July 21, 2007

WAUKEGAN, Ill. — To thousands of protesters here July 16, the city administration turned itself into an alien body maintained by helicopters, snipers, swat teams and dogs. Undeterred by the show of military force, more than 6,000 immigrant rights supporters filled Martin Luther Jr. Ave., spilling onto the steps of City Hall.

In a move many observers related to U.S. plans to install an anti-missile system in Eastern Europe, Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 14 signed a decree stating that Russia would suspend its participation in the 1990 Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE).

On July 10, the trial of Colombian revolutionary Ricardo Palmera, also known also as Simon Trinidad, concluded in Washington with his conviction on one charge of conspiracy to take hostages and a hung jury on four remaining charges. Back in November 2006, his first jury trial ended in a mistrial on all points.

PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa — A sea of red surrounded the almost 2,000-strong opening session of the South African Communist Party’s 12th Congress held here July 12. The delegates received greetings from Kgalema Motlanthe, secretary-general of the governing African National Congress, and from the Communist Party of China. SACP General Secretary Blade Nzimande presented the main political report.

Australia: Conservatives admit it’s the oil
Iraq: Chronicler of women’s suffering is murdered
Dominican Republic: Left-led general strike rocks nation
Kenya: Prisoners await voiding of death sentences

Every day, hundreds of thousands of Americans who are really too sick to work trudge off to their jobs, in spite of their fevers, sore throats, headaches, sprains and strains. Hundreds of thousands of children, after receiving a dose of Tylenol or Motrin, are sent off to day care or school with similar ailments, when they should be home under the watchful eye of a parent.

You don’t have to be paranoid to believe that there is an international capitalist conspiracy. All it takes is a close look at the Apple iPod.

Gov’t agency a union buster
House panel OKs union rights for public safety workers
More immigration raids at meat plants
Judge orders hotel to reinstate Rochester 19

Something would be seriously amiss in our nation’s capital these days if the sun were to rise without a new political scandal rocking the Bush administration. July 10 was a case in point. That day, former Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona told a congressional panel that, due to the demands of political ideology, top Bush administrations officials frequently interfered with his work to produce evidence-based reports to guide the nation’s public health policies and educate the public.

Privatization, a strategy to eliminate public control over vital sectors of the economy, is nothing new. What is new, and perhaps more ominous, is that privatization has become the preferred method by which the Bush administration neoconservatives and transnational global corporations take over and occupy whole countries.