Click here to access article by Ismael Hossein-zadeh from OpEd News.
Exotic terms like "quantitative easing" are bandied about endlessly in the media without any clarification of what such terms means. This is done deliberately to keep you ignorant about the crimes being committed by the financial aristocracy.
In an otherwise excellent explanation of the term and how the banks benefit from it, he fails to explain that the banks use these Fed created funds, for which they pay only .25% interest, to buy 5 year Treasury bonds that obligate the government (that's us taxpayers) to pay them 2.5% interest!
Saturday, October 22, 2011
The Iraq War Ain’t Over, No Matter What Obama Says
Click here to access article by Spencer Ackerman from Wired.
While US mainstream media is reporting the "complete withdrawal of US Forces from Iraq", once again, we are being lied to. This article explains:
troops, excuse me, "advisers" into the heart of Africa.
While US mainstream media is reporting the "complete withdrawal of US Forces from Iraq", once again, we are being lied to. This article explains:
But the fact is America’s military efforts in Iraq aren’t coming to an end. They are instead entering a new phase. On January 1, 2012, the State Department will command a hired army of about 5,500 security contractors, all to protect the largest U.S. diplomatic presence anywhere overseas.And, as Glenn Greenwald reports:
...the Obama administration has been working for months to persuade, pressure and cajole Iraq to allow U.S. troops to remain in that country beyond the deadline. The reason they’re being withdrawn isn’t because Obama insisted on this, but because he tried — but failed — to get out of this obligation.But, you need not worry that Obama is becoming some sort of peacenik--he's sending
Without credit card donations, WikiLeaks facing funding crisis
Click here to access article by Mark Seibel from McClatchy Newspapers.
Censorship, like everything else in the West, has been privatized. [from WikiLeaks website]This article requires action instead of commentary.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Gaddafi's Murder and International Law [12:52m video]
Here is Paul Jay's interview with Firoze Manji of Pambazuka News in London that focuses on African social justice issues. He and Paul Jay explore various themes in an attempt to shed light on what the Empire's motivations are for NATO's destabilization of Libya. They end with a hopeful note about the Occupy Wall Street actions going on all over the world.
Has the CIA infiltrated U.S. colleges?
Click here to access article by Amy Nichol Smith from The Monitor (Texas).
The article is about a recently published book entitled, The CIA on Campus: Essays on Academic Freedom and the National Security State, edited by Professor Philip Zwerling of the University of Texas-Pan American in Edinburg, Texas. The book provides evidence to show that the CIA is back once again infiltrating, training agents, influencing courses on university campuses:
The article is about a recently published book entitled, The CIA on Campus: Essays on Academic Freedom and the National Security State, edited by Professor Philip Zwerling of the University of Texas-Pan American in Edinburg, Texas. The book provides evidence to show that the CIA is back once again infiltrating, training agents, influencing courses on university campuses:
I started hearing these stories that not only was there CIA recruitment of students on campus, but in fact, the CIA had a program where they subsidized courses and a degree program that students were able to major in courses that were called … Global Studies, but involved really trying to identify and groom future employees for the CIA.Sibel Edmonds in her blog has provided an audio interview with the professor behind a pay-wall.
‘High-class terrorists running US, UK and France’ [4:10m video]
Click here to access the video and script of this interview from RT (Russia Today) with international financial consultant and Argentine author Adrian Salbuchi.
Salbuchi's incisive view of events in Libya offers a much needed antidote to the nauseating coverage we are getting from US mainstream media that is engaging in an orgy of triumph following Qaddafi's death.
Salbuchi's incisive view of events in Libya offers a much needed antidote to the nauseating coverage we are getting from US mainstream media that is engaging in an orgy of triumph following Qaddafi's death.
The 4 Pyramids of the Extreme Capitalist Ponzi Scheme [9:48m video]
While researching the background of Adrian Salbuchi for the posting above, I found this video from 2009 in which he provides a concise and helpful explanation of how financial capitalism has caused so much havoc in the world.
