Click here to access article by Patrick Martin from World Socialist Web Site.
On this day to honor Martin Luther King I dug up this article from 2008 which is the best brief article I could find that would give an accurate framing of his place in US history. By the time of his assassination (April 4, 1968) the political operatives of the One Percent (CIA/FBI and affiliated underworld criminals) had become very skilled at assassinations. They had practiced for years on various attempts (some have estimated over 200 attempts) on Fidel Castro but without success.
They had decided that John Kennedy was to be eliminated because he was refusing to follow their agenda of rollback in Vietnam and was pursuing secret talks with Khrushchev on disarmament. With the successful assassination of John Kennedy in November of 1963, they had perfected the art of assassination within the US by adding designated patsies and devising coverups. (Read JFK and the Unspeakable by James Douglass). Filled with arrogance from this triumph, they proceeded to kill others who posed threats to their rule--Malcolm X in 1965, Martin Luther King in April, 1968 followed by Robert Kennedy in June. (Of course, there were many others of less stature, for example, Black Panther leaders.)
A public criminal trial was never allowed in any of these cases because of the government's "sovereign immunity". In our land of the free where the government is supposed to be of, by, and for the people, the people cannot put a U.S. intelligence agency on trial.
However, in 1999 the King Family pursued a civil trial in Memphis, Tennessee. The civil suit was brought against a man, Loyd Jowers, who was terminally ill and confessed to a role in the crime, and "others, including governmental agencies." They were essentially putting the CIA on trial. The jury found that Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated by a conspiracy involving government agencies. (Read An Act of State by William Pepper) Of course this trial was almost completely ignored by mainstream media.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Sunday, January 15, 2012
The largest gathering of humanity in the history of Bolivia
Click here to access article by Chellis Glendinning from Culture Change.
Here's the scene:
Could we in the US who regard ourselves as better educated achieve a similar understanding that candidates whom we are allowed to vote for are charlatans? That hopey changey Obama is as phony as Evo Morales? And, finally if we are to have any real change, we must bring it about ourselves?
Here's the scene:
The streets of La Paz were teeming with supporters from every hamlet and municipality in Bolivia and beyond! Red flags were blowing in the wind. Green flags. Yellow flags. Wiphala flags! Workers. Taxi drivers. Housekeepers. University students. Mothers with babies. Union leaders. Theater groups. Supporting indigenous groups boasting traditional dress, flutes, and drums Former government officials who had left the MAS party. The press. International support teams. Trumpets blared. Flutes sang. Mariachi bands blasted accordion music. Placards proclaimed: “TIPNIS=VIDA, EVO=MUERTE,” “EL TIPNIS: NO SE TOCA, CARAJO!” and “¡TIPNIS SOMOS TODOS!” People rushed to meet the marchers, hugged them, kissed them on the lips. Men and women were sobbing in the streets! Whole schools had been liberated to play a role in history, and uniformed children were waving flags, holding up their drawings of tropical flowers, and cheering. Along the boulevards the welcomers flanked the marchers like a thick envelope of protection from potential police action; in some parts the shield extended five times thicker than the march itself.What precipitated such a scene? You will have to read the article to get the full flavor of this delightful morsel. Basically, the people of Bolivia have achieved a great victory. It may be temporary and limited, but they did it by understanding that they had power and they mobilized it. These mostly peasants saw through the phony populism of their pretend leader and understood that they must depend on themselves to secure their lives. It was probably this insight more than the victory itself that generated so much celebration.
Could we in the US who regard ourselves as better educated achieve a similar understanding that candidates whom we are allowed to vote for are charlatans? That hopey changey Obama is as phony as Evo Morales? And, finally if we are to have any real change, we must bring it about ourselves?
The Faustian Bargain that Modern Economists Never Mention
Click here to access article by Gail Tverberg from her blog, Our Finite World.
What about the Faustian bargain? It remains deeply hidden from view because its exposure by the high priests of modern economics would force us to rethink how we live and why we live this way, as well as what we’re planning to leave for future generations. The Faustian bargain goes something like this: Thanks to the discovery and exploitation of fossil fuels, humans (really just a small minority of them) are able to live richer lives today than even the queens and kings of yore could have dreamed of.But who or what has made this bargain, keeps it a secret, and continues acting in accordance with the bargain? One of the major theses of this blog is that it is fundamentally a system, one that largely serves "a small minority" currently known as the "One Percent". In my view the system is really based on faith. Hence, it can be regarded as a religion. The priests of this religion called capitalism insist on keeping this Faustian bargain a secret much like an alcoholic who denies his addiction and keeps his addiction carefully hidden.
[The downside of the bargain:] ...in the future, one that creeps ever closer, this economic system, fed by energy and other resources at ever increasing rates at one end and spewing out waste products at rates that cannot be absorbed by Earth’s ecosystems at the other, is unsustainable.
Western oil firms remain as US exits Iraq
Click here to access article by Dahr Jamail from Al Jazeera.
Meanwhile, how are the Iraqis doing? Read "Iraq: A country in shambles" also by Jamail.
The end of the US military occupation does not mean Iraqis have full control of their oil.Surprise, surprise! Okay, so you are not surprised, but this piece provides a good reference to document an example of when more conventional neo-liberal policies do not succeed, the savage dog of imperialism will be unleashed.
Meanwhile, how are the Iraqis doing? Read "Iraq: A country in shambles" also by Jamail.
Fresh prime time war propaganda targets Iran
Click here to access article by John Pilger from Green Left (Australia). (Note: "MoD" in the article refers to the British Ministry of Defense.)
This great independent journalist once again shows, mostly to a British audience, how the British media is constructing lies to manage the consent of the public in support of another invasion--this time, on Iran. With the One Percent's dominance of mass media, their messages always overwhelm the voices of truth-telling journalists like Pilger.
However, one sees cracks appearing in the gullibility of the 99 Percent. Should most of the public turn away from mainstream media to independent journalism for their information, one will then see the velvet gloves come off the fascist hands of the real authorities who govern us. As frightening as this prospect is, reality and truth can be very refreshing.
This great independent journalist once again shows, mostly to a British audience, how the British media is constructing lies to manage the consent of the public in support of another invasion--this time, on Iran. With the One Percent's dominance of mass media, their messages always overwhelm the voices of truth-telling journalists like Pilger.
However, one sees cracks appearing in the gullibility of the 99 Percent. Should most of the public turn away from mainstream media to independent journalism for their information, one will then see the velvet gloves come off the fascist hands of the real authorities who govern us. As frightening as this prospect is, reality and truth can be very refreshing.
The Doomsday Project and Deep Events: JFK, Watergate, Iran-Contra, and 9/11
Click here to access article by Peter Dale Scott from Voltaire.
It seems like Scott has been around forever warning us about the secret machinations of people who have directed so many awful events from behind the facade of official institutions and the smoke and mirrors of mass media propaganda. I remember his revelations during my politically active days in the 1960s.
His tales of hidden power manipulating events sometimes seems so bizarre that one can be forgiven for thinking that they are science fiction--except anyone who has been able to access difficult-to-find independent news material and/or who was close to the events.
However, I think the way he presents the material contributes to a sense of unbelievability. I think he tries to cover too much ground in too little space. This second part of his essay reads almost like an outline. True, he does provides a lot of references, but too many refer to his own past writings. There is now so many other great works produced by people who carefully investigated the material he writes about and corroborate nearly all of it. Much of this material can be accessed by reading the books I've recommended on the right hand side of this blog. And, there are a lot of other books, but this list is a good place to start.
It seems like Scott has been around forever warning us about the secret machinations of people who have directed so many awful events from behind the facade of official institutions and the smoke and mirrors of mass media propaganda. I remember his revelations during my politically active days in the 1960s.
His tales of hidden power manipulating events sometimes seems so bizarre that one can be forgiven for thinking that they are science fiction--except anyone who has been able to access difficult-to-find independent news material and/or who was close to the events.
However, I think the way he presents the material contributes to a sense of unbelievability. I think he tries to cover too much ground in too little space. This second part of his essay reads almost like an outline. True, he does provides a lot of references, but too many refer to his own past writings. There is now so many other great works produced by people who carefully investigated the material he writes about and corroborate nearly all of it. Much of this material can be accessed by reading the books I've recommended on the right hand side of this blog. And, there are a lot of other books, but this list is a good place to start.
Occupy Movie [24:50m video]
Occupy Movie is a short film and collection of ongoing interviews conducted by inspired filmmakers' need to provide contrast to mass media's deliberate misrepresentation of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Resistance and Hope at a Time of Climate Emergency
Click here to access article by Nick Buxton from Transnational Institute.
I think that writers like this--and they are all over the place--need to dig a little deeper to see that the system of capitalism needs to be replaced by a system where no one benefits from the appropriation of wealth produced by others, by excessive consumption of fossil fuels, by trashing the environment with pesticides and other forms of pollution.
As climate scientist, Kevin Anderson of the UK Tyndall Center argues climate change requires large scale and much more radical government actions than has ever been carried out before. Yet our political and economic system, as it currently exists, makes that radical action almost impossible.However, he lets me down with this statement: "we must pro-actively confront the corporations that have hijacked the political system ...." As long as people refuse to acknowledge that the problem is the system, there is no hope of survival. "Radical action" is not reform!
I think that writers like this--and they are all over the place--need to dig a little deeper to see that the system of capitalism needs to be replaced by a system where no one benefits from the appropriation of wealth produced by others, by excessive consumption of fossil fuels, by trashing the environment with pesticides and other forms of pollution.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Revenge of the Pawns
Sourced from New Left Project. A wonderful little film by Erik Olin Wright, made in 1968, about revolution.
The key idea in this animated film was this: the pawns revolt against the 'ruling class' pieces, sweep them from the board and then dance an American square dance on the board. In the end, however, they start a new chess game, but this time the pawns are on the back row moving like Kings and bishops and the like, while the old aristocratic pieces occupy the pawn row and move like pawns. The message of the film was that the pawns failed to make a revolution because they thought it was sufficient to depose the old elite. They neglected to remove the board itself. The chessboard, then, was a metaphor for underlying social structure that generates 'the rules of the game'. A revolution, to be sustainable, has to transform that.
