW wrote:
> *No, socialists should be fighting for solutions to the energy
> crisis and climate crisis.*  We should be *demanding* things like *better*
> unpolluting energy sources. We should be *demanding* an end to table-topping
> of West Virginia's mountains. And we should be demanding the US gov't both
> take over the energy industry in this country, run in the interests of the
> people and massively build out non-carbon energy sources that can provide
> cheap and abundant power.
>

Maybe socialists shouldn't fight piecemeal battles?

Why should the emancipation of the working class take second
place to the problems it would solve, including "going green"?


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Re: [Marxism] "Climategate" Researchers Largely Cleared

[Shane Mage]

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On Apr 11, 2010, at 9:25 PM, DW wrote:
> He writes " The problems of whether to "go nuclear" or "go fossil"  
> are not the ones facing
> the radical movement." Really? Where have you been Louis? The ENTIRE  
> radical
> movement is debating this issue.

If by "radical" you mean the US Congress, The Chamber of Commerce, and  
the Obama administration.  What in fact "The ENTIRE radical movement  
is debating" is *how* to "go green."
And because action now, while capitalism is still absolutely dominant,  
is (to the small minority of thinking people--ie., radicals) obviously  
imperative, the necessary programmatic demand of any left (ie., green)  
movement is the immediate imposition of a carbon tax, refundable  
equally to the whole population, that would within at most ten years  
rise to a level that would make coal and oil burning totally  
uneconomic compared to the *present* cost of renewable energy, and  
within at most twenty years to a level that would likewise preclude  
natural gas burning. Nuclear power, deprived of direct or hidden  
subsidies  (like loan guarantees, Price-Anderson, technocratic "fast  
tracks," subsidized transmission lines, etc.), could be free to sink  
or swim in that economic environment.  I think it would hang its  
clothes on a hickory limb but stay far from the water.  David will  
disagree.  But we all should agree that a movement pressing for this  
*immediate* demand is needed to show which of us is right about that.




Shane Mage

"Thunderbolt steers all things." Herakleitos of Ephesos, fr. 64






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[Marxism] Greetings all

[Jason Matthes]

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Hey everyone! This is my first post here. Just introducing myself, my
name's Jay. It's good to be here.


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Re: [Marxism] "Climategate" Researchers Largely Cleared

[DW]

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David S. perhaps I overstated your view...I'm sure you and Louis are opposed
to the use of coal as a means of generating electricity AND that you are
aware of at least the bigger problems with its use. However it is also true
that you let it pass without a comment...or did I miss a post on the
question of coal use AND that compared to nuclear, the risk of coal deaths
is far worse. Or not. Either way you have NOT commented on it or addressed a
solution to it that I'm aware. Bullshit? I think not. And certainly in terms
of Louis's case, he comes back with an ultra-left position that argues, it
seems, unless address the underlying capitalist cause of all this mess, we
shouldn't be offering solutions.

Yet,he stated he doesn't oppose wind power construction but does coal plant
production. Why? What's the point? Where is the solution? He writes " The
problems of whether to "go nuclear" or "go fossil" are not the ones facing
the radical movement." Really? Where have you been Louis? The ENTIRE radical
movement is debating this issue. When I say "we" I mean the people of the
US. What do "we" do? Do do nothing which is what I infer from you is the
only position? No, socialists should be fighting for solutions to the energy
crisis and climate crisis. We should be *demanding* things like *better*
unpolluting energy sources. We should be *demanding* an end to table-topping
of West Virginia's mountains. And we should be demanding the US gov't both
take over the energy industry in this country, run in the interests of the
people and massively build out non-carbon energy sources that can provide
cheap and abundant power.

Jim, what "massive subsidies"? Most of the subsidies referred to are lumped
together with the Manhattan Project (which had zero to do with nuclear
energy), nuclear weapons and nuclear propulsion for Navy ships in the 1950s
(which nuclear energy derived *from* as a byproduct). Most of the deaths
(and all that I know of) in uranium mining occurred during mining for the
frantic rush to develop plutonium for US Nuclear WMD and not nuclear energy.
We should never, ever, let that happen again: either that type of mining or
develoment of nuclear weapons). But what did we get from those
'subsidies'...20% of our energy that is non- carbon. The 'subsidies' for
direct nuclear energy (mostly in R&D) have more than paid for themselves
several dozen times over. So as a 'social investment'...it was a good one.
just like hydro power or the TVA. The only long term solution of course is
to move toward a movement that seeks to take over the electrical energy
production industry in the US, similar to our ill-fated effort here in San
Francisco 10 years ago.

