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CHINA'S GREAT LEAP BACKWARDS Peter Kwong gives us the "New China" without illusions: from the "millionaires' fair" in Shanghai, with $60,000 diamond-studded dog leashes to one of the most savagely repressed working class and peasantry on the planet. How China's leaders swapped Marx and Mao for Milton Friedman. Alexander Cockburn on What's wrong with the U.S. left. They're sitting in darkened rooms weaving conspiracy fantasies about 9/11; they're blogging; they're confusing a medium with a movement; they're not doing enough to stop the war in Iraq. John Ross takes us along the stormy trail of the Mexican election. CounterPunch Online is read by millions of viewers each month! But remember, we are funded solely by the subscribers to the print edition of CounterPunch. Please support this website by buying a subscription to our newsletter, which contains fresh material you won't find anywhere else, or by making a donation for the online edition. Remember contributions are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! |
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Today's Stories July 4, 2006 Paul Craig
Roberts July 3, 2006 Robert Bryce Dr. Bouthaina Shaban Julia Olmstead Dave Lindorff Andres Gomez Alan Singer Alexander Cockburn
Paul Craig
Roberts Stephen T.
Banko Daniel Cassidy Fawzia Afzal-Khan Jeff Taylor John Ross Greg Moses Laura Carlsen Justin E.H.
Smith Brian Cloughley Anthony Papa Mike Ferner Jerry Tucker Jane Goodall / Rick Asselta Phyllis Pollack Poets' Basement
June 30, 2006 Marjorie Cohn Heather Williams Burbach / Cantor Nick Dearden Michael J.
Smith Brian Concannon Virginia Tilley
Bill Quigley Ron Jacobs Paul Craig
Roberts June 28, 2006 Jorge Mariscal Greg Moses Mark Weisbrot Ramzy Baroud Dave Lindorff William S.
Lind Mike Ferner Zoltan Grossman
Marjorie Cohn Benjamin /
Jarrar William Hughes Doug Giebel Uri Avnery Alexander Cockburn
June 26, 2006 Don Santina Ralph Nader Dave Lindorff Rafael Rodriguez-Cruz Evelyn Pringle Jonathan Cook
June 23, 2006 Youmans / Erakat Dave Lindorff Ron Jacobs Col. Dan Smith
June 22, 2006 Marjorie Cohn Winslow T.
Wheeler Tanya Reinhart Mike Marqusee William Blum
June 21, 2006 Ramzy Baroud Patrick Cockburn Gary Leupp Greg Moses
June 20, 2006 Fred Gardner Omar Waraich Christopher Reed CP Newswire Jonathan Cook
June 19, 2006 Bill Quigley John Walsh Mike Whitney Alexander Cockburn
June 16 / 18,
2006 Kathy / Bill
Christision Joseph Nevins Farrah Hassen Greg Moses Nicole Colson John Scagliotti Mokhiber / Weissmann
June 15, 2006 Kathy Kelly Norman Solomon Ron Jacobs Sam Bahour Ramzy Baroud CounterPunch Wire Gabriel Kolko Website of the Day
June 14, 2006 Nicole Colson Jonathan Cook Joseph Schechla Michael Carmichael Evelyn Pringle Ward Churchill Rev. William E. Alberts Website of the
Day
June 13, 2006 Medea Benjamin Anthony Alessandrini Paul D'Amato Dave Lindorff John Ross Gabriel Garcia Hilton Obenzinger Yitzhak Laor Juan Antonio
Ocasio Rivera Jennifer Van
Bergen Website of the
Day
June 12, 2006 Paul Craig Roberts Patrick Cockburn Mike Marqusee Lee Sustar Robert Fisk Michael J. Smith Felice Pace Jennifer Loewenstein Website of the Day
June 10 / 11,
2006 Robert Fisk Diane Christian Joe Allen Ralph Nader Fred Gardner Dave Lindorff Dave Zirin /
John Cox Dennis Perrin Greg Moses John Chuckman Michael J. Smith Roger Burbach Ira Moskowitz Sam Bahour Seth Sandronsky Michael Berg Kirsten Roberts Ron Jacobs Jeffrey St. Clair Poets' Basement Website of the
Weekend
June 9, 2006 Alexander Cockburn Paul Craig Roberts Gary Leupp Eric Ruder Evelyn Pringle Mickey Z. Michael J. Smith Patrick Cockburn Website of the
Day
June 8, 2006 Chris Floyd Michael Dickinson Ron Jacobs William S. Lind Joshua Frank Missy Comley Beattie Lloyd Williams Bill Christison Website of the Day
June 7, 2006 Dave Lindorff Sunsara Taylor John Walsh David MacMichael Mickey Z. Evelyn Pringle Myles Palmer Laura Ribeiro Website of the Day
June 6, 2006 Diane Christian Paul Craig Roberts Ralph Nader Norman Solomon Darmont / Genovali Manuel Garcia,
Jr. Subcomandante Marcos Patrick Cockburn Website of the Day
June 5, 2006 Bruce Jackson Chris Floyd Michael Neumann Heather Gray William Hughes David Swanson Alexander Cockburn Website of the Day
