People Before Profit blog

Spanish Civil War songs

Fri, 28 May 2004 06:45:00 +0000

Record review

Spain in My Heart: Songs of the Spanish Civil War Multiple artists, Appleseed Recordings, 2003

The songs of the Spanish Civil War are a red thread connecting the left of the 1930s to those of us who came later. I remember hearing songs like “The Peat Bog Soldiers” and “Los Quatro Generales” when I was younger, long before I ever met any of the veterans of the Lincoln Brigade.

Later when I moved to New York I began attending the annual gatherings of the “vets” and the tributes to their heroism, sacrifice, and continuing activism in progressive struggles.

These songs represented a moment of greatness which those of us on the left could look to for inspiration and ideals.

Yet for years one could only hear these songs either on the original, now scratchy 78 RPMs, issued by Asch Records, Songs of the Lincoln Brigade and Six Songs for Democracy, or on more recent recordings of singers from that era such as Pete Seeger or Ronnie Gilbert.

Now, when the ideals of anti-fascist unity, of unity in the workers’ movement are again necessary and current, this CD brings us these songs. PWW readers may recognize some songs; others will be new.

The CD begins with Pete Seeger telling the story of the original recording of Songs of the Lincoln Brigade issued in 1942 and singing “Jarama Valley” with Arlo Guthrie.

What follows are some songs from the older collections sung by contemporary singers, such as “Viva la Quince Brigada” sung by Shay Black and Aoife Clancy (a Clancy Brother’s daughter).

There are also songs which are new to me, especially the songs in Spanish such as “Noche Nochera” sung by the Nicaraguan duet Guardabarranco.

The importance of the struggle for Spain for the left can be seen in the fact 60 years later, and after democracy has been finally restored to Spain, the conservatives still want to attack the Lincoln Brigade and the rest of the Internationalists.

We can connect or reconnect to this part of our cultural tradition as it is carried on by younger artists. It can inspire us for the “good fights” still being fought.

– Louis Shipman

Letters

Fri, 28 May 2004 04:36:00 +0000

Campaign strategies

I’m forwarding this important MoveOn campaign calling on apparent Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry to be aggressive and go after Bush and the ultra-right. This is one of a number of campaigns taking similar approaches: supporting Kerry against Bush, while urging him to be more aggressive, take stronger positions on the key issues. These campaigns push real solutions to the huge problems working folks are facing today, as a result of the attacks by Bush, the ultra-right and their corporate bosses.

Kerry has been a strong, tough and very progressive senator who has fought for peace, for health care for those without. He’s fought for people’s civil liberties.

However, there are those, also within the Democratic Party, who are urging Kerry to run a cautious campaign, to not take strong positions on the issues.

A great many of us disagree strongly with that approach. We see that can let Bush and his ultra-right-wing supporters off the hook. We say the problems we face are too large, that too many people have been turned off to all politics and don’t see answers. We say that if Kerry runs the tough, fighting kind of campaign – strong positions for peace in Iraq, for health care for all Americans, against “free trade” pacts that steal our jobs and for protecting our hard-won liberties – then a huge majority will sweep him into office.

Bruce BostickLorain OH

Rethinking World War II

My curiosity was sparked by Norman Markowitz’ piece on recent Second World War historical revisionism entitled “Rethinking World War II” in the op-ed section of the PWW (5/1-7). Are any of the new discoveries to which he refers contained in a book or books? If so, please relate what you know. For those that aren’t, please specify access information for the sources. Thanks much.

Jeff HarperVia e-mail

Author’s reply: I would suggest that you check your library or the Internet for these authors, David Glantz and Walter Dunn, particularly Glantz’s “When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler,” and E.J. Cottam on the remarkable role of Soviet women fighters in the war, particularly “Women and Resistance: Selected Biographies of Soviet Women Soldiers.”

For the nature of the war the Nazis were fighting, the best source is Omer Bartov, “The Eastern Front, 1941-1945: German Troops and the Barbarization of Warfare.” None of these sources are written from a Marxist perspective, but all seek to put both the war and the enormous Soviet achievement in historical context.

Herbert Aptheker

I found Herbert Aptheker’s obituary in your archives. I was unaware of his passing, and was happy to find mention of him in the People’s Weekly World. To see that he had cordial relations with PWW and the Communist Party USA in the end of his days heartened me, as I do believe there is a need for all of us with similar goals to attempt to keep a degree of kindness between us. It has certainly not been me that has been the one to set this example, but I do find your article about Dr. Aptheker to be a good example of the cordiality we need to maintain. It is my hope that in the future I can follow the good example you and Dr. Aptheker set.

David FieldsLincoln NE

Jesus and Marx

Jesus was the first socialist and had a dialectical view of the world like Marx. Marx says, “Within everything is planted the seed of its opposite.” The world is the union of opposites, a process of wholes produced by the union of opposites. Jesus says, “I am in you as you are in me.” The perceiver and the perceived, two opposites, form a whole united.

Jesus also says, “If you have two coats give one to your brother who has none.” He is trying to create socialism, social and economic equality and liberation, with a virtue that is charity. Jesus is a utopian socialist. Marx created scientific socialism; it has a material base, the social ownership and running of the means of production, that is, the factories, the companies, the businesses, and the farms, by the state. This will create social, economic, and political equality and liberation scientifically.