Along these lines PG&E is pushing now create a "2/3 majority vote" for any
municipal or other government entity to take over any private utility via
Proposition 16 on the ballot this year, a hugely anti-democratic measure.

David

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[Marxism] My father was a freedom fighter

[pat costello]

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My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story

By Ramzy Baroud

Just read this book. It made me think of the chant I hear at rallies: Gaza,
Gaza, don't you cry; Palestine will never die.

The Zionists never dreamed that more than 60 years after Israel was declared
a state they would still be dealing with the Palestinians. Ben Gurion wrote
in 1948: "Not one refugee will return. The old will die. The young will
forget."

Ramzy Baroud mixes the personal and the historical as he writes about his
father's militant struggles against the Israelis, his dashed hopes that
Nasser would be the savior of the Palestinians, his bitterness at the
betrayal of Anwar Sadat as well as the daily survival tactics of living in a
refugee camp.

What was it like to flee the Nakba, trying to keep your family together
while avoiding Zionist gangs and strafing airplanes? What survival tactics
do you develop when Israeli soldiers frequently barge into your house
without warning and you have have 5 adolescent sons? How do you function
when an entity that is intent on your destruction is in control of your
economic survival?

He puts it all into the larger context of the development of the PLO, the
Islamic Brotherhood, Hamas and the politics of Arab nationalism.

I contnue to be amazed and humbled by the bravery and tenacity of the
Palestinians.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K2VpARDkzw

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Re: [Marxism] Has John Rees's crew been reading the Unrepentant Marxist?

[Einde O'Callaghan]

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On 12.04.10 00:17, Louis Proyect wrote:
> ==
> Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
> ==
>
>
> Bhaskar Sunkara wrote:
>
>>
>> Not your most original contribution, but it fits quite well with their "hide
>> behind front groups" and "con the working class towards socialism down the
>> road with transitional demands" approach to politics.
>>
>
> I would regard it as a major step forward if they dropped the
> hammer-and-sickle, proletarian mumbo-jumbo in and of itself.
>
The British SWP has never used the hammer-and-sickle as an emblem. The 
fist-symbol used by the party was originally created by an SWP member 
for the first Tom Robinson Band album and then adopted by the party. 
When the group was called IS it used another fist emblem.

Einde O'Callaghan


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Re: [Marxism] Katyn' (not "Stalin", not "Trotsky")

[Jeff]

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At 16:08 11/04/10 -0400, Louis Proyect wrote:
>> However, I would ask if debating the current propaganda wave against
>> the fSU is a dead dog or a living Leviathan.
>
>What propaganda wave are you talking about?

I absolutely agree. This is more like wishful thinking by the (if you'll
excuse me) ex-stalinists who are hoping that they'll be demonized, or
claim credit in cases of demonization of other nationalities, and then try
to rebuild their movements on the back of the resulting nationalist
struggle (surely dominated by the right wing). They sadly can't come to
grip with the fact that history has just passed them by and largely
forgotten them 

Anyway, I can't see why the Poles are so upset about losing their
president. After all, they have another one just like him!




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Re: [Marxism] Has John Rees's crew been reading the Unrepentant Marxist?

[Louis Proyect]

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Bhaskar Sunkara wrote:

> 
> Not your most original contribution, but it fits quite well with their "hide
> behind front groups" and "con the working class towards socialism down the
> road with transitional demands" approach to politics.
> 

I would regard it as a major step forward if they dropped the 
hammer-and-sickle, proletarian mumbo-jumbo in and of itself.


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Re: [Marxism] Has John Rees's crew been reading the Unrepentant Marxist?

[Bhaskar Sunkara]

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Not your most original contribution, but it fits quite well with their "hide
behind front groups" and "con the working class towards socialism down the
road with transitional demands" approach to politics.

On Sun, Apr 11, 2010 at 6:06 PM, Louis Proyect  wrote:

>  From Rees's "How to start a new left wing group: the rules":
>
> Avoid the words socialist, communist, Marxist, workers and Party when
> coining your group's name. It is the 21st century.
>
> full:
>
> http://www.counterfire.org/index.php/blogs/66-luna17-activist/4573-how-to-start-a-new-left-wing-group-the-rules
>

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[Marxism] Socialist Voice: Cuba Aid to Haiti / Quebec vs Muslims / Margaret Atwood and Pslestine

[Ian Angus]

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SOCIALIST VOICE
Marxist Perspectives for the 21st Century
http://www.socialistvoice.ca

April 12, 2010

CUBAN MEDICAL AID TO HAITI: ONE OF THE WORLD’S BEST KEPT SECRETS
by Emily J. Kirk and John M. Kirk
http://www.socialistvoice.ca/?p=1122
Media coverage of Cuban medical cooperation following the disastrous
recent earthquake in Haiti was sparse indeed. International news
reports usually described the Dominican Republic as being the first to
provide assistance, while Fox News sang the praises of U.S. relief
efforts ….