June 3 / 4, 2006 Robert Fisk James Petras Rosemary Radford Ruether Harry Clark Jeffrey St. Clair Ron Ridenour Ron Jacobs Fred Gardner Peter Montague John Walsh Greg Moses Sean Donahue Mike Whitney Dave Patten Ali Khan Robert Dotson,
MD Hammond Guthrie St. Clair / D'Antoni Poets' Basement Website of the
Day
June 2, 2006 Kathy Kelly Alan Maass Mickey Z. Dave Lindorff Chris Kutalik Sunsara Taylor Sam Husseini Mike Ferner Website of the
Day
June 1, 2006 Brian Cloughley David Peterson Lee Ballinger Jonathan Cook Mike Whitney Paul Rockwell Clifton Ross Kevin Zeese Website of the
Day
May 31, 2006 Dave Lindorff Joshua Frank Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz P. Sainath Ramzy Baroud Seth Sandronsky Mickey Z. Ralph Nader Jeffrey St. Clair Website of the Day
May 30, 2006 Lee Ballinger Jonathan Cook Gary Leupp John Ross Robert Jensen Michael Dickinson Michael Carmichael Tim Wise Harry Browne Website of the
Day
May 27 / 29,
2006 Paul Craig Roberts Kathleen Christison Kathy Kelly Christopher
Reed Lawrence R. Velvel Tom Barry Gary Leupp Col. Dan Smith Ron Jacobs Don Fitz Fred Gardner Peter Montague Raymond Garcia John Farley Seth Sandronsky Tia Steele Lenni Brenner Dr. Susan Block Scott Michael Perey Jeffrey St. Clair Poets' Basement Recipe of the
Weekend Website of the Weekend
May 26, 2006 Col. Douglas
MacGregor Brian J. Foley Michael Dickinson Missy Comley Beattie Pierre Tristam Joe Allen Kona Lowell Roger Burbach Website of the
Day
May 25, 2006 Les AuCoin Jeff Halper Dave Lindorff Ron Jacobs Bob Wing Elise Gould Robert Bryce Website of the Day
May 24, 2006 Michael Donnelly Patrick Cockburn Lucinda Marshall Dave Lindorff Shmuel Rosner Moshe Adler Heather Gray Pratyush Chandra Paul Craig Roberts Floyd Rudmin Website of the Day
May 23, 2006 Paul Craig Roberts Sharon Smith Sunsara Taylor Joel Whitney Alice Cherbonnier Ron Jacobs Kristen Ess Patrick Cockburn Website of the
Day
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July 4, 2006 Corporate Joe Says He May Run as an IndependentWill Lieberman Apologize to Ralph Nader?By RICK WILHELM Lieberman Says He Will Run on His Own as an independent if He Loses the Connecticut Primary. That is according to the New York Times edition of July 3rd, 2006. The Democrats have been complaining since 2000 about how third parties should support the "lesser of two evils." Allot of so-called "Progressives" and "Greens" have bought into the charade. Obviously it doesn't apply to Democrats, since Lieberman will be running against a Democrat that could cause the Republican to win, should Joey lose the election next month. Joey won years ago against a Republican who was more to the left of him. Joey was elected with the help of Bill Buckley. It is just as obvious third parties need not "honor" commitments based on blind faith. Democrats expect third-party loyalty to them when they don't even have loyalty to their own party apparatus! Since I first started voting, and then later as someone who helped Democrats at election time, I became more and disgusted at the way the system operates. It holds true at all levels of government. In Columbus, where I live, I haven't seen a "progressive" in office ever. It would be easier to have an intelligent conversation with George W. than to find a progressive Democrat endorsed by the Franklin County Democratic Party. The working people of the United States live our lives continually with little or no voice. Only another political party by us, for us, and dedicated to us can help us. We do not except the lesser of two evils argument and will not support Democrats and "Greens" who make pretenses they are "on our side." We do not even accept that Democrats or Greens are in fact the lesser evil. That is why a new movement is needed. A progressive worker's movement without elitism and without pretense. The foundation of Poor People's Working Party is the start of that movement. We are those in low-paying jobs, and the working-class. We do not believe those without jobs are inferior human beings. We believe in policies of full employment for all those who can work, and public assistance without shame for those who cannot. We are the backbone of the United States. We do not accept being looked down