Keeping Chocolate Real and Fair

Changes to the FDA's definition of chocolate will hurt cocoa growers.

Image source: Co-op Fair Trade.

As a large -- and timid -- chocolate bunny stares at me from its bed of Easter grass, waiting for the moment in which I bite its delicious little ears off, I'm thinking about a proposal put forth to the FDA.

That chocolate bunny -- tall, dark, and handsome; sweet, smooth, and decadent -- might next year have an inferior replacement. The Chocolate Manufacturers of America (CMA) in collaboration with the Grocery Manufacturers Association have petitioned the FDA to change the definition of chocolate, so that products made with milk substitutes and vegetable oil (instead of milk and cocoa butter) can be sold under the label of "chocolate." Why? So the manufacturers can save money by selling cheap crap. (Check out the specific proposed changes.)

People, GREEDY CAPITALISTS ARE ATTACKING CHOCOLATE!

Is nothing sacred?

If this petition is enacted, the result of is two fold: A) poorly made "mocklate" confections (example) will be reclassified and legitimized by the FDA and, more importantly, B) chocolatiers can avoid paying fair wages to workers in countries where cocoa is grown. From a Guittard Chocolate Company press release:

Changing the current “Gold Standard” for chocolate by allowing the substitution of hydrogenated or chemically-modified vegetable fats for cocoa butter will also have a dramatic impact on cocoa growers in Central and South America, the Caribbean Basin, Africa, and nations in Southeast Asia at a time when the global chocolate industry is working to improve working and economic conditions of these developing countries’ farmers. In fact, the plan to substitute these types of vegetable fats for cocoa butter would cause a disastrous economic impact on their livelihoods as the demand for cocoa butter would likely decrease and prices would plummet as some manufacturers switch to the cheaper substitutes. [Emphasis mine]

The result of this is that big manufacturers can start producing your favorite candies with "mocklate" short changing cocoa growers out of well deserved income. (Hershey chocolate is already on board with this and supports the Grocery Manufacturers Association efforts.*)

But this movement can be stopped. All you have to do is send a comment to the FDA telling them not to mess with chocolate by the April 25, 2007 deadline. To make it even easier, DontMessWithOurChocolate.com guides you through the process, even providing you with a letter you can cut-and-paste into the FDA's comment box (but you should feel free to write your own letter).

Really: it only takes a moment and it's as simple as pie -- a delicious slice of chocolate cream pie, made with genuine chocolate.

Read more about this issue here and here.
* Source.

Another Television is Possible

It is interesting that only socialist countries seem to have the will to control the flood of vulgar bacchalian depravity that has completely taken over media. The drive for profit led to the complete deregulation of media in the west starting in the 1980s. Now we see that we are on the brink of, if we have not already reached it, total moral breakdown.

It is sad to see in Blockbuster that 50% or more of the videos are graphic horror films (most of the rest being graphically violent "action" films). The prospects for the current generation growing up with this spectaclist schlock as the norm are grim indeed.

SYDNEY (Green Left Weekly) - “We at Telesur believe that 'Another television is possible’”, Aharonian told the Australian brigadistas. “Telesur is the first Latin American experience in mass television. We have always been seen through foreign eyes. From the North, they only see us in black and white. Black, because we only appear in the news when there is a big problem in our countries ... We are a very diverse and plural region; we need to see ourselves in our own way.

As “alternative media”, Aharonian said, “we must not be marginalised. We must be a mass-based alternative. All the documentaries and programs on Telesur come from alternative sources — independent producers, universities and national radio and TV from various countries.

“At this stage, we don’t have our own documentaries or musical programs, only the news. We try to pass on what other independent and alternative producers are doing.”

and...

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has called on TV and radio stations to ignore ratings and "vulgarity" in their programming and promote socialist values instead, state media reported on Tuesday.

China keeps a tight grip on its state-owned broadcasters, but market reforms have spawned increasingly outrageous shows, including reality TV, to attract viewers and advertising revenue.

The State Administration of Radio Film and Television (SARFT) urged broadcasters to boycott bad taste, "build harmonious culture and provide noble and rich programming for the masses," Xinhua news agency said.

"They should relay on quality and innovative programming, and outstanding ideological, artistic and attractive works to draw viewers. They should not rely on vulgarity to cater to a minority's low-grade interests," SARFT was quoted as saying.

The creation of a "harmonious society" is the doctrine of President Hu Jintao as China seeks to remove the causes of social tension.

New Socialism: Partners Not Wage Slaves

Venezuela's popular president Hugo Chavez announced on Sunday that his government's sweeping reforms towards the new socialism will include the creation of cooperatives owned by the workers.

Vowing to undermine capitalism's continued influence in Venezuela during his television and radio program "Hello President," brother Hugo Chavez said state-financed cooperatives would operate under a new concept in which workers would share profits.

This is another step toward the implementation of The Green Book principle "Partners not wage slaves".

Full story

Betrayed!?

The title of Cindy Sheehan’s statement on the vote is: “Betrayed! How the Democratic Congress betrayed American voters, the troops in Iraq and extended the occupation for at least another 18 months.” Cindy is a true American hero, by the way.

