Our Renewable Future or What I’ve Learned in 12 Years Writing about Energy

Click here to access article by Richard Heinberg from Post Carbon Institute.

Ignore the current glut of oil on the market today. It's the long term, at least two decades ahead, that is of concern in this article about energy. 

Heinberg has been warning us of the diminishing supplies of economically extracted fossil fuels for many decades, while advocating more reliance on renewable energy. This lengthy article is a kind of summary of all that he has learned over these many years. What I think is really significant about this article, and many others like it especially among people who get published at this website, is the strange avoidance of pursuing a well-developed logic to its logical conclusion. Earlier in the article he made this prescient statement: 

What are the right questions? The first, already noted, is: What kind of society can up-to-date renewable energy sources power? The second, which is just as important: How do we go about becoming that sort of society?

As we’ll see, once we begin to frame the picture this way, it turns out to be anything but bleak.

Unfortunately, he eventually arrives at only a very timid answer to his very important questions:

...it’s fair to assume that this overall shift would constitute the end of consumerism (i.e., our current economic model that depends on ever-increasing consumption of consumer goods and services).  Here again, there are more than a few people who believe that advanced industrial nations consume excessively, and that some simplification of rich- and middle-class lifestyles would be a good thing.

This same, strange phenomenon is also found in another article posted on Resilience, an associated website, entitled "A New Theory of Energy and The Economy - Part 1 - Generating Economic Growth" authored by another long-tine expert on issues of energy--Gail Tverberg. This is another overly complicated essay exploring the relationship between energy and the economy in which the economic system is a given, sort of a natural fact of history, instead of a system created by a class of people who imposed it on others. She writes:

The economy is a self-organized system. In other words, it grew up gradually over time, one piece at a time. New businesses were added and old ones disappeared. New customers were added and others left. The products sold gradually changed. Governments gradually added new laws and removed old ones. As changes were made, the system automatically re-optimized for the changes.

This strange avoidance of recognizing the actual economic system by both authors suggests to me that they have been so thoroughly indoctrinated in capitalist controlled academia that they cannot see the obvious. In college sociology courses I learned that this was due to "trained incapacity". Herman Kahn gives a lengthier explanation of this phenomenon. Of course, there is another possible explanation--self censorship to protect their careers.

This does not bode well for social change that can lead to real solutions to the crises now facing all capitalist societies. Prof. Will Steffen of the Australian National University and the Stockholm Resilience Centre put this well when he remarked:

It’s clear the economic system is driving us towards an unsustainable future and people of my daughter’s generation will find it increasingly hard to survive. History has shown that civilisations have risen, stuck to their core values and then collapsed because they didn’t change. That’s where we are today.” [quoted in The Guardian]

PBS-TV’s Frontline Misrepresents Russia’s Vladimir Putin

Click here to access article by Eric Zuesse from RINF Alternative News. 

I watched the first part of this program and was shocked by the blatant Empire propaganda that the program used to attack Putin. In the past I have been impressed by the quality of Frontline's investigative reporting, but it seems that this program also has come under the direct control of Empire directors. If Joseph Goebbels were alive today, I'm sure he would be envious of this and many other propaganda efforts of the Empire that we are subject to today.  

I had my first experience with this type of propaganda when I witnessed the gross distortion of facts spewed by corporate media shortly after the Cuban Revolution in 1959. I had a fair awareness of US-Cuban history from a friend I had in the Army from which I had just been discharged. During my Army service I had befriended a former Cuban citizen who had immigrated to the US with his parents earlier in the decade. From him I learned how Cuba had been used and abused as a whorehouse and a mafia-controlled gambling paradise, US corporate domination of the Cuban economy, and the record of US interventions in the government of Cuba to insure that it served US interests. Subsequently this awareness of corporate propaganda was further reinforced by my experiences in the Civil Rights Movement and anti-Vietnam War movement. 

However the decline in anything like objective reporting has astonished me since 9/11, and it seems that this deterioration is accelerating. Just when I think things couldn't get any worse, news reporting gets worse. Just this morning I witnessed CBS News using a former CIA director as a source of information on Yemen. Upon viewing this last program, Goebbels would be reminded of his use of former SS officers giving news reports over German radio about how German troops liberated France.

I'm sure that Putin is no paragon of virtue, but Zuesse points to many outright lies that were presented as facts in this program.

America Is Open for Business in Iraq (Psst… Wanna Buy an M1 Tank?)

Click here to access article by Peter Van Buren from Veterans News Now.

The current American war in Iraq is a struggle in search of a goal. It began in August as a humanitarian intervention, morphed into a campaign to protect Americans in-country, became a plan to defend the Kurds, followed by a full-on crusade to defeat the new Islamic State (IS, aka ISIS, aka ISIL), and then… well, something in Syria to be determined at a later date.

Although I think there is plenty of evidence that the Empire directorate has goals such as control over the oil-rich Middle East, still this author recognizes how the beast of corporate profits is being well fed in this region.

State of the Union Address: An Annual Monarchist Ritual To Acclaim U.S. Hypocrisy

Click here to access article by Bernhard from Moon of Alabama.

Why Bernhard continues to attribute ownership of US policies to Obama is a mystery to me, especially when his argument, as in this article, shows plainly that Obama is not the agency of US policies. Like most US president, a major exception being H.W. Bush, Obama was appointed president because of his excellent public relations skills.

...Obama's foreign policy is not really different from the one Bush and Carter followed and the next president will likely try the same foolish hypocritical paths.

The self-delusion of U.S. allmightiness has deep roots and it will take some near catastrophic events to rip it apart. 

Yes, indeed, US policies have deep roots, and they lie embedded in a deep shadow state under the control of core members of the ruling capitalist class who are situated in major banking institutions, military, major corporations, key government agencies (especially the Treasury Department and secret services) and Wall Street.

An Idiot’s Guide to Quantitative Easing (Warning: Likely to Make You Laugh and Cry in Equal Measure)

Click here if you wish to access this post directly from Raging Bull-Shit.

As Europe readies itself for its first ever dose of quantitative easing, here’s probably the most honest and certainly funniest explanation you’ll ever find of the QE phenomenon, courtesy of the ever-irreverent Australian comic duo Clarke & Dawe.

 

Old ice in Arctic vanishingly rare

Click here if you wish to access the introductory article associated with this video from NOAA Climate.gov. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) 

This animation tracks the relative amount of ice of different ages from 1987 through early November 2014. The first age class on the scale (1, darkest blue) means "first-year ice,” which formed in the most recent winter. (In other words, it’s in its first year of growth.) The oldest ice (>9, white) is ice that is more than nine years old. Dark gray areas indicate open water or coastal regions where the spatial resolution of the data is coarser than the land map.

Racism, Islamophobia and the Capitalist Crisis in Europe: Manipulation in Paris

Click here to access article by Horace Campbell from Libya 360°.

Prof. Campbell at Syracuse U.

...[Campbell joins] in the condemnation of the assault on Charlie Hebdo and the killing of journalists. It should be stated categorically here that this writer defends freedom of speech without endorsing the speech’s content. Thus, I am unequivocally denouncing the killings in France. The use of satire as camouflage for racist and offensive speech is unacceptable and should be equally denounced.

It is also urgent for progressive forces to work to ensure that the killings and mass mobilizations are not turned into vehicles for manipulating the working people to support racism, islamophobia and other forms of European jingoism and chauvinism. .... This spectre of fascism must be taken seriously because fascism emerges in the midst of a capitalist crisis when the ruling elements mobilize chauvinism and racism to divert the attention of the working people from mobilizing against the capitalist class. This was the concrete experience of fascism during the last major capitalist depression.

