Philippines: 100 Days of the Duterte Presidency (tags)
This article has been presented and discussed by the leadership and organizers of the Partido Lakas ng Masa (Party of the Laboring Masses - PLM) to mark the coming 100-day anniversary of the Duterte administration. It is a contribution to the discussion among the Left and progressive forces on how to view this administration and the tasks ahead.
Back to Trotskyism! Revolutionary regroupment with the League for the Fourth International (tags)
On April 16, the Better-Late-Than-Never (BLTN) Faction of the International Communist League (ICL) put forward its Declaration of Faction calling to “Return to the Road of Genuine Spartacism” and to “Regroup with the IG/LFI on the Basis of Their Revolutionary Continuity!” The very next day they received a response from the Spartacist League’s Los Angeles local, falsely claiming that the declaration was written in collaboration with the IG and cynically saying it considered the declaration a statement of resignation. The BLTN responded that claims they couldn’t have written the document were not only untrue but an insult to the intelligence of the ICL membership. The Faction notably exposed how the party that had uniquely waged a principled struggle to defend the DDR (East Germany) and USSR responded to defeat by dumping Trotsky’s analysis of the dual nature of the Stalinist bureaucracy and whitewashing the role of the bourgeoisie and its social-democratic agents in the capitalist counterrevolution. It also independently investigated key political differences between the ICL and the LFI on Brazil and Mexico, as well as challenging the SL on key issues concerning the class line and black oppression in the U.S. The Better-Late-Than-Never Faction Declaration is a challenge to those in the SL/ICL who truly want to make a revolution. The report on the latest conference of the Spartacist League/U.S. makes clear, the SL is a dying party. It is crucial to understand that the decline of the SL/ICL is a direct result of its political/programmatic degeneration. An agreement between the BLTN and the IG/LFI calls for carrying out common work aiming at an early fusion.
KPFK needs your VOTE ! or lose it. (tags)
KPFK and Pacifica Elections must meet a very minimum quorum/ amount of voters who Vote and participate, or the expenses [about $25,000?] are wasted and same-old Board members happily stay stuck in place, out of legitimate time but clinging to power-positions. so VOTE if you qualify for their minimum contribution made this [fiscal] year. Call to inquire for more info at 818-985-2711 day hrs. or see www.KPFK.org for minimum info there.
kPFK under threatening duress - even to it's long-established staff by new Gen'l Mgr (tags)
A staff member, Ian Masters, who hosts a regular newsworthy program 6 days/week [and also has a public forum at the Hammer musem too which promotes KPFK by ] , has written a clear letter indicating his concerns . He wrote a truthful explanation of what is happening to programming and what he said about this also on-air, and has been duly threatened. Anyone concerned over such unreasonable acts at Our Radio Stattion should write to the current new GM at KPFK.org and state your views, concerns, and or willingness to continue pledging $$$.... or not. His emailed letter is below:
Pacifica clearly endangered. Reposting info here: (tags)
This is a repost of an email being made available to many who care about keeping the Pacifica 5 stations together vs. some PNB members who want to sell off 3 ailing radio stations to maintain the remaining 2 in California. - - - - - - - If you want to : Please sign their court petition at http://www.jotformpro.com/PDGG/petition Otherwise, the information contained in this reposting may update what else is secreted and not-known-in-LA because there is no transparency, no openness and only requests for $$$ pledges by local KPFK.
A Republican activist at KPFA? She is chair of the GOP in San Francisco and a rising star in her party. Her husband is a former KPFA board member who contributed $250 to the GOP last year.
BTL:For Fatah, New Unity Pact with Hamas is Risky, but Few Options Remained (tags)
Interview with Chris Toensing, editor of Middle East Report, conducted by Melinda Tuhus
4 FILE LAWSUIT AGAINST PACIFICA RADIO FORMER LEGAL COUNSEL DAN SIEGEL AND BAMBI (tags)
Dan Siegel is being sued along with Bambi and 99 other as-yet-unnamed co-defendants for conspiring to quit his paid position as Pacifica Radio's Legal Counsel in order to serve as an unpaid member of the KPFA Berkeley Local Station Board. The lawsuit is widely seen as a political witch hunt as Pacifica drifts to the right in pursuit of monied white middle class donors.
Chinese Revolution 60 years on: socialist revolution, capitalist restoration (tags)
October 1 will mark 60 years since Mao Zedong proclaimed the creation of the Peoples Republic of China. This followed the victory of the People’s Liberation Army, led by the Communist Party of China, over the US-backed Guomindang (Nationalist Party).
US Government Report Undermines Zimbabwe Opposition’s Claim of Independence Filed under: (tags)
The US government had a hand in formulating the policy platform of the Tsvangirai faction of the Movement for Democratic Change, Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, and funded community-based newsletters to create a platform to persuade Zimbabweans to accept Washington’s point of view, according to a US government report
KPFK Talk Show Host Lila Garrett Used Air Time to Propagandize Slate Mailer Faction (tags)
Controversial KPFK Talk Show Host Lila Garrett praised and claimed major KPFK progress by the slate mailer Local Station Board faction. Faction opponents disagree and dispute the propriety of her using air time to promote faction candidates.
THE LEFT AND THE ISRAEL LOBBY – by Joseph Anderson, Dissident Voice (tags)
Now that Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer have broken the taboo in the mainstream American media establishment of not only pointing out that the Israel lobby exists, but actually analyzing it from their perspective, the only place that open discussion, analysis and debate about the lobby remain firmly taboo is, ironically, ON THE LEFT! It’s a taboo imposed on the left by certain leftist icons and their suppression – if not censorship – of free expression and debate on this topic in progressive venues (lectures, panels, press or broadcast). Even some Palestinian-Americans have been forced to knuckle under to these leftist icons’ denial of the power of the Israel lobby in exchange for those icons’ or certain progressive/leftist groups’ political support. For example, as of this writing, where is an informed rebuttal to Noam Chomsky's dismissive position on the Lobby or at least an honest, open debate about the lobby on the national radio program Democracy Now? So, I wanted to incisively debunk at least some of the major arguments used by certain Left icons in denying the power and influence of the Israel lobby in U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and in suppressing discussion of its power domestically. Now, some people will bring up a red herring list of other possible influences in U.S. Mideast foreign policy to deny my analysis, but here I am dealing with THE ISRAEL LOBBY and how leftist icons respond to that topic. My ultimate position is: whatever our positions on the lobby, do we get to honestly discuss and debate it in formal public settings? Please read more:
The Left and the Israel Lobby (tags)
by Joseph Anderson
Sadr's Subtle Defiance of "Demonstration Elections" in Iraq (tags)
The January 30, 2005 elections in Iraq are the textbook definition of "demonstration elections." Unlike Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who issued "a fatwa saying all Shiia men and women have an obligation to vote in the upcoming election," the Moktada al-Sadr faction "uttered not a single word about the vote" at Friday Prayers, according to the New York Times, foreshadowing "a less than overwhelming voter turnout in many parts of Iraq" (Dexter Filkins, "Shiite Faction Ready to Shun Sunday's Election in Iraq," January 29, 2005). The Times insinuates that the Sadr faction are against democracy itself, solely by virtue of their quiet refusal to browbeat their vast following into embracing the elections tomorrow. Needless to say, the idea that it is people's right to evaluate whether or not an election is free, fair, and democratic and that boycotting an unfree, unfair, and undemocratic election is a time-honored tactic of democrats everywhere is unspeakable in the corporate media.