But did the Democrats really betray anyone? Did this powerful US political party behave in a way that runs counter to its historical role? Did they break any promises or fail to live up to the limited expectations that the American people have for their political parties?

I think not. As Eugene V Debs explained while running for US president as head of the Socialist Party in 1912 (yes m'am, this was written nearly 100 years ago!):

There are but two parties and but one issue. There is no longer even the pretense of difference between the so-called Republican and Democratic parties. They are substantially one in what they stand for.

They are opposed to each other on no question of principle but purely in a contest for the spoils of office.

To the workers of the country these two parties in name are one [party] in fact. They, or rather it, stands for capitalism, for the private ownership of the means of subsistence, for the exploitation of the workers, and for wage-slavery.1

The peace-loving Left cannot be blamed for hoping that the liberal Democratic party would make the war end. Any change from the blind leadership of George W Bush and his Republican party is welcome. But despite the rhetoric of specific and very well intentioned Democratic congresswomen and men, the party itself made no promises about ending the war.

In fact, the Democratic party has never been and never will be an anti-war party. The class interest of the US demands that the foreign policy of the government be imperialist. It goes without saying that imperialism is impossible without war. Since the Democratic party is part and parcel of the ruling mechanism of US capitalism, it is impossible for the party to act against its own perceived interests, that is, the interests of the ruling classes.

Certainly the war will end at some point. This will only happen when the ruling classes decide it is in there interest to do so. There are a variety of ways this can happen. A continued mass movement against the war by the working class, students and others has had a very positive effect and will continue to. Otherwise there would be no concessions from even the Democrats.

Supporting our troops means bringing them home. Stability will not be brought to Iraq by United States or any other imperialist adventurers. The opposite is the case. Our military has yet again been turned into a mercenary army in the service of a small cadre of extremely powerful capitalists. It saddens me to think that, even after the end of the war, troops will stay in Iraq in some form on a permanent basis to consolidate and protect the oil interests now under the control of these capitalists.

See also: Why the anti-war democrats folded, Socialist Worker, 30-Mar-2007

Cuba and Venezuela Adopt Open Source

Cuba and Venezuela have joined a growing list of nations concerned about the tight relationship between Microsoft and the United States intelligence establishment. Both countries are considering moving to open source for public and government computers in an effort to save money and bolster national security.

From iTWire:

Given the ongoing hostility between Cuba and the US, you can see why the Cuban government might have been concerned to hear that Microsoft had some help from the NSA with Vista's security features. At least with open source software you can review the code.

[...]

It makes a lot of sense for Cuba to avoid commercially imported software. Apart from the cost factor, using open source provides its government with a way of further nurturing local development expertise that's not possible where COTS (commercial off the shelf) dominates.1

And from the Guardian (Australia):

Both governments say they are trying to wean state agencies from Microsoft Windows to the open-source Linux operating system, which is developed by a global community of programmers who freely share their code.

"It’s basically a problem of technological sovereignty, a problem of ideology", said Hector Rodriguez, who oversees a Cuban university department of 1,000 students dedicated to developing open-source programs.

[...]

Communications Minister Ramiro Valdes raised suspicions about Microsoft’s cooperation with US military and intelligence agencies.

He called the world’s information systems a "battlefield" where Cuba is fighting against imperialism. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates once described copyright reformers, including people who want to do away with proprietary software, as "some new modern-day sort of communists" — a badge of honour from the Cuban perspective.

[...]

Cuba’s Cabinet also has urged a shift from proprietary software. The customs service has gone to Linux and the ministries of culture, higher education and communications are planning to do so, Rodriguez said. Students in his own department are cooking up a version of Linux called Nova.

Rodriguez’s department accounts for 1,000 of the 10,000 students within the University of Information Sciences, a five-year-old school that tries to combine software development with education. Cuba is also training tens of thousands of other software and hardware engineers across the country.

[...]

"Two years ago, the Cuban free-software community did not number more than 600 people ... In the last two years, that number has gone well beyond 3,000 users of free software and it’s a figure that is growing exponentially."2

Upfield

Lyrics to "Upfield", by Billy Bragg:

I'm going upfield, way up on the hillside
I'm going higher than I've ever been before
That's where you'll find me, over the horizon
Wading in the river, reaching for that other shore

I dreamed I saw a tree full of angels, up on Primrose Hill
And I flew with them over the Great Wen till I had seen my fill
Of such poverty and misery sure to tear my soul apart
I've got a socialism of the heart, I've got a socialism of the heart

I'm going upfield, way up on the hillside
I'm going higher than I've ever been before
That's where you'll find me, over the horizon
Wading in the river, reaching for that other shore

The angels asked me how I felt about all I'd seen and heard
That they spoke to me, a pagan, gave me cause to doubt their word
But they laughed and said: "I doesn't matter if you'll help us in our art
You've got a socialism of the heart, you've got a socialism of the heart"

I'm going upfield, way up on the hillside
I'm going higher than I've ever been before
That's where you'll find me, over the horizon
Wading in the river, reaching for that other shore

Their faces shone and they were gone and I was left alone
I walked these ancient empire streets till I came tearful to my home
And when I woke next morning, I vowed to play my part
I've got a socialism of the heart, I've got a socialism of the heart

I'm going upfield, way up on the hillside
I'm going higher than I've ever been before
That's where you'll find me, over the horizon
Wading in the river, reaching for that other shore

www.billybragg.co.uk

Global Socialist Opposition Haunts the Empire

From the Red Pepper Venezuela blog:

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday vowed to revive a global socialist opposition to the U.S. while continuing his Latin American tour aimed at upstaging President George W. Bush's own visit to the region.