QUEBEC GOVERNMENT JOINS CAMPAIGN AGAINST MUSLIMS AND OTHER MINORITIES
by Richard Fidler
http://www.socialistvoice.ca/?p=1119
With its Bill 94, introduced last month in the Quebec National
Assembly, the Liberal government has joined the crusade against
Muslims and other minorities. The bill would deny government-funded
health care, education and child care services to all whose clothing
prevents disclosure of their face, and would bar them from government
and public-service employment.

APPEAL TO MARGARET ATWOOD: REJECT PRIZE FROM APARTHEID ISRAEL
http://www.socialistvoice.ca/?p=1116
Statements issued by the Palestinian Academic and Cultural Boycott
Initiative (PACBI) and by the Palestinian Students Campaign for the
Academic Boycott of Israel (PSCABI) in besieged Gaza


Recent Articles

VENEZUELA: NEW MOVES TO BUILD WORKERS’ POWER
by Federico Fuentes
http://www.socialistvoice.ca/?p=1097

UN CONFERENCE TO CONSUMMATE U.S. TAKEOVER OF HAITI
by Kim Ives
http://www.socialistvoice.ca/?p=1106

WHY THE PARTI QUÉBÉCOIS EXPELLED SPQ LIBRE
by Richard Fidler
http://www.socialistvoice.ca/?p=1099

CLIMATE CHANGE: FROM COPENHAGEN TO COCHABAMBA
by Franz Chávez
http://www.socialistvoice.ca/?p=1108

+++

SOCIALIST VOICE
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Editors: Ian Angus, Roger Annis, John Riddell

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[Marxism] John Rees article on the financial crisis and the left

[Louis Proyect]

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http://www.counterfire.org/index.php/theory/55-the-crisis/3546-marxism-and-the-crisis-a-strategy-for-the-left


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Re: [Marxism] Katyn' (not "Stalin", not "Trotsky")

[Louis Proyect]

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Néstor Gorojovsky wrote:
> 
> Won't get drawn into the "Russian questions", certainly.
> 
> However, I would ask if debating the current propaganda wave against
> the fSU is a dead dog or a living Leviathan.

What propaganda wave are you talking about? I don't think that Putin has 
the kind of golden boy reputation in the bourgeois press that Yeltsin 
once did, but I don't detect the kind of demonization that is directed 
against Iran or North Korea.


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Re: [Marxism] "Climategate" Researchers Largely Cleared

[Louis Proyect]

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DW wrote:

> IMO and many like me believe that if we don't go nuclear we go fossil.
> Countries like Germany (planning to phase out nuclear and build coal
> plants!) and SA are moving in the *wrong* direction.
> 

What is this "we" bullshit? For somebody who spent 10 years in the SWP 
and then another 5 with the Lambertistes, this is an astounding way to 
put things. The problems of whether to "go nuclear" or "go fossil" are 
not the ones facing the radical movement. Our job is quite simple and 
that is to expose the moral and political bankruptcy of the capitalist 
system, including its rapacious energy corporations. If I was the editor 
of a socialist newspaper, I'd have people writing articles about the 
*abuses* of the system, not writing proposals on how to make the system 
work better. If you were editor, you'd be assigning people to write 
nonsense like this:

http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/article/8362/
Monday 29 March 2010
It’s time the UK had some atomic ambition
Britain might soon face power cuts if it doesn’t invest in new energy 
generation - and, yes, that means embracing nuclear.
Joe Kaplinsky

The boss of one of the major energy suppliers in the UK has called for 
an urgent push to increase supply capacity over the next few years. 
Volker Beckers, the new chief executive of RWE Npower, told The Sunday 
Times yesterday: ‘The country has to build two large plants or more 
every single year… This has never happened in Britain’s history, so 
there’s no time to lose.’ Beckers has a point.

It is widely recognised that the UK has failed to invest in energy 
infrastructure in the past few decades. Although the picture in the US 
and elsewhere is not so different, the UK’s performance in this area has 
been particularly bad. Many of the current stock of coal power stations 
are due to close in line with EU pollution regulations (unrelated to CO2 
emissions) and various nuclear power stations are coming to the end of 
their useful lifetime. But while supply is falling, demand from 
consumers and industry is likely to rise, creating a sizeable gap 
between supply and demand.