Anthony DePalmaBronx NY

Letter sent to Canadian PM

It is our hope Canada’s peace workers will inundate Ottawa with letters! The following is excerpted from a letter sent to Prime Minister Martin.

According to a BBC News broadcast on CBC, the United Nations passed a resolution condemning Israel’s latest attack by helicopter on a Palestinian protest demonstration. The report mentioned only one abstention, that of the United States of America. We hope that means Canada supported the UN resolution.

Israel claims that they fired at a building. We do not believe their statement. They are using U.S.-built helicopters armed with U.S. technological armaments. Such an occurrence cannot be a mistake or even collateral damage!

With respect, we urge you as Prime Minister of Canada to issue a public statement in support of the UN resolution and unequivocally condemning Israel’s actions in Rafah for what they are: gross violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention and as declared by Amnesty International – war crimes.

In this election year, while it is true that Canadians place health care as a priority, it is also true that a majority of Canadians are appalled at Israel’s treatment of the Palestinian population in Israel and its occupied territories.

By taking such a position you will gain world respect for Canada in international affairs.

John and Elizabeth BeechingVancouver, Canada

Editorials

Fri, 28 May 2004 04:27:00 +0000

Ohio workers: ‘Outsource Bush’

On April 24, 2003, George W. Bush visited the Timken Roller Bearing plant in Canton, Ohio, and bragged to assembled workers that Timken is living proof that his corporate tax cuts are working, providing “more money for jobs.” Bush went on to say, “The future is bright for the families that work here.” But this month, only 13 months after Bush’s visit, Timken announced that it is closing all three of its Canton plants, destroying 1,300 jobs.

The news came just as Bush flew into Youngstown, Ohio, at taxpayer expense for a similar pep rally at Youngstown State University. Like a snake oil salesman, Bush bragged that community clinics are the answer for 44 million Americans who lack health insurance. His Medicare drug plan is just the medicine for seniors forced to choose between food and prescriptions. But folks in the Mahoning Valley must be wondering: Is a visit from Bush the kiss of death? If Bush steals a second term, will health clinics and Medicare meet the same fate as those Timken workers?

It was Bush’s 17th visit to Ohio, which he narrowly carried in 2000. All around him in Youngstown were the signs of a city decimated by steel mill closings. In nearby Niles, MCI recently announced that 700 high-tech jobs are being outsourced. Ohio has lost 169,700 manufacturing jobs since Bush took office. The few community clinics are swamped by the jobless workers without health insurance.

Steelworkers picketed the rally, chanting, “Outsource Bush.” A lot of people in the Buckeye State agree. Democrat John Kerry has taken a 49 percent to 45 percent lead over Bush in a recent poll of likely Ohio voters. A lot can happen between now and Nov. 2. But working people have everything to gain and nothing to lose in outsourcing Bush back to his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

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Memorial Day, 1937

This Memorial Day, friends and descendants of steelworkers killed in the 1937 Chicago Memorial Day Massacre are honoring their memory and rededicating themselves to the cause of workers’ rights. The United Steelworkers of America and the Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees are hosting a commemoration near the site of the Republic Steel bloodbath. Organizers said they expected the May 30 commemoration to be beautiful and dignified, and to mobilize steelworkers and friends to push Bush out the door in 2004.

Eyewitnesses from May 30, 1937, said the day began with a festive solidarity gathering for the Republic Steel strikers, their families and friends. Over 1,000 people – including 200 women and children – had come to the holiday picnic and rally for union recognition and a contract. They were not expecting a police riot, although they couldn’t help but notice 500 Chicago police gathering nearby. Their fellow workers at U.S. Steel had already won a union contract. The right to form a union was protected by the Wagner Act, a new federal law at that time.

But Tom Girdler, the arrogant CEO at Republic, boasted he “would pick apples before signing a union contract with a bunch of Communists.”

Union organizer Herb March was one of those clubbed by the police that day. March fell, but rose to see bodies lying in pools of blood. Some had been shot after they were clubbed. March helped carry the wounded to safety. Their warm blood soaked through his shirt. Over 100 were shot in the back. Ten died. A congressional investigation eventually exposed the police riot but nobody was punished.

But in the end the workers won their contract.

This year, workers’ rights are again under severe attack. The mentality of disregard for law and human life promoted by our commander-in-chief both at home and in Iraq is the same mentality that led Chicago police to fire point blank at a crowd of steelworkers. With unity, determination and hard work we too can win and uphold the legacy of the Republic Steel strikers.

Travel groups defy Bushs Cuba policies

Fri, 28 May 2004 03:01:00 +0000

Cuba has survived 45 years of U.S.-inspired military incursions, terrorist attacks, internal subversion, economic blockade, biological warfare, and diplomatic isolation, but Cuban leaders say worse is yet to come.

In a May 14 interview with the Cuban magazine Bohemia, Ricardo Alarcon, president of the Cuban National Assembly, explains why he takes the threat of a major U.S. military attack seriously.