Full post

Chavez reportedly went on to say:

"The [US] Empire is in counterattack, with the head of the empire himself leading the attack," Chavez said. "And why? Because they realize that the popular Latin American offensive is for real. Fifteen years ago, the American empire thought they had won the final battle when the Soviet Union fell. They let out their triumphant cry: 'Here is Superman!'"

He said now is the time for Latin America to fight back.

"We have resisted for a long time. But no one wins a battle always staying on the defensive," he said. "Let loose the charging cavalry!"1

Interestingly, a search on one of the contributors to this AP article reveals some interesting facts. Alvaro Zuazo is the journalist cited as a contributor who actually was in La Paz at the time. There are several Indymedia articles which call Zuazo's objectivity into question. And of course, an actual transcript of the speech is no where to be found, nor is the speech mentioned in any official Venezuelan media. Zuazo and his compatriots peppered their story with "go home gringo" and other provocatively creative phraseology.

Nevertheless, if the Bush visit to Latin America was designed to raise the profile of the US it has to be considered an utter failure. Instead, Chavez and left leaders and movements across Latin America took center stage and presented the socialist alternative to the world press. Emboldened by the weakness of the Bush regime, the less-compromised press was more than happy to show some degree of independence and backbone in covering these exciting trends.

Viva la Socialista, la bonita libertad!

Hugo Chavéz Wins Hearts and Minds

This week, Hugo Chavéz stole the thunder from US president George W Bush's visit to Latin America. Two op-ed pieces from this week about Venezuelan President Chavéz show that he is increasingly and surely wining hearts and minds despite all the propaganda designed to discredit him:

Luisa Valenzuela, New York Times, March 17, 2007

I’m no political analyst; I have delved into politics only as a fiction writer. But I’m an optimist by nature, and the feeling of empowerment that President Chávez instills, and that various South American governments are endorsing, strikes me as a good engine for further progress — a means of upgrading ourselves from the status of someone’s backyard into that of a truly autonomous region.

Harry Alford, Louisiana Weekly, March 19, 2007

One of the most impressive things President Chavez has done is wean South American nations from the influence of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He views the IMF as an agent in the service of the US. He has persuaded South American nations to pay off their debts to the IMF and use Venezuela as the preferred friendly lender. IMF lending in the region has fallen to $50 million, or less than 1 percent of its global portfolio, compared with 80 percent in 2005. Meanwhile, Chavez has used his oil wealth to lend $2.5 billion to Argentina, offer $1.5 billion to Bolivia and $500 million to Ecuador. He says he is promoting a "socialist" alternative to the Fund and its biggest shareholder, the US Treasury. The global clout of the IMF is now diminishing.

Alford is the President of the National Black Chamber of Commerce. Valenzuela is an internationally acclaimed Argentinian fiction writer. Both see hope in Chavéz, a hope for a better future world in which all can prosper. Isn't that what socialism is all about?

The 300 Movie Review

Movie Review "The 300":

The movie "The 300" Spartans is a movie based on a graphic novel by Frank Miller, the deviant behind the Sin City series. I say deviant, because, although Miller is truly gifted, his work is essentially the output of a highly cynical and nihilistic mind.

Interestingly, Miller's movie version of "The 300" perfectly intersects with the world-view of the Bush-loyal wing of the Republican party and their neocon (for instance Felipe Calderon of Mexico, and John Howard of Australia) allies across the world.

In "The 300" we learn of a king (Leonidas, aka G W Bush) who has identified that Sparta (aka USA) must go to war with Persia (aka Persia/Iran) in order to preserve the liberty of the freemen of Sparta (aka largest slave-holding city of Greece at the time). He knows this because the big black man who came to ask him to surrender to Persia insulted his very white wife (I guess, he didn't say anything to her that a typical Republican traditionalist would not have, but he was black after all).

Unfortunately, the corrupt Senate (elected officials versus hereditary king) won't send the army to fight. So the king must go on his own, with his loyal posse of 300 soldiers, not nearly enough to fight off the 1 million Persians! Gosh darned pesky elected officials!

Leonidas' wife (pictured) waves him off in a field of golden grain (slaves not show, of course) as he and his 300 go to face Al-Qaeda, er that is, the Persians.

Leo is able to kick butt and kill may an Arab in gruesome form. Xerxes, the king of the Persians, turns out to be an eight foot tall drag queen, who offers Leo to come (literally and figuratively?) to his side by kneeling before him. Leo is no fag though, and he rebuffs Xerk.

Xerk sends wave after wave of blacks, gays, retards and Arabs to attack Leo. But Leo and his men are too white and too hetro to be overcome.

Unfortunately, there is one deformed retard from Sparta (who escaped the logical tradition of killing deformed babies in Sparta, because his weak and damed mother loved him too much, the nerve!) who betrays Leo.

