Here you will find some very wise words and a challenge.
Thankfully, this generation’s abolitionists are beginning to take a stand and create change.
Not ask for change, create change.
And they need your support. They need you.
Now.
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Which Side Are You On?
Click here to access article by Mickey Z. from World News Trust.
Here you will find some very wise words and a challenge.
Here you will find some very wise words and a challenge.
Commonist Tendencies: Mutual Aid Beyond Communism (New Book)
Click here to access a book description (original source is from Amazon) posted on Infoshop News of this recently published book by author Jeff Shantz.
The author presents what is probably a new concept to most people--commonism. It is a world view within which he believes offers the possibility of providing "infrastructures of resistance" that can seriously challenge capitalism. In fact, he states that commoning is already happening, but whether such experiments can result in effective "infrastructures of resistance" is much too early to tell.
The author presents what is probably a new concept to most people--commonism. It is a world view within which he believes offers the possibility of providing "infrastructures of resistance" that can seriously challenge capitalism. In fact, he states that commoning is already happening, but whether such experiments can result in effective "infrastructures of resistance" is much too early to tell.
As capitalist societies in the twenty-first century move from crisis to crisis, oppositional movements in the global North have been somewhat stymied (despite ephemeral manifestations like Occupy), confronted with the pressing need to develop organizational infrastructures that might prepare the ground for a real, and durable, alternative. More and more, the need to develop shared infrastructural resources — what Shantz terms “infrastructures of resistance” — becomes apparent.
Bloodbath on the Nile
Click here to access article by Esam Al-Amin from CounterPunch.
I offer this post because the author reports details that I've not seen elsewhere on the tragic and dramatic events that are still unfolding in Egypt. He captures their profound significance and that they will likely have a major influence on future political events in the region. Where he falls down, in my opinion, is his weak liberal-democratic analysis of the event that is typically found in the Western world's progressive-liberal media. He doesn't seem to understand that the Egyptian military regime is an authoritarian monster created by the capitalist Empire and must be seen in the context of the dynamics of that Empire.
I offer this post because the author reports details that I've not seen elsewhere on the tragic and dramatic events that are still unfolding in Egypt. He captures their profound significance and that they will likely have a major influence on future political events in the region. Where he falls down, in my opinion, is his weak liberal-democratic analysis of the event that is typically found in the Western world's progressive-liberal media. He doesn't seem to understand that the Egyptian military regime is an authoritarian monster created by the capitalist Empire and must be seen in the context of the dynamics of that Empire.
Maduro Demands Greater Government Support for Venezuela’s Communes
Click here to access article by Ewan Robertson from Venezuelanalysis.
I wondered about what direction the government would take under Maduro, and this report is encouraging in that it suggests a direction toward strengthening elements of bottom-up political structures that were created as the foundation of the pretentious name of "socialism for the 21st century".
Under Chavez reforms to the existing capitalist system stalled as illustrated by the government's primary use of communal councils as merely political support for Chavez's political party. As such it was closer to "clientelism", a populist form of government found occasionally in Latin America, than it was to any form of genuine socialism. But, time will tell whether Maduro is very serious about this.
I wondered about what direction the government would take under Maduro, and this report is encouraging in that it suggests a direction toward strengthening elements of bottom-up political structures that were created as the foundation of the pretentious name of "socialism for the 21st century".
Under Chavez reforms to the existing capitalist system stalled as illustrated by the government's primary use of communal councils as merely political support for Chavez's political party. As such it was closer to "clientelism", a populist form of government found occasionally in Latin America, than it was to any form of genuine socialism. But, time will tell whether Maduro is very serious about this.
“We’ve inherited the structure of the bourgeois government, the bourgeois state. We need to erect a new structure,” the president declared.
Part of this restructuring will be a greater focus by ministries on mechanisms of grassroots power. “We call ourselves ministries of people’s power. We have to be ministries of peoples power,” Maduro exhorted.
Friday, August 16, 2013
Pirate Bay decade: Fighting censorship, copyright monopolies bit by bit
Click here to access article by Rick Falkvinge from RT.
This article not only provides an excellent historical perspective on the use of digital technology to share and collaborate, but also an inspiring account of a contemporary player in the growing radical internet culture to evade centralized control from either governments or corporations.
The success of The Pirate Bay operation to evade control by capitalist authorities uses digital technology to promote decentralization.
This article not only provides an excellent historical perspective on the use of digital technology to share and collaborate, but also an inspiring account of a contemporary player in the growing radical internet culture to evade centralized control from either governments or corporations.
The success of The Pirate Bay operation to evade control by capitalist authorities uses digital technology to promote decentralization.
