People Before Profit blog

Critican mensaje Bush

Fri, 31 Jan 2003 06:51:00 +0000

George W. Bush estaba tratando de ganar apoyo para su agenda de recortes de impuestos para los ricos y guerra contra Irak en su discurso sobre el Estado de la Unión a una sesión de ambas cámaras del Congreso el 28 de enero. Pero alcaldes, gobernadores, miembros del Congreso y líderes de organizaciones de masas duramente criticaron y rechazaron su política.

Bush estaba sombrío al admitir el grave estado de la nación y el mundo mientras argumentaba que la paz y la prosperidad llegaría poco a poco si el Congreso aprueba unos recortes de billones de dólares de impuestos permanentes para los ricos y la guerra preventiva en el extranjero.

Bush menospreció “un sistema de salud nacionalizado que dicta la cobertura y el racionamiento de servicios.” Él ofreció un plan de beneficios de recetas médicas para los ancianos pero solo si dejan el plan Medicare.

Haciendo eco del cliché de su padre de “Mil puntos de luz,” él alabó su iniciativa de proveer servicios sociales a través de organizaciones religiosas como un substituto para la acción gubernamental para ayudar a los pobres, llamándolo el “poder que hace trabajo de maravilla en la bondad, y el idealismo, y la fe del pueblo norteamericano.”

El discurso de Bush fue denunciado hasta antes de él pronunciarlo. El congresista demócrata por California, Pete Stark, el de más antigüedad en la Comisión de Reglas de la Cámara de Representantes, dijo, “Está claro que el presidente Bush tiene la intención de privatizar al plan Medicare. De manera muy lista, él está usando la promesa de un beneficio escaso para recetas médicas para empujar a los recipientes de Medicare que acepten planes médicos de segunda, de baja calidad, poniendo a los ancianos a la merced de los HMO [planes médicos privados] y las grandes compañías farmacéuticas.” Unos cuantos 2,4 millones personas han dejado el Medicare solo para ser dejado por los HMO y están sin seguro médico.

Jane Campbell, alcaldesa de Cleveland, estaba en Washington para la Conferencia de Alcaldes y dijo, “Todo este hablar de la seguridad patria y no hay ni un dólar para los que responden primero. No hemos recibido ningún dinero todavía. Al marcar el 911 no se oye el timbre en la Casa Blanca, ni en las oficinas de Tom Ridge [jefe del Departamento de Seguridad Patria]. Suena en las oficinas de la policía local.” Al preguntársele sobre la agenda de Bush, el alcalde de Columbus, Ohio, Michael B. Coleman le dijo al programa radial de Tavis Smiley que se oye en la red NPR, “Necesitamos trabajo, no guerra.” Los alcaldes adoptaron un programa de creación de empleo basado en fondos federales para proyectos de infraestructura, tal como construcción de escuelas, puentes, sistemas de acueductos y alcantarillado.

Gary Locke, gobernador del estado de Washington, dio la respuesta del Partido Demócrata. Él dijo que el plan económico de Bush está “boca abajo” y que ignora a los ocho millones de desempleados y el déficit federal y local de $85 mil millones, y le da recortes de impuestos a los ricos. “Creará grandes déficit permanente que alzará los intereses y sofocará el crecimiento económico, [y] pondría obstáculos la compra de casas,” dijo Locke. Él dijo que se debe dejar más tiempo para que los inspectores de armas de la ONU completen su trabajo en Irak e hizo una advertencia contra una guerra unilateral.

Kim Gandy, presidenta de la Organización Nacional para la Mujer dijo, “Sabemos que la guerra de Bush contra Irak es mala. Sabemos que la política económica e impuestos de Bush es injusta y desastrosa para la economía.” Ella criticó a la administración por atacar a los derechos femeninos, derechos civiles, y los derechos individuales en nombre de la “guerra contra terrorismo.”

Sam Webb, presidente nacional del Partido Comunista de Estados Unidos, criticó a Bush por su silencio sobre el racismo. “Después del asunto Trent Lott,” dijo Webb, “es extraño pensar que Bush no ha dicho nada sobre la segregación y la lucha por la igualdad racial. Viéndolo junto con los ataques de Bush contra la acción afirmativa en la Universidad de Michigan comprueba que todavía usan la racista ‘Estrategia del Sur’.”

Webb siguió, “Bush no ha dado ninguna justificación para hacer guerra contra Irak. El resto del mundo todavía está convencido de que se le debe dar tiempo a los inspectores de la ONU para que esta situación se pueda resolver pacíficamente.

“Bush no tiene absolutamente nada que ofrecerle a los ocho millones de desempleados, ni a los 43 millones sin seguro médico,” añadió Webb.

John Sweeney, presidente de la AFL-CIO, dijo que el mensaje de Bush estaba lleno de muchas promesas pero estaba “corto en propuestas reales para ayudar a las familias trabajadoras.” Él añadió que el país estaba “preocupado sobre una posible guerra con Irak ... Pero las familias trabajadoras también están preocupadas que los 40 estados con déficit tendrán que hacer más que cancelar un día escolar por semana ...”

Robert MacIntyre, director de Ciudadanos por Justicia sobre Impuestos, dijo, “Bush siempre está en favor de recortes de impuestos para los ricos. Hará poco para estimular a la economía a corto plazo y hará que la economía trabaje menos bien al largo plazo al empujar que suban el interés y el déficit.”

Él dijo que el proyecto de estimulo económico revelado por el senador demócrata por South Dakota Tom Daschle, líder de la Minoría en el Senado, parece ser “muy inteligente. Su plan enviaría dinero a los gobiernos estatales para que no tengan que aumentar los impuestos. Corta los impuestos para gente de ingreso bajo y mediano. Pone dinero en los bolsillos de quienes lo necesitan para que ellos puedan salir y gastarlo en las cosas que necesitan. Esa es la mejor manera de estimular a la economía y crear empleo.”

Erdine Antonsen, 99, dies

Fri, 31 Jan 2003 06:33:00 +0000

Erdine Cathers Antonsen of New Paltz, died on Jan. 9. She was 99.

Born August 17, 1903 in Syracuse, NY, she was the daughter of George Cathers and Lulu Bunnell Cathers. Her brothers, Lincoln and Calvin Cathers, predeceased her in 1965 and 1980 respectively. Her husband, Zekor V. Antonsen, died July 23, 1979. Erdine and Zekor were married on May 19, 1940, and raised their family in Staten Island, NY. They moved to Ulster County in 1969.

She graduated in 1930 from Teachers’ College at Columbia University. Being highly skilled and unable to find work during the Depression years, Erdine began her lifelong search for answers to economic and social inequalities. She joined the Communist Party and remained a member until her death.

Antonsen was a social activist as well as a teacher, involved in the civil rights and peace movements for most of her adult life. She was an active member of the NAACP, Caribbean Latin American Support Project, Community Action of Rosendale, the Literacy Volunteers Association and a number of other organizations.

She wrote letters to the editor in local papers and worked daily for social justice, until age 90. She would sign letters to the editor, Erdine Antonsen, Secretary of the Mid Hudson Communist Party.

Erdine was a lover of good books, playing the piano, birds and other aspects of nature. Songs like “Joe Hill,” “Kevin Barry” and “Banks of Marble” were among her favorites. She would read selections from Mike Quinn’s “On the Drumhead” to her children at bedtime.

During the McCarthy years, Erdine was harassed by the FBI, yet neither Erdine nor Zekor would give up their beliefs and activities.

She is survived by a son, Eric H. Antonsen of Virginia, Minnesota, a daughter, Elga R. Antonsen of Saugerties, a daughter, Karen Antonsen Cathers of New Paltz; six grandchildren, Halina Adamski, Andre R. Adamski, Janette Hansen, Christina Peone, Nicole Peone and Justin Peone; and ten great-grandchildren, Kayla, Patrick, Amanda, Nikolai, Shaelyn, Leslie, Zach, Sequoyah, Violet and Melody.

