AMERICAN LEFT HISTORY

This space is dedicated to the proposition that we need to know the history of the struggles on the left and of earlier progressive movements here and world-wide. If we can learn from the mistakes made in the past (as well as what went right) we can move forward in the future to create a more just and equitable society. We will be reviewing books, CDs, and movies we believe everyone needs to read, hear and look at as well as making commentary from time to time. Greg Green, site manager

Sunday, May 04, 2014

A Voice From The Left-The Latest From The Steve Lendman Blog

Click below to link to the Steve Lendman Blog

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/

From The Pen Of Frank Jackman

Over the years that I have been presenting political material in this space I have had occasion to re-post items from some sites which I find interesting, interesting for a host of political reasons, although I am not necessarily in agreement with what had been published. Two such sites have stood out, The Rag Blog, which I like to re-post items from because it has articles by many of my fellow Generation of ’68 residual radicals and ex-radicals who still care to put pen to paper and the blog cited here, the Steve Lendman Blog. The reason for re-postings from this latter site is slightly different since the site represents a modern day left liberal political slant. That is the element, the pool if you will, that we radicals have to draw from, have to move left, if we are to grow. So it is important to have the pulse of what issues motivate that milieu and I believe that this blog is a lightning rod for those political tendencies.

A Jackman disclaimer:

I place some material in this space which may be of interest to the radical public that I do not necessarily agree with or support. Sometimes I will comment on my disagreements and sometimes I will just let the author/writer shoot him or herself in the foot without note. Off hand, as I have mentioned before in other contexts, I think it would be easier, infinitely easier, to fight for the socialist revolution straight up than some of the “remedies” provided by the commentators in the entries on this website. But part of that struggle for the socialist revolution is to sort out the “real” stuff from the fluff as we struggle for that more just world that animates our efforts. Read on.
******* West Buries Truth on Ukraine

by Stephen Lendman

On May 4, Itar Tass headlined "West actually imposes information blockade on Ukraine tragic events - Russia ForMin."

Russia's Foreign Ministry was clear and unequivocal saying:

"While Ukrainian punitive squads are carrying out their operations in east Ukraine, conducting sweeps in some settlements and blocking some others, the West has actually imposed an information blockade on tragic events taking place in that country."

"It is quite illustrative that even in the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) no one is aware that the blood is being shed in Ukraine and troops are shooting at unarmed people."

Russia demands accountability. It wants unbiased OSCE and Council of Europe assessments. It wants buried truths revealed.

It wants crisis conditions addressed responsibly. Its Foreign Ministry said:

"It is symptomatic that even in OSCE circles nobody knows that blood is shed and troops are shooting at unarmed people in Ukraine."

"What freedom of speech and freedom of the press can one be speaking in such conditions?"

"We demand that the relevant institutions of OSCE and the Council of Europe immediately give an objective evaluation of the developments in Ukraine."

Lower House State Duma Security Committee chairwoman Irina Yarivaya called Kiev's Odessa massacre assessment "absurd."

It effectively claims "federalization supporters had burnt themselves alive," she said.

They ludicrously say people trapped on "upper floors (hurled) Molotov incendiary cocktails at 'civilians' standing on the ground that triggered a fire that" took many of their own lives. Big Lies don't "stand any criticism," she added.

Eye-witnesses and independent journalists "have irrefutable proof that these were radicals supported and covered by current Kiev regime with full connivance of police who ousted federalisation supporters going out for a peaceful rally to the House of Trade Unions, blocked them there and set them on fire, hurling Molotov incendiary cocktails at the building." she said.

"Many videos on which radicals without hiding their faces are literally boasting of what they had done standing in front of the burning building and giving mocking comments on attempts of people happened to be in a burning trap to save themselves."

"Instead of just scrutinising available videos and finding those guilty official authorities, (Kiev) prefer(s) to devise some theories which are more fantastic than others, accusing Russia's Federal Security Service and people from (ousted Ukrainian President) Yanukovich's entourage of the tragic events."