Alarcon was responding to the recent report from the Bush administration’s “Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba,” which lays the groundwork for increasing human suffering in Cuba. One measure involves cutting off Cubans from their family members living in the U.S. by limiting travel to once every three years. Another measure involves cutting off the flow of dollars from the U.S. so as to aggravate economic difficulties.

Causing economic hardship in Cuba has been a policy of many U.S. administrations, and is not unrelated to military threats. A 1959 State Department document, Alarcon said, revealed the first economic measures taken against the Cuban revolution was “to cause hunger and desperation.” A short time later, in April 1961, 1,500 U.S.-trained exiles invaded the island in an effort to overthrow the government.

Yet, according to Alarcon, the situation today is “the most complicated and dangerous moment for Cuba,” not excluding the missile crisis of 1962. Back then, he said, people with culture and judgment were in charge of U.S. foreign relations. They had neither stolen a presidential election, nor were tied irrevocably to devious schemers in Miami. The world was “bipolar” – not prey to a single superpower ready to unleash unilateral and pre-emptive wars. Today Cuba faces “an empire without reins or brakes,” he said.

Alarcon describes the Bush report as “a project of organizing Cuban society under North American occupation,” a plan that clearly implies military action.

Alarcon said the administration’s report includes plans for “privatization of the economy, a return to the neoliberal model, and rapid dispersal of all the property nationalized by the Revolution.”

Cuban leaders aren’t the only ones taking these new Bush administration measures seriously.

This summer, U.S.-based Cuba solidarity groups are organizing a cooperative, militant response to the belligerent, cruel, and illegal policies of the U.S. government. They plan to challenge U.S. government restrictions on travel to Cuba, restrictions that will be severely tightened under the new rules.

To take on the travel issue makes good political sense. There is wide congressional and popular support for getting rid of the travel restrictions. U.S. citizens themselves – not just Cubans – are victimized because their right to human interchange is denied, and they are deprived of the pleasure and education of spending time in Cuba.

The Venceremos Brigade, the African Awareness Association and the 15th Pastors for Peace Friendshipment all plan to challenge the travel ban during the first two weeks of July.

For 35 years, the Venceremos Brigade has pitched in with Cuban co-workers to harvest sugar and other crops, engage in construction and repair projects. Over the years, 8,000 people have gone to Cuba with the Brigade, which emphasizes diversity within the delegations and educational activities in Cuba.

The African Awareness Association’s theme is “Become a Freedom Traveler.” Participants will spend time in Eastern Cuba and in the Havana area, and will be crossing back into the U.S. in Buffalo, N.Y., on July 19, shoulder-to-shoulder with members of the Venceremos Brigade.

Trucks and buses of the 15th Friendshipment will cross into Mexico on July 6 loaded with tons of humanitarian aid for Cuban health facilities and schools. An estimated 150 Friendshipment supporters will fly to Cuba from Tampico, spending an intense 10 days of travel, sightseeing, and meetings with their Cuban counterparts.

If past years are any indication, those who go to Cuba in defiance of U.S. laws will be honored guests of the Cuban people, who respect them for visible and principled opposition to an unjust U.S. policy.

For inquiries about the travel challenges, please contact the African Awareness Association at (804) 269-7172 or e-mail: African_Awareness_Association@yahoo.com; IFCO/Pastors for Peace at (212) 926-5757 or ifco@igc.apc.org; the Venceremos Brigade at (212) 560-4360 or vbrigade@yahoo.com.

The author can be reached at pww@pww.org.

Letters

Fri, 21 May 2004 04:16:00 +0000

India’s election results

Congratulations to Sonia Gandhi and the Congress Party in their electoral victory over Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his conservative Bharatiya Janata Party. Vajpayee and the BJP should be lauded for their unwillingness to participate in Bush’s war for oil in Iraq, but his focus on policies that benefited only the rich and his drive to spend the nation’s finances on building a nuclear arsenal while neglecting the 300 million who live in poverty is what rightfully cost him the election. Hopefully Sonia Gandhi and the leftist parties that will make up her coalition government will do great things for the people of India.

Brian McAfeeMuskegon MI

Wal-Mart an infectious disease

This letter is in regards to the “Voters say ‘No’ to Wal-Mart” (PWW, 4/10-16). I was appalled to learn that Wal-Mart could and would, if permitted, ignore zoning, traffic and environmental regulations. What has America come to if all multimillion dollar corporations have to do is spend millions of dollars targeting specific groups of people to get them the votes that would allow them to destroy communities?

Wal-Mart has all of their “made in the USA” merchandise made in Third World countries for little to nothing, then they turn around and spend $1 million on an advertising campaign directed specifically at African Americans. What is wrong with this picture? The reason Wal-Mart Corp. has so much money and power is because Americans are suckers for a good deal! The only solution that I can think of to stop them from taking over the world is a nationwide boycott of this infectious disease that is Wal-Mart.

Abbie C. Tucson AZ

Workers’ comp in California

Thank you for a wonderful article about workers comp. I am one of those who are totally disabled and the insurance company says now, after four years, that I never had an injury. This is Disney Worldwide Services. I am doing all I can to make people aware of what will happen to us. I can’t work, I can barely walk, and I’m angry for all of us.

