Click here if you wish to access the source at Climate Connections who wish to provide us with "a little light-hearted fun for those of you reeling from the holidaze…"
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
David Harvey: Crises of Capitalism
I found this 11:11m video posted on 3 Quarks Daily.
David Harvey urges us to stop listening to "crap" from conventional sources and, instead, change our mode of thinking and start discussing and debating the real issues.
Escape from the Merry Christmas Zone
Click here to access article by Dmitry Orlov from his blog ClubOrlov.
Orlov has some interesting suggestions about how we should celebrate Christmas--the present method literally drives him out of the country.
Orlov has some interesting suggestions about how we should celebrate Christmas--the present method literally drives him out of the country.
In all the years I've spent living in the US, I have always felt the urge to get the hell out of the country whenever Christmas approached. This is because it is a season when Americans are "struggling to celebrate the holiday with some semblance of normalcy". .... It is a stressful time when people rush around trying to find presents on which to deplete their meager savings (or, more likely, run up some more credit card debt) in order to maintain a commercially imposed fiction of normal family life. This often causes them to be overcome by feelings of alienation, depression and despair.
Monday, December 24, 2012
Econ4 as Utopian Capitalism
by Ron Horn for this blog. (Modified at 8:00 am, PST, 12-25-2012)
Occasionally you encounter capitalist reformers on the World Wide Web who appear to offer an enticing alternative to the predatory capitalism we are seeing once again today. In the US they are known mostly as liberals (in the political sense); in most of the rest of the world they are known as social democrats. Essentially they argue for a kinder and gentler capitalism.
In Econ4's view all problems associated with capitalism are reduced to merely the assignation of values to things, that certain things like health, unpaid family labor, and the environment need to be assigned values to make it work for the benefit of all. At best, they are short sighted ivory tower idealists; at worst, they serve to distract and divert attention away from any real system change.
The Russian revolutionaries in 1917 understood that they could not bring about system changes within only one country, and thus, pinned their hopes on similar revolutions in Europe, most of all, in Germany. There was a serious attempt at overthrowing the capitalist class, but the German revolutionaries were sidetracked by social democrats who argued that gradual reforms to capitalism could achieve social justice by working through capitalist political institutions, specifically, parliament. With the multiple crises we are experiencing today, we can no longer afford to be diverted! We risk a nightmarish dystopia at best, and ultimately the probable extinction of the human race if we continue to chase after dreams of a better life under a capitalist system whose fundamental dynamic is the enrichment of a few. After more than 300 years of this system, and attempts to reform it, it continues to concentrate more wealth and power in fewer hands. It is perfectly designed to destroy societies and the environment, and that is what is becoming so clear today.
The following 3:09m video, and other videos the people at Econ4 have produced, do make a convincing plea for change, and as such they should be applauded. No doubt, they, as economists, have come under considerable criticism for the economic crises we currently experience. They want to think good of themselves and regarded favorably by others, which is understandable; however they seem incapable of overcoming the many years of indoctrination they have experienced in academia in order to question the system of capitalism itself. To them, there is no alternative.
Occasionally you encounter capitalist reformers on the World Wide Web who appear to offer an enticing alternative to the predatory capitalism we are seeing once again today. In the US they are known mostly as liberals (in the political sense); in most of the rest of the world they are known as social democrats. Essentially they argue for a kinder and gentler capitalism.
In Econ4's view all problems associated with capitalism are reduced to merely the assignation of values to things, that certain things like health, unpaid family labor, and the environment need to be assigned values to make it work for the benefit of all. At best, they are short sighted ivory tower idealists; at worst, they serve to distract and divert attention away from any real system change.
The Russian revolutionaries in 1917 understood that they could not bring about system changes within only one country, and thus, pinned their hopes on similar revolutions in Europe, most of all, in Germany. There was a serious attempt at overthrowing the capitalist class, but the German revolutionaries were sidetracked by social democrats who argued that gradual reforms to capitalism could achieve social justice by working through capitalist political institutions, specifically, parliament. With the multiple crises we are experiencing today, we can no longer afford to be diverted! We risk a nightmarish dystopia at best, and ultimately the probable extinction of the human race if we continue to chase after dreams of a better life under a capitalist system whose fundamental dynamic is the enrichment of a few. After more than 300 years of this system, and attempts to reform it, it continues to concentrate more wealth and power in fewer hands. It is perfectly designed to destroy societies and the environment, and that is what is becoming so clear today.