Odessa's massacre "showed once again to residents in southern and south-eastern regions in Ukraine that the Kiev junta is not only unable to protect them from fascist actions of Right Sector radicals, but also actually rules their actions for intimidation of federalisation supporters."

"For the memory (of) those Odessa martyrs who died in the fire, we demand a thorough and unbiased investigation, the maximum harshest punishment for those guilty in this tragedy barbarous for people living in the 21st century."

"Until culprits are found and punished, any legitimacy of current authorities is out of place for residents of southern and south-eastern regions in Ukraine."

Fascist ruthlessness prevents it. On May 2, Odessa-based Kiev authorities arrested 160 alleged "mass riot" participants.

Victims were targeted, not perpetrators. They're charged with "mass disorders" as well as "threats and violence against law enforcers."

Right Sector crimes were ignored. Incinerating dozens of unarmed civilians didn't matter.

Authorities targeted victims of Right Sector street riot violence. Torching Odessa's Trade Union House followed.

On May 4, police released 67 anti-Kiev activists. They included survivors of Friday's deadly fire. They did so after hundreds of Odessans protested.

Unjustifiable charges remain. Hundreds of supporters chanted "Heroes!" "Freedom!" They demanded all activists be released.

They shouted "Fascists! Fascists!" Scores tried blocking the regional Interior Ministry's office.

They tried preventing released detainees from being sent to the regional court house. Earlier the Ministry accused anti-Kiev activists of setting the Trade Union House ablaze.

It remains to be seen if additional charges will be filed. Fascists give no quarter. Confronting them responsibly is important. So is spreading vital truths.

On Sunday, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called for a second international conference. He wants Ukrainian crisis conditions addressed.

He proposed it to Sergei Lavrov. "In the many discussions I've had in the last couple of hours, I've been campaigning (for) a second meeting in Geneva to follow up on the first one," he said.

Its purpose would be "finally to make clear agreements on how we can we can put an end to this conflict and gradually move towards a political solution."

"Anything else would be irresponsible because it would only mean there are more victims," he added.

At the same time, coup-appointed prime minister Arseny Yatsenyuk accused Russia of engineering Friday's violence.

Yatsenyuk was directly involved. He helped unleash Right Sector thugs to commit violence. Blaming it on Russia doesn't wash.

He dismissed Moscow claims of his government's involvement. He lied saying "(t)he process of dialogue had begun, only it was drowned out by the sound of shooting from automatic rifles of Russian production."

On Sunday, Putin and Germany's Merkel spoke. Focus was on Ukraine's crisis.

Putin stressed responsible dialogue between Kiev and Eastern Ukrainian activists. Both leaders agreed.

They want things resolved diplomatically. They want conflict ended. Above all, they want letting things spin out-of-control avoided.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gregory Karasin said Kiev won't dialogue responsibly with Eastern Ukrainian self-defense forces unless pressured to do so.

He condemned Odessa's massacre saying:

"The crying falsehood of the evaluation of the developments that are taking place in Ukraine these days once again speaks of the double standards typical of both the incumbent authorities in Kiev and their Western patrons."

"Today nobody recalls the previous Western incantations about the impermissibility of the use of force against so-called peaceful Maidan in Kiev when crowds of Right Sector militants beat up and burned law enforcers without any adequate response from the latter."

"Punitive operations in Slavyansk and Kramatorsk are presented as an antiterrorist effort even though a war has actually been unleashed against the Ukrainian people."

"What happened in Odessa on Friday cannot be described otherwise than barbaric, cold-blooded killing of people."

"One cannot help recalling Yugoslavia, Libya and other historical analogs. What all-Ukrainian dialogue and constitutional reform can one speak of here?"

He called is essential for Western pressure "to force the Kiev authorities to stop violence in the southeast, to bridle and disarm radical nationalists, to free detained opposition figures and members of protest movements, to return to a normal state of society."

"Unfortunately, so far the Kiev authorities are demonstrating reluctance and inability to control the situation in the country."

Western co-conspirators do nothing to challenge their lawless aggression. They're committing crimes of war and against humanity. Washington offers full support. It pressures US partners to go along.