Thanks for putting it out there. Should you find anything that could be conceived as enough to sue the state, please let me know. I will be first in line.

Christine PietzVia e-mail

Iraq war is bankrupting U.S.

Bush has already spent $166 billion of our hard-earned dollars on Iraq. Now Bush wants $25 billion more just to get through the 2004 election. Then, when taxpayers can no longer hold him accountable, his post-election request will surely be much larger than $25 billion. And then Bush plans to occupy Iraq for years.

We, the taxpayers of America, refuse to pay for Bush’s War of Lies. We demand: (1) Bush and his rich friends should pay the $166 billion spent so far through an immediate repeal of Bush’s tax giveaways to the rich. (2) Bush should beg the United Nations to take over Iraq’s transition to self-rule, and begin the pullout of all U.S. troops. (3) Congress should not approve one more penny for Iraq. (4) Congress should begin impeachment hearings for the lies that took America to war.

Bush No More in 2004.

Jim NeilsonAlpine NJ

Transparent lies

Have you ever had anybody “lie to your face” – that means look you in the eyes and tell you an outright (transparent) lie? And how did you feel about this intrusion on your personal self-respect?

When will Americans wake up and realize the disgusting arrogance and ignorance of the Bush aristocracy and its liars? The blatant corruption behind Cheney’s Halliburton; the decimation of civil liberties in the name of Ashcroftian “patriotism”; the torture, rape, and murder according to Rumsfeld’s “McNamara mentality”; Wolfowitz’s Zionist paranoia (more money for the Israeli occupiers); Rice’s blind faith in Bush; Powell’s duplicity?

When, Americans, will you wake up to the Diebold conspiracy? Unite and defeat the lies and the liars! Unite in November!

James G. BoutosSacramento CA

Bush’s anti-Cuba crusade

Just when you believe that there is nothing more the Bush administration can do to shock and outrage rational people, they top themselves. Last week it was disclosed that a Treasury Department agency had five times as many people working to harass U.S. citizens and businesses trying to either travel to or establish some relationship with Cuba than it had agents working on finding and destroying the financial fronts of Osama bin Laden and other terrorists. Even Republicans joined Democrats in expressing surprise at this.

The Bush administration has now come forward with a plan to intensify such attacks, diverting $59 million from other international activities to anti-Cuban harassment. Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), who had earlier criticized the Treasury Department actions, said of this new Bush maneuver, “At a time when the United States faces very real threats in the Middle East and elsewhere, the administration’s absurd and increasingly bizarre obsession with Cuba is more than just a shame, it is a dangerous diversion from reality.” Unfortunately, such acts are the Bush administration’s reality and the only way to end the absurdity is decisively defeat the administration and the GOP in 2004.

Norman MarkowitzNew Brunswick NJ

Editorials

Fri, 21 May 2004 04:09:00 +0000

Defending the gains of Brown v. Board of Ed

The U.S. Supreme Court delivered its Brown v. Topeka Board of Education ruling May 17, 1954, striking down Plessy v. Ferguson, the “separate but equal” doctrine that served for 58 years as the legal justification for segregation. “Separate is inherently unequal,” the court ruled in Brown.

It has taken decades of heroic struggle since that ruling to batter down the walls of segregation. Many women, men, and children gave their lives. Behind the scenes, giant corporations, banks, and real estate interests have resisted stubbornly because they reap tens of billions in super-profits from racist wage differentials and other forms of discrimination.

Politicians in the service of these profit-greedy capitalists continue to resist measures like affirmative action to overcome discrimination in jobs and education.

A case in point is George W. Bush, who traveled to Topeka to deliver a 12-minute homily on Brown to a nearly all-white audience. “Habits of racism in America have not all been broken,” he confessed.

Across town, Democratic presidential aspirant John Kerry pointed at Bush himself as the main obstacle. “We have not met the promise of Brown when one-third of all African American children are living in poverty,” Kerry said, “when only 50 percent of African American men in New York have a job … when nearly 20 million Black and Hispanic Americans don’t have basic health insurance. … You cannot promise ‘no child left behind’ and then pursue policies that leave millions of children behind every single day.”

The crowd answered with a roaring ovation. Perhaps they remembered that Bush waited until the Senate left town for their spring recess to sneak Judge Charles Pickering on the federal bench. Pickering had argued for leniency for a Klansman who burned a cross on a Black family’s lawn. That trickery exposed Bush as the racist he is and another reason to send the White House gang packing on Nov. 2.

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Immigrant rights win

Should a woman in labor, a child hit by a car, or a victim of a workplace accident be reported to the Department of Homeland Security? Should emergency room admitting clerks turn in their scrubs for Border Patrol uniforms, inquiring into patients’ immigration status, fingerprinting them and forwarding their data to DHS?

A bill in Congress containing just such despicable requirements went down to a well-deserved and resounding defeat May 18.

