|
|
|
The New Print Edition of CounterPunch, Only for Our Newsletter Subscribers! How Cops Extort Confessions;
|
home / subscribe / donate / books / archives / search / links / feedback / events / faq
The New Print Edition of CounterPunch, Only for Our Newsletter Subscribers!
How Cops Extort Confessions;
How the U.S. “Justice System” Really WorksNinety-two per cent of felony convictions in the U.S. are obtained by plea bargains or confessions. Without them the “justice system” would grind to a halt. In an important piece in our latest newsletter, available only to subscribers, Emily Horowitz shows how totally innocent people will “confess” under police pressure, even without physical torture. Horowitz outlines the powerful case for banning confessions altogether. Also in this new edition Marcus Rediker, co-author of the legendary The Many Headed Hydra, writes of popular heroism and resistance in the favelas of Medellin, Colombia. Alexander Cockburn reports on how America’s oldest bank, patronized by the global elites, washed billions smuggled out of Russia, and how the Russians might win their money back, shaking the world’s banking system if they do so. Serge Halimi describes the real battle for the soul of Europe. Get your copy today by subscribing online or calling 1-800-840-3683 Contributions to CounterPunch are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! CounterPunch books and gear make great presents.
|
Today's Stories August 19, 2008 Deepak Tripathi August 18, 2008 Tariq Ali Gary Leupp Uri Avnery John Ross Farooq Sulehria Luis Rodriguez Manuel Garcia, Jr. Noah Baker Merrill Charles Thomson Website of the Day August 16 / 17, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Deepak Tripathi Conn Hallinan Mike Whitney Robert Fantina Ray McGovern Nicole Colson Fatima Bhutto Jean-Luis Rocca David Michael Green Ramzi Kysia Dave Lindorff Lisa Martinovic Richard Rhames Don Santina Rannie Amiri Ramzy Baroud John Stanton Howard Lisnoff Ron Jacobs Seth Sandronsky Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
August 15, 2008 Steve Niva David Remington Michael Winship Paul Craig Roberts Farzana Versey Harvey Wasserman Felice Pace Julian Critchley Website of the Day August 14, 2008 Saul Landau / Conn Hallinan Mike Whitney Reza Fiyouzat Ralph Nader Christopher Brauchli The Cheerleader in China Jack Bradigan Spula Patrick Irelan John Walsh Dan Bacher Website of the Day
August 13, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts David Remington Brian Cloughley Glen Ford Brendan Cooney Dave Lindorff Tom Lewis Stan Cox Alan Farago Martha Rosenberg Website of the Day August 12, 2008 Uri Avnery Anthony DiMaggio Bill Christison Eric Walberg Kate Connolly Diane Farsetta Peter Morici Thom Rutledge Lee Patton Niranjan Ramakrishnan Website of the Day August 11, 2008 Ishmael Reed Paul Craig Roberts Gary Leupp Douglas Kammen William Willers Greg Moses Jeff Leys Cynthia McKinney Alan Farago Website of the Day August 9 / 10, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Bruce Jackson Kevin Young Chris Floyd Joshua Frank Robert Fantina Brendan Cooney Mark Almond Lois Gibbs Rev. William Alberts Kathy Kelly John Ross David Michael Green Bill Moyers / Ron Jacobs Richard Rhames David Yearsley Lee Sustar Brenda Norrell Ben Terrall Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend August 8, 2008 Patrick Cockburn Manuel Garcia, Jr. M. Shahid Alam Andy Worthington Lawrence J. Korb David Model Alan Farago Diop Olugbala Firmin DeBrabander Website of the Day August 7, 2008 Dr. Trudy Bond William Blum Paul Craig Roberts Ralph Nader Robert Weitzel Jacob G. Hornberger Binoy Kampmark David Macaray Howard Lisnoff Website of the Day August 6, 2008 Marc Herold Greg Moses Sheldon Rampton Kevin Young Michael Estrada Robert Weissman Dr. Susan Block Cindy Sheehan Ace Hoffman Website of the Day August 5, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts Jeff Halper Patrick Cockburn Nancy Welch Peter Morici Sousan Hammad Eamon Martin Shepherd Bliss Tim Matson Website of the Day August 4, 2008 Uri Avnery Saul Landau David W. Remington Rev. Jesse Jackson Dave Lindorff Peter Morici Joanne Mariner Ramzy Baroud Christian Wright Website of the Day August 2 / 3, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Patrick Cockburn Winslow T. Wheeler James Abourezk Andy Worthington Brian Cloughley Robert Fantina Benjamin Dangl Marlene Martin David Yearsley Fatemeh Keshavarz David Michael Green Obama as Dukakis Harvey Wasserman Jason Hribal Phyllis Pollack Laray Polk Ron Jacobs David Macaray David Rosen Dan Bacher Joe Allen Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend August 1, 2008 Jonathan Cook Nikolas Kozloff Rannie Amiri Peter Morici Christopher Brauchli M. K. Bhadrakumar Patrick Cockburn James J. Brittain Dan Bacher Website of the Day
July 31, 2008 Michael Hudson Carl Finamore Mike Whitney Joshua Frank Andy Worthington Ralph Nader Bill Moyers / Robert Weissman Dave Lindorff Website of the Day July 30, 2008 Brian M. Downing Chuck Spinney William S. Lind David Ker Thomson Karl Grossman Mike Whitney Martha Rosenberg James Murren Dave Lindorff Ron Jacobs Website of the Day July 29, 2008 Jeffrey St. Clair John Ross Peter Morici Alison Weir Gary Leupp David Macaray Brenda Norrell Marjorie Cohn Eric Ruder Website of the Day July 28, 2008 Dr. Bryant Welch Kathy Kelly Mike Whitney Peter Morici Christopher Brauchli Clifton Ross Stephen Lendman Website of the Day
|