A memorial celebration of Erdine’s life will be held at Boughton Place on Kisor Road in Highland, NY, on Feb., 1 at 3 p.m. Call or write Karen at 845-255-3972;1 Dug Rd., New Paltz, NY 12561

In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate donations made in Erdine’s name to a peace and justice organization of your choosing.

Alfred Samter, 1922-2003

Fri, 31 Jan 2003 06:31:00 +0000

Alfred “Al” Samter, long-time activist in the Steelworkers Union, died January 12. He would have been 81 on Jan. 27.

Born in the Bronx, Samter came to Gary, Ind., in 1949. He landed a job in the coke plant of the sprawling Gary Works of US Steel and, soon after, became a member of Local 1014 of the United Steelworkers of America. During a 37-year career as a union activist, Samter served as griever, assistant griever, editor of the Local 1014 newspaper and was a member of the National Steelworkers Rank and File Committee. When he died he was president of the local chapter of the Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees (SOAR).

In February of 1958 Al and five others were called before the House Un-American Activities Committee that had come to Gary looking for Communists in the steel industry and Steelworkers Union. True to his beliefs and his friends and co-workers he refused to testify.

George Edwards, editor of Old Timer, the official publication of SOAR, said, “Under Samter, the SOAR chapter in Northwest Indiana was the most active in the country. Many of their resolutions to our national convention were incorporated into the SOAR program on the issues of the day.” Edwards said Samter was to have been presented with the Pioneer Award at the upcoming SOAR convention: “Now we’ll have to give it posthumously.”

Curtis Strong, one of the first African Americans appointed to the USWA staff described Samter as a “damn good man.” Strong said Samter was “a friend in need” when Strong and other Black steelworkers were demanding a “better shake” from the then leaders of the USWA. “I loved him dearly,” Strong said.

Ruth Needleman, professor of Labor History at Indiana University, invited Samter to speak to her classes on several occasions. “Few people understood the theoretical and practical demands of organizing like Al did and fewer still had either his experience or understanding when it came to dealing with interracial relationship on the job and in the union.” Like others, Needleman remarked on his dedication and perseverance. “Nothing stopped him,” she said.

Early on, Samter, who had been a table tennis hustler in his youth (“There weren’t too many opportunities for a poor kid from the Bronx,” he would explain), developed an appreciation for jazz. “I couldn’t afford tickets, so I got on good terms with the doorman at clubs and, when that didn’t work, I’d find another solution,” he often said.

Samter’s granddaughter, Shannon McGuire, remembers him as a “very human,” human being who loved his two grand children and four great grand children. “When we came to his house he would play his favorite records and dance around the room entertaining us.”

Like most young men of his age, Samter served in the armed forces during World War II, seeing action in the Battle of the Bulge.

Samter was a great story-teller with, as often as not, himself being the goat. “I was driving the lead Jeep in the second half of a long convoy,” he would say. “We were in the middle of nowhere in the middle and ran smack dab into a terrific dust storm. When the truck ahead of me turned, I went straight ahead and the rest of the trucks followed. We didn’t get straightened out until daylight when they sent a search plane out to find us. From all the hell I caught you’d think I’d lost half the army!”

A memorial is planned for a later date.

About Schmidt

Fri, 31 Jan 2003 06:23:00 +0000

Movie review

About Schmidt

About Schmidt is a sad movie. Schmidt, played by Jack Nicholson, is probably just like you and me.

Just like you and me, his story seems ordinary: he works hard his entire life, he retires, he has a party, his wife dies suddenly, he finds out about her infidelity with his best friend and his daughter marries a jerk.

And like the rest of us, Schmidt is not an extraordinarily lovable character. To his chagrin, he is no longer a spring chicken, as the audience is made painfully aware. Although we don’t really know young Schmidt, except in passing, we can guess that in his youth Schmidt was the tense but passive type. Now that he’s retirement age, he’s angry but sweet.

This unflashy, untrendy flick is all about our own plain, simple and familiar lives. In his first days of retirement Schmidt spends a lot of time watching TV to allay his boredom. While watching he becomes transfixed with one of those Children’s Way child sponsorship infomercials. He calls to order an informational packet about a child that he can sponsor. From this point on, the movie stops being just about Schmidt and becomes about his relationship with a small boy halfway across the world.

As part of the program he is encouraged to write his sponsored child a letter. Strangely he decides to keep writing. But his writing compels him to be honest about his life and to reflect upon its meaning. Finally for the first time in his life he is able to communicate all his problems, longings, and regrets to someone, a young African boy. For the first time in his life, he is able to connect his problems to problems that affect us all. And to the extent that he helps this boy Schmidt starts to realize that he himself also needs help. But like for many of us, problems of loneliness, boredom or fear caused by alienation are difficult for him to understand, let alone admit to.

What this movie excels at is showing the causes of Schmidt’s unhappiness: his loveless marriage, the drudgery of working in a job that is unsatisfying, a child that is ungrateful. But like most Americans Schmidt never questions why he is unhappy. He just continues doing what he did the day before, not planing for the future, and not noticing which way the tides flow, and, until now, not looking beyond his own small life.

It is almost by accident, a secret weakness of his compassionate human heart, that he starts sponsoring a child. But from that moment on he starts to look at life from a different perspective.

By the end of the movie he may not be happy but he is happier; he may not be a perfect person but he is getting better. An amazing transformation takes place in this one man. And even though it’s only small changes that he makes, the world is almost exponentially better because one person evolved a little. He even explores the county and realizes the deep injustices done to Native Americans.

But like I said, Schmidt, like the rest of us, makes mistakes, but we too are getting better, and by our small victories the world will reach a revolution.

– Brandi Kishner (bkishner@pww.org)

Reviews: New CDs highlight lush Latin grooves

Fri, 31 Jan 2003 06:18:00 +0000

Reviews:

Rumba Flamenco

Most North American music fans know of rumba flamenco through the Gypsy Kings. A fusion of Andalucian flamenco, AfroCuban and salsa rhythms, rumba flamenco is lighter and poppier, as opposed to traditional flamenco with its dramatic and heavy interpretation of the human experience.

Rumba Flamenco is a ravishing collection of 13 songs performed by talented but lesser known Spanish flamenco groups. The music meanders from reflective, beautiful melodic instrumentals such as De Madera’s “Canaveral,” to upbeat tracks such as Gitano Family’s “Hommage Aux Marquises” and Energipsy’s “Joselito.” “Tengo Tengo”, performed by Chico and the Gypsies, is a driving Gypsy King-style track. The Barcelona-based experimental flamenco group Ojos de Brujos’ rousing “Vacileo” and subdued, bluesy “Tesero” are alluring subtle rumbas that incorporate other instruments, such as electric base and bongos, traditionally not used in flamenco. “Lel,” by Wafirs, creates an interesting chemistry between Spanish flamenco, Cuban and Arabic rhythms.

Rumba Flamenco reminds us that a whole other musical world of talented rumba flamenco groups exists outside the Gypsy Kings and deserves to be heard.

Congo to Cuba

This is a fascinating exploration of the musical connection between West Africa and Cuba. When African slaves were first brought to Cuba to work on the sugar plantations they fused their traditional music with Spanish rhythms to produce new musical styles such as son, guaguanco and guajira. During the 1930s, Afro-Cuban music was exported to Africa. African musicians, enamored by Cuban musical imports, began to blend Cuban rhythms with their own styles, leading to the emergence of new musical forms in Africa. In subsequent decades Cuban musical penetration of Africa deepened and, starting in the 1970s, Africans traveled to Havana and New York to record with Cuban musicians and producers

Congo to Cuba largely highlights West African music. The Guinean, Beninian, Congolean, Malian, and Senegalese performers present the lush sounds that evolved from Africa’s fateful encounter with Cuban music. Cuban son, guaguanco, guajira and salsa swirl with African melodies, creating a wonderful and joyful musical fusion. Of the 11 songs appearing on the CD, four are from Cuban groups, permitting the listener to trace and recognize how Cuban music influenced west African music.

