Our Suburbs Can Be Transformed Into True Communities

from Common Dreams.

...a sustainable locality can be a better place to live. Housing estates need to be replaced by small, multi-function villages. Think of the vitality of traditional European villages and small towns. Backyards can be shared rather than fenced. A neighbourhood can generate electricity, capture water and feed gardens. Sharing food surpluses is a great way to feel part of a neighbourhood and part of the earth.

From Globalization to Re-Localization

by Megan Quinn Bachman from Eco-watch. 

So instead of investing in the global economic growth system which is undermining its own ability to continue by devastating the natural environment on which we depend, we could be investing locally in the people, businesses and technologies that directly sustain us and will sustain generations to come through import-substituting businesses.

University Struggles at the End of the Edu-Deal

from Mute. 

As students around the world start to take action against national governments' university spending cuts, George Caffentzis sees a plane of struggle developing; one which acts against the crooked deal of high-cost education exchanged for life-long precarity

S 510 is hissing in the grass

from Food Freedom. 

S 510, the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010,  may be the most dangerous bill in the history of the US.  It is to our food what the bailout was to our economy, only we can live without money. 

The Deficit and Our Children: Just the Facts

by Dean Baker from Truth Out.

This is deficit-fest week with President Obama's deficit commission scheduled to have its big public kickoff on Tuesday, followed by an all-day affair sponsored by the Peter G. Peterson Institute the next day. If the deficit hawks succeed, everyone should be really really scared about the deficit by the end of the week and just dying to cut Social Security and Medicare for the sake of our grandchildren.

Google publishes figures on government requests for data

from World Socialist Web Site. The more important part of this article is the reports of increasing government access and compliance by internet and telecommunication companies to personal information of those using the internet and smart phones.

Vichy America

from Information Clearing House. This is quite a rant, but it expresses the frustration that many of us feel regarding our fellow Americans who just don't get it (sadly, that includes some of my relatives). 

Okay, so the Teabaggers have been victims of many decades of brainwashing by corporate media, educational systems designed to teach what to think instead of how to think, and the illusion of a democratic government that is bought and paid for regardless of who wins. But still I find it quite astonishing. Never have a people been so duped into serving those who are oppressing them. 

I really think the author is spot on when he states, "Then as the presidential election season is upon us the Republicans will again put up a weak challenger and maybe the teabaggers will hoist some clown as their standard bearer thus making sure that Obama is re-elected." 

I think that Obama is the perfect candidate for the machinations of the governing class. Being a black man (even though he was raised by a white grandmother who had a successful career in banking) with a gift for rhetoric, he is still seen by many (liberals and mainstream non-racists) as someone outside of the white establishment who is concerned about the interests of ordinary Americans. In other words, he is a kind of wolf in sheep's clothing. But a wolf whose appetite is mostly for gaining the approval of the "respectable" people--the white establishment. 

The Imminent Crash Of The Oil Supply

from Information Clearing House. 

The supply of the world's most essential energy source is going off a cliff.  Not in the distant future, but in a year and a half.  Production of all liquid fuels, including oil, will drop within 20 years to half what it is today.  And the difference needs to be made up with "unidentified projects," which one of the world's leading petroleum geologists says is just a "euphemism for rank shortage," and the world's foremost oil industry banker says is "faith based."

Wham-O Moves to America (4:08m video)

from Jon Stewart's Daily Show. Humor to lighten your day--it's better to laugh than to cry.

Israel’s Big and Small Apartheids

by Jonathan Cook from Dissident Voice. The author examines the unique way the Israeli government identifies its inhabitants that provides the foundation for an apartheid state.

2010 US Spending Priorities: 58% to Military

from Dissident Voice. The author does an excellent job of uncovering the real facts of government spending that is hidden from public view.

"Separate and Unequal school system in 'liberal' NYC" (4:50m video)

from Grass Roots Education Movement. The title says it all, but the details are in the video.

Unemployment for Those Who Earn $150,000 or More is Only 3%, While Unemployment for the Poor is 31%

from Washington's Blog. When the rich gamble and lose, the poor pay--this is the current form of class warfare under capitalism.

A climate of can-do

from Climate Code Red (Australia).

Climate politics has become a game of chicken, a planet-crippling procrastination driven by short-term concerns and a striving for partisan advantage.

Bolivia's fight for survival can help save democracy too

by Naomi Klein from the Guardian. 

...Bolivia’s enthusiastic commitment to participatory democracy may well prove the summit’s most important contribution.

Bolivia's Evo Morales: Capitalism and Plastic No, Mother Earth and Indigenous Products, Yes

by Jan Lundberg from Culture Change. The author reports on his observations of the recent People's World Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth which he attended in Bolivia. He points out some contradictions and problems with Bolivian efforts at dealing with climate change and environmental destruction. He poses this important question:

How far can the global climate justice movement get by fighting capitalism?

And then provides this answer:

There is strong logic in attacking an unfair system that corrupts governance and divides people into competing workers. The failure of the Copenhagen U.N. climate meeting in December was definitely related to corporate business interests pulling puppet strings of politicians.

But can a social movement do such things as turn around overpopulation and make collapse survivable for everyone? Most of us looking at the vulnerabilities of the dominant system and the state of the ecosystem believe not. At this conference there is no evidence of awareness of petrocollapse or collapse by any other name. There is fear of climate change and anger at capitalism and all its ills (consumerism, loss of community, ecocide). What is unsaid is that because climate change is out of control, getting rid of capitalism may be too late. Abolishing capitalism at midnight around the world would leave us with about the same climate-crisis challenge.