I am beginning to see a number of capitalist oriented critics across the globe like this one who see the tremendous damage that has been done by financial players ensconced in all the major banking institutions of the world. Such people in the US include people across the political spectrum from libertarian Ron Paul to liberals such as Elizabeth Warren, the popular blogger Yves Smith, the people at the American Monetary Institute, the Roosevelt Institute, and to some extent Paul Krugman.
I identify this group as industrial capitalists, and what they all share in common is the belief that capitalism can be reformed and regulated to serve a healthy economy, and that financial capitalists have corrupted the system. They completely ignore all the exploitation of working people that has occurred over the 300 odd years comprising the history of industrial capitalism.
As I and many others see it, financial capitalism is only the final stage of the logical development of a system that converts everything into a commodity to be controlled by and for the benefit of a few--the (less than) one percent. Financial players in various banking systems have done precisely that with their control over the creation of money.
I am beginning to see a number of capitalist oriented critics across the globe like this one who see the tremendous damage that has been done by financial players ensconced in all the major banking institutions of the world. Such people in the US include people across the political spectrum from libertarian Ron Paul to liberals such as Elizabeth Warren, the popular blogger Yves Smith, the people at the American Monetary Institute, the Roosevelt Institute, and to some extent Paul Krugman.
I identify this group as industrial capitalists, and what they all share in common is the belief that capitalism can be reformed and regulated to serve a healthy economy, and that financial capitalists have corrupted the system. They completely ignore all the exploitation of working people that has occurred over the 300 odd years comprising the history of industrial capitalism.
As I and many others see it, financial capitalism is only the final stage of the logical development of a system that converts everything into a commodity to be controlled by and for the benefit of a few--the (less than) one percent. Financial players in various banking systems have done precisely that with their control over the creation of money.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
What ‘diversity of tactics’ really means for Occupy Wall Street
Click here to access article by Nathan Schneider from Waging Nonviolence.
While recognizing that consensus was not reached about the use of "nonviolence", the author praised the OWS activists for their lack of violence in recent actions which earned them wide sympathy among the general public and decent press coverage. Clearly the author's and this website's bias is unconditionally prohibiting any use of violence either in the form of property destruction or against people, especially authorities.
Consensus among OWS participants was reached concerning "diversity of tactics"; however the author argues, based on what actually happened recently, that this should mean the use of non-violent tactics. Also, he doesn't deal with the messy issue of police attacks on activists and how participants should deal with this.
A good response to such a position is provided by Peter Gelderloos in his book, How Nonviolence Protects the State, in which he writes:
While recognizing that consensus was not reached about the use of "nonviolence", the author praised the OWS activists for their lack of violence in recent actions which earned them wide sympathy among the general public and decent press coverage. Clearly the author's and this website's bias is unconditionally prohibiting any use of violence either in the form of property destruction or against people, especially authorities.
Consensus among OWS participants was reached concerning "diversity of tactics"; however the author argues, based on what actually happened recently, that this should mean the use of non-violent tactics. Also, he doesn't deal with the messy issue of police attacks on activists and how participants should deal with this.
If it is true, as I’ve come to think, that a diversity of tactics has been meaningfully practiced by the occupation movement even while remaining nonviolent, then a definition of the phrase like George Lakey’s is in need of revision. Rather than being merely a license to use violence, respecting a diversity of tactics is in its own right a robust approach to conducting resistance—and one that is arguably all the more powerful when it remains nonviolent.He then shows how the movement in New York City has been rewarded by good press coverage and public support. For people at this website, and the advocates of "non-violence" in general, obtaining positive mainstream press coverage always seems to be a prime consideration when discussing tactics. Others regard "non-violence" as almost a religion, and often cite Gandhi and M L King as saints in this religion. (See this article entitled, "Crunch time for Occupy Wall Street".)