August 19, 2008 If That Ain’t Class Warfare, What is It?AFSCME's Strike Against the University of CaliforniaBy DAVID MACARAY The recent 5-day tactical strike called by AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees) against the University of California is yet another example of the difficult road facing organized labor, particularly those unions who represent low-end or unskilled workers. Before resorting to their symbolic walkout, (which began on July 14 and ended one minute after midnight, on July 19), the 8,500 members of AFSCME’s Local 3299 had given their UC bosses ample opportunity to settle. In fact, the local had been working without a contract for almost a year. According to Local 3299 president LaKesha Harrison, although negotiations had continued, sporadically, for several months, little progress had been made. It should be noted that AFSCME isn’t one of your traditional, fiery-eyed, militant labor unions (such as the ILWU or Hoffa’s Teamsters). This membership clearly wasn’t looking to strike. Indeed, the decision to hit the bricks had been postponed for months and was made, finally, out of a sense of desperation, when negotiations between the parties appeared hopelessly deadlocked. It should also be noted that AFSCME wages are so shriekingly low, nearly three-quarters of the membership qualifies for food stamps or other government assistance. Think about that: Nearly three-fourths of these union families fall below the federal poverty line. Still, the AFSCME folks made it clear that they weren’t going after a gold-plated contract; rather, what they were seeking was a decent and equitable one—one that would take full-time workers off welfare. To no one’s surprise, the UC regents didn’t see it that way. While college administrators have no problem justifying their $400,000 a year salaries, they can’t bring themselves to pay their own employees a wage adequate to keeping them off federal poverty rolls. As of this writing, with Local 3299 members having been back on their jobs for a month, there still has been no agreement on a new contract. But this UC labor dispute has raised some larger questions, many of which don’t have easy answers. It’s been suggested, for example, that UC’s refusal to pay their low-end employees a living wage is more a sociological phenomenon than an economic one, that the impasse is, in fact, rooted in social hierarchy rather than simple dollars and cents. Of course, because “class warfare” is so toxic a subject, any claim that hourly workers are being systematically exploited by corporate interests—particularly when those hourly workers are predominantly minorities and when those corporate interests are represented by a renowned and liberal institution of higher learning—is going to be met with denials, no matter how powerful the claim’s gravitational pull. In 1970 a group of sociologists conducted an experiment that endeavored to gauge people’s general attitude toward social “class.” The experimenters set up two cars—a shiny new Cadillac, and a beat-up old Ford station wagon—at a traffic intersection. The drivers of both cars were instructed not to move when the light changed to green, but to wait for the car behind them to honk their horn. They then timed how long it took for the motorist behind each vehicle to begin honking. The results were revealing. The experimenters found that the overwhelming majority of motorists began honking at the “poor” car almost immediately. By contrast, these same motorists waited, on average, more than twice as long before honking at the “rich” car. So what did this prove? Admittedly, because the experiment was done pseudo-scientifically, it didn’t really prove anything. But if we wanted to extrapolate, we could say that it exposed people’s deep-seated contempt for those of lesser economic means and, by extension, those belonging to a “lower class.” Instead of cutting the guy in the beat-up car a little slack, the drivers did the exact opposite. By honking their horns they engaged in the automotive equivalent of scolding, of chastising another driver, and, significantly, they did it far quicker to the “poor” person than to the “rich” one, thereby revealing a sense of class superiority. Would it be too reckless to suggest that what was displayed in the traffic experiment is the same impulse underlying the public’s disdain for groups like janitors, housekeepers, nursing assistants and sanitation workers when they seek higher wages? When people see striking janitors, who earn $9.50 per hour, marching in front of an office building, carrying placards and demanding $11 per hour, they don’t automatically root for these workers. Alas, rooting for the underdog isn’t an instinct; it’s an acquired trait. And for people who haven’t acquired it, the public spectacle of unskilled workers demanding pay raises is going to be annoying or disturbing. (Incidentally, 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, at the higher rate of $11 per hour, computes to $22,880 annually.) Yet, confoundingly, when these same people read about hedge fund managers making, literally, hundreds of millions of dollars in a single year through the exotic manipulation of currency, they don’t so much as bat an eye. While people are willing to give every consideration to an investment banker whose job they don’t fully grasp, they become harshly judgmental when it comes to people who work for a living—and who do something they can actually understand, such as mop office floors. The reason the University of California won’t offer a higher wage to these AFSCME members isn’t because the UC system can’t afford it. The reason they won’t offer a higher wage is because they don’t believe these workers and their families deserve it. Put another way, in the view of the University of California these workers and their families deserve to remain poor. And if that ain’t class warfare, what is it? David Macaray, a Los Angeles playwright and writer, was a former labor union rep. He can be reached at dmacaray@earthlink.net
|
Now Available from CounterPunch Books!
RED STATE REBELS:
Edited by  Buy End Times Now! CounterPunch Books of the Crossroads: HOW THE IRISH INVENTED SLANG By Daniel Cassidy AMERICAN BOOK AWARD!  Click Here to Buy! Click Here for Dates & Venues Michael Neumann's Devastating Rebuttal of Alan Dershowitz  Click Here to Buy! Saul Landau's Bush and Botox World with a Foreword by Gore Vidal  Click Here to Order! How They Made a Killing on the War on Terrorism     
    
 
 Humanitarian Imperialism By Jean Bricmont               CITY BEAUTIFUL By Tennessee Reed                   |
