In what Israel’s ambassador to the United States has called “the most severe crisis in U.S.-Israeli relations” in decades, George Mitchell has indefinitely postponed a planned trip to the Middle East.
At the same time hundreds of Palestinians rioted in East Jerusalem today, hurling rocks at security forces who countered with stun grenades and rubber bullets. Tensions were fuelled by the reopening of landmarked synagogue in Jerusalem’s old city and construction projects near the al Aqsa mosque compound.
I have to admit that I have mixed emotions when it comes to Florida Democratic Representative Alan Grayson. I do appreciate that he is willing to give it back to Republicans. I, however, do think he can take things a bit too far.
There has been a fair amount of push to derail the Justice Department from doing their job. And one of the culprits of this idiocy has been Liz Cheney. Her latest efforts to keep her father’s involvement in less than savory practices during the last Administration has come from a web based attack on our own Justice Department.
Cross posted from Border Jumpers, Danielle Nierenberg and Bernard Pollack.
The bus ride from Lusaka, Zambia to Harare, Zimbabwe with a company called EasyGo Bus company lasted four hours longer than it should have (total trip was nearly 12 hours). We spent four hours at the border crossing, where everyone’s belongings were examined, less for security and more to squeeze as much money as they could from undeclared goods. Baboons outnumbered people at the crossing, they have mastered the art of swiping food from unaware passengers, and they seemed to want to be near the humans most afraid of them (ie. me).
Once we got going our bus abruptly stopped. A wild elephant stood in the middle of the road, staring down our bus, ears flaring. It was mad, and ready to charge. Seeing all the Zimbabwean passengers freak out made me really scared about our safety. Slowly the bus began to reverse away, even the driver was scared, and we sat and waited in silence till the elephant got bored.
When we finally arrived in Harare, it was nearly midnight, and the bus station isn't exactly the friendliest place for a bunch of Americans to chill out at that hour looking for a taxi. Our backpackers hostel is called "One Small World" and every room is named after the capital city of a different African country (we stayed in Windhoek, Namibia). We had a series of jam-packed days ahead, so we passed out, only to awaken to the fact that the water didn't work and the power was out. Power outages are something we've gotten used to, spending nearly three days in the dark in Lilongwe, and facing outages nearly everywhere in East Africa.
After the economic collapse here, inflation skyrocketed the Zimbabwe currency out of control (ever seen a trillion dollar bill?) As of today, they are using the US dollar as the main currency for the country (with several people telling us that it will soon switch to the South African Rand).
We started the day meeting with Raol DuToit, who'd spent twenty years with the World Wildlife Fund and now works directly for rhino conversation. Listening to Raoul, he was an encyclopedia on every major conservation issue relating to Southern Africa. Following that meeting, we visited an Italian restaurant called Leonardo's to break bread with a true hero of mine: Wellington Chibebe, the Secretary-General of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions. A dedicated activist his whole life, Wellington is arguably the most important public figure in the fight for freedom and democracy in Zimbabwe. Despite having been jailed numerous times, badly beaten, and under constant surveillance — this brilliant, mild-mannered man spent a few hours passionately telling us about the struggle to bring change to his country, the heroic role the labor movement plays in the movement for democracy, and the spirit of the people to overcome fear.
ZCTU was the force behind creating the first successful electoral opposition to President Robert Mugabe, winning a presidential and parliamentary elections for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), whose leader and the current Prime Minister under the 2008 power sharing agreement Morgan Tsvangirai, is also the former Secretary-General of the ZCTU. They won against seemingly insurmountable odds: almost all print, television and radio was controlled by the ruling party, people faced massive voter intimidation and suppression, and opposition activists were routinely arrested and jailed.
Wellington spoke with great hope and urgency about the direction of the country, feeling that some progress is being made under the 2008 power sharing agreement (Mugabe refused to give up power, but shares the government with the MDC), and also stressed that the labor movement belonged to no political party and would be an independent voice holding politicians accountable and standing strong behind policies of good governance and democracy. He reminded us that even good politicians sometimes lose their way.
Afterwards we visited the editor of "The Worker", Ben Madzimure. This newspaper, sponsored by ZCTU and supported by the Solidarity Center. "The Worker" is one of the five independent print media sources not controlled by the government, and one of it's most important watchdogs. The newspaper reaches deep into the country thanks to the structure of the ZCTU. Zimbabwe is one of the most literate on the African continent (approximately 90 percent), so their role in distributing alternative perspectives is so critical. I can't say enough about how important a role they serve, when almost all other print, television, and radio is government controlled.
The next day we spent with the leadership of ZCTU. Having the time to learn and listen from these courageous men was an experience I will never forget. As much horror that I felt about what continues to happen in Zimbabwe against the poor and basic democratic freedoms, as I looked at these strong and resolute leaders in the eyes, I couldn't help but feel so much hope for the future, especially after meeting with many rank and file members at the local level later that day.
