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

16 October 2010

Sarkozy mobilizes riot police to break French oil strike

By Alex Lantier, 16 October 2010

The French government on Friday ordered CRS riot police to disperse workers occupying the strategic Fos-Lavéra oil depot near Marseille.

Greek culture ministry workers end strike after police attack

By Robert Stevens, 16 October 2010

Culture ministry workers employed at the Acropolis in Athens ended a three-day strike Friday, following brutal attacks by riot police.

US backs “peace talks” as violence soars in Afghanistan

By James Cogan, 16 October 2010

The US administration and military have confirmed reports that they are assisting the Karzai government to conduct negotiations with the Taliban.

Wall Street, White House blame homeowners in foreclosure crisis

By Tom Eley, 16 October 2010

In spite of overwhelming evidence that banks systematically broke laws to speed up the foreclosure process for millions of Americans, Wall Street financiers are blaming homeowners for the spreading crisis.

Quebec to prohibit women wearing Muslim veil from receiving public services

By Louis Girard, 16 October 2010

Quebec’s Liberal government is pressing forward with Bill 94—chauvinist, anti-democratic legislation that would prohibit women wearing the Muslim burqa or niqab from receiving provincial public services, including health care and education.

UK companies selling pensions take 80 percent in fees and commissions

By Jean Shaoul, 16 October 2010

Research carried out by the BBC has revealed that some pension-selling companies take as much as 80 percent in fees and commission from some of their private pension plans.

Obama administration allows premium hikes for sick children

By Kate Randall, 16 October 2010

The US Department of Health and Human Services says insurance companies can charge higher premiums for individual policies for children with serious medical problems.

Protests continue against South Australian job cuts

By Alan Leigh, 16 October 2010

In the face of widely-felt outrage over the Labor government’s attack, the limited protest campaign being conducted by the unions is to exert pressure on the government to negotiate with the union bureaucrats.

Haiti presidential elections to be held at gunpoint

By John Marion, 16 October 2010

The November 28 elections in Haiti will be a travesty of democracy, in which foreign investors seek to manipulate an election held amid terrible conditions after the January 2010 earthquake, with large sections of the electorate robbed of the right to vote.

New in French

France: Les grèves se poursuivent tandis que le gouvernement persiste dans ses attaques contre les retraites

Par Alex Lantier, 16 octobre 2010

Les grèves de travailleurs et de lycéens se poursuivent tandis que le gouvernement refuse de retirer ses attaques contre les retraites, et les lycéens protestent en masse contre la réforme.

Les différends s'accentuent à la réunion du FMI

Par Nick Beams, 16 octobre 2010

Les craintes des conséquences de l'affaiblissement de l'économie mondiale, au moment où se développent des conflits monétaires et commerciaux, ont dominé la réunion semestrielle du FMI. Cette rencontre n'a pu avancer de solutions pour ces problèmes.

New in German

Großes Interesse am Vortrag von Professor Rabinowitch in Berlin

Von unseren Korrespondenten, 16. Oktober 2010

Rund 350 Personen kamen am 14. Oktober zur Vorstellung des Buchs „Die Sowjetmacht – Das erste Jahr“ des amerikanischen Historikers Alexander Rabinowitch in die Berliner Humboldt-Universität.

Demagogie und Doppelbödigkeit der Demokraten im Wahlkampf 2010

Von Patrick Martin, 16. Oktober 2010

Präsident Barack Obama und die Demokratische Partei versuchen eine massive Niederlage zu verhindern, indem sie sich in letzter Minute in betrügerischer Absicht an die Feindschaft in der Bevölkerung gegen die Wall Street und die großen Wirtschaftsinteressen anpassen.

Die New York Times verteidigt staatlichen Mord

Von Patrick Martin, 16. Oktober 2010

In ihrem Leitartikel vom Sonntag verteidigt die New York Times, die wichtigste Zeitung des Liberalismus in Amerika, das Recht der US-Regierung, nach Belieben zu morden.

Other Languages

Perspective

Hungary’s toxic sludge disaster and the case for socialism

16 October 2010

The six-foot-high tidal wave of caustic sludge that buried several Hungarian villages last week and swept away houses, cars and bridges claimed nine lives.

Earlier Perspectives »

Socialist Equality Party

Great interest in lecture by Professor Rabinowitch in Berlin

By our correspondent, 16 October 2010

The American historian Alexander Rabinowitch introduced his new book The Bolsheviks in Power: The First Year of Bolshevik Rule in Petrograd at a meeting Thursday evening at Humboldt University in Berlin.

SEP Election Campaign in Michigan

D’Artagnan Collier election campaign meeting
The crisis in Detroit: The socialist response

16 October 2010

D’Artagnan Collier, the Socialist Equality Party candidate for Michigan House of Representatives in the 9th District, will address the deepening social crisis in Detroit at a public meeting on October 28.

