Pushed through Congress without debate, the massive surveillance bill was hastily passed just 45 days after 9/11, and was the first of many changes to surveillance laws over the past decade that made it easier for the government to spy on innocent Americans.
Back in the UK, after several months spent in Libya covering NATO war crimes and uncovering mainstream media lies, freelance journalist Lizzie Phelan continues to fight for truth and justice on behalf of the Libyan people. Her testimony below is a gripping example of her commitment.
Lizzie Phelan spent her last days in Libya - where she was reporting for PressTV - trapped in the Rixos Hotel, together with Thierry Meyssan, Mahdi Nazemroaya and two other members of the Voltaire Network team.
She said a Western-backed genocide is taking place in Libya and there are no independent journalists left on the ground to cover the story.
In particular, the connections between organized labor and the OWS continue to deepen--with ongoing protests against the Sotheby's auction house where Teamsters have been locked out of their jobs, a big rally in support of Verizon workers who are fighting for a fair contract, and a planned action against the Department of Education in support of teachers.
More than a month old, OWS feels like a town of its own, one governed intentionally by institutions and actions based on empathetic, egalitarian principles. As a protest, the occupation tactic is successful because of its constant presence and as a base for organising actions.
But at least as important to participants is the opportunity the occupied space provides to organise a microcosm of the society they want to live in. As the movement continues to grow, it is clear that this new society resonates with many people disaffected with the failures of society at large. [my emphasis]
"We're dismantling capitalism and building something better right here,"....
...to be homeless in America is to live like a fugitive. The destitute are our own native-born “illegals,” facing prohibitions on the most basic activities of survival. They are not supposed to soil public space with their urine, their feces, or their exhausted bodies. Nor are they supposed to spoil the landscape with their unusual wardrobe choices or body odors. They are, in fact, supposed to die, and preferably to do so without leaving a corpse for the dwindling public sector to transport, process, and burn.
The window to limit global warming to less than two degrees C is closing so fast it can be measured in months, a new scientific analysis revealed Sunday.
After marching from Oscar Grant Plaza and around Lake Merritt on October 22nd, Occupy Oakland occupiers and supporters stopped in front of the Chase Bank branch on Lakeshore Avenue. Demonstrators began to stream into the bank, filling the branch and chanting, "Chase got bailed out, we got sold out." Bank withdrawal and deposit slips were thrown into the air and within a few minutes demonstrators exited the bank and returned to the thousand-plus marchers in the street. Several protesters remained behind to pick up bank slips from the floor and were locked inside when police moved in to secure the bank. With loud chants of "Let them go, let them go" from the street, those inside were allowed to leave and the march continued on to shut down a Wells Fargo Bank branch by surrounding it before returning to Oscar Grant Plaza.
IN 2008, both the Democratic and Republican candidates for president, Barack Obama and John McCain, warned about man-made global warming and supported legislation to curb emissions. After he was elected, President Obama promised “a new chapter in America’s leadership on climate change,” and arrived cavalry-like at the 2009 United Nations Climate Conference in Copenhagen to broker a global pact.Some people think it's worse than that:
But two years later, now that nearly every other nation accepts climate change as a pressing problem, America has turned agnostic on the issue.
“In Washington, ‘climate change’ has become a lightning rod, it’s a four-letter word,” said Andrew J. Hoffman, director of the University of Michigan’s Erb Institute for Sustainable Development.It is clear to me that because capitalism cannot deal with global warming, it simply won't. Are we going to let them destroy our habitat? I know of no other creature that does that deliberately.
“We are seeing doubts in the U.S. largely because the issue has become a partisan one, with Democrats” — 75 percent of whom say they believe there is strong evidence of climate change — “seeing one thing and Republicans another.”The responses in the Pew pool were from people who vote in elections as Democrats or Republicans. There is no other choice. The leadership of these parties are controlled by the same class of people who have the same interests. The fact that Democratic party leaders sometimes mouth empty phrases reflecting environmental concerns never translates into action.
