http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/after-acquittals-fear-haunts-dalit-hamlet/article5222175.ece After acquittals, fear haunts Dalit hamlet Rahi Gaikwad On Wednesday night, Baudh Paswan kept tossing and turning in bed, his appetite and sleep gone. “I feel they will come back again,” he murmured. As they did on the night of December 1, 1997 and began a killing spree. Armed with firearms and swords, members […]
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Oct 11: Illegal sand mining rampant in Palar basin
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/illegal-sand-mining-rampant-in-palar-basin/article5218406.ece?homepage=true Illegal sand mining rampant in Palar basin PUCL team presents video and photographic evidence; mining operation could extend up to 200 hectares Illegal sand mining is happening in broad daylight in the river basins of Palar and Cheyyar, according to a fact-finding team of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL). The team presented […]
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Orissa : NAPM Press statement on the illegality of the announcement to start work for POSCO project
Press Statement Announcement to Start Work for POSCO Project is Illegal October, 8 : When the hearing on dispensation of environmental clearance for POSCO project is going on in National Green Tribunal and stay order for cutting trees continues, the announcement of starting construction by the Ambassador of Korea and the Chief Minister is nothing […]
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With deportations approaching 2 million – Stop the deportations now!
In the first four years of the Obama administration, there were as many deportations of undocumented immigrants as in the eight years of Bush. Deportations under Obama are now on track to hit 2 million by the end of this year.
While the Obama administration claims that this crackdown is necessary to pass Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR), it is pretty clear that the bipartisan CIR is dead for now. There is no bipartisan House bill, with the Republicans who were working with Democrats on a bill backing out. The federal government is partially shut down – not Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) repression though – and the gap between the Democrats and Republicans has never been wider. With the upcoming debt ceiling limit looming, Washington D.C. is all about the budget, not immigration reform.
The Obama administration is also claiming that it is focusing on criminals. But most of those deported have committed no crime. In addition, hundreds of thousands of undocumented parents of U.S. citizen children, and even more parents of undocumented children, have been deported, tearing apart families.
ICE is also doing another round of workplace audits, the so-called ‘silent raids’ that can force the firing of thousands of undocumented workers. While they are not deported, they are driven further underground. Further, their chances of legalization under a future CIR bill could be harmed, in that the current CIR calls for a continuous work record, which won’t exist for undocumented forced to work totally off the books and under the table.
There is a growing demand in the Chicano, Mexicano, Central American and Latino communities for the president to expand the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to all undocumented. Why is the government deporting people who might be eligible to legalize under a future immigration reform bill?
Ultimately, what is needed is legalization for all undocumented. But with no legalization law on the horizon, partial steps such as Deferred Action would help the undocumented. They would be able to work legally and would not be subject to ICE raids. Deferred Action also doesn’t have all of the bad elements of the Senate CIR bill, which would further militarize the border, increase workplace repression, reduce family reunification and end the diversity visa program that brings in about half the immigrants from Africa.
There are shortcomings to Deferred Action. While some states are trying to deny those receiving DACA driver’s licenses, many others would allow them to drive. Those on Deferred Action would still not eligible for Medicaid or federal subsidies for health insurance under the new Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). And of course there is always the possibility that a new administration would even target those on Deferred Action for future deportation.
But by allowing the undocumented to come out of the shadows, they would not only benefit personally, but the movement would have a stronger basis to press for full legalization. The editors of Fight Back! support the growing demand for Deferred Action for All as a practical way to push back against the tsunami of deportations that is happening right now.
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Commentary: Crisis of Monopoly Capitalism Dims Economic Future for Youth
San José, CA – Four years after the Great Recession of 2007-2009 officially ended, millions of working people are being left behind by the expansion of the economy. While the stock market and corporate profits reached new highs, there are still millions of fewer jobs than before the recession began, and the official unemployment rate is closer to its recession high than the low before the recession. Things are bad.
Students and Youth Hit Hard
One of the groups hit hard by the economic crisis is college students and youth. The crisis led to class cuts and tuition hikes at public colleges and universities across the country. While the pace of budget cuts and tuition increases slowed with the economic expansion, they still continue today. One example is the growing threat to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), many of which are seeing dramatic and dangerous drops in enrollments because of cuts in federal student loan programs.