One of the major barriers to renewing the UK’s energy infrastructure is 
the popularity of green ideas. The green alternative to new power plants 
is to ‘cut your carbon footprint’ through ‘lifestyle changes’, or to put 
it less euphemistically: use less energy. Since everything we do uses 
energy, this outlook could fairly be paraphrased as ‘live less’. If we 
want to live more, we’re going to need more energy.

The most energy-intensive industries are metals, chemicals, food and 
paper making, but every sector of the economy will need more energy to 
grow. If the UK plans to move away from its reliance on financial 
services - a relatively low user of energy - to promote other forms of 
wealth creation, we’re likely to need more energy for that, too. 
High-speed rail, which the current government is keen to promote, will 
also require us to generate more power to run the trains. But this is 
not simply a matter of powering existing industries. A plentiful supply 
of cheap energy opens up the possibility of totally new applications. 
Dubai’s plans for an air-conditioned beach is just one of the ambitious 
ideas that become possible in the context of large-scale and economical 
energy supply.

The problem is that in recent years, UK electricity investment has been 
dominated by short-termism. Since the 1990s, new supply has been 
dominated by gas-fired generation which is quick and cheap to build. Up 
to a point, that has been a success. But it is now clear that 
larger-scale investment is needed. Government policy has promoted the 
building of numerous windfarms both on and off shore. But instead of a 
long-term plan, which recognises that the wind industry will take time 
to achieve cheap reliable power, the government has invented fantastical 
targets seemingly on the principle that wind can magically solve all of 
our energy problems – which it cannot. Instead of pinning our hopes on 
wind, a technology that is still a long way from being mature, we should 
look at the opportunities that we are missing.

The biggest opportunity being missed is nuclear energy. In the West, 
with the exception of France, the nuclear industry has been stagnating 
since the 1970s. In India, Russia and especially China, nuclear energy 
is now undergoing rapid growth. But there is more to this than simply 
catching up with the East. The basic design of nuclear reactors has not 
changed much since they were first developed during and after the Second 
World War. There are many new possibilities waiting to be explored. For 
example, the ‘travelling wave reactor’, backed by Bill Gates, could turn 
what is now nuclear waste int

Re: [Marxism] "Climategate" Researchers Largely Cleared

[Joseph Catron]

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Yes, but if the nuclear industry were to disappear tomorrow, it would almost
certainly be replaced with an expansion of the coal industry, an all-around
social catastrophe. I strongly suspect that Navin Nayak was able to reach
these conclusions only by counting the costs of subsidizing nuclear power,
but disregarding the environmental and public health costs of coal, the
sorts of things libertarians of the Cato variety have never been eager to
quantify. (I'm not sure what excuse "Navin Nayak ... an environmental
advocate with U.S. Public Interest Research Group" has.)

On Sun, Apr 11, 2010 at 2:18 PM, Jim Farmelant  wrote:

Shane is correct concerning the nuclear power
> industry.  It would have ceased to exist
> long ago if it was not the recipient of extremely
> generous subsidies from the Federal
> government.  Presumably, without such
> subsidies, the industry would have been
> eliminated by free market competition.
> That's why at least some
> libertarians (of the Cato Instutute variety,
> anway) are anti-nuke.  For instance,
> see:
> http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=3134
>

-- 
"Hige sceal þe heardra, heorte þe cenre, mod sceal þe mare, þe ure mægen
lytlað."

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Re: [Marxism] "Climategate" Researchers Largely Cleared

[Jim Farmelant]

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On Sun, 11 Apr 2010 12:52:10 -0400 Shane Mage 
writes:
> 

Shane is correct concerning the nuclear power
industry.  It would have ceased to exist
long ago if it was not the recipient of extremely
generous subsidies from the Federal
government.  Presumably, without such
subsidies, the industry would have been
eliminated by free market competition.
That's why at least some
libertarians (of the Cato Instutute variety,
anway) are anti-nuke.  For instance,
see:
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=3134

Jim Farmelant
http://independent.academia.edu/JimFarmelant

> 
> On Apr 11, 2010, at 12:18 PM, DW wrote:
> >  no one has died in nuclear energy plant or becuse of one in the 
> US
> > that I'm aware of.
> 
> Of course, the Navaho uranium miners who died and go on dying so 
> that  
> each and every nuclear plant could live don't count.
> 
> 
> > Clearly the real risk is minimal as to our health and
> > well being and any statistic on this will prove this.
> 
> Clearly, if a plant poses minimal risk the real cost to insure it 
> will  
> be minimal.  Statistic: the number of nuclear plants ever insured at 
>  
> rates corresponding to the real risk rate: zero.  Statistic: The  
> percentage of nuclear plants exempted by Price-Anderson from the 
> need  
> to insure their corporate owners themselves against the real risk:  
> 
> 100.  Statistic: the number of nuclear plants that would have been  
> 
> built without Price-Anderson: zero.
> 
> 
> Shane Mage
> 
> "Thunderbolt steers all things." Herakleitos of Ephesos, fr. 64
> 
> 
> 
 