Campbell sees that the directors of the Empire are using this recent terrorist event to prepare Europeans for more austerity as their economy faces numerous serious problems.

The Euro is unravelling and the recent decision of the Swiss to abandon the Euro is one clear manifestation that the expedient of transferring the losses of the banks to Greek and Spanish workers cannot hold for long. France will either have to nationalize the banks and impose greater controls of the top one per cent or intensify the austerity measures of laying off government employees, cut pensions and cutting services in health, education, housing and sanitation. This path to save the risky banks will be to intensify repression. In this alternative, the present militarization and war on terrorists will be like a dress rehearsal for moving the military against students and workers.

.... The manipulation in Paris should be seen as a pre-emptive move for deepening militarization. Progressives must oppose the rising fascist forces in Europe and neo-conservatism in the Americas.

Paris Shootings: Maybe the Last Piece of a Horrible Puzzle

Click here to access article by Henry Kamens from New Eastern Outlook.

Kamens is referring to the puzzle of many mysterious, unconvincing assassinations and "terrorist" events in the past 50 plus years some of which he reviews and finds similar elements appearing in the Paris shootings. 

The United States has spent several years installing a bunch of Moslems, initially Chechens but now also from other countries, in the Pankisi Gorge in Georgia. It trains them there in irregular warfare and forms them into a mobile “hit squad” which commits “terrorist atrocities” in different parts of the world when it suits US interests to intervene in those countries.

These atrocities are then blamed on “Islamic fundamentalists”, but are actually committed by these US-sponsored individuals, selected and trained for the purpose, who are not native to those countries but are sent to each place as needed.

Prison Dispatches from the War on Terror: Ex-CIA Officer John Kiriakou Speaks

Click here to access article by Andrew Jerell Jones from The Intercept.

Kiriakou speaks of his experience in the CIA with their torture programs and the harrowing experiences he endured after he leaked this information to a reporter. Meanwhile, the torturers are rewarded for their efforts.

Rate of environmental degradation puts life on Earth at risk, say scientists

Click here to access article by Oliver Milman from The Guardian.

Two major new studies by an international team of researchers have pinpointed the key factors that ensure a livable planet for humans, with stark results.

.... Steffen said the research showed the economic system was “fundamentally flawed” as it ignored critically important life support systems.

“It’s clear the economic system is driving us towards an unsustainable future and people of my daughter’s generation will find it increasingly hard to survive,” he said. “History has shown that civilisations have risen, stuck to their core values and then collapsed because they didn’t change. That’s where we are today.” 

Don’t Worry: USDA Says Pesticide-Laden Food is Safe to Eat

Click here to access article by Mike Barrett from NaturalSociety. 

Despite the U.S. food supply already being riddled with copious amounts of pesticides, the United States Department of Agriculture continuously approves new pesticides to be used on U.S. crops. The most recent case of approval revolves around the sale and planting of Monsanto’s genetically engineered dicamba-tolerant soybeans and cotton. Even more concerning, though, is that the USDA recently claimed that current pesticides levels on food are mostly nothing to worry about, and that we should continue eating food coated with toxic chemicals.

How the People Can Outwit the Global Domination Plans of Agribusiness

Click here to access article by Jonathan Latham from Common Dreams.

What I found remarkable about this essay is that Latham provides establishment sources via links to back up his claims that the promotion of agribusiness is based on lies.

...what industry understands, and the food movement does not, is that what prevents total rejection of bland, industrialised, pesticide-laden, GMO food is the standard acceptance, especially in Western countries, of the overarching agribusiness argument that such food is necessary. It is necessary to feed the world.

Hence, the solution is:

...the food movement could show that famine is an empty threat then it would also have shown, by clear implication, that the chemical health risks and the ecological devastation that these technologies represent are what is unnecessary. The movement would have shown that pesticides and GMOs exist solely to extract profit from the food chain. They have no other purpose. Therefore, every project of the food movement should aim to spread the truth of oversupply, until mention of the Golden Fact invites ridicule and embarrassment in the population, rather than fear. [my emphasis]

Leave fossil fuels buried to prevent climate change, study urges

Click here to access article by Damian Carrington from The Guardian.

The study they are referring to is posted in Nature (PDF), a professional scientific journal and website, and is being made freely accessible to the public. The editors apparently made this exception to their standard paywall website because they felt that the content merited this exception. 

The scientists in the Nature study reached the following conclusion:

...these results demonstrate that a stark transformation in our understanding of fossil fuel availability is necessary. Although there have previously been fears over the scarcity of fossil fuels, in a climate-constrained world this no longer a relevant concern: large portions of the reserve base and an ever greater proportion of the resource base should not be produced if the temperature rise is to remain below 2°C.

However, for those of us not sufficiently trained in the physical sciences, The Guardian provides us with their summary of the findings.

Vast amounts of oil in the Middle East, coal in the US, Australia and China and many other fossil fuel reserves will have to be left in the ground to prevent dangerous climate change, according to the first analysis to identify which existing reserves cannot be burned.

The new work reveals the profound geopolitical and economic implications of tackling global warming for both countries and major companies that are reliant on fossil fuel wealth.

However, notice in the last paragraph how limited the liberal Guardian is in comprehending scientific findings that conflict with capitalist ideology. The article does not mention the real profound implications the study has for capitalism which requires relatively cheap sources of energy to fuel its insatiable appetite for unlimited growth. (This phenomenon is what is often referred to as self-censorship. The Guardian fired Nafeez Ahmed, the last environmental columnist, who refused to censor himself.) The editors of The Guardian who depend on advertising revenues would not want to damage the source of their funding even if their board of directors, who are likely thoroughly embedded in the system, would permit mention of such "profound geopolitical and economic implications". Our masters in the One Percent whose wealth and power depends on the system of capitalism would not want you to be influenced by such subversive thoughts.

Thus, you will find that the study along with all the other scientific findings will be diminished, ignored, or denied by our masters who are thoroughly addicted to the drugs of power and wealth that the current system delivers to them. The ultimate, dramatic implication is that the responsibility to change things lies with us in the Ninety-Nine Percent, the people who are not addicted to such powerful drugs. If we fail to take on this responsibility to create a sustainable economic system, we humans will surely perish (along with many other species) from the Earth. 

Save the Humans!

In the Charlie Hebdo psyop double standards, logical fallacies and crass ignorance are everywhere

Click here to access article by "The Saker" from The Vineyard of the Saker. 

There has much been written about what The Saker refers to as a psyop, but this passionate essay is one of the best. I am posting this as another antidote to the poison being so widely spread by Empire directors to exploit this latest "terrorist" incident in order to curtail more civil liberties and justify more military adventures. We must use the internet to fight back!

When considering any aspects of the Charlie Hebdo psyop you will inevitably find that double standards and logical fallacies are everywhere.  That some speech is freer then other, that some victims matter more then others, that some atrocities are more atrocious then others and that some pain gets more respect then other.  But the worst for me is this sickening solidarity with those who made insulting others into some kind of noble feat, these "heroes" are lionized for their "courage" to generate real moral pain in others.  I see nothing noble in that at all and the fact that they were brutally and viciously murdered by, apparently, a gang of Takfiri freaks does not make then anyway more respectful.

Charlie Hebdo - The Hidden Agenda Exposed

Click here if you wish to access this excellent 5 minute video and transcript with many supporting links from StormCloudsGathering. 

Whatever you believe actually happened in Paris, one thing is very clear: the powers that be are going to try to use this event to expand wars, intensify domestic surveillance, and legislate away more of our rights.

This is not speculation. They have already started in France, in the U.K. ..., at the E.U. level, in the United States and they are going to attempt to push this on a global scale.... All nicely coordinated to ride the wave of outrage that followed the attacks.