We also spent the morning meeting with the General Secretary of the General Agriculture and Plantation Workers' Union of Zimbabwe, Getrude Hambira. She spoke about the current conditions for farm workers, many of whom are terribly exploited with few ways to adequately redress exploitation.
In addition, we visited the research arm of ZCTU, the Labour and Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe. They are part of a regional alliance of labor researchers, called African Labour Research Network (ALRN), also supported in part by the Solidarity Center and the Canadian Labor Congress. They've put together a training manual that outlines ZCTU’s "8 core socio-economic rights" and are using that material to train union activists across the country.
More than 80 percent of jobs in Zimbabwe have been informalized resulting in a very large informal sector. These informal sector workers, often the most exploited and the most ignored, formed a union in 2002 called Zimbabwe Chamber of Informal Economy Associations, an associate of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), to help win a voice in government.
We were given the opportunity to visit two community projects coordinated by the informal workers association with President Beauty Mugijima and program coordinator Elijah Mutemeri.
The first project was a village where they were working with the local community to build a school in an area where hundreds of people were forced to relocate during "Operation Restore Order." As part of a de-urbanization program under Mugabe, the controversal leader of the country, nearly 2 million workers were forcibly removed from their homes in cities, stripped of their belongings, and forced to live in rural areas, without any agriculture skills or training. We met with this community, who although they had very little resources and volunteer support, where trying to build a school to teach area children. They recently succeeded in getting accredited by the local government and the community is pushing local public officials for additional resources to build the school. The visit was especially inspiring because the teachers working there endured long commutes because they believed in helping the community. Many families in the makeshift town were also raising orphan or abandoned children, as well their own.
The second project we visited was an orphanage for children that the union was helping support. As we arrived children were singing, clapping, and rushing to us to offer hugs and high fives. Most of these hundreds of kids lost their parents to HIV/AIDS, and the orphanage provides them not only a place to go to learn and go to school, but also gives them a family.
The teachers and caretakers who work there are mostly volunteers and you can see that they shared a deep commitment and passion for the future of these kids.
Lots more to say about Zimbabwe, but I am well above 1,000 words. I just want to publicly thank Fisseha Tekie of the Solidarity Center and all the incredible people we met during our short visit.
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“I am an ordinary citizen from Omaha, Neb., who just may have the chance to preserve liberty along with you and other people like you,” she said at a recent panel discussion with tea party leaders in Washington.
Who said this? Not just anyone “ordinary citizen” but the wife of a Supreme Court justice ~ specifically Virginia Thomas, wife of Clarence Thomas, who went on to say that she was energized by President Obama’s “hard-left agenda.”
“I adore all the new citizen patriots who are rising up across this country,” Thomas, who goes by Ginni, said on the panel at the Conservative Political Action Conference. “I have felt called to the front lines with you, with my fellow citizens, to preserve what made America great.”
This is the third part of a series on Communism in Western Europe; this section focuses on Italy in particular. The previous parts can be found here.
The Italian Communist Party (PCI) formed in 1921, as a break-away faction of the socialist party. In many respects, its early years were similar to those of the PCF. Like the French Communists, the Italian Communist Party (PCI) fared poorly in national elections, winning less than five percent of the popular vote. Its time to grow, moreover, was cut short by Benito Mussolini’s dictatorship; he outlawed the party in 1926.
In another parallel to their French colleagues, the Italian Communists (PCI) fought fiercely against the Nazis during WWII and won major acclaim for their efforts. After the war, the PCI took part in the new government, playing a major role in writing the new Italian constitution. As in France, however, America’s Marshall Plan curbed their influence; to gain access to U.S. aid, the Italian government kicked out the Communists. They would never again hold power in Italy.
The dynamics of landslides have been intriguing researchers for decades. What looks like a stable edifice slowly accumulates structural weaknesses below the surface. Day by day for weeks, years or even centuries these flaws deepen and widen and spread throughout the underlying stratum. One day some straw will break the camel’s back, the outer facade of strength and stability begins to crumble and the whole thing comes tumbling down.
A variety of feedback loops begin to accelerate the activity once things start to fall. Landslides that logic would dictate should do no more than create a pile of rubble at the bottom of the slope have been recorded running for miles over flat ground and flattening everything in their paths.
All of this should be not the least reassuring to those on the US political Right who have been hoping for a New Ultra Conservative Nation founded on the ideologies of Glenn Beck and others of the species Conservatus Preposterous. The cracks have been there all along, the slip has already begun and the destructive momentum is building with every passing moment.
Let’s just get this out of the way: Jonah Goldberg is a fatuous, disingenuous ass that wouldn’t know decent scholarship if it came up and punched him in the face.
Cross posted from Border Jumpers, Danielle Nierenberg and Bernard Pollack.
While in Harare, Zimbabwe, we met with the Labour and Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe (LEDRIZ), an initiative of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) which started operating in September of 2003. The research institute’s primary objective to develop, through research, well-grounded policy positions designed to influence development processes and outcomes at the national, regional and international levels. This is particularly important in the context of globalization where national policy is increasingly giving way to regional and international developments. In this regard, the ability to anticipate developments will help in designing proactive policies that respond promptly to external challenges.