Latin Groove

Latin Groove testifies to Spanish music’s ability to surmount the most obstinate cultural boundaries and embrace other musical styles. This innovative CD showcases artists and groups from Cuba, Columbia, the USA, France and Germany. Its 11 songs – largely consisting of salsa and Cuban rhythms – incorporate a range of musical influences, from funk to hip hop and electronica to flamenco, rock and reggae.

The performers skillfully blend these two seemingly irreconcilable musical genres – Latin music and modern western music – into slick, well crafted songs, with hints of a keen sense of whimsy. Barrio Cubano de Ronald Rubinels’ gritty “El carretero” successfully blends Cuban guajira and hip hop and infuses it with a contemporary funky electronic beat. “Chan Chan” is a funky, infectious rendition of Francisco Repilado (better known as Compay Segundo) Cuban son by France’s El Conjunto Massalia.

Columbia’s Los Aterciopelados’ cutting edge “el estuche” artfully mixes Cuban son with funk. “Salsita,” by Cuba’s Sin Palabras, is an excellent slow-paced funk-laden salsa track.

New York-based Si Se’s sensual “bizcocho amargo” fuses hip-hop, Afro-Cuban and flamenco rhythms. The song’s periodic lapses into a Cocteau Twin’s dreamlike state add a degree of complexity and originality that makes this song stand out. “Sensemayo,” by the French group Carlos de Nicaragua & Familias, alternates between reggae and salsa, with flourishes of funk and rock, resulting in a very danceable track. The other tracks on the CD are also delightful.

An Afro-Portuguese Odyssey

When the Portuguese colonized parts of Africa, they not only imparted their language but their music. An Afro-Portuguese Odyssey is a striking compilation of contemporary music from the former Portuguese colonies of Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde.

As a result of their colonial heritage, musicians from these countries adopted Portuguese music, blending it with their own African music and instrumentation. They also embraced the musical traditions of Brazil, another former Portuguese colony. At the same time, as the CD’s promo sheet states, “the music was used as a tool of revolutionary expression, as artists sought to recreate and adapt styles that had been suppressed for centuries.” As An Afro-Portuguese Odyssey demonstrates, the mix they created is entertaining, alluring and sophisticated.

The CD previews a range of different styles that have emerged in these countries. While distinguishable from Brazilian music, they share the cool breeziness of Bossa Nova and Samba. An Afro-Portuguese Odyssey showcases the rich musical styles of the Portuguese-speaking African countries.

(The listeners’ appreciation of these CDs will be enhanced by the beautiful, colorful cover art and the booklets glued to the back of the covers that provide extensive information and history of the musical genres dealt with, the songs and the performers.)

All the CDs reviewed are from Putumayo World Music, 2002.

– Tim Pelzer (tpelzer@sprint.ca)

Rolling the dice on our nations health

Fri, 31 Jan 2003 06:06:00 +0000

Opinion

Imagine if the first people infected in a smallpox attack had no health insurance and delayed seeking care for their flu-like symptoms.

The odds are high: Pick a number from one to six. Would you bet your life on a roll of the dice? Would you play Russian Roulette with one bullet in a six-chamber gun?

One in six Americans under age 65 has no health insurance. The uninsured are more likely to delay seeking medical care, go to work sick for fear of losing their jobs, seek care at overcrowded emergency rooms and clinics, and be poorly diagnosed and treated.

The longer smallpox – or another contagious disease – goes undiagnosed, the more it will spread, with the insured and uninsured infecting each other.

Health care is literally a matter of life and death. Yet, more than 41 million Americans have no health insurance of any kind, public or private. The uninsured rate was 14.6 percent in 2001 – up 13 percent since 1987. The rate is on the rise with increased health care costs, unemployment, and cutbacks in Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

One in four people with household incomes less than $25,000 is uninsured. One in six full-time workers is uninsured, including half the full-time workers with incomes below the official poverty line.

The share of workers covered by employment health plans drops from 81 percent in the top fifth of wage earners to 68 percent in the middle fifth to 33 percent in the lowest fifth, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

As reports by the American College of Physicians, Kaiser Family Foundation and many others have shown, lack of health insurance is associated with lack of preventive care and substandard treatment inside and outside the hospital. The uninsured are at much higher risk for chronic disease and disability, and have a 25 percent greater chance of dying (adjusting for physical, economic and behavioral factors).

To make matters worse, a health crisis is often an economic crisis. “Medical bills are a factor in nearly half of all personal bankruptcy filings,” reports the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine.

The United States is No. 1 in health care spending per capita, but No. 34 – tied with Malaysia – when it comes to child mortality rates under age five.

The United States is No. 1 in health care spending, but the only major industrialized nation not to provide some form of universal coverage.

We squander billions of dollars in the red tape of myriad health care eligibility regulations, forms and procedures, and second-guessing of doctors by insurance gatekeepers trained in cost cutting, not medicine. Americans go to Canada for cheaper prices on prescription drugs made by U.S. pharmaceutical companies with U.S. taxpayer subsidies.

While millions go without health care, top health company executives rake in the dough. A report by Families USA found that the highest-paid health plan executives in ten companies received average compensation of $11.7 million in 2000, not counting unexercised stock options worth tens of millions more.

The saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” couldn’t be truer when it comes to health care. Yet, we provide universal coverage for seniors through Medicare, but not for children. We have economic disincentives for timely diagnosis and treatment of diseases.

Universal health care is a humane and cost-effective solution to the growing health care crisis. Universal coverage won’t come easy, but neither did Social Security or Medicare, which now serves one in seven Americans. Many proposals for universal health care build on the foundation of “Medicare for All,” albeit an improved Medicare adequately serving seniors and younger people alike.

Health care is as essential to equal opportunity as public education and as essential to public safety as police and fire protection. If your neighbor’s house were burning, would you want 911 operators to ask for their fire insurance card number before sending – or not sending – fire trucks?

Health care ranked second behind terrorism and national security as the most critical issue for the nation in the 2002 Health Confidence Survey, released by the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

The government thinks the smallpox threat is serious enough to start inoculating military and medical personnel with a highly risky vaccine. It’s time to stop delaying universal health care, which will save lives every day while boosting our readiness for any bioterror attack.

Holly Sklar is coauthor of “Raise the Floor: Wages and Policies That Work for All Of Us” (www.raisethefloor.org). She can be reached at hsklar@aol.com

The race to the bottom in Texas quickens

Fri, 31 Jan 2003 06:01:00 +0000

Opinion

Since the business lobby took complete control of Texas government, the race to the bottom has quickened here, and at a recent press conference, the Texas Conservative Coalition gave us a look at what the bottom looks like – lower wages for workers, slashed benefits for state employees, and deep cuts in programs that aid low-income working families.

The coalition, a group of about 70 state legislators from both parties, used the press conference to announce how it proposes to deal with the huge budget shortfall facing the State of Texas. In the past, most of the members of the coalition were backbenchers, who argued that the meager services that Texas provided to working people were too much, but did not have much power.

But with the Republican takeover of both the state House and Senate and the uncontested control of state government in the hands of the business lobby, these lawmakers will have more clout. Some will assume leadership of important committees and use this opportunity to advance their proposals.

If the extreme cuts proposed by the Texas Conservative Coalition can be imposed with minimal public backlash, the Bush administration may feel emboldened to do the same for the U.S. as a whole. And of course, just like in Texas, working families will bear the brunt of these cuts.

The budget shortfall, which the coalition’s proposals are meant to address, is the biggest in memory. The state comptroller estimated it to be $9.9 billion – $1.7 billion for fiscal year 2003, which ends in September, and $7.2 billion for fiscal years 2004 and 2005. But a liberal research center based in Austin, the Center for Public Policy Priorities estimated the budget gap to be $15 billion.

The coalition is recommending $4 billion in cuts, and working families will bear the burden of most of them. For example, the coalition proposes eliminating the prevailing wage law, which will lower wages for construction workers, lowering insurance benefits for state employees, eliminating the $1,000 per teacher that the state provides to make health insurance affordable for teachers, and eliminating a host of jobs held by state employees through privatization.

