The mass media’s way of communicating war is basically to put fake tough-guy narcissists like Bill O’Reilly, Joe Biden, or Dick Cheney on your TV screen speaking to the equivalent of a pre-oedipal 2 year old: “there are scary people out there…you need to be terrified…heroic saviors will attack and destroy their bad countries for you so you can maintain your mental fantasy that you’re safe. All you need to do is keep shopping, buying your little toys, while daddy keeps you safe.”
Friday, August 13, 2010
On War, Armies, and the Brilliance of James Madison
by Damon Vrabel from Council on Renewal.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Monopoly Money and the International Banking Cartel
from Council on Renewal. Understanding money creation under private banking institutions is extremely important. After reading this article, to delve deeper into the subject I suggest you do one or all of the following:
- view this series of 8 videos with each video about 10 minutes in length.
- Read the very readable book entitled, Web of Debt, by Ellen Brown.
- read the article entitled, "Money and the Crisis of Civilization" by Charles Eisenstein
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Giant ice block baffles scientists [1:44m video & other links]
from Al Jazeera.
I am absolutely amazed at the slight media coverage that this event is receiving in the US. The best I've come across so far is from Bloomberg News which provides this interesting title--"Iceberg Four Times Size of Manhattan May Hamper Atlantic Ships". Apparently they are more worried about the effects on commerce more than anything else.
The NY Times coverage on Monday seemed to emphasize the usual anti-climate change themes of "undecided scientists", "more research needed", "natural variations", etc.
The best report of all comes from UK's Guardian.
Then this piece entitled, Russia's Fires Cause "Brown Cloud," May Hit Arctic, suggests that things can get even worse.
I am absolutely amazed at the slight media coverage that this event is receiving in the US. The best I've come across so far is from Bloomberg News which provides this interesting title--"Iceberg Four Times Size of Manhattan May Hamper Atlantic Ships". Apparently they are more worried about the effects on commerce more than anything else.
The NY Times coverage on Monday seemed to emphasize the usual anti-climate change themes of "undecided scientists", "more research needed", "natural variations", etc.
The best report of all comes from UK's Guardian.
Then this piece entitled, Russia's Fires Cause "Brown Cloud," May Hit Arctic, suggests that things can get even worse.
Manifestations of Runaway Climate Change
by Andrew Glikson from Dissident Voice. He provides recent data about climate extremes that is uncovered in mainstream media.
Frustrated White House Slams “Professional Left”
by Yves Smith from Naked Capitalism.
This excellent blogger with a long career in the financial services industry knows of what she writes. In this article she goes into some detail to show how the Obama administration, the current employees of the ruling class residing in the executive branch of the official US government, are disciplining those on the anemic political left in the US.
She introduces her topic with this statement:
This excellent blogger with a long career in the financial services industry knows of what she writes. In this article she goes into some detail to show how the Obama administration, the current employees of the ruling class residing in the executive branch of the official US government, are disciplining those on the anemic political left in the US.
She introduces her topic with this statement:
...this is an Administration that, ironically, seems to think its Faustian pacts with corporate interests can be sold to a presumed-to-be-clueless public with artful PR. But this supposedly media savvy bunch has persistently violated a fundamental rule of marketing: you don’t misrepresent your product. While politicians all oversell what they can accomplish, the Team Obama campaign has become increasingly desperate as the inconsistency between the Adminstration’s “product positioning” and observable reality become increasingly evident.
Russia's Agony a "Wake-Up Call" to the World
by Stephen Leahy from IPS.
The founder of the Washington-based Earth Policy Institute wants the government to get serious about climate change by enacting effective measures instead of promoting ethanol.
The founder of the Washington-based Earth Policy Institute wants the government to get serious about climate change by enacting effective measures instead of promoting ethanol.
"The lesson here is that we must take climate change far more seriously, make major cuts in emissions and fast before climate change is out of control," Brown, one of the world's leading experts on agriculture and food, told IPS.
Average temperatures during the month of July were eight degrees Celsius above normal in Moscow, he said, noting that "such a huge increase in temperature over an entire month is just unheard of."
Sticking Together in Tough Times
by Chuck Collins from Yes! Magazine.
Some unemployed workers are organizing to defend themselves against the unrelenting push by corporations and their government to pare back US labor costs in favor of more profits from cheaper labor overseas.
Some unemployed workers are organizing to defend themselves against the unrelenting push by corporations and their government to pare back US labor costs in favor of more profits from cheaper labor overseas.
In unemployed worker groups and common security clubs across the country, participants are facing two grim realities. The first is that jobs that vanished aren’t coming back. And the second reality is that if unemployed workers don’t stand up for themselves, no one else will.The only problem I have with this article is that it assumes that only defensive, mild reform actions need be taken to defend the unemployed. Such bias reflects the liberal perspective of this website.
National Security Letter Recipient Can Speak Out For First Time Since FBI Demanded Customer Records From Him
from American Civil Liberties Union.
But the Obama administration in order to serve its bosses in the ruling class are fighting back and trying to expand government powers of surveillance over your private life. Read this.
View this 2:07m video to learn more about how business and government can access your private information, and what you can do about it.
"After six long years of not being able to tell anyone at all what happened to me – not even my family – I'm grateful to finally be able to talk about my experience of being served with a national security letter," said Merrill. "Internet users do not give up their privacy rights when they log on, and the FBI should not have the power to secretly demand that ISPs turn over constitutionally protected information about their users without a court order. I hope my successful challenge to the FBI's NSL gag power will empower others who may have received NSLs to speak out."View this 3:50m video in which Merrill tells about his experience:
But the Obama administration in order to serve its bosses in the ruling class are fighting back and trying to expand government powers of surveillance over your private life. Read this.
View this 2:07m video to learn more about how business and government can access your private information, and what you can do about it.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Google-Verizon Deal: The End of The Internet as We Know It
by Josh Silver from Huffington Post.
So the Google-Verizon deal can be summed up as this: "FCC, you have no authority over us and you're not going to do anything about it. Congress, we own you, and we'll get whatever legislation we want. And American people, you can't stop us.We must stop them!
Read: Regulators’ Deepwater Drilling Document Is ‘at War With Itself’
by Marion Wang from ProPublica.
A decade-old environmental assessment by offshore drilling regulators called for more research on Corexit dispersant, warned that deepwater spills were difficult to stop, and cautioned that such spills could "permanently cover water bottoms and wetlands."All government regulation cannot protect the public interest when the government is owned by the capitalist ruling class.
At the same time, it cited industry speculation that a deepwater blowout could stop itself in a matter of days and concluded that deepwater spills were "a very low-probability event."
New Outrages Keep Gushing From BP
by Jim Hightower from Creators. com.
Bet you won't read this in mainstream media. Yes, it's more mischief perpetrated by the ruling corporate class.
Bet you won't read this in mainstream media. Yes, it's more mischief perpetrated by the ruling corporate class.
The Digital Surveillance State: Vast, Secret, and Dangerous
by Glenn Greenwald from Cato Institute. Yes, that is not some kind of mistake--this article is from that right-wing "think" tank! Maybe they are only worried that the sheer volume of citizen data collected is causing real enemies from being detected. Maybe I shouldn't be so cynical. Maybe it is even more worrisome because a right-wing organization is worried about the growing fascism in the US:
The article prompts a lot of reactions from me.
First, the information clearly indicates that the surveillance agencies are violating laws and are not in conformance with the Constitution. This supports my argument that laws are designed by ruling classes to control their subjects. They in no way deter the ruling classes from violating the same laws. And constitutions are designed to provide legitimacy for the governments of ruling classes. You can look at any constitution across the world and you will be amazed at how wonderful they always appear.
Secondly, both capitalist parties are in collusion with the total surveillance state. Like most other issues, the political party designation doesn't really matter. It is just to fool you into thinking that you have a choice. You will never be given a real choice. The individuals occupying the White House are employees of the ruling capitalist class. Congress and the Supreme Court are owned by corporations.
Thirdly, regarding the realization that so much data misses some real bad actors among us, it is argued that the profit incentives of private enterprise encourages this excessive data collection. While this may be true to a certain extent, I would argue that the ruling class is more worried about its own citizens than it is terrorists.
The Empire is causing more and more havoc in the world in general and problems for US citizens in particular. Further deterioration of the economy for working people is in the offing as US corporations leave the US and continue to scour the globe for cheap labor and resources. The recent severe recession is not some temporary downturn in the business cycle; it represents a permanent "structural adjustment" of the US economy as corporations become global players.
Thus, the US ruling class worries that at some point US workers will revolt after they wake up and realize that the "American Dream" was only a dream, and they want to be prepared.
In every way that matters, the separation between government and corporations is nonexistent, especially (though not only) when it comes to the Surveillance State.This is the very definition of fascism: "...the separation between government and corporations is nonexistent...."
The article prompts a lot of reactions from me.
First, the information clearly indicates that the surveillance agencies are violating laws and are not in conformance with the Constitution. This supports my argument that laws are designed by ruling classes to control their subjects. They in no way deter the ruling classes from violating the same laws. And constitutions are designed to provide legitimacy for the governments of ruling classes. You can look at any constitution across the world and you will be amazed at how wonderful they always appear.