Kyoto's Carbon Offsetting Moves from Tragedy to Farce
A Grim Outlook for Emissions As Climate Talks Limp Forward
But the fact is America’s military efforts in Iraq aren’t coming to an end. They are instead entering a new phase. On January 1, 2012, the State Department will command a hired army of about 5,500 security contractors, all to protect the largest U.S. diplomatic presence anywhere overseas.And, as Glenn Greenwald reports:
...the Obama administration has been working for months to persuade, pressure and cajole Iraq to allow U.S. troops to remain in that country beyond the deadline. The reason they’re being withdrawn isn’t because Obama insisted on this, but because he tried — but failed — to get out of this obligation.But, you need not worry that Obama is becoming some sort of peacenik--he's sending
Censorship, like everything else in the West, has been privatized. [from WikiLeaks website]This article requires action instead of commentary.
I started hearing these stories that not only was there CIA recruitment of students on campus, but in fact, the CIA had a program where they subsidized courses and a degree program that students were able to major in courses that were called … Global Studies, but involved really trying to identify and groom future employees for the CIA.Sibel Edmonds in her blog has provided an audio interview with the professor behind a pay-wall.
If it is true, as I’ve come to think, that a diversity of tactics has been meaningfully practiced by the occupation movement even while remaining nonviolent, then a definition of the phrase like George Lakey’s is in need of revision. Rather than being merely a license to use violence, respecting a diversity of tactics is in its own right a robust approach to conducting resistance—and one that is arguably all the more powerful when it remains nonviolent.He then shows how the movement in New York City has been rewarded by good press coverage and public support. For people at this website, and the advocates of "non-violence" in general, obtaining positive mainstream press coverage always seems to be a prime consideration when discussing tactics. Others regard "non-violence" as almost a religion, and often cite Gandhi and M L King as saints in this religion. (See this article entitled, "Crunch time for Occupy Wall Street".)
The liberation movement in India failed. The British were not forced to quit India, Rather, they chose to transfer territory from direct colonial rule to neocolonial rule. ...The British authored the new constitution and turned power over to handpicked successors. They fanned the flames of religious and ethnic separatism so that India would be divided against itself...[by separating the mostly Muslim population in the north (Pakistan) from mostly Hindus in the rest of India].After citing the important roles of the Black Panthers and Malcolm X in the Civil Rights Movement, he concludes his argument:
...from India to Birmingham, nonviolence failed to sufficiently empower its practitioners, whereas the use of a diversity of tactics got results. Put simply, if a movement is not a threat, it cannot change a system based on centralized coercion and violence, and if that movement does not realize and exercise the power that makes it a threat , it cannot destroy such a system. ...The elite cannot be persuaded by appeals to their conscience. Individuals [among the elite] who do change their minds and find a better morality will be fired, impeached, replaced, recalled, assassinated.I think that OWS activists were correct in affirming only the diversity of tactics while affirming the right of subgroups to initiate independent actions. I think that this issue of tactics will take care of itself because the fundamental values of the movement promote respect for all people and the environment. People grounded in these values will respect the feelings of others, will refuse to use gratuitous violence against people or destroy property belonging to people. The movement will decide when and if their actions should be informed by the quality of coverage provided by ruling class media, and when such considerations are irrelevant.
By moving toxic assets, i.e. derivatives, into a FDIC insured subsidiary, gives BoA's Merrill derivative holdings indirect access to the Federal Reserve discount window and also if the bank fails where the derivatives are now located, the FDIC is required to pay depositors through their insurance guarantee. It appears from Bloomberg's report that $53 trillion of BoA's derivatives are being tied into depositors*, which implies the Federal Reserve and the U.S. taxpayer have the potential to be on the hook.This latest bankster crime against the US public is being reported on numerous websites.
