World Socialist Web Site

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Published by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI)

12 November 2009

One million jobs at risk
Ten US states face budget disaster

By Patrick Martin, 12 November 2009

Two reports made public Wednesday underscore the colossal dimensions of the social and financial crisis in the United States. California and nine other US states face severe budget crises that could force mass layoffs and cuts in public services like education.

German defence minister defends Kunduz massacre

By Ulrich Rippert, 12 November 2009

Shortly after taking office, the new German defence minister, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, has justified the Kunduz massacre carried out at the beginning of September in Afghanistan.

BBC poll shows widespread disaffection with capitalism

By Julie Hyland, 12 November 2009

A global poll by the British Broadcasting Corporation shows widespread disaffection with the capitalist free-market, including a significant opposition to capitalism per se.

Naval clash between two Koreas as Obama heads to Asia

By John Chan, 12 November 2009

Just days before US President Barack Obama commences his first major visit to Asia, a brief exchange of fire took place between South and North Korean naval vessels.

New Japanese government under pressure to slash social spending

By John Chan, 12 November 2009

The government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama is facing growing demands from big business to ditch its election promises, slash social spending and rein in mushrooming public debt.

Right-wing campaign against Brown to ensure Afghan escalation

By Robert Stevens, 12 November 2009

Sections of the British armed forces and the pro-Conservative Party press are waging a concerted campaign for the drastic escalation of the war in Afghanistan.

Schools “pushed toward the edge of a cliff”
Educators discuss impact of Michigan cuts

By Tom Eley, 12 November 2009

As the state of Michigan moves forward with massive funding cuts for public education, the World Socialist Web Site discussed the ramifications with leading educators.

New in German

Die Ausplünderung des irakischen Öls

Von James Cogan, 12. November 2009

Vergangenen Donnerstag wurden die Entwicklungsrechte für das riesige Ölfeld im südirakischen West Kurna an Exxon-Mobil und Royal Dutch Shell vergeben. Das zeigt einmal mehr den kriminellen Charakter der amerikanischen Besatzung.

Lebenslange Haftstrafe für Mörder von Marwa El-Sherbini

Von Justus Leicht, 12. November 2009

Die Islamophobie und Ausländerfeindlichkeit, die sich in Dresden bis zur Mordwut steigerten, sind nicht einfach dem Gehirn eines psychisch labilen und sozial entwurzelten Individuums entsprungen.

Ratifizierung des Lissabon-Vertrags wirft britische Tories in die Krise

Von Julie Hyland, 12. November 2009

Die Ratifizierung des Lissaboner Vertrages der Europäischen Union durch die Tschechische Republik hat in Großbritannien einen politischen Wirbelsturm ausgelöst. Sie hat tiefe Spaltungen in der Konservativen Partei und darüber hinaus die Krise der britischen Außenpolitik ans Tageslicht gebracht.

Hillary Clinton gibt Obamas Blatt im Mittleren Osten aus der Hand

Von Chris Marsden, 12. November 2009

Außenministerin Hillary Clinton hat in den vergangenen Tagen versucht, den Schaden zu begrenzen, den sie mit ihrem Lob für Premierminister Benjamin Netanjahu angerichtet hat. Dieser habe "beispiellose" Zugeständnisse gegenüber den Palästinensern gemacht, indem er ihnen angeboten habe, den Siedlungsbau im Westjordanland zu "begrenzen".

Der neue Film von Michael Moore: Kapitalismus: eine Liebesgeschichte

Von Joanne Laurier und David Walsh, 12. November 2009

Der amerikanische Dokumentarfilmer Michael Moore versucht in seinem Kapitalismus: Eine Liebesgeschichte, den globalen Finanzkollaps und seine Auswirkungen auf das Leben der amerikanischen Bevölkerung zu untersuchen.

New in French

Canada : Une réaction désorganisée à la pandémie de grippe porcine met en lumière l’indifférence des gouvernements

Par Carl Bronski, 12 novembre 2009

Les officiels de la santé aux niveaux fédéral et provinciaux renient leurs engagements, envers les groupes à risque et la population en générale qui souhaite se faire vacciner.

Perspective

Obama and the jobs crisis

12 November 2009

In the face of a record rise in joblessness, the Obama administration is continuing to demonstrate its callous indifference to the plight of millions of unemployed workers and their families.

Earlier Perspectives »

Book Review

In The Service of Historical Falsification
A Review of Robert Service’s Trotsky: A Biography

By David North, 11 November 2009

In this review, David North, chairman of the international editorial board of the World Socialist Web Site, responds to the latest attack on and falsification of the life of Leon Trotsky.

Socialist Equality Party

Public Meeting in London
Historians in the service of the Big Lie
An examination of Robert Service’s new biography of Leon Trotsky

This important public meeting will be held on December 13 at the Friends Meeting House in London.

Commentary

Australian Pabloites prepare NPA-style dissolution

By Laura Tiernan, 12 November 2009

The Democratic Socialist Perspective will dissolve itself into the ailing Socialist Alliance electoral front in January 2010. Modelled closely on France’s New Anti-capitalist Party, the DSP is making a pitch for allies in official bourgeois politics, above all the Greens.

The execution of John Muhammad: another gruesome moment in America

By David Walsh, 11 November 2009

John Allen Muhammad, 48, known as the “Beltway Sniper” for the series of killings he allegedly masterminded in the Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia area in October 2002, was executed November 10.

The fall of the Berlin Wall

9 November 2009

The contradiction between the official celebrations and the lack of public enthusiasm over the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall speaks volumes about the real significance of the events of November 1989.

The Ford vote and the UAW’s defenders

By Jerry White, 9 November 2009

Last week’s defeat of the UAW-Ford concessions contract by the rank-and-file has not diminished the claims by various middle class organizations that all opposition should be channeled through the UAW.

Arts Review

Not enough information: The Informant! directed by Steven Soderbergh

By Hiram Lee, 11 November 2009

Steven Soderbergh’s latest film takes on the true story of an FBI investigation into the price-fixing conspiracy at the Archer Daniels Midland company during the 1990s.

Correspondence

Letters on the shooting at Fort Hood

12 November 2009

A selection of recent letters sent to the World Socialist Web Site.

25 years
50 years
75 years
100 years

Pinochet imposes state of siege on Chile

This week in 1984, Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet unleashes the military on working class neighborhoods in Santiago, arresting thousands, and shutting down opposition media. The actions followed the president’s declaration of a national state of siege on November 6.

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Iraqi prime minister touts nationalist measures

In a nationwide radio speech delivered on November 14, 1959, Iraqi Prime Minister Abd al-Karim Qasim declares that his nation has been made "rich" by what he describes as its rejection of western imperialism. It is his first speech since being wounded in an assassination attempt a month earlier.

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Doumergue’s “Cabinet of Truce” collapses in France

The conservative national unity government under Gaston Doumergue collapses on November 8, 1934, after only eight months.

Doumergue was installed in office in the wake of the February 6, 1934 fascist riots in the Place de la Concorde, and days before the general strike of February 12.

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Coal mine disaster in Cherry, Illinois, claims the lives of 259

Cherry Mine The familiar sound of the mine siren brings the women and children of little Cherry, Illinois, to the mine head on November 13. Whose father, husband, or brother has died or been maimed today?