Secondly, both capitalist parties are in collusion with the total surveillance state. Like most other issues, the political party designation doesn't really matter. It is just to fool you into thinking that you have a choice. You will never be given a real choice. The individuals occupying the White House are employees of the ruling capitalist class. Congress and the Supreme Court are owned by corporations.
Thirdly, regarding the realization that so much data misses some real bad actors among us, it is argued that the profit incentives of private enterprise encourages this excessive data collection. While this may be true to a certain extent, I would argue that the ruling class is more worried about its own citizens than it is terrorists.
The Empire is causing more and more havoc in the world in general and problems for US citizens in particular. Further deterioration of the economy for working people is in the offing as US corporations leave the US and continue to scour the globe for cheap labor and resources. The recent severe recession is not some temporary downturn in the business cycle; it represents a permanent "structural adjustment" of the US economy as corporations become global players.
Thus, the US ruling class worries that at some point US workers will revolt after they wake up and realize that the "American Dream" was only a dream, and they want to be prepared.
Japan's Economic Stagnation Is Creating a Nation of Lost Youths
by Charles Hugh Smith from Daily Finance.
The article looks at the disturbing trend in Japan that is rapidly becoming true in the US. This provides more evidence to support my view that the operation of global capitalism is going to result in tiny islands of rich people living among vast oceans of poor, exploited, and surplus people.
The article looks at the disturbing trend in Japan that is rapidly becoming true in the US. This provides more evidence to support my view that the operation of global capitalism is going to result in tiny islands of rich people living among vast oceans of poor, exploited, and surplus people.
The unraveling of Japan's social fabric as a result of eroding economic conditions for young people offers Americans a troubling glimpse of the high costs of long-term economic stagnation.
Rice yields falling under global warming
by Richard Black from the BBC.
Global warming is cutting rice yields in many parts of Asia, according to research, with more declines to come.Also, more findings of global warming effects in Russia.
Worker-Owned Cooperatives: The Work We Do is the Solution [audio]
by Rose Aguilar from Truthout.
This is a radio interview with representatives from a variety of co-ops in the San Francisco Bay Area. Rose Aguilar is the host of "Your Call," a daily call-in radio show on KALW 91.7 FM in San Francisco.
This is a radio interview with representatives from a variety of co-ops in the San Francisco Bay Area. Rose Aguilar is the host of "Your Call," a daily call-in radio show on KALW 91.7 FM in San Francisco.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Out of Sight, Out of Mind (Even when it’s not out of sight)
by Dahr Jamail from Dahr Jamail's Dispatches.
This fine journalist is one of a few outstanding, independent US journalists who, unlike most of his peers, remains unembedded with the ruling class.
The author has trained his sharp-eyed journalistic gaze upon the record breaking environmental disaster in the Gulf that our ruling class would prefer that we forget about. His comparison with the US government's handling of this disaster with the Soviet Union's handling of the Chernobyl disaster is precious. If you want to avoid the usual soothing ruling class palaver about the Gulf disaster, then you must follow honest journalists like Jamail.
This fine journalist is one of a few outstanding, independent US journalists who, unlike most of his peers, remains unembedded with the ruling class.
The author has trained his sharp-eyed journalistic gaze upon the record breaking environmental disaster in the Gulf that our ruling class would prefer that we forget about. His comparison with the US government's handling of this disaster with the Soviet Union's handling of the Chernobyl disaster is precious. If you want to avoid the usual soothing ruling class palaver about the Gulf disaster, then you must follow honest journalists like Jamail.
The lives of Gulf coast fishermen and residents are being destroyed. Scientists, environmentalists, and toxicologists are describing the Gulf of Mexico as a growing dead zone, a kill zone, and an energy sacrifice zone. As you read this, oil is everywhere around southeastern Louisiana, and continually washing ashore in Alabama and Mississippi.
The Lies Of Hiroshima Are The Lies Of Today
by John Pilger from Global Research.
Another unembedded (with the Empire's ruling class) journalist from Australia (now living in London) reports on the truth about another man-made, but this time, intentional disaster--one of history's worst war crimes.
They remained obsessed by the threat of a system and a power that prevented capitalist penetration. You can see this obsession played out immediately after the end of that war by examining the events related to the US occupation of southern Korea. This history remains mostly hidden, but it can be accessed by reading a difficult-to-find, but brilliant book entitled, The Origins of the Korean War, V1 by Bruce Cumings.
The use of the atomic bomb in Japan illustrates the criminal, anti-human mindset of the Empire's ruling class whose power and wealth depend upon force and dominance. They have continued to threaten other adversaries with the weapon since then. See this.
Another unembedded (with the Empire's ruling class) journalist from Australia (now living in London) reports on the truth about another man-made, but this time, intentional disaster--one of history's worst war crimes.
The most enduring lie is that the atomic bomb was dropped to end the war in the Pacific and save lives. "Even without the atomic bombing attacks," concluded the United States Strategic Bombing Survey of 1946, "air supremacy over Japan could have exerted sufficient pressure to bring about unconditional surrender and obviate the need for invasion. Based on a detailed investigation of all the facts, and supported by the testimony of the surviving Japanese leaders involved, it is the Survey's opinion that ... Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war and even if no invasion had been planned or contemplated."This particular article does not go on to explain the likely reasons US used this weapon against an already defeated Japan. The arch-nemesis for the US ruling class remained the Soviet Union. WWII was about inter-imperial capitalist rivalries. Having beaten their rivals, the US Empire's ruling class was even more eager to assert dominance over its primary enemy, the Soviet Union even though they were "allies" in this war.
They remained obsessed by the threat of a system and a power that prevented capitalist penetration. You can see this obsession played out immediately after the end of that war by examining the events related to the US occupation of southern Korea. This history remains mostly hidden, but it can be accessed by reading a difficult-to-find, but brilliant book entitled, The Origins of the Korean War, V1 by Bruce Cumings.
The use of the atomic bomb in Japan illustrates the criminal, anti-human mindset of the Empire's ruling class whose power and wealth depend upon force and dominance. They have continued to threaten other adversaries with the weapon since then. See this.
US-Vietnam nuclear talks heighten frictions with China
by Peter Symonds from World Socialist Web Site.
This is utterly amazing even to my jaded mind. However, it does support my contention mentioned in the above article that the US ruling capitalist class remains obsessed about any rivals to its dominance in the world.
This is utterly amazing even to my jaded mind. However, it does support my contention mentioned in the above article that the US ruling capitalist class remains obsessed about any rivals to its dominance in the world.
In a move that will further raise regional tensions, the US is conducting negotiations with Vietnam over a deal to allow the purchase of nuclear fuel, as well as American nuclear technology and reactors. The talks, details of which were leaked to the US media last week, are another sign that the Obama administration is engaged in an aggressive strategy of countering Chinese influence throughout the Asian region.
“Technically Incompetent” NY Fed Examiner of Biggest Banks Pre Crisis Promoted for Blowing Up the Economy
by Yves Smith from Naked Capitalism. Although the whole article may not be worth your time, she starts it off with a great, insightful quote:
We pointed out that reappointing Ben Bernanke as Federal Reserve chairman would be inconceivable in the private sector, since CEOs who preside over disasters are dismissed (captains have the good taste to go down with their ships).
But of course, Bernanke is a failure only if you believe that the Fed’s official mandate – soundness and stability of the banking system, full employment and price stability – is the real one. But if you think his job, like that of Soviet apparatchiks, is to preserve the existing order, no matter how rotten it and its incumbents are, then he has succeeded admirably.
Wikileaks and the Mighty Wurlitzer
by Zahir Ebrahim from The Public Record. Excellent analysis of the Empire's propaganda machine.
...I use the term ‘Mighty Wurlitzer’ as a metaphor to pluralistically refer to the same message-machine, i.e., the intelligence apparatus for manufacturing consent and controlling dissent, and its concomitant conscious manipulation of peoples’ thoughts, feelings, actions and in-actions, in order to serve the primacy interests of the ruling-elite.
Eyes on the skies over Iran's reactor
by Marsh B. Cohen from Asia Times Online.
Looks like we are now in a critical period of the standoff between US/Israel and Iran that holds possibilities for peace or a terrible disaster.
Looks like we are now in a critical period of the standoff between US/Israel and Iran that holds possibilities for peace or a terrible disaster.
The prospect of Bushehr becoming operational coincides with the proliferation of public statements that claim an attack on Iran by Israel or the US is impending and inevitable. Bushehr is strategically located in southwestern Iran on the Gulf coast, directly across from Kuwait.
An aerial assault on Bushehr would have to take place before any nuclear fuel arrives at the site. Beyond that point, an attack on the reactor would release deadly radioactive fallout into the entire Persian Gulf region and beyond.Also, read this.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
On the Persistence of Hierarchy
by Kenneth Couesbouc from State of Nature (UK).
I haven't had time to read this thoroughly, but it appears to offer some very unique and fascinating perspectives about the age-old struggle between the owners of property and workers and their governing systems which depended upon hierarchy to insure the dominance of the former.
He concludes with this statement with which I very much agree:
I haven't had time to read this thoroughly, but it appears to offer some very unique and fascinating perspectives about the age-old struggle between the owners of property and workers and their governing systems which depended upon hierarchy to insure the dominance of the former.
