World Socialist Web Site

wsws.org

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

4 March 2010

Greece: Papandreou announces deeper budget cuts

By Stefan Steinberg, 4 March 2010

The cuts package announced by the Greek government on Wednesday will have sweeping consequences for the incomes and living standards of the vast majority of the population.

Obama urges swift passage of his cost-cutting health care plan

By Kate Randall, 4 March 2010

Obama called Wednesday for swift passage of his health care proposals, which would slash billions from the Medicare program while defending the profits of the giant insurers and pharmaceuticals.

Three children perish in Detroit house fire

By a WSWS reporting team, 4 March 2010

Three children died in a house fire on Detroit’s west side on Tuesday evening, in another blaze caused by the shutoff of utilities to the home.

Video: Interviews with neighbors of fire victims

4 March 2010

Military occupation of earthquake-ravaged region expands in Chile

By Rafael Azul, 4 March 2010

The death toll in Chile mounted to more than 800, with thousands still classified as missing. Many parts of the earthquake zone have yet to receive any significant quantity of aid.

500,000 Portuguese public sector workers set to strike

By Paul Mitchell, 4 March 2010

Portugal’s half a million public sector workers are expected to take part in Thursday’s one-day strike against the austerity programme being imposed by the Socialist Party government.

Bangladesh: Factory fire kills 21 garment workers

By Wimal Perera, 4 March 2010

The deplorable lack of safety standards in Bangladesh’s garment factories is a direct product of the drive for profit.

US Supreme Court stalls Guantánamo appeal, upholds lethal injections

By Tom Carter, 4 March 2010

Recent decisions by the Supreme Court highlight the ongoing erosion of democratic rights in the United States.

Mass protest by immigrants against Italian government’s racist policies

By Marianne Arens, 4 March 2010

Several tens of thousands of immigrants in 60 Italian cities engaged in strikes and demonstrations March 1 to protest against the racist policies of the Berlusconi government, and for equal rights for all.

Australia: Unions launch campaign to secure Rudd’s re-election

By Terry Cook, 4 March 2010

The ACTU campaign is based on a lie: that Labor with the assistance of the unions has established a “fairer” industrial relations system.

Will Canada join Israel’s next war?

By Jack Miller, 4 March 2010

Since taking office in 2006, Stephen Harper’s minority federal Conservative government has shifted Canada’s foreign policy sharply to the right. Now, a junior cabinet minister has implied that the Canadian Armed Forces would fight alongside Israel in the next Middle East conflict.

Icelandic government seeks renegotiation of Icesave deal as economic crisis continues

By Jordan Shilton, 4 March 2010

Iceland is seeking to renegotiate the terms of a deal made with the British and Dutch governments on repayment of money paid out to citizens of their countries in the aftermath of the collapse of an Icelandic bank.

New in Russian

Экономический кризис обостряет политические разногласия в России

Андреа Питерс, 4 марта 2010 г.

Российская экономика пережила в течение 2009 года резкое падение. Согласно недавно опубликованным данным Госкомстата ВВП страны за последний год сократился на 7,9 %.

New in German

Tarifeinigung im öffentlichen Dienst

Von Dietmar Henning, 4. März 2010

Die Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft Verdi hat einem Tarifvertrag für den öffentlichen Dienst zugestimmt, der der Bundesregierung in den nächsten zwei Jahren den Rücken an der Tariffront freihält.

Streik der Einwanderer in Italien

Von Marianne Arens, 4. März 2010

In Italien beteiligten sich am ersten März mehrere Zehntausend eingewanderte Arbeiter an Streiks und Demonstrationen unter dem Motto: "24 Stunden ohne uns".

Angesichts des Erdbebens lobt das Wall Street Journal Augusto Pinochet

Von David Walsh, 4. März 2010

Dem Wall Street Journal zufolge rechtfertigen die Folgen des Erdbebens in Chile nachträglich die faschistische Diktatur General Pinochets

60. Berlinale - Teil 3
"Moloch Tropical" und "Jud Süß: Film ohne Gewissen"

Von Stefan Steinberg, 4. März 2010

Einer der fesselndsten Filme auf der Berlinale war der neue Film von Raoul Peck. Nachdem er sich in seinen letzten Filmen mit den Entwicklungen in einer Reihe von afrikanischen Ländern beschäftigt hatte, hat sich Peck jetzt seinem Heimatland Haiti zugewandt.

New in Portuguese

A situação social na Grécia

Por Markus Salzmann, 4 de março de 2010

A União Européia ditou para a Grécia um rígido programa de cortes nos gastos públicos, com o objetivo de reduzir o déficit orçamentário do atual patamar de quase 13% para menos de 3%.

EUA: pedidos de seguro-desemprego voltam a crescer

Por Tom Eley, 4 de março de 2010

Os pedidos de inscrição no seguro-desemprego aumentaram na semana passada para o seu nível mais alto desde 14 de novembro, de acordo com o Departamento do Trabalho dos EUA. Os novos números sobre o seguro-desemprego, juntamente com outros dados, mostram que não há recuperação econômica para a extensa fila de trabalhadores americanos.

