The Circus!

For anyone on the US West coast another anti-border event is happening, this time in circus form. I don't have time right now to put much info, life is a bitch, but the link has all the fun information.
The Circus

Lay Down Your Guns

Another little writing about war. Different twist though.
May 14t & 15 the Center on Conscience and War is lobbying congress asking for a law to give more protection to conscientious objectors. For anyone who wishes to be a CO, or who was a CO, or who simply thinks it should be an option this is an event that should be attended. As the War in Iraq has progressed more and more violations of CO rights have taken place. Now is a time to come together and ask for one more right to be returned.
Center on Conscience and War Lobby Day

Lest We Forget-Lebanon

War is hell.
And just because the bullets stop flying doesn't mean that people will stop dieing. Today I want to remind people of the unexploded ordinances that still litter Lebanon from the war last summer. I try not to take sides on the Israel issues but here I feel that Israel is really in the wrong. They dropped cluster bombs in Lebanon that left the area filled with these UXOs that are still taking lives. There have even been reports that as the war drew to a close the Israeli army increased the bombing.
War is hell.
But once its over it should be over.
An old Washington post article on it

Virginia Tech and then some

By now most have heard about what happened at Virginia Tech. It was a horrible thing and saddens me that it happens. But still, I would like to relate it to something. Today in Iraq an estimated 170 people were killed in car bombings in Baghdad. Now I am not trying to say that the violence in Virginia wasn't bad, it was horrible. But here we will have outrage over 33 deaths and a few days later 170 will die in Iraq. . .lets just see what gets more coverage on the news tonight.
Euro News on Bombing
Lebanon Daily Star news on Bombing

Images from the Past-Nicaragua

Over the past month I have been immersed in a project on the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua and I thought it was time to share something special from my work. This something special is a book. It isn't a written history, it isn't political tracts, its a book of photos. The book is simply entitled Nicaragua and the pictures were taken by Susan Meiselas between mid 1978 and mid 1979. This book holds so many different feelings, from images of thousands marching in a funeral of a slain youth leader to the Nicaraguan leadership dressed all in white. I recommend it to anyone who needs stirring. There is also a movie that was made 10 years later when Meiselas went back to Nicaragua to try to find some of the people in her book. This is also greatly recommended.
(Image borrowed from Movie's website, though it is one of the images in book)
Susan's website

Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007)

So it goes.
Link

Hunger Strikes, Teacher Strikes & G8 Strikes

The hunger strikes at Guantanamo seem to be back in the news again. Heard Tribune orWorld Socialist Website Guantanamo has become such a sore on America that it is amazing it is still around. It represents the destruction of everything we are suppose to be bringing to the world. Guantanamo is the father holding a beer telling his son not to drink. We have to practice what we preach, if we believe in human rights we need to guarantee them.
Argentina has exploded in strikes after the killing of a teacher. Not only did the teacher unions strike but many of the transportation groups followed suit. What really made me smile was how the subway workers allowed free riding for part of the day. This has been an incredible show of unity and strength in Argentina and one can only hope that this leads to positive action within the government.
Link
Okay the G8 strikes headline was a bit of a reach but that is beside the point. More importantly, preparations have begun for protests during the next G8 summit. On this note the end of the G8 info tour in the US is on the 15th. I was unable to go sadly, the tour never even came remotely close to me. If you are in Texas though you still have some chances, go and get informed.
G8 protesters in Germany
US G8 Tour

Death and Taxes-A Review on the movie America: Freedom to Fascism

Well, I began this movie thinking it was about the recent elimination of rights in America. I was wrong. The first hour of it is instead all about the federal income tax and its illegality. During this part there is only loose connections made with the federal income tax and the move towards a fascist nation. I personally never really enjoy the federal income tax debate but even putting this aside I was not thrilled by how the movie framed it. It began with Russo, a Michael Moore-esque figure, pretending to not have a stance on the income tax. It was clear to see that he saw it as unconstitutional and was instead trying to look like he was not biased. He gave those opposed to it a free mic allowing them to espouse whatever they wanted, and did a poor job of editing their scenes together. It wasn't until maybe 30 minutes in that he got an interview with a person who was pro-fed income tax, Sheldon Cohen the man who wrote the tax code. This interview turned more into an attack on fed income tax and was completely different from how the others were allowed to talk. Russo actually edited in clips of others talking over top of Cohen trying to show how wrong he is. The hour of income tax scenes end with several stories showing the IRS at work.

The movie moves into more broad topics, making several unsubstantiated claims and stretched truths. The basic point is that the banking system controls the US and will soon control the world. We need to end the IRS and the Federal Reserve. You are either with us or against us. And they will start implanting the ID chips tomorrow.

The movie is good for propaganda, some really good stories in it. Either about citizens standing up against the IRS or about citizens being destroyed by the IRS and other organizations. If you are looking for a movie about the elimination of rights post 9-11, as I was, then find something else.

Movie Website

Workers rights again, more happy this time

Some happy news for this one. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers reached an agreement with McDonald's today to increase wages for tomato harvesters. McDonald's will begin paying an extra penny a pound for tomatoes and this will go directly to the workers. They will also create a code of conduct for these workers. This extends farther than just McDonald's workers as the agreement calls for a third-party organization to monitor the tomato industry.
Link and Press Release

Dissent-Roots of Insecurity: Why American Workers and Others Are Losing Out

Here is presented a fairly interesting article on the decrease of worker rights throughout the world. At times it is a little long winded and meandery it also provides some interesting information on the change of worker rights throughout the world.
Some interesting points made include the difference between the US worker and the rest of the industrial world. The US labor market being almost completely deregulated, especially in comparison to Europe. Which allows US companies to fire employees for any reason. This though does not lead to higher productivity in the US but instead productivity rates are similar.
There is also a look at informal labor and the end of organized labor. Worth at least a quick skimming.
Link

The Second!

I recently read in The Rolling Stone about a youth group called Battle Cry. They are a christian extremist group that seems to be growing and growing number. They are against the typical things, gays, feminists, communists and Muslims but are also militantly opposed to the American culture which they claim is destroying the youth. I attached a link to a rolling stone page with videos, one form battle cry, one of a battle cry event and then a random news report. The battle cry video really is disappointing, the statistics they give seem very vague. The age group they use for their statistics is assumed I guess, and my favorite is that on average we see 14,000 sexual references on tv.
Anyways, this is a group to check out and keep on the look out for. The guy who runs it is getting rich, and the kids in it, well not all are getting brainwashed, but at their camp for interns they do run something that appears to be simillar to Hell Week in the army. That is what really worries me. Once you break a person down completely it is easy to build them back up.
I swear I will not number the next post.
Link

The First

The basic idea of this little blog of sorts is as a news source. As I find information that relates in some way to socialist, anarchist, or communist thought it will be placed here. This information will mainly be focused on news but also cultural happenings(music, movies and books). Lets hope that this lasts for more than a week.