My response is the fundamental thesis of this blog: the functioning of the capitalist system is in direct contradiction to a sustainable planet. It might be too late to save a sustainable and livable planet for humans and other species, but there is not the slightest chance of saving it if we do not replace capitalism with a system that is sustainable. The engine that is driving this vehicle Earth off the climatic and energy cliffs is the system of capitalism. A movement which intends to work toward a viable replacement is of critical importance. Whether the Morales administration in Bolivia or Chavez' in Venezuela are capable of doing this is up for debate. In my opinion, this effort will have to be a worldwide movement to be successful. We must all, wherever we reside, do our part by contributing to this effort. I suggest that we look at the models of Inclusive Democracy and The Simpler Way for guidance.

Earth Day and the Real Inconvenient Truth

from Shareable.

This economic system is cordoned off from citizens like a celebrity. It's coddled. It shoplifts. It has bodyguards. It's addicted not to coke, but to growth. It gets drunk and crashes not cars, but entire economies. We’re excluded from the political process to the degree that we have no more chance of having a real impact than of getting lunch with Lady Gaga.

With the crowds, celebrity worship, token acts, and all the ecofabulous crap being showcased, Earth Day reproduces consumer culture faithfully in all its boring glory. And in the process does little for, if not undermines, the citizenship needed to care for each other and the earth.

Time out

For $10 Billion of "Promises" Haiti Surrenders its Sovereignty

posted at Global Research, original source at  Haïti Liberté. It appears to me that the same interests that destroyed Haiti's agriculture will now be directing the aid packages.

It was fitting that the Mar. 31 "International Donors Conference Towards a New Future for Haiti" was held in the Trusteeship Council at the United Nations headquarters in New York. At the event, Haitian President René Préval in effect turned over the keys to Haiti to a consortium of foreign banks and governments, which will decide how (to use the conference's principal slogan) to "build back better" the country devastated by the Jan. 12 earthquake.

Potential Anthropogenic Tipping Elements in the Earth System

from Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. This post provides an excellent graphic and explanatory outline of the areas of our planet that are experiencing severe damage and will contribute to climate change if they are not restored to health. 

Also from the same source: Copenhagen emissions targets so weak that the world is ‘in peril’

Bill Moyers Journal 4-23-2010 (2-30m videos and script)

In case you missed it, this Bill Moyers program, the second to his last regular PBS program, features two outstanding guests: 1) Bill Black, whom I also posted yesterday in another interview, in which he again explains his view that the recent financial collapse was mostly brought about by sheer fraud on the part of the large financial institutions, particularly Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs; 2) and Michael J. Copps, FCC Commissioner, who warns about corporate threats to the internet. 

These are both excellent interviews which offer some real and rare insights on their respective, and critically important subjects.

Cochabamba's New Direction

from Yes! Magazine.

When the social movements met, what came through loud and clear was that people all over the world think that climate change should be solved by having those who pollute too much cut their emissions. The communities and movements don’t want fancy trading schemes, and they don’t want their land, their labor, or their bodies to become a commodity to be sold in someone’s market....

`Capitalism is the main enemy of the Earth', Evo Morales tells people's climate conference (7:08m video)

from Democracy Now. 

Morales, speaking at the April 20 conference inauguration, started his speech with a slogan, "Planet or death, we shall overcome". He said that harmony with nature could not exist while 1 per cent of the world's population concentrates more than 50 per cent of the world's riches. Capitalism is the main enemy of the Earth, only looking for profits, to the detriment of nature, and capitalism is a bridge for social  inequality.

A Radical Climate Solution Goes Mainstream

from The Washington Independent. The ruling classes are so arrogant and desperate to save the goose (the capitalist system) that lays their golden eggs that they are getting serious about tinkering with the earth's climate system. It appears to me that they are beginning to realize that their beloved system is wrecking havoc on the planet.

Time out

Washington is "Totally and Completely Corrupt" (1:14m video)

Chris Hayes from U-Tube. Listen to a very succinct and accurate description of the US Congress.

Chris Hayes, columnist for the Nation magazine, while appearing on MSNBC's 'Countdown' program, blasted Congress as being "totally corrupt." He argued that America is "ruled by a financial oligarchy" that has bought off the politicians on Capitol Hill. He was referring specifically to how quickly Republicans and Democrats came together to pass a bill regulating financial institutions. Especially given the acrimony exhibited during the health care reform debates.

$33 Billion for War, How Could I Spend Thee on Local Jobs?

from Huffington Post. 

Sometime between now and Memorial Day, the House is expected to consider $33 billion more for war in Afghanistan. ...Of course, by itself the number $33 billion is totally meaningless. To make it meaningful, we need to compare it to something - what else could we do with $33 billion? 

On the other hand, $33 billion is good for the stockholders of Haliburton, KBR, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman Corp (drones), Boeing, etc.

The Exceptional Nature of Cuban Urban Agriculture

from Civil Eats. Excellent comparison of the different economic systems in the US and Cuba as they impact on food production. In the US the private ownership of land and market imperatives are major impediments to local organic farming initiatives.

Interview with Bill Black: The Great Global Bank Robbery, Parts 1&2

from New Deal 2.0.  I haven't had a change to read all of both parts, but Black appears to drop some real bombshells in this interview.

