Table of Contents - July 2009

Commentary

FROM THE WEB: Net Briefs - July-August 2009 by Various Contributors *

Peru On June 6 the International Alliance for Inhabitants (iai.africa.en@list.habitants.org) sent an alert regarding the humanitarian crisis in the Peruvian Amazon as a result of the... More / Printer-Friendly version

QUIDDITY: Closings by Z Staff *

We were sorry to hear of the closing of the Northland Poster Collective after 30 years of "speaking art to power." Northland closed its doors for the last time at the end of June,... More / Printer-Friendly version

MAGIC MONEY: Bamboozled Nation and the Power Elite by George H. Strauss

C. Wright Mills in The Power Elite (1956) writes: "The higher members of the military, economic, and political orders are able readily to take over one another's point of view, always in a... More / Printer-Friendly version

NUTHOUSE NUGGETS: John Yoo, Social Security, & Korean Threat by Edward Herman *

The liberalism of the Philadelphia Inquirer has long been something of a laugh, as its leaders and editors have persistently strained their backs bending rearward to supply right-wing commentators... More / Printer-Friendly version

APPOINTMENTS: Suspected War Criminal Leads U.S. Forces In Afghanistan by Nicolas J.S. Davies

On May 11, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced plans to install three-star Army Lieutenant General Stan McChrystal as the top U.S. and NATO commander. When, on July 22, 2006, Human Rights... More / Printer-Friendly version

SURVEILLANCE: Big Brother On Folsom Street by Michael Steinberg

On May 21, Hugh D'Andrade of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)—started in 1990 to protect freedom in the electronic and digital worlds—gave an update in San Francisco... More / Printer-Friendly version

RIGHTS: U.S. Courts: Enemies Of Education? by David Bacon

Is there a constitutional right to education? Legal scholar and civil rights advocate Erwin Chemerinsky says there is. "There has to be a right to education in the Constitution," he... More / Printer-Friendly version

Activism

INDIGENOUS UPRISING: Peru: Blood Flows in the Amazon by James Petras

In early June, Peruvian President Alan García, an ally of U.S. President Obama, ordered armored personnel carriers, helicopter gunships, and hundreds of heavily armed troops to assault and... More / Printer-Friendly version

ON STRIKE!: Congress Hotel Strike by Micah Williams

Chicago's Magnificent Mile is the city's biggest symbol of privilege and power. Heading south on Michigan Avenue, it passes by high-end fashion boutiques, fine restaurants, and towering... More / Printer-Friendly version

ECO-ORGANIZING: Confronting Coal Power by Gonzalo Vizcardo

Days after it was announced that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had no concerns with 42 out of 48 new permits for mountaintop removal mining sites and was passing them on to the Army... More / Printer-Friendly version

PROTESTING THE PROSECUTION: The Holy Land Foundation Case by Candice Bernd *

As the five defendants of the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) case were being sentenced May 27 in Dallas, Texas, many members of the local Muslim community came together to rally outside the Federal... More / Printer-Friendly version

AD ACTIVISM: Modifying Pro-Israel Billboards by Guerrilla Advertisers

In May, ten bus shelter billboards advertising the University of California's "Study in Israel" campaign were remade into "Boycott Israel" ads and placed around Berkeley and San... More / Printer-Friendly version

Features

FOREIGN POLICY: Turning Point? by Noam Chomsky

The Obama-Netanyahu-Abbas meetings in May, followed by Obama's speech in Cairo, have been widely interpreted as a turning point in U.S. Middle East policy, leading to consternation in some... More / Printer-Friendly version

ECONOMIC POLICY: Green Shoots or Stinkweeds? by Jack Rasmus

In spring 2008, the investment bank Bear-Stearns had just been "rescued." Remaining banks were going to raise enough private capital to offset continuing losses and write-downs due to... More / Printer-Friendly version

OFF THE TABLE: Obama's Health Plan by Roger Bybee *

When it comes to cutting parasitic bankers out of the student loan business so that more students can be helped and left with a lower debt burden, President Barack Obama is trying to fulfill his... More / Printer-Friendly version

Z PAPERS ON VISION & STRATEGY: What's Wrong with a 30-Hour Work Week? by Don Fitz

