Archives
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The Rage of the Poor in Iran
The protests against the high cost of living in the cities of Khorasan province on December 28th soon spread to many cities of Iran incredibly quick and almost turned into a revolt within a week. The protests primarily targeted the high cost of living, financial difficulties and corruption. However, they quickly became politicized and began to target the foundations of the Islamic Republic (IR), namely the religious autocracy. The slogans quickly turned from “death to high cost of living” to “death to the dictator.” Keep reading »
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Heyday for Nepali Communists
Communists have won a landslide victory in the elections for House of Representatives of Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal held in two phases on 26th November and 7th December 2017. In a parliament of 275, the elections were held for 165 seats under the first past the post system (FPTP) and the rest, 110 seats, were by proportional system. Farooq Tariq visited Nepal for four days after the election results were announced from 13/17 December 2017 and reports. Keep reading »
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Whither Left Electoral Politics in Toronto?
Analysis of municipal elections and prospects for electing independent left candidates. Keep reading »
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Anti-Regime Protests in Iran
Three statements on the latest anti-regime protests in Iran. Mass protests in over 50 cities across Iran have been taking place since December 28th amid heavy security to raise people’s voices against massive poverty, skyrocketing cost of living, vast corruption and embezzlement by officials on all levels as well as brutal political repression. Keep reading »
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COP23: From the Gap to the Precipice
The Twenty-Third Conference of the Parties Signatory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate has just concluded in Bonn, Germany. It was an intermediate meeting between COP21 in Paris in 2015 and COP24 in Katowice (Poland) in 2018. Keep reading »
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Catalonia: The Independence Movement Resists, But Without Clarifying Its Strategy
The December 21 election (21-D) reconfirmed the absolute majority of pro-independence members in the Catalan Parlement. It marked the political defeat of article 155, although that article and its consequences are still in force. On the other hand, the “unionist” bloc, favouring the “union” under the Spanish state and defending the latter’s implementation of article 155, emerged stronger and more aggressive. Ciudadanos (C’s) obtained the largest number of votes and deputies, and furthered its hegemony within this bloc. Keep reading »
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Workers are the Heart of the Algorithm
Antonio Casilli, a professor at Télécom ParisTech, is considered one of the leading experts in the capitalism of digital platforms. He was interviewed by Roberto Ciccarelli.
“We are the ones who make the robots, with our own labour,” he says. “We make the criteria according to which they operate. And then we teach them to learn how to improve. The problem is not that robots are stealing our work, but that we continue to work more and more, and that the platforms are fragmenting and rendering invisible the labour that is necessary to make the algorithms work.“ Keep reading »
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Zelaya: Open Letter to the American People
People of the United States: For the past century, the owners of the fruit companies called our country “Banana Republic” and characterized our politicians as “cheaper than a mule” (as … Keep reading »
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In South Africa, Ramaphosa Rises as Lonmin Expires
Monday night’s internal African National Congress (ANC) presidential election of Cyril Ramaphosa – with a razor-thin 51 per cent majority of nearly 4800 delegates – displaced but did not resolve a fight between two bitterly-opposed factions. On the one hand are powerful elements friendly to so-called “White Monopoly Capital,” and on the other are outgoing ANC president Jacob Zuma’s allies led by Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, his ex-wife and former African Union chairperson. Keep reading »
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Jeremy Corbyn’s Geneva Speech
British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaking in Geneva in honor of International Human Rights Day cited the need to: “Build a new social and economic system with human rights and justice at its core. Deliver climate justice and a better way to live together on this planet.” Keep reading »
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Communists Sweep the Nepali Elections
You might as well imagine a large red flag fluttering from the summit of Mount Everest. That’s what the outcome of the parliamentary and provincial elections in Nepal suggests. The … Keep reading »
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Copping Out at COP23, Avoidance and Possibility in a Burning World
During the recent COP23 summit in Bonn, a taxi driver provided a clear summary. Asked what he thought of COP 23, he replied “the climate is in crisis, but here, … Keep reading »