Now, this idea is not a uniquely Marxist idea. In a sense it is the foundational idea of much structurally oriented sociology: people fill “locations” in social structures — sometimes called roles — which impose constraints and opportunities on what they can chose to do. This doesn’t mean that human practices or activities are rigidly determined by roles. Intentions and choices still really matter. Agency matters. But such choice occurs in a setting of systematic (rather than haphazard) constraints.
The Marxist form of this general idea is to make a claim — a pretty bold one when you think about it — that the key to understanding this structural level of constraint is the nature of the economic structure in which people live, or even more precisely, the nature of the “mode of production”. In my little film there was no production, no economy. The chessboard was a completely open-ended metaphor for social structure. So it is in that sense that the film was not specifically based on a Marxist framework.
As for its inspiration, I think the film grew out of the concerns for radical, egalitarian social change that were part of the intellectual culture of the student movement, the American civil rights movement and Vietnam War era anti-war movement. I participated in various ways in these social movements of the 1960s and was very much caught up in the utopian aspirations of the times, but I also felt that the task of constructing emancipatory alternatives was more arduous than many people thought. It is not enough to attack the establishment and remove its players. Constructing an alternative is a task in its own right. And that is what the film tried to convey.
War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery … and Fighting Back is ‘Aggression’
Click here to access article by Kevin Carson from AntiWar.
The author examines the latest US Department of Defense document, its military posture, and its propaganda which sees threats everywhere to paint a very Orwellian picture that resembles "something like an American Thousand-Year Reich".
The author examines the latest US Department of Defense document, its military posture, and its propaganda which sees threats everywhere to paint a very Orwellian picture that resembles "something like an American Thousand-Year Reich".
To Washington, any country capable of resisting American attack, or of "defying" American commands (whether under a UN Security Council figleaf or not) is by definition a "threat." And any country inflicting significant losses on US military forces, in the process of defending itself against American military attack, is guilty of aggression (against US attempts to "defend our freedom," one presumes).
Iran and the Terrorism game
Click here to access article by Glenn Greenwald from Salon.
The author exposes how the Empire manipulates the use of the word "terrorism" to serve its purposes.
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| The latest "terrorist" targeted by the Empire |
The author exposes how the Empire manipulates the use of the word "terrorism" to serve its purposes.
‘Syria’s Torture Machine’: British Documentary Offers Cause For Concern In More Ways Than One
Click here to access article by Anthony Cuthbertson from Who What Why.
The Empire's propaganda machinery is prepping the British public to support another invasion of an independent Middle Eastern country.
The Empire's propaganda machinery is prepping the British public to support another invasion of an independent Middle Eastern country.
Guantánamo: An Oral History
Click here to access article by Cullen Murphy, Todd S. Purdum, David Rose and Philippe Sands from Vanity Fair.
It has been an ugly, damaging experiment. The whole point of Guantánamo was to create a regime of incarceration and interrogation—including torture—that the law could not reach: a “legal black hole"....After 10 years we finally have a more complete picture on the human rights crimes committed at Guantánamo by the political operatives of the One Percent. I think future historians will regard this report as a major document on these crimes. I could only manage to read 7 of the 10 pages. Here is the final statement from the report:
January 11, 2012: The 10th anniversary of the arrival of the first detainees at Guantánamo. In all, 779 prisoners have been held at Guantánamo since the facility opened. More than 550 have been transferred to the custody of other countries or given freedom and resettled. Eight have died in U.S. custody. 171 remain in detention at Guantánamo. Of these, 59 have been cleared for transfer. As many as 36 will have their cases heard under a reconstituted military tribunal system; so far, military tribunals have adjudicated only a handful of such cases. The remaining detainees could be held in indefinite detention, perhaps for life, under a policy set out by the Obama administration in March 2011. These detainees, according to intelligence assessments, are too dangerous to release; at the same time, they cannot be brought to trial because of evidentiary problems. Unless Congress changes its mind about incarceration on the U.S. mainland, these remaining detainees will be held at Guantánamo, which will remain open indefinitely.
The Farm Bill is a Climate Bill
Click here to access article by Donald Carr from Civil Eats.
...one thing they’ve all agreed to cut is 7 million acres from the Conservation Reserve Program.Political operatives for corporate agriculture couldn't care less about global warming. They are employed to deliver the drug of choice to the ruling One Percent--profits.
The Environmental Protection Agency says that this amount of carbon is equivalent to the annual emissions of 2 million passenger vehicles. All that stored carbon will be sent back into the atmosphere if those 7 million acres are plowed under to plant more industrial-scale corn for ethanol and livestock feed.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Populism Isn't Dead, It's Marching: What 19th Century Farmers Can Teach Occupiers About How to Keep Going
Click here to access article by Ashley Sanders from War Is a Crime.
The author obviously read Lawrence Goodwyn's book entitled, Democratic Promise, and was very much inspired by it. It is a book about the late 19th century American populists who really stirred up a lot of shit against the rising financial class. As you may have noticed, this book is on my recommended reading list on the right side of this blog.
The only fault I find with this essay is that she got a bit carried away with her inspiration and went into too much detail about ideas that the Populist movement inspired in her. Instead, I think it is more important to try to derive the important principles behind the success and failure of this movement that might apply to the current Occupy movement.
It seems to me that the achievements of the Populist movement were accomplished because of a growing awareness that they desperately needed to cooperate and collaborate if they as farmers were going to survive at all. These farmers were an eminently practical people who had to engage their creativity and their knowledge to survive as independent producers of crops. They brought these assets to their meetings, combined them in a spirit of one-for-all and all-for-one. It was a truly social consciousness informed by a sense that they had to be their brother's keeper. They realized that they had to come together and cooperate in order to survive in a class structured society. They learned from each other that a class of people called capitalists had enormous power over them because of the system that capitalists had created. The achievements of the Populist movement flowed from this consciousness. It provided the impetus to engage their creativity, their knowledge about organizing, and together they learned how to fight the political system.
The industrial-financial components of the capitalist ruling class of this period used every weapon in their arsenal to undermine the Populist movement. I'll not go into detail about them (read the book), but they are familiar to us: co-optation, some reforms that made minor improvements, divide and conquer tactics, various forms of attacks on Populist organizers ranging from economic to outright terrorism, and ideological attacks on Populism and promotion of individualistic values through capitalist control of mainstream media.
Today we are witnessing the endgame of capitalism: the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a very small segment of the world's population with devastating effects for the rest of us--lives filled with debt, limited employment and educational prospects, and poverty while witnessing ever worsening ecological deterioration. I think that we are now facing our last chance to save ourselves. We simply must get it right this time.
Getting it right means for me that we must totally embrace a social consciousness, one that is free of any form of class privilege, one that embraces life and nature in all its variety and acknowledges that humans are a part of this web of life, that we must protect the web of life which sustains all life including our lives.
Because capitalism is a total system that colors nearly all aspects of our lives, we must build a new society from the ground up. That means we must take control of our culture, our media, our values, the way we behave when we are with each other and change it all to serve all our needs.
Fortunately, we have a splendid amount of technology and knowledge that we have created to help us with this endeavor. Unfortunately, because of the rules of capitalism so much of it is "owned" and controlled by the One Percent. This we must change. We can do all of this, but it means that we must bring together our greatest assets--creativity, energy, patience, empathy, knowledge, skills, endurance, etc. and put them all together to create a new social consciousness to serve the legitimate needs of everyone--the 100%.
The author obviously read Lawrence Goodwyn's book entitled, Democratic Promise, and was very much inspired by it. It is a book about the late 19th century American populists who really stirred up a lot of shit against the rising financial class. As you may have noticed, this book is on my recommended reading list on the right side of this blog.
The only fault I find with this essay is that she got a bit carried away with her inspiration and went into too much detail about ideas that the Populist movement inspired in her. Instead, I think it is more important to try to derive the important principles behind the success and failure of this movement that might apply to the current Occupy movement.
It seems to me that the achievements of the Populist movement were accomplished because of a growing awareness that they desperately needed to cooperate and collaborate if they as farmers were going to survive at all. These farmers were an eminently practical people who had to engage their creativity and their knowledge to survive as independent producers of crops. They brought these assets to their meetings, combined them in a spirit of one-for-all and all-for-one. It was a truly social consciousness informed by a sense that they had to be their brother's keeper. They realized that they had to come together and cooperate in order to survive in a class structured society. They learned from each other that a class of people called capitalists had enormous power over them because of the system that capitalists had created. The achievements of the Populist movement flowed from this consciousness. It provided the impetus to engage their creativity, their knowledge about organizing, and together they learned how to fight the political system.
The industrial-financial components of the capitalist ruling class of this period used every weapon in their arsenal to undermine the Populist movement. I'll not go into detail about them (read the book), but they are familiar to us: co-optation, some reforms that made minor improvements, divide and conquer tactics, various forms of attacks on Populist organizers ranging from economic to outright terrorism, and ideological attacks on Populism and promotion of individualistic values through capitalist control of mainstream media.
Today we are witnessing the endgame of capitalism: the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a very small segment of the world's population with devastating effects for the rest of us--lives filled with debt, limited employment and educational prospects, and poverty while witnessing ever worsening ecological deterioration. I think that we are now facing our last chance to save ourselves. We simply must get it right this time.
Getting it right means for me that we must totally embrace a social consciousness, one that is free of any form of class privilege, one that embraces life and nature in all its variety and acknowledges that humans are a part of this web of life, that we must protect the web of life which sustains all life including our lives.
Because capitalism is a total system that colors nearly all aspects of our lives, we must build a new society from the ground up. That means we must take control of our culture, our media, our values, the way we behave when we are with each other and change it all to serve all our needs.
Fortunately, we have a splendid amount of technology and knowledge that we have created to help us with this endeavor. Unfortunately, because of the rules of capitalism so much of it is "owned" and controlled by the One Percent. This we must change. We can do all of this, but it means that we must bring together our greatest assets--creativity, energy, patience, empathy, knowledge, skills, endurance, etc. and put them all together to create a new social consciousness to serve the legitimate needs of everyone--the 100%.
World Economic Forum warns of economic turmoil and social upheaval
Click here to access article by Larry Elliott from The Guardian.
The threat of fresh economic turmoil and social upheaval could put at risk the gains produced by globalisation, the World Economic Forum said on Wednesday.
