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Recent Z Nightly Commentaries
Golinger: Fund the Venezuelan Opposition
Jun 22, 2010
A revealing report published in May 2010 by the FRIDE Institute, a Spanish think tank, prepared with funding from the World Movement for Democracy (a project of the National Endowment for Democracy “NED”), has disclosed that international agencies are funding the Venezuelan opposition with a whopping $40-50 million USD annually. This exorbitant amount of financing well exceeds the approximately $15 million USD previously believed to have been channeled to Venezuelan opposition groups via the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the NED.
Glick: The Idea of “Socialism”
Jun 10, 2010
Here's some information you probably didn't read about in your newspaper or see on the evening news: according to a Pew Research Center poll released on May 4th, "29% [of U.S. Americans] say they have a positive reaction to the word 'socialism'. . . Among those younger than 30, identical percentages react positively to 'socialism' and 'capitalism' (43% each)." 37% of the total population has a "negative reaction" to "capitalism."
Glick: Will BP Oil Spill Spark?
May 24, 2010
Just about a week ago I was on a conference call with leaders of about a dozen national and regional groups which have made the climate crisis a top priority of their work. The two main things we talked about were the prospects for decent climate legislation in the Senate and how we should be responding to the catastrophic BP oil spill.
Gordon: Land of Security Know-How
May 22, 2010
Richard Goldstone has learned a lesson or two in the past year. Ever since Goldstone, a self-proclaimed Jewish Zionist South African judge, authored a UN report charging Israel (and Hamas) with war crimes, he has been subjected to a well-orchestrated delegitimization campaign.
Guma: Labor’s March
May 01, 2010
Thirty years ago more than 25 percent of all US employees were in unions. Today membership is less than 13 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the 1950s, US unions won almost three-quarters of all representation drives. By the start of the 21st century, they were winning less than half.
Guma: AZ Immigration Fight
Apr 25, 2010
Arizona Gov. Jan. Brewer has signed the toughest state immigration law yet. Here's how it happened and the larger context.
Galeano: Message to Bolivia
Apr 19, 2010
Message of the author of the Open Veins of Latin America to participants of the First World Peoples’ Summit on Climate Change and Rights of Mother Earth in the Bolivian city of Cochabamba from April 19 to 22, as an alternative to the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit
Glick: Response to Bond and D’Sa
Apr 07, 2010
Patrick Bond and Desmond D’Sa have written an article, the latest in a series of back and forth’s between climate justice activists mainly in the U.S. about strategy and tactics. It has been mainly U.S. activists because a major focus of the debate has been on what is happening—or not happening—within the U.S. Senate.
Glick: Political Strategy
Apr 03, 2010
I’ve written in recent Future Hope columns, and for years really, about what I consider are the main elements of an overall strategy for the eventual emergence of a strong, impactful, broadly-based, Left political movement in this country.
Guma: Census Insecurity
Mar 25, 2010
As census forms reach homes across the country, some people are being approached by scam artists who disguise themselves as census workers. What they're after, in most cases, is personal information like Social Security numbers, work history and home values, baseline data for possible identity theft.
Gordon: Rachel Corrie's Memory
Mar 18, 2010
Seven years ago, Rachel Corrie was crushed to death by a Caterpillar D9R Israeli bulldozer while nonviolently protesting the demolition of Palestinian homes in Rafah, Gaza Strip, along with other members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). Now her parents, sister and brother are suing the State of Israel and the defense minister, claiming wrongful death.
Glick: Principles, Program, Strategy, Tactics
Mar 04, 2010
I have discovered, over the course of my years as an organizer for positive social change, that it is important that members of an organization or movement learn to distinguish between principles, program, strategy and tactics. An inability to do so often leads to internal division and, sooner or later, a falling away of support and energy.
Glick: Political Tipping Points
Feb 22, 2010
There's a famous quote attributed to Mahatma Gandhi: "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." However, according to Wikipedia, it may be that this concept was first expressed by a U.S. labor leader, Nicholas Klein of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers, in 1914.
Glick: Following Howard Zinn
Feb 07, 2010
Feburary 1st, 2010 was the 50th anniversary of the student sit-in at a white’s only, Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C. that sparked the 60’s civil rights movement. I suspect that those four brave students, Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, Ezell Blair Jr. and David Richmond, had no idea that their action would be the spark that it was. I suspect that they did what they did because it was the right thing to do and because of people and events that influenced them to the point where they felt the strength to take this very real risk.
Glick: Upping the Ante on Climate
Jan 24, 2010
Just about one year ago, Barack Obama was inaugurated as President. Hopes were high among progressive-minded people, including climate activists. Finally, we had a President who got it on the need for action to address the deepening climate crisis.
Glick: Copenhagen
Dec 16, 2009
I'm not in Copenhagen, but if I were I'd be strategizing with other climate activists about how to step up the pressure both inside and outside Bella Center in this second week. I know that there are nonviolent direct actions already being planned for outside, and I hope that those organizing them are firm that breaking windows and fighting with the cops is absolutely the wrong thing to be doing. It's the kind of action government provocateurs have encouraged going back many decades, for understandable reasons. Nonviolent civil disobedience, as massive as possible, yes, counter-productive and tactically wrong window-breaking and street-fighting no.
Grossman: Roach Motel of Empires
Dec 03, 2009
In just a few months, Afghanistan will surpass Vietnam as the longest single war fought by the United States in its history. In his West Point speech President Obama denied that “Afghanistan is another Vietnamâ€--and in some senses he is correct. Vietnam in 1975 was a far more unified state--ethnically and politically--than Afghanistan ever has been. Afghanistan is far more mountainous and difficult to occupy, and is bounded by more artificially colonial borders than either Vietnam or Iraq.
Glick: Power of the People
Nov 04, 2009
The 350.org International Day of Climate Action a week ago was unprecedented, historic, stirring and inspiring. Watching the pictures scroll across the computer screen at www.350.org from literally all over the world, seeing the very concrete evidence of a worldwide grassroots movement for climate justice, was truly unforgettable. It was impossible not to feel that, yes, despite the very long odds, we actually may be able to win the race to prevent looming, catastrophic climate change and to enact climate and social justice.
Glick: Gandhi Today
Oct 04, 2009
140 years today Mohandus Gandhi was born in Gujarat province in India. I didn't learn this from the New York Times, CNN, or any other mainstream media source. I didn't learn about it from progressive media outlets, although it is very possible that one or more of them publicized it and I missed it.
Jul 12, 2010
There is a considerable amount of misunderstanding about the BDS (Boycott Divestment and Sanctions). As John Berger explained a while back, BDS is not a principle but a strategy; it is not against Israel but against Israeli policy; when the policy changes BDS will end.