upon by scoundrels, and that includes right-wing scoundrels and left-wing scoundrels. Although we are a leftist party in our progressive economic values, we feel the two corporate parties - the Democrats and the Republicans - concern themselves too much with social issues that affect far fewer than economic issues like poverty. We welcome folks who have strong opinions on matters like abortion, but economic issues and civil rights for all are our main priority. Civil rights for all means court systems that treat everyone as equal, and free competent legal assistance for those who cannot afford it. Abortion is a very important matter, but Congress has provided no funds for poor women to have abortions anyway, and it is mainly a white middle class issue of liberals. When it is a right for the poor, then perhaps we will have stronger views. The reason liberals concern themselves with social issues more than challenging the system itself is because social issues such as gay rights do not pose a threat to capitalism. Making sure that decent jobs are available for all is thought to be a socialistic concept, and indeed it is. The Poor People's Working Party is not a socialist party however, although some of our members are. Some are also people who want a system that is not bought and paid for by corporations, and are willing to do more than complain about it. Many are simply people who approve of capitalism so long as corporations cannot donate to political campaigns and other safeguards to help insure real democracy. We recognize also that Socialism will never be instituted in the U.S. anyhow, and not just because Capitalism opposes it. Socialism is controlled lock, stock, and barrel by elitists the same as what capitalism is. Of course, capitalism is also controlled lock, stock and barrel by elitists. Elitism is the enemy of the working poor, and must be combated. Whether that elitism comes from the right or left. Obviously, Bush is an elitist, and the Republican Party stands for elitism and the protection of the status-quo at all costs. The Democratic Party is little different. The minimum wage would be 8.85 cents at 2003 wages just to equal what is was in 1968, adjusted for inflation. When the Democrats run for office, they like to say they want to help the "middle class." Even mentioning they want to help the poor is taboo because they stand for so little. In some ways, they are worse than the Republicans; because they offer false hope they would be different. It was a Democratic president - Clinton - who signed the so-called "Welfare Reform" bill -- further making the poor scapegoats for the failure of the system and the Democratic and Republican parties. The Democratic party will not change. The odds against it changing are almost astronomical. They are beholden to their corporate masters, and do not care about the poor, and do not care about the poor being systematically disenfranchised. They give lip service to the disenfranchisement only when it suits them hypocritically, such as the rigged Florida elections of the 2000 election. Yes, Bush is terrible. The Democrats are slightly better, but to continue to accept the substitute, not even good enough to be called mediocre, is to continue to be distained and made scapegoats. To continue to support that is to support perpetual defeat. We must not be lulled by people or organizations that claim to be our friends. They can be recognized by their deeds more than their words. If you hear them say: "Well, I on your side, but we must be practical" - when it comes to our interests - not theirs - beware! They are our enemies and they are elitists that should be cast off unless we can use them without being used ourselves at the same time. The way to cast them off is at our command-the unity and the strength of the Poor People's Working Party. Unlike elitists, we do not believe unity means conformity or the elimination of dissent. Strength is achieved though diversity, but with a united purpose. Freedom for the PPWP is the means to provide for families and have gainful employment, and new, much stronger, civil rights protections for all Americans. This can only be accomplished through a revolutionary change. The revolution need not