3 November 2009

Afghan election farce ends, escalation to begin

By Bill Van Auken, 3 November 2009

The protracted and fraudulent Afghan election process ended Monday with incumbent Hamid Karzai decreed the winner. The end of this farcical exercise has set the stage for Washington to escalate its eight-year-old war.

After workers defeat concessions demand
Ford reports $1 billion in third quarter profits

By Jerry White, 3 November 2009

Ford Motor Co. announced third quarter profits of nearly $1 billion the day after Ford workers concluded voting against wage and benefit concessions.

Anxious to thwart cross-border struggle
CAW rams through concessions at Ford Canada

By Keith Jones, 3 November 2009

Fearing the impact that the resistance of US Ford workers would have on workers in Canada, the CAW leadership hastened to conclude the terms of its latest surrender with the Detroit-based auto maker.

“Pressure politics” at Sydney protest over asylum seekers

By Mathew Benn, 3 November 2009

A rally called by the Refugee Action Committee to protest the Labor government’s callous treatment of refugees was dominated by futile appeals for “compassion” from Prime Minister Rudd.

Britain: Network Rail threatens mass sackings

By Paul Mitchell, 3 November 2009

According to rail unions, Network Rail has threatened to sack all its maintenance workers before re-employing a reduced number on more onerous terms and conditions.

Australian government’s industrial “cop” prosecutes union over Qantas strikes

By Mike Head, 3 November 2009

The Rudd government’s Fair Work Ombudsman and Qantas are seeking fines, multi-million dollar compensation and injunctions over a four-hour stoppage by airport baggage handlers.

US business lender CIT files for bankruptcy

By Andre Damon, 3 November 2009

CIT Group, Inc., a major business lender, filed for bankruptcy Monday, becoming the largest recipient of Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) assistance to go bankrupt.

New in French

France: Sarkozy intensifie la campagne anti-immigrés

Par Pierre Mabut et Antoine Lerougetel, 3 novembre 2009

Le ministre français de l'Immigration et de l'identité nationale, Eric Besson, a appelé à un débat dans tout le pays sur « l'identité nationale » après un mois d'attaques sans précédent contre les migrants et les réfugiés, notamment les Afghans qui fuient la guerre et les privations.

New in German

Obama beantragt Rekordhaushalt für Militär und Heimatschutz

Von Patrick Martin, 3. November 2009

Am Mittwoch unterzeichnete US-Präsident Barack Obama den größten Militärhaushalt der amerikanischen Geschichte. Am Donnerstag unterzeichnete er ein Ausgabengesetz mit 44 Mrd. Dollar für das Heimatschutzministerium (Homeland Security, HLS), um den innenpolitischen Sicherheitsapparat der Vereinigten Staaten zu stärken.

Washington setzt Abkommen mit Putschregime in Honduras durch

Von Bill Van Auken, 3. November 2009

Durch Vermittlung des US-Außenministeriums unterzeichneten das honduranische Putschregime und der gestürzte Präsident Manuel Zelaya am Freitag ein Abkommen, das den Putsch vom Juni legitimiert und die Forderungen der Bevölkerung von Honduras verrät.

New in Portuguese

Washington pressiona por acordo com golpistas em Honduras

Por Bill Van Auken, 3 de novembro de 2009

As delegações que representam o presidente hondurenho deposto de Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, e o regime que o substituiu por meio do golpe de 28 de junho, assinaram um acordo na sexta-feira, dia 30/10, após a intervenção de uma delegação do alto escalão do Departamento de Estado dos EUA em Tegucigalpa.

Irã faz concessão significativa para desarmar acordo nuclear

Por Peter Symonds, 3 de novembro de 2009

Depois de três dias de debates em Viena, o esboço de um acordo foi finalizado ontem [21 de outubro] para enviar o grosso do urânio sub-enriquecido iraniano para Rússia e França, onde o material será ainda mais enriquecido e transformado em combustível, destinado a um reator nuclear de pesquisa em Teerã. As discussões, conduzidas sob direção da Agência Internacional de Energia Atômica (IAEA), envolveram EUA, Rússia, França e Irã.

Perspective

The meaning of Europe’s “step change” in Afghanistan

3 November 2009

The European Union has endorsed an action plan for Afghanistan and Pakistan in support of the US-led neo-colonial war.

Earlier Perspectives »

Feature

New Feature: This Week in History

Beginning today, the World Socialist Web Site launches a new feature. This Week in History will provide a brief synopsis of important historical events occurring 25, 50, 75, and 100 years ago.

GhandiIndia erupts in anti-Sikh violence in wake of Gandhi assassination

In the wake of the assassination of Indira Gandhi by two of her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984, pogroms targeting the religious minority kill 3,000 and leave tens of thousands more homeless. Most of the violence takes place in Delhi.