In its annual assessment of the outlook for the global economy, the WEF set the scene for its meeting in Davos later this month by warning that the "seeds of dystopia" were being sown.The World Economic Forum is, of course, where the political operatives of the world's ruling capitalist class come together once a year to plot strategy, which means conspire to serve their needs. (Yes, conspiracy, like shit, happens!) This year they are clearly worried. Their policies of globalization are now wrecking havoc on the 99 Percent and the environment. They are beginning to see signs of revolt coming from the hoi poloi. I really don't think that they are worried about dystopia so much as they are about the revolting 99 Percent, especially the way the latter are using the internet to change things.
The Enemy Expatriation Act
Click here to access article from The People's Voice.
The NDAA, which authorizes the indefinite detention of American citizens on U.S. soil, was met with outrage from the American public. The media largely refused to cover the NDAA until it was too late, and the bill had been signed into law. We are now faced with a similar situation. The Enemy Expatriation Act has been introduced in the House, and again, the media refuses to cover it. The American public have the right to know about a bill that could revoke their United States citizenship, and the continuing media blackout poses a serious threat to the freedoms this country pledges to provide its citizens.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Managing the News and Views
by Ron Horn.
Following NATO's overthrow of Qaddafi's government in Libya and the installation of a pro-Western regime, the Empire is currently engaged in the same regime change program in Syria and Iran. This program has many facets to it including the use of mercenary terrorists to create chaos, but I will largely emphasize one theme--there is a massive propaganda campaign in the Empire's home countries to support these projects.
It is very difficult here in the US to find alternative sources of information about developments in Syria. Examine three current reports about the situation in Syria which I think represent three types of coverage--1) pro-Empire propaganda, 2) an attempt at reporting different views on what is happening, and 3) an anti-Empire critique from a US author and political analyst. The first type of coverage is pervasive in the US and Western media to the exclusion of any other interpretations.
Meanwhile, the ongoing brutal repression of dissidents in Bahrain where the Empire has stationed its Fifth Fleet has been almost totally disappeared from US mainstream media.
The Empire's monopoly on news and analysis is at least as important as their use of violence to keep people all over the world serving the (.1 of the) One Percent who rule most of the world. Hence, it is of critical importance for the 99 Percent to organize their own sources of information to support their war against the political operatives of the One Percent.
Following NATO's overthrow of Qaddafi's government in Libya and the installation of a pro-Western regime, the Empire is currently engaged in the same regime change program in Syria and Iran. This program has many facets to it including the use of mercenary terrorists to create chaos, but I will largely emphasize one theme--there is a massive propaganda campaign in the Empire's home countries to support these projects.
It is very difficult here in the US to find alternative sources of information about developments in Syria. Examine three current reports about the situation in Syria which I think represent three types of coverage--1) pro-Empire propaganda, 2) an attempt at reporting different views on what is happening, and 3) an anti-Empire critique from a US author and political analyst. The first type of coverage is pervasive in the US and Western media to the exclusion of any other interpretations.
- Many Arab monitors said to question Syria mission
- Discord among Arab monitors as Russia warns of Syria intervention
- US bringing the Salvadorian option to Syria (A transcript of interview segment on Iranian PressTV)
Meanwhile, the ongoing brutal repression of dissidents in Bahrain where the Empire has stationed its Fifth Fleet has been almost totally disappeared from US mainstream media.
The Empire's monopoly on news and analysis is at least as important as their use of violence to keep people all over the world serving the (.1 of the) One Percent who rule most of the world. Hence, it is of critical importance for the 99 Percent to organize their own sources of information to support their war against the political operatives of the One Percent.
More murder of Iranian scientists: still terrorism?
Click here to access article by Glenn Greenwald from Salon.
What’s most remarkable here is to compare the boisterous, furious denunciations of the mere suggestion by a blogger on the Internet [in 2007] that Iranian scientists be killed, versus the relative silence in the face of its actually being done in real life, now that the corpses of murdered Iranian scientists are beginning to pile up. Does anyone doubt that some combination of the two nations completely obsessed with Iran’s nuclear program — Israel and the U.S. — are responsible?
Anti-Authoritarian Politics
Click here to access audio interview with Canadian anarchist Chris Dixon.
The whole program lasts about 52 minutes, but I recommend listening specifically to the segment from 37:00 to 51:50 for more focused comments related to the Occupy movement.
The whole program lasts about 52 minutes, but I recommend listening specifically to the segment from 37:00 to 51:50 for more focused comments related to the Occupy movement.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Theory and Practice in the "Occupy Movement"
Click here to access article by Shamus Cooke from Global Research.
Granted that the Occupiers already have "leaders" of a sort such as Chomsky, for example. However, they represent a very different type of leader than the traditional type. Thus, I don't think that using the same word to label both of them is useful. The difference is very significant. The label that traditional usage refers to is someone who others tend to defer to in the sense of following uncritically, someone who is ultimately empowered with authority and privileges. This inevitably evolves into a vanguard which, in turn, evolves into a ruling class which, I think is clear, is the downfall of all revolutionary movements.
Traditional organizations are based on a false self-serving premise: that only a few people are endowed with exceptional leadership abilities. The latter are these gifted people. They are the winners, the rest of us are losers. They have a moral right to more power and privileges than we do. With more power and privileges their families are strengthened because their children receive all the benefits. The latter are given better opportunities in education, in appointments to offices and vocational positions, and more monetary rewards. They become divorced from the rest of society. This leads to exploitation. They constitute a ruling class. Their power and privileges insulate them from the consequences of their policies. And, they engage in power struggles with other elites which often leads to wars. This is where we are today.
Hence the necessity to develop another way to elicit the best talents of the people for the benefit of all the people. The Occupiers intuitively know this and are attempting to meet that challenge.
What the Occupiers are beginning to recognize is that people have a variety of strengths, and all are needed to sustain the movement against the juggernaut of voracious capitalism. Individual strengths must be promoted by giving people opportunities, responsibilities, education, and critical feedback as to how well their particular talents are serving their peers. But, they must never be given uncritical deference. Any authority and responsibility can only be given them by the communities they serve, and can always be removed by these constituents. Chomsky is only a leader in the sense that some of his ideas have been accepted by others. He, and all participants, must always be inextricably connected to rest of society and be subject to their acceptance.
...true leaders can only emerge in the context of real democracy; both need the other.The writer seems to be missing the creative work that the Occupy Movement has accomplished in organizing a new type of democratic structure. I am referring to the invention of the Spokes Council and the recent advocacy of affinity groups as a dynamic nucleus for the Movement.
There is no blueprint for movement building, but general principles can be erected based on the revolutionary experiences of the past. The key strategies of Occupy should be based on those ideas that unify and promote collective action against the 1%.
Ultimately Occupy needs to organize for power; we need a greater power to displace the current power of the 1%. This doesn't mean that we must adopt the same forms of power utilized by the state, but that new ones must be created, while using EVERY opportunity within the existing structure to organize, educate, and mobilize working people.
Granted that the Occupiers already have "leaders" of a sort such as Chomsky, for example. However, they represent a very different type of leader than the traditional type. Thus, I don't think that using the same word to label both of them is useful. The difference is very significant. The label that traditional usage refers to is someone who others tend to defer to in the sense of following uncritically, someone who is ultimately empowered with authority and privileges. This inevitably evolves into a vanguard which, in turn, evolves into a ruling class which, I think is clear, is the downfall of all revolutionary movements.
Traditional organizations are based on a false self-serving premise: that only a few people are endowed with exceptional leadership abilities. The latter are these gifted people. They are the winners, the rest of us are losers. They have a moral right to more power and privileges than we do. With more power and privileges their families are strengthened because their children receive all the benefits. The latter are given better opportunities in education, in appointments to offices and vocational positions, and more monetary rewards. They become divorced from the rest of society. This leads to exploitation. They constitute a ruling class. Their power and privileges insulate them from the consequences of their policies. And, they engage in power struggles with other elites which often leads to wars. This is where we are today.
Hence the necessity to develop another way to elicit the best talents of the people for the benefit of all the people. The Occupiers intuitively know this and are attempting to meet that challenge.
What the Occupiers are beginning to recognize is that people have a variety of strengths, and all are needed to sustain the movement against the juggernaut of voracious capitalism. Individual strengths must be promoted by giving people opportunities, responsibilities, education, and critical feedback as to how well their particular talents are serving their peers. But, they must never be given uncritical deference. Any authority and responsibility can only be given them by the communities they serve, and can always be removed by these constituents. Chomsky is only a leader in the sense that some of his ideas have been accepted by others. He, and all participants, must always be inextricably connected to rest of society and be subject to their acceptance.
No More "Green Capitalism"
Click here to access article by Josep Maria Antentas and Esther Vivas from Committee for the Abolition of Third World Debt.
We will save the markets, not the climate. That is how we can summarize the outcome of the [Durban UN conference].... There is a striking contrast between the rapid response by governments and international institutions at the onset of the economic and financial crisis of 2007-08 in bailing out private banks with public money and the complete immobility they demonstrate in response to climate change. Yet this should not surprise us, because in both cases it is the markets and their accomplices in government who come out as winners.The evidence keeps piling up that capitalism is on a collision course with an ecology that can sustain human life. Now, it is starkly clear that there is more than social-economic justice at stake--far more. Now it is the survival of the human race that we must fight for, and it is the capitalist system that stands in our way.
Unplug Yourself: How Advertising and Entertainment Shapes Your Subconscious
Click here to access article by Andre Evans from Activist Post.
In Western society, the subconscious mind of the individual is often subject to a number of heavy influences, through entertainment media especially. Television, movies, and music create a profound subconscious effect on the human mind that influences and dictates the choices that they will make to at least some degree.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Corporations Hate Taxes, So They Let the Children Pay
Click here to access article by Paul Buchheit from Brave New World.
Based on two recent studies, the author spells out the direct connection between the evasion of taxes by corporations and the current reduction of spending on our children's education.
Based on two recent studies, the author spells out the direct connection between the evasion of taxes by corporations and the current reduction of spending on our children's education.
Corporate state tax avoidance is about $14 billion for one year.
State education cuts amount to about $12.7 billion for one year.
Plutonomy: The Memo Citigroup Doesn’t Want You to See [14:12m video]
from It's Our Economy Now.
In case you missed that infamous internal document leaked from Citigroup by some wonderful person...
Also, you can access the document by clicking on my second posting here.