We face recurrent, intensifying economic crises (and economic stagnation for the working and middle class in the developed West) because our financial elites are unworthy. They are too often outright criminals - control frauds. They have no sense of accountability, no sense of duty to the nation (or community or world). ...Their anti-regulatory, pro-greed ideology triumphed and produced a global Great Recession. But for government intervention and bailouts they would have caused a second Great Depression worse than the original. And what do our elites do? They blame the least powerful citizens for the crisis the elites designed, implemented, and grew rich on.

Read also Part 2

Can US dollar remain world's currency? Pts.2-4

from The Real News Network. This insightful interview continues with Jane D'Arista who is a research associate with the Political Economy Research Institute.

Part 3 and Part 4

State budget crisis about to become a "catastrophe"

from The Economic Populist. The author reports on the many devastating effects that the current economic collapse is having on states in the US. And, of course, the hardest hit are educational and social programs.

Economist James Galbraith: Economists Should Move into the Background, and "Criminologists to the Forefront"

from Washington's Blog. The author assembles the views of many critics that the economic collapse was caused by fraud. Hence the perpetrators are criminals and should be treated as such. In my view, it is the system itself which inevitably leads morally weak people into criminal behavior.

Obama Reassures Wall Street on Bank Regulation Bill

by Barry Grey from Global Research. 

With complete cynicism, Obama and congressional Democrats, with the assistance of the media, are presenting their regulatory proposals as a sweeping reform comparable to the banking measures implemented by the Roosevelt administration in the Great Depression.

In reality, the Senate measure, like the bill passed last December by the House of Representatives, proposes certain marginal changes in the way government agencies monitor financial firms, but does nothing to reverse the deregulation of banking carried out over the past three decades, which dismantled the restrictions imposed during the 1930s. It introduces no structural reforms to limit, let alone ban, the speculative practices that have become central to the accumulation of profit and personal wealth by the American ruling class.

Obama's Cooper Union Speech: President Urges Wall Street Support For Reform

from Huffington Post. The author contrasts Obama's recent speech to that of FDR in the 1930's when the latter said,

"We had to struggle with the old enemies of peace -- business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering. ...They had begun to consider the Government of the United States as a mere appendage to their own affairs. We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob. Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today.

"They are unanimous in their hate for me -- and I welcome their hatred."

Now, I am no fan of FDR. He was a brilliant member of the capitalist ruling class and feared various threats to his beloved system: the ruling class at that time was laced with pro-fascists, the planned economy of the Soviet Union was making vast strides at industrializing with no unemployment which appealed to many working people, and the economic system was in full collapse and there were no safety nets for working people. 

He saved the system by cleverly steering a middle course by providing a few crumbs to calm the discontent of working people in the form of Workers Compensation, Social Security, more favorable labor laws, Federally sponsored employment programs, etc. And as the above quote illustrates, he used anti-banking rhetoric to pose as a friend of working people.

World War II brought the US out of the depression and the ruling class immediately went on the offensive to roll back many of the gains made for, and by working people by attacking militant labor leaders and left wing intellectuals (McCarthy period), co-opting others, passing restrictions on labor organizing, a massive media campaign against labor and left wing ideas, etc.

Greek public sector workers strike to oppose austerity measures

from World Socialist Web Site. The Greek people are fighting back against the capitalist elites.

Tens of thousands of civil servants took part in a strike over austerity measures in Greece on Thursday. Government officials, hospital workers, teachers, university professors, dockworkers and customs and tax officials participated. Museums and archaeological sites were also closed.

Time out

George Papendreou and the Greek people

Chimpanzees Prefer Fair Play To Reaping An Unjust Reward

from The Primate Diaries. This article presents research which suggests to me that chimpanzees may be smarter than humans after all.

...chimpanzees in this study went beyond the basic tenets of the social contract and demonstrated what could be considered the foundation of social solidarity. ...Even those who benefited from inequality recognized that the situation was unfair and they refused to enjoy their own reward if it meant someone else had to suffer.

Why I hate Earth Day II: the road to hell in baby steps

by Sharon Astyk from Casaubon's Book. She makes some very good points about the distortion of news and commentary re the issues of environmental devastation, climate change, and peak oil from mainstream media and that the problems are more hidden in Western societies because capitalist enterprises have outsourced most of their polluting industries to the other countries. 

Unfortunately, she fails to make the fundamental connection to the source of the problems--the capitalist system which cannot deal with the problems. Until we, the people, make this connection and change the system, nothing of consequence will change with regard to halting the slide toward catastrophe.

The central message of most Earth Day celebrations is that if we all do a little, we'll make the world a better place. But the fact is that that's not true, and as much as we like to hear such a friendly, fuzzy message, we can't make it factual just by wanting it to be true. The blunt reality is that unless we all do an awful lot, very fast, we're facing disaster. We use the word "sustainable" casually, to mean "well, we can probably do a little more of this if we cut back a little now." But we are facing a sustainability crisis in the deepest sense - if we don't make massive changes and quite rapidly, our children's future is in question - and the children of billions of people around the world.

'Major Oil Spill' Feared As Rig Sinks Off US Coast

from Common Dreams, source from Agence France-Presse. 

Officials said the current spill had the potential to be the worst seen in the United States since the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil tanker spill, considered one of the worst man-made environmental disasters.

Iceland volcano gives warming world chance to debunk climate sceptic myths

from the Guardian. 

But one opportunity the volcano has gifted us in particular is the chance to put to bed once and for all that barrel-aged climate sceptic canard which maintains that volcanoes emit far more carbon dioxide than anthropogenic sources.

