On Ideology: From Below and to the Left

Click here to access article by Henry Gales from The Pioneer. 

Liberalism and statism, for centuries, have cast a long shadow over all types of ideology. However, there are growing movements that realize the reality of today’s world. We do not need to take state power, work through political parties, or establish hegemony. Instead, we need to build projects of governments that are inseparable from the people, and in opposition to any form of hegemony.

I essentially agree with this thesis, but I worry about the degree of liberal (capitalist) indoctrination of false ideas and values that has informed the thinking of several generations of ordinary people now living. I agree with the author's rejection of vanguardism, but reject his implied notion that left political parties have little to contribute toward building a genuine working class consciousness and viable working class organizations. (It is possible that he differentiates between formal parties that run in elections and political organizations.) Left political parties (and I include organizations) have preserved the history of working class struggles and there are many lessons that can be derived from this historical experience. Thus, they have much to contribute.

Why we are marching in Paris on September 17

Click here to access article by Jérôme E. Roos from RoarMag.

We are mobilizing on September 17 because we know that the total cost of saving the US banking sector was higher than the total cost of WWI, WWII, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the New Deal, the Marshall Plan and the Apollo Project, all added together and adjusted for inflation; and we know that the people are now being made to pay for that through years and years of austerity measures — while the bankers themselves are getting away unscathed.

There are many links to information about the role banks have played in the economic collapse and the way they have with impunity looked to taxpayers to bail them out and to provide them with cheap money to gamble with again. I have been covering this scene with in-depth articles for nearly the past two years. Such information informs the anger toward the mega-banks against which the protests are directed.

As I see it, such protests are long overdue in the US, but better late than never.

The World Consequences of U.S. Decline

Click here to access article by Immanuel Wallerstein from his blog.

Politicians and journalists are talking openly of the “dysfunctionality” of the U.S. political situation. But what else could it possibly be but dysfunctional? The most elementary fact is that U.S. citizens are stunned by the mere fact of decline. It’s not only that U.S. citizens are themselves suffering materially from the decline, and are deeply afraid that they will suffer even more as time goes on. It’s that they have deeply believed that the United States is the “chosen nation” designed by God or history to be the model nation in the world.

This distinguished liberal sociologist doesn't seem to realize that we are now entering into an era of globalized capitalism. National boundaries are irrelevant to capitalist elites because they have removed all impediments to their investment activities. Boundaries are now only used to control the movements of workers. Capitalists can and do move workers across boundaries whenever they see profit opportunities, but workers find it very difficult on their own initiative to move across boundaries for better opportunities.

Western capitalist ruling classes have decided on a merger just like corporations have merged with each other to provide more capital and power to extract more profits. The new empire that has formed out of the former Western countries is called NATO, and it is very much in the ascendancy. All the other capitalist countries such as China, Russia, Brazil, Japan, etc. are competitors, but pose little threat to NATO at the present time. Okay, I know that cartographers haven't changed their maps, but this is because NATO's ruling elites want to preserve some fictions about national identity just like they preserve fictions about democratic rule.

Although US and citizens of many other Western capitalist countries are experiencing decline in their living standards, the wealthy elites have never had so much wealth and power. They are clearly in the ascendancy.

We are now entering a world where extremely wealthy people live on well guarded, gated communities like islands in a sea of poor workers. This is the dismal world we are entering and must resist with all of our imagination and courage.

Neoliberalism, Austerity and Participatory Democracy

Click here to access article by Sveinung Legard from New Compass. 

Is there truly an inherent contradiction between fighting for welfare rights on one side and participatory democracy on the other? Do our attempts to achieve immediate reforms to regulate the economy necessarily preclude the revolutionary goals of a post-capitalist society?

Clearly, the answer is no!

The central demand in all of the new mobilizations and uprisings against neoliberalism and austerity policies around the world, has been the demand for real and participatory democracy.

 

Who will occupy Wall Street on September 17?

Click here to access article by Nathan Schneider Waging Nonviolence. 

Something...is definitely going to be happening. A lot of people are definitely going to be there, though 20,000 seems pretty optimistic. Some will know what they’re doing more than others, and all will learn. Not only will this weekend be a test of Americans’ readiness to resist, but of whether an idea lobbed into the internet by Adbusters, then grabbed by artists, students, Twitter hashtags, and a shadowy network of hackers (and hacker wannabes), can really turn into a “flood,” a show of meaningful political force, a new way forward.

If the level of political consciousness of US activists is represented in this article, then I fear for US activism. Assuming that this website is representative of the thinking of US activists, just the name of this website suggests that the only thing they can agree upon is to be non-violent in their actions. 

I have seen this call for non-violence emphasized in nearly every activist organization in the US. One might easily think that it was a basic principle of activism rather than simply a tactic for the present when one is faced with an overwhelmingly armed opponent: the organized security services of the global ruling class who have absolutely no hesitation about their use of violence against political dissenters. 

All humans feel an innate sense of the need to protect themselves from assault; and if they must use violence to protect themselves, they will do so. Given the present circumstances, it just doesn't make much sense to do use violence offensively. There are other ways to thwart our oppressors, and these must be identified and used aggressively.

And they seem wary of ideology as if they hadn't been subject to capitalist ideology all of their lives. It seems that citizens in the US have been swimming in the waters of capitalism for so long that they find it difficult to imagine any other form. Worker history has been expunged from history books by their capitalist masters. Thus, it seems that all the worker struggles for emancipation from capitalists over the past 200 years plus has no relevance for them. It seems like they feel the necessity to start over in the first school grade of political understanding. God, I hope I am wrong!

Of one thing I am certain: we, the people, must learn quickly how to resist this capitalist juggernaut and replace it with something that serves all of humanity; because, if we fail, the consequences will be horrific.
 

NOTICE:

I will be having visitors from now through September 14th which will limit the amount of posting that I will be doing during this period. Should be back on full schedule on the 15th. 

Ron Horn

Airplanes Have Been Flown By Remote Control Since 1917

Click here to access article from Washington's Blog.

Haven't had time to review this article thoroughly, but it appears that this blogger has assembled substantial evidence that the 9/11 "hijacked" airplanes may have been under remote control when they crashed into the towers. 

Peak Oil, Peak Debt, and the Concentration of Power

Click here to access article by Charles Eisenstein from The Oil Drum. 

I haven't had time to fully read this article or comment on it, but it looks interesting to me. The first thing that struck me--and, this is typical of many articles written by academics--is that the author is writing about the capitalist system but is unable to name it. He writes around the subject by using  phrases which really refer to capitalism without naming the system. See if you agree.

It should not be surprising, since the profit motive has been the primary driver towards these peaks, that we should be approaching a peak in the realm of money as well, a peak that we might call "peak debt." The crisis in money is ineluctably related to the crisis in everything else, because the viability of our money system depends on growth: the conversion of nature into goods, and relationships into services. This conversion cannot proceed much farther, due to resource depletion and the inability of society and biosphere to sustain more damage.

Obama outlines right-wing program in “jobs” speech

Click here to access article by Bill Van Auken from World Socialist Web Site.

While hailed by his Democratic supporters as the return of a new combative Obama, his phony populist demagogy about the need for immediate action and commitment to ensuring that every American received a “fair shake” stood in stark contrast to the actual content of the policies advanced in the speech. All the proposals, moreover, will be paid for by even deeper attacks on core social programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

The following quote I found particularly interesting as a contrast to the lack of labor militancy that is still mostly typical of today's workers in the US.

Three quarters of a century ago, the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt found the resources to put millions of Americans to work through programs like the Works Progress Administration, that were responsible for nationwide construction and repair of basic infrastructure, from highways to airports to national parks.