The proposals would also eliminate Medicaid coverage for a number of low-income working families. The coalition argues that the state is too generous with providing benefits because it covers pregnant women at 185 percent of poverty while federal regulations require that states only cover pregnant women at 133 percent. If this cutback were enacted, about 12,300 pregnant women would lose Medicaid coverage.

The coalition also recommends that parents of children enrolled in the Children’s Health Insurance Program be required to re-enroll their children every month after an initial three-month period. CHIP provides children’s health insurance for families who earn 200 percent of the federal poverty level but don’t qualify for Medicaid. Since it’s enactment, the rate of uninsured children has dropped from 24 percent in 1999 to 21.5 percent today. Forcing a monthly re-enrollment will result in more children dropping out of CHIP.

The coalition contends that Texas is too generous with the services it provides, but working people who rely on these services would probably think different. About 52,000 working families who need assistance to pay for childcare are on a waiting list for subsidies and 60,000 families whose disabled relatives need community services are also on a waiting list.

Texas also spends less per capita than other states on basic services. It spends $73 per person on public health, 45th in the nation, $1001 per person on public education, 31st in the nation, $178 per person on highways, 47th in the nation, and $53 per person on parks and recreation, 47th in the nation.

With a massive shortfall facing the state, revenue enhancements would seem to be in order, and the CPPP has proposed some that would require businesses to pay their fair share. For example, because of loopholes in the franchise tax law, large companies such as Dell and SBC pay no franchise tax. Closing the loopholes would generate hundreds of millions of dollars. Even more money could be raised if the sales tax were brought up to date. Currently, goods are taxed more than services even though services make up a greater portion of the state economy. Legal, brokerage, and architectural services are examples of some of the services, most of which are used by business and the wealthy, that go untaxed. Implementing a sales tax on these kinds of services would raise about $7.5 billion.

But the business lobby has already made it known that it won’t tolerate any new revenue raising proposals and will only consider cuts in service. The lobby disguises these cuts as an opportunity to reform government. The Austin American-Statesman in its article on the coalition’s press conference quoted Peggy Venable of Texas Citizens for a Sound Economy, a front group for the business lobby, as saying that “the budget shortfall is the greatest opportunity we have had in Texas in many years to address what state government should be doing.” If the Texas Conservative Coalition and the business lobby make the most of this opportunity, the health, welfare, and safety of working families in Texas will be in great peril.

John Lane is a writer from Austin, Texas and can be reached at pww@pww.org

NYC transit workers: Unity, public support are winning combo

Fri, 31 Jan 2003 05:54:00 +0000

Opinion

New York City transport workers, members of Transport Workers Union Local 100 were tested in a struggle of historic significance, their recent contract struggle.

Going into the negotiations the stated goals of the employer, MTA-NYCT, were the consolidation of surface operations (bus service) and the consolidation of titles, called “broad-banding,” in all departments. In addition, they insisted that any wage increases be tied to “productivity” give-backs.

It was clear to us, however, that the employer had a hidden agenda – to destroy or discredit Local 100 President Roger Toussaint and to destroy or weaken the union by provoking a strike through inflammatory rhetoric and bad-faith bargaining.

It was also clear that transit management was working with right-wing politicians and media outlets as well as with national leaders of the Transport Workers to undermine Local 100. The NY Post, formerly owned by MTA Chair Kalikow, was particularly incendiary, issuing a vicious editorial entitled, “The Communist Underground.” Powerful, extreme right-wing, New York State political boss and former Sen. Al D’Amato publicly gloated about how TWU International President Sonny Hall, would have to step in and “straighten things out.”

The Local 100 leadership was able to beat back this offensive with creative tactics that mobilized public support: Bloomberg’s rhetoric that, in the event of a strike, people should prepare to bicycle and roller blade to work, provoked widespread public contempt.

When President Toussaint finally told Bloomberg to “shut up,” the admonition was greeted with a collective “Amen.” Al D’Amato has likewise been muted and has sulked back into the shadows. Meanwhile, Toussaint has become, in the words of Newsday columnist Jimmy Breslin, the “labor leader that New York so desperately needs.”

The contract goals of Local 100 were determined by a survey of the membership. Topping the list was strengthening of health benefits, including prescription drug coverage for retirees, and reform of an abusive disciplinary system. Wages, including pay equity with other commuter rail systems and other municipal skilled trades workers were next.

Other priorities were child-care and limiting outsourcing and the practice of creating new job titles outside the bargaining unit. Early on Toussaint said the contract would be won in the streets as well as at the bargaining table, a principle that guided the union’s strategy in the period before and during negotiations.

A series of rallies and demonstrations were organized. Three of these turned out 10 to 15,000 transit workers – approximately half the local’s membership. The turn out was very significant, since while half of the membership was attending rallies, the other half other members were operating the city’s 24/7 transit system. These efforts culminated in a Dec. 16 mobilization at City Hall where members and leaders of public and private sector unions stood together to show there solidarity with Local 100.

Key events in the contract struggle were general membership meetings, attended by upwards of 11,000 members, on Dec. 7, just eight days before the expiration of the contract. At these meetings the membership voted unanimously to authorize the union’s executive board to call a strike when and if circumstances warranted.

As part of its outreach strategy Local 100 mounted campaigns around the issues of preventing token booth closings, saving the current $1.50 fare and the MTA’s lack of financial accountability. In the end this approach paid off by generating a groundswell of public support and by generating enough positive media coverage to offset the venomous attacks in the right wing press. This strategy has put the MTA on the defensive – the union intends to keep the pressure on.

The final contract, although not perfect in every respect, represents a major victory for transit workers. Money added to the health benefit plan, the training program, a wage adjustment fund for certain titles and the child care fund offset the modest wage increases. The overall package is so good that it will probably help other unions in their own negotiations. Writing in the New York Times, Steven Greenhouse estimates that the entire package represents an effective wage increase of 4.5 percent per year. In addition, the contract includes a major overhaul of the disciplinary system and, in the area of on the job safety, the local won the unprecedented right to refuse work that isn’t safe. The Local 100 Executive Board voted to accept the proposed contract by a 75 percent margin. A full copy of the contract proposal was sent to all members, and the result of the membership vote was 60 percent approval.

Local 100’s outreach to the public and to the media put the MTA on the defensive during the negotiations. Now that the negotiations are over, the MTA remains on the defensive. Calls for an independent audit of MTA finances are now being heard from the public, the press, and from political leaders and Local 100 has every intention of stepping up the pressure.

On the legislative front the union will forcefully put forward its alternate plan for MTA reorganization and will fight for Taylor Law reform to redress the imbalances that exist in the current law.

Unfortunately the unity of the local has been threatened by a tiny phony left faction who have been opposed to the unified leadership under Toussaint and Ed Watt from the start. This breaking of the ranks is nothing new for these elements but it did, initially, confuse some pro-Local 100 forces in NYC. Fortunately, due to their lack of any political base and their general ineptness, their impact has been small. Meanwhile, their actions are daily exposing their arrogant, anti-worker attitudes.

Local 100 leadership took great pains to insure that they worked in conjunction with the broader labor movement every step of the way. This approach was key in forcing the employer to begin to bargain seriously. The recent accomplishments of TWU Local 100 are examples of what can be achieved by a unified labor movement, spearheaded by a pro-working class and anti-racist leadership. The word on the street is that, with this struggle, Local 100 has assumed a leading role in NYC labor. It has been a long time but we’re back!

The Austin Hogan Transit Club is a club in the New York State Communist Party and is comprised of TWU Local 100 members. The club can be reached at pww@pww.org

Going on record for peace

Fri, 31 Jan 2003 05:50:00 +0000

Opinion

The following is testimony submitted to the Chicago City Council, Human Relations Committee, January 15, 2003 by John Bachtell, Illinois district organizer, Communist Party, USA. On Jan. 16 Chicago became the largest city to go on record opposing the Bush administration’s unilateral, first-strike policy towards Iraq.

