People Before Profit blog

Congressional Black Caucus meet ends awarding Obama Harold Washington Prize

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 03:01:00 +0000

The recently concluded Congressional Black Caucus Legislative Weekend is “right in the heart of what’s going on,” said Representative Corrine Brown (D-Florida). Major themes at the caucus were health care and the sub-prime crisis. Indeed as the CBC met, the activist organization ACORN held a rally at the Treasury Department calling on the government to bailout Main street reported the Washington Afro American newspaper.

The conference, however, was not limited to economic issues. A high point of the legislative weekend was a panel discussion on public financing sponsored by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.). Only 7 states now have public financing, however a major step was taken in this direction with the election of Governor Janet Napolitano of Arizona with a publicly financed campaign.

Among the participants in the panel were the recently elected Donna Edwards (D-Maryland), Karen Bass, speaker of the California State Assembly, Dolores Huerta, leader of the United Farm Workers union and Hillary Shelton of the Washington DC NAACP. Edwards said, “Something is wrong when you have to spend so much time raising money for a campaign. It doesn’t feel right.” Edwards added that the day after her primary victory on February 13th, she woke up on Valentines Day raising money for the general election.

Huerta asked, “How can we build a democracy, if we don’t have control of our election process?” Lee spoke to the enormous challenge of fundraising in California politics. “It used to cost $400,000 to run for a seat in the state assembly – now it’s $2 million.”

Obama’s opting out of public financing seemed not to deter attendees. “Until we get public financing, we’ve got to look at how Obama raised money,” said Lee.

”This has to be a major issue in the next Congress,” commented the Northern California representative as she rushed off to a Congressional briefing on the financial bailout. “We have to keep fighting. When working people have to bailout Wall Street, something is wrong. This is a definitive moment.” One of the bills being considered by Congress is The Fair Elections Now Act.

As the CBC conference concluded, Senator Obama, after attending two 20,000 strong rallies in Greensboro North Carolina and Fredericksburg Virginia, went to its Awards Dinner and received the CBC's Harold Washington prize.

Building on momentum attained over the past week in response to the Wall Street financial meltdown and a toe-to-toe victory over Republican John McCain in the Mississippi debate, Obama reminded voters that his opponent never mentioned the phrase “working people” or “middle class,” in the exchange. According to the Washington Post, the Democrat stuck to economic themes at the CBC award dinner.

Black Caucus town hall on foreclosure crisis calls for huge voter turnout

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 09:03:00 +0000

“A crisis of credit, housing and jobs” is confronting the country today, warned Marc Morial, president of the Urban League, at the Congressional Black Caucus Town Hall meeting. Several hundred people gathered to hear panelists address the ongoing crisis and its repercussions. The meeting was held under the theme, “Foreclosure Crisis: Reasons, Repercussions and Real Solutions. Morial continued, “What we need is a program to rebuild America, a Marshall Plan to rebuild cities, bridges and infrastructure.”

Over 2 million homes are now in foreclosure with no end in sight. A bill to address the foreclosure crisis was to have been discussed by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass).

Panelists spoke directly to origins of the current worldwide banking crisis as lying in “predatory loans” deliberately directed at Black and Latino home buyers. Predatory loans were defined by the meeting as loans three percent higher than those given a bank’s normal customers. Such loans initially begin with low interest payments that balloon after a short period to much higher rates along with big penalties for early repayment. “Banks take advantage of the 'financial illiteracy' in the Black community,” said one panelist, who went on to indicate that many don’t read the fine print.

Jarvis Tyner, CPUSA executive vice chair was in the audience and remarked, “We used to always say, racism was the Achilles Heel of capitalism. With the sub-prime crisis causing an international banking meltdown, we can see why.”