As people talked about the variety of problems facing the earth and humanity I had the feeling that they were constantly “beating around the bush.” So when it was my time to talk, I discarded my notes dealing with ecology and agriculture, and said that I thought a central issue was being ignored. I explained that I was going to speak about “the bush” that I thought everyone was beating around — that is, the capitalist system and how in its very essence it is destructive of the environment. This approach was a real stumbling block for most people there. They were very interesting and innovative people — many would be considered “out of the box” thinkers. But, I realized that they, and those in the environmental movement in general, were unable to think outside of capitalism.It is quite amazing when one really thinks about it: how successful the thought control and propaganda agents of capitalism have been in managing the minds of even the most independent thinkers.
This mini-doc shows in some detail how the general assembly - the heart of the occupy movement - operates. They make decisions by consensus and anyone can join the assembly. Through this process, the occupy movement models its own radically inclusive political economy and thus demonstrates that it's more than a protest movement.Indeed! I think that what these brave young men and women are attempting to create is nothing less than a complete social and cultural revolution.
We're all in this together. The only way you keep people involved in a movement like this is you have a process where everyone's voice can be heard.
In our movement it is really important to have our means reflect the ends we want to create.
People come to a consensus meeting in the attitude that I want to make a decision that everyone is comfortable with.
Because I know what it is like to have my viewpoints honored when they are unpopular, I rejoice in the opportunity to honor someone else's very different viewpoints. but because I was part of the process, because I see how it was made, I saw how good the intentions were, I honor the decision even if I don't agree with it.
It's an entirely different way of thinking that is inclusive, and it is working. It's messy and time consuming, but it is the only way to change the system...I think.
...there can be a variety of potential solutions, whether it be the EPA, whether it be a lawsuit, whether it be that Georgia Pacific decides it must do the right thing.Fortunately, the people at the Occupying Wall Street sites all over the world know that systemic solutions are what is required.
occupy your neighborhood
it's time to
not breathe easier
but deeper
we can open every window
prop them all up
human arms become
the counterweight
sharing the weight
by all means
dream/build a new world
neighborhood by neighborhood
sweat & stress
a protective ring
around the most vulnerable
tune out the noise
.....& phony leaders
after the banks go bust
there's still a planet to save
The liberal class functions in a traditional, capitalist democracy as a safety valve. It lets off enough steam to keep the system intact. It makes piecemeal and incremental reform possible. This is what happened during the Great Depression and the New Deal. Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s greatest achievement was that he saved capitalism. Liberals in a functioning capitalist democracy are at the same time tasked with discrediting radicals....They are now politically dead--but, may they NOT rest in peace.
200,000 peaceful protesters march on Rome, but an army of riot police and a small militia of anti-capitalist urban guerrillas wreak havoc across the city.
"The state and corporate forces are determined to crush this... They are terrified this will spread. They have their long phalanxes of police on motorcycles, their rows of white paddy wagons, their foot soldiers hunting for you on the streets with pepper spray and orange plastic nets..."Then Cooke writes:
...To combat this dynamic, the Occupy Movement people needs to unite around common messages that they can effectively broadcast to those 99% not yet on the streets; or to maintain the sympathy of those who've already attended large marches and demonstrations.And, he offers some suggestions.
The only reason that surviving occupied spots have been spared is because of the broader sympathy of the 99% combined with the direct participation of large sections of working people at marches and demonstrations. The corporate elite fear a strong, united movement like vampires fear sunlight.
OWS has succeeded beyond anyone’s expectations thus far, and we need to be clear and honest about what can be done better if we hope to build on this success and reign in the most greedy, powerful and ruthless 1% the world has ever known.The movement should celebrate how far we have come in such short time, but we cannot rest with these accomplishments.
This basic idea that the hierarchical control of society via wealth can be overcome is central to these movements.
Panicked conservatives are labeling the Occupy protests as 'anti-Semitic' in an attempt to break up the movement.
These are just a handful of movements and grassroots initiatives that provide helpful models (in both their victories and failures) for decentralizing political and economic power, and putting decision making into the hands of the people.
President Obama is in deep re-election trouble, for not only do the majority of Americans not trust the global elite and Wall Street but that mistrust also extends to Obama ~ whose re-election campaign pockets are lined with ongoing donations from his corporate base. In essence, American taxpayers are being ripped off by Wall Street and Obama is being paid off to look the other way.