He concludes with this statement with which I very much agree:
The historic coincidence of a tottering pyramid and a free web of words is a very rare opportunity that must not be squandered.
Only a socialist vision can defeat the cuts
by Andrew Fisher from New Left Project.
Although the article is oriented toward an audience in the UK, it offers some constructive suggestions about coping with cutbacks and building a new society.
He concludes his essay with this excellent perspective:
Although the article is oriented toward an audience in the UK, it offers some constructive suggestions about coping with cutbacks and building a new society.
He concludes his essay with this excellent perspective:
We should not underestimate the scale of this task, but nor should we countenance the alternative. This is the most important struggle for at least a generation, and we must work openly, democratically and comradely to build an inclusive movement that can decisively resist the cuts, defeat this government and then build the socialist society we want.
Reviving Anarchy For The Sake Of Sustainability
by Antonio Roman-Alcalá from Civil Eats. This article is very much in line with my way of thinking and the proposals for social/economic systems at the top right hand side of this blog.
People (in the U.S. in particular but the world over as well) have lost control over government, which means a loss of control over the economy and its negative effects. In our “democracy” of corporately-funded elections, ubiquitous lobbyists, an impotent when not sycophantic mainstream media, and an (understandably and increasingly) cynical, jaded electorate, can we expect to regain control of the government, as it currently is structured? Perhaps the healthy function of government, like that of industry, is corrupted by aspects inherent to its top-heavy design. The ecological appropriateness of industry should be decided by the communities impacted by that industry, not by the industries themselves or a weak, distant, unaccountable government.
What collapsing empire looks like
by Glenn Greenwald from Salon. Another gem from one of my favorite bloggers.
He concludes the article with this:
I don't see these cutbacks for public expenditures to be a sign of "imminent" or "imperial collapse". I think that it is an indication of the globalization of capitalism. Where before the capitalist center was located in the US, now it is dispersed across the globe. In the future I see islands of wealth and power lying surrounded by huge seas of poverty and neglect. It is the horrible future of global capitalism--a tiny first world and a huge third world will exist everywhere in the world.
Thus Americans will no longer be privileged by living at the center of the capitalist Empire. American workers can forget about the "American Dream", about a good education, about a comfortable retirement.
The challenge for the local governing class will be to keep them distracted enough so that they remain well behaved and accepting of their fate. Their corporate media will have to work overtime to do this. One way that seems to be working is mainstream media's constant theme of reporting about the economy as only just another temporary downturn in the business cycle.
Meanwhile the ruling classes will spare no expenses to build up their police and military forces to protect them from the "rabble".
He concludes the article with this:
Does anyone doubt that once a society ceases to be able to afford schools, public transit, paved roads, libraries and street lights -- or once it chooses not to be able to afford those things in pursuit of imperial priorities and the maintenance of a vast Surveillance and National Security State -- that a very serious problem has arisen, that things have gone seriously awry, that imperial collapse, by definition, is an imminent inevitability?
I don't see these cutbacks for public expenditures to be a sign of "imminent" or "imperial collapse". I think that it is an indication of the globalization of capitalism. Where before the capitalist center was located in the US, now it is dispersed across the globe. In the future I see islands of wealth and power lying surrounded by huge seas of poverty and neglect. It is the horrible future of global capitalism--a tiny first world and a huge third world will exist everywhere in the world.
Thus Americans will no longer be privileged by living at the center of the capitalist Empire. American workers can forget about the "American Dream", about a good education, about a comfortable retirement.
The challenge for the local governing class will be to keep them distracted enough so that they remain well behaved and accepting of their fate. Their corporate media will have to work overtime to do this. One way that seems to be working is mainstream media's constant theme of reporting about the economy as only just another temporary downturn in the business cycle.
Meanwhile the ruling classes will spare no expenses to build up their police and military forces to protect them from the "rabble".
Market greed or a planned economy for human need?
by Dave Holmes from Socialist Alliance (Australia).
Although I don't agree with some of the details of this lecture, it does provide a good discussion of the flaws of capitalism and the virtue of a system that is based on democratic planning to meet social needs. You can see why the ruling classes of capitalism so aggressively attack any hint of ideas that suggest public ownership of the economy to serve the needs of all people in society.
Broadly speaking, where I differ is related to what I perceive to be a weakness of those coming from the Marxist-Leninist tradition. They give far too much lip service to "democratic" features of socialism and neglect the real substance of inclusive democratic participation of ordinary people in all the social arrangements. Their ideas seem to me to be too stuck in the ideas of that tradition.
Although I don't agree with some of the details of this lecture, it does provide a good discussion of the flaws of capitalism and the virtue of a system that is based on democratic planning to meet social needs. You can see why the ruling classes of capitalism so aggressively attack any hint of ideas that suggest public ownership of the economy to serve the needs of all people in society.
Broadly speaking, where I differ is related to what I perceive to be a weakness of those coming from the Marxist-Leninist tradition. They give far too much lip service to "democratic" features of socialism and neglect the real substance of inclusive democratic participation of ordinary people in all the social arrangements. Their ideas seem to me to be too stuck in the ideas of that tradition.
The “Summer Camp Of Destruction”: Israeli High Schoolers Assist The Razing Of A Bedouin Town
by Max Blumenthal from VoltaireNet.
Read about the latest efforts of US's ally in the Middle East--some think of it as America's floating aircraft carrier--as it creates more terrorists for the Empire to fight. As long as Israel keep this up, no one needs to worry, especially the military-industrial complex, about the end of the "War on Terror".
Read about the latest efforts of US's ally in the Middle East--some think of it as America's floating aircraft carrier--as it creates more terrorists for the Empire to fight. As long as Israel keep this up, no one needs to worry, especially the military-industrial complex, about the end of the "War on Terror".
A Tale of Two Economies
by David Korten from Yes! Magazine.
Capitalism in the US has taken the form of a religion even though it is not recognized as a formal one. However if you stray too far outside of its doctrines, you will feel its wrath. Unlike earlier times when the formal religions were so powerful and when one transgressed, instead of undergoing an inquisition and being burnt at the stake, today one is more likely to suffer in terms of job and income loss and social ostracism.
Have you ever wondered why the Wall Street speculators who brought down the economy are still being rewarded with vast fortunes? Or why teachers, nurses, factory workers, truck drivers, and all the people who do real work are struggling to put food on the table? The pundits talk about a jobless recovery. But how can it be a recovery when jobs remain so scarce and pay so little? And why do so many people find that the harder they work, the more they owe the bank?Although the author has made many significant contributions toward understanding the negative role that corporations have played in our lives, his recommendations always seem overly simplistic and naive. It is quite possible that he chooses to discuss the issues in this style in order to reach a lot more people in the US who have been thoroughly indoctrinated in the values and ideas of capitalism.
Capitalism in the US has taken the form of a religion even though it is not recognized as a formal one. However if you stray too far outside of its doctrines, you will feel its wrath. Unlike earlier times when the formal religions were so powerful and when one transgressed, instead of undergoing an inquisition and being burnt at the stake, today one is more likely to suffer in terms of job and income loss and social ostracism.
Buffett, Gates, Rockefeller and the Conscience of the Very, Very Rich
by Carl Ginsburg from CounterPunch. Ah, the wonderful lives of charity-giving capitalists--icons of an unselfish ruling class! However, there do seem to be some contradictions.
Buffett’s profits are not tied exclusively to low wages stateside; his Wal-Mart earnings are a result of paying the lowest garment wages in the world, according to labor rights advocates. Wal-Mart has started moving some of its garment factories out of China, where garment workers have been making the princely sum of $147 per month, to Bangladesh, where monthly earnings total $64, the lowest wage of its kind. In this world of farce these wages are linked to Bangladesh’s low literacy rate—55 percent. Had workers only acquired educations, the master thespians of farce would say, wages would be higher.
This Summer, the War of Old Money and New Fame Rages on
by Jamie Johnson from Vanity Fair.
It is always a good idea to keep in touch with all of our fellow Americans even if they are from the 1%. This is this week's offering of their lives and concerns. From the article you learn that one preoccupation they have is all the attention that celebrities get instead of them. Actually, I don't agree. From my albeit limited knowledge of the old rich, they really don't like a lot of attention drawn to themselves outside of their own immediate circles.
But maybe what Johnson is addressing is only when celebrities invade their stomping grounds at such places as Aspen, The Hamptons, Nantucket, Monaco, etc, and receive so much attention. In any case, you can see how it would be annoying to them. And you can thank your lucky stars that you don't have to worry about that.
It is always a good idea to keep in touch with all of our fellow Americans even if they are from the 1%. This is this week's offering of their lives and concerns. From the article you learn that one preoccupation they have is all the attention that celebrities get instead of them. Actually, I don't agree. From my albeit limited knowledge of the old rich, they really don't like a lot of attention drawn to themselves outside of their own immediate circles.
But maybe what Johnson is addressing is only when celebrities invade their stomping grounds at such places as Aspen, The Hamptons, Nantucket, Monaco, etc, and receive so much attention. In any case, you can see how it would be annoying to them. And you can thank your lucky stars that you don't have to worry about that.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Wall Street's Big Win
by Matt Taibbi from Rolling Stone.