The following 3:09m video, and other videos the people at Econ4 have produced, do make a convincing plea for change, and as such they should be applauded. No doubt, they, as economists, have come under considerable criticism for the economic crises we currently experience. They want to think good of themselves and regarded favorably by others, which is understandable; however they seem incapable of overcoming the many years of indoctrination they have experienced in academia in order to question the system of capitalism itself. To them, there is no alternative.
Carnage in the Congo
Click here to access article by Thomas C. Mountain from CounterPunch.
Thomas C. Mountain is the most widely distributed independent journalist in Africa, living and reporting from Eritrea since 2006.He writes about an Empire program that seems to be in operation in many strife-ridden areas of the world: creating crises and chaos:
...the UN [which] remains little more than a front for US foreign policy and crisis management is the USA’s policy in Africa, as in create a crisis and then manage the chaos to better loot and plunder, so one should expect business as usual as in the UN, murder and mayhem in the Congo.
Obama proposes Social Security cuts
Click here to access article by Patrick Martin from World Socialist Web Site.
After destroying the dreams of lower income families owning their own homes and burdening students with a lifetime of debt servitude, the One Percent is now targeting the most vulnerable citizens in our nation. For the sake of appearances, the Obama administration will make it look like a grand bargain that was the best outcome he could obtain.
...what is being worked out in the talks between Obama and Boehner is nothing less than the terms of a social retrogression of unprecedented dimensions. Using the concocted threat of a December 31 “fiscal cliff,” when some $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts are scheduled to begin because of previous Washington agreements, the representatives of big business, Democratic and Republican, are proposing to begin the dismantling of the social reforms enacted in the 20th century.
After destroying the dreams of lower income families owning their own homes and burdening students with a lifetime of debt servitude, the One Percent is now targeting the most vulnerable citizens in our nation. For the sake of appearances, the Obama administration will make it look like a grand bargain that was the best outcome he could obtain.
 |
| 1935 Social Security poster |
...what is being worked out in the talks between Obama and Boehner is nothing less than the terms of a social retrogression of unprecedented dimensions. Using the concocted threat of a December 31 “fiscal cliff,” when some $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts are scheduled to begin because of previous Washington agreements, the representatives of big business, Democratic and Republican, are proposing to begin the dismantling of the social reforms enacted in the 20th century.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
House Passes NDAA 2013 with Indefinite Detention Intact
Click here to access article from Activist Post.
Initial reactions from civil rights advocates, who are paying attention, express outrage by the latest Congressional action to pass the NDAA bill without even Feinstein's amendment intact which only protected US citizens when on their territory.
Our The One Percent's government loves to slip through onerous legislation at this time of year when people are distracted by the holidays. And, of course, mainstream media doesn't cover it.
Also, it provides even more billions to continue the Empire's efforts to spread murder and mayhem across the world. In contrast to the incessant discussions about cutting Medicare and Social Security, there is no debate among the One Percent's lawmakers about spending on such projects.
The bill was earlier passed by the Senate, but it appears that this re-writing of Feinstein's amendment will need to be resolved with Senate people before Obama can sign it. This morning I've seen opinions regarding the likelihood of Obama signing it on both sides.
Initial reactions from civil rights advocates, who are paying attention, express outrage by the latest Congressional action to pass the NDAA bill without even Feinstein's amendment intact which only protected US citizens when on their territory.
Some have argued that the NDAA 2012 act of Congress negates this amendment making it impotent to begin with. However, this amendment apparently stated Americans' rights too clearly, so the House had to rewrite it in legalese.
Also, it provides even more billions to continue the Empire's efforts to spread murder and mayhem across the world. In contrast to the incessant discussions about cutting Medicare and Social Security, there is no debate among the One Percent's lawmakers about spending on such projects.