One, The Pirate Bay has shown that no laws in the world can shut down a service that is wanted by hundreds of millions of people; two, governmental censorship is as universally hated as it is easily circumvented; three, services keep decentralizing to protect themselves from legal assault; and four, the sharing of culture and knowledge in violation of the copyright monopoly keeps growing by the day from an already-sky-high level.
I think there are very important lessons to learn from these four observations. If onlyThis digital model might serve as an excellent metaphor for decentralized methods of organizing an inclusive democratic model that builds power from below. In Spain many activists appear to be forming decentralized forms of organization: see this article entitled "Spain's Micro-Utopias: The 15M Movement and its Prototypes".politicians[radical activists] were willing to learn half of them, we'd all be much better off.
Report shows that most Egyptians oppose Morsi's removal
Click here to access article from Middle East Monitor.
This is an illustration of the workings of empire, specifically, of the US Empire. In spite of US officials' performances in the media of condemnation of the brutal crackdown by the Egyptian army against the Muslim Brotherhood protestors, it is clear that the tragic events now occurring in Egypt and Syria are primarily under the direction of the US and its sidekick, Israel, and to serve their interests of domination throughout this oil-rich region.
As M K Bhadrakumar wrote today in Asia Times Online (with some modifications):
A report from the Egyptian Centre for Media Studies and Public Opinion has revealed that most people in Egypt are opposed to the removal of President Mohamed Morsi from office. Only 26 per cent support the coup, with 63 per cent against it; 11 per cent of respondents did not give an opinion.I think that this is a major piece of evidence that the takeover of the government by the Egyptian military was serving the interests of the Egyptian military command (SCAF) whose primary sponsor is the US and their crony Medieval allies among the Gulf Cooperation Council. Clearly it was not done for ordinary Egyptians or for even national interests. The Egyptian army is serving the interests of the Empire.
This is an illustration of the workings of empire, specifically, of the US Empire. In spite of US officials' performances in the media of condemnation of the brutal crackdown by the Egyptian army against the Muslim Brotherhood protestors, it is clear that the tragic events now occurring in Egypt and Syria are primarily under the direction of the US and its sidekick, Israel, and to serve their interests of domination throughout this oil-rich region.
As M K Bhadrakumar wrote today in Asia Times Online (with some modifications):
The dilemma facing[While] the Obama administration continuesto be that it is under compulsionto appear to support democracy in Egypt and live up to its own rhetoric to be on the "right side of history"but on the other handit is under even bigger compulsion to safeguard the US' strategic interests in Egypt, primarily in terms of the junta pursuing policies that serve Israel's security interests and preserving the 1979 peace treaty as well as continuing to provide privileged access to the Suez Canal for the US Navy that is critical at the operational level to the perpetuation of Washington's military dominance of the Middle East and its regional hegemony.
Haiti “Reconstruction”: Luxury Hotels, Sweat Shops and Deregulation for the Foreign Corporate Elite
Click here to access article by Julie Lévesque from Global Research.
This article provides one more illustration of capitalist players acting like predators on others who are desperate due to a misfortune. Many of Haiti's population remain in dire conditions from their devastating earthquake of 2010. After much hoopla in US media about their plight and massive donor campaigns to help out the victims, what has mostly happened, and very quietly, is that capitalist predators have moved in to take advantage of the most desperate workers on the earth. The author provides all the depressing details.
This article provides one more illustration of capitalist players acting like predators on others who are desperate due to a misfortune. Many of Haiti's population remain in dire conditions from their devastating earthquake of 2010. After much hoopla in US media about their plight and massive donor campaigns to help out the victims, what has mostly happened, and very quietly, is that capitalist predators have moved in to take advantage of the most desperate workers on the earth. The author provides all the depressing details.
The international community is not helping rebuild Haiti. It is improving colonialism in Haiti with its companies, using the country’s population as slave labor to boost profits. The startling difference between the slow reconstruction efforts for Haitians as opposed to the rapid rise of the luxury hotel industry shows that in Haiti, the foreigners come first. Sadly white supremacy and slavery are still alive and well in the “pearl of the Antilles”.
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Memory and the Radical Imagination
Click here to access the 51:41m audio interview with Max Haiven, an assistant professor of cultural studies in Nova Scotia from radio station KPFA, Berkeley, California.
(The following commentary was slightly modified at 9:40 PM PST.)