Seven of the nation’s hospital associations had joined immigrant rights, labor and religious leaders in condemning HR 3722, the “Undocumented Alien Emergency Medical Assistance Amendment,” introduced by ultra-right Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.). They made clear there would be disastrous public health consequences for the entire country if emergency health care for one section of the population was criminalized. The bill would not only set a precedent of weakening the requirements of hospitals to treat all emergency patients in the ER but could delay treatment of communicable diseases. A child with a high temperature could have meningitis, pointed out the American Hospital Association’s Carla Luggiero. If that child’s parents defer bringing him to the emergency room because of fear of deportation, the consequences to the health of the community could be far-reaching.

The health of the whole population is endangered when one group is denied health care. Along the same lines, when immigrant workers have no rights, the protection of other workers’ rights and living standards is impossible. The shameful denial of civil and workplace rights to the 11 million undocumented members of our working class undermines the democratic rights and standard of living of all Americans.

Victory over HR 3722 should be a steppingstone to passage of the SOLVE Act (Safe Orderly Legal Visas and Enforcement Act), introduced May 4 by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.). If passed, this legislation would provide a path to legalization and citizenship and the guarantee of protection of labor laws to immigrant workers, as well as the re-unification of immigrant families.

Labor says: Create more jobs: fire Bush!

Fri, 21 May 2004 02:14:00 +0000

WASHINGTON – About 1,000 Machinist union members marched from Capitol Hill to a rally near the White House May 12 to demand jobs with benefits and to cheer calls for the ouster of George W. Bush Nov. 2.

The workers holding placards that proclaimed “Jobs Worth Fighting For” blew whistles and chanted, “We want jobs,” as they marched down Pennsylvania Avenue. Many were in Washington for the annual “Transportation Day of Action” to protest Bush administration policies hostile to railroad and airline workers.

Through outsourcing of aircraft manufacturing and other steps to export jobs, the International Association of Machinists has lost 90,000 members since Bush took office, said Joe Tiberi, spokesperson for the IAM. “What we need is jobs,” he told the World by phone. “We have endorsed Sen. John Kerry for president. We are urging our people to get involved, to support candidates at the local, state and federal level that talk about and act on issues that benefit the average working person, job creation and preservation, affordable health care, preserving our retirement benefits.”

Tom Buffenbarger, president of the 384,000-member IAM, said the only way to break the cycle of union busting and labor bashing is to oust Bush on Nov. 2. “We’ve got to take our country back,” he said as the crowd cheered.

George W. Bush’s drive to block a bill providing 13 weeks of extended unemployment compensation for the long-term unemployed revealed just how low the Republicans will stoop in shafting jobless workers. That measure was introduced by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and George Voinovich (R-Ohio), who pointed out that 90,000 workers every week are exhausting their unemployment benefits without finding a new job. Because it would have exceeded the federal budget ceiling, it required a super-majority of 60 senators for approval.

The measure failed by one vote. The missing senator was John Kerry (D-Mass.), the Democratic presidential candidate who says he supports the extension. He was campaigning for president in Kentucky when the measure went down to defeat.

But the AFL-CIO charged that the Senate Republican leadership engaged in trickery to insure that the blame would fall on Kerry. An article in The Hill, a weekly newspaper that covers Congress, reported that while 12 Republican senators voted for the temporary extension of unemployment compensation, Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) was prepared to switch her vote to “No” if Kerry had come back to cast his vote for the bill. Thus, it still would have gone down to defeat by a one-vote margin.

Other GOP senators were also prepared to reverse their vote if Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) had asked them to. The article warns that the “Republicans have developed a legislative model that will cast … Kerry repeatedly in a bad light before the election.”

Even so, Kerry supporters say his absence was a mistake. “Think what a positive political statement it would have made if Kerry had returned to Washington to vote for those benefits,” said John Dodds, Philadelphia Unemployment Project president. “Here in Philadelphia we have thousands of people who are losing their homes because they have run out of their unemployment benefits. In just two months, we had 2,500 sheriff’s sales of people’s homes. This is affecting people’s lives very directly.”

The author can be reached at greenerpastures21212@yahoo.com.

Conductor criticizes Israeli policy

Fri, 14 May 2004 07:53:00 +0000

JERUSALEM (AP) – Symphony conductor Daniel Barenboim angered Israeli officials May 9 when he criticized the country’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza as he accepted a prestigious Israeli award. In his acceptance speech for the Wolf Prize at Israel’s parliament, Barenboim said Israel’s policy toward the Palestinians contradicted the humanist values on which the state was founded in 1948.

“Can a situation of occupation and control of another people be reconciled with (Israel’s) declaration of independence?” he said. “Is there logic to the independence of one people at the cost of a blow to the basic human rights of another people?”

Israel captured the West Bank and Gaza Strip during the 1967 Mideast war. Peace talks with the Palestinians stalled with the September 2000 outbreak of the current Palestinian uprising.

Barenboim, who was born in Argentina and raised in Israel, is music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and general music director of the Berlin Staatskapelle Orchestra.

Stateside

Fri, 14 May 2004 07:45:00 +0000

Film review

Stateside

Based on a true story, “Stateside” follows an outlaw rich kid, Mark Deloach (Jonathan Tucker), who lands in the Marine Corps to avoid jail.

When on leave, he meets and falls in love with the eccentric young pop star Dori Lawrence (Rachael Leigh Cook). The two fight for love in spite of a world of challenges that stand in their way, including her mental illness.