The sub-prime crisis has precipitated the largest wealth loss in African American and Latino history. According to Mike Calhoun, president of the Center for Responsible Lending, in a recent study, “almost half of all African American family mortgages are sub-prime mortgages.” “These sub-prime mortgages go into foreclosure at 21 times the normal rate, commented CBC panelist Kenneth Wade, chief executive officer of NeighborWorks America, a nonprofit established by Congress in 1978.

Former co-chair of the McCain campaign and still close adviser Phil Gramm is known to have been intimately involved in the deregulation of the banking industry that began those loan-sharking practices in the first place. The Gramm-Leach-Billey Act repealed the previous regulation that had governed banking in 1999. However, Gramm’s role didn’t end there. Politico.com notes “A year after the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act repealed the old rules Swiss Bank UBS gobbled up brokerage house Paine Weber. Two years later, Gramm settled in as a vice chairman of UBS’s new investment banking arm.”

George W. Bush’s much touted “ownership society” was the slogan under which the banking schemes were manipulated noted panelists.

Morial warned of an October surprise: 'King' Henry Paulson dropped “an economic nuclear bomb 40 days before the election.” “We don’t want to find out that we are victims of 'financial mustard gas' that may have been a 'mirage,'” he warned.

The Urban League president concluded. “We have to have the highest turnout in our history in the midst of this crisis. Some will use deceit to try to discourage the vote. It is really important to register before the deadline.”

Shades of Green: September 27

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 06:32:00 +0000

Undermining democracy: concise history of U.S.-Haiti relations

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 06:26:00 +0000

BOOK REVIEW

Damming the Flood: Haiti, Aristide, and the Politics of Containment

By Peter Hallward

Verso, 2008, 442 pp

The tragic tale of contemporary Haiti is one of the stories most misunderstood and neglected by the mainstream media. Peter Hallward’s “Damming the Flood: Haiti, Aristide, and the Politics of Containment” provides a concise, sweeping account of recent Haitian history. It reveals how the U.S., Canada and France undermined two elected governments in that Caribbean nation.

Haitians elected Jean Bertrand Aristide, a priest guided by the principles of liberation theology, as president in 1991. Aristide and his Lavalas party government set out to alleviate the country’s grinding poverty. They built schools and medical clinics, doubled the minimum wage ($1/day at the time), taxed the rich and lowered food prices for the poor. They dismantled the country’s repressive police state.

Haiti is an important destination for U.S. companies that value the country’s minimal taxes and supply of cheap labor. Aristide’s left-wing direction horrified the Clinton administration and the local business elite, who backed an army coup against his government eight months later, leading to an avalanche of killings and arrests. However, Aristide’s reform measures also cemented his popularity among the masses.

Pressure from the Black community, Haitian Americans and progressive solidarity forces compelled the U.S. reluctantly to return Aristide to power in 1994, using military force. But Clinton forced Aristide to agree to reduce tariffs protecting the country’s agriculture, privatize state companies, lay off government workers and reduce the wages of remaining public sector workers.

Once back in power, Aristide did what he could to sabotage the agreement. He implemented some measures half-heartedly and others not at all. He also abolished the army to protect the country against future coups.

Washington also tried to control Aristide through its leverage over the country’s finances. Seventy percent of the Haitian government’s budget depended on foreign aid and loans and this lifeline could be severed. Clinton’s Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott said in 1995, “we will remain in charge by means of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the private sector.”

When Aristide’s term ended in 1995, pro-Lavalas candidate Rene Preval succeeded him as president. Washington’s control over the country’s finances, and domination of the National Assembly by the right wing, ensured that Preval did not disturb the status quo.

Running again later, Aristide contested the 2000 elections, winning with 90 percent of the vote. The Famni Lavalas party won most legislative seats while the right-wing parties lost most of their elected positions.

The U.S. government, now led by George Bush, set out to destroy Aristide. First, U.S.-funded groups such as the USAID and International Republican Institute funneled $68 million per year to opposition groups between 2000 and 2003. Canada, France and the European Union also contributed funds. Canada played a key role in coordinating international efforts to replace the Aristide government.