Karasin wants Odessa's massacre independently investigated. He wants Kiev war crimes addressed. He wants what Washington rejects.

Ukrainian crisis conditions show no signs of abating. Fascism operates this way. Extremists make policy. Likeminded ones infest Washington. Full-scale war is possible. Stopping it matters most.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.

It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs.

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour

<< Home

A Voice From The Left-The Latest From The Steve Lendman Blog

Click below to link to the Steve Lendman Blog

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/

From The Pen Of Frank Jackman

A Jackman disclaimer:

by Stephen Lendman

Thousands of Palestinian political prisoners languish in Israel's gulag. Hundreds are detained administratively.

They're uncharged. They committed no crimes. Many are held longterm. Some are released and rearrested.

Prolonged arbitrary detention breaches international law. Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states:

1. "Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention."

"No one shall be deprived of his liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedures as are established by law."

2. "Anyone who is arrested shall be informed, at the time of arrest, of the reasons for his arrest and shall be promptly informed of any charges against him."

4. "Anyone who is deprived of his liberty by arrest or detention shall be entitled to take proceedings before a court, in order that that court may decide without delay on the lawfulness of his detention and order his release if the detention is not lawful."

Arbitrary administrative detentions violate international laws, standards and norms. Israeli abuse of power is longstanding.

Four Israeli entities have authorizing power:

its Israeli Security Agency (ISA);

military commanders;

military prosecutor's office; and

military judges adjudicating cases.

ISA or police interrogate detainees. Military commanders decide on whether to hold them and for how long.

Judges have final say. Each order permits three or six month detentions. They can be indefinitely renewed. They can last years. Potentially forever.

Innocent Palestinians suffer grievous Israeli injustice. On April 24, 186 administrative detainee began hunger striking for justice.

A press release called it the only way possible for legitimate rights. Prisoners urged widespread public support.

They demand their unconditional release. International law supports them.

On April 24, the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association headlined "Mass Hunger-Strike Launched by Palestinian 'Administrative Detainees,' " saying:

"All those involved are being held under administrative detention, which is a procedure whereby detainees are held without charge or trial."

Palestinian hunger strikers reflect uncommon courage. Mass willingness to die for justice is unprecedented. Many hunger struck before en masse. In 2012, about 2,000 political prisoners were involved.

In May 2012, Israeli promises were made. They were systematically broken. They included:

ending administrative detentions except under special circumstances;

ending solitary confinement with 72 hours;

ending family visitation bans;

revoking the punitive Shalit Law; it toughened prison conditions; and

improved conditions overall.

Israeli promises aren't worth the paper they're written. Key ones Palestinians demanded were violated straightaway.

Ofer, Megiddo and Naqab Prison detainees hunger stuck. Plans suggest escalating it if key demands aren't met.

Strikers want long denied justice. They want administrative detentions ended. They want current ones limited to one 3 - 6 month extension only.

Israel's Prison Service responded harshly. Strikers were isolated. They're held in tents. They're uncharged. They're untried.

They're detained on secret nonexistent evidence. Defense counsel can't access it. Denying them violates fundamental international law. Israel does it with impunity.

Some detainees spend years in prison. They're never told why. Since June 1967, tens of thousands of Palestinians were administratively held.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Detainees, over 800,000 were lawlessly imprisoned since June 1967 overall. Around 5,000 are currently held.

"Administrative Detention is the 'unknown enemy' which the detainees face, as it is a punishment without a charge, without an indictment," said the Ministry.

"Administrative detainees are held without trial. Neither they or their lawyers are allowed to defend themselves, simply because they face what Israel calls a 'secret file' that no one is allowed to see."

"Each arbitrary Administrative Detention order is usually 1 to 6 months, issued by military commanders in the occupied Palestinian territories."

"Such orders target both men and women of different ages, young and old, including physicians, engineers, professors, teachers, journalists and elected legislators and officials."

"Such orders are repeatedly renewed and, in many cases, just as the detainees are about to step out of prison, they are informed of a new order, often spending months and years under such orders without even knowing when, or if, they will ever be freed."