Forbidden History: Operation Gladio

Click here to access article by Don Quijones from Raging Bull-Shit. 

I have not viewed the BBC video so I cannot comment on its quality. But notice that this was released to the British public in 1992. The reason for this was, no doubt, to manage the fall-out of information first released to the European public in 1990 by key Italian figures who had knowledge of this secret CIA organized program in Italy. You can learn most of the details about this operation in a very important book entitled NATO's Secret Armies by Daniele Ganser published finally in 2005. 

Following these Italian disclosures other informants came forward in many other European countries reporting about the same Gladio operations in their countries. This was sensational news in Europe, but barely made a dent in US coverage. I, as a reasonably informed political person, was not aware of it until several years later when more obscure US left wing publications made mention of it.

Unbeknownst to most people, the CIA in the 1990s developed an updated version, something like Gladio 2.0. Sibel Edmonds, an exceptionally courageous FBI whistleblower, has written many articles and done many interviews on this subject which she first learned about as an FBI translator translating reports coming from several Middle Eastern countries shortly after 9/11. According to her this updated version is known by US secret services as Gladio B. 

She describes this updated version in her recently published work of political fiction entitled The Lone Gladio. (If you don't know what "political fiction" is and how this form is used, click on the above link.) This new version is one which specializes in false-flag operations using terrorist front organizations, assassinations, and drug-trafficking. Sound familiar? She provides extensive information about Gladio B also on her website, Boiling Frogs Post. You might start with this article entitled "Georgia: The New CIA-NATO Arab Terrorist Training Center".

The Prison State Of America: 5% Of World’s Population But 25% Of World’s Prison Population

From RT via Mint Press the following important video featuring Chris Hedges exposing the exploitation that is going on in the ruling class's vast prison system. 

For-profit prisons have created a “neo-slavery” in the US, according to award-winning journalist Chris Hedges. Inmates work eight hours per day for major corporations such as Chevron, Motorola, Nordstrom’s and Target, yet only have the possibility of making up $1.25 an hour. In addition, companies that provide services like phone calls overcharge prisoners on even the most basic services, making hundreds of millions in profits annually. RT’s Ben Swann speaks to Hedges, who explains how this shadowy system came into existence.

3,000 "Moderate Rebels" Defect to ISIS - US Preparing 5,000 More

Click here to access article by Tony Cartalucci from Land Destroyer. 

With them, these 3,000 fighters will bring weapons, cash, equipment, and training provided to them by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United States, the UK, and perhaps most ironic of all in the wake of the recent terror attack in Paris, France. Indeed, ISIS and Al Qaeda's ranks continue to swell amid this insidious network of "terror laundering" that is only set to grow.

It was an open conspiracy exposed by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh in his 2007 article,  "The Redirection: Is the Administration’s new policy benefiting our enemies in the war on terrorism?", that the US and its regional allies sought to use Al Qaeda and other extremist groups to wage a proxy war on Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

False Flagging the World towards War. The CIA Weaponizes Hollywood

Click here to access article by Larry Chin from Global Research. (Dec. 27, 2014)

 Like Kim Jong-Un, Vladimir Putin has been vilified, demonized and false-flagged, incessantly. If Kim is today’s object of ridicule, Putin is Evil Incarnate.

Consider the hysterical, desperate provocations by Washington in recent months.

A US-NATO coup, engineered by the CIA, toppled the government of Ukraine, planting a pro-US neo-Nazi criminal apparatus on Russia’s doorstep. The CIA and its worldwide network of propagandists pinned the blame on Putin and Russia for aggression, and for obstructing “democracy”.

The MH-17 jetliner is downed by Ukrainian operatives, with the support of the CIA, Mi-6, etc. etc. This false flag operation was blamed on Russia— “Putin’s Missile”. The US and NATO are still trying to pin these murders on Putin.

Back to the 30’s

Click here if you wish to access cartoon from the source. The satirical cartoon is by Max Gustafson from his website.

It's Official: 2014 Was the Hottest Year on Record

Click here to access an excellent graphic by Tom Randall from Bloomberg.

Also, from Motherboard this graphic:

 

Why Are We Afraid of Naming and Confronting Capitalism?

Click here to access article by Ajamu Nangwaya from Black Agenda Report. (Note: Although at this point in time the website contains some errors, you can access this important consciousness raising article by scrolling quite a ways down this link until it appears.)

“Let's make this clear, all forms of capitalism are unacceptable and revolting to justice, solidarity and equity.”

What is it about the term “capitalism” that inspires many of us to not call its name in vain and in the public square? Why is it that many of us will openly and forcefully critique “classism” but enthusiastically shy away from condemning capitalism in the same way? After all, we do publicly name and slam racism, homophobia or heterosexism, ageism, patriarchy or sexism and ableism. How effective will we be in organizing and rallying the oppressed against economic exploitation without naming the system that is brutalizing the majority?

Turkish President Says the Unsayable: ‘West is Behind Charlie Hebdo False Flag Attacks’

Click here to access article from 21st Century Wire.

The writer makes some very perceptive introductory comments about a report (included in the post) that appeared in Britain's Daily Mail in which Turkish President Erdoğan argued what many believe: that the Paris tragedy was an orchestrated terrorist attack.

The Mail Online has tried to obscure the impact of a potentially massive story such as this, by neutralizing its impact with the frequently used NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) device, the words “conspiracy theory”. That term, used by corporate and state-controlled media strictly as a pejorative term (and not as it was originally intended to be used), has been inserted for one purpose only: to shut down any real debate or discussion.  

FOX Prefers Fabrication to Fact When It Comes to Muslims

Click here to access article by Richard Zombeck from Huffington Post.

"We need to kill them," she insisted. "We need to kill them. The radical Muslim terrorists hell bent on killing us.

"You're in danger, I'm in danger," the fear mongering diatribe continued. "This is not going to stop."

,,,"Bomb them, bomb them and bomb them again,"....

The propaganda organs of the Empire are going full blast with their efforts to exploit the recent terrorist event in Paris. Fox media is only the worst as depicted in this liberal source. Here is a sample of the vicious propaganda that Americans who watch Fox News are fed:



I should not be surprised if this reminds historically aware people of Kristallnacht. 

European spies want more powers, but face uphill battle

Click here to access article from EurActiv.

This article from a European establishment source indicates that the CIA's counterparts in Europe want to exploit the Paris tragedy, the Kristallnacht of the 21st century, to increase surveillance on their citizens. 

Lawmakers and spy chiefs across Europe are now saying the security agencies need more powers if repeats of the Paris attacks are to be avoided, arguing technological advances are blunting their surveillance abilities.

Just last week, the head of Britain's MI5 counterintelligence agency argued again for more surveillance powers to spy on militant communications, calling it his "sharpest concern".

"The reality is today the security authorities don't have the necessary capability, I think, to fully protect society from these kind of threats," said Europol's Wainwright.

Russia and China: The Dawning of a New Monetary System

Click here to access article by Peter Koenig from TeleSur.

I think this article suffers a bit from a lack of editing, however it contains some very good explanations of what is driving Empire policies, and I think, in a very dangerous direction. Thus below I have rearranged some quotes to magnify the important contributions made in this article by Koenig. 

The petro-dollar is highly dependent on trading hydrocarbons in dollars – following the 40-year old agreement with the Saudis as head of OPEC in turn for US military security and protection. This alone, the constant demand for US dollars by all nations who needed to trade hydrocarbons, propelled the dollar into a ‘permanent’ reserve currency – allowing Washington to print dollars at will and to become a financial hegemon.