I could really relate to this discussion of the "radical imagination" because I experienced it in the 1960s and early 70s. It was such an exciting time. We questioned everything, and felt that everything was possible. By contrast this period we are now living seems so false, so dead, so pitiful. (Whenever I see small children in my neighborhood, I worry for their future.) This wonderful experience of my youth has haunted me ever since, and I always yearn for this kind of experience to return to the US in the form of a vibrant subculture that can challenge the domination imposed on all of us by the neoliberal ruling class. It's not clear to me how much this sort of imagining is happening now. There are definitely signs of hope that are inspired by people like Bradley Manning, Julian Assange, and Edward Snowden. But we need far more people to question and to act, now more than ever before.
Because the "radical imagination" and our memory of things past are such major threats to the ruling establishment, they have made an enormous effort to kill them through their control of major indoctrination agencies--education, media, and entertainment. This is so because as stated by Professor Haiven, "the way we remember the past always shapes what we think is possible in the future". The capitalist ruling class doesn't want us to believe that our future can be anything other than this neoliberal nightmare.
I highly recommend listening to this interview.
P.S. Important mention is made of the book entitled May '68 and Its Afterlives by Kristin Ross.
 |
| Max Haiven |
I could really relate to this discussion of the "radical imagination" because I experienced it in the 1960s and early 70s. It was such an exciting time. We questioned everything, and felt that everything was possible. By contrast this period we are now living seems so false, so dead, so pitiful. (Whenever I see small children in my neighborhood, I worry for their future.) This wonderful experience of my youth has haunted me ever since, and I always yearn for this kind of experience to return to the US in the form of a vibrant subculture that can challenge the domination imposed on all of us by the neoliberal ruling class. It's not clear to me how much this sort of imagining is happening now. There are definitely signs of hope that are inspired by people like Bradley Manning, Julian Assange, and Edward Snowden. But we need far more people to question and to act, now more than ever before.
Because the "radical imagination" and our memory of things past are such major threats to the ruling establishment, they have made an enormous effort to kill them through their control of major indoctrination agencies--education, media, and entertainment. This is so because as stated by Professor Haiven, "the way we remember the past always shapes what we think is possible in the future". The capitalist ruling class doesn't want us to believe that our future can be anything other than this neoliberal nightmare.
I highly recommend listening to this interview.
P.S. Important mention is made of the book entitled May '68 and Its Afterlives by Kristin Ross.
Egypt’s Revolutionary Socialists Condemn Violent Dispersal of pro-Morsi Sit-ins
Click here to access article by Egypt’s Revolutionary Socialist group posted on Muftah.
Referring to the current brutal crackdown on Morsi supporters in Egypt, the authors write:
Referring to the current brutal crackdown on Morsi supporters in Egypt, the authors write:
It is a bloody dress rehearsal for the liquidation of the Egyptian revolution. It aims to break the revolutionary will of all Egyptians who are claiming their rights, whether workers, poor, or revolutionary youth, by creating a state of terror.Looking at this tragic current Egyptian crisis from an historical perspective, I see it as another test for working people to see if they can rise above ruling class efforts to divide them into classes, nationalities, genders, religions, sects, young versus old, etc, which has always led to their defeat. This statement clearly reflects a sane response to the crisis. Will the Egyptians be the first in the era of civilization to embrace this profound insight and successfully take collaborative actions against their true oppressors in order to create an inclusive, classless, real democracy? Stay tuned, better yet, stay active.
Probably Possible: A Simple Poem for a Big Problem
Click here to access the complete, wonderful poem by Andrew Gavin Marshall from his blog.
I would like to weave you a tale of modern humanity,
That great and wonderful monstrous calamity,
With its global institutionalization of insanity,
Aiming for maximization of profitability,
Control over everything, and everything as property,
....
Heat Waves to Become Much More Frequent and Severe
(Note: the report uses the term "sigma", or standard deviation, which is a statistical measure of variance from average.)
Climate change is set to trigger more frequent and severe heat waves in the next 30 years regardless of the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) we emit into the atmosphere, a new study has shown.This means that if we were to cut off all carbon emissions immediately, these effects would still occur. This is because of the delay time period: the time required for carbon emissions from the surface of the Earth to rise to the layer of the atmosphere that creates the greenhouse effect.
A major dilemma for humans is their nature to disregard distant time effects in preference for near term satisfaction. Capitalists' time frames are only one calendar quarter, or three months, because that is the time frame for the issuance of corporate quarterly reports which measure profitability. Other people's time frames vary considerably. Because capitalists are the ruling class in nearly all current societies, they impose their values and norms on many of the rest of us. But worst of all, they make the major decisions about when, where, and how wealth that is created by us is directed or invested; and their highest value is profitability which, in turn, translates into power for the major players in the system of capitalism. Other considerations--damage to the environment, exploitation of workers, deleterious effects to the economy, wars, etc--are all secondary. It looks to me like we're screwed.