The Bush administration is determined to attack Iraq regardless of the growing unease and reluctance of the American people and the scale of world-wide opposition, and regardless of what the UN inspectors find – or don’t find.

This is not a war against terrorism or even a war for democratic rule in Iraq. It is a war for Iraqi oil, strategic dominance of the Middle East region and to enforce the status of the U.S. as the world’s single unchallenged super power, a role I think most Americans find distasteful.

It is a stimulus package for the energy and military monopoly corporations.

This imminent war is the administration’s new strategic military doctrine brought to life. Its logical end is to leave international law and norms, global cooperation and even the UN, in utter shambles while leaving mass destruction of human life in its wake. Our world will not be a safer place.

The Bush doctrine promulgates unilateralism, the overwhelming use of military force, pre-emptive action and first use of nuclear weapons. We can not rule out the unthinkable. The use of nuclear weapons would be catastrophic and once unleashed, there is no telling where it will lead.

In today’s world we must strive to settle all disputes and conflicts peacefully, no matter their severity, through negotiation and global collective action. Any other course is supremely irresponsible.

Were the Bush administration sincere in eliminating weapons of mass destruction and international terrorism, then it would initiate and lead a global campaign for the abolition of all nuclear, biological and chemical weapons – beginning with our own 37,000 nuclear warheads.

It was the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., who, in declaring his opposition to the Vietnam War, summed up humanity’s dilemma: non-violent co-existence or violent co-annihilation. He clearly saw war’s destructiveness, no matter how distant, when he remarked that bombs dropping in Vietnam, were also exploding with deadly impact in cities across America.

There will be no quick war. The initial military campaign will be followed by years of occupation that some say will cost up to $1.9 trillion. As our states and cities writhe under their worst fiscal crises in 50 years, can we really afford an unending war that will divert desperately needed funds from jobs, affordable housing, health care, education and environmental clean-up?

This deeply affects us all – every state, city, town and average citizens. We can stop it by mobilizing the peace majority of our country and that of the world. I urge you to display the courage of conviction and support the resolution.

The author can be reached at jbachtell@cpusa.org

Drug giants fight back: Protect profits

Thu, 30 Jan 2003 11:20:00 +0000

Maximizing their already astronomical profits, prescription drug manufacturers are devising programs to increase their profit rates. They know that these measures will hurt people most in need, but they truly have no shame.

Over the past decade or so there are been two main features. First is the monopolization of prescription drug manufacturers amongst the international corporations that control drug development, research and manufacturing. There are less than seven such companies left. Second is the growing rage amongst the world’s peoples against this attempt by these manufacturers to gouge every penny from every patient needing to use these drugs.

In most industrialized countries, prescription drug manufacturers are controlled in their profit quest. To sell their drugs in these countries, each company must negotiate, with the central government, a price for each drug. The selling price for each drug is then set nationally. The incentives for each government is to keep the cost of drugs as low as possible, since these countries also have national health systems to run. The overall cost of medical, hospital and drugs is a national issue. This is the kind of incentive program that makes the drug cartels crazy.

These same drug cartels complain that they have to charge high prices in the U.S. to make up for low profits from Europe. How many people really believe that one?

The phony cry by the drug manufacturers that constricting their profits makes it impossible to develop new drugs is a complete lie. For example, the level of research and development of cancer related drugs in France and other European countries is extremely high. Cancer treatment in France is probably the best in the world.

These profit-seeking cartels are also behind the cut backs on the U.S. government’s investment in public drug research (the National Institute of Health’s budget is facing the Bush budget ax). They want to control all such research for profits.

In the U.S. there is no ceiling on drug prices and profits. The only leverage patients have is to go to Canada or Mexico to purchase the same drugs for far cheaper prices. This is no longer a well-kept secret. Recently, GlaxoSmithKline, United Kingdom drug giant, told its Canadian wholesalers and pharmacies that the company would no longer supply them with drugs, if they continue to sell to U.S. consumers.

The terror that Glaxo is perpetrating is just an extension of their political agenda. PHARMA, the drug company’s front organization, is hard at work trying to kill the excellent prescription drug effort in Ohio; they are still trying to kill the progressive Maine prescription program that is the most advanced pro-people drug program in the U.S.

The truth is that the drug industry is not doing less research and development due to European drug programs or U.S. efforts to control prices. These companies spend almost all their profits on astronomical salaries and buying members of Congress and State government officials. That is the real scandal.

Pro-people politicians in Congress and state houses across the country need to hold hearings and expose the role of PHARMA and the individual drug companies. That would be a powerful ingredient to the growing people’s movement for affordable prescription drugs that everyone desperate needs.

The author can be reached at pww@pww.org

Frank Lumpkin: A history maker

Thu, 30 Jan 2003 10:05:00 +0000

The name of Frank Lumpkin is not new to many of our readers. And recently his name has been added to the list of HistoryMakers.

HistoryMarkers.com is the largest African-American archival project of in-depth interviews, since the 1930s. Begun in 1999, the project has produced over 150 video interviews, which will grow to total a database of 5,000 African-American HistoryMakers, in the next five years.

Lumpkin is a member of the Communist Party’s National Committee and chair of its Illinois district. Lumpkin’s biography, Always Bring a Crowd by Beatrice Lumpkin, is available from International Publishers: (212) 366-9816.

For more information go to www.thehistorymakers.com.

Biography by HistoryMakers

Born the third of 10 children on October 13, 1916, Frank Lumpkin is known for winning a 17-year fight against a steel mill, but he also participated in numerous other struggles for social justice. His family, sharecroppers in Washington, Ga., moved to Florida to pick oranges when Lumpkin was six years old. At age 13, he lost two fingers when others dared him to touch a power line. Two years later, Lumpkin left school to pick fruit full-time.

As a young man, Lumpkin boxed well enough to fight professionally. He also worked in the orange groves and as a chauffeur. Following a brother who found better pay as a steelworker, Lumpkin moved to Buffalo, N.Y., and got a job at Bethlehem Steel in 1941. Joining the merchant marine in 1943, he took part in a strike organized by the integrated National Maritime Union and his belief in communism took hold.

In 1949, Frank Lumpkin moved to Chicago and married Beatrice. The Wisconsin Steel Mill hired Lumpkin in 1950, and he quickly led an unsuccessful movement to bring a national union to his workplace. Lumpkin continued at the plant until 1980, when it closed down in a corrupt scheme to cheat its workers out of their last paychecks, pensions and benefits.

The in-house union refused to fight, and Lumpkin organized the Save Our Jobs Committee. Under his leadership, the group picketed offices in Illinois and Washington, D.C. Fighting hard and long, Save Our Jobs finally succeeded in winning multiple court settlements that totaled $19 million. Although this represented a small monetary victory for the 2,500 workers the committee represented, Lumpkin succeeded in showing that united, people are strong.

Lumpkin has fought throughout his life for such causes as racial justice, living wages and peace. Mayor Harold Washington appointed him to task forces on hunger and dislocated workers. Frank and Beatrice Lumpkin have traveled internationally, visiting Eastern Europe and Russia behind the Iron Curtain as well as Africa and Latin America. Still a member of the Communist Party and the Save Our Jobs Committee, Lumpkin also works with Citizen Action.

Rex Auggie Waldron, man of steel, dies

Fri, 24 Jan 2003 09:26:00 +0000

Brother Rex Waldron, known to all as “Auggie,” died on Dec. 5, from stress-related conditions. He was 49.

A lifelong resident of Lorrain, Ohio, Auggie was a much loved and respected leader of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA). Auggie was a leader of the National Steelworkers Rank & File Committee during the 1970s, holding numerous positions with USWA Local 1104. Through the years he was chair of Local 1104’s Political Action Committee, Benefits Committee, assistant griever, delegate to the Lorain County AFL-CIO Federation and delegate to numerous USWA International Conventions.

