Vol. 54, No. 9, March 8, 2012

Las contradicciones en el capitalismo 12 workers.org March 8, 2012 Vol. 54, No. 9 $1 Widespread uprising calls for U.S. out of Afghanistan By Deirdre Griswold No longer can soothing words from the White House, the State Department or the Pen- MORATORIUM tagon cover up the intolerable brutality of the U.S.-NATO war of occupation in Afghanistan. ON FORECLOSURES Every attempt by the politicians and mili- WORKING WOMEN’S tary commanders of these imperialist pow- • Detroit conference March 31 ers to justify the war is being shattered by a HISTORY MONTH massive uprising of the Afghan people, who • Chicago & Milwaukee are not only marching and loudly demanding 100 years since “U.S. go home!” but putting their lives on the meetings line to do so. ‘Bread & Roses’ strike Starting Feb. 22, huge protests erupted all 5 • NYC study shows plenty over Afghanistan after it became known that of housing 6 troops at Bagram Air Base, the largest U.S. International base in the country, had confiscated copies of the Quran from hundreds of prisoners held Women’s Day there and burned them. Since then, scores of Editorial 10 Afghans have been killed as the foreign occupiers fired on demonstrators. PHILADELPHIA What happened next reveals how utterly hated the occupiers have become after 11 years of war — the longest war in U.S. history. The Pentagon cannot rely on the obedience, much GEORGIA PROTESTS DEMAND less support, of the very troops and police they have been training for years and to whom they SCHOOLS will supposedly “hand over” control of Afghan- ACTIVISTS istan at the end of 2014, according to President Barack Obama’s timetable. IN MOTION Nor can the U.S. rely on the continued par- ticipation of other imperialist countries in • Quitman 10+2 what has been essentially Washington and Wall Street’s war, but one sporting a NATO support rally 3 flag with some 10,000 troops participating from other countries. • Resisting nuclear Explosion of anti-U.S. fury power 3 The grim situation for the imperialists became clear when on Feb. 24, as protests rocked • Taking on AT&T Afghanistan, the dead bodies of a U.S. Air in Atlanta 7 Force lieutenant colonel and an Army major NOT JAILS 8 were discovered in what was considered to be a super-secure room inside the Afghan Ministry WW PHOTO: JOE PIETTE of the Interior. An Afghan intelligence officer, who was believed to have shot them through CALIFORNIA the head, escaped and became an instant hero to the people. LOCKED-OUT WORKERS BATTLE 1% 7 That same day, an off-duty police officer LOCKED-OUT WORKERS BATTLE 1% 7 who joined a protest in Kabul told a reporter, “I will take revenge from the infidels for what they did to our Holy Quran, and I will kill them Continued on page 11 Subscribe to Workers World 4 weeks trial $4 1 year subscription $30 Sign me up for the WWP Supporter Program. For more information: workers.org/supporters/ 212.627.2994 www.workers.org Name __________________________________________ Address _________________________________________ City /State/Zip ____________________________________ Phone ___________________ Email __________________ Workers World Newspaper 55 W. 17th St. #5C, NY, NY 10011 WW PHOTO: TERRI KAY EUROPE IN CRISIS Spain, Portugal, Greece 9 SYRIA & SOMALIA Imperialists plot intervention 11 Page 2 March 8, 2012 workers.org Detroit kids the poorest WORKERS WORLD this week ... Millions of U.S. children In the U.S. Millions of U.S. children live in poverty ..................... 2 live in poverty March supports Quitman 10+2 .............................3 New nuclear construction opposed in Georgia..............3 By Kris Hamel off. Thousands of city workers face wage cuts, layoffs and WWP celebrates Black History in south......................3 Detroit speed ups while dozens of schools are closed and services Behind the life & death of Whitney Houston.................4 for city residents are pared to the bone. Mumia Abu-Jamal on Whitney Houston.....................4 The Kids Count report on child poverty in the United An emergency manager takeover is threatened for the 100th anniversary of Bread & Roses strike ...................5 States was released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation on city because of the fiscal crisis caused by the banks and Student hunger strike demands living wages for workers ...5 Feb. 23. Despite claims in the media and by the govern- their usurious debt servicing. Imposition of an emergen- National conference to demand foreclosure moratorium....6 ment lately that “jobs are being added,” “unemployment cy manager will not improve conditions for the children is down” and “the economy continues to recover,” the or any residents of Detroit. Instead, it will trigger an au- Chicago ghts foreclosures .................................6 situation is extremely bleak for a huge, vulnerable sec- tomatic default by the city, with $400 million