This is all about the recent ballyhooed Financial Reform bill that passed into law. The author is an outstanding investigative journalist who has carefully looked into the details of the law and the process of crafting it. I haven't had a chance to read it all, but the article looks outstanding. Read all about how the government of the ruling class, by the ruling class, and for the ruling class really works.
This is all about the recent ballyhooed Financial Reform bill that passed into law. The author is an outstanding investigative journalist who has carefully looked into the details of the law and the process of crafting it. I haven't had a chance to read it all, but the article looks outstanding. Read all about how the government of the ruling class, by the ruling class, and for the ruling class really works.
Dodd-Frank was never going to be a meaningful reform unless these two fateful Clinton-era laws – commercial banks gambling with taxpayer money, and unregulated derivatives being traded in the dark – were reversed. The story of how the last real shot at reining in Wall Street got routed tells you everything you need to know about how, and on whose behalf, our government works. It was Congress at its most cowardly, deceptive best, with both parties teaming up to subject reform to death by a thousand paper cuts – with the worst cuts coming, literally, in the final moments before the bill's passage.
Telling Swiss secrets: A banker's betrayal, Part 1
by Michael Bronner from Global Post. This is Part 1 of 5, links to the rest are in this first article.
When the stories first broke in 2008 about the Swiss bank called UBS being under pressure by several Western governments to disclose information about tax evading billionaires, I was quite astonished. My understanding of the capitalist world is that those associated with finance capital represent the core of capitalist ruling classes. With UBS functioning as central bank for the Western countrie's central banks, I felt that they were untouchable. So, in 2008 reading reports (see this, and this) that this bank was under pressure from Western governments just did not make sense to me.
Well I've learned over the years that sometimes it takes years, sometimes many years, for the truth to finally come out. This news item, I think, goes a long way in explaining what really happened.
In a nutshell, the IRS while investigating a millionaire for tax evasion seized all of his records and computers. In spite of being advised to destroy these banking records by his UBS bank agent, he carelessly forgot or neglected to do so. The IRS discovered a lot in these records and ended up by questioning the UBS agent. The UBS agent, Birkenfeld, decided to turn whistle-blower by disclosing information about UBS operations that hid the money of the wealthy to evade taxes.
Well, this presented quite an ugly problem for the ruling classes. To be brief, they went after the whistle-blower who divulged the information and is now serving jail time. Meanwhile,
And check this out:
When the stories first broke in 2008 about the Swiss bank called UBS being under pressure by several Western governments to disclose information about tax evading billionaires, I was quite astonished. My understanding of the capitalist world is that those associated with finance capital represent the core of capitalist ruling classes. With UBS functioning as central bank for the Western countrie's central banks, I felt that they were untouchable. So, in 2008 reading reports (see this, and this) that this bank was under pressure from Western governments just did not make sense to me.
Well I've learned over the years that sometimes it takes years, sometimes many years, for the truth to finally come out. This news item, I think, goes a long way in explaining what really happened.
In a nutshell, the IRS while investigating a millionaire for tax evasion seized all of his records and computers. In spite of being advised to destroy these banking records by his UBS bank agent, he carelessly forgot or neglected to do so. The IRS discovered a lot in these records and ended up by questioning the UBS agent. The UBS agent, Birkenfeld, decided to turn whistle-blower by disclosing information about UBS operations that hid the money of the wealthy to evade taxes.
Well, this presented quite an ugly problem for the ruling classes. To be brief, they went after the whistle-blower who divulged the information and is now serving jail time. Meanwhile,
...the investigations sent nearly 15,000 American tax offenders, the vast majority with undeclared UBS accounts, into the arms of a new IRS amnesty program, agreeing to pay billions in back taxes and fines to avoid prosecution themselves.However, the article also disclosed that "the bank’s brokerage division serves more than two million U.S households. It is hard to believe that most of them banked at UBS because of their fondness of the Swiss.
And check this out:
Despite its long-running criminal conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government, UBS, one of the banks hardest hit in the subprime mortgage crisis, received $5 billion in a backdoor bailout through AIG, which honored some of its policies.I was right--the ruling classes and their banks ARE untouchable. So let that be a lesson to all whistle-blowers--you don't rat on the ruling classes.
Last August, just three days after Birkenfeld was sentenced and five days after the U.S. and Swiss governments agreed to a settlement, President Barack Obama played 18 holes at Martha’s Vineyard’s Farm Neck Golf Club with the UBS Group Americas chairman and CEO, Robert Wolf, one of the top donors to his campaign and a member of the president’s economic recovery advisory board. UBS officials insist the bank’s U.S. offices had no knowledge of the Swiss-based fraud, despite Birkenfeld’s sworn testimony that UBS Americas coordinated the lavish marketing events in the U.S. for Swiss private bankers and their U.S. clients.
When Agrochemical Corporations Invented Nature
by Julio Godoy from IPS. The continuing offensive by corporations to "own" life forms--plant seeds amd animals that produce your food.
A civil society protest against a British agrochemical company that claims it has invented a particular sort of broccoli has again focused attention on the question who owns natural biodiversity, especially vegetables, seeds, and many forms of meat and animal food products.
Russian President Medvedev: What is happening now in our central regions is evidence of global climate change...
by Joe Romm from Climate Progress. The drought and wildfires in Russia are making the people there believers in climate change.
...what is happening now in our central regions is evidence of this global climate change, because we have never in our history faced such weather conditions in the past. This means that we need to change the way we work, change the methods that we used in the past.Meanwhile in Pakistan,
About 12 million people have now been affected by Pakistan's worst floods in 80 years....
Thursday, August 5, 2010
The Obama Administration is Training Offshore Foreign Workers to Take your Job
from The Economic Populist.
This occurs simply because the US government serves the needs of its owners, the capitalist class and their corporations, not the working people of America.
This occurs simply because the US government serves the needs of its owners, the capitalist class and their corporations, not the working people of America.
"Mongrel”: Historically, and from Obama’s Mouth
by Glen Ford from Black Agenda Report.
The author takes issue with Obama's way of describing himself, and rightfully so. As I see it, this incident says a lot about racism in America.
If one has any African physical features at all, one is classified as Black or African-American. Obama had very little exposure, if any, to Black Africans. He was raised mostly by a successful, white, banker grandmother in Hawaii, an exceptional multi-racial place where racism is not a strong issue. So it is not surprising that he used a term based on a perspective that is widely held by Euro-Americans. Although he is publicly identified as African-American, there is very little of the latter sub-culture and perspectives in him.
This phenomenon was exploited by the ruling class when they chose him to run for President. They took advantage of this racial identity to fool the public into thinking that, first of all, this was an "equal opportunity" country that had overcome racism, and secondly, that Obama represented a truly different perspective on things which informed his campaign theme about "change".
The author takes issue with Obama's way of describing himself, and rightfully so. As I see it, this incident says a lot about racism in America.
If one has any African physical features at all, one is classified as Black or African-American. Obama had very little exposure, if any, to Black Africans. He was raised mostly by a successful, white, banker grandmother in Hawaii, an exceptional multi-racial place where racism is not a strong issue. So it is not surprising that he used a term based on a perspective that is widely held by Euro-Americans. Although he is publicly identified as African-American, there is very little of the latter sub-culture and perspectives in him.
This phenomenon was exploited by the ruling class when they chose him to run for President. They took advantage of this racial identity to fool the public into thinking that, first of all, this was an "equal opportunity" country that had overcome racism, and secondly, that Obama represented a truly different perspective on things which informed his campaign theme about "change".
A Looming Oxygen Crisis and Its Impact on World’s Oceans
by Carl Zimmer from Environment 360. More scientific evidence of the destruction of marine habitat caused by human activities.
9/11 Truth Truth
by Joel S. Hirschhorn from Global Research.
The author has been following the accumulating evidence of the 9/11 tragedy which does not support the official government reports of the incident. Therefore he points to this enigma:
I think that the public is all too willing to believe the government's official story because they cannot accept that their government, and all the mythology associated with it, is false. To believe that the US government is lying would be to admit that the government is, first of all, not "their government" and hence illegitimate; secondly, that it guilty of extremely serious criminal behavior; and thirdly, that they would feel a sense of responsibility to take down the government. All are unthinkable to most people.
Especially since WWII the educational and media institutions run by the ruling class have accelerated their indoctrination programs to insure the loyalty and patriotism of it subjects--working people. This indoctrination was greatly aided by the fact of world dominance that the US Empire enjoyed after the war which made possible a standard of living in the US never before enjoyed by any people. This accumulation of wealth along with indoctrination made it possible for the ruling capitalist class to virtually destroy real labor unions, to roll back gains made by working people in the 1930s, and to launch aggressive campaigns against other countries of the world to secure markets, cheap labor, and access to raw materials.
As a result, we now have in the US a citizenry which is experiencing mass denial--it simply doesn't want to know the real facts of 9/11 or the many other crimes committed by sections of the ruling class such as the lies about the Vietnam War, the assassinations of the Kennedys and ML King.
People who have witnessed the 9/11 events and who have information that is contrary to the official version are aware of this fundamental need for people to believe in "their" government, and that is why they are not coming forward. They feel that they would not be believed and that their lives would probably be destroyed one way or another.
