AT THE CROSSROADS OF HISTORY
When the Green Movement started in Iran over the 2009 election, the so-called leaders were part of the government who were against Ahmadinejad. The growth of the movement of women and youth got so big it became “out of control” by the so-called leaders. The government leaders got scared because the people found their own leaders and the movement was becoming radical. The “leaders” called it the Green Movement, green being a religious symbol, to try to limit it to a religious movement. But the Movement was past that point.
Middle Eastern Revolutionary
West Coast
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With great joy I received five copies of Crossroads of History: Marxist- Humanist Writings on the Middle East by Raya Dunayevskaya. It is really great and Gerry Emmett’s Introduction was on target—clear, concise, and challenging to the Left. The professional Staff Congress of the City University of New York—the union of faculty and staff members—has been having a film series: “Combating Islamophobia,” including showing films from Iran. I’m anxious to see what they will think of this new pamphlet and News & Letters.
David
New York City
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I’m grateful that you’ve finally published a collection of Dunayevskaya’s writings on the Middle East. They are indispensable for any comprehension of what is happening in that region today. Her intellect is keenly missed as we experience the Arab Spring. But she gave us firm ground upon which to understand today’s events.
Feminist
llinois
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In Egypt Morsi took absolute power after the youth, women and workers started the revolution. The Islamist fundamentalists, the Muslim Brotherhood, came at the end and took the majority in the election. Morsi grabbed absolute power. The same thing happened in the 1979 Iranian Revolution. There was a deep struggle against the Shah where all the people were united, but the counter-revolution came in under Khomeini and started killing anybody who was opposed to him. He brought in a religious, autocratic dictatorship, something never before seen in Iran.
Azadkar
Los Angeles
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DISMAL CAPITALIST HEALTHCARE
Suzanne Rose wrote in the last issue of the tragic case of 14-year-old Marie Freyre, who died due to inadequate healthcare. Her death illustrates that the U.S. must improve our healthcare system! A single-payer system would be a great step in the correct direction. Maria should have stayed in the care of her mother, as a judge ordered. As much as possible, the disabled and the elderly should have home care. The government should help pay substantially for that for families in economic need. The nursing home and hospital need to be held accountable for Marie’s needless suffering and death.
Elise
Chicago
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What is described in “Rape and people with disabilities” (Nov.-Dec. 2012 N&L) is utterly disgusting. How in the world did this man get away with victimizing a physically disabled woman with the mental capacity of a child? The Connecticut court ruling is completely bunk, has absolutely no merit and they obviously understand nothing about people with severe physical disabilities. I am gonna be blunt, jail time isn’t even a good enough punishment for the likes of an individual like this.
D.B. Clark
Ontario
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We marched, petitioned, and packed an open forum and a courtroom. We delivered 200 flowers to President Zimmer. And we won. One month after Toussaint and Jacob were beaten by University of Chicago police and arrested along with Victoria and Alex, the prosecutor dropped the charges. Victoria, Jacob, Tous, and Alex were fighting because Chicago’s South Side didn’t have a trauma center. It still doesn’t. Please sign the trauma center petition: http:// www.change.org/petitions/university-of-chicago-medical-center-expand-access-to-lifesaving-trauma-care-on-the-south-side-of-chicago
The Administration and the prosecutor faced overwhelming, persistent, and creative opposition that came from people who rarely manage to speak together, including private university students, professors, teenagers in Woodlawn, social workers, senior citizens who marched with walkers, and even two curious Brazilians.
Duff
Chicago
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PLUNDERING DETROIT
The other shoe finally dropped in Michigan, as Gov. Snyder is poised to appoint a dictatorial emergency manager over the biggest prize of all: Detroit. Critics claim that emergency managers in cities like Flint have not solved cities’ economic problems, but that is because Snyder is solving a different problem: privatizing assets like Pontiac’s Silverdome or Benton Harbor’s lakeside Jean Klock Park without local protest. Developers have already been lusting after Detroit’s crown jewel, Belle Isle.
Ex-autoworker
Detroit
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FEAR OF NUCLEAR WAR…
Fear is being spread in Kashmir that nuclear war is imminent with Pakistan. People are being told to dig air raid shelters. Violent skirmishes on the India-Pakistan border have become routine, only to be overplayed occasionally by either side for political convenience. Given that both are nuclear-armed, it is imperative that saner counsel prevail. We urge all concerned to re-engage instead in working for the common prosperity of people on both sides. To see the full statement from Kumar Sundaram, visit http://space4peace.blogspot. com/2013/01/indians-told-to-build-bomb-shelters.html.
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
Brunswick, Maine
…AND ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER
The State Department quietly released its new environmental impact statement on the Keystone XL pipeline on March 1, when all the news was focused on the budget “sequester.” The statement claims that the pipeline is “unlikely to have a substantial impact” on the environment. The administration refuses to acknowledge that NASA’s top climate scientist said that allowing an outlet for Canada’s tar sands would be “game over” for the climate. Beware, Obama! The ever-growing climate justice movement is not going to take this sitting down.
Long-time environmentalist
Escondido, Calif.
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WHY SUBSCRIBE TO N&L?
I highly recommend everyone who feels empathy for other human beings &/ or other living things to follow and subscribe to @newsandletters #1u
@daytona_slim
Florida
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Editor’s note: #1u is the hashtag for “One Union”—support all workers!
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FROM BEHIND THE BARS
N&L is enlightening beyond measure. I always share my copies with fellow comrades, as a “study program.”
Prisoner
Lancaster, Calif.
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Your prison mail tells me what’s going on in the real world. Could you let me know who is my donor so I can thank them for how much the sub means to me?
Prisoner
Delano, Calif.
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TO OUR READERS: Can you donate the price of a sub ($5) for a prisoner who cannot pay for one? It will be shared with many others.