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The New Print Edition of CounterPunch, Only for Our Newsletter Subscribers! How Cops Extort Confessions;
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The New Print Edition of CounterPunch, Only for Our Newsletter Subscribers!
How Cops Extort Confessions;
How the U.S. “Justice System” Really WorksNinety-two per cent of felony convictions in the U.S. are obtained by plea bargains or confessions. Without them the “justice system” would grind to a halt. In an important piece in our latest newsletter, available only to subscribers, Emily Horowitz shows how totally innocent people will “confess” under police pressure, even without physical torture. Horowitz outlines the powerful case for banning confessions altogether. Also in this new edition Marcus Rediker, co-author of the legendary The Many Headed Hydra, writes of popular heroism and resistance in the favelas of Medellin, Colombia. Alexander Cockburn reports on how America’s oldest bank, patronized by the global elites, washed billions smuggled out of Russia, and how the Russians might win their money back, shaking the world’s banking system if they do so. Serge Halimi describes the real battle for the soul of Europe. Get your copy today by subscribing online or calling 1-800-840-3683 Contributions to CounterPunch are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! CounterPunch books and gear make great presents.
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Today's Stories August 7, 2008 Dr. Trudy Bond August 6, 2008 Marc Herold Greg Moses Sheldon Rampton Kevin Young Michael Estrada Robert Weissman Dr. Susan Block Cindy Sheehan Ronald Hoffman Website of the Day August 5, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts Jeff Halper Patrick Cockburn Nancy Welch Peter Morici Sousan Hammad Eamon Martin Shepherd Bliss Tim Matson Website of the Day August 4, 2008 Uri Avnery Saul Landau David W. Remington Rev. Jesse Jackson Dave Lindorff Peter Morici Joanne Mariner Ramzy Baroud Christian Wright Website of the Day August 2 / 3, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Patrick Cockburn Winslow T. Wheeler James Abourezk Andy Worthington Brian Cloughley Robert Fantina Benjamin Dangl Marlene Martin David Yearsley Fatemeh Keshavarz David Michael Green Obama as Dukakis Harvey Wasserman Jason Hribal Phyllis Pollack Laray Polk Ron Jacobs David Macaray David Rosen Dan Bacher Joe Allen Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend August 1, 2008 Jonathan Cook Nikolas Kozloff Rannie Amiri Peter Morici Christopher Brauchli M. K. Bhadrakumar Patrick Cockburn James J. Brittain Dan Bacher Website of the Day
July 31, 2008 Michael Hudson Carl Finamore Mike Whitney Joshua Frank Andy Worthington Ralph Nader Bill Moyers / Robert Weissman Dave Lindorff Website of the Day July 30, 2008 Brian M. Downing Chuck Spinney William S. Lind David Ker Thomson Karl Grossman Mike Whitney Martha Rosenberg James Murren Dave Lindorff Ron Jacobs Website of the Day July 29, 2008 Jeffrey St. Clair John Ross Peter Morici Alison Weir Gary Leupp David Macaray Brenda Norrell Marjorie Cohn Eric Ruder Website of the Day July 28, 2008 Dr. Bryant Welch Kathy Kelly Mike Whitney Peter Morici Christopher Brauchli Clifton Ross Stephen Lendman Website of the Day July 26 / 27, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair James G. Abourezk Joseph Nevins Uri Avnery Linn Washington, Jr. David Yearsley Binoy Kampmark Saul Landau Joshua Frank Brendan Cooney Jonathan Cook Robert Fantina Lee Sustar Michael Winship David Macaray Missy Beattie Robert Weissman Kim Nicolini Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend July 25, 2008 Harvey Wasserman Paul Craig Roberts Alan Farago Paul D'Amato Gary Leupp Niranjan Ramakrishnan Mike Whitney Paul Krassner Mike Roselle Website of the Day July 24, 2008 Greg Moses Andy Worthington James Bovard Joe Bageant George Wuerthner DC Larson William Willers David Macaray Website of the Day July 23, 2008 Winslow T. Wheeler Paul Craig Roberts Ralph Nader Mike Whitney Susie Day Website of the Day July 22, 2008 Nikolas Kozloff Patrick Cockburn Soldz, Olson, Reisner Arrigo and Welch Moshe Adler Martha Rosenberg Dan Bacher Harvey Wasserman Anthony Papa Binoy Kampmark Website of the Day July 21, 2008 Ishmael Reed Mike Whitney Andy Worthington Scott Pellegrino John Ross Robert Weitzel Mike Stark Website of the Day July 19 / 20, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Dave Lindorff Saul Landau Ron Jacobs Uri Avnery Neve Gordon Roane Carey Robert Fantina Christopher Brauchli Fred Gardner David Macaray Richard L. Hutto Bill Moyers / Ronnie Cummins David Yearsley Alison McKenna Wajahat Ali Poets' Basement Website of the Day July 18, 2008 Corey D. B. Walker Mike Whitney Robert Bryce Mike Roselle Bouthaina Shaaban Eve Spangler Website of the Day
July 17, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts James G. Abourezk Ralph Nader Allan J. Lichtman Andy Worthington"Screwed Up" and"Abused": Omar Khadr's Interrogations at Gitmo Ronnie Cummins
July 16, 2008 Jeffrey St. Clair Paul Craig Roberts Conn Hallinan Dave Lindorff William S. Lind Christopher Brauchli Website of the Day