Addameer is clear and unequivocal saying it "holds the Israeli authorities solely responsible for the health of all hunger strikers."

It "demands that all contracting parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention pressure Israel to immediately release all administrative detainees and cease the use of administrative detention."

It "calls on global civil society to mobilize without delay in support of the striking detainees and 5,000 Palestinian political prisoners currently being held in Israeli prisons."

A Final Comment

"Stop administrative detention(s)," says Addameer. "Join (its) Global End Administrative Detention Campaign!"

"Addameer calls on activists and people of conscience to stand in solidarity with all political prisoners and join Addameer Prisoners' Support and Human Rights Organization's upcoming global campaign against administrative detention."

Around 5,000 "Palestinians are currently detained by Israel; 10 of them women, 193 of them children, and (nearly 200) under administrative detention, a decrepit policy that Israel uses to hold Palestinians on secret information indefinitely without charging them or allowing them to stand trial."

"Not only are these prisoners held arbitrarily, but Israel's use of administrative detention violates several international standards, such as deporting Palestinians from the occupied territory to Israel, denying regular family visits and failing to take into account the best interests of child detainees as required under international law."

"We need your support to break their chains and the silence on administrative detention."

"Today, Israel has outsourced security for prisons where Palestinians are held to a British-Danish company named G4S."

"Along with the Israeli Prison Service, G4S is responsible for the harsh conditions the prisoners faced during the historic 2012 hunger strikes that thousands of Palestinians participated in, including two hunger strikers that neared death in protest of their arbitrary detention, Khader Adnan and Hana Al-Shalabi."

"G4S is also complicit in Israel’s detention of nearly one-third of the Palestinian Legislative Council since 2006, and for dozens of human rights defenders being arrested every year for participating in popular resistance."

"The government of Israel should release all administrative detainees, and in the meantime, all administrative detainees must be granted their rights in accordance with international law."

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.

It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs.

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour

A Voice From The Left-The Latest From The Steve Lendman Blog

Click below to link to the Steve Lendman Blog

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/

From The Pen Of Frank Jackman

A Jackman disclaimer:

by Stephen Lendman

He's a multi-billionaire. He made money the old-fashioned way. On March 24, 2014, Forbes ranked him 16th on its World Billionaire List. It estimates his net worth at $33 billion.

He's founder and 88% owner of Bloomberg LP. It's a global financial data/media company. He's a Johns Hopkins/Harvard Business School graduate.

From January 1, 2002 - December 31, 2013, he was New York City mayor. On March 5, Harvard University named him 2014 commencement speaker. It's scheduled for May 29.

Choosing him follows Harvard tradition. Rare exceptions occur. Last year Oprah Winfrey spoke. She's an African-American multi-billionaire.

She's connected to America's rich and powerful. She promoted Bush's Iraq war on air. She disgracefully called it a "humanitarian mission."

She omitted key facts. She sold millions of viewers imperial war. She did so with fabricated reasons. She lied for power. It wasn't the first time or last.

She appeals to America's lowest common denominator. She's a faux progressive. She teamed with Obama during campaigning.

They conned Americans. Uninformed ones were sold false promises. Oprah bears much responsibility. Don't expect her to explain.

Previous Harvard commencement speakers include rich and powerful notables. In 2007, Bill Gates was invited.

The Harvard Crimson called him "Harvard's most successful dropout." Admirers and detractors call him unbelievably wealthy. Other Harvard commencement speakers included:

former Supreme Court Justice David Souter,

former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan,

former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo,

Alan Greenspan,

Paul Volker,

Madeleine Albright,

Colin Powell,

Helmut Kohl,

Helmet Schmidt,

Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, and

Winston Churchill among many other likeminded figures.

Nary a progressive in sight. Rarely ever is one invited. Nowadays it's strictly verboten.

In June 1956, Jack Kennedy addressed Harvard's commencement. He was Massachusetts junior senator at the time.

An earlier article discussed his address. Today's politicians don't speak like he did. Perhaps Harvard regretted inviting him.