Then, a financial boycott was declared which crippled the country economically. Finally, the U.S. and the Haitian opposition convinced the international media the 2000 elections were fraudulent and that the opposition was fighting a dictatorship.

In this way, Washington forced the Aristide government to make concessions to the opposition, which wanted Aristide to resign and allow it to govern the country. While Aristide agreed to include the opposition in his government, he refused to step down.

Beginning in 2003, former Haitian soldiers began launching raids into Haiti from bases in the Dominican Republic. They burned police stations, killed Lavalas activists and captured towns. Former soldiers would later acknowledge that these acts were sponsored and directed by the right-wing opposition.

In the meantime, Aristide’s government continued to build more schools, medical clinics and housing for the poor. It established the country’s first medical school with Cuban help.

By early 2004, paramilitaries had captured northern Haiti and were threatening to attack the capital.

Taking advantage of the chaos, U.S. marines seized Aristide on Feb. 29 and flew him to Africa. U.S., French and Canadian forces invaded the island, installing a new un-elected government composed of the opposition. Unlike the previous Aristide administration that allowed its opposition to operate freely, the new regime ordered the Haitian National Police (HNP) to liquidate Lavalas. The HNP and paramilitaries killed and jailed thousands of Lavalas supporters and members. United Nations troops would later back the HNP, conducting their own brutal operations.

In March 2006, Franco-American-Canadian hopes for a post-Lavalas future were dashed again. While Lavalas officially boycotted the elections, the movement’s supporters elected pro-Lavalas candidate Rene Preval as president.

Hallward’s “Damming the Flood” is an epic, must-read account of the turbulent Aristide years. It is also a reminder that the popular movement that Aristide led is still alive and will never give up its struggle for a better Haiti.

tpelzer @shaw.ca

Sometimes, nonsense makes the most sense

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 06:23:00 +0000

MOVIE REVIEW

Burn After Reading

Written and directed by Ethan and Joel Coen

2008, R rating, 96 min.

For those who admire Coen Brothers comedies, “Burn After Reading” is as good as expected, and maybe a little bit better.

It has the same heavy-handed satirical style as earlier works, and its humor is just as bewildering. The “plus” is the meaning.

The actors, as always, have no limits placed on them. Every one of them in this film, except John Malkovich, is absolutely perfect. Richard Jenkins makes a wonderfully lovable sap, Tilda Swinton is completely odious and Frances McDormand is a category all to herself. Those who haven’t seen matinee idols George Clooney and Brad Pitt cast as clowns before will be amazed at how terrifically they carry it off.

Malkovich was miscast. He is too good for this movie. In fact, it could be argued that he is too good for any movie. This time, even his uptight, nerdy, alcoholic, unlovable, unlikeable, bow-tie role can’t keep him from tipping the entire movie toward him. He’s that good. Instead of being cast as the biggest loser in a troupe of losers, he should have played God, perhaps, delivering the moral at the end.

People love Coen Brothers plots because, like real stories, they don’t make any sense. “Burn After Reading,” however, is actually a message movie. It’s about intelligence. Not the good, personal kind, but the shadowy, scary kind that is supposed to reside in the Pentagon and CIA headquarters — the kind that is often credited with overthrowing democratic governments, and is scapegoated by an inept president.

If someone moves in America, according to “Burn After Reading,” some tragically earnest bureaucrat finds out about it through satellite video, by wiretapping, or by having us followed in sinister black sedans with heavily tinted windows. All of us are looking over our shoulders, and properly so, for gatherers of “intelligence.” If the spies know everything, as the Coen Brothers so carefully explain, how are they likely to interpret it? What are they likely to do? Is it drama or farce?