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
The whistleblowers at the frontier of digital liberation
Click here to access article by Nozomi Hayase from Reflections on a Revolution.
This is the best article I've seen thus far to capture what is at stake in the worldwide civil war that is beginning to take shape with the persecution of internet activists. On one side of these preliminary battles we see heroes like Manning, Assange, and Snowden standing up to the empire builders on behalf of the liberating possibilities of the internet.
This is the best article I've seen thus far to capture what is at stake in the worldwide civil war that is beginning to take shape with the persecution of internet activists. On one side of these preliminary battles we see heroes like Manning, Assange, and Snowden standing up to the empire builders on behalf of the liberating possibilities of the internet.
The common struggles of these young people bind them together, but the true mark of this generation is a shared vision of a world with virtues like sharing, love and creativity that have been suppressed in the generalized trend towards extreme capitalism within the neoliberal corporate-state. Along with their enormous courage, the digital dissenters reveal a strong sense of compassion and trust in ordinary people. In the online chat logs, Manning showed his extraordinary empathy for others when he wrote that “I can’t separate myself from others… I feel connected to everybody, like they were distant family.”And on the other side, are the capitalist authoritarians who are intent upon extending their empires of oppression and control in their mad pursuit of power and wealth.
For those in power, the idealism of this generation and their conscience is an existential threat to their order. The ‘crime’ of aiding the enemy here is really the act of aiding democracy and acting for the public good. In the end, it has shown that we the public have become the enemy of the state.The author sees a generation of participants in the internet culture who have been socialized in a different way from those of the older generations. These young people have seen and experienced the potential of the internet to liberate people and bring them together. They have also seen the other side: the nightmarish potential that internet technology has to oppress people by self-serving authoritarian regimes. The battle is only now beginning, but the younger generation brings all of us hope for a better future.
What happens when mass murderers are the victors who write history?
Click here to access article by Pete Dolack from his blog Systemic Disorder (Britain).
The author reports on a film that has been recently released to Western audiences that revives a colossal crime against humanity (1965 Indonesian coup against Sukarno) engineered in large part by US agents to secure Indonesia for capitalist investments and free from "communist" interference. US media largely succeeded in keeping it out of the news; hence, most Americans are unaware of this massive crime committed by agents of their ruling class.
For a brief real history of this sordid episode, read this piece based on a British historian's investigations. For a longer exposé read Indonesia: the Second Greatest Crime of the Century by Deirdre Griswold.
And from a website promoting the film in the US:
The author reports on a film that has been recently released to Western audiences that revives a colossal crime against humanity (1965 Indonesian coup against Sukarno) engineered in large part by US agents to secure Indonesia for capitalist investments and free from "communist" interference. US media largely succeeded in keeping it out of the news; hence, most Americans are unaware of this massive crime committed by agents of their ruling class.
For a brief real history of this sordid episode, read this piece based on a British historian's investigations. For a longer exposé read Indonesia: the Second Greatest Crime of the Century by Deirdre Griswold.
And from a website promoting the film in the US:
In Theaters Now
"A MASTERPIECE... & A MAJOR ACHIEVEMENT." –The Village VoiceThe film is now being shown across the US. Check out the schedule for its presentation in your area here.
In this chilling and inventive documentary, executive produced by Errol Morris (The Fog Of War) and Werner Herzog (Grizzly Man), the filmmakers examine a country where death squad leaders are celebrated as heroes, challenging them to reenact their real-life mass-killings in the style of the American movies they love. The hallucinatory result is a cinematic fever dream, an unsettling journey deep into the imaginations of mass-murderers and the shockingly banal regime of corruption and impunity they inhabit. Shaking audiences at the 2012 Toronto and Telluride Film Festivals and winning an Audience Award at the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival, The Act of Killing is an unprecedented film that, according to The Los Angeles Times, "could well change how you view the documentary form."
Saudi prince defects: 'Brutality, oppression as govt scared of Arab revolts'
Click here to access article with two videos from RT.
If it's true that you can judge a person by the friends they keep, and if one can apply this to nations, or rather, to national ruling classes, then the US ruling class does not measure up very well. However, given the crimes committed by agents of our ruling class particularly against foreign countries, maybe "birds of feather flock together".
If it's true that you can judge a person by the friends they keep, and if one can apply this to nations, or rather, to national ruling classes, then the US ruling class does not measure up very well. However, given the crimes committed by agents of our ruling class particularly against foreign countries, maybe "birds of feather flock together".