Double Whammy
Youth who do manage to graduate from college, which is taking longer and becoming more expensive than ever, face a double whammy. On one hand the economic crisis sped up the restructuring of the labor market. Over the last 30 years millions of manufacturing jobs were automated away, off-shored by multinational corporations, and/or workers’ wages and benefits were cut. Now, government is one of the last remaining sectors with decent paying jobs, benefits and union representation. However, this sector has been hit harder by the Great Recession of 2009 than any other recession since the 1930s. Hundreds of thousands of local and state jobs are being lost, while government workers face wage and pension cuts and loss of union protection. Republican politicians are taking away hard-earned bargaining rights in states like Wisconsin and Michigan.
Restructuring Youth: Low-wage, Part-time and Temporary
In addition to the loss of jobs that pay a living wage and benefits, more and more permanent, full-time jobs are being replaced by temporary and part-time jobs. Today about half of all recent college graduates are either unemployed or underemployed, with part-time or temporary jobs, many of which don’t even require a college degree.
Skyrocketing Student Debt
There is an explosion of student loan debt, which totals as much as $1.2 trillion. Student loan debt is now the largest form of consumer (non-mortgage) debt, about 40% of the total. Caught between rising tuition and the cost of living on one hand and stagnant grants and wages, college students and their families have been borrowing more and more to pay for college. This student debt is a growing burden on youth, especially those who were not able to graduate or find a full-time, permanent, decent paying job.
Boom then Bust, Repeat
The boom and bust cycle under capitalism is not an accident – it is part and parcel of a capitalist economy. Wages are pushed down to grow profits, and this limits workers ability to spend. Then the profits are reinvested in expanding production, thereby increasing the ability to produce more, but the workers cannot buy all that they produce, and a periodic crisis of overproduction, or what we call recessions occur.
Crisis upon Crisis
On top of this, the build up in debt and deregulation and expansion of the financial sector following the end of the post-World War II economic boom in the 1970s led to growing financial crisis in the U.S. From the Third World debt crisis and Savings and Loan crisis in the 1980s to the Asian Economic Crisis of the 1990s, and most recently to the financial crisis in 2008, these crises have grown and become a greater and greater threat to the economy as a whole.
People Over Profits
The government is turning away from stimulating the economy to policies of more and more austerity – higher taxes on working people and cuts to programs that serve the people. The spending cuts are really felt at the state and local levels, hurting education funding from Head Start through university level. With financial regulation blocked by the power of Wall Street, it is more and more clear that the government, along with both political parties, are bought and paid for by the rich. They offer no real hope for working people and college-aged youth. Only a socialist economy, one based on people’s needs and not profit, can offer an alternative of expanding access and affordability to higher education, while creating jobs that pay a living wage.
Masao Suzuki teaches economics at a community college in California and is a member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO).
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Oct 10: Kerala’s model of media regulation
http://www.thehoot.org/web/Kerala-s-model-of-media-regulation/7057-1-1-4-true.html Kerala’s model of media regulation Muhammed Sabith As the debate over the nature of the media regulation widens in the country, Kerala state government has been showing for last three years a unique model. A model that can be even ‘followed’ by the Centre that is now seriously considering to bring the press under […]
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New Video on Newport Chartist Mural destruction : Words fail me so some letters for Bob Bright and Will Godfrey Godfrey R.E.S.I.G.N
You can clearly see from the video that the Chartist Mural is only attached to wall by a thin skin and could have easily been removed.
The infamous report that Newport Council says is the “intellectual” property of the consultants and hence protestors and press cannot see it, priced the job at an outrageous 600,000 pounds.
Also why did the council ignore the offer of the artists son to take
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Students mobilize for 8th annual Students for a Democratic Society National Convention
Clarksville, TN – In less than one week, progressive students from throughout the country will attend the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) 8th annual National Convention, Oct. 11-13, at Austin Peay State University here. Featured at this year’s convention are Rebel Diaz, Sara Flounders and Kait McIntyre.