No longer. These times are gone.

The US is able to maintain pressure on other currencies, currently the ruble, only as long as the petro dollar remains the major world reserve currency. This is the main reason why Washington gets away with a seven-fold indebted dollar (i.e. total outstanding and uncovered commitments are currently more than 7 times higher than the US GDP (US$ 17.6 trillion, 2014 est. – vs. US$ 128 trillion of unmet obligations); making the US worldwide the most indebted country – by far.

Once the demand for the (petro) dollar fades – as hydrocarbons are no longer dealt in dollars – the value of the dollar will decline and at worst may result in hyperinflation in the dollar economies, including those closely linked to the US economy.

Washington’s relentless aggression on Russia is of course part of the PNAC (Plan for a New American Century), to achieve full world hegemony, but at the same time Washington is desperate not to lose its dollar supremacy. The US is in a terminal quagmire. There is no way out. Washington is acting like a wild beast in its last throbs of live [life]. The empire may be capable of destroying the world – including itself – just so that nobody may survive outside of the self-appointed Masters of the Universe.

Although Koenig arrives at this dramatic conclusion, he fails to follow up on the dire implications! Meanwhile otherwise astute observers like Pepe Escobar and William Engdahl seem to be blithely celebrating the expected arrival of a "multi-polar [capitalist] world". I would feel much better about the current situation if we had a mature revolutionary movement in the US to counter any tendency by Empire directors to engage in Armageddon-like actions.  

Meanwhile, there is every indication that Empire directors are getting desperate with their multifarious actions to maintain their dominance in the world: promotion of terrorist incidents, false-flag incidents, sponsorship of terrorist armies, aggressive actions against Russia, a fully developed national security state here at home, etc.

FBI Thwarts Terror Plot on Capitol (That They Planned)

Click here to access article by Eric Blair from Activist Post. 

The FBI initially found a patsy by trolling Twitter for support of ISIS. That's exciting because finding someone retarded enough to admit support for murderers is really difficult. Then they sent an in-house jihadist to team up with the patsy to plan a grand terror attack on the nation's Capitol. Heroically, the moment the 20-year-old patsy said he would "go forward with violent jihad" the FBI steps in and declares a victory in the war on terror.

Well, it seems that our masters have decided to keep the "terror show" continuing in the US in order to keep us in a state of fear so that we will accept more surveillance, foreign military adventures, more austerity, and loss of civil rights. 

See also this.

Russia Cuts Off Ukraine Gas Supply To 6 European Countries

Click here to access article by Tyler Durden from Zero Hedge. 

It appears that Victoria Nuland-Kagan's comment, "Fuck the EU", is finally coming true. She made this remark in February 2014 during the infamous intercepted phone conversation with another US diplomat in which they were discussing which Ukrainian puppet the US should support. This was reported on ABC News, but of course the context of the discussion was totally missing. 

Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian state energy giant Gazprom to cut supplies to and through Ukraine amid accusations, according to The Daily Mail, that its neighbor has been siphoning off and stealing Russian gas. Due to these "transit risks for European consumers in the territory of Ukraine," Gazprom cut gas exports to Europe by 60%, plunging the continent into an energy crisis "within hours." Perhaps explaining the explosion higher in NatGas prices (and oil) today, gas companies in Ukraine confirmed that Russia had cut off supply; and six countries reported a complete shut-off of Russian gas.

40 Years of Economic Policy in One Chart

Click here to access article by Mike Whitney from CounterPunch. 

It all began in the 1970s, that’s when everything started going down the plughole. Once wages detached from productivity, the rich progressively got richer. They used their wealth to reduce taxes on capital, role back critical regulations, break up the unions, install their own lapdog politicians, push through trade agreements that pitted US workers against low-paid labor in the developing world, and induce their shady Central Bank buddies to keep interest rates locked below the rate of inflation so they could cream hefty profits off gigantic asset bubbles. 

I think this attack on US workers began at this time because our masters in the One Percent felt sufficiently secure after they got away with the murders of John Kennedy, his brother Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, etc. They also likely sought revenge on a generation of young people who so effectively opposed their war in Southeast Asia.

Liberté D´Expression? [Freedom of Expression?]

Click here to access article by Bernhard from Moon of Alabama.

It seems that the French freedom of expression applies to only some people who use religious bigotry to attack opponents of the Empire. 

March of the Hypocrites

Click here to access article by Justin Raimondo from AntiWar. (Commentary updated 1/16/2015 at 9:30 PM Seattle time.)

 That politicians would steal the spotlight and turn the sincere outrage of millions into an opportunity for self-advertisement is hardly surprising. .... Those marchers will soon be cheering their soldiers as they go marching off to war, with “Je suis Charlie” inscribed on their banners.
 
The target? Syria

For example, read this piece about Benjamin Netanyahu, who managed to get in the front row of this elite mob, and his country of Israel entitled "Report: 17 Journalists Killed in Media’s Deadliest Year in Palestine". 

A Change Is Gonna Come

A poem by Andrew Blash, a homeless person, included in his letter to Linh Dinh entitled "Dispatch from the Front Line of Poverty and the Doorsteps of Hell", and posted on Dinh's website.

A Change Is Gonna Come

I was born by the river in a little tent

Oh, and just like the river I've been running ever since


It's been a long, a long time coming

But I know a change gon' come, oh yes it will


It's been too hard living, but I'm afraid to die

Cause I don't know what's up there beyond the sky


It's been a long, a long time coming

But I know a change gon' come, oh yes it will


I go to the movie and I go down town

Somebody keep telling me don't hang around


Its been a long, a long time coming

But I know a change gon' come, oh yes it will


Then I go to my brother

And I say, "Brother, help me please."

But he winds up knockin' me

Back down on my knees


There been times when I thought I couldn't last for long

But now I think I'm able to carry on


It's been a long, a long time coming

But I know a change gon' come, oh yes it will

VIDEO: Aaron Swartz And The Fight For Free Information

Click here to access article by Abby Martin from MintPress News.

This tragedy is another illustration of how capitalism turns everything into commodities for the rich to profit from.

The majority of the wealth of human knowledge is owned by a few publishing companies that hoard information and make billions off licensing fees, although most scholarly articles and journals are paid for by taxpayers through government grants. Aaron sought to change this. 

The script in this post is mostly repeated in Martin's video, but the video is better. So, if you are short of time, I recommend viewing the video and skipping the text. 

Her commentary was inspired by the release of a full length film on Aaron Swartz posted at the end of the article. She explains the legacy of Aaron Swartz: his fight to have the internet serve people instead of profits. 

Unfortunately, we lost a brave warrior whose valiant efforts were crushed by capitalist ruling class authorities whose only concern was to preserve their "ownership" of information. We, the living, must join the battle for which he fought or his short life's struggle will be in vain.  (I was particularly moved by Swartz's comments beginning at 5:18m.) 

 

Charlie Hebdo, the free press and racism

Click here to access article by Sara Flounders from Workers World.

This is the best article I've seen on the political significance of the latest terrorist event in Paris. Flounders surveys media coverage of killings and finds capitalist class interests consistently inform the kinds of coverage given by their corporate media.

Imperialism needs hatred of targeted peoples. Western politicians have cynically used Islamophobia to advance right-wing political agendas and curtail freedoms.

Who benefits? Regardless of whether a police conspiracy is ever exposed, we do know that the French ruling class and the corporate media are always primed to take full advantage of such acts to reinforce the repressive state apparatus and sow division among the working class. 

Profiting from Global Warming

Click here to access this 55 minute recording by listener sponsored radio from KPFA (Berkeley, California). Sasha Lilley interviews journalist and author McKenzie Funk who shares with us his extensive knowledge of corporate strategies informed by their short-term view of maximizing profits.