If you have liked other Coen Brothers films, you will probably like this one. If you didn’t, you won’t. It occurs to me that Coen Brothers films are only for people who have watched a lot of movies. People who seldom go aren’t as likely to appreciate the humor in scenes that have been done over and over again in serious movies. For example, the suspense and excitement engendered when the camera shows somebody’s shoes clattering down a long, empty hallway. How about seeing, in your rear view mirror, a black sedan with heavily tinted windows?

The Coen Brothers, to the glee of longtime moviegoers, are constantly poking fun at every other movie ever made, but people who haven’t been to a lot of movies are disappointed because they expect what they were supposed to have expected. Also, in Coen Brothers films, nice guys just as often finish last, and the princess hardly ever finds the prince at the ending, if there is an ending.

flittle7 @yahoo.com

Congressional Black Caucus conference to address housing, health crisis

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 00:55:00 +0000

Over 17,000 people are expected to attend the 38th annual Congressional Black Caucus Legislative weekend which begins Wednesday with an event sponsored by the Washington DC City Council. The CBC meet is being held under the theme “Embracing the Promise, Realizing the Vision.” Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is expected to host one of the conferences’ 84 forums and workshops.

Health care along with the escalating financial crisis precipitated by the sub-prime lending crisis are slated to be addressed by legislators and activists during the weekend. HIV/AIDS is a leading cause of death among African Americans. A recent study suggested that if Black America was regarded as a country, it would have the 16th highest infection rate. The sub-prime crisis has caused the largest wealth loss among Black citizens in US history and was also prominently addressed by the NAACP and Urban League last summer.

Efforts to bolster Obama’s election bid are sure to figure prominently in the proceedings. “What was once beyond our grasp is now at our fingertips,” remarked Kendrick Meek (D-FL) a chair of the CBC Foundation which sponsors the confab. Voter registration and turnout efforts are intense as the election nears. Early in the summer Obama predicted a 30 percent increase in the Black vote. According to Time magazine, North Carolina already has over 400,000 new registered voters alone.

With several Congressional Black Caucus members leading important committees in Congress, among them, Ways and Means, Judiciary and Homeland Security, and with the possibility of electing an African American president, this year’s conference will focus on salient programmatic issues. The Afro-American newspaper quotes conference leader Elsie Scott as saying it

“will offer a clear vision of what the icons of the civil rights movement promised – a nation full of equal opportunities for all of its citizens. The conference will be filled with dynamic social and policy content [and] everyone will leave the conference better informed and motivated to make a difference back in their communities.”

Ron Walters, a leading African American political scientist stresses the importance of securing a Congressional majority in support of the CBC’s legislative program, writes the Afro American, “If they’re (Democrats) able to get at least six more seats in the Senate they will create a veto-proof majority.”

The conference ends on Saturday.

A complete guide to the Wall Street crisis

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 09:16:00 +0000

Articles and Resources on the Economic Crisis

The week of September 15, 2008 has been a dramatic and unprecedented period in the world of high finance. The economic crisis is not over despite what some pundits and politicians have claimed. A series of government interventions have changed the map of banking and finance.

So what does it all mean? What will be impact of the Wall Street bankruptcies, bailouts and blunders on working people in this country and worldwide? What’s the solution to the crisis?

Perhaps only time will tell the full extent of the impact. Needless to say, this week’s developments don’t bode well for the future. Here are some thoughts from contributors to the People’s Weekly World and Political Affairs and leaders of the Communist Party on the current economic crisis, the policies that got us to this point and the historical precedents.

We will update this resource list in the days and weeks to come, as the full scope of the crisis is better known.