He accused politicians of sacrificing truth for political advantage. Little wonder they're scorned, he said. He wanted politicians and scholars working together cooperatively.

He wanted elected officials freed from "imprison(ment) by (their) own slogans." He wanted "the cooling waters of the scholastic pool" lowering the temperature in Washington.

He called it "regrettable that the gap between the intellectual and the politician seems to be growing."

He said "if more politicians knew poetry and more poets knew politics, I am convinced the world would be a little better place in which to live on this commencement day of 1956."

Kennedy differed from today's politicians. A previous article explained as follows:

He changed during his time in office. He evolved from cold warrior to peacemaker.

The Bay of Pigs fiasco chastened him. He refused authorizing another attempt to remove Castro.

He supported Palestinian rights. He opposed Israel's nuclear weapons program. He offended energy giants. He wanted their oil depletion allowance cut or eliminated.

RFK waged war on organized crime. JFK's first executive order expanded the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). He was a gradualist on civil rights. He believed integration was morally right.

He favored Federal Reserve reform. His Executive Order 11110 authorized replacing Federal Reserve notes with silver certificates if the occasion arose to do so.

It's believed he ordered Treasury Secretary C. Douglas Dillon to begin issuing United States notes. Perhaps he had in mind replacing Federal Reserve ones altogether. He was assassinated too soon to know.

He deplored the CIA. He fired director Allen Dulles. He sacked his deputy General Charles Cabell.

He wanted to "splinter the (agency) into a thousand pieces and scatter it to the winds," he said. It was reason enough to kill him.

He increasingly opposed imperial wars. Initially, he sent troops and advisors to Southeast Asia. He opposed sending more to Laos. He wanted conflict resolved diplomatically.

He opposed deploying nuclear weapons in Berlin. He was against using them in Southeast Asia.

He once called Pentagon generals "crazy" for suggesting it. He refused to attack or invade Cuba during the 1962 missile crisis. He said he "never had the slightest intension of doing so."

He urged abolishing all nuclear weapons. He knew using them is lunacy. He favored general and complete disarmament.

He opposed Pax Americana enforced dominance. He signed the Limited Test Ban Treaty with Soviet Russia.

Weeks before his assassination, he signed National Security Memorandum 263. It called for removing 1,000 US forces from Vietnam by yearend. He wanted them all out by December 1965.

He underwent a spiritual transformation. It bears repeating. He switched from cold warrior to peacemaker.

He was at odds with Pentagon commanders, CIA, most congressional members, and nearly all his advisors.

He understood his vulnerability. He paid with his life. He was favored to win reelection. Imagine if he had two full terms.

Imagine a new direction. Imagine deploring war. Imagine turning swords into plowshares.

Imagine a world at peace. Imagine nuclear disarmament. Imagine ending the Cold War a generation earlier.

Imagine a chance to keep it from reemerging. Killing Kennedy, brother Bobby, Martin Luther King, and Malcolm X decapitated the political left. New leadership hasn't materialized.

It's needed now more than ever. It's nowhere in sight. Potential candidates aren't welcome as Harvard commencement speakers.

President Drew Faust invited Bloomberg. He's a multi-billionaire corporatist. She praised what demands condemnation. He "led one of the world's great cities," she said.

He "built one of the nation's most influential information services, and generously committed his attention and resources to worthy causes in public health, the environment, civic life, the arts, and - not least of all - education. I greatly look forward to welcoming him in May."

He took plenty and then some. He gave back crumbs. He did so to buy recognition. Honor and integrity are earned, not bought. Faust ignored the distinction.

Throughout his business and public careers, he served powerful monied interests. He did so exclusively. He profited handsomely himself.

He ignored public need. He won elections the old-fashioned way. He bought them. He spent millions. He outspent challengers multiple times over. He flooded the airwaves with campaign ads.

He drowned out opposition voices. He used deep pocket money power to win. He's Wall Street's man. He's a product of its predatory system.

He was weaned at Solomon Brothers. In 1973, he became a general partner. He headed equity trading. He earned millions.