“I don’t think that the moral of the story is that ‘love’ is always the answer,” Cook has said. “The overriding theme could be that falling in love with the right person will make two people stronger.”

Besides Cook (“She’s All That,” “Josie and the Pussycats”) and Tucker (“Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “The Deep End”), whose performance is particularly strong here, the film features Agnes Bruckner, Carrie Fisher, and Joe Mantegna (of TV’s “Joan of Arcadia”).

“Stateside,” which opens May 21 and also ran at the Tribeca Film Festival, recently won the Best Independent Film Award at the 2004 Sonoma Film Festival.

– Carolyn Rummel

Letters

Fri, 14 May 2004 06:43:00 +0000

Bush and Hussein

George W. Bush says he was justified to invade Iraq and overthrow the villainous dictator Saddam Hussein. Bush claims he was justified regardless of the fact that no weapons of mass destruction have been found. According to Bush and his warmonger associates the war in Iraq is justified because Saddam murdered and tortured those who opposed him, he denied his people basic rights such as freedom of speech.

In the last month Bush and his cohorts in Iraq shut down an opposition newspaper thereby denying Iraqi citizens their freedom of speech. Just last week it was revealed that members of Bush’s military tortured and humiliated Iraqi citizens who oppose the occupation. These acts were done at the direction of military intelligence officials.

As Harry Truman once said the buck stops at the top. Hussein, aka “The Butcher of Baghdad,” committed atrocities against the Iraqi people. George W. Bush, “The Occupier of Baghdad,” has done the same. They are interchangeable and one and the same. No wonder Iraqis are resisting American occupiers.

Edward RiemerCorcoran CA

What Kerry needs to do

To give immediate relief to the millions of unemployed, underemployed, underpaid and part-time workers as well as motivation to come to the polls in November, Sen. John Kerry must put forth solutions that will remove the economic insecurity facing many working people and provide well-paying union jobs to all those in need. Some of the positions Kerry should put forth are unlimited unemployment benefits for all until gainful employment is found, a raise in the minimum wage tied to the Consumer Price Index that allows one to live in dignity, and a federal jobs program such as the Apollo Program that would put millions to work rebuilding our infrastructure. If Kerry were to put forth such proposals the White House is his in a slam-dunk. If not, a Democrat in the White House is not a certainty. The White House is the Democrats’ to win or lose.

Bill MackovichChicago IL

Bringing the troops home

In Australia our local paper surveyed 500 people (yes 500) asking should we bring our troops home. Fifty-five percent said yes but most of the people I speak to all say bring them home. 500 out of 20 million is a ridiculous sample, just an example of how the media is biased.

Hal CrossingVia e-mail

EEOC ruling against retirees

Perhaps lost in the furor over Iraq was the recent pounding of another nail in the coffin of American workers when the EEOC ruled that large companies may now end health care benefits to their retirees over 65 who are on Medicare. This could be disastrous for millions of American families who helped build these companies and should be allowed to enjoy their alleged “golden years” of retirement.

This ruling must not go unchallenged. Contact the president, vice president, EEOC and your elected federal government representatives now and demand that the EEOC ruling be rescinded. Background on this issue is available from the web site of the National Retirees Legislative Network (www.nrln.org). Act now! The benefits you save may be your own.

Willard B. ShapiraMinneapolis MN

What would Bush’s hero say?

What would our president’s “hero,” Jesus, do now? He would risk his life to expose George W. Bush, all the other liars in this administration, and let the light render them powerless. He would expose the collective arrogance, ignorance and apathy of the self-involved American people who have allowed such leaders to take control of our country. He would advise us to put away our toys, give up our pride, ask the peacemakers for forgiveness and help, before we destroy more of Humanity and its home. Our children, offered as sacrifices to self-serving leaders, will not have died in vain if we have learned a profound lesson and collectively make amends now. Otherwise, future generations, if our country survives, will spend their lives apologizing for our behavior.

Gretchen NielsenTucson AZ

Media covers up Bush crimes

Bush, Rummy, Myers, et al., knew about the abuses at Abu Ghraib from at least January. This corporate “technicality ploy” about “not reading it” won’t wash as an excuse. They sat on the report even when things were relatively quiet in Iraq last winter. But then when “60 Minutes” was about to break the story, CBS kowtowed to White House pressure to suppress the story until Gen. Myers could spoon up pre-emptive spin via the same media. Worse, reports the British Telegraph, “The Pentagon’s response did not include warning Congress, which learned about Abu Ghraib the way the rest of official Washington did: from CBS Television last week. The administration has been well served in the past by its focus on secrecy, news management and avoiding leaks.” So is it any wonder that the same media, being an arm of the Bush government enjoying more privileges than Congress, is also acting as Bush’s personal campaign HQ? Bush has killed Democracy

Lance LaughtonScarsdale NY

Editorials

Fri, 14 May 2004 06:35:00 +0000

Gruesome days

The gruesome video of the beheading of Nick Berg by alleged Islamic terrorists proves that the antiwar movement was accurate in warning that George W. Bush’s war on Iraq would breed more violence, hatred, and revenge. According to his family, Berg had been arrested and held incommunicado for two weeks by Iraqi police and then detained by the U.S. military until his parents filed a lawsuit against Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld demanding his release. The day after they filed suit, Berg was released.

