Author: icsswpadmin

ICSS 20210328 – What is Going on in Myanmar – KJ

ICSS 20210328 – What is Going on in Myanmar – KJ

Posted by | Mar 28, 2021 | |

Sun, Mar 28, 2021: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm Pacific

What’s going on in Myanmar?

On Feb 1st, 2021, the Myanmar military (Tatmadaw) instituted a coup of the civilian government on the eve of the seating of the newly elected parliament,. Since then, the situation has resulted in mass protest while devolving into bloodshed. Journalist K.J.Noh will join us to discuss the history, geopolitics, and political economy of Myanmar to better understand the situation, what forces–historical, political, material– are at play and what is at stake in this critical moment.
K.J. Noh, is a scholar, educator and activist journalist focusing on the geopolitics of the Asia-pacific. He writes for Dissident Voice, Black Agenda Report, Counterpunch, Popular Resistance, Asia Times, and is senior correspondent for KPFA Flashpoints. He also does commentary and analysis on the shows: By Any Means Necessary, Fault Lines, Critical Hour, Political Misfits, Loud & Clear. He is a contributor the banned book “Capitalism on a Ventilator”, now available on Kobo.

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ICSS 20210321 – Labor Movement of 1930s and the response – John Holmes

ICSS 20210321 – Labor Movement of 1930s and the response – John Holmes

Posted by | Mar 21, 2021 | |

Sun, Mar 21, 2021: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm Pacific

The Great Labor Rebellion of the 1930s.
The topic will be the history of the 1930s. Not the Great Depression but the *responses* to it. Firstly the Great Labor Rebellion: the CP-led California farmworkers strike, the three left-led general strikes of 1934, the sitdown strikes, and the rise of the CIO. And secondly the capitalist response, the New Deal and FDR, how the capitalist class coopted Labor’s Giant Step, and how black people, Chicanos and women were mistreated under New Deal legislation.

Our speaker is John Holmes who teaches history at Merritt College in California, and is currently on the executive council of the Peralta Federation of Teachers, representing part timers. He was previously an activist in the typographical union.

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ICSS 20210307 – Capitalism, Ecology & Socialism – Raj Sahai

ICSS 20210307 – Capitalism, Ecology & Socialism – Raj Sahai

Posted by | Mar 7, 2021 | |

Capitalism, Ecology, and Socialism
Forest fires in California, thawing of ice in the arctic, Glacier melting in The Himalayas, floods and bitter cold in Texas; and the Covid pandemic are all tied to the global warming from cumulative effects of capitalist commodity production over the past 200 years. Air pollution in much of world has worsened. Since the collapse of the USSR in 1991, and China taking the role of a biggest commodity producer for the world; other than tiny Cuba, there is no model of development that does not contribute to worsening of the ecological crisis all over the world. Class differentiation is leading to right-wing populism, threatening social peace in many countries. The internal contradictions of capital are extreme. To survive, capitalism requires even more exploitation of natural resources and human beings of the world, witness the farmers fighting capitalist predation laws in India. Result of all this is more pollution of air, sea and land on a scale that is undermining the very basis of healthy human existence on earth. Can the alienated individualism and consumerist way of life created by late stage capitalism be ended by a new socialist revolution? Can a new socialism build a healthy materially adequate society for all human beings which lives in balance with Nature?
Our Spesker, ICSS Member Raj Sahai will explore ideas and invite discussion with the participants, in a work in-progress.

LOGIN INFORMATION
The meeting will be opened up, as usual, at 10:15 for anyone to join and discuss technical matters, catch up with each other, say Hi, etc. We Intend to start the presentation as close to 10:30 am as possible. The program (and recording) will end at 12:30, but the Waiting Room will remain open for informal discussion.

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ICSS 20210228 – Peace and Solidarity Movements – Phyllis Bennis

ICSS 20210228 – Peace and Solidarity Movements – Phyllis Bennis

Posted by | Feb 28, 2021 | |

Sun, Feb 28, 2021: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm Pacific Time The Recent Past and Future of Peace and Solidarity Movements, 2008 – 2021 and Beyond The anti-war movements in the US and across the globe were at their peaks through the first years of the post-9/11 wars. They were broad, diverse, international, and powerful. They did not succeed in preventing the 2003 US/UK invasion of Iraq, but they set the stage for future movements and future victories, including stopping US bombing campaigns in Syria and escalation in Iran, parts of the Arab Spring uprisings, and more. By the time the Obama administration came into office in 2008, the movement in the US was already facing new challenges. And over the next several years its power, size, breadth, and influence had all diminished. Many blamed it on “oh the peace movement was just too enthralled with Obama” and they stopped working. But that claim, while holding a grain of truth among a few sectors of the movement, does not explain the changes. Phyllis will discuss that history, and look forward to today’s legacy and new anti-war organizations, and the rise of anti-war/anti-militarism components in a broad range of intersectional organizations.

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ICSS 20210221 – The Politics Behind the Western – Campaign against Russian and Chinese Athletes Rick Sterling

ICSS 20210221 – The Politics Behind the Western – Campaign against Russian and Chinese Athletes Rick Sterling

Posted by | Feb 21, 2021 | |

Sun, Feb 21, 2021: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm

The Politics Behind the Western Campaign
against Russian and Chinese Athletes
Rick Sterling will discuss the banning of Russian athletes beginning with the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Summer Olympics and continuing through banning Russian participation in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. He will analyze the “state sponsored doping” accusations that have been made by the World Anti-Doping Agency. What are the accusations and what is their credibility? Who is Grigory Rodchenkov and what role has he played?
Rick will also discuss the case of Sun Yang, probably the most famous Chinese athlete. Sun Yang has won many international swimming events and holds the world record in the 1500-meter event. In 2019, Sun Yang was found to have committed an anti-doping rule violation and was banned from international competition for 8 years. The case was appealed to the highest court adjudicating international sports. In a ruling that shook the swimming world, the court overturned the decision because of racist tweets by the Italian head judge. These tweets were revealed in Rick’s article lto be discussed on Monday. Sun Yang’s lawyers used this information to successfully challenge the decision. There will be a new hearing with new judges.
Rick will put these cases in the context of the politicization of athletics and western efforts to attack Russia and China in this international arena.
Rick Sterling is active in Task Force on the Americas (https://taskforceamericas.org/) and Mount Diablo Peace and Justice Center (https://ourpeacecenter.org/).
He researches and writes articles on diverse subjects – from the campaign to save the City College of San Francisco, to Syria, to international sports.
He can be reached at rsterling1@gmail.com

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