One million say “U.S. Out - Now!”.

Unfortunately, or fortunately (I’m not sure which), that’s one million Iraqis. And talk about burying the lead! The New York Times covers the fact that supporters of Moqtada al-Sadr collected one million signatures in just three weeks (!) on a petition demanding that foreign troops leave the country in a single paragraph, and not just a single paragraph, but in the 14th paragraph (!) in an article whose headline, “Bomb Kills 2 Private Guards for British Consulate in Iraq”, describes something completely ordinary and completely buries the extraordinary (and significant) event hidden in the 14th paragraph.

And, in case there’s any doubt, this is not some ambiguous petition that even American Congressional Democrats could sign. It reads: “I hereby declare my rejection of the forces of occupation and demand their withdrawal.” Straight and to the point.

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I mean, what IS going on over there?

The British government has quietly instituted a shoot-to-kill policy. Thankfully many are fighting back.

It emerged yesterday that the Met’s guidelines for confronting bombers allow armed police, in some cases, to fire a ‘critical headshot’ without even challenging the individual to stop, if it is feared an explosion is imminent. Until now, it has been assumed that suspects would be given a chance to surrender.

And now this.Black teenager killed in axe attack in U.K.

A murdered teenager was left with an axe embedded in his skull after a “racist, vicious and unprovoked” attack by a gang in a park near his home.

But then, when governments act like thugs, it doesn’t exactly discourage their citizenry from acting the same.

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I just bought a box of Political Affairs magazines from the late 40’s-early 50’s at a library sale. This was the official magazine of the Communist Party USA.

This issue makes it obvious that the peace movement didn’t start in the 60’s!  And publishing this during McCarthyism took serious courage.

I have it up on eBay now. It has “reports from the 15th National Convention of the Communist Party USA held in Dec. 1950. Large, expanded issue. William Foster, Gus Hall, Henry Winston, John Gates, Robert Thompson, Claudia Jones, others.”

“Omigod”, you say, “Communists?” Well, if it wasn’t for communists and socialists organizing in the labor unions in the 30’s, we might still not have the 40 hour work week, health insurance, and safety regulations. You think the capitalists just freely granted those benefits to the workers?

Organizing is in the DNA of socialists, something the rest of the world accepts with little furor. Indeed, socialists are in the parliaments of most European countries. It’s only in the US that (some) people shriek when the word “communism” is mentioned.

But then, as a Communist friend who lives in the US says, “It’s amazing how much you can get accomplished when no one knows you’re here.”

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