Driven by tumultuous struggles of the American working class and the fears that example of the 1917 workers’ revolution Russia could be repeated, Roosevelt set about to save capitalism from itself.

The success of the revolution in Russia inspired working people everywhere and severely shook the capitalist ruling classes. Few Americans realize this and give too much credit to President Franklin Roosevelt and little credit to working class militancy in Russia and the US. The only people who will improve the lot of working people iare working people themselves.

An afternoon with the English Defence League

Click here to access article by Laurie Penny from the New Statesman.

The picture this young journalist paints of the rise of racist/cultural hate groups in England is not one I was expecting to see so soon. Could these scenes on the streets of London be the future everywhere in the advanced capitalist countries? As the capitalist managed economy deteriorates, the ruling class would love to see workers turn on each other rather on them, and will do everything they can to encourage such developments. The code word that the elites use is "multi-culturalism" as in "multi-culturalism has failed".

Behind the mounted, armoured cops, you can see St George's flags waving, and you can hear the thump and echo of smokebombs and the chanting of hate-tourists out to scrap with members of another disenfranchised community that happens to look and pray differently. The East end is in lockdown, and there are hundreds of police everywhere. The horses are spooked, and so am I.






Although from a politically liberal perspective, a more detailed understanding of this phenomenon can be obtained by listening to at least the first 10 minutes of this 38:15 minute interview from KPFA radio (Berkeley, CA, USA) interview with John Bowen.

Why have so many European leaders recently proclaimed the failure of multiculturalism? What should we make of their claims, and of the proliferating rhetoric of blame directed against Muslims and other immigrants of color in Europe? John Bowen distinguishes rhetoric from reality in France, Britain and beyond....

The Gen Y Guide to Collaborative Consumption

Click here to access article by Beth Buczynski from Shareable. 

As corporate run governments are using our tax dollars to bailout banksters and wage wars and social safety nets are being dismantled, we are increasingly being left to fend for ourselves. We are now forced to collaborate to save ourselves. This article provides some great resources and ideas for doing this, and not only for "generation Y" people. And, in the end, our efforts to construct systems for survival could very well provide clues to creating new, sustainable, and just societies. 

If these ideas get your blood pumping, there’s good news: young people all over the world are already making them a reality. It’s called collaborative consumption, (or the sharing economy) and it’s changing the way we work, play, and interact with each other. It’s fueled by the instant connection and communication of the internet, yet it’s manifesting itself in interesting ways offline too.

Moving to Action – workplace organizing beyond recipes

Click here to access article by S. Nappalos from Liam Fox: Irreverence Cafe.

Organizing is absolutely critical in the war against capitalism and for a just, peaceful world. Too often we read or hear people advise about the necessity of organizing, but a discussion of methods and evaluating various tactics and strategies is missing. Hence, I am really impressed with this article which supplies some of this missing discussion. 

We need to move away from models of organizing by lecturing people about why we could rule this world and capitalism is horrible, or believing getting people agitated will automatically lead to organization because the workers are already radical. Instead we need to think about organizing as a relationship, a back and forth between a revolutionary(ies) and their coworkers in dialogue and common struggle.

Documents Claim Intelligence on Bin Laden, 9/11 Targets Withheld From Congress' Probe

From The Real News Network, 23:16m video:

I think that the evidence that this investigator has uncovered offers additional support for my hunch that the 9/11 project was uncovered by Western intelligence sources well before the event and authorities decided to not only let this project go ahead, but to facilitate it in order to produce a Pearl Harbor type of event which has served to justify the never-ending "war on terror" and all the invasions, torture, surveillance of dissidents, human rights abuses, etc that we have witnessed since 9/11.

Joint statement by Puerta del Sol Economics Working Group and Syntagma

Click here to access article from Take the Square. 

From the USA to Brussels, from Greece to Bolivia and from Spain to Tunisia, the crisis of capitalism is on the rise. A crisis caused by the same culprits who are imposing the reforms to get over it: pumping public funds into private financial institutions while forcing the citizens to foot the bill. Rather than lifting us out the crisis, their structural adjustment plans sink us even deeper in.

Unlike many liberal-left reforms, their recommendations are truly progressive.

50 State Attorney General Effort to Sell Out to Banks Makes Even More Egregious Offer

Click here to access article by Yves Smith from her blog, Naked Capitalism. 

Smith's blog is written for liberals in the financial services industry, and as such, it is addressed in their language. This honest blogger who has had a long career in the financial services industry knows of what she writes. This effort by the big banks to be released from legal actions resulting from many of their gross malpractices in relation to mortgages has been largely unreported in mainstream media.  Remember it was the mortgage scam that was mostly responsible for the crash of our economy and the imperiling of the lives of many working people across the globe.

There is presently negotiations being held in an attempt to shield the banks from US state lawsuits. The author sees a big sellout being attempted by the big banks and Iowa's Attorney General Tom Miller who supposedly represents the citizens of Iowa and the interests of citizens across the country. These negotiations are largely being reported only in the financial media, and it is highly distorted in favor of the banks. (If you need further background on this be sure to read this and other links she provides in her article.)

Organizing the Precariat

Click here to access article by Tom Judd from Shareable.

Although not inspiring, the article provides an illustration of all the management tactics used to stifle union organizing, lack of organized labor support, and NGO's funded by the ruling class that acted like any other for-profit corporation. It must be understood that discouraging union organizing and busting unions has become a major industry in the US and employers have a storehouse of information on such strategies. I don't offer this piece to discourage such organizing efforts, but to inform others as to the forces that they are up against so that more effective strategies can be devised. We must all share ideas in this fight back if we are to take control of our societies for the benefit of all.

Our preliminary organizing efforts, ranging from clandestine e-mails to workplace meetings, was initially met with indifference by the bosses. However, when workplace discontent was detected by management and did not rapidly disappear on its own, our demands were strangled by a massive management counteroffensive. The anti-union backlash took a number of forms; ultimately unhappy workers were sidelined or promoted, and part-timers crowded out in favor of salaried replacements. The previous sense of community was destroyed as workers were isolated and their hours disrupted by new, full-time hires. Strong organizers were lured to accept coveted promotions.to positions which gave them higher wages and kept them busy with new responsibilities. In the face of this restructuring, part-timers were left scrambling to keep their jobs.

Stung by the President on Air Quality, Environmentalists Weigh Their Options

Click here to access article by Leslie Kaufman from The NY Times.

In late August, the State Department gave a crucial go-ahead on a controversial pipeline to bring tar sands oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast. Then on Friday, leading into the holiday weekend, the Obama administration announced without warning that it was walking away from stricter ozone pollution standards that it had been promising for three years and instead sticking with Bush-era standards. 

These shocked environmentalists are an example of North American progressives refusing to grow up. (See masthead statement) Obama is simply carrying out orders from his employers, the political operatives of the global ruling class of capitalists. If he failed to do so, he would be removed one way or another. But, liberals need not worry because Obama was raised by his white banker grandmother to please powerful white folks and serve their interests. These political operatives knew what they were doing when they groomed him to be President.

See also this and this. 

Manipulating Video Images: Sloppy Journalism or War Propaganda? The BBC's Fake Images from Tripoli

Click here to access article by Michel Chossudovsky from Global Research. 

I find it hard to believe in that they were simply sloppy--they were desperate. This ruling class propaganda organ simply needed the "victory" in Libya to be celebrated by Libyans to legitimate NATO's involvement, and this is the best they could come up with.