There ain't no escape from collapse

by Joe Bageant from his website. Joe responds to a person wanting information about escaping the coming collapse of society for those of us in the advanced(?) capitalist countries. Joe appears to be living mostly in exile in Mexico after living in Belize, and has an earlier experience of living off the land in the US. So I think that he is highly qualified to offer his words of wisdom.

I have come to think the price of admission anywhere in the world, (except in America and Europe, where enough dough will get your ass kissed in any circles) is service to others. We have been indoctrinated by an earth devouring capitalist system to believe otherwise. Believe that giving only depletes. And that mankind and civilization came about through kings and warriors and "great men." But the essential glue of man the social animal, and society has always been on cooperation and sharing. That an endless stream of elite thieves have always managed to steal the fruits of that cooperation does not matter. And the best that is in man still rests on the same fundamentals -- cooperation for the greater good of all.

Want to Buy a Bridge Cheap?

from On the Commons. 

Mayors and governors staring down massive budget gaps are putting bridges, buildings, parking lots, and more up for sale.

...Increasingly, small groups of power brokers, not public servants, are helping to midwife decisions, with little or no oversight, that benefit themselves, the politicians and players they’re connected to , but not necessarily you, the voter and taxpayer.

350 Degrees of Inseparability

by Rebecca Solnit from Truth Dispatch. You might want to skip the introduction by scrolling down to the article which is mostly a commentary on Bill McKibben's book entitled, "Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet".

A word about that number, 350. For a long time, McKibben relates, the premise, or pretense, was that the parts per million of atmospheric carbon we needed to worry about was 550, double the historic concentration.  As it turns out, it was also a random figure, easy to calculate, not too alarming. We weren’t anywhere near there yet, which is why we could frame global warming as some terrible thing that was going to happen way down the road -- the grandchildren theory of climate change.

Then the scientists got more data and so more precision about where peril lay: in December of 2007, NASA climatologist James Hansen announced at the American Geophysical Union that 350 was about the upper limit at which life on Earth as we know and like it was likely to continue.

We’re now at about 390.

Obama Newspeak: Labeling Food as GM-Free is False, Misleading and Deceptive, even When it is True

from Politics of the Plate. 

Last month there was the appointment of big-time GM/GE advocate (and former Monsanto lobbyist) Islam Siddiqui as the country’s chief agricultural negotiator. Now comes a position paper from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that opposes labeling for genetically modified food. The U.S. claims that letting consumers know whether or not GM/GE products are contained in food is “false, misleading, or deceptive.”

Monster's Ball: Drawing Back the Veil on the 'Death State'

by Chris Floyd from his blog. As usual, this author's unleashes his razor sharp analysis to see where the US administration's recent aggressive moves against Iran are headed.

Fiscal Folly

by Robert Kuttner from the liberal Huffington Post. 

A day after Obama's publicized "bi-partisan" National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform begins its hearings, a privately organized commission that appears to be members and representatives of the US ruling class will be holding a "fiscal summit" on basically the same subject--"national dialogue on solving America's fiscal challenges". The list of the participants includes the following:

President Bill Clinton, who will be interviewed by George Stephanopoulos, we will hear from a range of experts, including Paul Volcker and Alan Greenspan, Former Chairmen of the Federal Reserve; Bob Rubin, Former Secretary of the Treasury; Alice Rivlin, former OMB Director and Member, National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform; Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH), Member, National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform; John Podesta, President and CEO of the Center for American Progress; John Castellani, President of Business Roundtable....

The Business Roundtable is at the very core of the US ruling class. See this. So, I think it would be wise to pay attention to this ruling class meeting to see what we can look forward to from Obama's official government hearings. The real decisions that affect ordinary people are always carried on through private gathers such as the above. The decisions made by official government bodies should always be regarded as political theater. The latter function in order to provide cover and legitimacy to government run by private interests. Of course, the private gatherings are usually not publicized and one might speculate as why this one is. The author believes that

This is a propaganda event...[that] they already know exactly what they want -- strict budget caps on social outlay, enforced by a rigid formula, with cuts in Medicare and Social Security leading the way.

So the reason why this is publicized is because it wants to shape the public mind in the "right" direction regarding government fiscal issues.
 
The author of this article is a liberal who, to his credit brings this private meeting to our attention, but doesn't appear to understand how capitalist governing works.

Time out

The populist charade

from Socialist Worker, The editorial examines the latest political theater, called The Tea Party movement, performed by the right wing of the ruling class as it attempts to distract and manipulate working people.

Capitalism is not sustainable

from Socialist Worker. This is a book review of John Bellamy Foster's book entitled, "The Ecological Revolution: Making Peace with the Planet" by Erik Wallenberg.

He argues against those who would say capitalism can be "greened": "Aside from technology, virtually nothing in the social organization of society will change in this vision. The commitment to unlimited accumulation of capital and to an order that places artificially generated private wants over individual and social needs is unaltered."

In order to begin developing new technology that isn't driven by the market and the profit motive, but rather by the need to create a sustainable world, people must first be freed by a social revolution that can harness humanity's potential for just such a task. 

Frontline Fronts for Corporations, Not the Public

by Margaret Flowers from The Public Record. This article on Frontline, a liberal PBS program in the US, illustrates how a (capitalist) government subsidized TV network acts as a gatekeeper of opinions on the left, and what range of views are acceptable to be considered at all.

The major point of the influence of health-industry dollars on the reform process, which should have been mentioned, is that these dollars were spent in order to restrict the debate and protect industry profits.

The lucrative status quo would have been threatened if single-payer had been openly discussed because a publicly financed national health program can provide high quality universal health care and control health care costs, something that a private-insurance-based system cannot accomplish.

