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Brilliant left wing satire from Mark Steel The last thing Labour needs is a leader like Jeremy Corbyn who people want to vote for - Comment - Voices - The Independent

Most of us know very little about the "Islamic state" and where it came from. But we should, otherwise we will just swallow what the imperialist warmongers tell us. This article is a good place to start. The “Islamic State” and the counter-revolution – International Socialism

Christine Delphy est une des rares féministes françaises connues à s'être engagée activement contre l'islamophobie. Etant donné l'importance que le bouc émissaire musulman a dans notre société aujourd'hui, ce n'est pas rien.  Bien sûr, se battre ensemble dans une campagne n'implique pas être d'accord sur autre chose. En effet, depuis 40 ans Delphy fait campagne contre le marxisme. C'est son droit bien sûr, et notre devoir est de répondre. Dans la revue du NPA ce mois ci une critique du nouveau livre de Christine Delphy ( cliquez ici ). Et cliquez ici pour ma propre critique de ses idées sur le capitalisme et le patriarcat ("Vivons nous dans une société patriarcale?").

Les lecteurs réguliers  de ce blog se rappelleront de l'exposition de Brett Bailey, "Exhibit B" qui a eu lieu dans la région parisienne en novembre et décembre dernier. Notre pétition contre cette exposition raciste a recueilli 20 000 signatures, et finalement l'exposition a pu continuer seulement entourée de CRS, face à des manifestants, à 90% noirs, qui revenaient tous les soirs. Plusieurs organisations traditionnelles antiracistes n'ont pas compris que l'exposition était raciste , même si un bon nombre de militants se sont très lentement rendus compte, comme témoigne l'excellent débat il y a quelques mois avec un dirigeant de la Ligue des Droits de l'homme lors du salon de l'anticolonialisme. Depuis, il y a du nouveau. Dans sa croisade pour expliquer le racisme aux grandes villes multiculturelles du monde, Brett Bailey est allé au Chili , et au Canada . Maintenant il prépare une visite au Brésil et en Irlande.  Pas facile pourtant pour le pauvr...

Un long article de Philippe Corcuff  entreprend une critique (relativement) fraternelle des conceptions du Parti des Indigènes de la Républque, et plus généralement s'attaque aux collaborations nécessaires entre mouvements de classe et mouvements de groupes d'opprimés. J'ai écrit récemment que la centralité de la crise grècque a remis en évidence la position primordiale dans notre société du capital dans le bon vieux sens - des milliardaires qui nous bousillent nos vies. Des organisations telles que le PIR ont eu peu à dire sur la Grèce, et ceci est une grande faiblesse politique . Corcuff propose ici une contribution utile qui clarifie plusieurs questions importantes, même si je suis très souvent pas d'accord avec lui . Indigènes de la République, pluralité des dominations et convergences des mouvements sociaux – Philippe Corcuff | Grand Angle

El Pais announces the alliance on its website. (Updated Aug. 22, 2015; versi�n en espa�ol ) The iconoclastic Spanish culture magazine Jot Down is a strange creature in many ways. At a time when people supposedly read little and do it rapidly, it publishes long interviews and essays. In an age of minute-by-minute updates and clickbait, Jot Down makes its money by charging about US$16.75 for each copy of its massive 320-page quarterly, which carries only two or three pages of advertising. Another oddity: its target market is not the famous millennials so sought after by many media but rather more-mature folks in their 40s and 50s. It is an edgy publication that attracts people �who think of themselves as young,� says publisher Angel Fernandez, 44, who co-founded it four years ago. Marriage of convenience Surprisingly, it is viable, profitable, and growing. But possibly strangest of all, it has just reached agreement to share its content with one of the media icons of Spain, in fact a sy...

At the end of a semester-long course in digital journalism , I asked my students at the University of Navarra in Spain to say what they thought was the most interesting or useful part of the course. The survey was anonymous, so I give it some credibility. The question was open-ended. The second-most-mentioned item was a class exercise I gave them in which they had to judge the navigability, usability, transparency , and other factors of any website they liked. This group exercise put theory into practice and developed their analytical skills . (No. 1 was the video interviews with digital media entrepreneurs from Latin America. They are in Spanish and can be seen on my YouTube channel . Accompanying text in English is available elsewhere on this blog.) The exercise took 45 minutes and followed a 45-minute lecture on the theory of Internet design, especially as it applied to taking advantage of mobile and social platforms. First, I told the students that they were going to do an ungrade...

If you don't find some aspects of the Greek situation difficult and confusing, it's probably because you haven't been paying attention. A left-reformist party, with a considerable anti-capitalist minority within its ranks, has been terrifying the Euro-billionaire establishment by threatening not to make the poor pay for the bankers' crisis. I understand that in some ways, over recent months on the ground, anti-austerity policies have been carried out. But the government has generally relied on its own capacity to find clever tactics and to profit from divisions among the Eurogroup to get a compromise deal to finance social measures. This was unlikely to work, and seems to be quickly unravelling. There are two plausible outcomes : the first is that Tsipras gets his deal and imposes further austerity, pleading that the alternative would be overthrow and replacement by a vicious "national unity government" which has been seen in other countries at other times ( 1...

My article in the Australian anticapitalist paper, Red Flag. The Greek struggle influences the whole of Europe | REDFLAG

Contribution utile ici La trahison de Tsipras? | RussEurope

I forgot to share this excellent eyewitness account from a few days back Battle lines drawn in Greece | REDFLAG

This article explains briefly why rich shareholders and bankers are so happy today at the Greek government's new proposal. Markets Rejoice As Greece Capitulates - Fortune But it's not over yet: now is the opportunity for the Greek LMeft to organize resistance, and they will need support from the Left across Europe, reformists and revolutionaries alike.

From the Absurd to the Tragic | Jacobin

My talk on "British and French Popular music in 1915" online: click the link here: [ mp3] British and French Popular Song in 1915 | John Mullen - Academia.edu STOP PRESS * My new book "The Show Must Go On : Popular Song in Britain during the First World War" is now out! Details here http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9781472441591 Title of Presentation : British and French pop song in 1915 Strand : Historical and Social Times In Britain and France, recent celebrations of the centenary of the First World War have been of very varied historical and ideological content. Relatively little has been said about popular music of the time : the same dozen or so ultra-patriotic songs seem to be quoted, and one or two pacifist songs, whereas the rich variety of the repertoires (thousands of songs) has been completely ignored. However, in 1915, as today, the popular song was an important means of expressing and celebrating the everyday experience and fantasies of ordinary people, and ...

From an Australian revolutionary on the ground in Greece. A historic vote in Greece, but challenges ahead | REDFLAG

An Ann Arbor doctor had his license suspended in the wake of a sexual assault conviction, the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs said in a news release. Dr. Wessam Boutros Bou-Assaly pleaded no contest to attempted fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct in the 15th District Court on April 24, 2014, the release said. In June 2014, Bou-Assaly was sentenced to two years of probation. The doctor was also ordered to pay $1,260 in fines, costs and fees. On June 24, LARA suspended the doctor's license. The release did not clarify why a year had passed before the suspension. Court records show the case was investigated by the Veterans Administration police force. Bou-Assaly was originally charged with fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, indecent exposure and attempted fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, the records show. The VA Hospital did not immediately respond to an inquiry for information, but this story will be updated if and when it does. University of Mich...