It's the same phenomenon that was illustrated in the famous Han Christian Andersen's tale, "The Emperor's New Clothes".
The author has been following the accumulating evidence of the 9/11 tragedy which does not support the official government reports of the incident. Therefore he points to this enigma:
...a fairly large number of people had a hand, probably as part of a black ops action, designing and executing many things, not the least of which was the controlled demolition of the three World Trade Center buildings. So why have none of these people leaked materials to a place like WikiLeaks?He doesn't really have an answer to his question. I would like to offer an explanation.
I think that the public is all too willing to believe the government's official story because they cannot accept that their government, and all the mythology associated with it, is false. To believe that the US government is lying would be to admit that the government is, first of all, not "their government" and hence illegitimate; secondly, that it guilty of extremely serious criminal behavior; and thirdly, that they would feel a sense of responsibility to take down the government. All are unthinkable to most people.
Especially since WWII the educational and media institutions run by the ruling class have accelerated their indoctrination programs to insure the loyalty and patriotism of it subjects--working people. This indoctrination was greatly aided by the fact of world dominance that the US Empire enjoyed after the war which made possible a standard of living in the US never before enjoyed by any people. This accumulation of wealth along with indoctrination made it possible for the ruling capitalist class to virtually destroy real labor unions, to roll back gains made by working people in the 1930s, and to launch aggressive campaigns against other countries of the world to secure markets, cheap labor, and access to raw materials.
As a result, we now have in the US a citizenry which is experiencing mass denial--it simply doesn't want to know the real facts of 9/11 or the many other crimes committed by sections of the ruling class such as the lies about the Vietnam War, the assassinations of the Kennedys and ML King.
People who have witnessed the 9/11 events and who have information that is contrary to the official version are aware of this fundamental need for people to believe in "their" government, and that is why they are not coming forward. They feel that they would not be believed and that their lives would probably be destroyed one way or another.
It's the same phenomenon that was illustrated in the famous Han Christian Andersen's tale, "The Emperor's New Clothes".
When Truth is Unbelievable
by Megan Quinn Bachman from EcoWatch.
This article, like the one above here, illustrates the effects of mass denial. However, the author of this piece implies that the fault lies with ordinary people, and I take issue with this.
The capitalist class sees environmentalism as a threat to their system--and it is. While they may sense that capitalism's need for growth and consumption is at odds with any sensible policy of preserving the environment, their addiction to profits and the wealth and power that the system creates for them over-rides any responsible attitude toward environmental concerns. Hence they have engaged in disinformation campaigns from about 1980 onwards to at least cast doubts on any scientific findings that impinge upon business as usual.
You simply must read the recently published, outstanding book on this subject entitled, Merchants of Doubt by Oreskes and Conway for all the astounding details of the aggressive campaigns waged by corporate interests to impugn the motives and the findings of scientists on all the environmental concerns beginning with the unhealthy effects of cigarette smoking, and continuing with acid rain, ozone depletion, peak oil and global warming.
This article, like the one above here, illustrates the effects of mass denial. However, the author of this piece implies that the fault lies with ordinary people, and I take issue with this.
The capitalist class sees environmentalism as a threat to their system--and it is. While they may sense that capitalism's need for growth and consumption is at odds with any sensible policy of preserving the environment, their addiction to profits and the wealth and power that the system creates for them over-rides any responsible attitude toward environmental concerns. Hence they have engaged in disinformation campaigns from about 1980 onwards to at least cast doubts on any scientific findings that impinge upon business as usual.
You simply must read the recently published, outstanding book on this subject entitled, Merchants of Doubt by Oreskes and Conway for all the astounding details of the aggressive campaigns waged by corporate interests to impugn the motives and the findings of scientists on all the environmental concerns beginning with the unhealthy effects of cigarette smoking, and continuing with acid rain, ozone depletion, peak oil and global warming.
Escaping the Sovereign Debt Trap: The Remarkable Model of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia
by Ellen Brown from Global Research.
Ellen Brown is a very good source of information in order to clear up the contrived mysteries of banking and money perpetrated by private banking interests. For further information about this subject I recommend her book, Web of Debt. Although I don't agree with everything she writes in that book, I believe she is entirely accurate when she sticks to the topic of banking.
Ellen Brown is a very good source of information in order to clear up the contrived mysteries of banking and money perpetrated by private banking interests. For further information about this subject I recommend her book, Web of Debt. Although I don't agree with everything she writes in that book, I believe she is entirely accurate when she sticks to the topic of banking.
President John Adams is quoted as saying, “There are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation. One is by the sword. The other is by debt.” The major conquests today are on the battlefield of debt, a war that is raging globally. Debt forces individuals into financial slavery to the banks, and it forces governments to relinquish their sovereignty to their creditors, which in the end are also private banks, the originators of all non-cash money today.
Why World War II ended with Mushroom Clouds
by Jacques R. Pauwels from Global Research.
After so many years of research on this question, this author among others has, IMO, gotten to the essential truths about this controversial topic. His conclusions illustrate, once again, the lengths and depths that capitalist ruling classes are willing to go to pursue their aims in the world--profit and class domination.
After so many years of research on this question, this author among others has, IMO, gotten to the essential truths about this controversial topic. His conclusions illustrate, once again, the lengths and depths that capitalist ruling classes are willing to go to pursue their aims in the world--profit and class domination.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Life After Capitalism, Part 3
from The End of Capitalism. The concluding segment of the interview with Alex Knight.
Assuming his theory is correct about the demise of capitalism, he avoids being prescriptive about what life will be like after capitalism except to offer some broad features. For more specific descriptions of new societal organizations, I refer you to the models on the upper right hand side of my blog. [down from there now]
I especially like his metaphor of working people's relationship with the ruling capitalist classes as that of an abusive relationship with a spouse, and the similar recommendations about getting out of this relationship in order to heal.
Assuming his theory is correct about the demise of capitalism, he avoids being prescriptive about what life will be like after capitalism except to offer some broad features. For more specific descriptions of new societal organizations, I refer you to the models on the upper right hand side of my blog. [down from there now]
I especially like his metaphor of working people's relationship with the ruling capitalist classes as that of an abusive relationship with a spouse, and the similar recommendations about getting out of this relationship in order to heal.
I see capitalism as a system of abuse. The system grows by exploiting people and the planet as means to extract profit, and by refusing to be responsible for the ecological and social trauma caused by its abuse. Therefore I believe any real solutions to our problems must be aligned to both ecological justice and social justice. If we privilege one over the other, we will only cause more harm. The planet must be healed, and our communities must be healed as well. I would propose these two goals as a starting point to the discussion.
67% of Political Class Say U.S. Heading in Right Direction, 84% of Mainstream Disagrees
from Rasmussen Reports.
The article reports on polling results which make US society look divided into haves and have-nots, the 1% and the rest of us, the ruling class and working class.
And in his new book, In Search of Self-Governance, Scott Rasmussen makes a point that I have frequently made before:
The article reports on polling results which make US society look divided into haves and have-nots, the 1% and the rest of us, the ruling class and working class.
And in his new book, In Search of Self-Governance, Scott Rasmussen makes a point that I have frequently made before:
In the clique that revolves around Washington, DC, and Wall Street, our treasured heritage has been diminished almost beyond recognition. In that world, some see self-governance as little more than allowing voters to choose which of two politicians will rule over them.
President Obama and the Teachers, Part 1 [8:18m video]
from The Real News Network.
Paul Jay interviews Karen Lewis who is a school teacher in the South Side of Chicago and President of the Chicago Teachers Union. Listen to this if you want to know what is really happening to public education and the games that the ruling class is playing with the US educational system.
Paul Jay interviews Karen Lewis who is a school teacher in the South Side of Chicago and President of the Chicago Teachers Union. Listen to this if you want to know what is really happening to public education and the games that the ruling class is playing with the US educational system.
We’re Hot as Hell and We’re Not Going to Take It Any More
by Bill McKibben from Tom Dispatch.
In the wake of Congress doing nothing about passing a climate bill, McKibben issues a call to action by the people.
In the wake of Congress doing nothing about passing a climate bill, McKibben issues a call to action by the people.
I wrote the first book for a general audience on global warming back in 1989, and I’ve spent the subsequent 21 years working on the issue. I’m a mild-mannered guy, a Methodist Sunday School teacher. Not quick to anger. So what I want to say is: this is fucked up. The time has come to get mad, and then to get busy.I'm as much concerned as he is. Everyday I read reports of droughts, wildfires, severe rainstorms with flash-floods, and weather anomalies.
Political Platform for Klimaforum10 by Mexico's Grassroots
by Miguel Valencia from Culture Change.
See what a grass roots agenda on the issue of "climate change" looks like. We definitely need more grass roots organizations to save us from capitalism.
See what a grass roots agenda on the issue of "climate change" looks like. We definitely need more grass roots organizations to save us from capitalism.
THERE IS A CLIMATE CATASTROPHE, NOT CLIMATE CHANGE
The weather patterns of the world are undergoing a rapid and disturbing disruption, which is increasing in both force and catastrophic impact. This change could end up being life-threatening for many human communities in coming years, for the large majority of people in this century. Describing this process as “climate change,” amounts to distorting reality.