The bill was earlier passed by the Senate, but it appears that this re-writing of Feinstein's amendment will need to be resolved with Senate people before Obama can sign it. This morning I've seen opinions regarding the likelihood of Obama signing it on both sides.
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Syriza rep. on historic responsibility of the left in Greece
Click here to access article from Green Left in which the authors Jody Betzien & Sibylle Kaczorek from the Australian Socialist Alliance organization interview Yiannis Bournous, a leading activist from the Syriza party in Greece.
I gradually became aware that these problems and Syriza's strategies for dealing with them had nearly universal relevance, and certainly for the US in the future. I say in the future because the effects of neo-liberal policies have not fully developed here, but are in process; and that it will take much more debilitating effects on our society before a sufficient number of people begin to seriously question information sourced from ideological agencies that have interpreted the world for them 24/7 and from the cradle to the grave. I have little doubt that Greek-like conditions lie ahead for us.
Hence, the importance of the Greek experience and the excellent strategies of the Syriza party in confronting their crisis which are explained mostly in the last half of this article. As I see it, they consist of two basic organizational principles: think globally or, at least, European and act locally; and construct new, collaborative, politicized social networks from the ground up.
Syriza came close to winning elections in June on the basis of rejecting the brutal austerity being enforced on the people of Greece. Instead, a coalition of three parties (Greece's tradition conservative party, New Democracy, its tradition social democratic party, PASOK, and and a right-wing split from Syriza, Democratic Left) was formed, committed to greater austerity measures.First, let me say that I think this article is very important for all activists to read. Initially, I found parts of this difficult to read because of the awkward use of English, and in the earlier parts my attention faded probably because of an overdose of austerity details that I have read about for several years. However, as I entered about half-way into the article my interest started to pick up as I became increasingly impressed with the strategies of the Syriza party as explained by Bournous. As I understand them, they are formulated to deal with three major problems confronting Greek society: 1) limitations posed by national solutions; 2) confronting neo-liberal austerity policies within Greece; 3) dealing with the rise of the fascist party known as Golden Dawn.
I gradually became aware that these problems and Syriza's strategies for dealing with them had nearly universal relevance, and certainly for the US in the future. I say in the future because the effects of neo-liberal policies have not fully developed here, but are in process; and that it will take much more debilitating effects on our society before a sufficient number of people begin to seriously question information sourced from ideological agencies that have interpreted the world for them 24/7 and from the cradle to the grave. I have little doubt that Greek-like conditions lie ahead for us.
Hence, the importance of the Greek experience and the excellent strategies of the Syriza party in confronting their crisis which are explained mostly in the last half of this article. As I see it, they consist of two basic organizational principles: think globally or, at least, European and act locally; and construct new, collaborative, politicized social networks from the ground up.
New press freedom group is launched to block US government attacks
Click here to access article by Glenn Greenwald from The Guardian.
The author lists two basic reasons why he and others have established the Freedom of the Press Foundation.
The author lists two basic reasons why he and others have established the Freedom of the Press Foundation.
- The primary impetus for the formation of this group was to block the US government from ever again being able to attack and suffocate an independent journalistic enterprise the way it did with WikiLeaks.
- The second purpose is to ensure that truly independent journalistic outlets - devoted to holding the US government and other powerful factions accountable with transparency and real adversarial journalism - are supported to the fullest extent possible.
Friday, December 21, 2012
For whom the Syrian bell tolls
Click here to access article by Pepe Escobar from Asia Times Online.
I nominate this Brazilian journalist as journalist of the year, if not decade. He reduces major war criminals and chaos creators to the crazed, barbaric fools that they are. Once again in Syria we see the triumph of the Empire operatives in creating chaos by using any means necessary, even the most barbaric, to destroy another society. Who knows where their criminal actions will end, how many lives will be lost, how many families ruined?
It is a hugely dangerous strategy that the Empire's One Percents are pursuing by destroying not only societies abroad, but also in their own nations. They are truly drunk on capitalist-corporate based power which they firmly believe is superior to that of all societies, and they are determined to destroy any society that stands in their way, and force the rest to work for them for slave wages.
