Democracy, Green Party August 13, 2013

Why I Ran: Reflections Of A Green Alderman

by John Halle Former Green Party Alderman New Haven, CT first published by The Progressive Review While many of us will shy away from the conversation, a lot of us would probably acknowledge that there needs to be discussion on the effectiveness of the strategies associated with anti-corporate politics. In a recent essay, Naomi Klein came close to broaching the subject in alluding to the limitations of single issue, protest based activism, the best known form of which she calls “meeting stalking.” The ultimate result of protest politics, she suggests, is a one step forward, two step backward pas de…

Democracy, Green Party, National Politics July 29, 2013

FBI Files Show Snipers Targeted Occupy Houston

OpEd news July 29, 2013 by Gregg Jocoy Large sections of the files are blacked out, including names of those believed by the FBI to be plotting the deaths of Occupy activists in Texas, perhaps nationwide. “I..could’ve been shot and killed by a sniper just a little over a year ago.” wrote Carl Gibson in an open letter to FBI director Mueller. “Your offices knew of this plot, yet none of us who were at risk of assassination were informed.” Gibson, one of the leaders of Occupy Houston who could have been in a sniper’s cross-hairs, called on Mueller to…

National Politics, Race July 15, 2013

The Zimmerman Verdict

by Phil Huckelberry There’s a man free in Florida today. He’s a stupid man, a racist, a product of the culture which surrounds him, a culture which made him feel scared by a young black man and yet emboldened by a small black gun. If all of the people who are furious about one verdict would step back and redirect their energy toward confronting  the culture, we would all be better off. But it sure feels like that’s too hard. It’s a lot easier to decry racism generally without confronting one’s own tendencies. It’s a lot easier to “blame Florida” as though…

Climate Change, Environment, Fracking July 5, 2013

REVIEW: Gasland Part II on HBO July 8

Originally published by Ladybud by Carl Romanelli Josh Fox a filmmaker from Eastern Pennsylvania was in the state mid-June to debut his follow-up to the groundbreaking documentary, Gasland, Gasland Part II. The film will air on HBO on July 8, and many environmental activists are expected to make its viewing a neighborhood event. I attended the first Pennsylvania screening at the Boroughal Middle School in Bethlehem, PA. Expectations are high for the current film, but it will be tough for it to surpass the impact of the original Gasland launch. It was a Tribeca film festival winner and garnered an Academy Award…

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Environment, International July 5, 2013

The Capitalist Infesto

A shortened version for presentation at the University of Havana on Friday, June 28th 2013, at the “Seminar on Socialist Renewal and the Capitalist Crisis: A Cuban-North American Exchange” by Mitchel Cohen I dedicate this talk to our comrade and teacher John “Tito” Gerassi, who died last year, and who remained to the end a true friend of the Cuban revolution. South African freedom fighter Steve Biko observed: “The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.” Nowhere do those sentiments apply more than they do to Cuba during the special period of the…