This retard leads the Persian immortals (also deformed, hardly even human, but what do you expect, they are Persian Al-Qaeda fags after all!) to surround Leo.

Leo is trapped but does not surrender, not to a bunch of fags! No, he and his men would rather die than suffer that fate, and they do. Fortunately, Leo dies with his arms outstretched and as the camera pans out we, the audience, cannot but help wondering whether he reminds us of a certain savior who died on the cross.

Fortunately, queen hetro was able to finally convince the Senate to surge the military into action and thus stop the Persians from taking over the homeland. In her speech she declares that "freedom isn't really free at all, it requires the sacrifice of blood." Interestingly, this exact sentiment is echoed thousands of years later in the aptly titled poem "No, Freedom Isn't Free" by Kelly Strong, and of course countless new millennium country songs.

So the drill down is basically that this movie is complete propaganda, perhaps even funded by the US Army. There is no objectivity at all and there is zero historical accuracy. Read any history of the Battle of Thermopylae and it is clear that the authors of this terrible film had one single objective - to promote their own sick and corrupt version of the "War on Terror."

What are other bloggers saying?

• The 300 is so blatantly an allegory for the right-wing fantasy called "The War on Terror", [...] the movie is really an attempt at Republican propoganda. - Daily Kos
  
  
• "Freedom isn't free"..and yes Frank Miller is a bigot. - All Day, Every Day
  
  
• Athens has ceased to be the ideal for western culture... John Angliss
  
  
• Gorgeous Slaughter - Lenin's Tomb
  

Rather not see blatant fascist propaganda in the movies? Sign the petition at 300, An Unethical Movie Picture.

Next Stop San Diego

St Patrick's Day, USA. Going out for a bit of fun is on the menu this day. I'd recommend a visit to the goth clubs of San Diego, California, if this advert poster is any indication.

Viddy Well, little brother

Thanks to Clockwork Orange for this horrorshow tonight and thought I'd share. I figure this may come in handy for my trip to Russia in May.
Nadsat Glossary

A

• Appy-polly loggies - apologies

B

• Baboochka - old woman
• Bezoomny - crazy
• Bitva - battle
• Bog - God
• Bolshy - big
• Bratty, brat - brother
• Britva - razor

C

• Cal - shit
• Cancer - cigarette
• Cantora - room
• Carman - pocket
• Chasha - cup
• Chasso - guard
• Cheena - woman
• To cheest - to wash
• Chelloveck - man, gentleman
• Chepooka - nonsense
• Collocoll - bell
• To crast - to steal
• To creech - to scream
• Cutter - money

D

• Deng - money
• Devotchka - girl
• Dobby - good
• Domy - house
• To drats - to fight
• Droog, droogie - friend

E

• Eemya - name
• Eggiweg - egg

F

• To filly - to play
• Forella - lady, woman

G

• Glaz, glazzy - eye, nipple (in context)
• Gloopy - stupid
• Golly - coin
• Goloss - voice
• Goober - lip
• To gooly - to go
• Gorlo - throat
• To govoreet - to talk, speak
• Grahzny - dirty
• Grazzy - dirty
• Gromky - loud
• Groody - breast
• Gulliver - head
• Guff - laugh

H

• Hen-korm - pocket change
• Horrorshow - good
• Hound-and-horny - common

I

• Interessovated - interested
• To itty - to go

J

• Jammiwam - jam, jelly
• Jeezny - life

K

• Kleb - bread
• Klootch - key
• Kopat - understand
• Koshka - cat
• Krovvy - blood
• To kupet - to buy

L

• Lewdies - people
• Lighter - drinker
• Litso - face
• Lomtick - piece
• To lovet - to catch
• To lubbilub - to kiss

M

• Malchick - boy
• Malenky - little
• Maslo - butter
• Messel - idea
• Mesto - place
• Millicent - policeman
• Molodoy - young
• Moloko - milk
• Moodge - man, husband
• Mounch - food
• Mozg - brain

N

• Nadsat - teen
• Nagoy - naked
• Neezhnies - panties
• Nochy - night
• Noga - foot, leg
• Nosh - knife

O

• Oddy knocky - alone
• Okno - window
• To ookadeet - to leave
• Ooko - ear
• Oomny - smart
• Oozy - chain
• To osoosh - to wipe
• Otchkies - glasses

P

• To peet - to drink
• Pischa - food
• To platch - to cry
• Platties - clothes
• Pletcho - shoulder
• Plot - body
• Pol - sex
• To pony - to understand
• Poogly - frightened
• Pooshka - pistol
• Prestoopnick - degenerate
• Pretty polly - money
• To prod - to produce
• Ptitsa - woman
• Pyahnitsa - drunk

R

• To rabbit - to work
• Radosty - joy
• Rassoodock - mind
• Raz - time
• Razdraz - angry
• Razrez - anger
• To razrez - to tear
• Rooker - hand or arm
• Rot - mouth
• Rozz - policeman

