Stefan


Russia: Report of a meeting of the anti-Putin opposition

January 6, 2012

From Vladimir Sirotin (Moscow), translated with explanatory notes by Stefan Yesterday I was at a sickening meeting of the Organizing Committee for Honest Elections and Against the Putin Regime (or something like that). It was attended by a very ill-assorted bunch of people. Sitting on the platform were Udaltsov, Geidar Jemal,...
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The porn business

December 23, 2011

Chatsworth is a district of Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley, well endowed with parkland and sports facilities. It is home to a number of Hollywood film stars. Many famous films and TV series were shot in the area. Chatsworth is also the world center of the porn business, with 200 production companies...
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The “Troubled Teens” Business

November 30, 2011

On the internet I keep running across the same image – the scowling face of a teenage boy, accompanied by the words: Fix Defiant ODD Children. It is an ad for a “Total Transformation Program” that will “empower” you to “stop defiance, backtalk and lying” and “regain control of your child, your family and...
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The Waste of Luxury

May 24, 2011

Like hunger and homelessness, the global trade in luxury goods is booming. Turnover fell from $254 billion in 2007 to $228 billion in 2009 – a decline that observers attributed to “luxury shame”. Rich people could still afford all the luxuries they wanted, but apparently they felt a trifle uneasy about flaunting their wealth...
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The Killing of Bin Laden: Understanding the American Reaction

May 22, 2011

A large majority of Americans – 87 percent, according to one poll – approve of the killing of Bin Laden. Many were visibly overcome by joy when they heard the news, and the subsequent warning by CIA director Leon Panetta that the operation would actually increase the terrorist threat to the US only slightly...
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Japan Meltdown: Another Man-Made Disaster

March 20, 2011

No, of course earthquakes and tsunamis are natural phenomena. But it is known where – if not when – they are going to strike. So in principle society could take action to minimise the human impact. It was known that the seabed off the northeastern coast of Honshu (the main island of the Japanese...
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Egypt: The hard road to political democracy

February 28, 2011

At the time of going to press, the “revolution of anger” in Egypt seems to be entering a new phase. Tahrir Square has been reopened to traffic and commerce. Massive political demonstrations are over, at least for the time being, but strikes and protests by various groups of workers continue. The employees of the...
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The Meaning of the U.S. Midterm Election Results

November 8, 2010

For Republican politicians and the corporate media, the U.S. midterm election results are supposedly evidence of “a massive conservative trend sweeping the nation.”1 Proclaiming the victory of his party on election night, top House Republican John Boehner declared that “the American people have sent President Barack Obama a message through the ballot box to...
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Supporting The “Lesser Evil”

October 12, 2010

Many “anti-capitalist” personalities urge people to support one of the two main capitalist parties, the Democrats, on the grounds that they are a “lesser evil” compared with the Republicans. One example is film maker Michael Moore (see March issue, p. 10). Another is Paul Street, who has written two useful exposés of Obama –...
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Fascists Take Over Russian Communist Party

September 26, 2010

In a Russian-language document now circulating on the internet, Yevgeny Volobuyev, a member of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) in St. Petersburg, “sounds the tocsin to warn of the danger of the CPRF finally turning into a fascist party”. Volobuyev explains that Russian fascists have been arguing for a long time...
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