Getting rich off of global warming may seem like the ultimate cynical business plan. But corporations are hedging their bets on unchecked climate change and the opportunities it affords. Journalist McKenzie Funk reports about the very lucrative business to be made from the deleterious effects of climate change, from opened shipping lanes in the melting Arctic to newly exposed mineral deposits, from food production on previously inhospitable land to the sale of artificial snow to the Alps.

No. The Islamic State Did Not Hack CENTCOM - Updated - Cui Bono?

Click here to access article by Bernhard from Moon of Alabama.

Terror! Terror!! Terror!!! We have been hacked!!! Give us your data!

Here we see another attempt by Empire directors to make the internet safe for their pursuits. Fortunately, Bernhard spots some discrepancies in their latest attempt to fool people.

European Ministers Call For Increased Digital Surveillance After Paris Terror Attacks

Click here to access article by Natasha Lomas from TechCrunch. 

And so it begins again; the customary fingerpointing at the Internet as a platform for fueling extremist hatred in the wake of the latest terrorist outrages in Europe — accompanied, in certain corners of the political arena, by calls for greater powers of digital surveillance to preemptively thwart acts of terror.

The call in Europe by the Empire's official leaders for more surveillance and the criminalizing of provocative speech makes perfect sense if one regards the killings at the offices of Charlie Hebdo as a secret service operation by Empire operatives to accomplish these measures and others such as stirring up more hatred toward Muslims and support more military adventures in the Middle East.

See also this article from TeleSur entitled "UK Spy Bill Could Ban Instant Messaging Encryption". 

US to Use Détente as Cover for Plans to Destabilize Cuba

Click here to access article by Nil Nikandrov from Strategic Culture Foundation. 

The United States will use the non-government organizations for inciting street protests like it was done in Ukraine. There are a growing number of posts to Twitter saying that, no matter the White House sounds soft on Cuba, the US special services are concentrated on organizing Cuban Maidan demonstrations.

2015 Begins With CO2 Above 400 PPM Mark

Click here to access article by Andrea Thompson from Climate Central. 

While the 400 ppm mark is somewhat symbolic (as the increase in warming between 399 ppm and 400 ppm is small), it is a large increase from pre-industrial CO2 concentrations, which were around 280 ppm. The progressively earlier occurrence of these high CO2 levels — not seen in somewhere between 800,000 and 15 million years — points to the inexorable buildup of heat-trapping gas in the atmosphere as human emissions continue unabated. That increase in CO2 and other greenhouse gases has raised Earth’s average temperature by 1.6°F since the beginning of the 20th century. Some scientists say that to avoid the worst consequences of climate change, that warming needs to stay under 2°C, or 3.6°F.

What They’re Not Telling You About Monsanto’s Role in Ukraine

Click here to access article by Christina Sarich from NaturalSociety.

...a bit of political maneuvering by the IMF gave the Ukraine a $17 billion loan – but only if they would open up to biotech farming and the selling of Monsanto’s poison crops and chemicals – destroying a farmland that is one of the most pristine in all of Europe. Farm equipment dealer, Deere, along with seed producers Dupont and Monsanto, will have a heyday.

In the guise of ‘aid,’ a claim has been made on Ukraine’s vast agricultural riches. 

China’s Global Political Shift

Click here to access article by William Engdahl from New Eastern Outlook.

Geopolitical analyst Engdahl sees in recent Chinese moves an important shift in China's world orientation:

....while fraught with danger, signal that China has deeply understood the Washington geopolitical game and the strategies of the neo-conservative US warhawks and, like Putin’s Russia, have little intention of bending their knee to what they see as a Washington global tyranny. The year 2015 shapes to be one of the most decisive and interesting in modern history.

‘JE SUIS HYPOCRITE’: Enemies of Press Freedom Hijack ‘Charlie’ in Paris

Click here to access article by Patrick Henningsen from 21st Century Wire.

The million-strong crowds were impressive, as were the variety of people who made it out to the event. Unfortunately, our televisions, newspapers and websites were more interested in plastering the eerily contrived image of our 50 ‘world leaders’, with arms locked “in an act solidarity”, in support of “the fallen” at French political cartoon magazine Charlie Hebdo.

What was designed as a globally-syndicated #kumbaya moment, instead gave off the distinct odeur of shameless political opportunism, in what can only be described as the world’s biggest-ever photo-junket for what can only be described as some of the world’s most unpopular leaders decked-out in $5,000 suits, camel hair overcoats and hipster glasses.

The only real consolation was that Tony Blair didn’t invite himself to this one…

Also, I recommend this article by Michael S. Rozeff entitled "Truly Massive Display of Hypocrisy by Western Leaders".

Deep Questions Arise Over Portland's Corporate Water Takeover

Click here to access article by Victoria Collier from TruthOut.

It appears from this article that the neoliberal world order is "coming home to roost". Well, why not? We Americans are part of the New World Order promised by Herbert Walker Bush, former CIA director and President.

...Portland activists were shocked to discover the existence of a plan to push a government-industry coordinated privatization agenda on the entire West Coast.

The West Coast Infrastructure Exchange (WCX) was launched collaboratively by Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber and CH2M Hill, though the corporation has since recused itself from an official partnership position.

Now comprised of governors and state officials from California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia, the WCX is quietly developing a regional "public-private partnership" (PPP) model to fast-track private financing and development of infrastructure - everything from schools, bridges and highways to energy, waste and fresh water systems.

Citing the crippled tax base of so many US states, the WCX notes with regret that crumbling public infrastructure and future development needs can no longer be met by the public sector.

McKibben’s Divestment Tour – Brought to You by Wall Street | Part VIII: The “Social Capitalists”

Click here to access article (On 4/12/2015 I discovered that this link no longer works. Access the article from The Art of Annihilation) by Cory Morningstar from The Wrong Kind of Green.

It appears that I have been remiss in missing most of this series devoted to a devastating exposé of the fake nature of "green capitalism" that is being propagated under various names and organizations in order to maintain the capitalist system and fool people into thinking that progress is being made. Many of these organizations such as McKibben's 350.org are non-profits (Morningstar refers to them as "non-profit industrial complex (NPIC)") which are the domestic versions of NGOs that we have seen operating in foreign countries on behalf of the Empire's capitalist interests. Such astroturf organizations function within the US to propagandize people into believing in "green capitalism". Empire operatives have a global perspective to go along with their global Empire aspirations, and thus there is no reason to separate their functions abroad from their domestic applications to manage the views and opinions of ordinary people. 
 
In this article and series Morningstar continues to argue that such organizations are being funded by very rich capitalists and for their interests. These non-profits funnel money of the rich to these organizations in an effort to head off growing criticism from the new-economy movement and their focus on changing the system.

...it matters little whether or not the money is moved from direct investments in fossil fuel corporations to so-called “socially responsible investments.” The fact of the matter is, all corporations on the planet (thus all investments on the planet) do and will continue to require massive amounts of energies (including fossil fuels) in order to continue to grow and expand ad infinitum – as required by the industrialized capitalist economic system.

The windmills and solar panels serve as the beautiful (marketing) imagery, yet they are somewhat illusory – the veneer for the commodification of the commons, which is the fundamental objective of Wall Street, the very advisers of the divestment campaign.

Thus we find ourselves unwilling to acknowledge the necessity to dismantle the industrialized capitalist economic system, choosing instead to embrace an illusion designed by corporate power.