 
 

A Mom's Weight Loss Tip
A Mom's Weight Loss Tip
http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4bc212b849cc748821m03vuc


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Re: [Marxism] Katyn' (not "Stalin", not "Trotsky")

[Vladimiro Giacché]

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Il giorno 11/apr/10, alle 18:40, Néstor Gorojovsky ha scritto:

> ==
> Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
> ==
>
>
>  I would ask if debating the current propaganda wave against
> the fSU is a dead dog or a living Leviathan.

An interesting question, indeed.
>
>
> -- 
>
> Néstor Gorojovsky
> El texto principal de este correo puede no ser de mi autoría
>
> 
> Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu
> Set your options at: 
> http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/md1101%40mclink.it



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Re: [Marxism] "Climategate" Researchers Largely Cleared

[Shane Mage]

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On Apr 11, 2010, at 12:18 PM, DW wrote:
>  no one has died in nuclear energy plant or becuse of one in the US
> that I'm aware of.

Of course, the Navaho uranium miners who died and go on dying so that  
each and every nuclear plant could live don't count.


> Clearly the real risk is minimal as to our health and
> well being and any statistic on this will prove this.

Clearly, if a plant poses minimal risk the real cost to insure it will  
be minimal.  Statistic: the number of nuclear plants ever insured at  
rates corresponding to the real risk rate: zero.  Statistic: The  
percentage of nuclear plants exempted by Price-Anderson from the need  
to insure their corporate owners themselves against the real risk:  
100.  Statistic: the number of nuclear plants that would have been  
built without Price-Anderson: zero.


Shane Mage

"Thunderbolt steers all things." Herakleitos of Ephesos, fr. 64






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Re: [Marxism] Katyn' (not "Stalin", not "Trotsky")

[Néstor Gorojovsky]

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2010/4/11 Louis Proyect :
> The focus is on the class
> struggle today and not digging into the "Russian questions". I would
> advise comrades not to get drawn into a discussion about Katyn in this
> light.
>

Won't get drawn into the "Russian questions", certainly.

However, I would ask if debating the current propaganda wave against
the fSU is a dead dog or a living Leviathan.


-- 

Néstor Gorojovsky
El texto principal de este correo puede no ser de mi autoría


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Re: [Marxism] "Climategate" Researchers Largely Cleared

[S. Artesian]

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DW: David S (and Louis) I'm not accusing you of "supprting coal".
_

Speaking of senior moments, perhaps you forgot what your wrote in your post 
before this one:

"The *fact* that coal power and other fossil power has killed far more than
commercial nuclear doesnt seem to phase you or Louis at all."

That's what I am referring to when I say 1) uncalled for and 2) 
complete,utter, total bullshit.

I stand by that dual characterization.  Total, utter, and dishonest 
bullshit.

Which word don't you understand?

- Original Message - 
From: "DW"  



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Re: [Marxism] Katyn' (not "Stalin", not "Trotsky")

[Louis Proyect]

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Grover Furr-FM wrote:
> 
> 
> Dear fellow listmembers:
> 
> With all the ruling-class whining about the death of right-wing Polish 
> prime minister Lech Kaczynski who was flying to Katyn' for yet another 
> attack on communism, I would like to point out that there is big and 
> legitimate controversy over the official anticommunist line that "the 
> Soviets did it."
> 
> Two things:
> 
> 1. This is a very interesting historical controversy in and of itself!
> 

Grover, this list has an entirely different agenda than the one that 
Harvey Klehr moderates at H-Humanities. The focus is on the class 
struggle today and not digging into the "Russian questions". I would 
advise comrades not to get drawn into a discussion about Katyn in this 
light.



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Re: [Marxism] "Climategate" Researchers Largely Cleared

[DW]

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David S (and Louis) I'm not accusing you of "supprting coal". No one on this
list (albeit the CPI-ML does to a limited extent) does to my knowledge
unless there is an ANCer who holds their party position on this (thank to
Patrick for bringing this up). That wasn't my reason for bringing it up. I
raised it because it IS the issue and people are dancing around it. If they
are not dancing they are in *effect* ignoring it. The issue of nuclear and
renewables can (outside the overall political context of capitalist
solutions, or better put, solutions under capitalism) be distilled down to
what can effectively be used to phase out these huge carbon producing
sources of energy.