Auggie was widely known and respected as a fighter, a man of the people. As a young worker, Auggie became active in the budding rank-and-file upsurge in the steelworkers union. Auggie was elected chair of the newly formed Local 1104 Rank & File Committee, which fought to make the union more of a fighting union, more democratic, with stronger representation of minorities and women in the leadership. He also served on the governing board of the National Steelworkers Rank & File Committee, the national coordinating body for that reform movement.

In retaliation for his role in that movement, US Steel discharged Auggie after he had participated in a federal lawsuit in which the company was the defendant. After a struggle of nearly two years, Auggie won his job back with full backpay. His fight became an inspiration to Lorain steelworkers, with blown-up pictures of him, holding his backpay check posted throughout the mill. A huge celebration party was held when Auggie returned to work!

Many of the reforms that Auggie spent his life fighting for are recognized now as part of the union structure and program. They include more African American, Latino and other minorities in leadership, the increased role of women steelworkers, and the fighting character of the USWA. The right of the membership to ratify contracts, the strengthened program of solidarity with other unions, the push to organize the unorganized are also part of the reforms he helped bring about.

In the 1980s, Auggie helped initiate and mobilize for the massive Solidarity Day demonstrations that helped put the American labor movement on a new, more militant path. In 1986, Auggie was a leader of the 6-month long lockout struggle against USX. Lorain was recognized as one of the bulwarks of the union fight during that struggle.

As leader of USWA 1104’s Political Action Committee Auggie was known throughout the community and was universally respected for building community-labor solidarity.

Auggie worked 29 1/2 years in the mill at the time of his death. He was deeply affected by the growing hardships steelworkers were facing.

Brother Auggie Waldron will be sorely missed by all who knew him. His loss is a blow to all who stand for social justice and the rights of working people. He is survived by his wife, Mary, and son. A memorial will be held at the USWA Local 1104 hall, date to be announce. Condolences and donations can be sent to: Mary Waldron, c/o USWA Local 1104, 2501 Broadway, Lorain, Ohio 44052.

Mamie Till Mobley, heroic mother, mourned

Fri, 24 Jan 2003 09:22:00 +0000

CHICAGO – Mrs. Mamie Till Mobley, mother of lynching victim Emmett Till, died here Jan. 6, at age 81. She was a quiet, unassuming and deeply religious fighter for civil rights. Her funeral was attended by national figures such as Dick Gregory and Rev. Jesse Jackson.

I saw and spoke briefly with Mrs. Mobley on Nov. 13, 2002. She was attending a charity fundraiser featuring singer and civil rights leader Harry Belafonte. Her health problems did not keep her away or daunt her, for she was a courageous woman, as her story shows.

In August 1955, her 14-year-old only son, Emmett, was in Money, Mississippi, to visit an uncle. While there, he entered a white-owned store. It was claimed that he had whistled at the storekeeper’s wife. Mrs. Mobley later related that she had taught him to use whistling as a means of overcoming a speech impediment.

Racists dragged young Till out of his bed, lynched him and threw his body into the Tallahatchie River.

But Till was not to be just another of the thousands of victims of racist lynching in the American South. His mother saw to that. When his body was returned to her in Chicago, she was told that even she, his mother, should not look at it, so horrific was the disfigurement from the torture he had suffered. The funeral director, A.A. “Sammy” Rayner, who went on to be an important figure in the struggle against racism in Chicago himself, suggested a closed-casket funeral. Yet, Till Mobley insisted in an open casket, with full publicity.

The horrifying press photographs were thrust into the face of a nation in denial about racism. The two whites accused of killing Emmett were acquitted in a travesty of justice. An all-white jury acquitted half-brothers J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant, though Look magazine published an article with their confession four months later.

The national wave of anger, which followed the murder and Mrs. Mobley’s dramatic and courageous gesture, helped spark the civil rights movement of the 1950s. That same year, Rosa Parks declined to give up a bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama.

“People have told me to let this thing die, even people in my own family. But people need to be aware,” Mobley told the Associated Press last month.

Jackson said, “She was a very articulate teacher who saw the pain of her son and did a profound, strategic thing. When they pulled his water-soaked body from the river, most people would have kept the casket closed. She kept it open.”

For much of her life, Till Mobley was an elementary school teacher in the Chicago Public Schools, and in 1973 created the Emmett Till Players to tour the United States and recite speeches by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., whose logic and turns of phrase she adored. Survivors include daughters Lillian Gene Jackson, Yvonne Wright, Ollie Gordon and Airickca Gordon; six grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.

“The Murder of Emmett Till,” which aired as part of PBS’ American Experience series, Jan. 20, had Till Mobley’s participation.

The film’s producer Stanley Nelson said the main message of the film “was trying to get people to understand that the civil rights movement was made up of everyday heroes. People like Mamie Till Mobley.

“People complain about things in our country, and they complain about things in the world, but I think that this film shows how everyday people can rise up and change things,” he said.

The author can be reached at pww@pww.org

Dancers soar for skywalkers

Thu, 23 Jan 2003 11:28:00 +0000

NEW YORK – Mohawk high-steel workers were honored here recently in a dance/theater piece called “Eagle Spirit.” Because the ironworkers walk through a space which belongs to feathered beings, the program’s theme was affinity with eagles.

Tom Porter, a Mohawk elder, opened the program, saying the idea that Indians are ironworkers because they have no fear of heights is a mistaken stereotype. Porter said he himself is “one Indian who fears heights.” That did not stop him from joining his father to do ironwork when he was a young man. Having only done farm work, he left upstate New York to learn the trade with his father in Indiana. Within the first few hours on the job, a cable snapped and the person he was working with fell to his death.

Both traditional and modern dances portrayed experiences in an ironworker’s life. Traditional dances were performed by the Thunderbird Dancers, whose members come from many tribes, the Onondaga Nation Smoke Dancers, the Haudenosaunee Singers and Dancers and the Mohawk Singers and Dancers.

Most of the contemporary dance pieces were done to a combination of music and narration. One modern piece mimed ironworkers tightening rivets and welding. “Poignant Reality” was a dance of grief and introspection. The narration went: “Under the photo of three ironworkers in a 1969 Look magazine, the caption read, ‘Unfortunately, 15 minutes after this picture was taken, one of the workers fell to his death.’ That was my dad. I was three days old.”

Many ironworkers live a good part of their lives away from their families and community. “Swirling Voices” expressed the loneliness and worry of wives left at home. There is always news of someone falling or being injured, and the families must live with an emotional pendulum from worry to relief when their husbands are able to return for all-too-brief visits.

One woman, in the narration, said she feels like a single mother.

A man talked about how his culture gives him the strength to do dangerous work. He said people look up and think they see crazy ironworkers running along a girder, but “we’re not running on the girder, we’re trying to move very fast off it, or at least to a more stable area, when it’s shaking.”

Modern dance pieces about eagles led up to a traditional feather dance, in which the dancer must pick up a feather on the ground with his teeth without using his hands. The program ended with traditional “social” dances.

The modern pieces were choreographed and performed by dancers, many associated with Lotus Music and Dance, under Jaan R. Freeman’s direction.

The program was presented by Lotus Fine Arts Productions and the World Music Institute. Both organizations are dedicated to celebrating the diversity of ethnicities through the performing arts. Future Lotus programs may be found at www.lotusarts.com.

– Karen Moy (kmoy@pww.org)

Toronto International Film Festival 2002 Part 6

Thu, 23 Jan 2003 11:25:00 +0000

Progressive Cinema

Just a short drive from my hometown of Detroit is a marvelous Mecca of movies in Canada. Toronto not only hosts the grandest film festival in the northern hemisphere, but has continual festivals throughout the year. Cinema thrives in theaters scattered throughout the city as avid filmgoers often fill the houses. It’s in this Canadian town that many American films get their North American debuts, this year including several about Detroit.

We’ve previously discussed Michael Moore’s award-winning Bowling for Columbine, with several scenes shot around Detroit. One of them depicts how white suburban youth bring guns to Detroit’s inner city to sell. The other Detroit films also deal with race, and all of them happen to be about music, the other great export from the motor capital.