After watching this film, viewers would have no idea that single-payer exists or know that there is a strong movement for it.

Governments Starting to Worry About Peak Oil

by Chris Nelder from Seeking Alpha. 

You'd think the American media would have been all over the story, as it signaled a major about-face in the official U.S. position on peak oil. As recently as 2008, the EIA's base case scenario was for oil supply to rise through 2030, and not decline until 2090!

Yet five days later when I Googled it, there was not one story from a major domestic publication. Only blogs and the usual peak oil sites had picked it up.

In my seasoned judgment, the American media blackout is deliberate.

Proving Election Fraud - Book Review

by Michael Collins from Atlantic Free Press. 

"Proving Election Fraud" dispels the mysteries of modern elections. It walks the reader through the process of understanding how elections work, provides simple explanations of the principals of election analysis and offers an online resource that anyone can use to develop their own True Vote Model. Of equal or greater importance, Charmin's relentlessly thorough analysis shows just how outrageous election fraud is and frees the reader to analyze the accuracy of official election results.

Americans and Government

from Archein. 

Pew has a good and important survey on Americans and government. Andrew Kohut did an overview for the WSJ stating:

    There is a perfect storm of conditions associated with distrust of government—a dismal economy, an unhappy public, and epic discontent with Congress and elected officials.

The Future of Flight

from Restoring Mayberry. 

...most of this constant circulation of planes around, and the goods they transport, are unnecessary. In fact, like so much of modern life, they involve a great leap backward.

Take fruit, for example, since so much of it is flown in. Medieval Britons didn’t need to ship apples in from New Zealand, even had they known about the place – they gathered apples in the autumn and kept them cool in the attic until they needed them. We are no less able to do this than they were, yet how many garden sheds and closets could you open to see stacks of apples?

Time out

Anderson Cooper and Class Solidarity

by Joe Bageant from his blog.

Thanks to globalization, the American, Australian and European working classes are on their way to extinction, in terms of their traditional rights, and quality of life. Just like the workers being poisoned to death by circuit board toxins in Guiyu, China, their fates will be determined by global capital, either by default or by bitter struggle against it. We are not seeing much of the latter and are not likely to, until it is too late, which it may already be. After all, you cannot put up much of a struggle against global capital when you worship it a creed and are addicted to commodities too.

World People's Conference On Climate Change: Democracy Centre report Day 1

from People's Conference. 

We don’t have time to waste. When we talk climate change we are talking about a crisis in which human behavior needs to change very much, very fast – and the only way change that fast happens is by changing public policies. So my beat at the Tiquipaya climate summit is about looking for the strategies to make that policy change happen. What are the objectives? Who does the climate movement need to move to achieve them? How are they going to do that? What are the arguments, alliances and actions that will make that happen?

People's World Conference on Climate Change

from Eco Factory.

Morales, who spoke during the opening ceremonies, made it clear that the enemy to the environment is capitalism. "Capitalism is what started the problem and it needs to end." 

Defense Spending Is Much Greater than You Think

by Robert Higgs from The Independent Institute. The author lists many military related expenses that are hidden in other departments that are never included in "defense" spending. Thus

the grand total comes to $1,027.8 billion, which is 61.5 percent greater than the Pentagon’s outlays alone.

Hence over 1 trillions dollars is spent every year by the US ruling class using taxpayer money to enforce their interests (profits, cheap labor and materials) on people throughout the world. 

The Future of Capitalism - Profits and Growth

by George Mobus from The Oil Drum. Although I have not yet returned home from my trip, I spotted this article while checking my email at a library's computer. I haven't had a chance to read it thoroughly, but it looks like an excellent article that fits with the point of this blog which is that capitalism is going to destroy the earth's habitat for humans and many other species--if we let it!

Over the next several decades we (humans) will have to change our understanding of what is feasible and what we need to be doing to have a future. The future does not include growth of the GDP or profits. Capitalism as it has been practiced in the 20^th century and now hanging on in the early 21^st century is dead. Or rather, at this juncture in history, it is moribund.

NOTICE: Because I will be leaving shortly on a five day trip, I will not be able to post any articles (except the one following this note) until next Wednesday or Thursday. If you would like me to notify you when I'm back, email me to let me know. Meanwhile there are a number of great posts from the past that you can access from my site. 

I welcome people who share my view that the capitalist system is on a collision course with a planet capable of sustaining human (and other life) to post articles with me that will help us to head off this catastrophe. If interested, email me.

Today I'll leave you with one article from Joe Bageant that I just received. 

Global Food Security Act, S.384, to give $billions to Monsanto, other GMO producers

from Food Freedom. 

Ben Burkett, National Family Farm Coalition president and Mississippi family farmer, added, “Corporate control over inputs and the free trade agenda have destroyed the livelihoods of so many farmers at home and abroad. That’s why farmers worldwide are calling for food sovereignty—the right to choose fair and sustainable farming practices that protect our local food and livelihood security. This is what works best for our farms and communities.” 

University Struggles at the End of the Edu-Deal

from Mute. 

...for the majority of students, acquiring a certificate is no guarantee for the future which promises simply more precarity and constant self-recycling. Many students realise that capitalism has nothing to offer this generation, that no ‘new deal' is possible...

Obama's Nuclear Surprise

from Strategic Culture Foundation (Russia). I find that it is often useful to peruse foreign publications to find out information on your own country that is missing from your domestic media. This article provides a good context for understanding the strategy behind the US administrations', current and former, efforts to reduce nuclear weapons. (The article seems to contain one mistranslation re "450 system".)