Obama Drops 2009 Pledge to Withdraw Combat Troops from Iraq
by Gareth Porter from IPS.
Obama's announcement was widely and uncritically reported by US mainstream media, and if you weren't listening closely you might have missed what Porter didn't miss.
Obama's announcement was widely and uncritically reported by US mainstream media, and if you weren't listening closely you might have missed what Porter didn't miss.
...the news media were inclined to let the apparent Obama withdrawal pledge stand as the dominant narrative line, even though the evidence indicated it was a falsehood.
Who Are The Neoliberals And How Did They Take Over The World?
by Richard Lyon from Fire Dog Lake.
This is an excellent, concise review of the history of capitalism. Also, it provides a very good explanation of economic terms widely used throughout the world to describe economic phenomena.
I especially liked this paragraph:
This is an excellent, concise review of the history of capitalism. Also, it provides a very good explanation of economic terms widely used throughout the world to describe economic phenomena.
I especially liked this paragraph:
The neoliberal program of kicking down the doors of the third world has been heavily focused on feeding the energy driven addiction of industrialized nations to fossil fuels. The multi-national corporations that have orchestrated this resource exploitation have often created ecological disasters in various parts of the world. However, outside of some environmentalist fringe groups, most Americans were only concerned about what it would cost them to fill up the SUV. Now the ecological chickens have come to roost and they are covered in oil.
Deepwater Horizon: it’s worse than you thought (again) – part 2
from The Great Beyond.
Contrast the reports from science oriented websites like this with official reports widely repeated by compliant corporate media. For example, see this from Bloomberg News. It appears to me that the official reports coming from the White House are designed to prepare the way for the lifting of the moratorium on deep-water drilling so that the oil industry can resume "business as usual".
See also this article from Mother Jones on recent media coverage.
Contrast the reports from science oriented websites like this with official reports widely repeated by compliant corporate media. For example, see this from Bloomberg News. It appears to me that the official reports coming from the White House are designed to prepare the way for the lifting of the moratorium on deep-water drilling so that the oil industry can resume "business as usual".
See also this article from Mother Jones on recent media coverage.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Potlucks bite the dust: ‘Food safety’ shows its true colors
by Steve Green from Food Freedom. Read how corporations are taking control of what you eat.
Corporate “food safety” laws are attacking every kind of local and interpersonal food activity, though those activities allow families to pass skills, history and traditions to their children, though those activities encourage sharing and connection, though those activities are the very foundation of diverse cultures and religious groups, though those activities are the heart of all communities, though those activities offer the means to restore our local and nationals economies, though those activities are the most basic of all labor, though those activities provide local and personal control over food – a life and death issue.What I personally fear most is eating corporate food contaminated by pesticides, bacteria and viruses from factory farms, and genetically modified organisms.
Wikileaks shows Washington dismayed with Afgan war [10:51m video]
from The Real News Network. Get the real news and analysis from this great source.
Paul Jay interviews Eric S. Margolis, an award-winning journalist, regarding the Afgan war in light of the recent Wikileaks disclosures.
Paul Jay interviews Eric S. Margolis, an award-winning journalist, regarding the Afgan war in light of the recent Wikileaks disclosures.
Do the Rich Need the Rest of America?
by Robert Frank from The Wall Street Journal.
Have you been wondering why our government has lavishly given cash to criminal bankers and given so little to build the withering infrastructure in the US that would create jobs? Have you wondered why Obama, who promised so much change, has produced very little change? Well, if you had been following this blog, you wouldn't wonder at all--you would already know why.
You would know that the globalization phase of capitalism pushed by that great Democratic champion of the working class, Bill Clinton, has made it even more possible for our rich ruling class to invest their money elsewhere--places where there is cheap labor and weak environmental laws. And there is the added bonus of forcing young Americans to enlist in the Armed Forces to enforce their policies on the rest of the world.
But it is never too late to learn and this article--straight from capitalism's favorite mouthpiece--will give you some clues.
Have you noticed how the rich cut in line ahead of you at the airport security checkpoints?
Have you been wondering why our government has lavishly given cash to criminal bankers and given so little to build the withering infrastructure in the US that would create jobs? Have you wondered why Obama, who promised so much change, has produced very little change? Well, if you had been following this blog, you wouldn't wonder at all--you would already know why.
You would know that the globalization phase of capitalism pushed by that great Democratic champion of the working class, Bill Clinton, has made it even more possible for our rich ruling class to invest their money elsewhere--places where there is cheap labor and weak environmental laws. And there is the added bonus of forcing young Americans to enlist in the Armed Forces to enforce their policies on the rest of the world.
But it is never too late to learn and this article--straight from capitalism's favorite mouthpiece--will give you some clues.
If the American rich increasingly do not depend for their wealth on American workers and American consumers or for their safety on American soldiers or police officers, then it is hardly surprising that so many of them should be so hostile to paying taxes to support the infrastructure and the social programs that help the majority of the American people. The rich don’t need the rest anymore.Also, read this for further evidence that the US rich, and their Democratic/Republican governments, couldn't care less about American workers.
Have you noticed how the rich cut in line ahead of you at the airport security checkpoints?
Project Vigilant and the government/corporate destruction of privacy
by Glenn Greenwald from Salon.
A must-read report of the collusion of private organizations with government agencies to spy on you. It appears that after the Bush administration failed to get two surveillance programs passed by Congress, they (the ruling class) creatively managed to set up, or encouraged the setup, of private agencies to do the work for them. Read all about it, and weep for your country. Then get mad and start to think about how to take your liberties back.
A must-read report of the collusion of private organizations with government agencies to spy on you. It appears that after the Bush administration failed to get two surveillance programs passed by Congress, they (the ruling class) creatively managed to set up, or encouraged the setup, of private agencies to do the work for them. Read all about it, and weep for your country. Then get mad and start to think about how to take your liberties back.
[Project Vigilant] what they essentially are is some sort of vigilante group that collects vast amount of private data about the Internet activities of millions of citizens, processes that data into usable form, and then literally turns it over to the U.S. Government, claiming its motive is to help the Government detect Terrorists and other criminals.If you still need more convincing that the US is becoming a police state, read another fine piece by Greenwald entitled, ACLU, CCR seek to have Obama enjoined from killing Awlaki without due process
How a Community-Based Co-op Economy Might Work
by Dave Pollard from How To Save the World.
Coops will always find it difficult to compete with privately owned enterprises, especially those associated with large corporations. To succeed they would need a politically conscious local community that would be willing to support the coop even by paying higher prices. Private enterprises can always benefit by paying low wages and buying cheap products from foreign countries where environmental and labor laws are either non-existent or not enforced.
I think that their main benefit would be a training school for people to learn various business related skills and cooperative ethics and behaviors.
Check out the comments to this article for more ideas.
Coops will always find it difficult to compete with privately owned enterprises, especially those associated with large corporations. To succeed they would need a politically conscious local community that would be willing to support the coop even by paying higher prices. Private enterprises can always benefit by paying low wages and buying cheap products from foreign countries where environmental and labor laws are either non-existent or not enforced.
I think that their main benefit would be a training school for people to learn various business related skills and cooperative ethics and behaviors.
Check out the comments to this article for more ideas.
Monsanto: The world's poster child for corporate manipulation and deceit
by Jeffrey M. Smith from Natural News.
This is an excellent, comprehensive report on a criminal capitalist enterprise. But one should keep in mind that Monsanto is succeeding as a capitalist enterprise by increasing profits which it is mandated to do under this system. Monsanto is only arguably the worst example, but only an example of what occurs under a system that promotes sociopathic behavior.
Also, check this out.
This is an excellent, comprehensive report on a criminal capitalist enterprise. But one should keep in mind that Monsanto is succeeding as a capitalist enterprise by increasing profits which it is mandated to do under this system. Monsanto is only arguably the worst example, but only an example of what occurs under a system that promotes sociopathic behavior.
Also, check this out.
Monday, August 2, 2010
The New Superclass [46:29m video]
from Al Jazeera. Although I haven't had a chance yet to view the whole video, it appears to be a very interesting discussion about the Empire's ruling class, a subject that is rarely addressed. I may offer additional comments later.
A new breed has emerged; they set the global agenda, ride on Gulfstreams and manage the credit crunch in their spare time. They are anything but elected; they are entrepreneurs and entertainers, media moguls and former politicians - the self-made super rich who are using their money to lay down a new set of global rules. So where did this new global aristocracy come from and who is keeping them in check? Is the world suffering from a global governance gap?3:15 PM update: The discussion ends with the question, "Who are they (the global elites) accountable to?" My answer is that they, like all ruling classes, are only accountable to their peers in their respective ruling classes.
Illegal Invasion or Economic Scapegoat? [7:48m video]
from The Real News Network. Excellent photo-journalism through interviews with various people affected by the issue in Arizona, USA.
Fox News Receives Front-Row Seat in White House Briefing Room
from Fox News.
This infamous, right-wing propaganda machine is getting Helen Thomas' old seat. Does that illustrate a right-wing political trend in the US under the Obama administration? Fox News is the "news" organization that recently broadcast the disinformation piece of video crafted by Andrew Breitbart that resulted in the firing of Shirley Sherrod from her government job.