One of the masked killers on the video claims that Berg’s execution is “revenge” for the torture of detainees at Abu Ghraib by U.S. soldiers.

How long will this mad cycle of retaliation and revenge continue? How many more must die?

A grieving father is right to relate his son’s death to the unconstitutional USA Patriot Act and the “war on terrorism.” The father, Michael Berg, told reporters, “We could have gotten [Nick] out of there before the hostilities escalated. I still hold [Rumsfeld] responsible. But it goes further than Donald Rumsfeld. It’s the whole Patriot Act … rights don’t matter anymore because there are terrorists.”

In essence, he asks: How could George W. Bush, who flouts democracy at home, ever bring democracy to Iraq?

We join with the millions around the world who have condemned the horrific beheading of Berg – a Jewish American – and the acts of torture at Abu Ghraib. Acts of terrorism play into the hands of the Bush-Cheney gang who use these crimes to justify their own barbarous acts of war. We who struggle for peace can never condone atrocities whether perpetrated by Zarqawi or by Rumsfeld. Our goal must be to break the cycle of violence.

A first step is forcing Rumsfeld to resign. Rumsfeld is a “hands-on” and “in charge” defense secretary, shaping military policies. He defended the interrogation “techniques” used in Iraq. Bush went to the Pentagon earlier this week and hailed Rumsfeld as a “superb Secretary of Defense” who will remain in his cabinet. For Dubya, it was back to business as usual. Rumsfeld is not fit for government service and should be tried as a war criminal. That would be a real boost for democracy and decency.

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Racism’s footprint

Bush claims the torture at Abu Ghraib was committed by a “few.” The Republican right accuses critics of Bush of engaging in “partisan attacks” and giving comfort to the “terrorists.” This slime and defend strategy suggests that the Bush-Cheney crew intend to continue the torture and abuse. The White House punctuated that fact by delivering to Congress a supplemental request for $25 billion payable immediately to continue the war.

The torture, war and occupation are racist policies aimed at dehumanizing and subjugating an entire people. These practices are deeply embedded and pervasive in capitalism and exploitation, reaching back to chattel slavery, the extermination of American Indians, and the annexation of nearly half of Mexico, all justified by the ideology of white supremacy.

Just this week the U.S. Justice Department was forced to reopen the Emmett Till case, 55 years after the 14-year-old child was lynched by Klansmen in Mississippi. An all-white jury acquitted the killers, who later bragged about the killing. African Americans, Middle Easterners and other people of color still face brutality at the hands of “law enforcement.”

That side of U.S. history (and present-day reality) was on display in the cellblock in Abu Ghraib prison.

Racism tears at the very fiber of humanity and democracy. We are at a crossroads. Do we as a country allow such policies to “stay the course” or do we decide that these policies, which are based on lies, imperialism and racism, need to come to an end? This paper has advocated the latter.

The American people have been horrified at the evidence of torture and abuse of the Iraqi detainees. Bring in the UN to facilitate a quick transfer to real Iraqi sovereignty. Removing the war criminals from office Nov. 2 will be a setback to racism and degradation.

Letters

Fri, 07 May 2004 04:53:00 +0000

Socialism and technology

“Capitalism and jobs” by Pat Barile (PWW, 4/24-30) says it correctly and places the emphasis on advanced technology as the major factor in the loss of jobs in the United States. He correctly requests workers should “get rightfully angry and demand jobs and control over the wealth they create.” He should have also pointed out that under a socialist administration, workers and not capitalists would be in control and technology would be used to reduce the hours worked and give workers more time off to live productive family lives. Using the abilities of all the willing work force, we are presently capable of producing sufficiently for all people in our country to live decently, without economic worries.

Karl DennisTucson AZ

Lost in assimilation

Thanks for an outstanding April 10-16 edition with many informative articles relating to Latino struggles. In particular, the movie review “Forget the Alamo” pungently corrected the mythology that still surrounds this historical event. Also worthy of note was the excellent piece of analysis by Jorge Mariscal, “Cesar Chavez Day in a Time of Nativism.”

When my grandparents left their East European village after World War One and came to the U.S. as penniless refugees, they had no desire to shed their traditional language and culture. But the prevailing “melting pot” ethos gave them (and especially their children) little choice, and the pressure to assimilate to Anglo-American ways was enormous. Many things of un-quantifiable human value have been lost to us in the decades since.

I see no reason to force Hispanic Americans down a similar path today. We live in a part of the world, the Western Hemisphere, that speaks two major languages. Mariscal is right that permitting Spanish-speaking immigrants to retain their language and culture is no threat to the rest of us; instead, we should recognize that it can open new doors of understanding and expression, and can provide us a different lens with which to view the world. The goal for every American today should be to become bilingual, and your newspaper can assist us in doing so.