Global - Guardian journalist negligently disclosed Cablegate passwords

Click here to access article which is a Wikileaks Editorial.

Guardian investigations editor, David Leigh, recklessly, and without gaining our approval, knowingly disclosed the decryption passwords in a book published by the Guardian. Leigh states the book was rushed forward to be written in three weeks—the rights were then sold to Hollywood.

It will be interesting to see how the mainstream media, the propaganda organ of the ruling global capitalist class, manages this event. So far, they have ignored it. But, I'm sure, that they are still  formulating plans on how to turn the event into blaming Wikileaks.

Arab revolutions: “natural allies in a common struggle”

Click here to access article from Klasse! (Netherlands)

The article argues that the Arab Spring uprisings must be seen as an integral part of resistance to neo-liberal policies that are having catastrophic effects on working people throughout the world. Therefore, Arabs must be seen as allies and we working people in the West must join with them in casting off the common oppressor of international capitalism.

...Mohammad-Reza Shalgooni argues that the situation in the Middle East is comparable to revolutionary Russia in 1917, about which Lenin said that because there the contradictions of capitalism were most critical, it had become "the weak link in the imperialist chain". If this is true, the Arab uprising is of such great historical and global proportion, that the success of the Arab uprisings, and solidarity from our parts towards it, might determine the future of capitalism far beyond the region itself.

Sustaining Our Better Angels

Click here to access article by Kathy McMahon from her blog, Peak Oil Blues.

This psychologist takes a part another convenient representation of human nature that "explains" and justifies the system of capitalism. Dr. William E. Rees has written:

From a systems perspective, we might say that our current “unsustainability” is a product of the natural system…

There are certain behavioral adaptations that helped our distant ancestors survive—and thus those predilections were passed on to us. But those same (now ingrained) behaviors today are decidedly not helpful in solving our sustainability crisis—they have become maladaptive.

…we habituate to any level of consumption (once a given level is attained, satisfaction diminishes) so the tendency to accumulate ratchets up. This is particularly so if we perceive that another social group—or country—is “getting ahead” faster than we are. 

McMahon argues that such views are a product of a narrow group of people from capitalist academic institutions. She writes:

The values of Homo Economicus are deadly to the planet.  But it is dangerous to confuse the dysfunction of humans impacted by global free market capitalism, with the norms of human psychology or psycho-evolutionary biology.

Full-Blown Civil War Erupts On Wall Street: As Reality Finally Hits The Financial Elite, They Start Turning On Each Other

Click here to access article David DeGraw from Amped Status.

I wouldn't get too excited about the outcome of all this. Like many predators various capitalist actors will turn on each other when the easy prey (working people) isn't enough to satisfy their voracious appetites. But the article provides an interesting survey of legal battles to keep us informed with what's happening among the class of people who rule over us. The author seems very upbeat about the outcomes of these battles, but I seriously doubt that they will result in any benefit for us. The people who will definitely benefit are corporate lawyers--I'm sure that they are ecstatic over these developments.

The following 6:32m video provides a rather clear explanation of how the Fed has been running a scam on the American people in their money creating operation, money that they gave to the troubled banks who in turn bought government securities which are debts to be paid back by us, our children, our grandchildren, and so on. This operation has been largely kept from public view. Mainstream media has focused on only the TARP program, but have grossly distorted how that scam also worked.

High profits, low taxes

Click here to access article by David Ruccio from Real-World Economics Review. 

Here is more evidence to support the truth of Warren Buffet's statement that, “There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.”

Caligula's Orgy

Click here to access article by David Glenn Cox from OpEd News.

It has been ten years now since this country began beating its plowshares into swords and beating its people into submission. It has been ten years of Caligula's orgy, ten years of banquets and fine feasts, ten years of high tech weaponry and low tech poverty, of high tax cuts and low wage cuts and an age of societal dissolution. A time when children go hungry and criminals go free, a masochistic time where we as a nation cut ourselves by punishing the poor for the crimes of the rich when the government of the people and by the people blames the people for the crimes of their government.

California Ignores Its Own Scientists on Dangerous Pesticide

Click here to access article by David Lawlor from Civil Eats. 

It's profit über alles including scientists!

Applying a cancer-causing poison on California’s farm fields sounds like some dastardly plot hatched by a Batman super-villain. Unfortunately, reality is often scarier than fiction. In December 2010, the State of California approved the known carcinogen methyl iodide for use on the state’s farm fields. Yes, you read that right—a chemical that actually causes cancer was approved to be applied on the fields that grow the Golden State’s most prized crops.

See also this piece from the San Jose Mercury.

Escaping Mumana'a and the US-Saudi Counter-Revolution: Syria, Yemen, and Visions of Democracy

Click here to access article by Ahmad Shokr and Anjali Kamat from Jadaliyya. 

This is an interview with Fawwaz Trabulsi, a Lebanese leftist historian at Lebanese American University in Beirut, who provides a number of interesting insights on what is happening in the Middle East with a focus on Syria and Yemen. For example, regarding Syria:

Now, one thing should be said about the Syrian movement: it’s been very much a rural movement. Contrary to the Egyptian revolution, which was almost entirely urban, the Syrian uprising is not. There are a couple of reasons for this.... 

And, regarding Yemen:

The positive thing that has happened recently is that the Yemeni opposition has united to elect what they call a transitional national council—majlis watani intiqali. It was inspired by the initial Egyptian transitional council that never materialized, but in Yemen they actually did it. I think it has 142 people representing all the regions of Yemen. The council was declared late last month against a lot of pressure on the more traditional opposition by both the American administration and the Saudis to delay its formation as it “complicates matters.”  

The ethics of digital direct action

Click here to access article by Gabriella Coleman from Al Jazeera. 

This academic has an ethical concern about the use of the internet for political purposes when such attacks interfere with internet services. She especially focuses on a hackers group called "Anonymous" which attacked banking sites in retaliation for their denial of services to people wanting to contribute to Wikileaks. 

She seems blithely unaware that the internet has already been used by numerous governments as a political weapon to surveil and attack activists. See this, this, and this. The ruling class will use every weapon at their disposal to maintain their rule, and so must we to save society from the catastrophes that await us if we do nothing. It's clear to me that we are presently witnessing the early stages of a worldwide class war.

The political movement known as Anonymous has managed to capture the attention of the media, the hearts of many supporters, and the ire of many spectators after an eight-month spree of political interventions, stretching from Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) campaigns, to human rights technical assistance in Tunisia, to a more recent spate of hacks under the guise of Operation Antisec.

'Grow or die' measure heads south

Click here to access article by Gerry Gold from A World to Win.

The author explains the significance of the latest purchasing managers indexes that indicates little growth in the US economy which in the past 30-40 years has been artificially stimulated by the constant use of credit steroids. 

...the share of production costs received by US workers as wages, salaries and benefits was driven down throughout the era of corporate globalisation. In the wake of the 2007/8 credit crisis it plummeted to a historic low of 58% in 2010 even as corporate profits soared. US workers, the so-called “middle-class”, can no longer afford to be the pumped-up credit-enhanced consumers who used to absorb so much of the world’s output. 

Chile Joins Year Of “Global Indignation”

Click here to access article by Corinna Lotz from A World to Win. 

An estimated 70-80% of Chileans support the student movement with parents and grandparents joining their children in massive street protests. Last week, up to half a million people took part in strikes and demonstrations around the country as the Workers United Center of Chile joined in with a 48-hour strike. Over a thousand arrests were made as the state struck back.

Hansen Says Obama Will Be 'Greenwashing' About Climate Change if He Approves Keystone XL Pipeline

Click here to access article by Christa Marshal from NY Times.