One of the major films shown at this year’s Toronto Festival was 8 Mile, starring white rapper Eminem and based loosely on his life. Eminem plays Rabbit, a working-class rapper determined to break into the predominantly black field of rap music. Living with his mother and sister in a trailer park, and working in a factory, Rabbit spends his free time honing his poetic skills. With his friend’s enthusiastic support, he attempts to compete in a rap contest against the best of Detroit’s black rappers.

When the title was first chosen for this movie, filmed entirely in Detroit, expectations rose that maybe this wasn’t just a movie about a white rapper, featuring someone most suspected had limited acting ability. In fact, Eminem delivers a focused and convincing performance, and the story proves to be a deeper study of Detroit culture than previously expected from a Hollywood director.

Eight Mile Road, Detroit’s northern boundary, has become a symbolic racial divide, with most living below it black, above it, white. The 1960s rebellions in urban ghettos across the country – in Detroit in 1967 – and Mayor Coleman Young’s misunderstood 1974 inaugural statement ordering drug pushers, rip-off artists and muggers to “hit 8 Mile Road!” fueled a trend of white flight and corporate abandonment of the Detroit economy.

The film is much more than a story about a rapper. It’s about present day Detroit and its struggle to survive racism, urban blight, and economic uncertainty. Scenes of gutted out business areas, carcasses of empty buildings, and the homeless and unemployed, underscore the realities of the most racially divided metropolis in America.

Friendships in the movie rise above stereotype. The rap, more like introductory Rap 101, is understandable and key to the story. You can imagine how difficult it would be for a white rapper to beat a black opponent with a black audience voting. But the story shows Rabbit being accepted, essentially devoid of racism, much like the true success story of Eminem. Detroit is shown realistically and treated respectfully. The people’s indomitable spirit is shown rising above the racial and economic oppression.

Another Detroit movie, Standing in The Shadows of Motown, pays tribute to The Funk Brothers, the group of musicians who backed almost all of the singers that recorded for the Motown label. Appearing on more hit records than Elvis and the Beatles combined, these Detroit musicians reminisce about the happier aspects of Detroit in the ’70s. They perform some of their hits, with current artists talking backstage to the musicians. Infectiously entertaining, this film shows more than any other the joy of musical camaraderie, and the uniqueness of the “Motown sound.”

MC5: A True Testimonial covers one of the last untold chapters in rock and roll history. This revolutionary band of Detroit-area working-class musicians set out to change music and the world in the ’70s. At times managed by John Sinclair, radical pot guru and poet, and other times wildly anarchic, they preached freedom and equality. With Sinclair, they formed the White Panther Party, whose 10 Party Principles resembled the Black Panther Party’s. (Their first principle was “We support all 10 principles of the Black Panther Party,” and went on from there.) MC5 appeared at many anti-Vietnam War rallies in Detroit, and was the only band willing to play out front during the Democratic National Convention protests in Chicago in 1968. They burned out quickly, enraging the authorities, and fell apart from exhaustion, drug abuse and commercial failure. They weren’t everybody’s band, but they shared a concern about injustice and oppression. The film is extremely engrossing. It relives the ’70s from the radical view, and is highly recommended.

After seeing all these great films in Toronto, the sad statistic is that there is only one first-run theater left in Detroit. Most films about Detroit get their premiere in Canada. Detroiters have to go out of town to see a first-run film about their own city. The economic and racial disparity is deepening and it’s partly the role of cinema to help overcome this inequality and injustice. There are many progressive artists out there struggling to get their work seen, and it’s our responsibility as activists to help support them.

The author can be reached at pww@pww.org

We did it!

Thu, 16 Jan 2003 10:09:00 +0000

From Hawaii to Maine, Michigan to Florida, contributions ranging from a few dollars to thousands of dollars came in from 43 states to make up the total $203, 573 raised for the People’s Weekly World/Nuestro Mundo 2002 Fund Drive surpassing the $200,000 goal!

Contributions were collected at shop gates, cultural events and community banquets. They were brought to house parties to honor long-time readers, to discussion groups and social gatherings. They were raised at tag sales and raffles; they were collected on the street and at anti-war demonstrations from the sale of buttons and bumper stickers; they were raised from sales of hand-made works of art and international gifts.

They were collected through contributions to honor veteran comrades of the Communist Party USA and they were raised during the seven-city tour of Luis Fernandes from the Communist Party of Brazil.

No special grants from any foundation or corporation were a part of our fund drive, only the hard-earned money of working people committed to the paper’s coverage of peoples’ struggles, to shift our country away from war, racism and exploitation, to protect the constitution and the people’s right to peace and justice.

We thank all our readers and supporters who contributed their time, money and effort to making the 2002 Fund Drive such a success!

I Had Nuff

Thu, 16 Jan 2003 08:10:00 +0000

I had nuff of politician’s bluff slangin’ empty promises on the maid-2-order line under the guise of sumthin good like leave no child behind

Hold up swine! Press Rewind Wasn’t it you who put the lashes on the backs of my kind? Got my mamma workin’ her fingers to the rind!

How ‘bout leavin’ no child behind bars? Helpin’ ‘em reach for the stars not Star Wars trying to level out your oil desperate scores

Succumbing to the threat of your billy-clubbing police force their financial aid debt getting worse lured by the white horse that came in on your federal concourse

In dis country it’s easy to make a livin’ killin’ folks turning your bureaucratic cheeks to a couple of tokes better yet, lock ‘em up make his life suck then you’d get paid for all the dreams you delayed

Make him hungry and hand him a gun You can blame his parents when you’re done

Making his family pay taxes but with no decent job Keepin’ up with the Jones’ inciting him to rob.

You say you got no money for books but I wunda how much money those weapons took

You say you got no money to fix the streets in my community but what about all the boots on the cadets in Unit B?

Tryin’ to holla at the boys on da stoop to don rifles and cross your “so called” shining sea with false hopes of supporting their family

But you forgot to mention their forefathers fell prey to the same deception

In DC there’s a wall naming dozens of beautiful black, brown, and yellow men who once stood tall and for this country learned the true art of how to fall

You taught us to pray You taught us to slay but the real strong soldiers taught us to think for ourselves Put bureaucratic hypocrisy on the shelves

We’re much more than your average savage Just ‘cause you can pursue a pilgrimage rape and pillage makin’ the world your village don’t mean the masses of minorities won’t form a majority Join hands and demand a recall to truly achieve liberty and justice for all!!

– Melissa Chadburn (ycl@yclusa.org)

Faces of Iraq

Thu, 16 Jan 2003 08:04:00 +0000

A photo exhibit unveiling the hidden faces of Iraq

Special Washington, D.C. preview at The Warehouse Theater, 1021 7th Street NW (between L St. & New York Ave., a few blocks from Gallery Place/Chinatown Metro stop)

Opening: Friday, Jan. 17, 6:30 p.m. Jan. 17, 6:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Jan. 18 - Jan. 20, noon to 7:00 p.m. Speakers & café reception: Sun., Jan. 19, 5:00 p.m.

Invited speakers: Erik Gustafson – Education for Peace in Iraq Center (EPIC),

Ramzi Kysia – photographer,

Andy Shallal – Mesopotamian Cultural Society

The “Faces of Iraq” exhibition depicts the humanity and diversity of the Iraqi people in large color and black-and-white prints. It eloquently conveys to the American public the often muted stories of the Iraqi people. This powerful artistic bridge between the people of the United States and Iraq helps Americans break through the mask of Saddam Hussein, to see the individuals who will be affected in the event of another war on Iraq.

“Faces of Iraq” is not intended to be political. Instead, the exhibition will provide ordinary Americans with a rarely seen human portrait of Iraq. By personally connecting to Iraq through the images and stories of the people, Americans will better appreciate the humanitarian imperative we have as a nation and as part of the international community to improve human conditions in Iraq and to ensure that no more harm comes to innocent Iraqis.