Now, the first contradiction of capitalism has at last emerged, just as predicted. (So has the second, more ominous contraction which involves the ecosystem rather than the economic system, but that vital subject will have to be left to another conversation.) In an era marked by the election of yet another phony Presidential savior, the somnambulant masses have been forced to awaken. Not only have the conditions for the already marginalized grown excruciatingly horrific, but the members of socioeconomic classes who formerly expected to have a solid, productive outlook have been offered instead a harsh present and a bleak future. And even those who once assumed their lives secure have found their assumptions trashed along with their savings. It took these dismal conditions for people to finally proclaim that enough was enough, and for some of them to rise up and speak out on their own behalves.A new, rather subversive consciousness appears to be infecting many Americans.
...the movement will be worthwhile and long-lasting if it can embrace a future society in which “we” always comes before “me.” There is a better alternative. It is here now, unless we retreat back to our superficial comforts, unless we surrender to our own egos, unless we cease to envision a healthier tomorrow for us all.
It is a nation built on the abolition of slavery, but there are at least 40,000 slaves in the US today.Capitalism is a system whereby sociopaths are rewarded for exploiting the wealth produced by others. Slavery is the most egregious form. That this practice exists in the US today is a dirty little secret that their propaganda agents--the mainstream media--carefully omit in their news coverage. Be sure to view the video to learn more about it.
Generation Rev, the revolutionary generation that has overtaken the world stage, whether in Tahrir Square or on Wall Street, has arrived at a critical juncture. This group of twenty-somethings has been experimenting for five to six years with novel ways of doing politics. They are known for horizontal organizing, persistent civil disobedience, and networking and mobilizing across lines of difference—ideological and otherwise—all of which have been greatly facilitated by new media and mobile communication tools. In Egypt, this generation contributed in no small measure to the success of the first stage of the revolution, namely the toppling of the President/Dictator Hosni Mubarak. But in this post-Mubarak period, young politicized Egyptians are being put to the test about how to achieve their democratic aspirations. As Gen Rev, and indeed all groups of society, encounter obstacles and setbacks, they are grappling with questions about how to move forward.
If the nation-wide “Occupation” movements intend to become a social force with the strength to reshape the course of history, they would do well to consider occupying not merely sidewalks and parks, but to begin actually taking the spaces that allow people to live and operate with dignity. With over 50,000 homes in foreclosure in California and hundreds of thousands going through the process across the country, it is only rational for any social struggle to support and encourage people to stay in their homes in defiance of eviction notices and to begin using vacant buildings for our own purposes. With increasing rents and rising tuitions, a property that was abandoned when the banks could no longer profit from it would be put to better use as a social center or free school.
Inspired by protests from Tunis to New York, activists and people’s assemblies have collaborated on a vision for a new global governance.
Did you know that the EU has its own riot police that can operate in any European country but is answerable directly to none of them? No I didn’t either.
They are called the European Gendarmerie Force (Eurogendfor) . They are based in Italy but funded and staffed by six signatory nations who are France, Italy, Holland, Spain, Portugal and Romania. However, according to the Treaty which established Eurogendfor they can operate in any EU country and are available to others who invite them to do so. The country which invites them in is refered to as the ‘Host’.
For weeks, water has coursed down key rivers from northern Thailand in a slow-motion catastrophe, overwhelming a national system of dams and dikes. Several days ago, floods transformed Ayutthaya into one of the country's worst disaster zones, navigable in some districts only by boat.This latest catastrophe caused by extreme weather is affecting wide areas in southeast Asia. It has received very little coverage in US mainstream media. Could it be that the mad pursuit of profits under capitalism is hazardous not only to economies, but also to the planet's stability? Is it becoming all too obvious? The thought control agents of the one percent, also known as mainstream media, can't allow you to even consider such thoughts.
Images of calamity in Ayutthaya and elsewhere have fed fears that skyscraper-filled Bangkok could be engulfed by the weekend. Panicked residents of the capital cleared supermarket shelves to hoard bottled water and dried noodles, while luxury hotels packed sandbags around their perimeters.