The only problem with this report is that it conforms to the mythology about bourgeois democracy that it provides leaders who make decisions. Forgetting for a moment that the elections are carefully managed so that only a safe, select few are presented as candidates for us to vote for, such "leaders" are fully aware that they are merely employees of international capitalism whose headquarters is in the US. Their values and policies nearly always conform exactly with those of their employers. However, even when they might differ, these employees ("leaders") know that they have no real alternative other than following orders from at least a major section of the ruling capitalist class. 

To be sure, although basic interests are identical, policies of the capitalist ruling class are not completely monolithic. There will always be differences of opinion regarding how aggressively to exploit workers and the environment to promote the accumulation of wealth for this class. It's just that the range of differences is always within acceptable limits. That is one reason why we see two political parties. The other reason is to present the illusion of choice for its citizens who have been indoctrinated to believe that they have real choices. 

Regarding the use of fossil fuels, there is little debate in the ruling class regardless of how polluting or dangerous they are. Extremely hazardous nuclear power will be pursued for the very same reasons. The profit addiction of capitalism requires growth and more energy, and more energy right now. So, you see, the addiction is not to fossil fuels, it is to profits. It's just that fossil fuels can give capitalists their "profit high" quicker and cheaper than other forms of energy. And, like all addictions, nothing else matters but that next fix.

If you follow this argument, you will realize that the Obama administration really has no alternative but to promote the Keystone XL pipeline. Because it has made noises in the past favoring environmental concerns, members of the administration will likely try to camouflage their support so that the public isn't very aware of what's happening, and mainstream media will be very helpful in this effort.

With the protests currently getting scattered news coverage, mainly from print and online outlets such as The New Yorker and The Huffington Post, it's not clear the rallies are capturing the public's attention much at all, they say.

And, then of course, there is always the jobs argument. 

After finishing this commentary, I came across this article in the Guardian entitled, "Obama administration backs oil pipeline from Alberta to Texas", and dated the same day as the above article. I've seen very little coverage of this issue anywhere in US mainstream media. One exception is this interview on Fox News' O'Reilly program.

The neoliberal assault on university education

Click here to access article by Carlos Delclós from Roarmag. 

While global elites continue their cynical assault on higher education unabated, the global student movement shows us that another world is possible.

The revolution will not be commercialized

Click here to access article by by Jérôme E. Roos from Roarmag.

In looking for new profits, capitalists are often not very discriminating. Yes, apparently they think there are profit opportunities in revolutions!

Increasingly, global advertising agencies are beginning to capitalize on growing revolutionary sentiments within society. Their manipulation is bound to fail.

Complete English Translation Of German Military Analysis Of Peak Oil Now Available

Click here to access article by Rick Munroe from Energy Bulletin.

A review of this report (in German) was made earlier in June by Munroe, but in this brief article he gives us a link to the full translation in English. (In case you're wondering, they average out the estimates of peak oil to happen before 2020.)

The following section of the Bundeswehr report that I have copied below should serve as a key summary of what we have to look forward to if we continue to be ruled by capitalists. The system, as indicated under the "medium term" effects, is going to collapse anyway; so why why don't we hurry it along so that we can greatly reduce the effects of the other catastrophes listed below? Furthermore, the elimination of capitalism could free up humanity's creative energies to construct societies of social justice, real democracy, and societies that would be capable of living in peace with each other and in harmony with nature. The alternative?


In the short term, the global economy would respond proportionally to the
decline in oil supply.

1. Increasing oil prices would reduce consumption and economic output. This would
lead to recessions.
2. The increase in transportation costs would cause the prices of all traded goods to
rise. Trade volumes would decrease. For some actors, this would only mean losing
sources of income, whereas others would no longer be able to afford essential food
products.
3. National budgets would be under extreme pressure. Expenditure for securing food
supplies (increasing food import costs) or social spending (increasing unemployment
rate) would compete with the necessary investments in oil substitutes and green tech.
Revenues would decrease considerably as a result of recession and necessary tax
reductions.

In the medium term, the global economic system and all market-oriented economies would collapse. [my emphasis]

1. Economic entities would realise the prolonged contraction and would have to act on
the assumption that the global economy would continue to shrink for a long time.
2. Tipping point: In an economy shrinking over an indefinite period, savings would
not be invested because companies would not be making any profit. For an
indefinite period, companies would no longer be in a position to pay borrowing costs
or to distribute profits to investors. The banking system, stock exchanges and
financial markets could collapse altogether.
3. Financial markets are the backbone of global economy and an integral component of modern societies. All other subsystems have developed hand in hand with the
economic system. A disintegration can therefore not be analysed based on today’s
system. A completely new system state would materialise.

         Nevertheless, for illustration purposes here is an outline of some theoretically 
         plausible consequences:     

• Banks left with no commercial basis. Banks would not be able to pay
  interest on deposits as they would not be able to find creditworthy companies, institutions or individuals. As a result, they would lose the basis for their business.
• Loss of confidence in currencies. Belief in the value-preserving function of money would dwindle. This would initially result in hyperinflation and black markets, followed by a barter economy at the local level.
• Collapse of value chains. The division of labour and its processes are based on the possibility of trade in intermediate products. It would be extremely difficult to conclude the necessary transactions lacking a monetary system.
• Collapse of unpegged currency systems. If currencies lose their value in their country of origin, they can no longer be exchanged for foreign currencies. International value-added chains would collapse as well.
• Mass unemployment. Modern societies are organised on a division of labour basis and have become increasingly differentiated in the course of their histories. Many professions are solely concerned with managing this high level of complexity and no longer have anything to do with the immediate production of consumer goods. The reduction in the complexity of economies that is implied here would result in a dramatic increase in unemployment in all modern societies.
• National bankruptcies. In the situation described, state revenues would evaporate. (New) debt options would be very limited, and the next step would be national bankruptcies.
• Collapse of critical infrastructures. Neither material nor financial
  resources would suffice to maintain existing infrastructures. Infrastructure interdependences, both internal and external with regard to other subsystems, would worsen the situation.
• Famines. Ultimately, production and distribution of food in sufficient quantities would become challenging.

Huffington Post-AOL's Black Voices Are Just More Corporate White Noise

Click here to access script and/or 4:28m audio by Bruce Dixon from Black Agenda Report. (Audio access is at the end of the script.)

I was curious about the sale of Huffington Post website, which is known for its environmental coverage, to AOL, which is an aggressive corporation, for a large sum of money. 

If you have been noticing the proliferation of ads, and ads relating to your interests on your favorite sites, then you already have some evidence to support the excellent explanation that Dixon provides for the sale of Huffington Post. 

His explanation and anecdote about prison abuses illustrate how we can expect AOL to use this site more to increase profits than to enlighten us on environmental issues. 

This is also a larger illustration of how corporations insert themselves and their interests everywhere in our society where they see prospects for profit in order to accumulate more wealth for the less than 1% of our society. Their large impact has the unfortunate side effect of marginalizing or diminishing the impact of influences that can sustain and enhance the lives of the rest of us--the vast majority of the population.

Gold campaign moves to accept Bitcoin: "More than ever, we need an alternative currency"

Click here to access article by Sakura Saunders from SF Bay Area Independent Media Center. 

I know very little about the Bitcoin concept, but it might very well be a good alternative to what we have now: an irrational system of global money management under the control of the capitalist ruling classes and serving only their interests. Gold and silver have always been promoted as having intrinsic value to the point where most people believe it, and the metals have become fetishes. As a result ongoing destruction of ecosystems and human right atrocities occur daily. This fact goes unreported in mainstream news, but I hear about it almost daily from Rights Action which focuses only on Central and South America.  