With millions of jobs lost during the first part of 2009, who is calling for a shorter work week to spread the work around? Not the Republicans. Not the Democrats. But why is there nary a peep from... More / Printer-Friendly version

Z PAPERS ON VISION & STRATEGY: Redesigning the American Dream by Dolores Hayden *

Z Papers is designed to answer the question, "What do we want?" with articles on vision and strategy for social change. What follows is an excerpt from Delores Hayden's excellent book... More / Printer-Friendly version

INTERVIEW: A Joyful Insurgency: Resistance Education by Gabriel Matthew Schivone

This interview was conducted via telephone from Zinn's home in Auburndale, Massachusetts. Schivone: Last year was the 60th anniversary of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.... More / Printer-Friendly version

Culture

EYES RIGHT: Democrats & Unions: Socialists or Satanic Agents? by Chip Berlet

The headline is typical of the ultraconservative panic: "GOP condemns 'socialist' Obama, Democrats." This from the May 21 2009 edition of the Washington Times, a major daily newspaper in... More / Printer-Friendly version

CONSERVATIVE WATCH: Targeting Planned Parenthood by Bill Berkowitz

Lila Rose, a 20-year-old UCLA student, is taking on Planned Parenthood with phony stories, video equipment, and support from a host of Christian Right organizations. She's a 20-year-old... More / Printer-Friendly version

GAY & LESBIAN COMMUNITY NOTES: "Opposite Marriage" by Michael Bronski *

One of the best indicators that a hot-button political issue has maxed out its news potential is when diversionary side-shows begin to take center stage. Enter Carrie Prejean, the former Miss... More / Printer-Friendly version

SOAPBOX: The Gay Divorcée by Sukey Wolf

I'm one of those dykes who was born queer. Almost from the beginning it was clear that little Sukey was on a collision course with the feminine mystique. By the time I was three, I had... More / Printer-Friendly version

COMMUNITY: Art Of Palestinian Refugee Children by Lisa Mullenneaux

A children's program at Al-Jana,The Arab Resource Center forthe Popular Arts in Beirut—photo from www.al-jana.org... More / Printer-Friendly version

BOOK REVIEW: Gray Panthers by Eric Laursen *

By Roger Sanjek; Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009, 298 pp. The second Bush administration had just begun and the American war in the Middle East was grinding along in its... More / Printer-Friendly version

BOOK REVIEW: The SuperFerry Chronicles by Jessica Perry

By Koohan Paik and Jerry Mander; Hawaii: Koa Books, 2009, 319 pp. The SuperFerry Chronicles is the story of a boat fated to bare the tale of a land with two faces: a tiny hidden paradise on the... More / Printer-Friendly version

BOOK REVIEW: Forty Years in the Struggle by Hans Bennett

By Chaim Leib Weinberg; translation by Naomi Cohen; edited by Robert Helms; Duluth: Litwin Books, 2008, 224 pp. The "Old City" neighborhood of Philadelphia is renowned for its many... More / Printer-Friendly version

BOOK REVIEW: The Tyranny of Oil by Ben Terrall

By Antonia Juhasz; NYC: William Morrow, 2008, 480 pp. In responding to an attack on her book in the Washington Post, Antonia Juhasz explained, "My goal in writing The Tyranny of Oil was to... More / Printer-Friendly version

FILM: Screenings in The "Devil's Garden" by Stefan Simanowitz *

Nineteen-year-old Ibrahim Hussein Leibeit shifts his weight in obvious discomfort. The stump of his leg, blown off below the knee by a landmine on April 10, has yet to heal. "The pain is... More / Printer-Friendly version

Zaps

FREE LISTINGS: Zaps - July-August 2009 by Various Contributors

Events CARAVAN - During July 3-17, the 20th annual Pastors for Peace Caravan will travel across the U.S. and Canada collecting aid and... More / Printer-Friendly version

SPECIAL OFFER: Z's Summer DVD Sale by Z Staff *

Subscribe or renew to the print edition ofZ Magazine and get a FREE DVD! Plus, order additional DVDs for only $15each ($7 off the regular price). PDF ORDER FORM HERE. Offer... More / Printer-Friendly version