There appears that Citigroup is making an effort to remove the document from the web. See this.
In case you missed that infamous internal document leaked from Citigroup by some wonderful person...
White collar criminologist William Black dissects a 2005 Citigroup memo intended for its wealthiest clients that describes the US, UK, and Canada as plutonomies — countries where rule by an ultra-rich managerial class has replaced democracy.
Also, you can access the document by clicking on my second posting here.
There appears that Citigroup is making an effort to remove the document from the web. See this.
Poem: Heroes
By Gary Steven Corseri, posted on Brave New World.
Do not call them “heroes”
if they have done your killing for you.
Say that they have done your bidding;
say they were your “soldiers.”
mortified and mortared.
They neither complain nor contradict.
They don’t re-live “friendly fire” incidents,
the sonofabitch sargeant-sadist,
nor the rapist in their midst.
They don’t see again
the faces of traumatized children.
Their bones stretch to attention under the sod.
aware of his power and dignity,
is more than human, is humane.
Do not call them “heroes”
if they have done your killing for you.
Say that they have done your bidding;
say they were your “soldiers.”
Say that you have trained them well:
They are the oiled machinations of war,
performing as expected.
Refrain from saying “professionals,”
and the usual nonsense about “surgical strikes.”
They were never doctors and nurses
in starched, white linens.
The best heroes are dead ones—mortified and mortared.
They neither complain nor contradict.
They don’t re-live “friendly fire” incidents,
the sonofabitch sargeant-sadist,
nor the rapist in their midst.
They don’t see again
the faces of traumatized children.
Their bones stretch to attention under the sod.
The man and woman who will kill and injure
because some fool tells them to
are just little spin-off fools.
No act born of ignorance is heroic.
Heroes are sensible, not imbeciles.
Heroes dispel myths; they neither create
nor perpetuate them.
The fully manifested hero,aware of his power and dignity,
is more than human, is humane.
Heroes don’t talk about heroes.
They need no confetti showered in their faces.
They question; they learn; they challenge; they act
according to their own honed principles:
What is truth? for example;
what is honor?
Israel building illegal settlements at record pace
Click here to access report posted on Al Akhbar from Reuters.
Israeli political operatives are accelerating their facts on the ground, one building at a time.
Israeli political operatives are accelerating their facts on the ground, one building at a time.
Israel's government broke all its illegal settlement-building records in 2011, diminishing prospects for establishing a viable Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank, Israel's anti-settlement activist group "Peace Now" said on Tuesday.
Putin, a thorn in Washington’s flesh
Click here to access article by F. William Engdahl from Voltaire Net.
Engdahl casts his penetrating eyes on US NGO's activity in influencing Russian elections, and on other New World Order matters.
What really struck me as being "spot on" was this statement:
Engdahl casts his penetrating eyes on US NGO's activity in influencing Russian elections, and on other New World Order matters.
What really struck me as being "spot on" was this statement:
What is clear is that Washington is pushing on all fronts—Iran and Syria, where Russia has a vital naval port, on China, now on Russia, and on the Eurozone countries led by Germany. It has the smell of an end-game attempt by a declining superpower.Is it possible that the hyper-aggressive policies both domestic and international that is emanating from Washington are being fueled by end-game anxieties? This is both a dangerous time and a time of hope for better things to come. What is certain is that we, the people, must be engaged in these events or we will be consumed by them.
Monday, January 9, 2012
War Plan Iran: The US Finally Admits Its Criminal Bankruptcy. “Are they trying to develop a nuclear weapon? No.”
Click here to access article by Finian Cunningham from Global Research.
So if Iran is not even trying to develop a nuclear weapon, as Panetta now admits, what then is the criminal US warmongering predicated on? Unofficially, the real reason is imperialist rivalry with other powers (Russian and China in particular) in the energy-rich Persian Gulf and Central Asia regions, and the attempt to engineer “regime change” in Iran to one that is pliant with Washington’s geopolitical designs.Panetta's statements reveal the essential imperial core of those who are directing the Empire's policies and actions. They reveal the arrogance of the Empire's leaders who assume an (immoral) right to determine other nation's policies if such policies are not in the interest of the Empire's One Percent.
Spies eye green protesters
Click here to access article by Philip Dorling from The Age (Australia).
It's clear to me that the enforcers of the New World Order are collaborating and coordinating tactics across national boundaries to repress and criminalize all forms of protest against their interests.
It's clear to me that the enforcers of the New World Order are collaborating and coordinating tactics across national boundaries to repress and criminalize all forms of protest against their interests.
...Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson, who requested the additional surveillance, has been prompted by energy company lobbying to urge stronger criminal penalties against protests that disrupt critical energy infrastructure.
For Congo Children, Food Today Means None Tomorrow
Click here to access article by Adam Nossiter from The New York Times.
I am posting this article mostly to highlight the almost total lack of accurate information regarding mining interests in central Africa, particularly in the so-called Democratic Republic of Congo. When this situation occurs anywhere in the world where capitalist ruling circles have an interest, you can be sure that their media reports will be full of misinformation or omission of significant information. This is especially true of events in this country which contains so many valuable minerals that Western corporations are accessing at very low cost while creating so much political corruption and hardship for the people of this country.
So, read the article, and then listen to a segment of a KPFA news program featuring comments by Keith Harmon Snow, an outstanding independent journalist, who provides a snapshot of the real story behind the suffering of the people in this country. His report can be accessed from 12:52m to 16:42m in the news program.
Keith Harmon Snow is currently working on a documentary and a book about African affairs entitled, "Politics of Genocide in Central Africa" and needs our assistance to complete these projects. Access the Conscious Being website and donate to support his work.
I am posting this article mostly to highlight the almost total lack of accurate information regarding mining interests in central Africa, particularly in the so-called Democratic Republic of Congo. When this situation occurs anywhere in the world where capitalist ruling circles have an interest, you can be sure that their media reports will be full of misinformation or omission of significant information. This is especially true of events in this country which contains so many valuable minerals that Western corporations are accessing at very low cost while creating so much political corruption and hardship for the people of this country.
So, read the article, and then listen to a segment of a KPFA news program featuring comments by Keith Harmon Snow, an outstanding independent journalist, who provides a snapshot of the real story behind the suffering of the people in this country. His report can be accessed from 12:52m to 16:42m in the news program.
"Stockholders in these companies include arms dealers, Wall Street investment banks, tycoons -- the "untouchables" who are never mentioned in the news, in Human Rights Watch reports or UN reports, or by the non-profit organizations that organize speakers tours at US Colleges to "Save" or "RAISE HOPE" for the Congo..."
Keith Harmon Snow is currently working on a documentary and a book about African affairs entitled, "Politics of Genocide in Central Africa" and needs our assistance to complete these projects. Access the Conscious Being website and donate to support his work.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Targeting Journalists Covering OWS Protests
Click here to access article by Stephen Lendman from his blog.
Department of Defense training manuals call protests "low-level terrorism." An FBI memo says peace protesters are "terrorists." Throughout his tenure, Obama's destroyed [more] human rights and civil liberties than Bush II.The political operatives of the One Percent are intent upon excluding all independent media coverage. That is precisely why the Occupy movement must create and support independent media as much as possible.
Journalists are singled out and targeted. On January 7, Press TV said nearly 40 journalists have been arrested since September protests began. In early January, technicians working for Global Revolution were arrested for streaming live OWS protest video.
Journalists have been harassed, arrested, handcuffed, and beaten for doing their job. Free Press.net's Journalism and Public Media Campaign Director Josh Stearns reported last November that 10 New York-based journalists were violently arrested in an early morning raid.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Secrets of Empire And Self-Deceptions Of Partisans
Click here to access article by Phil Rockstroh from Common Dreams.
In my over two years of blogging I don't think any article has moved me as much as this one. Rockstroh is in my opinion among the most profound thinkers and expressive writers in the world today. There are so many gems of insight here that I choose not to quote any. You simply must read the article...slowly...to fully digest all its nourishment for your soul.
In my over two years of blogging I don't think any article has moved me as much as this one. Rockstroh is in my opinion among the most profound thinkers and expressive writers in the world today. There are so many gems of insight here that I choose not to quote any. You simply must read the article...slowly...to fully digest all its nourishment for your soul.
The Truth about the Economics Behind the Blacklist Bills
Click here to access article by Trevor Timm from Electronic Frontier Foundation.
So this begs the question: why are the political operatives of the One Percent, who are obsessively market oriented, trying so hard to push this law through? Could it be that they are fearing the 99 Percent's use of the internet to counter their propaganda?
...for unknown reasons, Congress is ignoring that SOPA/PIPA would depress the growing tech sector, all while citing the MPAA's misleading and debunked numbers on how piracy is “decimating” their industry.The author makes a strong case that laws such as SOPA do not make sense from a market perspective.
So this begs the question: why are the political operatives of the One Percent, who are obsessively market oriented, trying so hard to push this law through? Could it be that they are fearing the 99 Percent's use of the internet to counter their propaganda?
Dangerous Misconceptions
Click here to access article by Peter Radford from Real-World Economics Review.
The author is responding to an essay by Alan Greenspan, one of the chief architects of the current economic disaster, carried recently in Financial Times, a key economic publication that investors follow. (Access to the link is behind a free registration wall.)
To understand Radford's attack on Greenspan's article, one must understand the difference between defined benefit and defined contribution pension programs. As I recall, this shift began in the 1990s until now whereby most pension plans are of the latter type. As one would expect, this shift has been enormously popular with the One Percent who live largely off of their ownership of corporations. Not only does this allow corporate executives to engage in more risky endeavors, but it also has the advantage of encouraging more of the 99% to identify with corporate interests.
Based on the wealth that the US corporations have accrued especially since WWII, ruling class salespeople were able to make a plausible case for selling this new pension arrangement. However, now given the instability of the economy under casino capitalism, the expected disasters related to climate change, and the diminishing supplies of cheap fossil fuels, it is very doubtful that this track record can be duplicated in the future.
The author is responding to an essay by Alan Greenspan, one of the chief architects of the current economic disaster, carried recently in Financial Times, a key economic publication that investors follow. (Access to the link is behind a free registration wall.)