It mainly illustrates how the Empire rewards those who serve its interests--and Fox News is a devoted servant.
This infamous, right-wing propaganda machine is getting Helen Thomas' old seat. Does that illustrate a right-wing political trend in the US under the Obama administration? Fox News is the "news" organization that recently broadcast the disinformation piece of video crafted by Andrew Breitbart that resulted in the firing of Shirley Sherrod from her government job.
It mainly illustrates how the Empire rewards those who serve its interests--and Fox News is a devoted servant.
The White House Correspondents’ Association on Sunday announced that Fox News will get a coveted front-row seat in the White House briefing room.
Three years later and still nothing has been learned
from The Economic Populist.
It is clear to me that the managers of the capitalist system have no idea how to get the economy going again for working people--their focus is on preserving the system, protecting their assets, and fooling working people into thinking that we are only in a temporary cycle that will turn up soon.
It is clear to me that the managers of the capitalist system have no idea how to get the economy going again for working people--their focus is on preserving the system, protecting their assets, and fooling working people into thinking that we are only in a temporary cycle that will turn up soon.
A Police State You'd Better Believe In
by Jack Kenny from New American.
Americans at some point must learn that the employees in the White House are just that, and Americans will never be allowed to vote for a real alternative. So forget about elections, at least at the national level. Start by becoming informed, thinking for yourselves, then organize for yourselves as working people.
Americans at some point must learn that the employees in the White House are just that, and Americans will never be allowed to vote for a real alternative. So forget about elections, at least at the national level. Start by becoming informed, thinking for yourselves, then organize for yourselves as working people.
...we should not let a smooth talking political leader like our current President talk us out of the civil liberties he seemed zealous to protect when the perpetrators of the coming police state were Republicans in the White House and the cabinet. We had a changing of the guard on January 20, 2009, but the goals of our national jailers remain the same. The bars and the barbed wire are still being put in place, but the names and the faces of the wardens have changed. That's the only real "change" we have gotten from the Obama administration. The rest is merely verbal sleight of hand and rhetorical windsong. It is "change" they can deceive with.
In Bed With the U.S. Army
by Ann Jones from Tom Dispatch. Excellent on-the-spot reporting of the US military scene in Afghanistan. You may want to skip the introduction and scroll down to the Jones' article, "Here Be Dragons".
Sunday, August 1, 2010
US faces water supply crisis: study
from Environmental Finance.
A new study says climate change will take a “serious toll” on American water supplies in the coming decades, with the group behind the report calling on Congress to pass “meaningful legislation” to reduce global warming pollution.
Fossil fuel subsidies 10x renewables support
by Jess McCabe from Environmental Finance. Some interesting data on fossil fuel subsidies.
Worldwide renewable power and biofuels received $43 billion-46 billion in subsidies last year, only a fraction of the government subsidies for fossil fuels, according to preliminary figures from Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
By contrast, governments propped up fossil fuels with $557 billion of subsidies in 2008, according to figures published in June by the International Energy Agency.
BP Response Workers Report Low Morale, Lack of Pay, Sickness
by Dahr Jamail from Truthout.
BP oil disaster response workers are reporting endemic problems, such as not being paid on time, low morale, rampant sickness, equipment failures and being lied to regularly.
The Venezuelan economy: in transition towards socialism?
by Eric Toussaint from CADTM.
The evidence that the author presents clearly indicates that the answer to the question posed by the title is negative. The argument that Chavez has always used to transform Venezuela from a capitalist nation to one that is described as "socialism for the 21st century" is that he would build popular economic institutions from the bottom up that would ultimately replace capitalist ownership of the economy. Thus the transition would be a peaceful, gradual one.
However, it appears that this lawyer's observation may be relevant:
For remedies to the defects that Toussaint sees in the Bolivarian Revolution, read his next essay entitled, "Suggested paths to 21st century socialism in Venezuela".
The evidence that the author presents clearly indicates that the answer to the question posed by the title is negative. The argument that Chavez has always used to transform Venezuela from a capitalist nation to one that is described as "socialism for the 21st century" is that he would build popular economic institutions from the bottom up that would ultimately replace capitalist ownership of the economy. Thus the transition would be a peaceful, gradual one.
However, it appears that this lawyer's observation may be relevant:
...lawyer Luis Britto aptly summed up the situation: “We live in a dual society, and in a fable I wrote I explained that if one tries to set up a mixed system with hens and foxes in one single henhouse, then the following week, there will only be foxes left, and then they will eat the farmer.”See also this article for a searing critique of the Bolivarian Revolution.
For remedies to the defects that Toussaint sees in the Bolivarian Revolution, read his next essay entitled, "Suggested paths to 21st century socialism in Venezuela".
Arctic Ocean full up with carbon dioxide
by Hannah Hoag from Nature News.
As climate scientists watched the Arctic's sea-ice cover shrink year after year, they thought there might be a silver lining: an ice-free Arctic Ocean could soak up large amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere, slowing down the accumulation of greenhouse gases and climate change.
Climate Bill Blame Game Begins
by Darren Samuelsohn from Politico.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Thursday that he did not have 60 votes for the climate bill, leaving the White House's biggest energy initiative in tatters.
Scientists warn of global warming threat to marine food chain
by Julliete Jowit from the Guardian.
Numbers of phytoplankton - the microscopic organisms that sustain the marine food chain - are plummeting as sea surface temperatures rise.
Past Decade Warmest on Record According to Scientists in 48 Countries
from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The 2009 State of the Climate report released today draws on data for 10 key climate indicators that all point to the same finding: the scientific evidence that our world is warming is unmistakable. More than 300 scientists from 160 research groups in 48 countries contributed to the report, which confirms that the past decade was the warmest on record and that the Earth has been growing warmer over the last 50 years.
You wouldn't read about it: climate scientists right
by Rodney Tiffen from The Sydney Morning Herald.
Chances are, you have not heard much about Climategate lately, but last November it dominated the media. Three weeks before the Copenhagen summit, thousands of emails from the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia were published on a Russian website.
Mounting Evidence of Man's Destruction of Nature?
by Ron Horn.
While checking out Al Jazeera's website this morning, I was struck by the number of articles possibly related to man's impact on the environment and the adverse effects. As you may know if you follow my blog, I see an ominous future ahead as the capitalist system drives humanity into ever greater conflict with the ecological limits of the earth. Because I always try to be on guard regarding any of my prejudices influencing my perceptions, I am wary of concluding that the numerous articles provide evidence to support my viewpoint.
Informing my perceptions are the high incidence again this summer of wildfires in my State of Washington and all up and down the west coast of the US, high temperatures in many parts of the country, and the seemingly high incidence of severe rainstorms causing flash floods in the eastern areas of the US.
Anyway, check out all of these links from this single website that disturbed me and see what you think:
Heatwave sweeps the globe [9 slides]
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/08/20108113833370619.html
Vietnam farmers turn to prawns
While checking out Al Jazeera's website this morning, I was struck by the number of articles possibly related to man's impact on the environment and the adverse effects. As you may know if you follow my blog, I see an ominous future ahead as the capitalist system drives humanity into ever greater conflict with the ecological limits of the earth. Because I always try to be on guard regarding any of my prejudices influencing my perceptions, I am wary of concluding that the numerous articles provide evidence to support my viewpoint.
Informing my perceptions are the high incidence again this summer of wildfires in my State of Washington and all up and down the west coast of the US, high temperatures in many parts of the country, and the seemingly high incidence of severe rainstorms causing flash floods in the eastern areas of the US.
Anyway, check out all of these links from this single website that disturbed me and see what you think:
Heatwave sweeps the globe [9 slides]
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/08/20108113833370619.html
The floods came after what meteorologists described as an "unprecedented" 30 centimetres of rain fell in just 36 hours. Experts believe the worst of the rainfall is now over, but the extent of the damage is still being assessed.Niger fights prolonged drought [2:46m video]
Vietnam farmers turn to prawns
Farmers across southeast Asia have been forced to change centuries-old traditions, as changing weather patterns damage once-fertile lands in the region.Fires extend grip in western Russia
For years, Vietnam's Mekong Delta was the country's rice bowl but rising sea levels are now pushing salt waters ever further inland.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Michael Hudson & Richard Wolff: Europe Under the Crunch [16:50m video]
from Grit TV. A most fascinating discussion regarding the economic collapse in Europe and the US and what might be done about it.
We've heard plenty about the recession in the U.S., but what about the rest of the world? Countries across Europe have faced budget crunches and conservative governments are using the crisis as an excuse to roll back the social safety net that most have enjoyed for decades. Many of the problems--and the solutions--sound sadly familiar. Lowered taxes on the rich and corporations, falling wages, and deregulation led to the crisis, which is being shifted onto the backs of the working class--as Michael Hudson notes, putting the class war back in business. Hudson joins us in studio, along with Richard Wolff, to discuss the economic crisis in Europe, what we can learn about the response to it and apply back at home. Here's a hint: it involves organized labor.
Treasure Island: A Case Study in Shareable Journalism
by Jeremy Adam Smith from Shareable.
As corporate sponsored journalism continues to degenerate, there may be a new model emerging to tell the truth about our lives.
As corporate sponsored journalism continues to degenerate, there may be a new model emerging to tell the truth about our lives.