Congressional Pressure Can Help End the War, Saving Many Lives

from Just Foreign Policy. Don't know if you believe in letters to your US Congress people, but I occasionally write them. To the right of this article is a convenient way to send an email to your representatives protesting another bill to authorize $33 billion more for the war in Afghanistan. Funny isn't it that in contrast to the recent health care bill, this one will likely fly through Congress, and the media won't even bother to report it.

Frontline Fronts for Corporations Instead of Public

by Dr. Margaret Flowers from After Downing Street. Both PBS and NPR function as major "gatekeepers" of opinion in the US in the never ending efforts by the ruling class to "manufacture consent".

...just as it was in the health “debate,” single payer, improved Medicare for All, was also excluded from the film. The major point of the influence of health industry dollars on the reform process which should have been mentioned is that these dollars were spent in order to restrict the debate and protect industry profits. The lucrative status quo would have been threatened if single payer had been openly discussed because a publicly-financed national health program can provide high quality universal health care and control health care costs, something that a private insurance based system cannot accomplish. 

Time out (click on cartoon to enlarge)

The hedge fund parasites

from Socialist Worker. 

While the mainstream media has been agog over the massive payouts to hedge fund managers, few journalists have asked a simple question: What benefit do hedge funds provide for all these riches? And how can it be that a handful of investors are reaping billions at a time when the unemployment rate is still pushing 10 percent, few jobs are being created, and average wages are stagnant or falling?

Special Report: Are regulators dropping the ball on biocrops?

from Reuters news service. Finally, a major news service that is reporting on widespread concerns from independent sources regarding the safety of genetically modified food. However, I doubt very much that many news outlets will pick this up in their coverage. 

It appears to me, and many others, that reliance of the anemic oversight of the official regulatory agencies (FDA and USDA) is comparable to the oversight, or lack thereof, provided by similar agencies over the banking and finance corporations that has led to the economic collapse.

A common complaint is that the U.S. government conducts no independent testing of these biotech crops before they are approved, and does little to track their consequences after.

The developers of these crop technologies, including Monsanto and its chief rival DuPont, tightly curtail independent scientists from conducting their own studies. Because the companies patent their genetic alterations, outsiders are barred from testing the biotech seeds without company approvals.

Then the article cites some independent research that has revealed evidence to suggest serious problems caused by the consumption of GMO products.

Why Are Corporate Groups Funding the Tea Party?

by Shamus Cooke from Global Research.

...only three unifying concepts [of the National Tea Party Federation] were announced: fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government, and free markets — all vague terms overused by any corporate Republican.

...Because the three unifying ideas are so vague, special interests will fill in the blanks when needed.  For example, does a “constitutionally limited government” allow the economy to be dominated by giant corporations?  Does “fiscal responsibility” mean that the U.S. should spend hundreds of billions of dollars annually on foreign wars?  Does “free markets” mean that Wall Street should be allowed to do whatever it wants, whenever it wants? The answers to these questions, according to the National Tea Party Federation, will all be YES!

Confidential document reveals Obama's hardline US climate talk strategy

from the Guardian. 

A document accidentally left on a European hotel computer and passed to the Guardian reveals the US government's increasingly controversial strategy in the global UN climate talks.

World Bank's $3.75bn coal plant loan defies environment criticism

from the Guardian. 

The [Obama] administration had come under strong pressure from Democratic leaders in Congress as well as environmental organisations to try to block the loan.

'The Fourteenth Banker,' Anonymous Bank Insider, Describes His Moral Crisis: 'The System Is Built To Be Gamed'

from Huffington Post. There are exceptions to the rule that most high level banking and financial people are sociopathic, but such people have to keep their mouths shut or remain anonymous. The latter may be the case with this banker who tells all from his vantage point.  On the other hand, the article suggests that he is a lower level banker.

In Defense of Public School Teachers in a Time of Crisis

by Henry A. Giroux from Truthout. 3800 words and at this point I've read only a small part of it, but I have a lot of respect for this author.

...teachers are being deskilled, unceremoniously removed from the process of school governance, largely reduced to technicians or subordinated to the authority of security guards. Underlying these transformations are a number of forces eager to privatize schools, substitute vocational training for education and reduce teaching and learning to reductive modes of testing and evaluation.

Can the US dollar collapse? (8:43m video and script)

by Jane D'Arista from Real News Network. This is a first segment of an interview with this economist who appears to have some excellent insights re the US currency and debts.

"Never Even a Whisper" at Fed's Open Market Committee Meetings [FOMC]

from Washington's Blog. The title refers to a statement by William White, a chief economist at BIS who "As far back as 2003, ... implored central bankers to rethink their strategies, noting that instability in the financial markets had triggered inflation, the "villain" in the global economy...." The 18:43m video in the article features a talk by White where he tries to figure out why the warnings were ignored.

As the author writes:

These comments show that the central bankers knew exactly what was going on, a full two-and-a-half years before the big bang. All the ingredients of the looming disaster had been neatly laid out on the table in front of them: defective rating agencies, loans repackaged to the point of being unrecognizable, dubious practices of American mortgage lenders, the risks of low-interest policies. But no action was taken. Meanwhile, the Fed continued to raise interest rates in nothing more than tiny increments....

IMO (and I just heard White on the video say essentially the same thing!), they ignored the warnings because capitalists are sociopaths who are motivated by private short term gain and there were huge gains to be had. The system inevitably filters out normal people who have a social conscience and care about future generations and a healthy earth.