To understand Radford's attack on Greenspan's article, one must understand the difference between defined benefit and defined contribution pension programs. As I recall, this shift began in the 1990s until now whereby most pension plans are of the latter type. As one would expect, this shift has been enormously popular with the One Percent who live largely off of their ownership of corporations. Not only does this allow corporate executives to engage in more risky endeavors, but it also has the advantage of encouraging more of the 99% to identify with corporate interests.
Based on the wealth that the US corporations have accrued especially since WWII, ruling class salespeople were able to make a plausible case for selling this new pension arrangement. However, now given the instability of the economy under casino capitalism, the expected disasters related to climate change, and the diminishing supplies of cheap fossil fuels, it is very doubtful that this track record can be duplicated in the future.
The US-Iran Economic War
Click here to access article by Pepe Escobar from OpEd News.
A key amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act signed by United States President Barack Obama on the last day of 2011 -- when no one was paying attention -- imposes sanctions on any countries or companies that buy Iranian oil and pay for it through Iran's central bank. Starting this summer, anybody who does it is prevented from doing business with the US.The NDAA not only moved the US closer to a police state, it has enabled US and Israel to play a very dangerous game. Welcome to 2012!
Latin America Battling Wildfires, Floods, Droughts
Click here to access article from Huffington Post.
Here is another small sample of bigger things to come if we continue to allow the One Percent to ravage our ecosystem in their mad pursuit of profits and power.
Here is another small sample of bigger things to come if we continue to allow the One Percent to ravage our ecosystem in their mad pursuit of profits and power.
From Chile to Colombia to Mexico, Latin America has been battered recently by wildfires, floods and droughts.
For many witnessing the extreme weather in the region and around the world, the question that comes up again and again is whether climate change is playing a role. The response from experts: Probably.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Direct and Indirect Costs of the US Financial Crisis
Click here to access article by Deepankar Basu from Radical Notes.
I think that the author makes a very valid and important argument that I have not seen before. I'm surprised because it now seems so obvious:
I think that the author makes a very valid and important argument that I have not seen before. I'm surprised because it now seems so obvious:
The global financial crisis that started with the bursting of the housing bubble in the U.S. in 2007 imposed both direct and indirect costs on the working and middle class populations. The direct costs are those associated with the bail-out of financial institutions, which will ultimately be borne by the taxpayers; the indirect costs are those associated with the ensuing economic crisis and the deep and prolonged recession that came in its wake, which, again, will be mostly borne by the working class population. While both costs lead to increasing deficits, and over time accumulating debt, of the federal government, they are of vastly unequal magnitudes. [my emphasis]He hints at the solution to such crises in his final sentence:
This forces us to conceptualize an alternative that is likewise systemic in nature and goes beyond arguing against bail out of financial sector firms.(Read the article I posted below this to see how these "indirect" costs are affecting Greek workers.)
Austerity: the Greek road to hell
Click here to access article by Talos from his blog, Histologion.
Witness the disasters imposed on Greek working people by the banksters and their money games.
Witness the disasters imposed on Greek working people by the banksters and their money games.
This is how the austeritarian disaster zone looks like from the ground....
Why The US Needs a Major War
Click here to access article by Viktor Burbaki from Strategic Culture Foundation.
I am posting this article as an illustration of the way elites view the world. As you can see, it is a kind of game to them. They move money and armies around the world's chessboard in an effort to "win" the game. Ruling class intellectuals love to speculate on winners and losers in this game. The sad fact is: that which is a game to these people has devastating effects on our lives: millions of people killed or maimed, families become refugees, destitution, famine, etc. So, their games are our disasters. As long as societies continue to be divided into unequal classes of people, we will be subject to elites and their games.
However, what is clear to me now is this: given the advanced weapons that these ruling classes have with which to play their games, given that the use of fossil fuels is threatening our ecosystem, and given that fossil fuel sources are, or will, be diminishing at a rapid rate, these self-serving elites are threatening the continued existence of the human race. We simply can no longer tolerate their games! Which means that we must now take steps to eliminate class structured societies forever. They are hazardous to human existence.
I am posting this article as an illustration of the way elites view the world. As you can see, it is a kind of game to them. They move money and armies around the world's chessboard in an effort to "win" the game. Ruling class intellectuals love to speculate on winners and losers in this game. The sad fact is: that which is a game to these people has devastating effects on our lives: millions of people killed or maimed, families become refugees, destitution, famine, etc. So, their games are our disasters. As long as societies continue to be divided into unequal classes of people, we will be subject to elites and their games.
However, what is clear to me now is this: given the advanced weapons that these ruling classes have with which to play their games, given that the use of fossil fuels is threatening our ecosystem, and given that fossil fuel sources are, or will, be diminishing at a rapid rate, these self-serving elites are threatening the continued existence of the human race. We simply can no longer tolerate their games! Which means that we must now take steps to eliminate class structured societies forever. They are hazardous to human existence.
The Doomsday Project and Deep Events: JFK, Watergate, Iran-Contra, and 9/11 [Part 1 of 2]
Click here to access article by Peter Dale Scott from Voltaire.
During the past 45 years this author has been sleuthing the activities of what he calls the "Deep State" in the US. This concept refers to a secret state or governing body that lies under the cover of a mostly fake official government that is presented to us in mainstream media.
I would argue that all class structured societies require deception to be practiced by those in the ruling class of societies in order to maintain their rule. I would argue that human nature is essentially egalitarian, that is, people basically believe in some version of fairness in human relations. Class structured societies by definition provide upper classes with more power and wealth than the lower classes. Hence they violate the principle of fairness. This always poses a problem for the ruling classes to maintain their power. They always use some combination of coercion, persuasion, and myths to maintain the status quo.
Frequently they engage in deception and collusion to cope with this problem. Deception and collusion are the essential ingredients in a conspiracy. That is precisely why it is a current practice among mainstream media outlets to smear and dismiss all attempts to uncover the activities of a "deep state" with a derogatory label of "conspiracy theory". That is not to deny that some people like to concoct theories of conspiracy for mostly entertainment purposes, and some like to do this in order to cast aspersion on all such attempts to uncover the truth about the real governing system. In any case during the past 50 years the political operatives of the US ruling class have been very successful at creating a secret inner government while maintaining the fiction of democratic processes and the rule of law.
Especially during the past 50 years there have been many people, investigative journalists and others like this author, who have engaged in the attempt to uncover the truth. Their reports in all forms of media have been widely suppressed and/or smeared by the ruling class for obvious reasons.
Up until recently the US ruling class has been very successful at imposing its views of social-political-economic realities on the general public. As long as the ruling class could deliver large quantities of consumer goods and a reasonable standard of living for large sectors of US society, most citizens would accept their fictions. But nowadays we are seeing the effects of neo-liberal policies in the decline of living standards for most Americans, and their expectations for the future remain very pessimistic. Thus, people are becoming more skeptical about views presented in mainstream media and are more open to alternative media and alternative explanations for the poor state of today's society. The ruling class is aware of this and are moving more coercive structures into place to deal with any significant internal opposition.
During the past 45 years this author has been sleuthing the activities of what he calls the "Deep State" in the US. This concept refers to a secret state or governing body that lies under the cover of a mostly fake official government that is presented to us in mainstream media.
I would argue that all class structured societies require deception to be practiced by those in the ruling class of societies in order to maintain their rule. I would argue that human nature is essentially egalitarian, that is, people basically believe in some version of fairness in human relations. Class structured societies by definition provide upper classes with more power and wealth than the lower classes. Hence they violate the principle of fairness. This always poses a problem for the ruling classes to maintain their power. They always use some combination of coercion, persuasion, and myths to maintain the status quo.
Frequently they engage in deception and collusion to cope with this problem. Deception and collusion are the essential ingredients in a conspiracy. That is precisely why it is a current practice among mainstream media outlets to smear and dismiss all attempts to uncover the activities of a "deep state" with a derogatory label of "conspiracy theory". That is not to deny that some people like to concoct theories of conspiracy for mostly entertainment purposes, and some like to do this in order to cast aspersion on all such attempts to uncover the truth about the real governing system. In any case during the past 50 years the political operatives of the US ruling class have been very successful at creating a secret inner government while maintaining the fiction of democratic processes and the rule of law.
Especially during the past 50 years there have been many people, investigative journalists and others like this author, who have engaged in the attempt to uncover the truth. Their reports in all forms of media have been widely suppressed and/or smeared by the ruling class for obvious reasons.
Up until recently the US ruling class has been very successful at imposing its views of social-political-economic realities on the general public. As long as the ruling class could deliver large quantities of consumer goods and a reasonable standard of living for large sectors of US society, most citizens would accept their fictions. But nowadays we are seeing the effects of neo-liberal policies in the decline of living standards for most Americans, and their expectations for the future remain very pessimistic. Thus, people are becoming more skeptical about views presented in mainstream media and are more open to alternative media and alternative explanations for the poor state of today's society. The ruling class is aware of this and are moving more coercive structures into place to deal with any significant internal opposition.
That Dark Horizon
Click here to access article by David Glenn Cox from The Leftist Review.
I normally post current articles, but I missed this gem from November of 2011. It is an eloquent call to action that all of us need to hear.
I normally post current articles, but I missed this gem from November of 2011. It is an eloquent call to action that all of us need to hear.
We are at that point where the dawn finds the land; it appears as only a sliver of light and yet, the hopeful among us can see it growing. It is a dawn filled with terrible ecstasy, where the best that is inside of us confronts the worst that is inside of us. We must face ourselves and our peers and our time and attempt what many once thought impossible just a year or so ago. We must attempt to wrestle the sword from the hand of the warlord, a task of dark brutal beauty and Dame Necessity.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Chart of the day: US profit and wage shares 1970 – 2011
Click here to access source from Real-World Economics Review Blog.
Notice after every decline in corporate profits there follows a much larger increase. The decline in worker wage share matches the entry of neoconservatives in the US government.
It really doesn't matter who is elected to the office of President, the political operatives of the One Percent are solidly in control of government. In fact, I think that after the assassination of John Kennedy in 1963 the office has largely served the function of public relations for the political operatives.