“There is no independent judiciary, as both police and the prosecutor’s office are accountable to the Interior Ministry. This ministry’s officials investigate ‘crimes’ (they call them crimes), related to freedom of speech. So they fabricate evidence, don’t allow people to have attorneys”, the prince told RT Arabic. “Even if a court rules to release such a ‘criminal’, the Ministry of Interior keeps him in prison, even though there is a court order to release him. There have even been killings! Killings! And as for the external opposition, Saudi intelligence forces find these people abroad! There is no safety inside or outside the country.”
“My generation has stood up and said, 'No more'”
Click here to access article by Aaron Lakoff from Vancouver Media Co-op (Canada).
Indigenous peoples in British Columbia are organizing actions against the proposed Northern Gateway pipelines through their territories.
Indigenous peoples in British Columbia are organizing actions against the proposed Northern Gateway pipelines through their territories.
...major oil companies such as Chevron and Exxon are seeking to connect the Alberta tar sands to the Pacific coast for export. The Unis'tot'en claim that these pipelines, requiring clear cutting and prone to leaks and spills, would threaten watersheds, forests, rivers, and salmon spawning channels—source of their primary staple food.(Also, listen to this 6:29m audio report.)
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
The Politics of Cruelty: America’s Descent Into Madness
Click here to access article by Henry Giroux from CounterPunch.
I have admired this very articulate educator and his periodic soundings of alarm about the deteriorating quality of American life, and have occasionally posted his articles. However, I must confess that I now have run out of patience with the liberal limitations of his views. He poses as being more radical than other liberals because he claims that they are not as concerned as he is.
But he and his fellow liberals can only lament about what is the natural evolution of capitalism into neoliberalism. He condemns the themes of the current ruling class dominated by neoliberals and neoconservatives. It is clear that what he only wants is a return to a supposedly kinder, gentler capitalism of earlier periods expressed in the deceptive language of the "social contract" as so well expressed in this Israeli source.
However this "contract" was only a temporary expedient. Now that the ruling capitalist class has overwhelming control of every major institution--media, education, entertainment, government, military, etc, they don't fear us anymore. They are drunk on the vast power they have accumulated. Thus, they are reneging on the contract they made with our ancestors. Giroux like all liberals and most progressives suffer from the delusion that the contract can be renewed.
I have admired this very articulate educator and his periodic soundings of alarm about the deteriorating quality of American life, and have occasionally posted his articles. However, I must confess that I now have run out of patience with the liberal limitations of his views. He poses as being more radical than other liberals because he claims that they are not as concerned as he is.
The general response from progressives and liberals does not take seriously the ways in which the extreme right-wing articulates its increasingly pervasive and destructive view of American society.However, I think it is long past the point where we should be exclaiming over the state of American society. It is no longer sufficient to wallow in self-pity for the awful conditions we now find ourselves in. Serious intellectuals should now be brave enough to see what needs to be done in spite of threats to their economic well-being, threats that everyone experiences who stands in the way of the capitalist class and its obsession with accumulating more wealth and power regardless of the social and ecological consequences.
But he and his fellow liberals can only lament about what is the natural evolution of capitalism into neoliberalism. He condemns the themes of the current ruling class dominated by neoliberals and neoconservatives. It is clear that what he only wants is a return to a supposedly kinder, gentler capitalism of earlier periods expressed in the deceptive language of the "social contract" as so well expressed in this Israeli source.
One of the basic assumptions...is that democratic society is based on a tacit social contract between the state and its citizens, according to which, in return for the citizens abiding by the state’s laws and agreeing to fulfill their duties to it (like paying taxes and serving in the armed forces), the state has an obligation to guarantee and actively promote individual and collective social security, social justice and effective forms of social solidarity. Besides direct assistance to the weaker parts of the population, the state is expected to ensure that its middle classes are able to obtain affordable housing and maintain a decent standard of living.This is the bargain that early capitalists made with workers to get them to submit to their rule. All you need to do is to translate their typical usage of the code word "democratic" into capitalist and "state", and finally into their class rule. Now the meaning of this contract is revealed.
However this "contract" was only a temporary expedient. Now that the ruling capitalist class has overwhelming control of every major institution--media, education, entertainment, government, military, etc, they don't fear us anymore. They are drunk on the vast power they have accumulated. Thus, they are reneging on the contract they made with our ancestors. Giroux like all liberals and most progressives suffer from the delusion that the contract can be renewed.
Instead of promoting a society that embraces a robust and inclusive social contract, they legitimate a social order that shreds social protections, privileges the wealthy and powerful and inflicts a maddening and devastating set of injuries upon workers, women, poor minorities, immigrants, and low- and middle-class young people.It is a delusion, first of all, because of the current capitalist class's hopeless addiction to power, and secondly because the contract never benefited ordinary workers--only middle class workers (managers, professionals, highly skilled workers) who the ruling capitalist class co-opted. With the advances in technology this class is now also being threatened with being dumped on the scrapheap of surplus labor. The only real solution is to place the capitalist system itself on the scrapheap of history.