So, why do capitalist love to promote gold and silver as money, as having intrinsic value? Because they can control these commodities and thus control wealth to serve their interests. Real wealth consists of things and services that make life easier and richer in all ways--psychologically, socially, and spiritually. All of these things and services are created by working people, but their creative energies are impeded by the hoarding instincts of capitalists who insist that gold, silver, and money is real wealth simply because their elaborate systems of money, financial management, market casinos, and property rights make it possible for the capitalist class to control and possess these forms of wealth. 

For more details on the chaos that these systems cause, I challenge you to wade through this article from Der Spiegel entitled, "Out of Control: The Destructive Power of the Financial Markets".

NATO faces 'catastrophic success' in Libya

Click here to access article by An Huihou from Jiefang Daily (China).

One must often go to foreign sources not involved in wars to find out what is really going on. Ruling classes always lie about their wars. I believe that this article provides some accurate details of what has happened in Libya during the past eventful month. 

There are two main reasons for the sudden victory of the opposition forces. First, Western countries not only launched air strikes and provided a large amount of weapons to the opposition forces but also sent ground troops to Libya. According to recent media reports, France, the United Kingdom and Italy had dispatched Special Forces to Libya to help the opposition troops finally win the ground war. Second, Western countries reportedly bought over almost all senior officials of the Qaddafi regime. In brief, Western countries planned and directed the opposition forces' capture of Tripoli. 

I assume the translated phrase of "bought over" is not a typographical error and that it means that the senior officials were bribed to defect. It makes perfect sense that political operatives of capitalist NATO would employ such a tactic. 

It appears that NATO's war crimes against humanity are becoming so obvious that even people in their ruling classes are concerned.

A World to Win | Manifesto of Revolutionary Solutions

Click here to access article from A World to Win (Britain).

This manifesto, a work-in-progress, is a major contribution toward the construction of new societies based on humanistic and ecological principles which must be created if the human race is to survive. Presently there are six sections to the document which can serve as a framework for all working people to rally around and to develop further. 

There is so much content here that is marvelous. I'd like to see much more participation by people in its construction. At present, I have only one comment to make on it which I have already submitted. It is in relation to the wording of the Charter of Rights in the section entitled, "Claiming democracy for the people":

Charter of Rights

A new constitution would enshrine a Charter of Economic and Social Rights based on citizenship for all and should include:

•     the right to co-operative ownership and self-management in workplaces
•     employment for those who can work and average pay for those who cannot
•     the right to a standard of living adequate for health and wellbeing
•     decent housing at affordable cost for everyone
•     free education for students at all ages; the right to free continuing education   and training
•     equal pay and job opportunities for women; free child care
•     free health care at all levels
•     dignity in old age through pension provision at average income, and free social care
•     safe and nutritious food at affordable prices
•     rights to live in an environment shaped by ecological care and basic human needs.

This may be quibbling, but I think that these items should be framed as "objectives" of the new societies. Labeling them as "rights" is too much like the language of a social contract between labor and capital. The new societies must leave no room for capitalists or any other privileged segment of the population. Framing it as "objectives" makes us responsible for creating what we want.

One Year After the G20 Protests: Forms of Protest Reflect Our Power

Click here to access article by Clarice Kuhling from New Socialist (Canada).


This article provides some excellent background on organized labor, its alienation from activist youth, and some excellent suggestions on how to bridge the gap by using more effective militant tactics in future confrontations with highly organized capital.

"Smashing shit up," then, is both an expression of this context and a direct reflection of the low level of struggle and resistance in labour unions and on the left.

...These tactics keep reappearing precisely because they represent a wholesale departure from the forms of passive politics and bureaucratically controlled resistance that have increasingly monopolized the political terrain of working-class struggle in the last half-century in both Canada and the US.

The Miserable Ones

Click here to access article by David Glenn Cox from OpEd News.

Another tragic story of an American architect who has become one of the millions of the new "Les Misérables" that banksters and capitalists are creating across the globe.

I'm going to tell you a story today, it's a story about you and me and it's a story about a father and son. In a larger sense it's a story about America because a story like this only happens in America. I doubt that it happens even in third world countries but it might happen in places like India where people live in wretched poverty, and it might happen during times of war or famine, but this is America, isn't it? 

Riots Reveal Britain’s Forbidden Truth

Click here to access article by John Pilger from Green Left (Australia).

On a warm spring day, strolling in south London, I heard demanding voices behind me. A police van disgorged a posse of six or more, who waved me aside.

They surrounded a young black man who, like me, was ambling along. They appropriated him; they rifled his pockets, looked in his shoes, inspected his teeth. Their thuggery affirmed, they let him go with the barked warning there would be a next time.

Chile strike: Clashes mar anti-government protest

Click here to access report from BBC.

Tens of thousands of Chileans have taken to the streets on the second and final day of a general strike to call for far-reaching reforms.

This insurrection stemmed from student protests against socially unjust education policies in Chile. For much more background on this, you must read this article by Ramona Wadi from Upside Down World.

The ongoing student protests in Chile are an unwavering accomplishment aimed at combating the social injustice riddling the country's education system. What started out as a series of peaceful protests has become a manifestation of unity between students, artists and much of the general population in a stance defying the current government’s position regarding social class, cultural difference and political division with regard to education. 

From this report it seems that after the CIA assisted overthrow of the democratically elected government of socialist Allende in 1973, US neoconservatives imposed their influence on Chilean educational policies. And, if they sound familiar, it is because the policies are very much like those being presently implemented right here in the US. 

You see, under the new hegemony of global capitalism, unjust social policies are being introduced everywhere. For the global ruling class of capitalists, boundaries pose no restraints in the pursuit of their interests; they are only used now to control the movement and exploitation of working people. Unless we as workers organize globally and fight back like the Chileans, the Greeks, the Spaniards, the Palestinians, Egyptians, the British, etc, the end result will be a tiny global elite living in luxury on heavily fortified islands amidst oceans of impoverished working people--a tiny 1st world and a huge 3rd world existing everywhere in the world. 

But, take heart, here is some evidence that working people are beginning to organize across boundaries throughout the world.

Voices are calling from the other side of the sea

Click here to access article by Jérôme E. Roos from Roarmag.

Now that the Gods had failed and the pigs been bailed, it was time for the halls of power to be scaled. They shook the walls with their voices, humble yet brazen, and firmly set their fearless gaze upon the invisible chains that bound them. On that beautiful day in May, the people took back their streets. Reclaimed their squares. And regained their dignity. The word quickly spread from land to land. Have you heard? The people have risen. And things will never be the same again.

Disney, Militarization and the National Security State After 9/11

Click here to access article by Henry A. Giroux and Grace Pollock from Truthout. 

The article consists of lengthy excerpts from a book by these authors published last year entitled, The Mouse that Roared: Disney and the End of Innocence.

The excerpts illustrate one of Gramsci's primary themes that contemporary capitalism does not rely so much on force (although prepared to use that also) and intimidation as it does on powerful cultural weapons to induce compliance by its citizens with the developing fascist Empire. (See also yesterday's reference to Gramsci.)

Libya’s forced collapse: What does it portend for Africa?

Click here to access article by Amengeo Amengeo from The Citizen (Tanzania).

What happens in Libya is a harbinger of what the West has in store for Africa. True independence and African unity will not be tolerated. Africa is too rich in resources that the world needs to be allowed to control its own destiny. This war is not just about Gaddafi. It is an opening salvo in a war to reclaim the continent for foreign interests, just as it was in 1896 in the Scramble for Africa...[T]he West will set up permanent military bases to control the Mediterranean Sea and a bridgehead for the re-conquest of Africa will have been established.

