Anonymous Comrade writes:

"Cartoons and Bombs"

John Chuckman

I wonder, are waves of angry protest, flag burning, and embassy burning in the name of religion any less rational than waves of B-52s, cluster bombs, and torture in the name of democracy?

So when I hear any American official speak about the worldwide protests against unflattering cartoons of Islam’s Prophet, it is difficult to credit the words, but surprisingly there is one statement by an American – someone who ranks third only after George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld for total number of career lies – that I do credit.

"Real Threat Is From Imperial Fundamentalism"

Tariq Ali Inteviewd by Marcus Dam, The Hindu

Writer and political activist Tariq Ali describes himself as a "person of the Left." In a recent interview in Kolkata, he talked about his concerns over an Asia which is "politically undetermined and economically over-determined," and of an Indian political leadership "obsessed with money and markets."

Q: You were initiated into political activism during the Vietnam War and have been engaged in it ever since. How has the world changed since the late sixties? What has become of the human condition and the dignity of man?

We are living in a different epoch than we were 40 years ago. There has been a sea change since then. We have seen a big triumph of global capitalism, the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe have collapsed, and China is today the most dynamic capitalist state in the world. What we are seeing now are problems of a different sort and a growing opposition in some parts of the world to the American Empire... History never progresses in a straight line, it moves forward, backwards, it zig-zags, and there is no guarantee of progress — it has to be fought for and maintained.

Caracas Excels As Left-Wing Haven

Greg Morsbach,
BBC News

Venezuela has been put firmly on the map of global left-wing activism this week, as more than 100,000 people take part in this year's World Social Forum which is being held in the capital city, Caracas.

Students, trade unionists, politicians and academics from 54 countries have arrived at hotels, hostels and Venezuelan host families.

Delegates from around 2,000 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are now taking part in an intensive programme of workshops, panel discussions and seminars which are critical of the free-trade policies at the heart of the World Economic Forum (WEF) being held this week in Davos, Switzerland.

Caracas is by now used to staging big events for foreign visitors, many of whom oppose what they call "neo-liberal" economic policies and are critical of plans to set up a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).

"It's obvious why Venezuela is such a magnet for tens of thousands of visitors," said Professor Edgar Lander, one of the main organisers of this year's World Social Forum in Caracas.

"The revolutionary process being carried out by the government here has captured the imagination of the world."

Federal Judge Gives Go-ahead in Kurtz Case:

Motion to Dismiss Charges Called "Premature"

Dan Herbeck, Buffalo News

A criminal case that has upset many people in the art world will continue to move forward in federal court here.

In an opinion issued late Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder Jr. refused to recommend dismissal of charges against Steven J. Kurtz, a University at Buffalo art professor who was indicted by a federal grand jury in June 2004.

Kurtz, 47, is a founding member of the Critical Arts Ensemble, a group whose art exhibits often criticize the the federal government. His indictment touched off debate about artistic freedom and the government's efforts to tightly control the distribution of bacterial agents in the post-9/11 era.

It would be "premature" to dismiss the charges, Schroeder wrote. The judge also refused to recommend the suppression of evidence taken from Kurtz's Allentown home after his wife died there in May 2004.

"Even if it assumed . . . that the government will fall short in the required proof, a motion to dismiss the indictment must be considered as being premature and inappropriate in addressing that issue," Schroeder wrote.

The judge said he will schedule a hearing to determine whether some statements Kurtz made to Buffalo police should be suppressed.

Kurtz and Robert E. Ferrell, a human genetics researcher at the University of Pittsburgh, are charged with illegally obtaining bacterial agents from a laboratory in Virginia. They are charged with felony mail fraud and wire fraud.