Week of Sept. 15:

EDITORIAL: Bailout Main Street
Sept. 19, 2008

Economic Meltdown
By Joel Wendland:
Sept. 19, 2008

Wall Street meltdown wallops Main Street
By Phil Cadman
Sept. 19, 2008

Things Fall Apart: Wall Street and the Crisis of US Imperialism

By Joe Sims and Joel Wendland
Sept. 19 2008

From Archives:

Is Freddie Mac really never coming back?
By John Wojcik
Sept. 8, 2008 — People's Weekly World

Got money?
By Marilyn Bechtel
Aug. 15, 2008 — People's Weekly World

Mac the Knife: Cut the Needy to Feed the Greedy
By Joelle Fishman
July 24, 2008 — Political Affairs

Interview with Doug Henwood, Left Business Observer
May 29, 2008 — Political Affairs

It’s Time for a New Deal
By Norman Markowitz
May 29, 2008 — Political Affairs

Financial Crisis and Class Struggle

By Paulo Nakatani and Rémy Herrera
May 28, 2008 — Political Affairs

Foreclosures point to systemic crisis
By Denise Winebrenner Edwards
April 4, 2007 — People's Weekly World

Bailout goes to Wall Street, not Main Street
By John Wojcik
March 20, 2008 — People's Weekly World

Weathering the Storm: the economic recession
Video interview with Sam Webb
March 10, 2008 — Communist Party USA

Unions tackle housing, foreclosure crisis
By John Wojcik
March 9, 2008 — People's Weekly World

Interview with Art Perlo, CP Economics Commission
Feb. 15, 2008 — Political Affairs

To fix economy put working class first
By Teresa Albano
Jan. 24, 2008 — People's Weekly World

Banks bilk homebuyers, Black, Latino families hit hardest
By Tim Wheeler
Jan. 19, 2008 — People's Weekly World

A look behind the housing crisis
By Art Perlo
Aug. 30, 2007 — People's Weekly World

Mortgage crisis stoked by incredible greed
By Susan Webb
Aug. 16, 2007 — People's Weekly World

Corporate thievery, a new political moment
By Sam Webb
July 20, 2002 — People's Weekly World

En Español:

La crisis económica y las viviendas

Por Art Perlo
26 de Julio, 2008 — Nuestro Mundo

Shades of Green: Sept. 20, 2008

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 05:50:00 +0000

Texans struggle with Ike

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 06:15:00 +0000

HOUSTON — As the death toll rose to 47 from Hurricane Ike, the Bush administration attempts seem like a re-run of the disaster relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina survivors. Already stories abound of poor FEMA response to the catastrophe which hit the nation’s fourth largest city, Houston, considered to be an area which strongly supported Bush in the past.

Mayor Bill White is up in arms over the lack of FEMA assistance. FEMA has failed to provide ice and food which it promised before the storm hit. White demanded that a federal supervisor with FEMA be fired for turning back two trucks on their way to Houston. One truck was filled with ice and the other with food.

As of this writing, many people are without water or have contaminated water, which means they have no drinking water and cannot flush the toilet or shower. CenterPoint Energy, the privately owned utility company which provides electricity to residents of Harris County has restored power to 550,000 customers, but another 2.5 million remain without power. Lines at gas stations remain long and many stations cannot pump gas because they have no power. The post office for my area is closed due to no power.

Texas AFL-CIO officials are delivering ice and water to union halls in Beaumont and plans are underway for Texas City as well.

There were reports on the local media that National Guard members had been stationed at a high school football stadium west of town just prior to the storm. On the day after the storm, people became aware that there were no provisions made to feed these troops. Even after enduring the horrible storm, residents in the area poured out to bring food and water to the starving National Guard troops in the stadium.

One Houston resident, who happens to be Muslim, gave this assessment, “I notice that large storms like hurricanes bring out the best in people. For example, we have an old woman across the street who would never speak to any of us. Yesterday she broke the silence and started talking with me … Another man was very helpful with all kinds of advice, while another family’s son lent us some metal clamps and even sold a huge piece of plywood to my wife so we could cover our large front window … Today (Sept. 15) many traffic lights were down due to an electrical power outage. By and large, the people were courteous to one another, waiting for their turns … Most gasoline stations were closed today. The ones that were open had long lines of cars. My daughter and I were in one such line for a very long time.”