This glittering Valhalla doesn’t give two shits for Greater Reading [poverty stricken areas of the Northeast US] but it does immensely care about foreign policy. While often thought of as “US policy” or “US national interests” nothing could be further from the truth. Only the interests of Park Avenue are in play. And what are those interests? They’re really only two: 1) expand global markets in order to maximize corporate profits and 2) continuously grow and revel in the ever higher glory and grandeur of great power, Rome being the obvious model. The Three P’s: profit, power, prestige. We can see how this foreign policy has played out historically since the end of World War II, from Korea to Vietnam to Latin America and throughout the Middle East. Millions have died but no group in history has ever risen to greater power.
...the One Percent has an old saying: If you can't beat them, beat them up....
The US government expects an unsuspecting world to believe that a washed-up car salesman in Texas was tasked by a select intelligence arm of the Iranian government to fish for anyone who looked like a Mexican drug gangster and then order them a US$1.5 million hit on the Saudi ambassador in Washington - in the meantime promising them unfettered access to "tons of opium".After all, wouldn't it be useful to distract attention from all those annoying demonstrators? (sarcasm)
...we should strive to convince the movement that the problem in the US today is not just Wall Street or the corporations or the fact that the economic system is somehow being "gamed" or "rigged" by tricky selfish individuals. We need to explain that the cause of the crisis is the capitalist system itself, a system in which production is carried on only when it results in profits, the vast majority of which go to the tiny elite that runs the country. Correspondingly, we should work to persuade the movement that its ultimate aim should be the radical democratization of our entire society, in other words, a revolution in which the vast majority of people seize control of the economy and the country as a whole from the rich and disperse power and direct control of all aspects of social life as widely as possible. As a result, we should propose and support radical demands that both point in this direction and unite the broadest sectors of the population.I couldn't agree more except to argue that political education along these lines should be THE focus (not direct action) of activist activity--effective direct action will naturally flow from a politically educated movement.
One can only hope that the use of consensus does not become a road block – consensus is a nice goal to aim for in any group decision-making, but it should rarely be a rigid requirement and can sometimes act as an impediment to timely or democratic results.This adds some confusion to what consensus is, and the function it serves. Most activists have gone far beyond the notion that consensus means 100% agreement. It can be any percentage beyond majority rule. Consensus is only another tool to insure that everyone has an equal opportunity to influence decisions. It is critically important that everyone feels that the structure under which decisions are made is fair, that the structure itself was an outcome of equitable participation, and that there is a participatory way of changing or modifying the structure. Activists completely reject all the fake democratic processes of formal political decision making as now exists in Western societies.
...let’s treat each other as if we plan to work side by side in struggle for many, many years to come. Because the task before will demand nothing less.
Let’s treat this beautiful movement as if it is most important thing in the world. Because it is. It really is.
The Occupy Wall Street protesters held a march, dubbed the millionaire’s march, to demand that the rich pay their fair share of taxes. They marched past the New York City homes of billionaire David Koch, News Corporation CEO Rupert Murdoch, and Jamie Dimon, CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase. For some strange reason, they did not march past the offices of the Democratic governor.Democratic party leaders are currently trying to adopt the Occupiers by issuing statements in sympathy with them in order to gain votes in next years election. (See this.) Once again, we see these fake populists trying to pretend that they are on the side of ordinary workers. This is especially galling after nearly three years of the Obama administration, the party of "change and hope", that has seamlessly continued ruling class policies after the retirement of their previous agent, George Bush, Jr. (See this.) Hopefully, the protestor's march was only an oversight and not a disturbing a lack of political maturity among the activists.