Global Land Grab

Click here to access article by Terry J. Allen from In These Times. 

Neo-colonialism is rearing its head throughout 3rd world countries where the rich, in collusion with corrupted rulers, can buy land at bargain-basement prices to grow food for their restive populations. That is the kind of world that the Empire and its glorious system of globalized capitalism has created--everything is for sale, even farmland needed to produce food for local populations. 

...with spectacular speed, patchworks of plots that used to support local populations through subsistence farming and grazing are being amalgamated into massive industrial plantations. In Awassa, Ethiopia, a “plastic and steel structure already stretches over 50 acres—the size of 20 soccer fields,” writes John Vidal in South Africa’s Mail and Guardian.

With a 99-year lease for 2,500 acres, the developer, Saudi Sheikh Mohammed al-Amoudi, has brought in Spanish engineers and Dutch water technology, and hired 1,000 women to pick and pack 50 tons of food a day, writes Vidal. “Within 24 hours, it has been driven 200 miles to Addis Ababa and flown 1,000 miles to the shops and restaurants of Dubai, Jeddah and elsewhere in the Middle East.”

The small and dark secret of European banks

Click here to access article by Daniel Munevar from Committee for the Abolition of Third World Debt.

At the onset of the recent volatility that has taken place in the global financial markets, much attention has been focused on the behavior of stock exchanges and the evolution of the debt crisis in Europe. But while the markets are reacting strongly to the signs that the process of restructuring the debt of the countries of the European periphery is only a matter of time, most media specialists are missing a key factor of fragility in the European and global financial system: its dependence on short-term, dollar denominated, bank funding.

Unfortunately, this piece requires an understanding of finance terms that are obscure to the average person. In my opinion such information has been deliberately obscured to keep ordinary people in the dark as to how their economy actually functions. Also, finance requires some study and therefore time to study the subject. To survive in a capitalist system working people must work long hours and have little energy left over to devote to subjects like this--and that's the way capitalists like it. 

I have only a little understanding of the subject and the terms used in this article, but I think it is very important. Thus, I will make a stab at it and welcome others to clarify the issues and concepts.

When the author refers to "asset backed securities" he is mostly writing about the worthless mortgage backed securities that banks were peddling like snake oil all over the world. (See this for more details.)
As these investments were finally revealed as mostly worthless, banks in the UK in 2007 were the first to feel the pain, then in 2008 Lehman Brothers in the US failed while Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch were sold at fire-sale prices. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley received considerable direct and indirect assistance from the Fed with their ability to create dollars out of debts assumed by US taxpayers--mostly working people because the rich and the corporations pay very little in taxes. 

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two U.S. Government sponsored enterprises  (read privately owned but with government guaranteed backing), had guaranteed nearly $5 trillion in mortgage obligations at the time they were placed into conservatorship, that is, their debt obligations were assumed by the U.S. government (taxpayers) in September 2008. 

Soon more banks in Europe were threatened with bankruptcy. The large European central banks have been trying to keep them afloat by swapping some of their other assets for short term loans in US dollars from the Fed. This has been going on in secrecy, but at least partly revealed recently as reported in these articles: here and here.

But, as the author of this article reveals, there appears to be a roadblock ahead preventing the Fed from injecting more cash in these banks through the use of swaps:

...as a result of the Dodd-Frank Act, the FED would be unable to extend unlimited swap lines with other central banks without getting explicit approval from the Congress of the United States.

However, when push comes to shove, I have never seen the political operatives of the ruling class let laws stand in their way from whatever they wanted to do (the Iran Contra affair and CIA operations within the US come readily to mind), and certainly not when they need to save their precious system.

Bailing out the financial aristocracy

Click here to access article by David Ruccio from Real-World Economics Review Blog.

We’ve known all along about the TARP funds. Now, thanks to Bloomberg, we know about the $1.2 trillion of public money, which is about the same amount U.S. homeowners currently owe on 6.5 million delinquent and foreclosed mortgages, Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke showered on the Wall Street aristocracy.

I've seen very little coverage of this revelation in mainstream media. The theme of the ruling class political operatives continues to be the cutting of the "entitlements"--which is new-speak that means defaulting on the debts owed to the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds (these have been built up over many years from equal payroll contributions by workers and employers). Of course, all other debts are sacred: such as debts to bondholders, private Treasury bill holders, and even debts to China.

Twisted Up By a Super Coup D'Etat

Click here to access article by Bruce K. Gagnon from Op-Ed News.

Put your ear to the railroad tracks and you can hear the train coming. Now that the new 12-member Congressional "Super Committee" has essentially been given the power of God (and the Devil) the military industrial complex, and their appendage called the corporate media, are swinging into action. Their message? We can't cut Pentagon spending because it will hurt an already tight job market.....and we need these troops to keep knocking countries off the "Non-Integrating Gap" list (those countries that refuse to play ball with corporate globalization). 

Passive revolution: are the rich starting to get scared?

Click here to access article by Jérôme E. Roos from Roarmag.

Warren Buffet wants to tax the rich, Forbes warns about a global class war and Nouriel Roubini says that Marx was right about capitalism. What’s going on?

The author astutely contrasts the recent expressed concerns about the capitalist system from several of its panicking spokespeople with a deeper understanding posed by Gramsci who argued how the political operatives of the ruling class have used cultural tools and compromises to keep the chaotic system of capitalism going. 

We are now witnessing such spokespeople sounding the alarm about their system, and some of them are willing to cut back on their looting of the economy in order to protect their goose, the capitalist system, that lays all their golden eggs.

During the 1930s economic crisis in the UK and US and in the post WWII US Empire we have seen the New Deal in the US and social democracy in many European countries which brought temporary benefits to working people, but only to save the system. We must not be lured into accepting these temporary inducements once again! This will merely leave us eventually drowning in goose droppings. It is no longer only a matter of social justice; it is now a matter of protecting our planet which supports all life from the continuing ravages of capitalism.

Capitalist Rioters Don’t Wear Hoodies

Click here to access article by Gaston Gordillo from Greek Left Review.

More on the London riots, mainstream media coverage, and a broader political view of these events.

The looters in hoodies are being promptly punished by the state. With over 1,000 arrests, the British courts are at capacity and overwhelmed. The capitalist looters in Armani suits, in contrast, destroy with impunity. They know they are above the law because they are the planetary elite, what we should probably call (resurrecting an old-fashioned but also crystal-clear political concept) the global oligarchy of the 21st century. Oligarchs are, after all, actors so wealthy and powerful that they control the state and do as they please with impunity, even if they act against of the will of the majority of the population.

 

The American Rebellion Has Begun – Now Is The Time (Resistance Video Roundup & Call To Action)

Click here to access article & numerous videos by Kevin Zeese from Amped Status. (Note: I had to scroll down to the article after initially getting a blank page.)

The author has included many videos and a plea for Americans to get off their knees, stand up, and confront our rulers on October 20 in Washington, DC.

We certainly understand the despair, lost hope and discouragement that many Americans feel about the U.S. political system. The system seems designed to make change impossible. We also see the power and sophistication of the corporate propaganda media machine. But, we also see people in the United States seeing through the propaganda, understanding the truth and getting angry. ...There is a lot of evidence that the time may be right for an American Awakening.

Disaster capitalism swoops over Libya

Click here to access article by Pepe Escobar from Asia Times Online.