New in French

Les Américains super-riches empochent cinq fois plus qu’en 1995

Par Andre Damon, 4 mars 2010

Aux Etats-Unis, le revenu des plus riches a augmenté de façon phénoménale entre 1992 et 2007 alors qu’au même moment leur taux d’imposition chutait selon les statistiques les plus récentes publiées par l’IRS.

Perspective

Obama’s assault on public education

4 March 2010

President Obama’s public support for the mass firing of teachers at a Rhode Island high school is a declaration of war on all teachers and on the working class as a whole. No US president has so openly supported the mass victimization of workers since Ronald Reagan fired the PATCO air traffic controllers in 1981.

Earlier Perspectives »

SEP (Australia) Founding Congress

Documents of the SEP Founding Congress
The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Australia)—Part 5

4 March 2010

The World Socialist Web Site continues publication of The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Australia). The document was adopted unanimously at the party’s founding congress in Sydney on January 21–25.

International Students for Social Equality

For a working class movement to defend education!

Statement of the International Students for Social Equality,
4 March 2010

This statement is being distributed at rallies on March 4th throughout the US in opposition to attacks on public education. Click here for a pdf version to download and distribute in your area

Obituary

Former British Labour Party leader Michael Foot dies

By Chris Marsden, 4 March 2010

Former Labour Party leader Michael Foot died yesterday. His political legacy is best measured by the fact that the working class, in a political sense, is far weaker today than it was at the time of his birth 96 years ago.

Sri Lankan SEP Election Campaign

SEP stands in Sri Lankan parliamentary election

By the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 2 March 2010

The SEP is contesting the parliamentary election on April 8 to mobilise the working class on the basis of a socialist program against the deepening assault on living standards and democratic rights.

SEP public meeting in Colombo to launch election campaign

2 March 2010

The Sri Lankan SEP will launch its campaign for the April 8 parliamentary election at a public meeting at the Public Library Auditorium in Colombo on March 5 at 4 p.m.

Dexter Avenue Fire Inquiry

Video: Sister of fire victims speaks on utility shutoffs

2 March 2010

The Citizens Inquiry into the Dexter Avenue fire of January 5 has begun interviews with relatives, neighbors and Detroit residents. We begin with an interview with Charlotte Nash, the sister of two of the victims.

Mehring Books

February 2010 edition of WSWS Perspectives now available

2 March 2010

The February 2010 edition of WSWS Perspectives is now available from Mehring Books.

Subscribers will receive a free copy of The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party.

Commentary

The Ukrainian election and the demise of the “Orange Revolution”

3 March 2010

The crushing defeat of Viktor Yushchenko in Ukraine’s presidential poll in January and the election of Viktor Yanukovich in the second round vote held February 7 mark the ignominious end of the 2004 “Orange Revolution.”

Investigative Report

The Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care study: Shoddy science in support of health care cuts

By Joanne Laurier, 2 March 2010

The Obama White House and its media backers defend the administration’s cost-cutting health care overhaul, with all its dire implications for broad layers of the population, with the claim that the scheme is based on objective scientific research.

An interview with Dr. Richard Cooper, critic of the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care research

By Joanne Laurier, 2 March 2010

Interview with Dr. Michael Ong: A response to the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care

By Joanne Laurier, 2 March 2010

Arts Review

60th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 3
Kanikosen: A Japanese “proletarian novel,” updated

By Stefan Steinberg,
3 March 2010

This is the third in a series of articles on the recent Berlin International Film Festival, February 11-21.

25 years
50 years
75 years
100 years

25 years ago: British miners’ strike ends

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) on March 5, 1985 called an official end to the year-long strike against the Thatcher governments’ attempts to reorganize the coal industry at the expense of its workers. The defeat of the miners’ strike, which the Tory government had provoked, paved the way for a ruling class offensive against the wages and conditions of the entire working class.

More »

50 years ago: Munitions ship explodes in Havana’s harbor

On March 4, 1960, a French ship, Le Coubre, carrying 76 tons of Belgian weapons to Cuba’s militia, blew up in Havana’s harbor, killing dozens of workers. A half an hour later, a second explosion occurred, killing many more who had come to provide assistance to the wounded.

More »

75 years ago: Attempted coup in Greece

On March 1, 1935, supporters within the Greek military of former Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos launched a coup attempt against the government of Panagis Tsaldaris’s right-wing People’s Party. The Venizelist coup was led by General Nikolaos Plastiras, who had played a leading role in the coup against King Constantine I in 1922 and opposed the royalist sympathies of the People’s Party.

More »

100 years ago: Philadelphia general strike

On March 5, 1910, a general strike broke out in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania over the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company’s refusal to meet demands of striking streetcar workers organized in the Amalgamated Association of Street Car and Electric Railway Men of America. The general strike was “so titanic that it attracted the attention of all vested interests in this country and abroad,” according to the Public Ledger.