Warren decided to investigate the reasons why Americans were ending up in bankruptcy court. “I set out to prove they were all a bunch of cheaters,” she said in a 2007 interview. “I was going to expose these people who were taking advantage of the rest of us.” What she found, after conducting with two colleagues one of the most rigorous bankruptcy studies ever, shook her deeply. The vast majority of those in bankruptcy courts, she discovered, were from hardworking middle-class families, people who lost jobs or had “family breakups” or illnesses that wiped out their savings. “It changed my vision,” she said.Unlike a growing number of others of her class, she still believes in the system and is planning to run for a US Senate seat from Massachusetts apparently thinking that it can be changed by working within the system. She definitely has more to learn.
Probably the most debunked economic fiction spinner of them all, the NFAP, is used. The NFAP is also these very multinational's personal white paper spin machine.This report provides more evidence that the middle class in the US is being abandoned by the ruling class, and thus, is increasingly losing their support. This is a dangerous development for the ruling class.
Boston police charge Veterans for Peace and take down an American flag to break up the Occupy Boston protest
Yesterday at noon, this blog's trusty mentor, the Slovenian philosopher-scholar Slavoj Žižek, spoke at Zuccotti Park, where Occupy Wall Street protests are being held.This is a sample of the kind of political consciousness raising that is occurring in Zuccotti Park, NY City, where Occupy Wall Street protests are being held.
The major lessons from our Red October Campaign include the fact that we must not just satisfy ourselves by becoming professional critics, permanent protestors and lamentors in the face of the many challenges facing our country. But that [it] is essential for the working class to take the lead on concretely what is to be done, through concrete actions and campaigns!Although there are some different issues confronting working people in South Africa than here in the US, there are also many common ones. We must compare notes with activists all over the world in order to raise our level of political consciousness and improve our knowledge about effective strategies and tactics as we engage in our own class war which is a part of a global class war. And, we must not be deterred from using some sources of information simply because the political operatives of the governing class disapprove of them.
Camila, who lives in Cuba, holds a degree in sustainable development from the University of Berkeley, California. She is a professor at the Centre for Studies on the Cuban Economy at Havana University, and her works have been published both in Cuba and outside the island. She is also, incidentally, the daughter of Chilean-Cuban journalist and author Marta Harnecker and her late husband, Manuel "Red Beard" Piñeiro, who headed revolutionary Cuba's state security and intelligence service for many years.Again, we have much to learn from the experience of other activists across the globe.
The rationality that drives a cooperative, as with all forms of genuine self-management, is the necessity for a group of people to satisfy common needs and interests. It is based on the recognition that they share collective interests that correspond to some degree with their own individual interests, and that it is collective action that allows them to pursue these interests most effectively. This, together with the recognition that all its members are human beings with the equal right to participate in decision-making, results in democratic management in which the cooperative members decide not only who the leaders are and how revenues should be allocated, but also how to organise the process of production: what is produced, how and for whom.
At every stage of the process, then—extraction, manufacture, and market—Apple’s business practices have hurt the people on whom the company relies for its prosperity.This article provides another antidote to the extravagant praise heaped on Jobs by mainstream media. (See also my commentary on Jobs in yesterday's article.)
The New Yorker reports on a conservative multimillionaire's successful efforts to buy North Carolina's elections, and a report from campaign finance reform groups describe how an elite group of donors have laundered unlimited contributions to presidential campaigns.The points made in this article are probably obvious for many politically aware people, but still there are many Americans who naively believe in the capitalist version of democracy which, of course, is designed to hide the real truth. There has never been a genuine democracy in the US or any other significant country simply because the capitalists have ruled the world since the land owning aristocratic class lost the world to this new class back in the 17th and 18th centuries.
These protesters have not come to work within the system. They are not pleading with Congress for electoral reform. They know electoral politics is a farce and have found another way to be heard and exercise power. They have no faith, nor should they, in the political system or the two major political parties. They know the press will not amplify their voices, and so they created a press of their own. They know the economy serves the oligarchs, so they formed their own communal system. This movement is an effort to take our country back.