be civil war, but revolution achieved though a new way of looking at things. Governmental change has usually always been done with one elitist group replacing another, with the poor not having a voice before or after. We must not replace elitism with more elitism, but with genuine democracy and freedom for all, and we must want that for all people, in the United States and throughout the world. That is best accomplished not through overthrowing other governments, but through taking control of our own, and practicing non-interference in the affairs of others. Non-interference is not appeasement or isolationism. It is a policy based on human rights and self-determination, instead of control of others based on what is perceived to be best for the moneyed interests. Now, our "leaders" talk a lot about democracy for other countries. Our leaders have always been far more interested in business interests and greed than freedom, and of all the governments the US has overthrown, the rule generally has been eliminating freedom and democracy rather than embracing it. The Poor People's Working Party wants to establish Democracy and freedom in our own country first. Then, by our example, other people in other countries can follow suit. We cannot and must not do it at the point of a gun. A policy of non-interference should be the rule. In extraordinary situations we can be involved in the workings of other governments, with public discussion first, should a real situation exist that threatens the welfare of the people of our nation or of other nations. Not a welfare based on oil or banana profits. An example might be the situation in Uganda that led to genocide, or World War II, resisting an overwhelming evil. In most situations, simply not trading with and/or supporting the governments of tyrants will lead to their collapse. Far from doing this, the US has always had a policy of supporting, or even establishing - tyrant regimes - instead of ostracizing them. A good case in point is our support for Israel, regardless of whether they bulldoze homes and practice ethnic cleaning against the Palestinians. Only a irresponsible and treasonous Congress gives away the power to declare war to the President, and let one person or and elitist group decide for an entire nation on a matter of such importance. Only an irresponsible and treasonous Congress would put Corporations and elitism before people. Only irresponsible organizations and groups pretend to be concerned about it without holding elected officials responsible. Making excuses and apologies is not holding anyone responsible. Compromise is not the same as unprincipled surrender. What then, is the answer? The answer is to form our own party, and to decide on our own principles, but always within the context we not accept the lesser evil argument, as it make little difference to us which corporate party wins, since they are both controlled by those who hate the poor. And it would take a thousand haters of the poor to equal a pimple on the ass of one hard-working person trying to do the right thing and providing for their family. This is not to say we won't work with groups that oppose us, or that we feel we are superior in some way ourselves. We understand and respect the idea some may feel the lesser of two evils is the way to go. So long as those groups or individuals respect us and treat us as equals, we will do the same. Otherwise, let us be clear: Those who have distain for us are our enemies, and we must not hesitate to speak out against them or their organizations or political parties. Rick Wilhelm is a web developer. He can be reached
at: rwilhelm2@msn.com
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from CounterPunch Books! The Case Against Israel By Michael Neumann  Grand Theft Pentagon: Tales of Greed and Profiteering in the War on Terror by Jeffrey St. Clair          Sick of sit-on-the-Fence speakers, tongue-tied and timid? CounterPunch Editors Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St Clair are available to speak forcefully on ALL the burning issues, as are other CounterPunchers seasoned in stump oratory. Call CounterPunch Speakers Bureau, 1-800-840-3683. Or email beckyg@counterpunch.org.                    |