David OsachyJacksonville FL

The Ryongchon tragedy

I’ve been reading about the terrible tragedy at Ryongchon station in North Korea. What happened there reminded me of a similar tragedy that happened here in the U.S., the Texas City explosion of 1947 when a ship blew up in the port on Galveston Bay. The blast took nearly 600 lives. That ship was being loaded with ammonium nitrate – just like what the trains were carrying in the DPRK.

Given the deregulation of trucking, the condition of U.S. railroad tracks and freight yards, and the Bush administration’s push to weaken environmental controls and worker protection, I think such a thing could happen here again. I live in Chicago which is crisscrossed with train tracks, expressways, and shipping canals that at any time have rail cars, tanker trucks or barges loaded with concentrated chemicals, fuels, and who knows what else.

All the billions wasted on military spending and bogus anti-terrorism gizmos are urgently needed for real and necessary improvements here and now. We need to dump Bush and his ultra-right gang and put people to work on rebuilding the infrastructure here, not destroying lives and homes and hospitals and water treatment facilities and museums, etc., in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Barbara RussumChicago IL

Time to end the occupation

A new poll shows that nearly 60 percent of Iraqis want the U.S. occupation to end soon. Instead, our leaders say that U.S. troops will stay in Iraq probably for “decades.”

Meanwhile, John Negroponte, a former accomplice in the Iran-Contra scandal, is in line to be the new U.S. ambassador to Iraq, even though there will be no proper government in Baghdad to which he can present his diplomatic credentials. Moreover, even that U.S.-appointed transition authority will have only “limited sovereignty,” oxymoronic as that concept may be.

To top it off, a new Iraqi national flag was suddenly presented, without prior popular consultation, by a clique of U.S.-connected exiles living in London. In the eyes of most Iraqis, the new banner looks too much for comfort like the Israeli flag.

The aforementioned poll also found that nearly half of Iraqis now feel they were better off before the war. One must begin to ask if that unsettling sentiment isn’t true for us, as well.

Cord MacGuireBoulder CO

Vietnam and Iraq

Re: “Soldier’s mom reveals Iraqi nightmare” (PWW, 4/24-30), would you be so kind to send this message to Pat Gunn and tell her she has many thinking people who support her? I heard her story on NPR and it brought back many experiences I had during the Vietnam problem. (I am a Vietnam veteran.)

The Bush Iraq War II is over, maybe, and the egalitarian peace and “nation building” process begins. As our “multinational police force” engages in this process, and using some mathematical computations, this effort will cost over 200 more lives, $28 billion per year and another 300 injured peacekeepers by August 2004. Given the level of continued lawlessness in Iraq, the American military footprint is destined to grow, not reduce, and with undetermined consequences – a legacy manifested in many forms that will confront the United States for years, indeed generations, into the future.

You be the judge and don’t forget to make your informed vote count in 2004!

T.H. SemelbauerKalamazoo MI

End the torture

I recently wrote the following letter to the president. “Dear President Bush: It is enough that your pampered ‘neocon’ advisers have dragged this nation into a very messy quagmire in Iraq. Now we are advised of some disgusting torture acts by American custodians of Iraqi prisoners. These acts of barbarism and incivility must be ended forthwith.”

Hazzim YousifFrom Michigan, via e-mail

HAITI Crisis continues

Fri, 07 May 2004 04:05:00 +0000

As the United Nations prepared to send a peacekeeping force to Haiti, armed gangs continued to hold sway in the country, while the Caribbean Community (Caricom) and Venezuela refused to recognize the U.S.-installed interim government.

Late last week the UN said it would send a contingent of over 8,000 troops and police to Haiti for an initial period of six months. The new force would take over from the 3,600-member force of mostly U.S. troops that entered the country after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was kidnapped and forced out Feb. 29 by U.S. forces.

The UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti – to be called Minustah – is to maintain law and order, help the government demobilize armed groups and protect civilians from violence. It will also help the U.S.-installed transitional government restructure the police and organize elections, expected next year.

Last month Venezuela joined the Caricom nations in refusing to recognize the interim government headed by Gerard Latortue. “We don’t recognize Haiti’s new government,” said Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, himself a target of Bush administration ouster efforts. “The president of Haiti is named Jean-Bertrand Aristide and he was elected by his people,” said Chavez.

Caricom announced last week that it was postponing two high-level meetings with Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, on fighting terrorism and on financial and security concerns, because Washington insisted the Haitian interim government participate. Caricom is slated to consider in the next few weeks whether to recognize the new government.

If developments of recent weeks are any indication, the UN peacekeepers will have their hands full. The London-based Haiti Support Group said April 21 that armed irregular forces are continuing to work at establishing themselves as de facto administrative authorities around the country. It cited incidents in Jacmel and St. Marc, in which armed gangs prevented installation of government administrators, claiming the right to be consulted about all appointments.

At the same time, the Support Group said, by negotiating with the armed gangs holding de facto power in cities including Gonaives, Cap-Haitien, Les Cayes and Hinche, the interim government and foreign intervention forces “have lent these blatantly illegal, de facto authorities considerable credibility.”

The Haiti Support Group called on “the individuals and organizations that were so vocal in supporting democracy and the rule of law during the Aristide/Neptune administration to end their silence on the continuing erosion of governmental authority over the last two months.”