January

The Alito Stakes

The Democrats are fighting among themselves whether to sustain a filibuster against the Alito nomination, which all progressive forces in the U.S. should demand that they carry forward in the most militant way. Progressives also should make clear that a filibuster must be carried forward.

Tax Breaks for the Wealthy

On January 1 Congress allowed two tax breaks that benefit the wealthy to become effective. The cuts eliminated current provisions of the tax code that limits the amount of personal exemptions and itemized deductions that Americans with high incomes can take.

Argentina’s Néstor Kirchner: Peronism Without the Tears

As the “pink tide” fraternity of left-leaning leaders grows in numbers across Latin America, the successes of one of the continent’s less high profile members of this fellowship, Argentina’s Néstor Kirchner, have largely gone unnoticed outside of his country.

SUDAN: Thousands displaced by renewed fighting in Darfur

Thousands of civilians have been displaced by renewed fighting between Sudanese government forces and rebels in the western Darfur region, United Nations officials said...By Friday, at least 90 humanitarian staff working for several international nongovernmental organisations had been evacuated from Golo and Daya.

Book Review: Darwin: Discovering the Tree of Life

A new biography by American Museum of Natural History curator and trained biologist Niles Eldredge is an excellent source of information about the biographical details of the scientist's life, as well as a careful and not too arcane account of the basic theories at which Darwin arrived.

NIGERIA: Oil-rich Niger Delta faces “shocking” new wave of violence

In the past two decades, the multinational corporations producing Nigeria’s oil in the impoverished southern region have grown used to disruptions caused by protests or sabotage by locals who feel dispossessed of their oil wealth by the central government...“We’re really shocked by the amount of violence unleashed on Benisede [a facility recently attacked]. It was quite ugly.”

US Military Maneuvers in the Philippines Condemned

The first round of joint US-Philippine war games, a month-long small-unit field training exercise, is to be held starting 17 January 2006 in and around Camp Lucero, the base of the Philippine Army's 602nd Infantry Brigade in Carmen town, North Cotabato province, in the southern island of Mindanao. The last time that war games were conducted by US forces with their Filipino counterparts in this town was in July 2004.

Left-wing Candidate Wins 8.5% in Portugal's Presidential Election

As we repeatedly warned, Cavaco Silva's election introduces negative factors in the present political and social context. It will encourage the most reactionary and revanchist sectors of the right and of big business and their desire to devour the national resources and wealth, making the struggle for a democratic and left-wing break with the right-wing policies more complex and challenging.

International Criminal Court & Coalition War Crimes

Politically correct racism (PC racism) of Anglo-American academics, politicians and mainstream media has enabled Coalition passive genocide in Occupied Iraq and Afghanistan. Entrenched Anglo-American PC racism means UK-US denial of racism and domestic political correctness while, simultaneously, commission of immense, racist war crimes and IGNORING of the horrendous human consequences.