Kennedy was the only President after WWII who really functioned with any degree of independence from the influence of the political operatives of the military-industrial-financial ruling class (The One Percent). The latter wanted to invade Cuba. Kennedy refused. They wanted a preemptive war on the Soviet Union which would have resulted in a nuclear holocaust. (I'm convinced that if Kennedy hadn't been President, we would have had one.) They wanted more weapons. Kennedy wanted and pursued disarmament with Khrushchev. They wanted to expand military operations in Laos and Vietnam. Kennedy wanted disengagement. The political operatives of the military-industrial-financial complex fought him on all these issues. That is precisely why he was finally assassinated. (Read JFK and the Unspeakable by James Douglass for all the details.)
Ronald Reagan, the super-salesman for GE and Hollywood actor was the first complete version of this new type of President as public relations officer. Every president since then knows who really is in charge, and accordingly follows their orders. Hopey-changey Obama is from exactly the same mold.
This graph shows that since the early 1980s the underlying trend in the United States has been for a bigger share of national income going to corporate profits and less to employees, and now under Obama the rate of redistribution has reached an unprecedented level.
Notice after every decline in corporate profits there follows a much larger increase. The decline in worker wage share matches the entry of neoconservatives in the US government.
It really doesn't matter who is elected to the office of President, the political operatives of the One Percent are solidly in control of government. In fact, I think that after the assassination of John Kennedy in 1963 the office has largely served the function of public relations for the political operatives.
Kennedy was the only President after WWII who really functioned with any degree of independence from the influence of the political operatives of the military-industrial-financial ruling class (The One Percent). The latter wanted to invade Cuba. Kennedy refused. They wanted a preemptive war on the Soviet Union which would have resulted in a nuclear holocaust. (I'm convinced that if Kennedy hadn't been President, we would have had one.) They wanted more weapons. Kennedy wanted and pursued disarmament with Khrushchev. They wanted to expand military operations in Laos and Vietnam. Kennedy wanted disengagement. The political operatives of the military-industrial-financial complex fought him on all these issues. That is precisely why he was finally assassinated. (Read JFK and the Unspeakable by James Douglass for all the details.)
Ronald Reagan, the super-salesman for GE and Hollywood actor was the first complete version of this new type of President as public relations officer. Every president since then knows who really is in charge, and accordingly follows their orders. Hopey-changey Obama is from exactly the same mold.
The 2012 US presidential campaign begins: A cynical exercise in duping the people
Click here to access article by Patrick Martin from World Socialist Web Site.
However, they are hedging their bets just in case too many of the 99 Percent start to see through all their games and begin organizing real opposition to the ruling One Percent. They are building a powerful police state with oppressive laws (see this) , equipping police forces with all sorts of lethal and crowd control weapons, building ever more prisons, etc.
There is no popular enthusiasm either for Obama or his Republican opponents. Millions of working people have begun to draw the conclusion that neither of the two big business parties offers any solution to the crisis of the profit system. Both are committed to the defense of corporate interests and obey their real masters in the financial oligarchy, regardless of what they say to the voters in the course of an election campaign.Nowhere in the world is so much money, time, and media coverage devoted to elections as one finds in the US where they are increasingly taking on the appearance of a circus. However, the ruling class is still willing to invest so much time and money into them because they still regard these staged political events as being useful to frame all the current political issues according to their interests and to promote the appearance of democracy.
However, they are hedging their bets just in case too many of the 99 Percent start to see through all their games and begin organizing real opposition to the ruling One Percent. They are building a powerful police state with oppressive laws (see this) , equipping police forces with all sorts of lethal and crowd control weapons, building ever more prisons, etc.
Foreign Aid to Mining Firms
Click here to access article by Gwendolyn Schulman and Roberto Nieto from The Dominion (Canada).
Of course, there is nothing unique about Canadian NGOs. This same applies to US NGOs.
In the past, while NGOs were bound by financial ties to the state, they still had some nominal autonomy to bear witness to that abuse. Now, they are increasingly tied to government funds earmarked to further Canada’s mining interests, topped up by money from the mining industry itself.I am on mailing lists of people who are tracking the activities of mining companies in Central America, and I receive almost daily horrific reports of massacres of indigenous people and other atrocities committed by US trained government police and armies in Central America and environmental pollution caused by mining companies. Such stories rarely make it into mainstream media.
Of course, there is nothing unique about Canadian NGOs. This same applies to US NGOs.
Just in Time
Click here to access article by Mira Luna from Shareable.
As the recession and Occupy movement encourage people to re-imagine work and how they get their needs met in the new economy, Timebanks are catching fire. They are a clever tool to circumvent the scarcity and misdirection of conventional money. Timebanks are at heart a simple concept – you work for an hour, earn an hour credit, and spend an hour with anyone in your Timebank community.This piece provides a good survey of many systems designed to replace currency and wage-based work while facilitating work that needs to get done in local communities.
The World As It Is: Dispatches on the Myth of Human Progress (2011)
Click here to access 3 hour video interview with Chris Hedges on CSpan's Book TV.
This is a discussion of ideas contained in his new book by this title, other books of his, and call-in questioners. This was originally broadcast on Jan 1st, 2012.
I've only listened to about 10 minutes of it so far, but it appears to be very interesting. One could easily listen to it while accomplishing some mindless task. Also, it will be broadcast again on CSpan this Saturday, Jan. 7 at 9Am Eastern Standard Time. Or you can purchase the interview on a DVD for $29.95 on this website.
This is a discussion of ideas contained in his new book by this title, other books of his, and call-in questioners. This was originally broadcast on Jan 1st, 2012.
I've only listened to about 10 minutes of it so far, but it appears to be very interesting. One could easily listen to it while accomplishing some mindless task. Also, it will be broadcast again on CSpan this Saturday, Jan. 7 at 9Am Eastern Standard Time. Or you can purchase the interview on a DVD for $29.95 on this website.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Faking It: How the Media Manipulates the World into War
Click here to access transcript for the 14:17m video from Global Research TV.
Managing the minds of their citizens has long been a major focus of ruling classes in order to enlist citizen support for wars and the illicit pursuit of profit. This excellent video uses historical material that has since been uncovered regarding the use of misinformation to manipulate public opinion in favor of government/ruling class war crimes. An increasing number of citizens are becoming aware of this manipulation and are turning to independent sources of news and analysis on the web. Now we are witnessing increasing attempts by ruling class political operatives to control this access, a prime example being SOPA. See also this, this, and this.
Managing the minds of their citizens has long been a major focus of ruling classes in order to enlist citizen support for wars and the illicit pursuit of profit. This excellent video uses historical material that has since been uncovered regarding the use of misinformation to manipulate public opinion in favor of government/ruling class war crimes. An increasing number of citizens are becoming aware of this manipulation and are turning to independent sources of news and analysis on the web. Now we are witnessing increasing attempts by ruling class political operatives to control this access, a prime example being SOPA. See also this, this, and this.
Pervasive dread is in the air
Click here to access article by Linh Dinh from Intrepid Report.
He provides a good description on the psychological state of many among the inactive 99 Percent. However, many in the Occupy movement are optimistic and dedicated to bringing about the liberation of the 99 Percent. We may have a clue as to his negative outlook by examining his last paragraph.
Young, and not so young, activists all over the world are devoting their efforts to another model, a very radical, democratically inclusive model of organizing. Because they are starting almost from scratch, it will take some time, trials and errors, two steps forward-one step backward kind of progress. But the end result will be a powerful organization filled with people totally committed to the overthrow of the existing oppressive system serving the One Percent and the construction of a life sustaining system that serves the needs of everyone. (See also this, this, and this for more information on theory and practice of the Occupy movement.)
He provides a good description on the psychological state of many among the inactive 99 Percent. However, many in the Occupy movement are optimistic and dedicated to bringing about the liberation of the 99 Percent. We may have a clue as to his negative outlook by examining his last paragraph.
The ‘you are a leader, I am a leader’ mantra is patently nonsense, because it takes a highly intelligent, charismatic and forceful figure to galvanize and inspire. A leader must earn his status, and when he has, lesser voices will naturally defer, and if he turns out to be a fraud, he should be chucked aside. Faced with a monomaniacal, brutal and well organized enemy, we cannot just offer them a horizontal position, because they will gladly accommodate this inclination.He clearly doesn't like, or maybe doesn't understand, the bottom-up organizational methods of the Occupy movement. The paragraph suggests that he subscribes to a vanguardist type of organizing model such as we have seen so often in left movements. And often this method of organization has merely replaced one authoritarianism for another. Which is why they all failed.
Young, and not so young, activists all over the world are devoting their efforts to another model, a very radical, democratically inclusive model of organizing. Because they are starting almost from scratch, it will take some time, trials and errors, two steps forward-one step backward kind of progress. But the end result will be a powerful organization filled with people totally committed to the overthrow of the existing oppressive system serving the One Percent and the construction of a life sustaining system that serves the needs of everyone. (See also this, this, and this for more information on theory and practice of the Occupy movement.)
The US worker is a beaten commodity
Click here to access article by Jim O’Reilly from his blog, Comments on Global Political Economy.
Without concerted political pressure for radical change, the forces of unbridled capitalism, like a plague of locust, are poised to consume all in its path. The worker has no institutional support, the Democrats being completely in hock with money, and unions having long ago sold their soul. All forces within the logic of capitalism, from ever advancing productivity to massive foreign competition point to a horribly bleak future.Under capitalism nearly everything is reduced to being a thing that is bought and sold in a market. Under globalization and the neo-liberal policies pursued by the Empire, American labor is now competing with workers for all over the world. This is hugely beneficial to global corporations and they are now sitting on mounds of cash because of this. But, where is the social justice in this development? Did not the workers through their mental and physical efforts build these corporations? Of course, but capitalism as a system was designed to serve a small group of people who laid claims of "ownership" of social enterprises, and claim the wealth created by working people. They merely rent workers. Hence, capitalism subverts any notions of social-economic justice.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
America’s Secret Political Power
Click here to access article by Olivia Ward from The Star (Toronto, Canada).
This Canadian journalist reports on her experience in Arizona covering the recent annual conference of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), an organization that brings together large corporations and conservative state lawmakers to draft model bills. She learns about American "freedom of the press"and about how police enforcers of the One Percent contained and managed protests and media coverage at the ALEC conference.
After merely carrying on a conversation with a journalist ("Beau") from In These Times, she reports:
This Canadian journalist reports on her experience in Arizona covering the recent annual conference of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), an organization that brings together large corporations and conservative state lawmakers to draft model bills. She learns about American "freedom of the press"and about how police enforcers of the One Percent contained and managed protests and media coverage at the ALEC conference.