S

• Sabog - shoe
• Sarky - sarcastic
• Shaika - gang
• Sharp - woman
• Sharries - (expletive to be used with “kiss my –”)
• Shest - barrier
• Shilarny - interest
• Shlaga - club, cudgel
• Shlapa - hat
• Shlem - helmet
• Shoom - noise
• Shoomny - noisy
• Shoot - fool
• Sinny - cinema
• To skazat - to say
• Skolliwol - school
• Skorry - fast
• To skvat - to snatch
• Sladky - sweet
• To sloochat - to happen
• To slooshy - to hear
• Slovo - word
• To smeck - laugh
• To smot - to see
• Sneety - dream
• Snoutie - mucus coming from the nose
• To sobirat - to pick up
• To spat with - to have sex with
• Spatchka - sleep
• Starry - old

T

• Tashtook - handkerchief
• To tolchock - to hit
• Twenty-to-one - gang violence

U

• Ultra-violence - rape

V

• What was vareeting - what was up
• Veck - man, guy
• Veshch - thing
• To viddy - to see
• Voloss - hair
• Von - smell
• To vred - to injure

Y

• Yahma - hole
• Yahzick - tongue
• Yarbles - testicles, bollocks
• To yeckat - to drive

Z

• Zheena - wife
• Zlook - ring, sound
• Zooby - tooth

Mr. Popularity

George "Dubya" Bush is making the rounds in Latin America, visiting his favorite puppet states like Guatemala, Colombia, Uruguay and Mexico. Mr Bush also visited Brazil where he met a less than warm welcome:

"It's nothing more than to say we want to be your friends," Bush told Colombian television before he set out.

However, more than 6,000 anti-Bush protesters of all ages marched down Sao Paulo's famed Avenida Paulista, the business heart of South America, police said.

To the beat of Afro-Brazilian drums, they demanded an end to the Iraq war and what they called state-sponsored torture, U.S. imperialism and growing economic inequality.

"No. 1 Enemy of Humanity" and "Get out Bush!" read signs carried by workers, students, peasants and other activists.

"We're fighting against imperialism and Bush, who's interested in dominating countries in this region," said student Artour Barbosa de Queiroz, 29.1

And then the 'punks' got in on the act:

Trouble broke out when a small group, most of them punks, threw rocks at the police. They responded by spraying tear gas, firing rubber bullets and clubbing them, witnesses said.

A Reuters photographer, Caetano Barreira, was hit in the face by a chunk of wood thrown by protesters. At least two police officers were also hurt, the witnesses said.2

What a crock. The 'punks'!? This classification is not even qualified - what is meant by 'punks'? Frankly this makes me think that the reporter was not even on the scene but took the propaganda content directly from a government party line press release.

Hmmm, too bad for the Reuters fella, I wonder though how many protesters were hurt? Reports are sketchy, as usual, but it must be pretty damned bloody if the AP is reporting this:

Riot police fired tear gas at protesters and beat them with batons in Sao Paulo after more than 6,000 people held a largely peaceful march, sending hundreds of demonstrators fleeing and ducking into businesses to avoid the gas.

Authorities did not immediately report any injuries, but Brazilian media said at least six people were hurt after marching two miles through the financial heart of South America's largest city just hours before Bush was scheduled to arrive.3

Mr Bush was able to set the record straight on CNN En Espanol:

"The trip is to remind people that we care," Mr. Bush said in an interview Wednesday with CNN En Espanol. "I do worry about the fact that some say, 'Well, the United States hasn't paid enough attention to us,' or 'The United States really isn't anything more than worried about terrorism.' And when, in fact, the record has been a strong record."4

Still there are lingering doubts, and Hugo Chavez and millions of workers, students activists and others dedicated to creating another world stood side by side, staging anti-Bush protests all across Latin America, thereby dooming the Bush agenda.

Bush’s trip to Latin America is a calculated effort to counter Hugo Chavez’s growing influence in the region and to separate the “bad left” from the “good left”, namely Uruguay and to some extent Brazil. He hopes to add them to the dwindling bloc of pro-US nations, including Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico which he is visiting.

[...]

[Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador] are [all] raising the banner of socialism. In Venezuela Hugo Chavez is intent on leading the country to a “new socialism for the twenty-first century.” In Bolivia Evo Morales governing party is called Movement Towards Socialism, a “party of a new type” comprised largely of social movements. And in Ecuador, Rafael Correa in his inaugural address in January called for an opening to the “new socialism for the twenty-first century” and declared that Ecuador has to end “the perverse system that has destroyed our democracy, our economy and our society.”5

At the same time that Bush is preaching peace in Latin America, he has appointed hardliner John Negroponte as director of US Latin American policy. We can expect a concerted effort of the same failed policies of lies, subversion and aggression that are the hallmark and legacy of the Bush Administration; and are unfortunately the signature of the balance of US foreign policy in Latin America and the world.

Haymaket Memorial

I am currently sitting in the Chicago Airport due to the incredible efficiency of our airlines. The good news is that I was able to get to visit the Haymarket Memorial today during lunch. It was rather difficult as I was not able to find the address of the memorial even after calling the Chicago Historical Society and Chicago Cultural Affairs Office.

Thanks to a few bloggers and the Illinois Labor Historical Society I was able to find it and fortunately it was within walking distance of my Oracle training facility. The memorial is a few paces north of the intersection of W Randolf St. and N Desplaines St. about three blocks west of the Theater District.