Morningstar also contrasts what is currently being done to meet the threat of climate destabilization with what is really needed to be done:

Massively cutting our energy consumption for essentials such as heat will be very difficult if not impossible. Virtual zero carbon emissions would appear to be no easy feat. But deep and immediate cuts in emissions would be achievable simply by the eradication of, or even the collective rejection of, energy-intensive products, flying [travel by air] and energy-intensive food sources. Think no more “Black Friday.” Think the relinquishing of air conditioners, personal automobiles, fast food, flying, gadgets and everything else we believe we need, but which are in reality, for the most part, no more than short-sighted wants.

Charlie Hebdo: Divide and Rule or Freedom of Speech?

Click here to access article by John Spritzler from New Democracy World.

What is happening now in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo massacre has absolutely nothing to do with free speech or its defense. Free speech is, itself, a bogus concept (as I discuss here). What is happening is a contest between the wealthy and powerful few who are trying to divide-and-rule us versus the many who want a far more equal and democratic world.

The ruling elites allow pundits and cartoonists and ideologues who promote mutual fear and mistrust between Muslims and non-Muslims to prosper, to have huge audiences with TV prime time shows and columns in mass circulation newspapers and successful big-media careers, while denying those who promote mutual trust, understanding and friendship between these groups anything close to the same size audiences.

Who ordered the attack against Charlie Hebdo?

Click here to access article by Thierry Meyssan from VoltaireNet.

This French intellectual and geopolitical analyst sees many incongruities between Jihadist beliefs/practices and what happened in the so-called Muslim "terrorist" incident in Paris. He concludes this analysis with the following statement:

We do not know who sponsored this professional operation against Charlie Hebdo, but we should not allow ourselves to be swept up. We should consider all assumptions and admit that at this stage, its most likely purpose is to divide us; and its sponsors are most likely in Washington.

Meanwhile, more and more skeptics are poking holes in the official stories coming from mainstream media. See this, this, and this. 

In the last link Paul Craig Roberts makes a perceptive observation about two groups of people:

Government tells Americans whatever story the government puts together and sits and laughs at the gullibility of the public.

Today the US public is divided between those who rely on the “mainstream media” and those who rely on the alternative Internet media. Only the latter have any clue as to what is really happening.

The stories of Charlie Hebdo and the Tsarnaev brothers will be based not on facts but on the interests of government. As in the past, the government’s interest will prevail over the facts. 

The West is Manufacturing Muslim Monsters

Click here to access article by Andre Vltchek from CounterPunch.

Vltchek examines the great history of Muslim nations and its decline since WWII engineered by the capitalist Empire which he refers to as the "West".

From the hopes of those post-WWII years, to the total gloom of the present days – what a long and terrible journey is has been!

The Muslim world is now injured, humiliated and confused, almost always on the defensive.

It is misunderstood by the outsiders, and often even by its own people who are frequently forced to rely on Western and Christian views of the world.

What used to make the culture of Islam so attractive – tolerance, learning, concern for the wellbeing of the people – has been amputated from the Muslim realm, destroyed from abroad. What was left was only religion.

Now most of the Muslim countries are ruled by despots, by the military or corrupt cliques. All of them closely linked with the West and its global regime and interests.

Economics of the Anthropocene

Click here if you wish to access this 20:49m video presentation by Joshua Farley from the original posting on the Post Carbon Institute's website which provides more details about the talk.

The title of this posting did little to evoke much interest in me; but as I started listening to Dr. Farley, I realized that it was very important. The vague title reminded me once again of  a phenomenon that has entered my consciousness more frequently in recent months: the use of high level abstractions to hide uncomfortable ideas. After listening to this presentation, I'll bet that you can come up with a headline that is much more descriptive of what he has talked about. This is my choice: "The inefficiency of the capitalist system to meet people's needs, and what an efficient system would look like" I am not criticizing him for this. It's the only way one can survive in an institution controlled by a capitalist ruling class.



After listening to his talk, if you are interested in reading a more detailed exposition of his ideas, I recommend this article (scroll down to it) entitled "Ecological Economics" at the same website. Notice in the talk and in the article how this academic carefully chooses his words so as not to offend his capitalist oriented masters in academia. For example he writes:

We must push for the reform of our political and economic institutions so that they once again act for the public good. From local government policies to international agreements, the structures that define how our world works are ultimately products of political consent, and thus can be changed with sufficient political will.

Instead of writing:

We must find a way to end the existence of capitalism so that we can create an economy that serves public needs rather than the wealth and power accumulation of capitalists.

“Free Speech” hypocrisy in the aftermath of the attack on Charlie Hebdo

Click here to access article by David North from World Socialist Web Site. 

...President François Hollande is striving to transform France into the United States’ principal ally in the “war on terror,” the attack in Paris plays into his hands.

In these efforts Hollande can rely on the media, which in such circumstances directs all its energies toward the emotional manipulation and political disorientation of the public. The capitalist media, skillfully combining the suppression of information with half-truths and outright lies, devises a narrative that is calculated to appeal not only to the basest instincts of the broad public, but also to its democratic and idealistic sentiments.

Throughout Europe and the United States, the claim is being made that the attack on the magazine Charlie Hebdo was an assault on the freedom of the press and the unalienable right of journalists in a democratic society to express themselves....

Following this, North reminds us of the many historical facts that suggest the Empire sees many journalists as their enemy.

Also read this piece from the same website entitled "Gunmen were 'probably followed' by French police before Paris massacre" which arouses suspicions about a false-flag operation. A TV report from Bloomberg news entitled "How Much Did U.S. Know About France Terror Attacks?" does the same--although unintentionally.

Federal Government Releases Environmental Activist Eric McDavid From Prison

Click here to access article from Civil Liberties Defense Center. 

This report is an excellent followup illustration of an article I posted recently of the aggressive policies of the ruling class enforcement agencies against environmental activists here in the Northwest. In this report there is substantial evidence to indicate that Eric McDavid was a victim of FBI entrapment used to discredit all environmental activists. 

“Since 9-11, the United States government has mercilessly entrapped people, destroying their lives just to make political examples of them, especially in Muslim communities,” said Jenny Esquivel, Eric McDavid’s partner and an organizer with his support committee. “The government has targeted leftists and anarchists with similar fervor. This, like so many other alleged conspiracies the public hears about, are FBI inventions from the start,” Esquivel said.

We have seen numerous instances of FBI/police involvement with entrapments of Muslims and political activists in the US in order to arouse public sentiment against all Muslims and political activists in general.

Russia Blamed, US Taxpayers on the Hook, as Fracking Boom Collapses

Click here to access article by Ben Ptashnik from TruthOut.

To be absolutely candid, I don't fully understand this issue after perusing a number of articles (like this and this) related to the subject. However, it certainly appears that the banking industry, which are worried about their loans to the oil fracking industry and their derivative bets, has sought, and apparently succeeded, in protecting themselves from losses (by dumping them on taxpayers) from the Empire's oil dumping strategy to destabilize the Russian economy.

This seems like a hugely risky ploy because another bailout would likely trigger major threats to the capitalist class. But then, it seems like all the other actions that the directors of the Empire have taken in the past several years have seemed desperate to me. Nevertheless, I urge you to use your own judgement, as always.

After last minute, heavy lobbying on the budget bill by Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase and an army of 3,000 Wall Street lobbyists, it appears that once again sufficient insecurity and fear had been spread among the political class regarding destabilization of the financial markets (or withdrawal of campaign financing). They allowed a last minute amendment that killed Dodd-Frank protections, and allowed US taxpayers to be shaken down to cover Wall Street's shale gambling debacle.

Who profits from killing Charlie?

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

Escobar expresses skepticism about the Paris "terrorist" incident with his typically sarcasm-loaded style. However, while doing so he asks important questions, and the answers suggests that the victims "were sacrificial lambs in a much nastier, gruesome, never-ending shadowplay."