A good response to such a position is provided by Peter Gelderloos in his book, How Nonviolence Protects the State, in which he writes:
The liberation movement in India failed. The British were not forced to quit India, Rather, they chose to transfer territory from direct colonial rule to neocolonial rule. ...The British authored the new constitution and turned power over to handpicked successors. They fanned the flames of religious and ethnic separatism so that India would be divided against itself...[by separating the mostly Muslim population in the north (Pakistan) from mostly Hindus in the rest of India].After citing the important roles of the Black Panthers and Malcolm X in the Civil Rights Movement, he concludes his argument:
...from India to Birmingham, nonviolence failed to sufficiently empower its practitioners, whereas the use of a diversity of tactics got results. Put simply, if a movement is not a threat, it cannot change a system based on centralized coercion and violence, and if that movement does not realize and exercise the power that makes it a threat , it cannot destroy such a system. ...The elite cannot be persuaded by appeals to their conscience. Individuals [among the elite] who do change their minds and find a better morality will be fired, impeached, replaced, recalled, assassinated.I think that OWS activists were correct in affirming only the diversity of tactics while affirming the right of subgroups to initiate independent actions. I think that this issue of tactics will take care of itself because the fundamental values of the movement promote respect for all people and the environment. People grounded in these values will respect the feelings of others, will refuse to use gratuitous violence against people or destroy property belonging to people. The movement will decide when and if their actions should be informed by the quality of coverage provided by ruling class media, and when such considerations are irrelevant.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Seize the Moment! The 99% Declaration, Plan of Action, and Resolution
Naomi Klein exhorts the 99% to seize the moment . . .
And, be sure to check out this major document coming out of the OWS movement:
The99PercentDeclaration
And, be sure to check out this major document coming out of the OWS movement:
The99PercentDeclaration
Bank of America's Socialize the Risk and Reap the Reward Business Model
Click here to access article by Robert Oak from The Economic Populist.
By moving toxic assets, i.e. derivatives, into a FDIC insured subsidiary, gives BoA's Merrill derivative holdings indirect access to the Federal Reserve discount window and also if the bank fails where the derivatives are now located, the FDIC is required to pay depositors through their insurance guarantee. It appears from Bloomberg's report that $53 trillion of BoA's derivatives are being tied into depositors*, which implies the Federal Reserve and the U.S. taxpayer have the potential to be on the hook.This latest bankster crime against the US public is being reported on numerous websites.
'Entire US anti-Iran plot, fabrication' [4:18m video & transcript]
Click here to access interview with Ralph Schoenman from PressTV.
This life-long leftist activist places the recent anti-Iranian fabricated plot regarding the attempted assassination of the Saudi ambassador in the context of Bahrain and its significance for Empire control of the Middle East.
This life-long leftist activist places the recent anti-Iranian fabricated plot regarding the attempted assassination of the Saudi ambassador in the context of Bahrain and its significance for Empire control of the Middle East.
What Every Environmentalist Needs to Know about Capitalism
Click here to access article featuring an interview with Fred Magdoff, coauthor of What Every Environmentalist Needs to Know about Capitalism.
Magdoff explains the extent to which "there is no alternative" thinking has infected even the most independent thinkers preventing real solutions to our growing problems with extreme weather and environmental degradation.
Magdoff explains the extent to which "there is no alternative" thinking has infected even the most independent thinkers preventing real solutions to our growing problems with extreme weather and environmental degradation.
As people talked about the variety of problems facing the earth and humanity I had the feeling that they were constantly “beating around the bush.” So when it was my time to talk, I discarded my notes dealing with ecology and agriculture, and said that I thought a central issue was being ignored. I explained that I was going to speak about “the bush” that I thought everyone was beating around — that is, the capitalist system and how in its very essence it is destructive of the environment. This approach was a real stumbling block for most people there. They were very interesting and innovative people — many would be considered “out of the box” thinkers. But, I realized that they, and those in the environmental movement in general, were unable to think outside of capitalism.It is quite amazing when one really thinks about it: how successful the thought control and propaganda agents of capitalism have been in managing the minds of even the most independent thinkers.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Occupy Wall Street's Consensus Process [8:26m video]
Click here to access video and brief summary from Shareable.