July 15, 2008 Michael Hudson Brian Cloughley Patrick Cockburn John Ross Howard Lisnoff Website of the Day July 14, 2008 Uri Avnery Paul Craig Roberts Trish Schuh Patrick Cockburn Mike Whitney Alan Farago Seth Sandronsky Phyllis Pollack Website of the Day July 12 / 13, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair James Abourezk Nicole Colson Stan Cox Ismael Hossein-Zadeh Wajahat Ali / John Stauber Alan Farago Missy Beattie Robert Fantina Rannie Amiri Gregory Kafoury Fran Shor Martha Rosenberg David Macaray Andrew Wimmer Ron Jacobs Farzana Versey Kim Nicolini Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend July 11, 2008 Kevin Alexander Gray Sasan Fayazmanesh Peter Morici Mike Whitney Manuel Garcia, Jr. Robert Weissman Ramzy Baroud Kelly Overton Adrian Burgos Website of the Day July 10, 2008 Brian McKenna Paul Craig Roberts Saul Landau Ron Jacobs Joshua Frank Peter Morici Alan Maass Robert Weissman William Blum Alan Farago Website of the Day July 9, 2008 Ismael Hossein-Zadeh Luis Rodriguez Sheldon Richman Fatemeh Keshavarz Chad Hanson Sen. Russ Feingold Niranjan Ramakrishnan Dave Lindorff Stanley Heller Philip Rizk Website of the Day July 8, 2008 Nikolas Kozloff Laura Carlsen Mike Whitney Andy Worthington Patrick Irelan Chellis Glendinning David Macaray Dave Lindorff John Chuckman Phillip Doe Website of the Day July 7, 2008 Patrick Bond Kathy Kelly Andy Worthington Clifton Ross Elizabeth Schulte Ralph Nader Dave Lindorff Binoy Kampmark Stephen Fleischman Website of the Day July 5 / 6, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair / Patrick Cockburn Mike Whitney Robert Fantina Binoy Kampmark Rannie Amiri Eric Ruder Brian Cloughley William Blum Frank Barat Christopher Brauchli David Yearsley Ron Jacobs Karim Makdisi Wendy Thompson / N. D. Jayaprakash Ramzy Baroud Kelly Overton Richard Neville Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
July 4, 2008 Kathy Kelly Dave Lindorff Paul Krassner Jackie Corr Laray Polk Dan Bacher Walter Brasch Charles Modiano Website of the Day July 3, 2008 Sharon Smith Andy Worthington Laura Carlsen Peter Morici Ramzi Kysia Martha Rosenberg Anne Landman Dave Zirin Kristin Bricker Website of the Day
July 2, 2008 Patrick Irelan Vijay Prashad Brian Cloughley Ralph Nader Robert Fantina Dave Lindorff Parvez Ahmed Robert Bryce Website of the Day July 1, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Mike Whitney Douglas Macgregor Steven Higgs Andy Worthington Binoy Kampmark Dave Lindorff Roger Burbach Richard W. Behan Gary Leupp Website of the Day |
August 7, 2008 Behold, the SEIU ....What Does a Radical Labor Union Look Like?By DAVID MACARAY There’s a tremendous variation among labor unions—not only among the industries with which they’re affiliated, but among the working people comprising their memberships. There’s the guy toiling in an iron foundry in Indiana, the guy running a paper machine in Everett, Washington, the woman nurse tending patients in a San Francisco convalescent hospital. And there’s George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriquez, Kobe Bryant and Tom Brady. What do these folks have in common? They are all dues-paying members of labor unions, organizations dedicated to improving the wages, benefits and working conditions of the American worker. The first three individuals mentioned earn roughly $50,000-$60,000 a year, with decent benefits. The others—the actors and athletes—earn millions. In Clooney and Roberts’ case, it should be obvious that they don’t come close to representing the “average” SAG (Screen Actors Guild) member, the overwhelming majority of whom, unfortunately, can’t make a living acting, and require supplemental jobs to pay their rent. According to union figures, something like 90% of SAG members earn less than $10,000 a year as actors. That’s not the case for professional athletes. A pro sports union stands as a lush oasis in labor’s otherwise barren wasteland. Take the MLBPA (Major League Baseball Players Association) for example. Its contract with team owners requires that the lowest-paid player earns more than the president of the United States. Labor relations at this rarefied level break down, more or less, to disputes between the millionaires and the billionaires. During a strike I was involved in some years ago, the federal mediator who’d been assigned to our negotiations shared an anecdote with us. He said that the AFL-CIO had recently sponsored a union solidarity conference in Arizona (a right-to-work state!), and invited one union rep from virtually every union in America, including the MLBPA. He told us that the AFL-CIO had to chuckle when it received the response from the baseball union. The spokesman said that, while a player rep would be happy to attend the conference, he was going to expect “several thousand dollars” in appearance money. After all, these guys were celebrities. They got paid to show up at functions. Ah, union solidarity . . . Which brings us to the Service Employees International Union, America’s largest union (with 1.9 million members). Lately, the SEIU has been taking flak not only from its own membership but from the executive boards of dissident unions. Although part of that can be written off to the petty jealousies and schadenfreude that stalk a high-profile organization, another part of it is understandable. In truth, the