Following up from Friday’s post on dissent against the American-imposed regime in Iraq, here are some observations from As’ad AbuKhalil on how the reality of the occupied land gets transmuted through the magic seeing stones of the American media into something more rosy and benign: First, notice that US media, especially the New York Times and Washington Post, cover Iraq with barely a mention that the country is occupied and has been occupied since 2003.  Secondly, notice that every article about repression and protests in Iraq has to mention that the country is a “democracy” as if to express amazement

From the front lines of the as yet still-fitful upsurging of American dissent, Wisconsin resident Alexey Floyd (of Magnificent Valor fame), sends along this intriguing historical document recently posted at Armagideon Time: “We demand the guarantee of collective bargaining for labor. We demand a just, efficient, impartial administration of the National Labor Relations Act. We demand the guarantee of a floor under wages and a ceiling over hours for all who labor, skilled and unskilled, organized and unorganized. “Likewise, we demand the guarantee of unemployment insurance. We demand social security, old-age pensions, care of the aged, the blind, the sick

Muammar Gaddafi is not the only Arab tyrant using deadly violence against his people when they speak out against the destitution, repression and corruption that plague their country. In Iraq, the sectarian thugs put into power by American invaders are gunning down citizens in the streets. The BBC reports that at least five people have shot and killed by security forces so far today, as the corrupt elite tries to keep the Arab Awakening from spilling into the war-ravaged land. But protests against the atrocious living conditions inflicted on most Iraqis by the client lords of the American occupation have

As the ancient spirit of defiance against brutal — and brutalizing — elites waxes strong once more across the world, I thought the spoken-word piece below might be of some relevance. The depredations of the high and mighty store up great reservoirs of wrath, even in the most cowed and broken souls. And when the levee breaks, who can say what course the flood will follow?  How stupid, how evil and stupid, are the masters who believe they can control the forces they unleash with their crimes. The Persians Let them march out to fight the Persians,And we will rise

Tens of thousands of ordinary people pour into the streets in a desperate bid to stop yet another vicious assault on their human rights — and their human dignity — by an utterly corrupt political system run by callous, greedy elites. The factotums of the system — the same kind of third-rate lackeys and shriveled-up souls found in the goon squads of governments since time immemorial — mewl and bawl at the rabble’s effrontery: how dare they challenge their “legitimate” rulers! The goons spew the usual lies about the regrettable necessity of their repressive measures: there is, as always, a

In keeping with the spirit of the day, here’s a brief sketch of an historical love story, drawn in part from certain public events, private affairs and socioeconomic circumstances pertaining in the New Mexico Territory during the last quarter of the 19th century.

Mubarak is gone! Ordinary people took to the streets, in their hundreds of thousands, they stood their ground against state goons and hired thugs, they saw ordinary soldiers and many officers refuse to obey orders to repress them, and they have brought down a 30-year dictatorship supported by the full might of the American imperium. Many, many things are still in play, many dangers abound, many uncertainties remain — and many forms of retribution will no doubt be assayed by the powerful elites in both America and Egypt who have been humiliated by this uprising of the “rabble” against their

I know one can never underestimate the impregnable insularity of the American commentariat, but even so, I still find my jaw dropping slightly at the weak, wan, shoulder-shrugging response of some our leading “progressives” toward the world-shaking events in Egypt. We’re talking about people who consider themselves to be educated, informed individuals: alert, aware, engaged with the world. And as such, they feel able to opine on a broad range of topics: economics, culture, military operations, political campaigns, legislative processes, judicial rulings, infrastructure, transportation, energy, the environment, law enforcement, health care – and, decidedly, foreign policy. Yet when it comes