LEDRIZ shared with us the training and research materials and documents they use in training programs throughout the country around the “8 Socio-Economic Rights.’ Rather than directly endorsing political candidates, ZCTU advocates for democracy and good governance in Zimbabwe. LEDRIZ is strategically positioning itself to be part of every major economic policy debate in Zimbabwe, an impressive feat given the tight autocratic rule President Mugabe maintains over the country. In addition, LEDRIZ is fighting hard to establish progressive policies such as opposing the privatization of public utilities, providing support for the informal sector, protecting workers’ pensions and their ability to retire with dignity.
In establishing an aligned research institute, the labor movement in Zimbabwe is following the examples of the US, European, South African and Namibian trade unions. Such a research think-tank is particularly helpful in an economy like Zimbabwe’s which has experienced a wrenching brain drain, undermining capacity. The main strength of LEDRIZ is that it is a member of several national, regional and international networks such as the Alternatives to Neo-liberalism in Southern Africa (ANSA) which it coordinates; the African Labour Research Network (ALRN); and the Global Union Research Network (GURN), launched in January 2004 under the coordination of the ILO Bureau of Workers’ Activities and the International Trade Union Council (ITUC).
Well, the verdict is in on the investigation of the Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008 and in the words of Judge James M Peck, who unsealed the report today, it reads “like a best-seller.” Yeah, by Stephen King.
Anyone who assumed that the collapse of Lehman Brothers was a consequence of high-risk, predatory, competitive practices by management and collegial institutions engaged in unrestrained profit-taking need look no further than the recently released full 2,200 page report. It tends to confirm a culture of business activity barely skimming criminal malpractice and perhaps failing to insulate participants, at least in the case of the firm’s management and auditors, from civil liability.
The prime consideration in the minds of the other associated parties, primarily Citibank and JPMorgan Chase, is whether there is a case to answer in their involvement. The report’s release was met with almost instantaneous denials of wrongdoing or culpability by both participants and it does seem they have dodged the bullet, though not by much:
The examiner in charge of investigating the bankruptcy of venerable Wall Street investment house Lehman Brothers, the most expensive bankruptcy in U.S. history, said in a report publicly released Thursday that senior officials failed to disclose key practices, opening them up to legal claims, and that JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup contributed to the firm’s collapse. In addition, the report concludes that the firm’s auditor, Ernst & Young, failed to meet “professional standards.”
That these few institutions and individuals, through questionable business practices and apparently willful manipulation of their statuatory reporting reponsibilites, could have precipitated an economic meltdown which has adversely affected most wage-earners and every taxpayer in the United States, not to mention partner economies worldwide, is a situation which must be remedied. One wonders what precautions are in place to prevent a repeat performance in future.
The bus ride from Lusaka, Zambia to Harare, Zimbabwe with a company called EasyGo Bus company lasted four hours longer than it should have (total trip was nearly 12 hours). We spent four hours at the border crossing, where everyone’s belongings were examined, less for security and more to squeeze as much money as they could from undeclared goods. Baboons outnumbered people at the crossing, they have mastered the art of swiping food from unaware passengers, and they seemed to want to be near the humans most afraid of them (ie. me).
Following that meeting, we visited an Italian restaurant called Leonardo's to break bread with a true hero of mine: 
Afterwards we visited the editor of "The Worker", 
The first project was a village where they were working with the local community to build a school in an area where hundreds of people were forced to relocate during "Operation Restore Order." As part of a de-urbanization program under Mugabe, the controversal leader of the country, nearly 2 million workers were forcibly removed from their homes in cities, stripped of their belongings, and forced to live in rural areas, without any agriculture skills or training. We met with this community, who although they had very little resources and volunteer support, where trying to build a school to teach area children. They recently succeeded in getting accredited by the local government and the community is pushing local public officials for additional resources to build the school. The visit was especially inspiring because the teachers working there endured long commutes because they believed in helping the community. Many families in the makeshift town were also raising orphan or abandoned children, as well their own.
The second project we visited was an orphanage for children that the union was helping support. As we arrived children were singing, clapping, and rushing to us to offer hugs and high fives. Most of these hundreds of kids lost their parents to HIV/AIDS, and the orphanage provides them not only a place to go to learn and go to school, but also gives them a family. 
While in Harare, Zimbabwe, we met with the Labour and Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe (LEDRIZ), an initiative of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) which started operating in September of 2003. The research institute’s primary objective to develop, through research, well-grounded policy positions designed to influence development processes and outcomes at the national, regional and international levels. This is particularly important in the context of globalization where national policy is increasingly giving way to regional and international developments. In this regard, the ability to anticipate developments will help in designing proactive policies that respond promptly to external challenges.
ell, the verdict is in on the investigation of the Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008 and in the words of Judge James M Peck, who unsealed the report today, it reads “like a best-seller.” Yeah, by Stephen King.