South Africa is interesting because it's large coal-into-gasoline refinery
is, supposedly, the largest single source of human made CO2 in the world
today. South Africa, and the ANC gov't that leads it, proposed building a
network of nuclear plants in order to mitigate relying on coal for energy
production. IMO, this was a correct move. They simply can't finance it or
chose not and instead it is trying to meet it energy shortagesreal
energy shortages which are expected to increase vastly as more people plug
into the grid...and so are now going to build coal fired power plants. That
is the issue. It is simply not enough to say "no" as much as we want to but
to come up with real solutions. Renewables are not going to make it, IMO,
and SA does need to expand it's grid and bring more people into it.
Development of SA under *any* social system is going to require massive
amounts of cheap abundnt energy. There is simply no getting around this.

IMO and many like me believe that if we don't go nuclear we go fossil.
Countries like Germany (planning to phase out nuclear and build coal
plants!) and SA are moving in the *wrong* direction.

David P. and Mark L: I agreethe 'movement' of the class struggle defines
our activities, generally and thus even though there are thousands of
so-called "energy activists" they exist primarily as adjuncts to
NGOs/non-profits or local coalitions dealing with local energy and pollution
problems. I spent 99% of my own political activity the last 6 months
building for the March 4th budget cut strikes and actions in California. But
developing an understanding of the "immediate" actions we need to take now
to stem off climate disaster down the road still is important and we need to
address these issues of what works and what wont'.

Mark L: no one has died in nuclear energy plant or becuse of one in the US
that I'm aware of. Clearly the real risk is minimal as to our health and
well being and any statistic on this will prove this. Coal kills up t 30,000
people a year and is in fact the biggest cause of heavy metal pollution
(including uranium!) in the US (and other countries) and yet you know if
nuclear did this there would be a massive revulsion to it. Few on the left
are really raising the issue of phasing out coal and it's unfortunate. For
every nuclear power plant a coal plant was not built. This cannot be said of
roof top solar or a single wind turbine. So we need to seriously address the
risks and ability of the proposals to mitigate coal and natural gas
factually.

Louis P. I never worked at a nuclear plant. I've mentioned this on numerous
occasions. Senior moment?

David

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[Marxism] Katyn' (not "Stalin", not "Trotsky")

[Grover Furr-FM]

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Dear fellow listmembers:

With all the ruling-class whining about the death of right-wing Polish 
prime minister Lech Kaczynski who was flying to Katyn' for yet another 
attack on communism, I would like to point out that there is big and 
legitimate controversy over the official anticommunist line that "the 
Soviets did it."

Two things:

1. This is a very interesting historical controversy in and of itself!

Despite all the dishonesty involved, the political biases, etc. on _all_ 
sides, the existence of this controversy has led to the kind of 
scrupulous examination of the primary sources that one almost never sees 
in the case of questions of Soviet history.

2. This historical controversy exists almost entirely in Russian!

Western anticommunists basically ignore it altogether. So, outside of 
Russia, very few people are even aware that the Nazi - Polish 
Nationalist - anticommunist version of Katyn' is challenged by anyone.

I originally composed my page on the Katyn' controversy to explain why I 
am NOT going to get involved in this mare's nest:

http://www.tinyurl.com/katyn-furr

But it has turned out to be useful to others.

In it I give the kind of introduction and orientation on this 
controversy which it is just not possible to find anywhere else outside 
Russia.

Sincerely,

Grover Furr
Montclair SU


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Re: [Marxism] "Climategate" Researchers Largely Cleared

[Mark Lause]

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David Picón Álvarez  wrote:

>
> Do you have that many instances of things that are both more urgent and
> more
> important than energy policy?
>

For the movement?  There's hardly anything less important.  Where is energy
policy is the hands of the working class, which is capable of freely
exploring and developing it?

In terms of what we need to do next in the U.S., Marxists don't have enough
teeth to influence the investigation of criminal wrong-doing by officials
who've sworn to uphold, protect and defend the laws.

So whether we want to mess around with nuclear energy is somewhere way down
on this list.  Like maybe whether or not there kids should have band-camp
under socialism...or that pressing question of alien abductions

ML

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Re: [Marxism] The Race Is On: Muslims and Arabs in the American Imagination

[Mark Lause]

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I've periodically tried to dig into the origins of Islam in the US.  Enough
is clear to say that it was racial from its introduction into this country.
Not only were their African-American Muslims reaching North America very
early, but the white drawn to Islam in the 19th century were distinctive in
that they did not generally accept the racial norms of American
civilization.  While there were very few of these, several were prominent
radicals and socialists in their own right

ML

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[Marxism] Tribes of Amazon Find an Ally Out of ‘Avatar’

[Louis Proyect]

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NY Times April 10, 2010
Tribes of Amazon Find an Ally Out of ‘Avatar’
By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO

VOLTA GRANDE DO XINGU, Brazil — They came from the far reaches of the 
Amazon, traveling in small boats and canoes for up to three days to 
discuss their fate. James Cameron, the Hollywood titan, stood before 
them with orange warrior streaks painted on his face, comparing the 
threats on their lands to a snake eating its prey.