Natalia Amado, a student leader, says they are not rebels. “We are not just protesting for the sake of it,” she says untying a colourful flag from her back. “Colombia needs decent public education so the masses can attend universities, it is their right.” She added that the introduction of profit-making universities would mean that the public universities would be neglected and important subjects like humanities would most likely be dropped for business-minded studies. “This would really damage our society,” she says.In an otherwise good report on a neo-liberal attack on higher education in Columbia, I don't understand why this alternative news source parrots the words of mainstream propagandists. In this case I'm referring to the use of the word "reforms" in the title and throughout the article. Here is a standard definition of the word "reform":
Noun
The writer instead uses a newspeak definition of the word commonly used by ruling class media to obscure measures which benefit their class at the expense of working people, or in other words, that benefit the one percent to the disadvantage of the 99 percent. Whenever you see the word "reform" used by ruling class media, you must assume that it is bad for you.
- A change for the better; an improvement.
- Correction of evils, abuses, or errors.
- Action to improve social or economic conditions without radical or revolutionary change.
In these troubled waters, the Jeju base would host up to 20 American and South Korean warships, including submarines, aircraft carriers and destroyers, several of which would be fitted with the Aegis ballistic-missile defense system.You won't see any news of this in US ruling class media. While our schools, welfare, and community programs are being slashed to the bone, guess where all the money is going? More military bases to insure that the Empire's ruling class can rule supreme!
For the United States, the base’s purpose is to project force toward China – and to provide a forward operating installation in the event of a military conflict. The last thing the world needs is brinksmanship between the U.S. and China.
The Papandreou regime, acting as the agent for the Troika, has been methodically destroying the livelihoods, hopes, and longer term prospects of millions of people, who have suddenly discovered themselves under foreign, mainly German, occupation yet again.The article makes some interesting points about the parallels with the earlier history of German occupation during WWII when capitalist countries were engaged in a war of inter-capitalist rivalry and dominance, and uses the parallels to compare today's neo-liberal policies of the integrated capitalist empire with those of the Third Reich--not much difference.
There is one foreign aid program that is not on the chopping block — not Obama's, and not House Republicans or Senate Democrats. And it happens to be the largest single foreign assistance program of them all: $3.5 billion in aid to Israel. As the Times puts it, defending this particular program shows that "even in times of austerity, some spending is inviolable."
The trick is that the money paid will now not be a ‘bail out’ it will be an ‘investment’. We won’t be bailing out the banks, they’ll be bailing us out (with money we have given them and to asset strip the Greek people – but we won’t talk about that will we). We will have all been pulled through the financial looking glass. And better yet, the amount of return will not be simply what the banks could get by forcing Greece to flog its ‘assets’ today, but will be the whole future income from those assets as well. Rather than give Greece what it needs or even just force it to sell what you want as payment of its debts, even better is to force the nation and its people in to a long term debt peonage.
For ten years, the “superpower” American population has sat there, being terrified by the government’s lies. While Americans sit in fear of non-existent “terrorists” sucking their thumbs, millions of people in six countries have had their lives destroyed. As far as any evidence exists, the vast majority of Americans are unperturbed by the wanton murder of others in countries that they are incapable of locating on maps.Because American citizens are being placed into perpetual debt servitude, unemployment, homelessness, etc, they are now emerging from the 9/11 induced coma, they are beginning to examine all these lies thanks to writers like Roberts, and they are testing the waters of a genuine, direct democracy, and--most dangerous of all to the reigning 1%--feeling their power.
Activists wandering back from the bridge are greeted by strangers with open arms, as members of the 'comfort' team dash around taking care of everyone. There is free coffee, free food, a young lady with a lip-ring offering free hugs, and painted signs saying "Freedom". Nobody expected the occupation at Liberty Plaza to last this long or to become this important, but the mass arrests today have ignited public anger and drawn the attention of the press across the world. Whatever happens next, Occupy Wall Street is sending a message to the American people: the 99 percent are still here, in the shadow of the glittering palaces of global finance, and they are beginning to dream dangerously, and they will not go away quietly.
...once we learn to talk about the realities of class power, we are on our way to talking critically about capitalism, another verboten word in the public realm. And once we start a critical discourse about capitalism, we will be vastly better prepared to act against it and defend our own democratic and communal interests.