SEIU has made some questionable decisions recently; it’s been accused of moving too quickly and carelessly, and, simultaneously, of being too cozy and accommodating with management. To make matters worse, the Service Union’s leadership has been receiving glowing, positively gushing reviews from—of all places—America’s business community. Talk about your kiss of death. The major criticism of the SEIU and its Ivy League-educated president, Andrew Stern, is that in its aggressive (some say “dictatorial”) efforts to expand membership it has chosen to make some deals that appear to favor management and disadvantage the workers. For example, it has agreed to no-strike clauses as a condition for management’s “neutrality” in organizing drives. This is where a company promises not to sabotage a union election in return for the SEIU’s promise that, if certified, it won’t go on strike for a minimum of 7 to 10 years. Consorting with management and stripping union members of their right to strike even before signing their first contract is something that’s going to drive hardcore labor aficionados up the wall. Meanwhile, Stern flies off to China on a corporate jet as a guest of Lee Scott, Wal-Mart’s CEO. Andy Stern may be an effective administrator, but a Harry Bridges (the beloved “common man,” former-president of the Longshoremen’s union) he ain’t. Another gripe is Stern’s devotion to New Age labor philosophy. Despite an avalanche of evidence to the contrary, Stern preaches the view that, for unions to be successful in the future, labor and management need to put aside their ideological differences and join together to form symbiotic partnerships. Moreover, he regards as “cynics” or “dinosaurs” those union folks who fail to share this vision. While Stern’s enthusiasm and personal magnetism have attracted disciples, there are lots of skeptics out there who recall what happened the first time a major union jungled-up with management. That was approximately 30 years ago, when Douglas Fraser, president of the UAW (United Auto Workers), was given a seat on Chrysler’s Board of Directors. In the years that followed, contracts were ravaged, promises were broken, and several hundred thousand union members lost their jobs. But saying that Andy Stern is bad for the labor movement is an unfair rap, one he doesn’t deserve. No matter what his harshest critics think, it can’t be easy being the president of a union these days, not with staggering across-the-board losses of jobs and a decline in overall membership staring you in the face. Your options are severely limited. On the one hand, as president of an International, you’re committed to increasing the number of union members, recognizing that the only way labor is going to climb back into the picture is through increased membership. And to do that, you can’t expect to come marching in all defiant and militant, because those days are over, at least for now. On the other hand, if the only way to increase your membership is by diluting union contracts so badly that the members have little to show for it, other than wearing their union pins and receiving monthly newsletters, what’s the point really? Which raises a question: What would the model of a “radical” labor union be today? Would it be a wildly “bottom-up” democracy, where the members run the whole show? Would it be one where the executive board whips the membership into an ideological froth with its anti-management rhetoric? Would it one that adopted a take-no-prisoners stance in its relations with management, no matter how unproductive that was? It could be argued that—New Age philosophy aside—Stern’s pragmatic approach is, weirdly, as good a model as any. Perhaps, what passes for a “radical” union these days is one that has, by necessity, re-cast itself; one that hasn’t abandoned its fundamental principles, but is now willing to make questionable compromises in order to get its foot in the door. Maybe there’s more to that deceptive tactic of taking what they give you—of gaining an initial, modest foothold and attempting to build on it—than meets the eye. It shouldn’t be forgotten that patiently chipping away at the edifice was exactly how management succeeded in breaking down labor unions in the first place. Fortunately, some unions still have the leverage and whiskers to go on strike when necessary, and it’s important they don’t back off, despite what those well-oiled seminar leaders say about labor and management being on the same “team.” But for those workers who don’t have that leverage, for those who are hanging on by their fingernails or, indeed, still looking for a way inside, it’s a different story. Being patient and biding its time may be the only practical way for organized labor to regain its influence. There’s a saying in poker: “You can’t win the hand if you’re not in it.” And accepting significantly less than you want (or need) as a means of getting a company to sign its first union contract may be the right move. Preposterous as it seems, given today’s fragile labor climate, maybe it’s even a “radical” move. David Macaray, a Los Angeles playwright and writer, was a former labor union rep. He can be reached at dmacaray@earthlink.net
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