Paris Shooters Just Returned from NATO’s Proxy War in Syria

Click here to access article by Tony Cartalucci from New Eastern Outlook.

Cartalucci sees similar patterns in the Paris "terrorist" attack as we have seen in other false-flag operations.

In an all too familiar pattern and as predicted, the shooters involved in the attack in Paris Wednesday, January 7, 2015, were French citizens, radicalized in Europe and exported to Syria to fight in NATO’s proxy war against the government in Damascus, then brought back where they have now carried out a domestic attack. Additionally, as have been many other domestic attacks, the suspects were long under the watch of Western intelligence services, with at least one suspect having already been arrested on terrorism charges.

A Rothschild Plot against Putin?

Click here to access article by Filip Kovacevic from Boiling Frogs Post. 

In this article the author focuses on only one Russian oligarch and his ties with a prominent Western capitalist. Of course, Putin and his numerous ordinary Russian supporters have many oligarchs to worry about. Will they support Russian interests or sell out to Western capitalists, and by doing so, get even richer? 

5 Times “Obeying the Law” in America was a Terrible Idea

Click here to access article by Carey Wedler from The Anti-Media Daily Newsletter.

Wedler demystifies the idea that "the law" is somehow sacred, always legitimate, and always to be obeyed, or if not, then punishment is due the offender. He offers the worst examples of unjust, immoral laws to illustrate his point that there are some laws that should not be obeyed because they are unjust or not fair. This is a good attack on the views of many people who deify "the law" as something absolute and sacred, instead of something that has been created by humans. Of course, this also applies to religious texts and preachings which are often regarded in the same way.

However, there is something very basic that is missing from this liberal view. What if the organization of society is basically unjust or unfair by giving some people more rights and privileges than others to the point that some people are given more opportunities to create laws than other people. Couldn't this arrangement of a society result in the entire system of laws and their enforcement being illegitimate? 

This is easy to recognize in a racist or theocratic society where one is born with characteristics identified with a certain race or is assigned by parents and the larger society as being identified with a certain religion or historical ethnicity. Thus, it was easy to identify South Africa or USA as racist societies in their earlier history, or to recognize Israel as a quasi racist-religious society today.

But doesn't the same principle of unfairness exist in all capitalist societies? Do you really think that someone born into a family, who under the rules of capitalism "owns" a town's main industry, is provided with same opportunities as someone born into a family whose adult members must sell their labor for wages to the "owner's" family? Yet, that is the arrangement we have in all capitalist societies, and over time wealth accumulation in such societies becomes ever more concentrated in fewer families. Such societies inevitably deteriorate into well-defined classist societies the reality of which must be hidden from people's consciousness. That is because human nature dictates that relations among humans must be "fair" and "just". Fairness and justice are fundamental human characteristics which distinguishes us from other animals.

So, what we find in classist societies are powerful attempts to deny the realities of their unfairness or to justify this unfairness. (As I type, I immediately notice another illustration of this denial: my software does not even recognize "classist" as a word!) Thus, the more powerful class attempt to indoctrinate the less powerful people into believing that such societies are fair and just through their control of education, media, and even entertainment. These attempts have obviously succeeded so well in our capitalist society that most people are like this author who can only recognize unfairness in the most egregious laws in US history. 

However, because capitalism has existed for several hundred years, societies are now wracked with such extreme inequality that the inherent unjustness and unfairness is being recognized by more and more people with the result that capitalist authorities are being increasingly challenged. They are now reacting to this challenge with more onerous laws and severe enforcement that is typical of an advanced capitalist society in which indoctrination no longer works and the ruling capitalist class must resort to police state methods to maintain their unjust rule. In the 20th century we witnessed the most dramatic examples of this tendency in Nazi Germany, fascist Italy, and imperial Japan. Now in the 21st century, this deterioration of a capitalist organized society into a police state, as illustrated by its huge prison system, is arguably most pronounced in the USA.

FBI harassing fossil fuel activists in the Pacific northwest

Click here to access article by Alexander Reid Ross from Ecologist. 

A grassroots movement of eco-activists is achieving unprecedented success in challenging fossil fuel developments in the Cascadia region of the US's Pacific northwest, writes Alexander Reid Ross. And that has attracted the wrong kind of attention - from local police, FBI and right-wing legislators determined to protect the corporate right to exploit and pollute.

When History Knocks

Click here to access article by Sam Gindin from Jacobin. 

Gindin in this essay gives far too much credit to Naomi Klein's views as expressed in her recently published book This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate. Gindin has had a long career as an academic who frequently writes in left-wing publications about socialism. He is currently the Packer Chair in Social Justice at York University, a major university in Toronto. Having a career as a leftist academic in both the US and Canada means that you have to be careful about how far you go in attacking capitalism. Gindin like many others has been careful. He is also careful in criticizing Klein's views as expressed in her book. 

For example, he marvels at Klein's ability to get mainstream media coverage:

Who else on the Left gets a sympathetic interview on the evening news of Canada’s publicly owned television broadcaster before the release of her latest book? And who else, as a preview of that book, is immediately given a chance to explain to a national audience why, from the perspective of the environment, capitalism is “the main enemy?”

Klein’s writings and talks have provided “the movement” with needed context and coherence, and served as a conduit and catalyst for discussions, contributing to its recruitment and growth. ....

This shift centers on both her assessment of the movement — more than ever before, Klein expresses frustrations with the movement she is part of and still sees as fundamental to social change — and her deeper appreciation of capitalism “as the main enemy.” 

Only later on in the essay he mildly chides her for providing "wiggle room" in her critique of capitalism--which, of course, is precisely why she gets exposure in capitalist media.

Klein deserves enormous credit for putting capitalism in the dock. Yet she leaves too much wiggle room for capitalism to escape a definitive condemnation. There is already great confusion and division among social activists over what “anti-capitalism” means. For many if not most, it is not the capitalist system that is at issue but particular sub-categories of villains: big business, banks, foreign companies, multinationals.

Klein is contradictory on this score. She seems clear enough in the analysis that pervades the book that it is capitalism, yet she repeatedly qualifies this position by decrying “the kind of capitalism we now have,” “neoliberal” capitalism, “deregulated” capitalism, “unfettered” capitalism, “predatory” capitalism, “extractive” capitalism, and so on.

So, is she really anti-capitalist? The implication of her views is clearly that there is an acceptable capitalism.

Pensions of Union Workers Cut in Federal Budget

Click here if you wish to access the transcript of this interview on Real News with Michael Hudson as he elaborates on yesterday's post entitled "Big Fish, Little Fish".

From the latter post we learned:

On the Senate’s last day in session in December, it approved the government’s $1.1 trillion budget for coming fiscal year.

Few people realize how radical the new U.S. budget law was. Budget laws are supposed to decide simply what to fund and what to cut. A budget is not supposed to make new law, or to rewrite the law. But that is what happened, and it was radical.

Today on the Real News interview Hudson goes into more detail on the following:

They rewrote two laws. One of the laws was about bank derivatives that Elizabeth Warren has spoken about, promising to bail out Citibank and other banks. If they lose on derivatives, they're going to get bailed out like they did in 2008.

And the other was a decision not to bail out the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, the government's pension fund insurer. They've decided--they passed a new law. They rewrote the law. They declared the 1974 ERISA act protecting pensions illegal, and they said if pension funds cannot pay their retirees, they get to be cut back and they don't get to go to the government to get guarantee. We've abolished the government guarantee on ...a multiemployer fund that has more than one employer contributing to it, like airline funds, truckers funds, Teamsters funds if you're a truck driver, insurance employees, we're going to give the fund managers, mainly the financial managers on Wall Street, the right to cut back on these pensions that are due. 