From Stop & Frisk to Ecocide: Revolution or Reform?
Click here to access article by Mickey Z. from World News Trust.
This author clearly understands the vast difference between revolutionary and reformist types of political action, and the necessity of the former if real change is going to happen.
This author clearly understands the vast difference between revolutionary and reformist types of political action, and the necessity of the former if real change is going to happen.
Clashes erupt in Cairo
Click here to access article posted on Al Akhbar via Reuters.
At times I really admire the craftiness of Empire directors as illustrated currently in Egypt. It seems reasonable to me to believe that the Egyptian military establishment (SCAF), acting under the advice of Empire directors, clamped down brutally on the Muslim Brotherhood's regime and its followers in order to divide ordinary Egyptians into two warring camps. It appears they have succeeded--at least for now.
At times I really admire the craftiness of Empire directors as illustrated currently in Egypt. It seems reasonable to me to believe that the Egyptian military establishment (SCAF), acting under the advice of Empire directors, clamped down brutally on the Muslim Brotherhood's regime and its followers in order to divide ordinary Egyptians into two warring camps. It appears they have succeeded--at least for now.
Western – Saudi “Kurdistan” Strategy Foiled by Syrian and Iraqi Army
Click here to access article by Christof Lehmann from nsnbc.
It appears that the Empire's divide and conquer strategy is being applied in many areas of the Middle East according to this article.
It appears that the Empire's divide and conquer strategy is being applied in many areas of the Middle East according to this article.
The general strategy of the foreign-backed insurgencies has according to several analysts as well as regional leaders, shifted towards the creation of civil wars throughout the region, including Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Egypt. Last week, the Iranian head of state, Ayatollah Khamenei warned the people of the region against foreign-backed attempts to create civil wars, and he especially called on the people of Iraq and of Egypt to be vigilant.
Cuba: sanctions, race and the revolution
Click here to access article by Dominic Alexander from CounterFire (Britain).
By reading three recent books on Cuban society and its revolution, the author arrives at an excellent evaluation of what the Cuban revolution has and has not accomplished. He expertly uses a class-based and anti-imperialist perspective to illuminate what has occurred since the revolution in Cuba and to arrive at this sound conclusion:
By reading three recent books on Cuban society and its revolution, the author arrives at an excellent evaluation of what the Cuban revolution has and has not accomplished. He expertly uses a class-based and anti-imperialist perspective to illuminate what has occurred since the revolution in Cuba and to arrive at this sound conclusion:
The Cuban revolution remains an important example of a revolution against a form of neo-colonial domination, which occurred at the same time as the wave of national liberation struggles against European colonialism. Cuban solidarity with such struggles has given the state considerable credit, even despite the observed racial imbalance in the Cuban revolutionary leadership. Thus while the Cuban state can be recognised as state capitalist, the country’s right to autonomy, and freedom from aggression from what is still the leading imperial power in the world, needs to be defended, and its courageous resistance to domination recognised.However, I think one factor is missing in his analysis: the influence of the Soviet model that was hastily grasped like a life preserver by the Cuban leadership who understandably feared drowning in the flood of the severe economic, subversive, and military threats pouring from US imperial directors. It is a miracle that this country survived at all. Without Soviet aid and support during a very crucial period it is doubtful that they could have survived as an independent nation.
Monday, August 12, 2013
Pakistan to become the new ‘major terror ground’ in just six months
Click here to access article by F. William Engdahl from RT.
His prediction seems very plausible given these developments in Pakistan and the Asian "Pivot" announced by the Obama administration. Of course, this is based on the assumption that Empire directors prefer to use terrorists to destabilize countries that pose any kind of threat to their interests. This assumption seem reasonable to me given their history in Columbia, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, and who knows how many other places.
Developing Pakistan-China ties which can drastically change the economic map of the region are threatened by Pakistani separatism, which might suddenly transform into another ‘terror ground.’
China is building key roads in Pakistan. It will follow this with a high-speed railway track.
His prediction seems very plausible given these developments in Pakistan and the Asian "Pivot" announced by the Obama administration. Of course, this is based on the assumption that Empire directors prefer to use terrorists to destabilize countries that pose any kind of threat to their interests. This assumption seem reasonable to me given their history in Columbia, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, and who knows how many other places.
Developing Pakistan-China ties which can drastically change the economic map of the region are threatened by Pakistani separatism, which might suddenly transform into another ‘terror ground.’