Think of the new Libya as the latest spectacular chapter in the Disaster Capitalism series. Instead of weapons of mass destruction, we had R2P ("responsibility to protect"). Instead of neo-conservatives, we had humanitarian imperialists.

But the target is the same: regime change. And the project is the same: to completely dismantle and privatize a nation that was not integrated into turbo-capitalism; to open another (profitable) land of opportunity for turbocharged neo-liberalism. 

It's Official: Human Activity Can Cause Earthquakes

Click here to access article from Washington's Blog. 

This prolific blogger has uncovered substantial scientific evidence that extraction and injection of fluids in the subsurface has caused earthquakes. This, of course, directly poses concerns over hydro-fracturing of shale to extract gas which has been seen as the next great energy source fueling the capitalist engine.

When People Take Over [audio recording]

Click here to access audio recording of speech (37:32m) in April 2011 by David McNally of Toronto University. An interview with McNally follows the speech. 

He offers a survey of new democratic practices that have appeared in various parts of the world that gives activists encouragement and a basis to build upon these experiences to confront the juggernaut of the capitalist empire that seems intent upon destroying our planet, our communities, and our souls.

Libya as a model for redividing the Middle East

Click here to access article by Bill Van Auken from World Socialist Web Site. 

This journalist, in contrast to journalists that are allowed to write for mainstream media, accurately puts his spotlight on a major behind-the-scenes political operative for the Empire to distill what his comments really mean for the rest of the Middle East people struggling for a better future. It doesn't look good. People like this operative are the ones who really run the Empire's system behind the elaborate facade of "democracy".

With CIA help, NYPD moves covertly in Muslim areas

Click here to access article by Adam Goldman, Associated Press. 

A building superintendent stumbled onto a secret intelligence unit of New York City police department. He discovered all kinds of paraphernalia of terrorist material which is likely used as bait to setup "terrorists". One might easily infer that they are promoting terrorist activity in order to keep citizens terrorized, accepting the ongoing invasions across the globe, and police state measures at home. 

But, it's okay folks, this secret unit, unaccountable to any kind of public political process, are just protecting us from those bad terrorists. After all, it was set up by members of the CIA and surely they are accountable to the President. (sarcasm)

Just so you don't get the wrong idea about this operation, sprinkled throughout the article are statements like this:

One of the enduring questions of the past decade is whether being safe requires giving up some liberty and privacy. The focus of that debate has primarily been federal programs like wiretapping and indefinite detention. The question has received less attention in New York, where residents do not know for sure what, if anything, they have given up.

In a city that has repeatedly been targeted by terrorists, police make no apologies for pushing the envelope. NYPD intelligence operations have disrupted terrorist plots and put several would-be killers in prison.

Though most said the tactics were appropriate and made the city safer, many insisted on anonymity, because they were not authorized to speak with reporters about security matters.

"It should not be a surprise to anyone that, after 9/11, the Central Intelligence Agency stepped up its cooperation with law enforcement on counterterrorism issues or that some of that increased cooperation was in New York, the site of ground zero," CIA spokeswoman Jennifer Youngblood said.

He's Not Serious

Click here to access article by David Glenn Cox from OpEd News. 

Now the President and his staff have come up with another program to combat unemployment based on a Georgia model. The Georgia program allows corporations to hire workers while the workers still receive unemployment checks. The workers do labor for the employers while the employers pay them no wages of any kind, what so ever. Then after two months the employers get to decide whether to keep the worker or not, what do you think? Brilliant huh? Workers work for half wages paid by the state and employers pay zip!
 

Libya, the Real Deal

This excellent 24 minute KPFA radio interview posted on Dandelion Salad, which is providing a lot of coverage on Libyan events, presents another informed, independent source of information on the current scene there and particularly the distortion of news reports in mainstream media:

The Libya Media Hoax: Fabricated Scenes of Jubilation and Euphoria on Green Square

Click here to access article by Metro Gael from Global Research. 

Surpassing previous mass media fabrications, both in scale and boldness, yesterday morning's Al Jazeera mise-en-scène will surely go down in history as one of the most cynical hoaxes committed by corporate media since the manipulated pictures of Iraqis topplying Saddam Hussein's statue after the US invasion in 2003. 

The author reveals how the Empire is using media and media infiltrators consisting of CIA-M16 agents as another weapon in their conquest of Libya.

See also this report by Thierry Meyssan who is in Tripoli about the well coordinated use of corporate-NATO propaganda. 

Clearly, the lives of all independent journalists are very much in jeopardy.

Do not trust news coverage from Al Jazeera--it's owned by the royal family of Qatar that is heavily involved in NATO's campaign against Libya.

$1.2 Trillion to Banks, You 0

Click here to access article by Robert Oak from The Economic Populist.

Bloomberg News has researched a bombshell story, the Federal Reserve gave $1.2 trillion in secret loans to banks during the financial crisis, from August 2007 until April 2010. This is in addition to the TARP bail outs which was publicly known.

Read also the author's first remark in the comments section.  

The secret Fed-generated-taxpayer loans to banks continue to be revealed. That's okay, we can just cut back more on public services and let the government default on its debts to Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds to pick up the tab. (sarcasm)

As usual, very little coverage of this in mainstream press. After all, it is far more important to learn about the lives of celebrities and the horse races in the two ruling class political parties!

Welcome to Libya's 'democracy'

Click here to access article by Pepe Escobar from Asia Times Online.

While NATO media gloat over their latest victories in Libya, this author provides some insights on the cast of characters involved in both the alleged triumph and upcoming plunder of that country. He finishes with this cynical comment:

...in the end R2P ["responsibility to protect"] wins. Humanitarian imperialism wins. The Arab monarchies win. NATO as global Robocop wins. The Pentagon wins. But even that is not enough for the usual imperial suspects - already calling for the deployment of a "stabilization force". And all this while lost-the-plot progressives in assorted latitudes continue to hail the Holy Alliance of Western neocolonialism, ultra-reactionary Arab monarchies and hardcore Salafis.

It ain't over till the fat Arab lady sings. Anyway, on to the next stop; Damascus.

Corrupt Obama Administration Pressuring New York Attorney General to Support Mortgage Whitewash

Click here to access article by Yves Smith from Naked Capitalism. 

Maybe I missed it, but I've seen very little media coverage of this Obama backed settlement with the banks. It seems that Obama is only interested in getting the government off the backs of the banks. Does this sound familiar? You may need to read this NY Times article first to get more background information on this article by Smith who writes: 

...consider the damage the major banks have done. They have failed so badly at being competent lenders and record keepers that when judges in New York demand that bank attorneys certify that they have taken reasonable steps to verify documents submitted to the courts, foreclosures grind to a near halt. Two separate investigations, one by Fortune, the other by the New York Post, ascertained that an overwhelming majority of foreclosures took place when the banks failed to demonstrate that they had the right to do so. Banks have foreclosed illegally on servicemen, and have also foreclosed on people who didn’t have mortgages. Their is ample evidence that they have systematically violated their own contracts, the agreements that govern mortgage securitizations, and have on a widespread basis charged impermissible fees to borrowers. And when these junk and pyramiding fees precipitate foreclosures, the servicers have effectively ripped off investors too. They have tooth and nail fought every effort that would help borrowers if it in any way impinged on their profits, even though their very survival is the result of taxpayer munificence. Finally, they’ve made a mess of property records in this country.

Member-Owned, Worker-Run Brewery Taps into a Radical Idea

Click here to access article by Stacy Edwards from Shareable. 