They are beginning the hard work of creating the mechanics of inclusive democracy, developing the process that can create inclusive participation in order to create a sense of empowerment of all people--something which is terribly missing from the present political system, a system that only includes the ruling class consisting of private "owners" of socially produced wealth, a system that excludes everyone else.
The mechanics consist of all sorts of creative devices such as hand signals, placing people on a "stack" to speak to the assembly, repeating what is said so that everyone can hear, setting up working groups, etc. They are creating a whole new mindset--from "me" to "we". Listen to what they are saying:
This mini-doc shows in some detail how the general assembly - the heart of the occupy movement - operates. They make decisions by consensus and anyone can join the assembly. Through this process, the occupy movement models its own radically inclusive political economy and thus demonstrates that it's more than a protest movement.Indeed! I think that what these brave young men and women are attempting to create is nothing less than a complete social and cultural revolution.
They are beginning the hard work of creating the mechanics of inclusive democracy, developing the process that can create inclusive participation in order to create a sense of empowerment of all people--something which is terribly missing from the present political system, a system that only includes the ruling class consisting of private "owners" of socially produced wealth, a system that excludes everyone else.
The mechanics consist of all sorts of creative devices such as hand signals, placing people on a "stack" to speak to the assembly, repeating what is said so that everyone can hear, setting up working groups, etc. They are creating a whole new mindset--from "me" to "we". Listen to what they are saying:
We're all in this together. The only way you keep people involved in a movement like this is you have a process where everyone's voice can be heard.
In our movement it is really important to have our means reflect the ends we want to create.
People come to a consensus meeting in the attitude that I want to make a decision that everyone is comfortable with.
Because I know what it is like to have my viewpoints honored when they are unpopular, I rejoice in the opportunity to honor someone else's very different viewpoints. but because I was part of the process, because I see how it was made, I saw how good the intentions were, I honor the decision even if I don't agree with it.
It's an entirely different way of thinking that is inclusive, and it is working. It's messy and time consuming, but it is the only way to change the system...I think.
Europe's Politicians Side with the Protesters
Click here to access article from Spiegel Online.
The article is important because it describes how the "protests" are spreading all over Europe. What it doesn't mention is that this phenomenon is spreading all over the world. However, what this media source and the European politicians, like their American counterparts, don't comprehend is that this is no mere protest. (They still believe that there is no alternative to capitalism.) It is a rapidly developing a revolutionary consciousness among its young participants who are becoming aware that the present system is devouring whole populations and the planet that sustains them.
The article is important because it describes how the "protests" are spreading all over Europe. What it doesn't mention is that this phenomenon is spreading all over the world. However, what this media source and the European politicians, like their American counterparts, don't comprehend is that this is no mere protest. (They still believe that there is no alternative to capitalism.) It is a rapidly developing a revolutionary consciousness among its young participants who are becoming aware that the present system is devouring whole populations and the planet that sustains them.
New Film Exposes Connection Between the Kochs and a Small Community Dying of Cancer
Click here to access article by Tara Lohan from AlterNet.
What the author and the liberals at AlterNet don't seem to understand is that this is only another crime against humanity among a long list of crimes perpetrated by a ruling class whose system produces such sociopathic behavior. Hence, the solutions are NOT stronger regulatory agencies, lawsuits, or public pressure put on corporations to behave better:
What the author and the liberals at AlterNet don't seem to understand is that this is only another crime against humanity among a long list of crimes perpetrated by a ruling class whose system produces such sociopathic behavior. Hence, the solutions are NOT stronger regulatory agencies, lawsuits, or public pressure put on corporations to behave better:
...there can be a variety of potential solutions, whether it be the EPA, whether it be a lawsuit, whether it be that Georgia Pacific decides it must do the right thing.Fortunately, the people at the Occupying Wall Street sites all over the world know that systemic solutions are what is required.
MSNBC Dylan Ratigan show [9:27m video]
In this show's episode we see the host leading a discussion with David DeGraw of Amped Status and William Black, a professor of economics at the University of Missouri and a former prosecutor of miscreants during the Savings and Loan scandal of the 1980s.