One for the Record Books: 2014 Officially Hottest Year

Click here to access article by Brian Kahn from Climate Central. 

It’s official: 2014 has taken the title of hottest year on record. That ranking comes courtesy of data released Monday by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the first of four major global temperature recordkeepers to release their data for last year.

The upward march of the world’s average temperature since 1891 is a trademark of human-influenced global warming with 2014 being the latest stop on the climb. All 10 of the hottest years have come since 1998.

A good follow-up article to this is one by Naomi Oreskes found in the NY Times entitled "Playing Dumb on Climate Change".

Scientists have often been accused of exaggerating the threat of climate change, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that they ought to be more emphatic about the risk. The year just concluded is about to be declared the hottest one on record, and across the globe climate change is happening faster than scientists predicted.

Science is conservative, and new claims of knowledge are greeted with high degrees of skepticism.

Going a little MAD

Click here to access article from EUbrainwashing.

If I got to express my anger, my breath snagging rage, my stuttering red-faced fury, people would look at me as if I am MAD! What a flipping joke. That I keep myself contained - that's what is mad.

I watch what I say and to who I say it. I see podgy fools collecting money at the door of supermarkets in the name of military veteran's charity 'Help for Heros'. Their 'heros' are no more than gullible stooges, duped to work as the dogs of war for conflicts they did not start to understand. And when they get
their bodies mashed and their minds trashed they are used all over again by painting them as Heros, not victims of their ignorance, and using their distress for the continued manipulations of state beneficial propaganda.

What is mad is people tend not to see any of this. 

The way that ruling classes brainwash people is through their control of all media, education, and even entertainment. Thus, they are able duplicate what researchers found in experiments that measured conformity to perceived group pressure portrayed in this video:

Sony Hack a Prime Excuse for New US Cybersecurity Laws

Click here to access article by Jason Ditz from Antiwar. 

Congress has been reluctant to pass the various draconian cybersecurity laws pushed by the administration in recent years, but that may be changing because of the high-profile Sony Pictures hack.

With the FBI ‘successfully’ pinning it on North Korea, at least so far as everyone on Capital Hill is concerned, there is a great deal of pressure for Congress to “do something,” and little interest in the evidence that North Korea had nothing to do with it.

This suggests that the Sony hack was another false flag operation by ruling class operatives designed to remove troublesome blogs from the internet.

How Bloomberg ‘News’ Lies

Click here to access article by Eric Zuesse from Washington's Blog.

I'm sure that this piece will come as no shock to people who have been aware of ruling class lies for many decades; but for those who have been consumed by the lies, this article provides an excellent antidote to their brainwashing.

In the article Zuesse makes a devastating attack on a piece of propaganda published in one of Wall Street's premier publications, Bloomberg News.

On December 31st, Josh Rogin of Bloomberg ‘News’ headlined “Inside Obama’s Secret Outreach to Russia,” and his opening sentence ‘reported’ on “the fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown little interest in … halting his aggression in neighboring Ukraine.”

How to Stop Capitalism in its Tracks: An indefatigable cultural critic tries to educate the public about the reality of life under capitalism.

Click here to access article by Mark Hand from The Greanville Post.

An example of Stephanie’s work

If capitalism keeps chugging along, we’re all in big trouble. That’s the prognosis of Stephanie McMillan, an award-winning political cartoonist and author of the new book, Capitalism Must Die! A Basic Introduction to Capitalism: What It Is, Why It Sucks, and How to Crush It.

Big Fish, Little Fish

Click here to access article by Michael Hudson from his blog.

The biggest fish in this metaphor are, of course, the Wall Street banks who are owned and controlled by the ruling One Percent class. They also essentially "own" Congress.

On the Senate’s last day in session in December, it approved the government’s $1.1 trillion budget for coming fiscal year.

Few people realize how radical the new U.S. budget law was. Budget laws are supposed to decide simply what to fund and what to cut. A budget is not supposed to make new law, or to rewrite the law. But that is what happened, and it was radical.

.... Congress has just legislated the right to scale back pension funds if they’re managed by labor unions, e.g. on multi-employer contributors. This will hit blue collar labor the hardest, especially unionized building superintendents, and service workers.

Once this is done, the idea of rolling back pensions can spread to other kinds of pension funds besides union funds. State and local pensions, corporate pensions and even insurance company annuities can be cut back. 

ALL forms of capitalism are bad

Click here to access article by Eric Schechter from The Greanville Post.

Liberal and progressive activists are trying to tweak our economic system with reforms, to make capitalism fair, humane, and sustainable. In their constant battle against “unfettered capitalism” or “predatory capitalism” or “corporate capitalism,” they believe they are struggling toward some other sort of capitalism, a healthy and enlightened capitalism, which surely must be just past the horizon. Their intentions are good, but that’s not enough. Their efforts are wasted, because their maps are wrong; that fabled land of healthy capitalism does not exist. Bourgeois democracy cannot function as advertised, because the ideas in its advertisement actually contradict each other.

Without Truth, Life is Worthless : On Sibel Edmonds’ The Lone Gladio

Click here to access article by Filip Kovacevic from Libya 360°. 

This article contains not only another review of Edmond's recently published book The Lone Gladio, but numerous links to background material of her exposé of Glacio B contained in this work of political fiction. Gladio B is the new updated version of Gladio which refers to CIA subversive operations in Europe from the end of WWII to the collapse of the Soviet Union around 1990. The earlier version of Gladio has been very well covered in a very important book by Daniel Ganser entitled NATO's Secret Armies.
 
Edmonds, who has Middle Eastern origins, was hired by the FBI shortly after 9/11 because of her fluency in a number of Middle Eastern languages to translate numerous documents that were streaming into FBI offices during this period. While working there she came across information which revealed major illegal operations and war crimes perpetrated by secret agencies of the US government. FBI personnel made a huge mistake in this hire; because as they soon found out, she was a highly intelligent, courageous, and principled woman who could not be intimidated into silence.

...in every age and every culture, there are those who have and will pursue the path of true knowledge and wisdom, no matter what. The motivation to pursue justice and truth is passed on to them from their elders like a torch and they will carry it forward into the next generation. It is a process both psychological and metaphysical. Yet until they organize, until they pull together their abilities and strengths, until they form their own unique community across their different nationalities, religions, and languages, their victories, if any, will remain provisional and short-lasting.

U.S. Citizens Continue to Infiltrate Eastern European Governments

Click here to access article by Wayne Madsen from Strategic Culture Foundation.

The article provides many details on the widespread practice of installing US citizens in government posts in many eastern European governments. Although Madsen is usually sparse on links to supporting documents, I have reason to believe that his investigative journalism is reliable.

Washington's Quiet Proxy War Against Vietnam

Click here to access article by Tony Cartalucci from Land Destroyer. 

 ...NED's bid to overturn the political order in Vietnam is linked directly to Wall Street and Washington's bid to turn all of Southeast Asia into a unified proxy front to wield against China. Identical campaigns of political subversion in Thailand, Malaysia, and Myanmar to install into power Thaksin Shinawatra, Anwar Ibrahim, and Aung San Suu Kyi respectively, would yield a regional bloc led by a collection of client states and puppet dictators propped up by and in the service of the West.

With corporate-financier hegemony ensured via economic "free  trade" agreements like the unpalatable ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), China would not only be politically isolated from Southeast Asia, but economically as well. As with NATO in Europe, the US plans to create an ASEAN military alliance it itself leads, meaning in addition to political and economic isolation, Beijing will be militarily encircled as well.