In my neighborhood, there are some people who remain without power, some who lost power for a short time and some who didn’t lose power at all. Many of the people with homes with power received people from homes without power and provided shelter, TV and other conveniences to their neighbors without regard to ethnicity or cultural background. It was as if race as an issue had melted away.

It is wonderful to see the outpouring of love for one another among working people in the face of this awful catastrophe. It is maddening to see the contempt for working people expressed by the vicious Bush administration.

James Harrington and John Croft contributed to this story.

Shades of Green: Sept. 13, 2008

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 08:40:00 +0000

Police violence and GOP

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 07:09:00 +0000

Minnesota is known for its friendly hospitality, so much so that the phrase “Minnesota nice” is often used.

Apparently though when a bunch of Republicans enter the state for their convention, Minnesota-nice gets tossed into the Mississippi River.

When 10,000 peaceful protestors took to the streets to exercise their First Amendment rights, police prepared for a riot. And that’s what ensued after the march when some 50 people were arrested for allegedly smashing windows and violating the convention security zone. Police used tear gas and pepper spray.

Some 400 arrests happened over the four-day, far-right fete. Among those arrested were journalists trying to do their jobs. The FBI, known for its infiltration and spying on peace groups, conducted “preemptive arrests” of video makers planning to use their talent to work on behalf of civil liberties and freedom of speech.

While the crushing of the First Amendment was going on outside the convention hall, on the inside Republicans were busy laying their plans to further erode our human, civil and economic rights by nominating John McCain and Sarah Palin. Not only was the convention a further enshrining of raw reactionary and pro-corporate policies, it was a guarantee that McCain/Palin will continue in the jack-booted footsteps of George Bush and Dick Cheney.

All those who feel the righteous outrage at the senseless police violence evident at the Republican convention in the Twin Cities should channel that anger into the hard work it will take to give the boot to the ultra-right on Election Day, Nov. 4.

Are they really for democracy at the workplace?

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 10:08:00 +0000

Commentary

The labor movement, backed by a clear majority of the public, has made enactment of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) a central issue in the 2008 elections. (At the Democratic National Convention in Denver hundreds of union delegates were running around explaining to other delegates why restoration of the right of workers to form unions is the first step in turning around the American economy.)

Right now workers who try to form a union are up against employers who coerce, harass, intimidate and fire them. “Elections,” in which workers vote “yes” or “no” for union representation are held on company property after a long period during which workers have been forced to attend anti-union propaganda sessions. The union is not allowed in and has to reach workers outside the workplace.

Heavily funded right-wing outfits are rearing their ugly heads now all over the country, trying to turn back the growing support for the EFCA and they are attacking congressional and Senatorial candidates who support the bill.

One TV ad shows a union leader who looks like the stereotypical gangster barging into a voting booth and telling a worker who is in there that he can’t vote in secret. The gangster-type “union leader” hands him a card and tells him to make his choice while a bunch of people standing nearby look on.

The ad is co-sponsored by the so called “Coalition for a Democratic Workplace.”

This attack on the EFCA is as absurd as it is hypocritical.

To begin with, in any democracy, when people join an organization they usually do so by filling out a form, a card or an application printed by the group they want to join. When the company you work for joined the Chamber of Commerce in your town there was no election. You did not have the right to force the boss to attend a meeting at which workers had a chance to propagandize with him about how bad the Chamber of Commerce is. Democracy means that when you want to join an organization you should be able to sign up and join. No one has the right to force you to wait months or more so they can have a chance to talk or scare you out of doing it.

If the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace was really interested in pursuing the noble goal of democracy on the job there are numerous ways they could do it.

They could insist, for example, that before your company decides to move to Mexico and lay everybody off it must put the issue up for a vote by the entire workforce. They might also insist that employers allow workers to vote on whether raises should come every six months, rather than every year or whether the health insurance deductibles they pay should be raised or lowered.