After merely carrying on a conversation with a journalist ("Beau") from In These Times, she reports:
As I say goodnight, Beau is summoned by hotel security and herded away toward the elevator by uniformed police. Why? In Slobodan Milosevic’s Serbia, I was evicted from my hotel by machine-gun-toting militias as the Kosovo war began. But in America. . . ?
As I stand staring, two cops flank me: Do I know this man? Who is he?
Beau has disappeared now. Will anything I say be used against him? I square my shoulders and think of my British mother: “How dare you ask me such a question? Is this a morality charge? Are hotel guests of the opposite sex forbidden to speak in a bar? Is this Iran or the land of the free?”
We face off, not blinking. The questions continue. At last the inquisitors give in. “Ma’am, you’re free to go.”
Mexico: Youth on the Front Lines of Protest Movement
Click here to access article posted on Up Side Down World, orig. source Inter Press Service.
Mexican activists, as activists in this struggle all over the world, are creating new strategies and tactics to combat neo-liberal policies, the Empire and its surrogates.
"We need to be the ones to provide the answers to the questions of our times, because we are the main victims of the voracious policies of capitalism," says Alexis Jiménez, a 23-year-old ethnologist who has spent the last two months camping out in front of the Mexico City Stock Exchange.The Occupy movement is occurring nearly everywhere in the world because neo-liberal policies are being imposed upon most of the world by the hegemonic Empire.
Mexican activists, as activists in this struggle all over the world, are creating new strategies and tactics to combat neo-liberal policies, the Empire and its surrogates.
The so-called Youth Camp on the National Disaster and Emergency issued a declaration which established two main priorities: the strengthening of social movements in all regions and the creation of their own media.
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"We recognise as a basic form of coordination and forging links with local populations the occupation of public spaces to draw the community into debates, using the tools of popular education and liberating art to generate active hope, as an engine of human happiness,"....
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"It’s not easy. We’re used to following figureheads, so it’s hard to understand a horizontal movement without leaders, where all decisions are made by consensus. But this is a process, and one we hope will continue to grow and multiply," said Barousse at the camp in Coyoacán.
Chile rising [23:56m video]
A Faultlines' production from Al Jazeera.
A very good report on the huge student movement in Chile that is fighting back against the privatization of education and the growing inequality within their country. Chile today contains the legacy of the Empire's neoliberal policies imposed on Chile after the US's subversion of Chilean democracy in 1973.
A very good report on the huge student movement in Chile that is fighting back against the privatization of education and the growing inequality within their country. Chile today contains the legacy of the Empire's neoliberal policies imposed on Chile after the US's subversion of Chilean democracy in 1973.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Understanding the Occupy movement: creating social power
Click here to access article by Dr. Kim Scipes from Energy Bulletin, an excerpt from full article in ZNet.
This article is an illustration of the fact that Occupy activists are carrying on their work of creating a new inclusive democratic society. It focuses on the critical need of creating a dynamic social unit which acts as a nucleus for inclusiveness. Such a unit is needed to construct the entire edifice of inclusive democratic societies. I completely agree with his notion that affinity groups are precisely that basic unit. Based on his organizational experiences, the author offers some very useful ideas on how they could function and support other structures .
This article is an illustration of the fact that Occupy activists are carrying on their work of creating a new inclusive democratic society. It focuses on the critical need of creating a dynamic social unit which acts as a nucleus for inclusiveness. Such a unit is needed to construct the entire edifice of inclusive democratic societies. I completely agree with his notion that affinity groups are precisely that basic unit. Based on his organizational experiences, the author offers some very useful ideas on how they could function and support other structures .
I think each Occupy needs to pull people together, but then to encourage people to organize themselves into affinity groups, of between, say, 5-12 people. This sized group is small enough where people can build personal connections and make decisions that all can abide by, and yet be big enough for folks to engage in collective activities while having some in support in case of arrests, etc.
Imperialism and the “Anti-Imperialism of the Fools”
Click here to access article by James Petras from Information Clearing House.
This Professor Emeritus and sociologist provides an historical look at the evolution of strategies that imperial rulers have used to acquire and maintain their empires. This has consisted of propaganda designed to justify their actions, divide and rule strategies, promoting domestic ruler clients, and finally to what we have seen more recently--the promotion of “anti-imperialist” and “pro-democracy” “grass roots movements”, also known pejoratively as "astroturf" organizations. He criticizes many on the left for being fooled by the latter ploys.
This Professor Emeritus and sociologist provides an historical look at the evolution of strategies that imperial rulers have used to acquire and maintain their empires. This has consisted of propaganda designed to justify their actions, divide and rule strategies, promoting domestic ruler clients, and finally to what we have seen more recently--the promotion of “anti-imperialist” and “pro-democracy” “grass roots movements”, also known pejoratively as "astroturf" organizations. He criticizes many on the left for being fooled by the latter ploys.
Their support for the NATO attack on Yugoslavia led to the break-up of a multi-national state and the creation of huge NATO military bases and a white slavers paradise in Kosovo. Their blind support for the imperial promoted “liberation” of Eastern Europe devastated the welfare state, eliminating the pressure on Western regimes’ need to compete in providing welfare provisions. The main beneficiaries of Western imperial advances via ‘grass roots’ uprisings were the multi-national corporations, the Pentagon and the right-wing free market neo-liberals.It may sound a bit cynical, but I would argue, that is the function that political liberals serve in bourgeois democracies: to legitimatize imperial policies among ordinary people who are concerned about human and civil rights. Liberals are often richly rewarded for their services by advancement in their careers and gaining access to mainstream media.
End of the pro-democracy pretense
Click here to access article by Glenn Greenwald from Salon.
This astute journalist sees the Empire for what it is--an imperial, hegemonic enterprise to dominate the world. The propagandists for the Empire often use the rhetoric of freedom and democracy as a cover to legitimatize their imperial actions to mostly its own populations, but when the contradictions between rhetoric and facts become too obvious, they have no difficulty dispensing with the rhetoric.
This astute journalist sees the Empire for what it is--an imperial, hegemonic enterprise to dominate the world. The propagandists for the Empire often use the rhetoric of freedom and democracy as a cover to legitimatize their imperial actions to mostly its own populations, but when the contradictions between rhetoric and facts become too obvious, they have no difficulty dispensing with the rhetoric.
...the right of the U.S. to dictate how other nations are governed is one of the central, unchallenged precepts of the American Foreign Policy Community’s dogma and it thus needs no defense or even explicit acknowledgment. It simply is. It’s an inherent imperial right.The only criticism I have of his essay is that he doesn't make clear when he mentions "American interests" that the concept is a reference to the interests of the ruling One Percent of Americans. This obscuring of the class structure of our society is typical of liberal critics. Also, and more importantly, it is required to have access to mainstream media.
The Arctic will burn
Click here to access article by Zoe Cormier from New Internationalist.
Following the dismal results of the latest UN climate conference in Durban, South Africa, this Canadian science writer looks at the future that we most likely can expect. It is not a pretty picture. It is clear that the system of capitalism that is driving us to extinction must be replaced by a sustainable system. If social-economic justice is not enough to cause most people to become active, then surely the survival of their children, grandchildren, etc. is.
Following the dismal results of the latest UN climate conference in Durban, South Africa, this Canadian science writer looks at the future that we most likely can expect. It is not a pretty picture. It is clear that the system of capitalism that is driving us to extinction must be replaced by a sustainable system. If social-economic justice is not enough to cause most people to become active, then surely the survival of their children, grandchildren, etc. is.
From what we can glean from the geologic record, the Arctic tundra rarely experienced fires 100,000 years ago. But for the past century fires have sparked with increasing regularity and severity. The Anaktuvuk River fire in 2007 burned more than 1,000 square kilometres of tundra, in one flush doubling the amount of Alaskan tundra that has burned since 1950.
This could be just a prelude to things to come....
Sunday, January 1, 2012
World War III Has Begun [The NWO's updated version for world domination]]
Click here to access article by Wayne Madsen from Strategic Culture Foundation.
The author provides some searing insights on the global domination strategy of the Empire's One Percent ruling class.
I'm sure you, like most people, thought that the Nazis lost WWII. Are you ready for this? The truth is.......the German Nazis lost that war--but the Anglo-American Nazis won the war. Yes, I know that they have different styles, but the substance is the same--an obsession with power and dominance. The Anglo-American initial sole possession of the atomic bomb greatly magnified this obsession. This was followed by a huge increase in weapons of all kinds. Today in order to maintain its hegemony over the world, the US spends about as much on weapons as all other countries combined. Then if you combine these expenditures with that of the rest of the NATO countries, you can see how the Empire rules through the overwhelming threat of force.
Their first battles they fought were of a cold war nature against the only rival left standing--the Soviet Union and its satellites. Once the latter collapsed from the weight of centralized ruling bureaucracies, only various liberation movements and independent countries remain. (Well, there is China; but they furnish cheap labor for US corporations and buy US government paper, so they must only be contained.)
The author describes the strategy presently being applied on these people, especially if they have any valuable resources or strategic importance, in order to bring them under the control of the Empire. Meanwhile, Empire's political operatives still make half-assed attempts to maintain the appearance of support for the principles of freedom and democracy within the center of the Empire; but they are clearly preparing to rule their own populations with the iron fist of fascism.
The author provides some searing insights on the global domination strategy of the Empire's One Percent ruling class.
Today, wars are crafted by the upper one percent of wealthy elitists who, using non-governmental organizations, television networks, non-profit “think tanks,” and public relations firms, can declare war on nations without a whimper from elected public officials.
Their first battles they fought were of a cold war nature against the only rival left standing--the Soviet Union and its satellites. Once the latter collapsed from the weight of centralized ruling bureaucracies, only various liberation movements and independent countries remain. (Well, there is China; but they furnish cheap labor for US corporations and buy US government paper, so they must only be contained.)
The author describes the strategy presently being applied on these people, especially if they have any valuable resources or strategic importance, in order to bring them under the control of the Empire. Meanwhile, Empire's political operatives still make half-assed attempts to maintain the appearance of support for the principles of freedom and democracy within the center of the Empire; but they are clearly preparing to rule their own populations with the iron fist of fascism.