“The snake kills by squeezing very slowly,” Mr. Cameron said to more 
than 70 indigenous people, some holding spears and bows and arrows, 
under a tree here along the Xingu River. “This is how the civilized 
world slowly, slowly pushes into the forest and takes away the world 
that used to be,” he added.

As if to underscore the point, seconds later a poisonous green snake 
fell out of a tree, just feet from where Mr. Cameron’s wife sat on a 
log. Screams rang out. Villagers scattered. The snake was killed. Then 
indigenous leaders set off on a dance of appreciation, ending at the 
boat that took Mr. Cameron away. All the while, Mr. Cameron danced 
haltingly, shaking a spear, a chief’s feathery yellow and white 
headdress atop his head.

In the 15 years since he wrote the script for “Avatar,” his epic tale of 
greed versus nature, Mr. Cameron said, he had become an avid 
environmentalist. But he said that until his trip to the Brazilian 
Amazon last month, his advocacy was mostly limited to the 
environmentally responsible way he tried to live his life: solar and 
wind energy power his Santa Barbara home, he said, and he and his wife 
drive hybrid vehicles and do their own organic gardening.

“Avatar” — and its nearly $2.7 billion in global tickets sales — has 
changed all that, flooding Mr. Cameron with kudos for helping to 
“emotionalize” environmental issues and pleas to get more involved.

Now, Mr. Cameron said, he has been spurred to action, to speak out 
against the looming environmental destruction endangering indigenous 
groups around the world — a cause that is fueling his inner rage and 
inspiring his work on an “Avatar” sequel.

“Any direct experience that I have with indigenous peoples and their 
plights may feed into the nature of the story I choose to tell,” he 
said. “In fact, it almost certainly will.” Referring to his Amazon trip, 
he added, “It just makes me madder.”

Mr. Cameron is so fired up, in fact, that he said he was planning to go 
back to the Amazon this week, this time with Sigourney Weaver and at 
least another member of the “Avatar” cast in tow.

The focus is the huge Belo Monte dam planned by the Brazilian 
government. It would be the third largest in the world, and 
environmentalists say it would flood hundreds of square miles of the 
Amazon and dry up a 60-mile stretch of the Xingu River, devastating the 
indigenous communities that live along it. For years the project was on 
the shelf, but the government now plans to hold an April 20 auction to 
award contracts for its construction.

Stopping the dam has become a fresh personal crusade for the director, 
who came here as indigenous leaders from 13 tribes held a special 
council to discuss their last-ditch options. It was Mr. Cameron’s first 
visit to the Amazon, he said, even though he based the fictional planet 
in “Avatar” on Amazon rain forests. Still, he found the real-life 
similarities to the themes in his movie undeniable.

The dam is a “quintessential example of the type of thing we are showing 
in ‘Avatar’ — the collision of a technological civilization’s vision for 
progress at the expense of the natural world and the cultures of the 
indigenous people that live there,” he said.

Mr. Cameron said that he was writing a letter to President Luiz Inácio 
Lula da Silva urging him to reconsider the dam and that he would press 
for a meeting with the president. “They need to listen to these people 
here,” he said.

Mr. Cameron, 55, first encountered the cause in February, after being 
presented with a letter from advocacy organizations and Native American 
groups saying they wanted Mr. Cameron to highlight “the real Pandoras in 
the world,” referring to the lush world under assault in his movie.

Atossa Soltani, executive director of Amazon Watch, who accompanied him 
on his trip last month, said Mr. Cameron lit up at the idea of learning 
more, saying he had grown up in the Canadian woods and had even logged 
thousands of hours underwater exploring the world’s oceans.

As for Mr. Cameron’s Amazon adventure, it got off to a rocky start. The 
boat he traveled to the village in flooded when a hose became 
disconnected. Mr. Cameron chipped in, grabbing a plastic bucket to help 
bail for a few hours in the searing midday heat, he and others on the 
boat said.

Many of the indigenous leaders he wa

[Marxism] Socialists and the Capitalist Recession

[Louis Proyect]

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http://iire.org/en/component/content/article/18-notebooks-for-study-and-research/184-socialists-and-the-capitalist-recession.html
Socialists and the Capitalist Recession

IIRE/Socialist Resistance, Notebook for Study and Research no. 39/40 
(216 pp.).