I post this to illustrate how the liberal wing of ruling class media is attempting to confine the significance of the Occupy Wall Street movement within "acceptable" limits of discussion. They do this by supplying ample doses of outrageous sentiment combined with framing the issues as simply criminal behavior that needs to be prosecuted. They refuse to see such behavior as an integral part of a system which rewards a few people with so much wealth and power. Thus, they don't want you to see that the solution is systemic. Instead, they want to divert attention away from such an insight onto simple criminal behavior that needs to be prosecuted.
I post this to illustrate how the liberal wing of ruling class media is attempting to confine the significance of the Occupy Wall Street movement within "acceptable" limits of discussion. They do this by supplying ample doses of outrageous sentiment combined with framing the issues as simply criminal behavior that needs to be prosecuted. They refuse to see such behavior as an integral part of a system which rewards a few people with so much wealth and power. Thus, they don't want you to see that the solution is systemic. Instead, they want to divert attention away from such an insight onto simple criminal behavior that needs to be prosecuted.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Now That We're All Awake
By E B Bortz from his blog, October 16, 2011.
occupy your neighborhood
it's time to
not breathe easier
but deeper
we can open every window
prop them all up
human arms become
the counterweight
sharing the weight
by all means
dream/build a new world
neighborhood by neighborhood
sweat & stress
a protective ring
around the most vulnerable
tune out the noise
.....& phony leaders
after the banks go bust
there's still a planet to save
A Movement Too Big to Fail
Click here to access article by Chris Hedges from Truthdig.
Hedges is one of America's most articulate and eloquent political critics. Here he does a marvelous job of castigating American liberals who have so effectively served the needs of the ruling class of capitalists and their Empire.
Hedges is one of America's most articulate and eloquent political critics. Here he does a marvelous job of castigating American liberals who have so effectively served the needs of the ruling class of capitalists and their Empire.
The liberal class functions in a traditional, capitalist democracy as a safety valve. It lets off enough steam to keep the system intact. It makes piecemeal and incremental reform possible. This is what happened during the Great Depression and the New Deal. Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s greatest achievement was that he saved capitalism. Liberals in a functioning capitalist democracy are at the same time tasked with discrediting radicals....They are now politically dead--but, may they NOT rest in peace.
Dante’s inferno: massive riots in Rome — pictures and videos
Click here to access article by JĂ©rĂ´me E. Roos from RoarMag.
200,000 peaceful protesters march on Rome, but an army of riot police and a small militia of anti-capitalist urban guerrillas wreak havoc across the city.
167 Million People Support Occupy Wall Street
Click here to access article by Kevin Young from Indypendent.
This article focuses on recent US mainstream poll results of public opinion regarding the OWS movement. As carefully designed as they are to influence the results in favor of ruling class interests, they still suggest that OWS events all over the US are having a major impact in shaping public opinion. No doubt, the ruling class political operative are watching these results carefully and thus, are currently causing them to limit the use of their police enforcers from stirring up more of a public backlash.
The author's insights about the function of such movements to educate the public is particularly useful. The ruling classes all over the world are in a real bind because if they react to harshly they stir up more public reaction; but if they allow the Occupying movement to go on too long, they risk not only a public that becomes more in sympathy with the movement's messages, but also a weakening of resolve in their police state enforcers to execute the orders of their bosses.
This article focuses on recent US mainstream poll results of public opinion regarding the OWS movement. As carefully designed as they are to influence the results in favor of ruling class interests, they still suggest that OWS events all over the US are having a major impact in shaping public opinion. No doubt, the ruling class political operative are watching these results carefully and thus, are currently causing them to limit the use of their police enforcers from stirring up more of a public backlash.
The author's insights about the function of such movements to educate the public is particularly useful. The ruling classes all over the world are in a real bind because if they react to harshly they stir up more public reaction; but if they allow the Occupying movement to go on too long, they risk not only a public that becomes more in sympathy with the movement's messages, but also a weakening of resolve in their police state enforcers to execute the orders of their bosses.
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