Timeout (click on cartoon to enlarge)

Keynes versus Hayek

by Henry C K Liu from Asia Times Online. (A re-post of an article of his from 1999) The two page article is a good summary of the two schools of capitalist economic theory and the application of each to keep the inherently unstable capitalist system running over the past 75 years. Liu, a highly educated economist, is a Keynesian, but his understanding of socialism is flawed by the historical stillborn birth of socialism in the Soviet Union. Hence "socialism" for many bourgeois educated people has come to mean an economy and society governed by a state bureaucracy instead of the soviet [local worker] councils which was the original intention. Unfortunately, it was the former which actually developed shortly after the revolution in the Soviet Union. Why this happened has been subject to endless debate and obfuscated and distorted by capitalist propaganda.

Nuclear Obama

by Pepe Escobar from Asia Times Online. So, what's behind the current political theater production that might be called, "Nuclear Obama", otherwise known as the 47-nation nuclear security summit. This astute political theater critic tells you his observations, and how much of it has to do with reality.

The not-so-hidden agenda of "nuclear Obama" was basically to gather global support for a tougher round of sanctions on Iran. Obama wants new sanctions in place by June.

Rahm Emanuel and Magnetar Capital: The Definition of Compromised

from Naked Capitalism. Yves Smith casts her penetrating eyes on the sub-prime mortgage debacle to reveal more hidden-from-the-public facts regarding this scandal such as the fact that Emanuel Rahm was a key player. So one can be sure that no new onerous regulations (to the financial industry) will be passed during the current administration, or likely any other under the capitalist system. 

As the Magnetar-Rahm connection highlights, Obama raised more money from financial services players than any previous presidential candidate, so it can hardly be a surprise that he and his minions are happy to give the industry a free pass. Key policy figures maintain that no one was at fault, that there was a pervasive lack of regulation, and there are therefore no bad actors. That party line also means that destructive behavior is and will remain unquestioned, unexamined, uncorrected, and unpunished.

US reaps bitter harvest from 'Tulip' revolution

by M K Bhadrakumar from Asia Times Online. This author follows the new Great Game avidly and authoritatively.

A color revolution against a regime backed by the United States was not considered possible until this week. Indeed, how could such a thing happen, when it was the US that invented color revolutions to effect regime change in countries outside its sphere of influence? 

Save the Internet, But Start a Social Movement (4:12m audio & script)

from Black Agenda Report. 

A federal court has put the FCC’s version of “internet neutrality” in question, encouraging corporate forces that would turn the Net into a toll road. But real activists don’t rely on courts and legislatures to achieve social and institutional progress. “Until we return to genuine grassroots and radically political social movement no technology can be used for liberation."

The Game That Goes On and On: a Swiss Bank, a President, and the Permanent Government

by Russ Baker from Who What Why. The President plays with his golfing buddies and one of which is a member of the ruling class who heads up an institution that benefited greatly from tax payer bailouts. Read what this investigative journalist extraordinaire reveals about the real government. Baker uses the term "the permanent government" instead of the ruling or governing class--the latter terms can seldom be used in polite company among people indoctrinated in the religion of capitalism. This kind of information is critically important for ordinary people if they are to be truly free of exploitation and become self-governing.

How Financial Reporters Create Illusion to Cover Up Wall Street's Scams

from Alter Net. The headline says it all, but read the details of how mainstream media, particularly the financial media, keep us believing in the system and consuming.

For some reason, that desire for great expectations unmoored from reality perseveres, and remains enchanted by a political and economic paradise that is not only incorrect, but impossible. Instead of continuing to rely on those who can't seem to separate their perception from reality, we should be ignoring them outright. If anything, we shouldn't keep paying them for being wrong when it literally counts, which starts with the headlines and ends with our wallets.

The Magnetar Trade: How One Hedge Fund Helped Keep the Bubble Going

from Pro Publica.

According to bankers and others involved, the Magnetar Trade worked this way: The hedge fund bought the riskiest portion of a kind of securities known as collateralized debt obligations -- CDOs. If housing prices kept rising, this would provide a solid return for many years. But that's not what hedge funds are after. They want outsized gains, the sooner the better, and Magnetar set itself up for a huge win: It placed bets that portions of its own deals would fail. 

Washington nuclear conference promotes US campaign against Iran, North Korea

from World Socialist Web Site. The author looks behind the rhetoric of the Obama administration to examine the real strategy for this conference.

The aim, however, is the same: to create the conditions for stepped-up sanctions against Iran, to threaten North Korea with retaliation over its alleged trafficking in missiles and nuclear technology, and to sustain US military hegemony, both in conventional and nuclear weapons, against potential challenges from more formidable powers, including China and Russia.

AFRICOM Backs Bloodshed in Central Africa

by Keith Harmon Snow from Dissident Voice. I regard Snow as the best independent journalist covering African affairs for readers in the Western countries.

The Western media perpetually broadcasts the suffering in Congo, but the propaganda is simplistic disinformation, and the Western “news”-consuming public eats it up and dismisses the Congo, abandoning the people whose lives are determined in part by the raw materials stolen from them in a state of war and organized crime. These include diamonds, gold, columbium-tantalite, cobalt, copper, petroleum, germanium, tin, tungsten, palm oil, coffee and chocolate (sold in Whole Foods groceries stores).

Then he goes on to make this startling allegation:

But the value of Congo’s greatest natural “resource” exceeds the value of all the above resources combined: the biggest western moneymaker in Congo is humanitarian aid, charity and international relief—Save the Children, CARE, UNICEF, UNHCR—a.k.a., and the misery industry. 