In 1981, he used them to launch Innovative Market Systems. In 1987, he renamed it Bloomberg LP. Thereafter, he established Bloomberg News, Bloomberg Message, and Bloomberg Tradebook.

He has his own radio network. WBBR AM New York is its flagship station. His public record was deplorable.

Among America's 25 largest cities, New York unemployment is among the highest.

Most city workers lack pensions. Many earn sub-subsistence wages. Poverty is extremely high. It rose annually during his tenure.

Census figures rank New York sixth poorest among America's 20 largest cities. Over two-thirds of New Yorkers can't afford a home.

City homelessness is at record levels. It more than doubled since Bloomberg took office. It includes numbers sleeping in public shelters.

It excludes countless thousands on city streets. Many more rely on overcrowded substandard apartments. Others live with family or friends.

New York has a housing crisis. Rental prices are extremely high. Low cost alternatives are in short supply. Demand way exceeds what's available.

What's ongoing reflects New York's unprecedented social polarization. It worsened steadily under Bloomberg.

New York's top 20% most well off earn 40 times more than the bottom one-fifth. It's top 1% earns infinitely more.

Bloomberg lied claiming "nobody's sleeping on (New York City) streets." Homelessness plagues New York. It's at epidemic levels. It worsens annually. Little is done to address it.

Since 2008 crisis conditions erupted, Coalition for the Homeless figures show well over 100,000 men, women and children used city shelters.

Perhaps that many or more sleep on streets, rely on family, or make due best they can. Perhaps double or triple reported estimates. Main Street economic conditions are worse than ever.

City budget balancing harmed ordinary New Yorkers. Onerous tax burdens were imposed. Over $1 billion in public worker concessions were demanded.

Massive layoffs affected thousand of teachers, hundreds of firefighters and many other city workers. Dozens of senior centers and day care ones were closed.

Public wages were frozen or minimally increased. Benefits were cut. At the same time, Wall Street got generous ones on top of trillions of dollars of federal bailout funding.

Throughout his tenure, Bloomberg implemented numerous financial sector tax giveaways. He added billions to his own net worth.

Ordinary city residents got tax increases. Crisis conditions affect them. It's increasing annually. Bloomberg largely ignored them.

He waged war on organized labor. He did so on public education. He supports making it another business profit center.

He wants young kids cheated. He wants them denied opportunities he had growing up. He closed dozens of city schools. Low-income neighborhoods were targeted.

He waged war on Occupy Wall Street. City cops were unleashed ruthlessly. Peaceful protesters were attacked. Beatings and arrests followed.

Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly intensified longstanding NYPD stop and frisk practices. Blacks and Latinos are targeted.

He denounced efforts to end flagrantly racist practices. He wants unconstitutional ones continued. He reflects the worst of irresponsible leadership.

Maybe Harvard will invite him to replace Faust as president when she steps down. Maybe he'll accept.

Maybe he'll run Harvard like NYC and Bloomberg LP. Maybe he'll order it privatized and buy it.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.

It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs.

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour

The Latest From The Rag Blog-A Voice Of The Old New Left

Click below to link to The Rag Blog

http://www.theragblog.com/

Peter Paul Markin comment:

When we were young, meaning those of us who were militant leftist baby-boomers from what I now call the “Generation Of ‘68”, we would chuckle/gasp/shriek in horror when some Old Leftists tried to tell us a few of the ABCs of radical politics. Those scorned old leftists, mainly old Stalinist Communist Party hangers-on or moribund Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party members who had come of political age in the 1930s and 1940s had nothing to tell us young stalwart in-your-face- rebels who were going to re-invent the world, re-invent it without the hurts and sorrows accumulated from millennia of previous struggles to push the rock up the hill of human progress.

Well, we fell significantly short of that aim, had that Promethean rock come speeding down over our heads. Today I am still not sure whether in retrospect those scorned Old Leftists of old had anything going but all I know is we are now cast in somewhat the same light. We are now the Old New Leftists. Problem is that unlike our 1960s generation, warts and all, there is no sizable younger crowd of young stalwart in-your-face-rebels to thumb their noses up at us. And there should be. That has not stopped many old radicals, many who have not succumbed to old age and hubris, from trying to be heard. And the place they have congregated, for better or worse, at least from what I can see is at this site.