Haymarket is memorialized internationally during May Day, also know as International Labor Day. A description of the tragic event follows:

On May 3, 1886, violence erupted at the McCormick Reaper Works during an assembly of strikers. That evening a small group of anarchists met to plan a rally the next day in response to the McCormick incident.

The rally began about 8:30 p.m. May 4 at the Haymarket, a site on Randolph between Halsted and Des Plaines Street, but due to low attendance it was moved a half block away to Des Plaines Street north of Randolph Street. After 10 p.m., as the rally drew to a close, 176 policemen led by Inspector John Bonfield moved in demanding immediate dispersal of the remaining 200 workers. Suddenly a bomb exploded. In the chaos that followed shots were fired by police and perhaps by workers. One police officer was killed by the bomb, six officers died later and sixty others were injured. No official count was made of civilian deaths or injuries probably because friends and/or relatives carried them off immediately. Medical evidence later showed that most of the injuries suffered by the police were caused by their own bullets.

All well known anarchists and socialists were rounded up and arrested in the days following the riot. Thirty one of them were named in criminal indictments and eight held for trial.

Although the bomb thrower has never been identified the eight indicted men were convicted by a court which held that the "inflammatory speeches and publications" of these eight incited the actions of the mob. The Illinois and U.S. Supreme Courts upheld the verdict.

On November 11, 1887 four of the accused were hanged. One committed suicide in jail, two had their sentences commuted to life in prison and one remained in prison even though there was no case against him. [See photo.]

After John P. Altgeld became Governor in 1893, the petitions for pardon that had been presented to and refused by his predecessor Richard Oglesby, were again introduced. After a careful review of the case Altgeld granted a full pardon on June 26, 1893. In his remarks he claimed the jury was selected to convict and the judge so prejudiced against the defendants that a fair trial was impossible.1

The monument standing there today (pictured with yours truly) is not the original monument. A statue was dedicated on the site in the 1890s. The statue was attacked by vandals many times and even blown up on several occasions. Mayor Daley in 1970 even had a 24/7 police watch established to guard the statue. Today it stands within the Chicago Police Academy and can only be seen by appointment.

Nevertheless, it is very easy to visit the memorial currently standing on N Desplaines St. Below is a map showing the exact location. I'll upload more pictures over the weekend.

China Vows 100 Years of Socialism

China's Communist president made an announcement regarding the political liberalization of the country, which was much maligned in the capitalist press. I am very much in favor of much more autonomy for labor unions and political activists in China. An effective and democratic system of workers councils that have rights which supersede the bureaucracy would be very welcome.

Still, it is disingenuous for the capitalist press in the United States or the G8 world to be overly critical of China's one party system. The reality in the U.S. is that we have, in the words of Eugene V Debs one party with two wings - the capitalist party. Debs, the most influential American socialist to date, wrote the following:

As a rule, large capitalists are Republicans and small capitalists are Democrats, but workingmen must remember that they are all capitalists, and that the many small ones, like the fewer large ones, are all politically supporting their class interests, and this is always and everywhere the capitalist class.

Whether the means of production—that is to say, the land, mines, factories, machinery, etc.—are owned by a few large Republican capitalists, who organize a trust, or whether they be owned by a lot of small Democratic capitalists, who are opposed to the trust, is all the same to the working class. Let the capitalists, large and small, fight this out among themselves.(Debs, 1900)1

Today Xie Tao had the following to say:

"We are still far away from advancing out of the primary stages of socialism," he said. "We must stick with the basic development guideline of that stage for 100 years."

Still, he said that "the socialism system is not contradictory to democracy," adding: "A highly developed democracy and a complete legal system are inherent requirements of the socialist system and an important benchmark of a mature socialist system."2

China is very cautious about the effects perestroika and glasnost had on Russia. I find it encouraging that a country the size of China will continue to try to build socialism, acknowledging that the context of their doing so is highly flawed.

Bracero 2.0?

The Economist magazine seems to think that George W Bush can save his place in history by reaching a compromise with the Democrats by pushing through a kinder gentler "guest worker" (sounds nice doesn't it?) program. The elements of such a program would include tighter border security, better tracking through a massive tracking and surveillance system with special ID cards, more tightly linking ("matching") workers with specific employers, preferential treatment for US born workers and green card holders, encouragement for the guests to leave the US, anti-exploitation measures, and of course increased compassion.1

Today the New York Times ran "Low Pay and Broken Promises Greet Guest Workers in U.S." on the front page. Here was described the plight of immigrant farm workers brought into the US to the tune of 120,000 per year to do menial labor in deplorable conditions. They have little or no job security, no income security and absolutely no labor rights (like the 40 hour work week) nor the right to organize in order to protect themselves. It should be noted that native farm workers suffer from the same injustices in many U.S. states, including the progressive New York State.

The article noted that guest workers are abused far more than other workers due to their captive status. Ironically many of these people pay exorbitant fees for the "privilege" to take the jobs where they are abused, not knowing ahead of time what lies in store for them. Labor camps have been sued for fraud, breach of contract, minimum wage violations and illegal human trafficking.2 These types of exploiters used to be called "job sharks" - seems to me that it's high time we revive that term for everyday use (it IS common in India and elsewhere).