Radical Concentration of Wealth is Destroying Both Capitalism and Democracy

from Washington's Blog. 

The fed and Treasury are not giving more chips to those who need them: the American consumer. Instead, they are giving chips to the 800-pound gorillas at the poker table, such as Wall Street investment banks.

So...isn't the capitalist system supposed to be about maximizing private gains? Of course, its proponents argue that by maximizing private gains, everyone benefits. But that is just propaganda. Who can argue against the proposition that money is power, otherwise known as the "golden rule"--those with the gold rule? In other words, they (the gold holders) make the rules that protects and enhances their interests--not society's.

The Fed “Owns Credit-Default Swaps ... On Debt Owed by California and Nevada. So the Fed Would Profit If One of Those States Defaulted on its Debt.”

from Washington's Blog. The moral of this brief report is:

American people's interests - are not necessarily aligned with the Fed's interests.

Time out (click on cartoon to enlarge)

Media Feeds Americans Fake News About Afghanistan

from Center for Media and Democracy.

Americans have been fed a diet of fictionalized accounts about the war in Afghanistan, thanks to our military which cannot be trusted to tell the public the truth about what they do. We can only wonder what might happen to support for the war if Americans got truthful accounts from its military about what happens in Afghanistan, instead of lies that have to be "outed" by the very few brave independent reporters who have the integrity to undertake that task, no matter the cost. 

US military warns oil output may dip causing massive shortages by 2015

from the Guardian. 

"By 2012, surplus oil production capacity could entirely disappear, and as early as 2015, the shortfall in output could reach nearly 10 million barrels per day," says the report, which has a foreword by a senior commander, General James N Mattis.

Washington considers a decline of world oil production as of 2011

from Le Monde. Quietly, in order not to upset American audiences, the Department of Energy is becoming more pessimistic about the forecast for the decline in world oil production. One has to read about this in foreign sources.

Myths and falsehoods from the assault on global warming science

from Media Matters. An excellent summary of myths and facts re the issue of climate change that you can use to confront skeptical relatives and friends about the topic.

Sorry that I am late posting today and with only a few articles. My neighbor had some electrical problems that I helped him with. Fortunately, we corrected the problem. I should be back on a regular schedule of postings tomorrow.

Court Rules Against NSA's Illegal Spying, Illegal NSA Spying Continues

from Anti-Fascist Calling. The article goes into to great detail re the privacy and civil rights of US citizens to illustrate how the transition from Bush Jr's administration to Obama's has been a seamless one. And why not? It is the same governing class. People simply must refuse to be distracted by the Democrat and Republican political shows that keep playing on the media. 

The District Court ruling seems like a victory, but I wouldn't be so sure that it will change anything. It may just be overturned by the Supreme Court, or what I think is more likely, it will simply be ignored. The laws and the enforcement system is for us little people--the governing class is exempt.

Looting Main Street

by Matt Taibbi from Rolling Stone. The author provides the details of the bankster's shakedown of Montgomery (Jefferson Co.), Alabama as an example of what has occurred across much of the US, and similar to what has happened all over the world. The banksters are equal opportunity victimizers.

Once you follow that trail and understand what took place in Jefferson County, there's really no room left for illusions. We live in a gangster state, and our days of laughing at other countries are over. It's our turn to get laughed at. In Birmingham, lots of people have gone to jail for the crime.... But those who greenlighted the bribes and profited most from the scam remain largely untouched. "It never gets back to JP Morgan," says Pack.

Collapse Competitively

by Dmitry Orlov from Club Orlov.

We are heading toward economic, political and social collapse, and every day that passes brings it closer. But we just don't know when to stop, do we? Which part of "the harder we try, the harder we fail" can't we understand? Why can't we understand that each additional dollar of debt will drive us into national bankruptcy faster, harder and deeper? Why can't we grasp the concept that each additional dollar of military spending further undermines our security? Is there some sort of cognitive impairment that prevents us from understanding that each additional dollar sunk into the medical industry will only make us sicker? Why can't we see that each incremental child we bear into this untenable situation will make life harder for all children? In short, what on earth is our problem? 

                                         *************************************

Once we dispense with the idea that competition is in any sense necessary, or even desirable, new avenues of thought open up.

 

Easter Island : A Case Study in the Response to Resource Depletion

from The Oil Drum. 

This transportation was an extraordinary feat [erecting huge statues] and could only be performed using vast numbers of wooden rollers, sledges and levers, not to mention the incredible number of man hours per statue. The capacity of the island to provide a relatively easy living (what we would call the EROEI) so as to free up so many workers for seemingly non-productive activity must have been considerable.

But over the centuries, this non-productive use of the forests, combined with increased need for timber due to population growth, would have gradually resulted in progressive deforestation, loss of habitat for a variety of edible plants, birds and animals, loss of protection from sun and wind, loss of fire wood and erosion of soil.

The parallels with today's world dominated by the capitalist system, which produces profits for a few while generating so many unnecessary toys and luxuries, is the obvious, and important point of this article.

We all want to change the world

from The Economist. I suspect that most of the members of the ruling capitalist classes know that there is a collision course coming between their beloved system and the earth's ecological systems. But being addicted to profits, like an alcoholic addicted to drink, they are always dreaming up some excuse for continuing their habit. I think that it is a grotesque form of hubris to believe that humans can manage the earth's ecosystems. This article is appropriately carried in The Economist--the premier magazine of the capitalist classes.