due imme- Homelessness found amidst abundant housing.............6 tion of the population. diately to the banks. Meeting takes up struggle to stop foreclosures, evictions ...6 The report used U.S. Census Bureau data and deter- Even prior to the current crisis, the city was already Locked-out country club workers stand strong..............7 mined that the number of children in the U.S. living in hard hit by the racist deindustrialization of the auto in- WWP forum on Black liberation, OWS .......................7 poor communities went up 25 percent from 2000 to dustry, which closed virtually every auto plant in the Mo- Activists ‘occupy’ AT&T to stop layos .......................7 2010. Eight million children lived in poor communities tor City and drove employment, wages and union mem- Seattle port truck drivers end strike, make gains ............7 in 2010, an increase of 1.6 million from 2000. bership sharply downward. Occupy movement challenges prison-industrial complex ...8 Three-quarters of these children had at least one par- Some 1 million industrial jobs were lost in Michigan WWP leaders speak in Los Angeles..........................8 ent working at a job, although at wages insufficient to between 2000 and 2010. Inequality, capitalism and socialist revolution . .10 pull the family out of poverty. A poor community is one where 30 percent or more of the population is living in Michigan’s homeless children Around the world poverty, which means surviving on roughly $22,000 per These job cuts by the auto giants and other corporations, year or less for a family of four. along with the predatory lending of the banks and finan- U.S. out of Afghanistan .....................................1 Of course, it is still a struggle for a family of four — or cial institutions, have created a crisis of survival for tens Greeks struggle against a new colonialism ..................9 any size — to survive on $22,000 in yearly income. Low of thousands in Detroit and many more around the state. Workers, youth hit streets in Spain and Portugal ............9 Some 40,000 people in the state, including an esti- wages or income must purchase housing (rent or mort- Imperialist-backed conferences set stage mated 15,000 children, were recently cut off from wel- gage with required taxes and insurance), food, heat and for intervention in Somalia & Syria . .11 other utilities, transportation, child care, clothing, medi- fare cash assistance. Unemployment benefits in Michi- cal care, tuition and education-related expenses and gan end after just 20 weeks. Editorials other necessities of life. Under capitalism these are com- The report says Michigan’s share of children in high- poverty neighborhoods rose from 8 percent in 2000 to 14 modities to be bought and sold at a profit, instead of guar- International Working Women’s Day .......................10 anteed human rights. percent in 2006-2010. (Associated Press, Feb. 23) There were 341,000 Michigan children in impoverished neigh- Noticias En Español Detroit has worst child poverty borhoods in 2010, about 124,000 more than in 2000, or Las contradicciones en el capitalismo ......................12 According to the report, Detroit has the dismal dis- a 57 percent increase. tinction of having the worst child poverty in the coun- Many of the state’s children are homeless. According to try. A staggering 67 percent of Detroit children live in a four-part series in the Detroit Free Press, “In the 2010- high-poverty neighborhoods, more than in any other of 11 school year, more than 31,000 homeless students at- the largest 50 cities in the U.S. That is 10 percent more tended school — 8,500 more than in the previous school than the next worst city, Cleveland, where 57 percent of year, a 37 percent spike attributed to the weak economy, children live in poor communities. (Detroit News, Feb. 23) loss of jobs and the foreclosure crisis. Overall, the number Workers World Detroit, a majority African-American city, lost 25 per- of homeless students in Michigan has jumped more than 55 West 17 Street cent of its population from 2000 to 2010 due in large mea- 300 percent in the last four years.” (freep.com, Dec. 18) New York, N.Y. 10011 sure to the home foreclosure epidemic caused by the racist, These homeless students and their families live not Phone: 212.627.2994 predatory banks and their sub-prime mortgage schemes just in Detroit, but in its suburbs, and in Flint, Grand E-mail: [email protected] aimed at oppressed communities. Vast sections of the city Rapids and other cities, as well as in small towns and ru- Web: www.workers.org are littered with vacant, abandoned and vandalized homes ral areas all over the state. The “lucky” ones have moved Vol. 54, No. 9 • March 8, 2012 where once-thriving neighborhoods used to be. into cramped quarters with relatives; others live in the Closing date: Feb.

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