So the question is, will an new guest worker program, driven by the demands of the very businesses which are perpetrating these abuses, really help solve anything? For a historical perspective it is useful to examine the "Bracero Program" established in the 1950s, the legacy of which still governs policy today. The Monthly Review ran an article by Richard D. Vogel on the topic last month as follows:

The history of the Bracero Program, an indentured servitude program which allowed for the temporary migration of Mexican agricultural workers to the United States from 1942 to 1964, is important because of its impact on the lives of millions of Mexican workers. In addition, it was the first bilateral agreement regulating migrant labor between the two nations. The Bracero Agreement offers the historical and legal precedent for the program currently being developed for the mass exploitation of Mexican and Central American workers in the United States.
[...]
When an economic recession triggered a political backlash against Mexican migrants. Operation Wetback, as it was officially designated, was a paramilitary campaign conducted by the U.S. Border Patrol against Mexican communities across the nation that resulted in the deportation or flight of well over a million migrant workers and their families.
[...]
Ultimately, over 4.6 million Mexican citizens entered the United States under the Bracero Agreement, providing an abundant supply of cheap workers for U.S. agriculture as long as it was needed. Though the program provided desperately needed jobs to Mexican workers, the bracero experience was characterized by poverty wages, substandard working conditions, social discrimination, and lack of even the most basic social services for braceros and their families.

Vogel goes on to describe the key elements of the new proposed guest worker program as follows:

The innocuous term, “guest worker,” obscures the true nature of transient servitude. The term “guest” suggests a person to whom hospitality is extended, but this labor program will offer no kindness or generosity to workers caught in the trap. The program will be conducted primarily by private corporations (perhaps exclusively by Halliburton/KBR or one of its subsidiaries) that are only interested in the bottom line of profits for their stockholders and huge salaries and bonuses for their managers and executives, and it will be enforced by the unprecedented power of the U.S. government and guaranteed by the WTO through GATS.

The work offered under the program will be transient in a double sense—the work visas will be temporary and employment will be itinerant because of visa portability. Limited to a maximum of six years of participation and with the prospect of legalization conditional, the program offers workers an uncertain future at best.

A condition of servitude is all but guaranteed during the term of employment because GATS has officially disavowed any responsibility for enforcing international labor law advocated by the International Labor Organization (ILO), which itself has no enforcement provisions. Ironically, workers under the pending U.S. guest worker programs will have less protection than the workers who labored under the Bracero Agreement because of the power of GATS to supercede all national (including labor) law thus nullifying worker rights guaranteed in the Mexican Constitution.

The exploitation of workers under the U.S. guest worker program will, in practice, be virtually unrestricted and participation will be expensive. In addition to the visa and work permit fees required by the U.S. government, workers will have to absorb the commission fees charged by labor contractors and transportation costs (both prohibited under the Bracero Program), and additional charges for medical exams, inoculations, and miscellaneous expenses. In practice, the costs born by migrant laborers under a U.S. guest worker program will greatly reduce the money available for remittances to families in Latin America, one of the primary motivating factors for participating in the program.3

The final ironic twist is that Mexico's puppet president Felipe Calderon today announced that Mexico will be initiating a guest worker program of it's own to control immigration from Central America.4 The program is much more humane than those being proposed within the U.S. but basically it is an implementation of the same template and an extension of neo-liberal economic policies.

A truly effective global paradigm for migrant labor must be put into effect to replace the neo-liberal WTO policies being implemented in the U.S. and Mexico. Universal labor rights for all, regardless of citizenship, is an essential first step. Demilitarization of the borders and decriminalization of work are second and third. Workers must be free to work, migrate and organize just as businesses are free to transcend borders. Incentives to exploit workers must be eliminated and offenders must be prosecuted and punished.

A socialist approach to creating a migrant labor system governed by compassion and justice with the aim to create a better life for all involved on a global scale is the only approach that will have a long lasting and positive effect.

Crisis in Legitimacy

The sky is falling, the sky is falling - or at least the stock market is...

Today we will see whether Wall Street follows the tumble some of the global exchanges, notably Europe and Japan, took today. Notably, Communist China's market posted a 100+ point rebound. This seems to show that socialism is even better at managing stock markets than capitalism (I'm being witty here of course).

It would be too easy to say that the only people affected are the speculative elites. Unfortunately the reality is that many workers in the west have most of their savings tied to equity markets, so a prolonged decline will hurt a lot at a time when we can ill afford it.

Therefore the news that economic ministers in Europe are calling on businesses to share their profits with workers is very encouraging. The Financial Times reports:

European companies must give workers a bigger share of their soaring profit or risk igniting a “crisis in legitimacy” in the continent’s economic model, Germany’s finance minister warned on Tuesday.

Peer Steinbrück’s comments were part of a concerted attempt by Europe’s economic leaders in Brussels to persuade companies to share profit with workers as well as shareholders.¹

I applaud these leaders for standing up in the face of business might in an extremely hostile climate and stating the truth - we the workers create the wealth of the world and deserve our rightful share. Of course we should not have to rely on meek government officials to go begging for business to behave in an ethical manner.

The gains of the working class have been fought for and died for by countless nameless agitators and organizers. These heroes of the past must be honored by a new generation who will stand up and demand the wealth they create be given back to them - reversing the current trend.