The “Faces of Iraq” exhibition is a timely, creative challenge to the simplistic war rhetoric of U.S. officials. At a time of heightened war talk, this is a rare opportunity to increase public concern for Iraqi civilians who would be most affected by the use of U.S. military force against Iraq.

For more information, visit: www.epic-usa.org/faces or call EPIC at (202) 543-6176.

Sponsors: Education for Peace in Iraq Center (EPIC), The Society of Jesus of New England, Arab American Institute Foundation, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Pax Christi, Peace Action, Women’s Action for New Directions, National Council of Churches of Christ USA, Mesopotamian Cultural Society

Friends of the exhibit: Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom, National Network to End the War on Iraq

More than a mere scandal

Thu, 16 Jan 2003 07:57:00 +0000

Book Review

Fat Cats and Running Dogs – The Enron Stage of Capitalism, by Vijay Prashad, Common Courage Press, 2003; paperback, 144 pp., $16.95

Vijay Prashad’s Fat Cat and Running Dogs – The Enron Stage of Capitalism challenges the reader to see the Enron/Arthur Andersen collapse as more than a mere accounting or bad corporate culture scandal. Prashad, through mega-research and political economic analysis, places the one corporation and one accounting firm in the context of a system – modern day capitalism. His writing style is poetic at times, using song lyrics, poems and other cultural references and analogies to highlight the analysis. His description of an eighth continent – a “Continent of Sleaze” – is an example. Prashad’s humor is acerbic, always keeping his fire on the sleaze continent’s inhabitants.

Vladimir Lenin, in Imperialism: the Highest Stage of Capitalism, written at the dawn of the 20th century, used facts and figures of corporations and capital flow of that time to indicate the direction of the system of capitalism. Much has changed since Lenin’s day, but Prashad utilizes many of Lenin’s methods. (Surprisingly, though, Lenin is not mentioned.)

The book analyzes Enron’s history to project the direction of what many around the world call neo-liberal globalization. And that direction is not pretty. As Prashad comprehensively illustrates, Enron used organized crime and terrorist methods, with the helping heavy hand of the U.S. governmental apparatus, from the CIA to military forces, to rip off, assault and threaten people around the world, in particular in the third world. Prashad also reveals how the right-wing and sometimes centrist governments of many countries abetted these actions for the officials’ own narrow, ill-gotten gains.

Prashad shows that capitalism’s “Enron stage” is not only bad for the overwhelming majority of the world’s people, increasing poverty, exploitation, war, racism and gender inequality, but it is also bad for the planet’s eco-system and can lead to an environmental disaster of unknown proportions. And indeed, while not directly saying this, he shows that the Enron stage is even bad for business and commerce, which, if conducted on a non-exploitative equal-partnership basis, could help satisfy the world’s yearning for sustainable development and peace.

Prashad exposes many of the far-right U.S. ruling class cadre involved in Enron and the Bush administration as also being closely tied to the Pentagon, military corporations, intelligence agencies, drug-running operations and other reactionary interests. He highlights their actions in countries of Asia, Latin America the Caribbean and Africa.

But Prashad doesn’t drown the reader in a pool of desperation, overwhelmed with the many problems. He offers the reader a way to change the situation – through the unity and struggle of millions.

In a chapter titled “Moving on the Contradictions” Prashad writes of movements and organizations around the world that are in motion making a better life for workers and all the people of the planet. However, he only touches the surface of the movements that make up what he calls the “modern day Diggers.” Too much attention is given to U.S. left organizations and not enough to the organizations that represent larger sections of the multi-racial, multi-national working class, communities of color, women, youth, seniors, gays and lesbians, disabled and other sectors of the population and social movements from environmental to labor.

For example, the AFL-CIO and many individual unions are engaging in important solidarity actions with Colombian trade unionists. Yet, not a word is mentioned of that. The left has to join with labor, the nationally and racially oppressed, women, and other social forces in the struggles that they themselves are engaged in. Divorced from this, left thought and initiatives become impotent.

Nevertheless, Prashad makes a significant contribution in answering the challenges on the role of U.S. imperialism put forward by Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt in Empire, their analysis of globalization.

I look forward to Prashad’s future writings on the working-class and democratic movements in the United States and their dynamic interaction and connection with our counterparts around the globe. Looking towards building left-center unity against the far-right, which is the strongest engine pushing neo-liberal globalization, is critical in this time of a Bush unending war doctrine. Such attention to these movements and organizations will strengthen the workingclass and its allies and their movements for social justice and progress, which are certainly the makers of history.

– Terrie Albano

(talbano@pww.org)

Indian secularism suffers blow in Gujarat elections

Sat, 11 Jan 2003 09:25:00 +0000

AHMDABAD, Gujarat ? 'The BJP's victory is a setback for the cause of secular democracy,' said D. Raja, leader of the Communist Party of India. The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 127 seats, gaining control of two-thirds of the 182-seat assembly in Gujarat, where thousands of people died in 2002 in the worst Hindu-Muslim violence in a decade. The BJP and other right-wing organizations used the Godhra tragedy of last year and created a campaign based on fear. 'Be careful passing through Muslim-dominated areas. Ask the government to set up police outposts in such areas. Ask for a Hindu-friendly officer. Women be careful while shopping in Muslim-dominated markets like Dhalgarwad in Ahmdabad, you might be raped?' These are the words from a pamphlet distributed by Hindu right-wing activists throughout the state. Gujarat's Chief Minister Narendra Modi's election speeches were aggressive and humiliating. He attacked Muslims in every election meeting, asking Muslims to go to Pakistan. Compact discs of his recorded speeches were also distributed in every corner of the state. Underlining the atmosphere of fear, Delhi University Professor Nalini Taneja wrote in People's Democracy, before the Dec. 15 elections, 'Regardless of who wins the elections, it is the hard reality that the Gujarat elections should not have been held at all. ? The Modi government should have been dismissed first, and elections announced only after that, with return of some semblance of normalcy, when people are in a position to vote without fear or pressure. Such a situation does not exist today.' Terrorism was another instrument that the BJP used effectively, by combining it with anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan rhetoric. Gujarat shares a short border with Pakistan and a temple in Gujarat was attacked last year. In his Gourav Yatra (a journey to spread Hinduism in the state) Modi constantly used terrorism. In his vocabulary, terrorism is not just cross-border terrorism. He explained it as Muslims' aggression over Hindus. So effective was this demagogy that one editor said, 'The campaign is not seen as a contest between political parties, but between Modi and terrorism.' The Indian National Congress (INC) party did not effectively answer the BJP's lies and rhetoric. INC candidates spent much time campaigning to prove their Hindu credentials. For example, '[W]hen the Hindutva forces spew rhetoric that links Congress victory with victory of Pakistan and likens Sonia Gandhi to Musharraf, Sonia and her party are not in a position to state that it is part of our foreign policy that we be friends with our neighbours. She says instead that it was Indira Gandhi who taught Pakistan a lesson not they,' Teneja wrote. INC failed to highlight the important issues like poverty, joblessness and lack of fundamental infrastructure. The BJP made a clean sweep in the areas where last year's communal violence was the worst. But they failed miserably in regions where communal violence didn't take place. Eight former ministers, the speaker of the dissolved assembly and deputy speaker were defeated. They are all from these regions, where access to clean drinking water is a major problem, ignored by the last BJP government. 'Now politics in India will be based on Hindutva (Hindu-ness),' Hindu Council leader Praveen Togadia was quoted in one news service. The World Hindu Council, which wants India to become a Hindu nation, dropping its 55-year tradition of secular government, calls this policy Hindutva, or 'Hindu-ness.' Modi's victory is problematic for some in his own party who are preaching 'moderate Hindutva.' Modi and likeminded 'Hinduists' consider this victory gives them carte blanche for their hardcore 'Hindutva.' There is a devision between Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani who is leading the hardcore 'Hinduists' and Prime Minister Vajpayee who is less hardcore. In a few months another five states will hold elections. If the BJP repeats these results, many fear it will be disastrous to the entire nation. Terrie Albano contributed to this article. The author can be reached at pww@pww.org