Those who seek to extend American and global elitist control over the entire planet will not rest until every acre of land comes under the firm control of the oligarchs of Wall Street, the spymasters of the CIA, and the globalist business cartels and families.
‘Both sides in Syrian conflict should be subject to investigation’
Click here to access 5:44m video interview and article featuring Pepe Escobar, from Russia Today.
This independent journalist also confirms that the Free Syria Army includes foreign mercenaries armed & backed by very Arab League supposedly investigating Syrian violence, and the Army appears to be directed by NATO in nearby bases.
This independent journalist also confirms that the Free Syria Army includes foreign mercenaries armed & backed by very Arab League supposedly investigating Syrian violence, and the Army appears to be directed by NATO in nearby bases.
These are mercenaries and defectors armed by outside powers. These outside powers are basically from Qatar and the Emirates,” he adds. “They come and go. They are rag-tag bands, basically.
Obama signs defense bill, pledges to maintain legal rights of U.S. citizens
Click here to access article David Nakamura of The Washington Post.
Oh, but not to worry--he "vowed to use discretion when applying the provisions", "would seek to repeal any provisions that are inconsistent with his values", etc. God, President “Hopey-Changey” is such a nice man! (sarcasm)
Oh, but not to worry--he "vowed to use discretion when applying the provisions", "would seek to repeal any provisions that are inconsistent with his values", etc. God, President “Hopey-Changey” is such a nice man! (sarcasm)
‘Secret’ Environment Canada study warns of oil sands’ impact on habitat
Click here to access article by Mike De Souza from Financial Post. (Canada)
It estimated that the industry’s annual greenhouse gas emissions would rise by nearly 900% from 1990 to 2020. By the end of that period, the oilsands — with an estimated annual footprint of 90 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent gases in 2020 — would exceed the carbon footprint of all cars and SUVs on Canadian roads from 2008, according to the Environment Canada document.
The document also warns of other rising air pollutants that could cause acid rain or other forms of acidification to damage lakes in Saskatchewan and Alberta, along with particulate matter that could be toxic to rivers, the landscape and wildlife.
The document also warns of other rising air pollutants that could cause acid rain or other forms of acidification to damage lakes in Saskatchewan and Alberta, along with particulate matter that could be toxic to rivers, the landscape and wildlife.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Why Faculty Should Join Occupy Movement Protesters on College Campuses
Click here to access article by Henry A. Giroux from Truthout.
This distinguished academic and writer argues that faculty have much to learn from students in the Occupy movement, and not only about what is wrong with education.
This distinguished academic and writer argues that faculty have much to learn from students in the Occupy movement, and not only about what is wrong with education.
...students have more to offer than a serious critique of the university and its complicity with a number of antidemocratic forces now shaping the larger society. They are also modeling for faculty new modes of participatory democracy, and exhibiting forms of pedagogy and education that connect learning with social change and knowledge with more democratic modes of self-development and social empowerment.
Appeal for Your Support [from an outstanding independent journalist]
Click here to access article by Keith Harmon Snow from Conscious Being.
This outstanding independent journalist has been reporting on the crimes against humanity perpetrated by regimes often supported directly or indirectly by the Empire. I have followed his reports for several years and have always found them to be very informative and insightful. We of the 99 Percent simply must support the work of the few independent journalists that are still covering events in areas of the world that are largely uncovered or covered by corporate media according to the interests of the Empire.
The article describes the work he has been doing, and a current documentary project and related writings he is working on. Donations for either or both can be made at the "Donate" links at the upper left hand corner of the article.
This outstanding independent journalist has been reporting on the crimes against humanity perpetrated by regimes often supported directly or indirectly by the Empire. I have followed his reports for several years and have always found them to be very informative and insightful. We of the 99 Percent simply must support the work of the few independent journalists that are still covering events in areas of the world that are largely uncovered or covered by corporate media according to the interests of the Empire.
The article describes the work he has been doing, and a current documentary project and related writings he is working on. Donations for either or both can be made at the "Donate" links at the upper left hand corner of the article.
Battlefield Occupy
Click here to access article by Allison Kilkenny from In These Times.
This article provides a review of current weapons being used by the enforcers of the One Percent against Occupiers, some new ones currently being tested, and future weapons under consideration to use against dissidents. Yes, folks, the class war is heating up and the political operatives of the One Percent are taking the kid gloves off their enforcers to reveal the naked fist of fascism.
Here in my home town of Bellingham, Washington, on Wednesday Occupiers who are a very peaceful bunch were shocked to see police show up to clear their camp in full riot gear.
No doubt, the idea of these police actions, which are coordinated nationwide, is to intimidate people. The political operatives of the One Percent want to inculcate the idea into the minds of the 99 Percent that there is no alternative to their rule and policies, and they will not tolerate any significant opposition.
This article provides a review of current weapons being used by the enforcers of the One Percent against Occupiers, some new ones currently being tested, and future weapons under consideration to use against dissidents. Yes, folks, the class war is heating up and the political operatives of the One Percent are taking the kid gloves off their enforcers to reveal the naked fist of fascism.
Here in my home town of Bellingham, Washington, on Wednesday Occupiers who are a very peaceful bunch were shocked to see police show up to clear their camp in full riot gear.
No doubt, the idea of these police actions, which are coordinated nationwide, is to intimidate people. The political operatives of the One Percent want to inculcate the idea into the minds of the 99 Percent that there is no alternative to their rule and policies, and they will not tolerate any significant opposition.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Huntsman calls Ron Paul "unelectable" because of racist newsletters (updated)
Click here to access article by Stephanie Condon from CBS News. (Late posting)
I am hearing more and more criticisms of Ron Paul's candidacy for President in the Republican Party primary elections. Mostly spokespeople are saying that he is "unelectable" even though he appears to be more popular among Republicans than any other of their candidates. This morning I heard on Bloomberg TV criticism of him as being racist and homophobic! As if Republicans cared about those issues!
Ron Paul has been gaining a lot of popularity because of his attacks on the Fed and its control over our currency. He is very correct on this issue. However he has made many racist and homophobic remarks in the past, and he is also opposed to social welfare programs, Social Security, and labor unions which do conform to Republican and ruling class views. See this and this. So, on only one issue does he not conform to Republican views. So why the recent attacks?
To me this illustrates where most power is actually situated within the ruling class. It has been my contention for a long time that the powerful core of the ruling class is largely based in the financial sector. Their control over money issuance is extremely important to the top bankers. Money is the lubricant that enables the machinery of an economy to function. With this control they insure their control of society to serve their interests of power and profit.
(Even later add-on posting) I just found an excellent article by David Glenn Cox from OpEd News. He has done much more work on this phenomenon of mainstream media's smear of Ron Paul. It is similar to the recent campaigns against Syria and Iran. It's uncanny. It is precisely as if there was some sort of coordinating media body who was directing these media campaigns. Any guesses where it might be located?
I am hearing more and more criticisms of Ron Paul's candidacy for President in the Republican Party primary elections. Mostly spokespeople are saying that he is "unelectable" even though he appears to be more popular among Republicans than any other of their candidates. This morning I heard on Bloomberg TV criticism of him as being racist and homophobic! As if Republicans cared about those issues!
Ron Paul has been gaining a lot of popularity because of his attacks on the Fed and its control over our currency. He is very correct on this issue. However he has made many racist and homophobic remarks in the past, and he is also opposed to social welfare programs, Social Security, and labor unions which do conform to Republican and ruling class views. See this and this. So, on only one issue does he not conform to Republican views. So why the recent attacks?
To me this illustrates where most power is actually situated within the ruling class. It has been my contention for a long time that the powerful core of the ruling class is largely based in the financial sector. Their control over money issuance is extremely important to the top bankers. Money is the lubricant that enables the machinery of an economy to function. With this control they insure their control of society to serve their interests of power and profit.
(Even later add-on posting) I just found an excellent article by David Glenn Cox from OpEd News. He has done much more work on this phenomenon of mainstream media's smear of Ron Paul. It is similar to the recent campaigns against Syria and Iran. It's uncanny. It is precisely as if there was some sort of coordinating media body who was directing these media campaigns. Any guesses where it might be located?
Syria Update: US Government Gives Green Light to MSM
Click here to access article by Sibel Edmonds from her blog, Boiling Frogs.
If you are unfamiliar with this former FBI employee and whistle-blower, please read Wikipedia's biography of her through the above link. She knows her subject well.
If you are unfamiliar with this former FBI employee and whistle-blower, please read Wikipedia's biography of her through the above link. She knows her subject well.
The controlled reporting and propaganda by the Washington war machine has not been limited to the US mainstream media. Many popular quasi alternative channels have followed the exact same trend, the most troubling one being AntiWar.Com. For several months they refused to run any of these confirmed reports while they ran every single bit of propaganda coverage by the US mainstream media on Syria.I am laughing at reports slowly leaking out in mainstream media that the Arab League observers in Syria are not reporting the line approved by the Empire. I expect this will change, but it will depend on the degree to which Empire political operatives can apply pressure to these observers. I haven't time to look for US sources, but here is one from Australia.
Occupy must fight back and include homeless to ward off evictions and remain relevant
Click here to access article by Zoe Williams from The Precarious.
Another call for the Occupy movement to focus on housing based on the author's experience in Denver, Colorado.
Another call for the Occupy movement to focus on housing based on the author's experience in Denver, Colorado.
Capitalism and Loneliness: Why Pornography Is a Multibillion-Dollar Industry
Click here to access article by Harriet Fraad and Tess Fraad Wolff from Truthout.
Although the authors make many good points, I think they overstate their case regarding pornography. I do not think that pornography as such is a problem, only the addiction to it is. Also the quality of pornography can vary considerably. Exposure to pornography can enhance one's sexuality or it can induce negative attitudes. Most experiences and substances are not in themselves problematic; but certainly when people become addicted to them, that they can create problems. The authors fail to make this distinction. This is likely because they are both therapists who, by definition, treat people with behavior problems.
Although the authors make many good points, I think they overstate their case regarding pornography. I do not think that pornography as such is a problem, only the addiction to it is. Also the quality of pornography can vary considerably. Exposure to pornography can enhance one's sexuality or it can induce negative attitudes. Most experiences and substances are not in themselves problematic; but certainly when people become addicted to them, that they can create problems. The authors fail to make this distinction. This is likely because they are both therapists who, by definition, treat people with behavior problems.
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