SDS is the nation’s largest multi-issue student organization. Since its re-founding in 2006, SDS is broadly building the student left – helping to lead mass campaigns against tuition hikes, school privatizations, and student debt. SDS is the leading voice of the student movement against U.S. wars and occupations.
Sara Flounders, anti-war activist and co-director of the International Action Center, will speak about the ongoing wars, occupations and so-called ‘humanitarian interventions’ of the U.S. government. Speaking with Flounders will be Kait McIntyre, an SDSer with the Chicago Anti-War Committee. McIntyre says about the convention, “As students, much of the technology utilized by the U.S. to further its wars and fuel the military-industrial complex begins at our college research institutions. I believe the SDS Convention will offer student organizers the tools to take back their campus and demand money for education and human needs, not war and destruction across the globe.”
Rebel Diaz will perform at the convention as well as host a workshop on Saturday called “Hip Hop and Immigration.” Rebel Diaz is a politically-minded hip-hop group based out of South Bronx, New York. Their workshop will focus on the historic role of immigration, the criminalization of immigrants and youth of color, and hip-hop’s role and responsibility in defending immigrant rights. Rebel Diaz will perform at 8:00 p.m. on Oct. 12 in Clement Auditorium. Admission is free and it is open to the public.
Other workshops will feature topics such as abortion rights, overcoming problems with organizing through student governments, revolutionary organizing in America’s heartland and the international student movement.
Preston Gilmore, a Clarksville SDSer and lead organizer on the SDS National Working Committee explains, “The SDS National Convention is of huge importance to the student movement. It allows all of us to learn from each other’s experiences and gain knowledge about how to synchronize our campaigns and build a national movement that unites students across the country. We are in a historical period where atrocities are being committed not only abroad, but also right here at home. From the murder of Trayvon Martin to the threat of U.S. war with Syria, students and young people are looking at the world they will be inheriting and are rising up to fight back. The convention provides an opportunity for us to meet each other. We will come together to build a more powerful movement together.”
The convention is free for everyone and is open to the public. Registration will begin at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 11 in the University Center on the Austin Peay State University campus with introductions from speakers and organizers beginning at 7:00 p.m. On Oct.12 the convention will open at 9:00 a.m. in the University Center ballroom and will run until 7:00 p.m. Rebel Diaz will perform at Saturday night in the Clement Auditorium. On Oct. 13, the convention runs from 10:00 a.m. until around 1:00 p.m.
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Carlos Montes to speak in Milwaukee: building the fight for ‘Legalization for All!’
Milwaukee, WI – The immigrant rights group Youth Empowered in the Struggle at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is finishing preparations on campus to host veteran Chicano activist Carlos Montes, who will be speaking here on Oct. 11.
Montes will be speaking on a vital issue of the day – immigrant rights.
Montes has a long history of activism, ranging from the fight for the Chicano self-determination, to the anti-war movement, to the battle to achieve full equality for the undocumented.
He currently advocates for the legalization for all 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., while at the same time opposing the increased militarization of the US-Mexico border and the implementation of another guest worker program, as proposed by the U.S. Senate immigration bill. The network Legalization for All (L4A) is the medium by which these demands are being expressed and fought for nationwide.
The hopes for the passage of an immigration reform bill this year are small. The L4A Network recently released a statement demanding president Obama to provide relief to the 11 million undocumented with the implementation of a program similar to the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which offered the chance for those who qualified the opportunity to obtain a work permit and protection from deportations.
Montes’ visit to Milwaukee aims to gather immigrant rights proponents, Chicano activists and community members to fight for the demand of “Legalization for All.”
Youth Empowered in the Struggle at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee started in the fall of 2011 as an immigrant rights group, and joined the L4A network in the early 2013.
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Che Guevera-46th death anniversary today by Harsh Thakor
This article expresses the personal views of Harsh Thakor and is not the view of Democracy and Class Struggle.
Today we commemorate the 46th death anniversary of Che Guevera who rekindled the flame of Marxism-Leninism more than any other Latin American revolutionary in this century.
Above all Che was a ‘spiritual ‘Marxist’ who believed that it is only the revolutionary who is