Other references: 2

Le Pacte Présedentiel

Nearly two weeks after unveiling a solidly left campaign platform, Ségolène Royal the Parti Socialiste (SP) candidate for the presidency of France has pulled ahead in the polls versus the right wing Nicolas Sarkozy.

Royal delivered a dazzling debate performance on national television which bolstered the gains made with her 100 point "le pacte présidential" which included raising pensions, an increase of the minimum wage to €1,500 per month, a job guarantee for every university graduate, and citizens' juries to watch over government policy.

Royal gained the nomination of the SP in 2006 as a surprise candidate beating out several party stalwarts. Since then, she has faced an uphill battle both from within her party and of course from the right.

The announcement of le pacte and other maneuvers has rallied the SP politicos as well as the party base around her bid for the presidency. She is steadily gaining the confidence of the French left and especially critically the youth.

As is to be expected, Nicolas Sarkozy is running a campaign of fear and hate coupled with extreme neo-liberal capitalist measures designed to punish the working classes. Sarkozy famously instigated the immigrant youth of the French "suburbs" instigating months of riots and chaos. After several youths were murdered by police, Sarkozy fed the flames by promising to "clean out" the "yobs" and "rabble" from the rundown suburbs "with a power hose."

Royal in a recent speech took a different approach:

Cheered by supporters and frequently interrupted by applause, she spoke with more ease than usual. When she talked about France's volatile suburbs, where riots erupted in November 2005 and high unemployment rates continue to curb the opportunities of second-generation immigrants, the emotion was evident on her face and in her voice.

"I want for the children in these suburbs what I want for my own children," she said, clenching a fist before her bright-red blazer and prompting the crowd to erupt into a two-minute standing ovation.

A former schools minister, she vowed that she would tackle the social exclusion in the suburbs by reducing the number of students in classes. She also promised free tutoring for students that have difficulties keeping up, and workshops for parents to teach them how to discipline their children.

She followed up with:

"The unfettered rein of financial profit is intolerable for the general interest," she said. "You told me simple truths. You told me you wanted fewer income inequalities. You told me you wanted to tax capital more than labor. We will do that reform."

Royal would certainly have my vote. It will be interesting to see how far left the Democrats go under the leadership of America's perhaps first female president Hillary Clinton. My hopes are not high.

Additional references: 1, 2

Paris Hilton, Trashed Again

I've often said in conversation that Paris Hilton is the perfect example of the idle rich - a societal parasite who contributes little while consuming much. It is unfortunate that the many people like her, the glitterati of the bourgeoisie, are idolized and emulated.

Hilton offers nothing of value to society and in fact has an extremely negative impact. Not only does she waste the labor of countless workers through her conspicuous consumption, but she presents an image of beauty and style that devalues and degrades women.

She epitomizes the acme of the capitalist commodification process - she is simultaneously the perfect consumer and the perfectly consumed. She signifies and personifies unreflective specticalist celebrity.

As is well known, Hilton is greeted with adulation by crowds of admirers, all desperate that somehow they are coming close to greatness and that some will reflect back onto them. In fact the very "thing" they wish to get from their fleeting contact with Hilton they gave to her in the first place - it is their collective labor, their energy which has imbued Hilton with the fetish power of the super commodity.

Appropriately enough, last Thursday (15-Feb-2007) Paris Hilton was treated to a different kind of attention than she is used to by a group of young comrades in Austria. The Associated Press (via MSNBC) reports:

Earlier Thursday, hundreds of shrieking, frenzied fans welcomed Hilton as she made an appearance at a Vienna mall to sign autographs.

“Hello everybody, it’s so good to see you,” the 25-year-old cooed as the crowd went crazy. “Happy late Valentine’s Day!”

The session was cut short when several objects landed on the stage and Hilton was whisked away by security guards.

Lugner said the flying objects included cigarette packs, tissues and lipsticks.

The Austria Press Agency reported that sheets of paper that floated onto the stage were fliers from a communist youth organization.

Full story

Something of a mild form of agitprop, nevertheless Hilton was visibly shaken as the guards took her off the stage. She later stated that it was "no big deal" but the story was covered fairly heavily in the media, with all the proper indignation of course.

Marx says in Capital Vol I that we must force "the frozen circumstances to dance by singing to them their own melody" (Marx, 1967, 253). This is precisely what the agitators did by throwing trash at the queen of trash.

I applaud the actions of the people, "communist youth" or not, who took the risk in order to open a breach in the unending ideological self-adulation of the elites. Paris Hilton is selling us a load of trash, its high time someone gave a bit of it back to her!

Paris Hilton photographs herself @ Austrian ball
its just too easy

New Template

Long overdue, I have started to update my template for FoOL. There are a lot of things missing right now, specifically the comments from Haloscan. This change was required because the design was getting stale and it was hard to read and cluttered, but also because "Blogger 2" has changed so much from the past versions I basically had no choice.

Stay tuned, I am trying to import the comments from Haloscan, that failing I'll turn Haloscan back on.

In solidarity,

RiR

Squid Switch

In honor of the catching of a colossal squid down in Oz today. Totally want one of these.