I nominate this Brazilian journalist as journalist of the year, if not decade. He reduces major war criminals and chaos creators to the crazed, barbaric fools that they are. Once again in Syria we see the triumph of the Empire operatives in creating chaos by using any means necessary, even the most barbaric, to destroy another society. Who knows where their criminal actions will end, how many lives will be lost, how many families ruined?
It is a hugely dangerous strategy that the Empire's One Percents are pursuing by destroying not only societies abroad, but also in their own nations. They are truly drunk on capitalist-corporate based power which they firmly believe is superior to that of all societies, and they are determined to destroy any society that stands in their way, and force the rest to work for them for slave wages.
Tell the System: You're Not Getting the Guns. Period.
Click here to access article by Tony Cartalucci from Land Destroyer Report.
The author presents a solid case for another view of the gun control issue that is sweeping the media and public during this time of tragedy and mourning. However, this view is entirely missing in mainstream media in which they present only two views: 1) the NRA's view which is mostly that of the rich who want guns to protect themselves from the "rabble" who want to take away their wealth, and 2) many who simplify the issue as that of guns killing people and want guns severely restricted, if not taken away from citizens altogether.
The author presents a solid case for another view of the gun control issue that is sweeping the media and public during this time of tragedy and mourning. However, this view is entirely missing in mainstream media in which they present only two views: 1) the NRA's view which is mostly that of the rich who want guns to protect themselves from the "rabble" who want to take away their wealth, and 2) many who simplify the issue as that of guns killing people and want guns severely restricted, if not taken away from citizens altogether.
Walking away from the "left/right" paradigm is...important - "right" leaning individuals need to realize that big-business corporate fascism demands public disarmament to give it the space to grow domestically as its right-wing backed military machine mass murders overseas. The left must realize that the very big-business interests they point their fingers at are the architects behind most, if not all of their talking points - not only on gun control, but on everything from "climate change" to "human rights" overseas as a new casus belli for perpetual global war.
The Work of Sartre: Search for Freedom and the Challenge of History
Click here to access article by
It will only be in the bosom of self-organized, autonomous, and inter-related groups that will enable us to overcome the scourge of barbarism and allow for the full flowering of our human potential. It is also our only hope for survival on a planet that we are currently in the process of destroying with our individualist ways of thinking.
Sartre failed to overcome this assumption to fully grasp that humans are profoundly social creatures. His philosophy was defeated from the beginning by a view of humans torn out of the essential fabric of social connectedness. This is the ideology that has been foisted on us by a new class of people called capitalists who took control of societies over the past 300 years. To the extent that we continue to accept this ideology, we will inevitably be left at the mercy of individuals who gain power through cunning and violence.
It will only be in the bosom of self-organized, autonomous, and inter-related groups that will enable us to overcome the scourge of barbarism and allow for the full flowering of our human potential. It is also our only hope for survival on a planet that we are currently in the process of destroying with our individualist ways of thinking.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Controlled chaos theory - practical application
Click here to access article by Nikita Sorokin from The Voice of Russia. (Note: the article is a transcript of the audio recording.)
This is, in my opinion, a too brief exposition of what she refers to as "chaos theory" otherwise identified by others as the Salvador Option and the "Somalia model" or "Somalisation". It is an Empire strategy all too evident in the Middle East where one country after another, countries outside of control of the Empire, have been, and currently are, deliberately targeted for terrorist and divide and conquer tactics with the objective of sowing chaos in those countries and thereby destabilizing them.
See also this for more explanations and illustrations of this strategy.
This is, in my opinion, a too brief exposition of what she refers to as "chaos theory" otherwise identified by others as the Salvador Option and the "Somalia model" or "Somalisation". It is an Empire strategy all too evident in the Middle East where one country after another, countries outside of control of the Empire, have been, and currently are, deliberately targeted for terrorist and divide and conquer tactics with the objective of sowing chaos in those countries and thereby destabilizing them.
See also this for more explanations and illustrations of this strategy.
“Collective Economy. Europe’s last Revolution” --a documentary
Click here to access article from verkami.