The companies, of course, are not interested in workplace democracy. Those decisions, they tell us, are company decisions and are none of our business.

Workers know that most workplaces are dictatorships where democracy stops as you enter the door. Any country in the world run like most companies in the U.S. would be high on the list of countries sanctioned for human rights violations. The rights that the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace are concerned about are the rights of the boss to stop workers from freely choosing to form or join a union.

They believe the bosses have the right to threaten that they will close down if the workers unionize.

They believe bosses have the right to corner workers individually or to herd them into a room where they scare them into voting against a union.

They believe bosses have the right to fire people who want a union.

The reasons we must back the EFCA, however, go beyond even these issues of our human, civil and democratic rights.

The economy grows and profits grow but wages stagnate or even go down.

This is the direct result of the attacks on the labor movement and the fact that smaller percentages of the workforce are now unionized than 30 years ago.

The EFCA is the first step in reversing this trend. If the trend is not reversed we could well see an America with a few super-rich on the top and the 90 percent majority living in absolute poverty. It’s the stuff of depressing futuristic science fiction films and we can’t let it happen.

Shades of Green: September 6

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 07:11:00 +0000

Progressive Cinema preview: What Toronto has in store

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 06:56:00 +0000

Once again the Toronto International Film Festival is gearing up to present one of the Western hemisphere’s most prestigious cinematic events. The festival will host over 300 films of all types from 64 countries, presented to one of the largest audiences of film lovers, over 340,000+ admissions. In addition, over 500 prominent directors and actors plan to attend the Festival that is divided into several major categories such as Masters, Contemporary World Cinema, Real to Reel and 15 others.

For progressives, there will again be a plethora of new films. Just in the category of documentaries alone, there is a wealth of great cinematic choices: “Blood Trail” follows the work of war photographer Robert King for over 15 years; “Citizen Juling” covers the quest for justice in Thailand; the intellectually stimulating “Examined Life” allows several modern philosophers, including Cornell West and Slavov Zizek, to expound on contemporary social issues.

“Upstream Battle,” “Under Rich Earth” and “Food, Inc.”each address corporate greed and inspire activism around environmental issues.

“The Heart of Jenin” tells a compassionate tale of a young Palestinian boy who was killed and his organs were donated to three Israeli recipients who each have unique stories to tell.

“Killing Kasztner” retells the WWII story of the famous doctor who helped free over 1,600 Hungarian Jews and was later reviled by the Israeli community and assassinated in 1957.

“Unwanted Witness” is about Hollman Morris, yet another war correspondent trying to tell the story of the voiceless masses in war torn countries around the world. “Sea Point Days” examines the current transition in South African society. “Yes Madam, Sir” follows the career of India’s controversial human rights and justice advocate, Kiran Bedi.

“Witch Hunt,” produced by Sean Penn, explores the controversial sex abuse cases that flourished in California courts in the eighties. And “A Time to Stir” is an epic four-hour work that looks at the tumultuous events of the 1968 Columbia University student strike.

There are also several discussion panels, one that includes clips from the upcoming documentary “The People Speak” featuring a discussion on stage between historian and social activist Howard Zinn, and actors Matt Damon and Josh Brolin. Master Directors Agnès Varda, Terence Davies and Deepa Mehta will attend to showcase films that have inspired them or have marked a significant period in their careers.

There are many dramatic films dealing with events in history that are of interest to progressive viewers: “Return to Hansala” covers the plight of African migrants in Europe; “Flame & Citron” tells the tale of two resistance fighters in Nazi-occupied Copenhagen; “Firaaq” traces the emotional journey of those caught up in the religious pogroms that took place in the Indian state of Gujarat in early 2002; “Passchendaele” is a Canadian epic about a battle in the First World War; “Last Stop 174” carries on the drama of the Brazilian bus hijacker that was brought to world attention in “Bus 174.”