So I find this The Rag Blog website very useful to monitor for the latest in what is happening with past tense radical activists and activities. Anybody, with some kind of name, and who is still around from the 1960s has found a home here. The remembrances and recollections are helpful for today’s activists. Strangely the politics are almost non-existent, as least any that would help today, except to kind of retroactively “bless” those old-time new left politics that did nothing (well, almost nothing) but get us on the losing end of the class (and cultural) wars of the last forty plus years. Still this is a must read blog for today’s left-wing militants.

A Markin disclaimer:

*******

The Latest From The Rag Blog-A Voice Of The Old New Left

Click below to link to The Rag Blog

http://www.theragblog.com/

Peter Paul Markin comment:

A Markin disclaimer:

*******

Leave a comment

Lamar W. Hankins :
The symbolic stoning of Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Posted on April 15, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

Brandeis University rescinds speaking invitation to Somali-born writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali, an outspoken critic of denigration of women in Islamic societies.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali in Paris. Photo by Martin Bureau / AFP / Getty Images.

By Lamar W. Hankins | The Rag Blog | April 15, 2014

The Somali-born writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali was to be the commencement speaker next month at Brandeis University, named for former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis. But voices of hysteria, censorship, and bullying won the day and Brandeis University’s president rescinded the invitation and the honorary degree she was to receive because of Hirsi Ali’s outspoken criticism of the widespread Islamic degradation and denigration of women.
I read her autobiographical book Infidel seven years ago. Her life story is compelling, educational, and unique. She left Somalia with her family as a little girl because of the civil strife in that country and lived in Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, and finally Kenya. At the age of 21 she immigrated to the Netherlands, eventually becoming a member of the Dutch Parliament.
Continue reading →

Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Brandeis University, Freedom of Expression, Infidel, Islam, Islamic Society, Lamar W. Hankins, Muslim Students, Rag Bloggers, Unpopular Speech | 1

The Latest From The Rag Blog-A Voice Of The Old New Left

Click below to link to The Rag Blog

http://www.theragblog.com/

Peter Paul Markin comment:

A Markin disclaimer:

*******

Crimea, Obama, and the nostalgia for World War I

Posted on April 16, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

The poet Wilfred Owen had the courage to look reality in the face. What can he tell us?

The poet Wilfred Owen’s World War I regiment. Image from Voices Compassionate Education.

By Rick Ayers | The Rag Blog | April 16, 2014

It is fitting that President Obama should quote the poem “In Flanders Fields” while visiting Belgium and invoking World War I history in seeking to rally Europe into a united front against Russia.
There is something thrilling, almost comforting, for the West to return to the rhetoric and certainties of the Cold War – the evil Russian bear against the peace-loving democracies of the West. Suddenly millions of people in America are passionate about a place they had not heard of a few months ago and they still cannot find on a map.
Continue reading →

Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Anti-Semitism, Crimea, Crimean Conflict, Military Atrocities, Rag Bloggers, Rick Ayers, Russia, Svoboda, Ukraine, Ukranian Fascism, Viktor Yanukovych, Wartime Poets, Wilfred Owen, World History, World War I | 6 Comments

AMERICAN LEFT HISTORY

Sunday, May 04, 2014

Lamar W. Hankins :
The symbolic stoning of Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Brandeis University rescinds speaking invitation to Somali-born writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali, an outspoken critic of denigration of women in Islamic societies.

The poet Wilfred Owen had the courage to look reality in the face. What can he tell us?

Left Links

About Me

Sunday, May 04, 2014

Lamar W. Hankins : The symbolic stoning of Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Brandeis University rescinds speaking invitation to Somali-born writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali, an outspoken critic of denigration of women in Islamic societies.

Share:

The poet Wilfred Owen had the courage to look reality in the face. What can he tell us?

Share:

Lamar W. Hankins :
The symbolic stoning of Ayaan Hirsi Ali