SEP candidate D’Artagnan Collier offers support to striking DSO musicians

By Lawrence Porter, 13 October 2010

D’Artagnan Collier, SEP candidate for the Michigan state legislature, spoke to Detroit Symphony Orchestra strikers and supporters at an October 10 concert.

Full coverage of the SEP election campaign in Michigan »

Indianapolis Auto Workers’ Struggle

More letters on the Indianapolis GM Stamping Rank-and-File Committee

15 October 2010

The WSWS urges workers and other readers to send letters of support and solidarity to the Indianapolis rank-and-file committee.

For a united movement of the working class to oppose concessions and job cuts!
An open letter from the Indianapolis GM Stamping Rank-and-File Committee

11 October 2010

The following appeal from the Indianapolis GM Stamping Rank-and-File Committee was sent to the World Socialist Web Site.

Full coverage of Indianapolis GM workers struggle »

Commentary

The White House and the US mortgage racket

15 October 2010

The Obama administration has rejected calls for a moratorium on home foreclosures despite revelations that banks illegally processed mortgage documents to speed up the eviction of families and seizure of their homes.

How the NPA disorients the struggle against Sarkozy’s cuts

By Alex Lantier, 15 October 2010

Despite their efforts to appear “left” in demonstrations and on television, the NPA’s politics are not based on preparing mass industrial action by the workers against the government, but on tying protest actions to pro-business forces in the political establishment.

Political issues in the struggle against Sarkozy’s cuts

14 October 2010

The rising opposition to French President Nicolas Sarkozy's austerity policies can find political expression only through a rebellion by the working class against the trade unions and the bourgeois “left” parties.

Chilean miners rescued after ten-week ordeal

By Patrick Martin, 14 October 2010

Both the resilience of the miners, trapped underground for 69 days, and the energy and determination of their rescuers, have won well-deserved admiration.

Demagogy and duplicity: The Democrats in the 2010 elections

History

For Committees of Action―Not the People’s Front
November 26, 1935

By Leon Trotsky

In this article, written from exile in Norway in 1935, Leon Trotsky exposed the politics of the “People's Front” in France, a coalition comprising the bourgeois Radical Party, the Socialist Party and the Stalinist Communist Party.

Mehring Books

Mehring Books featured titles
Whither France by Leon Trotsky and French Workers in Revolt by David Walsh

14 October 2010

Whither France by Leon Trotsky and French Workers in Revolt by David Walsh are two titles that give readers important insights into the political questions raised by the mass strikes now taking place in France.

Arts Review

The Social Network: “Dot-com” myth-making

By Kevin Kearney, 15 October 2010

The Social Network, directed by David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), recounts the rapid enrichment of Mark Zuckerberg, a young Internet businessman and disputed creator of Facebook.

Toronto International Film Festival 2010—Part 5
What does it mean to take reality seriously?

By David Walsh, 14 October 2010

Films from Iran, China and Romania, including a conversation with Iranian filmmaker Rafi Pitts, director of The Hunter.

Partei für Soziale Gleichheit Founding Congress

The Historical Foundations of the Partei für Soziale Gleichheit

12 October 2010

Published here in PDF format is the document adopted by the Founding Congress of the Partei für Soziale Gleichheit (Socialist Equality Party) of Germany on May 23, 2010.

Workers Struggles

Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific

16 October 2010

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

Strikes erupt over public worker pay cut in Romania

15 October 2010

A spontaneous strike by employees of the finance ministry has turned into a major crisis for the government.

25 years
50 years
75 years
100 years

25 years ago: 80,000 Chrysler workers strike

On October 15, 1985, 80,000 Chrysler workers in the US and Canada went out on strike upon the expiration of the concessions contract put in place during the bailout of the number three North American auto maker. The strike began after Chrysler submitted new concession demands one day before the old contract’s expiration.

More »

50 years ago: Turkish military regime seeks death penalty for former PM, 500 others

The Turkish provisional government began the trial of major figures removed in the May 27 military coup, including President Celal Baylar and Prime Minister Adnan Menderes and more than 500 other members of the Democratic Party.

More »

75 years ago: Craft and industrial unionism collide at AFL conference

Tensions within the American Federation of Labor (AFL) came to a head this week in 1935, as the union's “old guard” clashed with a minority faction calling for industrial unionism during the federation's convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

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100 years ago: Martial law imposed on week-long French railway strike

French unions called off a crippling strike of railway workers on October 17, 1910, after Prime Minister Aristide Briand declared the strike a “revolt” and therefore subject to harsh state repression. Among other measures, Briand ordered a large military intervention, conscripted the striking railway workers into the army reserve, thus subjecting them to military discipline, and ordered the arrest of dozens of strike leaders and socialists.

More »