More »

US SteelMassive strike of US steelworkers ends

On November 7, 1959, the nationwide steel strike involving 500,000 workers comes to end on its 116th day after the US Supreme Court upholds by an eight-to-one margin President Eisenhower's invocation of the Taft-Hartley Act, which allows the US president to end strikes if he declares that they threaten a national emergency.

More »

Depression marchRepublicans routed in off-year elections

The Democratic Party increases sizable majorities in both houses of Congress in the 1934 off-year elections. The result indicates popular support for government intervention to create jobs in the midst of the Great Depression, policies associated with the “New Deal” reformist measures proposed by President Franklin Roosevelt.

More »

German battleshipGermany’s US ambassador says war “improbable”

In an address to the Academy of American Political and Social Sciences in Philadelphia on November 6, 1909, Germany’s ambassador to the US attempts to reassure Washington that Germany’s rise to world power will not necessarily lead to war.

More »

Workers Struggles

A socialist perspective for public sector workers in Sri Lanka

By the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) , 3 November 2009

Two public sector industrial disputes have erupted in Sri Lanka over pay and conditions fuelled by widespread discontent among workers over the government’s austerity measures.

The “No” vote at Ford

2 November 2009

The decisive vote by Ford workers against contract concessions backed by the UAW is a major advance for the working class internationally.

Workers Struggles: The Americas

3 November 2009

The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.

Book Review

HegelThe “Hegel renaissance” and other questions:
Part 1

A comment on The Cambridge Companion to Hegel and Nineteenth-Century Philosophy

By Alexander Fangmann, 3 November 2009

Last year saw the publication of The Cambridge Companion to Hegel and Nineteenth-Century Philosophy. The volumes of the Cambridge Companion series contain collections of essays by scholars working on a particular philosopher or subject area.

Arts Review

Norman MailerThe postwar novelist in regression: Norman Mailer (1923-2007)

By Andras Gyorgy, 3 November 2009

As we approach the second anniversary of American novelist Norman Mailer’s death, there appear more and more articles assessing his work over a lifetime. They mention only in passing, usually without comment, that Mailer was a socialist once.

Correspondence

A letter on debt and debt collectors

3 November 2009

A recent letter sent to the World Socialist Web Site in response to an article on “The American way of debt.”

Videos and Images

Ford workers speak out against concessions contract
Ford workers speak out against concessions contract
50,000 line up for housing assistance in Detroit
50,000 line up for housing assistance in Detroit
ISSE members speak on education cuts at rally
ISSE members speak on education cuts at rally
Detroit residents speak on utility bills, social crisis
Detroit residents speak on utility bills, social crisis
OU video
Michigan’s Oakland University faculty strike has student support
Detroit teachers denounce pay cuts
Detroit teachers denounce pay cuts
D'Art
Detroit city workers oppose concessions, layoffs
Interviews at Los Angeles health care clinic
Interviews at Los Angeles health care clinic
Workers continue Vestas occupation on Isle of Wight
Workers continue Vestas occupation on Isle of Wight
A conversation with Windsor municipal workers
A conversation with Windsor municipal workers
New York City workers speak against cuts in healthcare and social services
NYC workers speak against cuts in social services
Flint vid
Flint, Michigan and the bankruptcy of General Motors
MI auto vid
GM workers on bankruptcy and plant closings
MI auto vid
Michigan auto workers and families speak on plant closures
GM vid
GM workers speak out on concessions contract
Protesting students and parents speak to the WSWS
Protesting students and parents speak to the WSWS
Chrysler workers speak on concessions vote
Chrysler workers speak on concessions vote
UK Visteon workers speak on occupation
UK Visteon workers speak on occupation
GM and Chrysler workers oppose more concessions
GM and Chrysler workers oppose more concessions
Chrysler workers oppose Obama auto plan
Chrysler workers oppose Obama auto plan

WSWS interviews G20 protesters in London
Donovan
Pontiac residents speak on schools crisis
Detroit jobs fair
Workers interviewed at Detroit jobs fair

Ford workers: “Now the fight is with our own union.”
GM workers videoGM workers denounce concession demands Chrysler workers oppose cuts
Chrysler workers oppose pay cuts, concession demands
London demonstration against Sri Lankan war
Over 100,000 demonstrate in London against Sri Lankan war
Joanne
Funeral for Michigan man frozen following utility shut-off
Montserrat
Exposing Franco's mass graves
Bay City, Mich.: “Shutting somebody's electricity off in the dead of winter is criminal”
Bay City, Michigan residents speak on death from utility shut-off
London protesters speak to the WSWS
WSWS interviews London protesters
London demonstrators protest Israeli assault on Gaza
London demonstrators protest Israeli assault on Gaza
Chrysler workers denounce pay cuts
Chrysler workers denounce pay cuts
Griffiths and Walsh
The Writer and Revolution: A conversation with Trevor Griffiths

more Videos »

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