The whole concept of Black Star is pretty radical, requiring a very brave community to sign on early. “The idea is so weird, right?” Mark admits as he reflects on his early reaction to the idea. “I mean, we want to make a brewpub, but we’re not going to get big venture capital support. We’re not going to do it like that. We’re going to get it from all the people in the community and when there’s profit, it’s going to be distributed to all of our members. Everything is going to stay 100% local. We’re going to have a focus on being green, a focus on supporting the community, and, by the way, we won’t have someone in charge.”

NATO-backed forces move into Tripoli

Click here to access article by Patrick Martin from World Socialist Web Site. 

This author provides an excellent, well researched report on the apparent fall of the Gaddafi regime within an anti-Empire framework.  This is not easy to do in the chaotic and fast moving developments of a war zone. 

For an on-the-scene report from Tripoli, Mahdi Nazemroaya, a Canadian journalist, reports on his perilous situation and perspective in these two videos from RT. It seems that NATO is doing nothing to protect the international press. Notice how the RT media people describe what is happening as a "revolution", whereas Nazemroaya sees it very differently.




In case you were still thinking that NATO was on a "humanitarian mission", then you must read about "The Scramble for Access to Libya’s Oil Wealth Begins" in the NY Times.

Oil Limits, Recession, and Bumping Against the Growth Ceiling

Click here to access article by Gail Tverberg from The Oil Drum. 

I have frequently stated that the human race is facing two basic threats that the capitalist system cannot cope with and which are actually made worse by the continuation of this system: global warming (including other forms of environmental degradation) and fossil fuel depletion. It has been some time since I've run articles on the latter threat. This article, hopefully, will bring us up to date. 

This website features the best commentary section that I have ever seen. The site brings together some of the best trained people in energy related fields. However, being products of capitalist controlled educational systems, they have been carefully schooled to not look closely at the political-economic organization of society.

Hence, there is seldom any mention in any articles at this site of the system that is addicted to growth, and the necessity to change the present political-economic arrangements to something that can sustain human life in the decades and centuries ahead. You can see this in the commentaries and from the last section of the author's original article (omitted from this posting) entitled, "Where Do We Go from Here?" However, the content of both the article and the commentaries following the article are very useful to understand what the consequences will be if we continue with this addictive and socially unjust system.

You can do something about the news

Click here to access article by Djelloul Marbrook from his blog.

What is particularly interesting about this article is the perspective the author, as a former newspaper editor, provides regarding the internet as a source of information and opinion. Whereas newspaper corporations are shaking in their boots over the proliferation of blogging and social media, he sees mostly positives:

I’ve contended in this space that each social networker owns his or her own newspaper. Each Facebook page is a newspaper. In the last few weeks I have scanned the web for political, cultural and literary news and ideas, posting what interests me on my Facebook pages. The response has convinced me that more information than ever before is available, and the crocodile tears about its reliability are rooted in a sense that the mainstream media have lost control of the game. They have, and they should lose control in the onrush of this more democratic and promising technology. 

Co-op to ‘work our way out of the climate emergency’

Click here to access article by Ben Courtice from Green Left (Australia).

Take a look at what some Australian workers are doing to fight "climate emergency" and to create a worker organized economic enterprise.

A project of the Earthworker co-operative, the campaign seeks to build a cooperatively-owned factory making solar hot water systems in Morwell, Victoria.

A prime aim of the growing Surveillance State

Click here to access article by Glenn Greenwald from Salon.

Economic suffering and anxiety -- and anger over it and the flamboyant prosperity of the elites who caused it -- is only going to worsen.  So, too, will the refusal of the Western citizenry to meekly accept their predicament. As that happens, who it is who controls the Internet and the flow of information and communications takes on greater importance.  Those who are devoted to preserving the current system of prerogatives certainly know that, and that is what explains this obsession with expanding the Surveillance State and secrecy powers, maintaining control over the dissemination of information, and harshly punishing those who threaten it. 

Who–and What–Are Behind the “Official History” of the Bin Laden Raid?

Click here to access article by Russ Baker from Who, What, Why.

One of America's top investigative journalists (Glenn Greenwald and Matt Taibbi are two others that come to mind) trains his analytic radar-like vision on one more cover story of the Bin Laden raid, a story that was recently run in the prestigious New Yorker magazine.

Beyond all the contradictions, missing information, and misleading statements, one can also discern a lot about a secret government that functions behind the scenes.

When you look closely, nothing seems right about what will surely become the accepted account of the raid that nailed America’s enemy number one. And then things get even weirder…

Are These Young Men Terrorists—Or Were They Set Up?

Click here to access article by Russ Baker from Who, What, Why. 

This outstanding investigative journalist and author (Family of Secrets) introduces a new documentary film which is about the use of infiltrators and agent provocateurs by various police agencies in the US. This film will be shown on PBS on September 6th.

The Case Against the Credit Ratings Agencies

Click here to access article by Michael Hudson from Naked Capitalism.

The author is no radical economist, but he is a honest critic of the capitalist system. In this piece he gives us the details on how Standard and Poor's and other financial rating agencies act as enforcers for capitalist interests, and thereby cause the devastating effects we are witnessing daily in our local communities.

Localities are pressured when their rising debt levels lead to a financial stringency. Banks pull back their credit lines, and urge cities and states to pay down their debts by selling off their most viable public enterprises. Offering opinions on this practice has become a big business for the ratings agencies. So it is understandable why their business model opposes policies – and political candidates – that support the idea of basing public financing on taxation rather than by borrowing. This self-interest colors their “opinions.”

The Insurrection of the English Underclass [post of the week]

Click here to access article by Takis Fotopoulostakis from The Int. Journal of Inclusive Democracy.

The insurrection of the British underclass was seen by the entire British establishment and their followers – the bourgeois class and, particularly, the petty bourgeoisie – as a case of ‘pure criminality’. In other words, the real criminals of the political, economic and cultural elites have condemned the victims of their own criminality and have been both demanding and taking the worst kind of revenge on them for revolting against a system which has been destroying their lives since the day they were born. Of course, this is not surprising considering that, throughout History, the ruling elites and the privileged social groups have labelled the people who have revolted against them as criminals, from the French and Russian revolutions to the Spanish and Greek civil wars.

The author argues a very different proposition:

...the underclass implicitly realise that the overthrow of capitalist neoliberal globalisation is not a matter of overthrowing some evil conspirators and their catastrophic policies which, supposedly, simply reflect some criminal “dogma” based on a new capitalist “strategy”, but it is actually a matter of overthrowing the very same system of the market economy, whose dynamics have inevitably led to the present globalisation!

He very aptly identifies the British insurrectionists as the new "Les Miserables"! 

However, I must take issue with what I find as weaknesses in the Inclusive Democracy project. As the author and founder of this project, Fotopoulostakis spends far too much time on his favorite target, the "degenerate left", and especially on particular people who he identifies as such. This reminds me too much of inter-sectarian wars of the past. Also, as a Greek citizen I would expect him to have much more insights on, and contributions toward, strategies for change in his native country as well as other advanced Western countries where insurrections have taken place. All he can contribute is this important, but overly broad strategy:

The obvious conclusion is that the first step towards such a society is the breaking of each country’s economic links with the internationalised market economy and the creation of the preconditions for a self-reliant...economy.... 

(Please note the rebuttal from an Inclusive Democracy spokesperson in the comments section.)

In wake of British riots, New York police prepare for unrest

Click here to access article by Bill Van Auken from World Socialist Web Site. 

More evidence that the US ruling class is preparing to reveal the ugly fist of fascism to preserve the goose, capitalism, that lays their golden eggs of wealth and power. Here the author provides evidence from New York City of increased riot training, aggressive attacks on citizens, and more hires for police forces.