This is about a film currently under production in Spain, and the producers need financial help to complete it. Because so much of our heritage and history has been destroyed by capitalist ruling classes, any efforts at recovery must be supported. Also, the history revealed in this film may make a direct contribution to dealing with today's crises. Here is the trailer:
This is about a film currently under production in Spain, and the producers need financial help to complete it. Because so much of our heritage and history has been destroyed by capitalist ruling classes, any efforts at recovery must be supported. Also, the history revealed in this film may make a direct contribution to dealing with today's crises. Here is the trailer:
The Great Oil Swindle: why the new black gold rush leads off a fiscal cliff
Click here to access article by Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed from Ceasefire (UK).
A recent spate of official reports from energy agencies are predicting a rosy future of economic growth underpinned by cheap oil abundance. However, as Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed shows, scientific evidence largely ignored by mainstream media confirms that while we have enough oil and gas to burn our way to climate catastrophe, the age of cheap oil abundance is a myth.
Climate change already playing out in West, report says
Click here to access article by Amy Joi O'Donoghue from Deseret News.
I live in Washington state where one sees such images all over this area, and it's worse north of here in British Columbia. This effect is caused by bark beetles that are allowed to proliferate due to warmer winter temperatures.
The report, Impacts of Climate Change on Biodiversity, Ecoystems and Ecosystem Services, was peer-reviewed by the U.S. Geological Survey and drew on the expertise of 60 contributors from government agencies, universities and private, non-profit organizations such as The Nature Conservancy.
I live in Washington state where one sees such images all over this area, and it's worse north of here in British Columbia. This effect is caused by bark beetles that are allowed to proliferate due to warmer winter temperatures.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Our Curious Case of Economic Bondage
Click here to access article by Mat Little from New Compass (based in Scandinavia).
The author points to a self-defeating quandary which hampers any progress out of the economic bondage that is affecting workers the worst in the West as capitalists go global in their operations and their allegiance. But, what is the quandary really? Is it a flaw of human nature to look only after one's immediate interests? Is it the ideological blinders that capitalist organs of indoctrination have placed on all of us to believe that there is no alternative? Another aspect of this quandary is that the more capitalism develops, the more dysfunctional it becomes for societies.
Capitalism is a system that promotes the individual control of wealth, and as the system evolves more and more wealth is concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. Along with wealth comes power, and the increasing concentration of power now creates individuals and families that control entire economies of societies that consist of wage slaves and disposable people. It seems that the more desperate the latter become, the more they are willing to do anything to please their masters.
This reminds me of Phil Knight of Nike Inc. (I attended the U. of Oregon about the same time as Knight.) He has so much power over the people of the state of Oregon that their legislature recently surrendered to his demands for a tax break or else he would move his company elsewhere. According to Wikipedia he has a net worth of about $15 billion.
He would much rather spend this tax money on his favorite projects, a major one of which is building an athletic powerhouse at the University of Oregon. I have read and heard numerous reports of the palatial athletic facilities he has been building there, and more are planned.
As a result of the cancer-like growth of individual wealth, entire societies are in the process of deterioration and disintegration, where families and communities are faced with poverty, pointless and mind-numbing violence, and alienation; and states controlled by these individuals are relying more and more on methods of surveillance and coercion to maintain their control.
The author points to a self-defeating quandary which hampers any progress out of the economic bondage that is affecting workers the worst in the West as capitalists go global in their operations and their allegiance. But, what is the quandary really? Is it a flaw of human nature to look only after one's immediate interests? Is it the ideological blinders that capitalist organs of indoctrination have placed on all of us to believe that there is no alternative? Another aspect of this quandary is that the more capitalism develops, the more dysfunctional it becomes for societies.
Capitalism is a system that promotes the individual control of wealth, and as the system evolves more and more wealth is concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. Along with wealth comes power, and the increasing concentration of power now creates individuals and families that control entire economies of societies that consist of wage slaves and disposable people. It seems that the more desperate the latter become, the more they are willing to do anything to please their masters.
This reminds me of Phil Knight of Nike Inc. (I attended the U. of Oregon about the same time as Knight.) He has so much power over the people of the state of Oregon that their legislature recently surrendered to his demands for a tax break or else he would move his company elsewhere. According to Wikipedia he has a net worth of about $15 billion.