"Civically minded journalists, who in the past weren't used to collaboration, are inventing new ways of telling stories about the community that are not reliant on corporate control or funding,"
This Is What You Eat
by Marc Perton from The Consumerist.
See a great graphic and what the US corporate food industry is doing to Americans to increase their profits.
See a great graphic and what the US corporate food industry is doing to Americans to increase their profits.
If you are what you eat, this graphic from Visual Economics may not make for the best inspirational reading. Then again, is there really anything so bad about drinking 53 gallons of soda or eating 85 pounds of fat and oil each year? (No, you don't have to answer that.)
Foreclosures Continue To Increase Dramatically In 2010
by Michael Snyder from Business Insider.
Back in 2007 and 2008, experts tell us that most foreclosures were due to toxic mortgages. People were being suckered into mortgages that they couldn't afford with "teaser rates" or with payments that would dramatically escalate after a few years, and when those mortgages reset, the people who had agreed to them no longer could make the payments.
But now RealtyTrac says that unemployment has become the major reason for foreclosures. Millions of Americans have become chronically unemployed during the economic downturn and many of them are losing their homes as a result.
First as Tragedy, Then as Farce [10:57m video]
by Slavoj Zizek from RSA and You Tube.
The renowned philosopher Slavoj Zizek challenges your thinking about charity.
The renowned philosopher Slavoj Zizek challenges your thinking about charity.
A Police State You'd Better Believe In
by Jack Kenny from New American.
...we should not let a smooth talking political leader like our current President talk us out of the civil liberties he seemed zealous to protect when the perpetrators of the coming police state were Republicans in the White House and the cabinet. We had a changing of the guard on January 20, 2009, but the goals of our national jailers remain the same. The bars and the barbed wire are still being put in place, but the names and the faces of the wardens have changed. That's the only real "change" we have gotten from the Obama administration. The rest is merely verbal sleight of hand and rhetorical windsong. It is "change" they can deceive with.
This week in Change
by Glenn Greenwald from Salon.
So there's your Week in Change: tens of billions more appropriated for war through supplemental spending tricks and without conditions or timetables, attacks on war opponents for being Troop-Haters, threats to criminally prosecute journalistic outlets (such as WikiLeaks) which publish classified information on the grounds of being Traitors, and a major expansion of the Government's ability to spy on your private communications without even obtaining warrants. And it's only Thursday morning, so think how much more Change can happen in the next two days.
A Great Quote from a Comtemporary Patron Saint of Capitalism
from VoltaireNet and Current Concerns, an excerpt from the preface to the book, Free Fall, by Joseph Stiglitz:
The current crisis has uncovered fundamental flaws in the capitalist system, or atBut, not to worry all you capitalism loving people out there, he is not arguing for a change of system. He concludes the preface with the following:
least the peculiar version of capitalism that emerged in the latter part of the twentieth
century in the United States (sometimes called American-style capitalism). It is not
just a matter of flawed individuals or specific mistakes, nor is it a matter of fixing a few minor problems or tweaking a few policies.
But in the aftermath of the Great Depression, we did succeed in creating a regulatoryIt sounds like "tweaking" to me.
structure that served us well for a half century, promoting growth and stability. This
book is written in the hope that we can do so again.
On Walkers, Extra Men, and Professional Houseguests
by Jamie Johnson from Vanity Fair.
This week's offering about the lives and concerns of what are referred to as the 1% Americans. After all they share this great country with us and we need to know about their daily lives and concerns. For those of you who would like to get to know them better, the article provides some tips on how you can associate with them. ;-)
This week's offering about the lives and concerns of what are referred to as the 1% Americans. After all they share this great country with us and we need to know about their daily lives and concerns. For those of you who would like to get to know them better, the article provides some tips on how you can associate with them. ;-)
Friday, July 30, 2010
The End of Capitalism?: Interview of Alex Knight – Part 2B. Social Limits and the Crisis
from The End of Capitalism. A must-read series if you are to be an aware citizen activist.
In this 3rd segment of the interview Alex Knight continues to develop his thesis that "the global capitalist system is breaking down due to ecological and social limits to growth and that a paradigm shift toward a non-capitalist future is underway."
In this 3rd segment of the interview Alex Knight continues to develop his thesis that "the global capitalist system is breaking down due to ecological and social limits to growth and that a paradigm shift toward a non-capitalist future is underway."
Trends to Barbarism and Prospects for Socialism
by James Petras from Dissident Voice.
The only problem I have with this essay is that the author barely mentions the impact on capitalism that ecological limits will have on it. Working people of the world face a race against time as capitalism is the engine, if we are unable to stop it, that will drive humanity off the cliffs of environmental degradation, resource exhaustion, and climate change.
The only problem I have with this essay is that the author barely mentions the impact on capitalism that ecological limits will have on it. Working people of the world face a race against time as capitalism is the engine, if we are unable to stop it, that will drive humanity off the cliffs of environmental degradation, resource exhaustion, and climate change.
In ancient society ‘barbarism’ and its carriers ‘the barbarians’ were envisioned as threats by outside invaders from outlying regions descending on Rome or Athens. In contemporary Western societies, the barbarians came from within, among the elite of society, intent on imposing a new order which destroys the social fabric and productive base of society, converting stable livelihoods into insecure deteriorating conditions of daily life.
Mainstream Economists: "Mission Accomplished"
from Washington's Blog.
Numerous current stories show how disconnected mainstream policy-makers are from reality.
For example, Ryan Grim points out that there is an "unbelievable disconnect" between the American people (who are people are against the Afghanistan war) and Congress and the political elite (gung-ho to escalate this never-ending war)...
US and Cambodia in controversial lockstep
by Clifford McCoy from Asia Times Online.
Because items like this never make it into mainstream news coverage, few Americans have any idea of how the US "military-industrial complex", that former President Eisenhower warned us about, is running amok provoking military confrontations nearly everywhere in the world. And now they are also performing such exercises with the South Korean navy! The same thing has been going on with Columbia, and I can't remember how many other places I've read a little about!
Can you imagine how the same mainstream news corporations would cover news of joint military exercises in Mexico involving the armed forces of China?
Because items like this never make it into mainstream news coverage, few Americans have any idea of how the US "military-industrial complex", that former President Eisenhower warned us about, is running amok provoking military confrontations nearly everywhere in the world. And now they are also performing such exercises with the South Korean navy! The same thing has been going on with Columbia, and I can't remember how many other places I've read a little about!
Can you imagine how the same mainstream news corporations would cover news of joint military exercises in Mexico involving the armed forces of China?
The Wages of Sin: Former Citi Execs Pay Token Fines for Lying to Investors
by Yves Smith from Naked Capitalism.
She illustrates how the drivers of profit for the ruling class can and do lie with impunity. Well, don't all ruling classes and servants have their perks? The author doesn't seem to realize that the system creates sociopaths and lavishly rewards their criminal behavior.
She illustrates how the drivers of profit for the ruling class can and do lie with impunity. Well, don't all ruling classes and servants have their perks? The author doesn't seem to realize that the system creates sociopaths and lavishly rewards their criminal behavior.
Everything You Need to Know About Global Warming in 5 Minutes
by Barry Ritholtz from The Big Picture.
Even some key players in the capitalist system are getting the message that their system is in deep doo-doo. But the author hasn't given up hope to save the system. He concludes the article with this statement:
Even some key players in the capitalist system are getting the message that their system is in deep doo-doo. But the author hasn't given up hope to save the system. He concludes the article with this statement:
Global warming will be the most important investment issue for the foreseeable future. But how to make money around this issue in the next few years is not yet clear to me.
Putting society before shareholders: What work is really worth
by Pierre Rimbert from Le Monde Diplomatique.
Some researchers in the UK studied the remuneration of workers from a social utility point of view rather than from the conventional point of view which emphasizes enhancement of capitalist profits. The results are very enlightening.
Some researchers in the UK studied the remuneration of workers from a social utility point of view rather than from the conventional point of view which emphasizes enhancement of capitalist profits. The results are very enlightening.
Is WikiLeaks the antidote to the Washington K Street Kool-Aid?
by Sibel Edmonds from Boiling Frogs.
This former FBI worker and heroic whistle-blower looks at the significance of the recent WikiLeaks disclosures.
This former FBI worker and heroic whistle-blower looks at the significance of the recent WikiLeaks disclosures.
The sheer scope of the growth and the extensive privatization of intelligence and security was so profound that it represented “an alternative geography of the United States, a Top Secret America hidden from public view and lacking in oversight.”IMO they are not helpless, but feel helpless because they have not yet figured out who is deceiving and oppressing them. Once they figure that out, and WikiLeaks is making a big contribution to that process, they will then come up with their own solutions.
...The perpetual Taliban/Al Qaeda threat fueled a perpetual war that could never be won, justifying an endless string of restrictions on civil liberties and governmental transparency, which then prevented Americans from seeing how their money was spent. Locked out of this “alternative geography of the United States,” Americans have become helpless to stop their democracy and their economy from being lifted right out from under them.
Thanks to the revelations the word was finally out that whatever impact the “war on terror” had made on terror worldwide ( which many claimed it made only worse) it was above all, a spectacular boondoggle.
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