China is building key roads in Pakistan. It will follow this with a high-speed railway track.
Four Ways to Escape the NSA Dragnet
Click here to access article by Nick Pearson from Yes!.
...while the debate over PRISM continues to rage, the question remains: What can you do to take better control of your personal information and reclaim your online privacy? Staying completely anonymous online is incredibly difficult, but there are numerous tools and best practices you can use to gain a large degree of control over who has access to your personal data.
Shale Is A Pipedream Sold To Greater Fools
Click here to access article by Raúl Ilargi Meijer from The Automatic Earth.
It seems that perhaps the main reason why people believe the US has an energy revolution and/or independence on its hand is that they don't understand and/or care what for instance an annual 40% depletion rate means. True, more and more wells are drilled, but the pattern is that they deliver even less and deplete even faster than earlier wells (oil engineers will always go for the best stuff first, and they're good, they know where the best stuff is).
It seems that perhaps the main reason why people believe the US has an energy revolution and/or independence on its hand is that they don't understand and/or care what for instance an annual 40% depletion rate means. True, more and more wells are drilled, but the pattern is that they deliver even less and deplete even faster than earlier wells (oil engineers will always go for the best stuff first, and they're good, they know where the best stuff is).
Arctic Researcher: Methane Releases From Permafrost Signal "Urgent and Imminent" Climate Crisis
Click here to access article by Steve Rushton from Occupy.
“The rapid melting of the Siberian and Canadian-Alaskan permafrost is probably the most significant event in the region. It means millions, if not billions of new methane tons will be released into the atmosphere, initiating an uncontrolled feedback mechanism."
I also recommend The Real News interview with Patrick Bond, a South African professor, who give us a concise overview of the threats posed by Arctic sea melt which is supported by another recent study, and the widespread resistance to fossil fuel production and transmission that is currently occurring across the globe.
“The rapid melting of the Siberian and Canadian-Alaskan permafrost is probably the most significant event in the region. It means millions, if not billions of new methane tons will be released into the atmosphere, initiating an uncontrolled feedback mechanism."
I also recommend The Real News interview with Patrick Bond, a South African professor, who give us a concise overview of the threats posed by Arctic sea melt which is supported by another recent study, and the widespread resistance to fossil fuel production and transmission that is currently occurring across the globe.
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Anti-U.S. Hostility Ramps Up in Egypt
Click here to access article by Maria Abi-Habib in Cairo and Adam Entous from the Wall Street Journal.
It's clear the Empire directors are worried about their strategic colony in the Middle East. It seems that many Egyptians are learning who really rules their country and they don't like it. Still, the Empire controls their all powerful military establishment. On the other hand, who knows how long Egyptian military leaders can control their troops?
But not to worry--their suspicions about the US are just conspiracy theories and "years of state-cultivated xenophobia".
It's clear the Empire directors are worried about their strategic colony in the Middle East. It seems that many Egyptians are learning who really rules their country and they don't like it. Still, the Empire controls their all powerful military establishment. On the other hand, who knows how long Egyptian military leaders can control their troops?
But not to worry--their suspicions about the US are just conspiracy theories and "years of state-cultivated xenophobia".
Debt, austerity, devastation: it’s Europe’s turn
Click here to access article by Susan George from New Internationalist.
Unfortunately, the views expressed by this author are highly representative of "progressive" critics of austerity policies now threatening North American and European workers. They want to turn back the clock from neoliberalism to national oriented capitalism. You know...the kind of capitalism Europeans enjoyed under their former "social democratic" governments. This, of course, was a temporary fix used by capitalist directors after WWII to pacify European populations, who were entertaining socialist ideas, into accepting a milder version of capitalism.
She correctly reviews the history of post-war capitalism as having moved from the exploitation of third world countries through debt-driven policies of international bankers to similar treatments now being imposed on European countries as well as North America. She doesn't seem to understand that capitalism has simply, and inexorably, gone global. Thus, she, like her fellow "progressives", can only advocate the futile idea of turning back the clock on the natural development of capitalism.
Unfortunately, the views expressed by this author are highly representative of "progressive" critics of austerity policies now threatening North American and European workers. They want to turn back the clock from neoliberalism to national oriented capitalism. You know...the kind of capitalism Europeans enjoyed under their former "social democratic" governments. This, of course, was a temporary fix used by capitalist directors after WWII to pacify European populations, who were entertaining socialist ideas, into accepting a milder version of capitalism.
She correctly reviews the history of post-war capitalism as having moved from the exploitation of third world countries through debt-driven policies of international bankers to similar treatments now being imposed on European countries as well as North America. She doesn't seem to understand that capitalism has simply, and inexorably, gone global. Thus, she, like her fellow "progressives", can only advocate the futile idea of turning back the clock on the natural development of capitalism.