He would much rather spend this tax money on his favorite projects, a major one of which is building an athletic powerhouse at the University of Oregon. I have read and heard numerous reports of the palatial athletic facilities he has been building there, and more are planned.
As a result of the cancer-like growth of individual wealth, entire societies are in the process of deterioration and disintegration, where families and communities are faced with poverty, pointless and mind-numbing violence, and alienation; and states controlled by these individuals are relying more and more on methods of surveillance and coercion to maintain their control.
'Government Allowed 9/11 | Interview with Sibel Edmonds'
RT interviews Sibel Edmonds in this 13:51m video. (Updated post at 1:30 pm PST.)
I can't recommend Edmonds' book entitled Classified Woman enough. It is a story of her Kafkaesque experience working for the FBI and trying courageously in spite of them to protect her country. One caveat--once you start reading it, you may not be able to put the book down until you've finished it.
1:30 PM: I little while ago I stumbled on the following 51:23m interview with Sibel Edmonds. The interviewers to a considerable extent allowed her to free associate on a lot of related topics, however it worked. Few people are as articulate and brilliant as she is, and this is revealed in the number of very insightful observations she explains so clearly in the interview. The topics she covers include the corrupting influence of funders, NGOs, phony or corrupted alternative media, consumer pressures, Hollywood, and academia; the futility of attacking lower levels of symptomatic issues; and the use of "conspiracy theorists" to marginalize critics.
Let me be clear: she is not a political radical--at least, not yet. But, she is a very independent thinker and a very brave and decent person. In the past 11 years of her ordeal with the FBI she has learned what has taken much of my adult life of 55 years to learn.
Thanks go to the folks at Smells Like Human Spirit for arranging and posting this interview:
I can't recommend Edmonds' book entitled Classified Woman enough. It is a story of her Kafkaesque experience working for the FBI and trying courageously in spite of them to protect her country. One caveat--once you start reading it, you may not be able to put the book down until you've finished it.
1:30 PM: I little while ago I stumbled on the following 51:23m interview with Sibel Edmonds. The interviewers to a considerable extent allowed her to free associate on a lot of related topics, however it worked. Few people are as articulate and brilliant as she is, and this is revealed in the number of very insightful observations she explains so clearly in the interview. The topics she covers include the corrupting influence of funders, NGOs, phony or corrupted alternative media, consumer pressures, Hollywood, and academia; the futility of attacking lower levels of symptomatic issues; and the use of "conspiracy theorists" to marginalize critics.
Let me be clear: she is not a political radical--at least, not yet. But, she is a very independent thinker and a very brave and decent person. In the past 11 years of her ordeal with the FBI she has learned what has taken much of my adult life of 55 years to learn.
Thanks go to the folks at Smells Like Human Spirit for arranging and posting this interview:
The U.S. Kill List: Panama, Iraq… Everywhere
Click here to access article by Mickey Z. from World News Trust.
The author elaborates on the following themes:
The author elaborates on the following themes:
- The United States government has a long, sordid, and brutal history -- and it’s our job to see past the media and educational conditioning.
- Both major U.S. political parties have been equal partners in this catalogue of crime -- so it’s been left to us to create the urgent change needed.
- International law does not protect the guilty U.S. soldiers and cops -- but international law does demand our intervention.
- Despite all this, the vast majority of Americans remain willfully uninformed and silent.
Coal May Pass Oil As World's No. 1 Energy Source By 2017, Study Says
Click here to access article by Bill Chappell from npr.
NPR, a major radio network in the US, is one of those "public-private partnerships", a benign term used to hide the real meaning of this arrangement: private control using public funds. Thus, the article ends by subtly implying that natural gas can save us from radical climate change and that China and India are the bad guys. "Natural gas can save us" is the same mantra-like theme permeating all other major media discussion of the climate change issue.
NPR, a major radio network in the US, is one of those "public-private partnerships", a benign term used to hide the real meaning of this arrangement: private control using public funds. Thus, the article ends by subtly implying that natural gas can save us from radical climate change and that China and India are the bad guys. "Natural gas can save us" is the same mantra-like theme permeating all other major media discussion of the climate change issue.
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