The credit crunch of 2008 produced an international recession in 2009. 
In this new book Claudio Katz and Michel Husson, both fellows of the 
International Institute for Research and Education, and SSP activist 
Raphie de Santos lead an attempt not to only to describe the present 
crisis, but also to understand its causes and debate socialist solutions.

This 216-page book brings together much of the most powerful socialist 
analysis of the recession.

Sean Thompson shows how neoliberal globalisation has an inbuilt tendency 
towards deflation. As explained in the article by François Sabado, the 
period since the turn of the century has been a disaster for American 
capitalism; first the catastrophe in Iraq and of the Bush government in 
general, and now an economic collapse that has completely undermined 
neoliberalism's 'Washington Consensus'.

The ideologues of capitalism are on the defensive. But the Marxist 
explanation of the crisis has to be hammered home. Who caused this 
crisis? Why did it occur? What is it in capitalism that leads to the 
globalisation of poverty while a tiny elite become mega-wealthy? And 
what are possible alternatives? This book is a signal contribution to 
making those arguments.

To give the socialist analysis in this book strong foundations, the book 
also includes ‘The Basic Ideas of Karl Marx’, an outline by Ernest 
Mandel of the core ideas of scientific socialism.


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Re: [Marxism] "Climategate" Researchers Largely Cleared

[Patrick Bond]

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DW wrote:
> ...
> The left in the developing world is a lot less knee-jerk than the Western
> left is, understanding that energy is necessary for development, especially
> one that is carbon-free/low-carbon in effects.

In South Africa, the red-green position is very explicit: against more 
coal and nukes, and against the utilisation of electricity to smelt 
aluminum for export. Once you start looking into the egregious waste 
associated with so much capitalist production, it's clearer that the 
implicit assumption here, of keeping the base load intact, can fall 
away. Pointing out the extreme waste and inequity associated with the 
largest 138 consumers of electricity in South Africa, with their 40% of 
energy consumption, is central to the huge campaign
being waged against the World Bank's $3.75 bn loan to SA's parastatal Eskom.



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Re: [Marxism] "Climategate" Researchers Largely Cleared

[David Picón Álvarez]

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From: "Mark Lause" 
> Have we nothing more concrete in front of us?  Better issues over which we
> should be arguing?  At least during the last election, the political 
> purism
> was at least based on something material.


Do you have that many instances of things that are both more urgent and more 
important than energy policy? Because, it is worth bearing in mind that all 
that alternative energy stuff, which is like it or not objectively pro-coal, 
is at best delaying and at worse precluding carbon neutral solutions to the 
energy problem, and we have a lot of CO2 building up in the atmosphere, 
acidifying the seas, and generally not doing us any good, while people's 
reaction is building infrastructure like wind and solar which due to 
difusion of the energy source will not possibly substitute carbon-based 
inputs.

--David.



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Re: [Marxism] Open Letter to German Left Party (Die Linke) - from members lof the Israeli left

[Einde O'Callaghan]

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On 11.04.10 06:30, Dennis Brasky wrote:

Just to make clear, the letter addressed to DIE LINKE comes from members 
of teh Israeli left, which is what makes it significant.

Einde O'Callaghan
>>
>>
>> The decision to send this letter was taken following repeated reports of
>> your party's actions on the situation in Israel/Palestine. The participation
>> of senior members of your party in a January 2009 demonstration in Berlin in
>> support of the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, the existence and
>> acceptance of a political working group within your party (Bundesarbeitkreis
>> [BAK] Shalom) that clearly supports Israel's various military actions and
>> disseminates militaristic and nationalistic propaganda, and the silence of a
>> majority of senior party officials concerning the Israeli occupation policy
>> clarified for us, amongst other things, the need for clear intervention on
>> our part. . . . The state of Israel should not be rewarded for its
>> occupation, its racist separation, and its war crimes. Only international
>> policy which makes clear to Israel that violations of international law are
>> not tolerated will succeed in promoting a just peace for all residents of
>> this land. Several concrete demands that your party could promote include: *
>> Cessation of all German arms exports to Israel. . . . * Blocking of the
>> upgrade in trade relations between the European Union and Israel. . . . *
>> Total prohibition of the import of Israeli goods made in part or whole in
>> the occupied Palestinian territory (including East Jerusalem) to the EU. . .
>> . * Support for trials of those who committed war crimes in Israel/Palestine
>> and implementation of the recommendations in the Goldstone Report. * Support
>> for civil society organizations and activists in Israel/Palestine,
>> particularly for leaders of the popular and non-violent struggle against the
>> Wall and settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.
>>
>> full -
>> http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2010/left100410.html


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