What the one per cent has imposed, the 99 per cent can reverse. But we’d better be quick about it: time is running out.
When there is no terrorism, there is terrorism of wars
Click here to access article by Mahboob A. Khawaja, PhD from Uncommon Thought Journal.
The US and its allies invaded Iraq and Afghanistan to occupy and exploit the oil and gas resources and the "war on terror" has crossed over the borders into Pakistan. None of these nations had the capability to threaten the US military supremacy or its Europeans allies. Poverty-stricken people and the US AID recipient nations cannot threaten the Master. So, then why this War on Terrorism?The author attempts to provide answers to this basic question. Here is one answer:
When nations and leaders have absolute power, they think in one way, not with sense of rationality but with arrogance and complete disregard to the interests of the mankind. The truth stands on its own that al-Qaeda and its splinter groups were established by the CIA to fight against the former USSR in Afghanistan and other Jihadi groups to defeat the spread of communism moving on to the Middle East oil enriched region. These groups have no global vitality or worthwhile operational capacity except on paper and except when the US authorities want them to act to justify its major warmongering in the region. Often, these dying entities are financed and equipped by the CIA to remain afloat. War is life to American economy and official psyche or else America could be dysfunctional.
US Wars, Dehumanization, and Me
Click here to access article by Brandon Toy from Information Clearing House. (Note: I departed from my usual practice of posting articles from their original sources because this website offered more intelligent comments following the article.)
This article is particularly relevant given that veteran suicide rates are skyrocketing even though military operations in Afghanistan are winding down and have ceased altogether in Iraq. Of course, the same thing happened during and after the Vietnam War with more veteran deaths caused by suicide than were killed in the war. But is it really so surprising?
First of all, the indoctrination that children receive in their schools, media, and entertainment industry are all crafted by the ruling class who have an interest in preparing children for war and the adults in supporting their wars. They falsify history, glorify their wars, refer to soldiers as "warriors", and encourage mindless obedience to authority figures. Then they are ready for induction into military training (read "Structured Cruelty: Learning to Be a Lean, Mean Killing Machine) where the indoctrination process is completed to make them into mindless killing machines.
This article is particularly relevant given that veteran suicide rates are skyrocketing even though military operations in Afghanistan are winding down and have ceased altogether in Iraq. Of course, the same thing happened during and after the Vietnam War with more veteran deaths caused by suicide than were killed in the war. But is it really so surprising?
First of all, the indoctrination that children receive in their schools, media, and entertainment industry are all crafted by the ruling class who have an interest in preparing children for war and the adults in supporting their wars. They falsify history, glorify their wars, refer to soldiers as "warriors", and encourage mindless obedience to authority figures. Then they are ready for induction into military training (read "Structured Cruelty: Learning to Be a Lean, Mean Killing Machine) where the indoctrination process is completed to make them into mindless killing machines.
The process of dehumanization is central to military training. During Vietnam, the enemy was simply a “gook,” “dink,” or a “slope.” Today, “rag head” and “sand nigger” are the current racist epithets lodged against Arabs and Muslims. After every command, we would scream, “Kill!” But our call for blood took on particular importance during our physical training, when we learned how to fight with pugil sticks (wooden sticks with padded ends), how to run an obstacle course with fixed bayonets, or how to box and engage in hand-to-hand combat. We were told to imagine the “enemy” in all of our combat training, and it was always implied that the “enemy” was of Middle Eastern descent. “When some rag head comes lurking up from behind, you’re gonna give ’em ONE,” barked the training DI. We all howled in unison, “Kill!” Likewise, when we charged toward the dummy on an obstacle course with our fixed bayonets, it was clear to all that the lifeless form was Arab.
A Texan tragedy: ample oil, no water
Click here if you wish to access the source of this 5:50m video in an article by Suzanne Goldenberg from The Guardian.
I turned on the faucet and nothing was there! And we're in the United States, in America, and this should just not happen!
On "Punishing" Russia
Click here to access article by Bernhard from his blog Moon of Alabama.
US corporate media have launched a propaganda blitz against Russia. It seems that they don't measure up to the humanitarian standards of the US. Besides, those Ruskies need to be taught a lesson about disobeying Empire orders (Snowden's extradition)!
US corporate media have launched a propaganda blitz against Russia. It seems that they don't measure up to the humanitarian standards of the US. Besides, those Ruskies need to be taught a lesson about disobeying Empire orders (Snowden's extradition)!
There is a campaign building in the "western" media and by the "western" elite to "punish" Russia for not doing what those elites want it to do.
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