“A Woman in Berlin” relives the 1945 Red Army liberation of Nazi Germany; a unique working class musical “Faubourg 36” is set during the 1936 springtime election of a left-wing government that brings wild new hope but also the beginning of religious fundamentalism.

Spike Lee’s “Miracle at St. Anna” chronicles the story of four Back American Army soldiers; and “Il Divo” tells about one of the most powerful figures in the history of Italian politics, Giulio Andreotti.

Some of the numerous feature films from around the world include “Horn of Plenty” by Cuban Juan Carlos Tabío (of “Strawberries and Chocolate”), a lighthearted comedy about the socio-economic hardships Cubans are facing. The Palestinian film “Laila’s Birthday” by Rashid Masharawi tells about the difficulties a man faces getting through all the checkpoints to attend his daughters 10th birthday.

Tim Robbins stars in the road movie, “The Lucky Ones” about U.S. soldiers returning from war; “Nothing But the Truth” stars Kate Beckinsale as a Washington D.C. reporter who writes an explosive story about a government scandal in which she reveals the name of a covert CIA agent; and “Religulous” features Bill Maher’s travels around the globe interviewing people about God and religion.

Certainly one of the most anticipated films of the festival will be Steven Soderbergh’s compelling epic film “Che” that premiered at Cannes, and stars award-winning actor Benicio del Toro in the title role. They will be hoping to pick up an American distributor at the festival.

For more details on all the films being screened in Toronto this year, check out .

Its good to be reminded Why you should support the PWW

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 06:15:00 +0000

NEW YORK — A year ago, an article appeared in the People’s Weekly World announcing the beginning of the annual PWW/Nuestro Mundo Fund Drive.

“Readers and supporters of the People’s Weekly World,” read the article, “are wasting no time.”

The triumphantly-toned article continued, “The 2007 Fund Drive kicks off on Labor Day, yet readers have already raised $44,000 — more than 20 percent of the drive’s $200,000 goal.”

In 2006, in the same spot there was an article heralding the successful kickoff of the 2006 campaign: “$30,000 jump starts the PWW fund drive.”

Obviously, in the past few years the trend has been up — and this year is no different: as of August 30, the 2008 drive, which didn’t’ start until September 1, had already netted nearly $60,000, or 30 percent of its $200,000 goal.

The $60,000 represents more than it would have in 2007. Local Friends of the PWW committees, which, along with subscribers and other readers, generate the overwhelming majority of the PWW’s income, are already spending more in another way: Because of the skyrocketing costs of materials and shipping, the cost local committees pay for bulk orders, or bundles, of the paper was doubled.

Why are more people doing so much more to build the financial well being of the PWW?

“One of our readers from Brooklyn said it in a letter with a contribution,” said PWW Editor Terrie Albano. “He said, ‘Your articles on the mess in Georgia, the 1968 Olympics, Bolivia, labor and racism are stuff that can’t be gotten anywhere else! Sometimes I forget how valuable and courageous the PWW is. It’s good to be reminded of that.’”

The fund drive will help to continue the PWW’s budding online presence. Already, much has been done, including daily updates, and live, on-the-spot coverage of the Democratic National Convention, the first time this paper has been able to cover such an event in real time. There are changes coming to the print edition as well.

To donate, call 646-437-5363, go to , or send a check (payable to PWW) to 235 West 23rd St Floor 8, New York, NY 10011.

Tribunal mexicano apoya derecho reproductivo

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 05:08:00 +0000

La mayoría de la Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación en México ratificó la constitucionalidad de la despenalización del aborto durante los primeras 12 semanas promulgada en el Distrito Federal. Las mexicanas han estado luchando por su derechos reproductivos por años como muestra esta foto tomada este año en una manifestación. La medida fue promulgada por el gobierno del Partido de la Revolución Democrática. En una declaración el PRD llamó el fallo “un triunfo de las mujeres y de la ciencia”.