Egypt was once again making world history; millions of Egyptians across the country were engaged in open popular revolt against the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood, almost literally the mother of all modern political Islamist movements, not least the dread Al-Qaeda....The author offers two reasons for this blindness. The second reason should be easily understood by anyone following events rather closely in the Middle East. But, the first one was, for me, eye opening.
So remarkable was this new wave of the Egyptian revolution, its reach extended from the heartland of Brotherhood-support in Upper Egypt to Mediterranean Alexandria....
It was, moreover, the first ever popular uprising against a ruling Islamist movement, much wider in scope, intensity and social composition than any of the revolts we’d seen hitherto against the Ayatollahs’ rule in Iran.
And yet, the Western media seemed unmoved and uninterested. “They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they cannot see.”
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Western media and the Brotherhood: Secrets behind the love affair
Click here to access article by Hani Shukrallah from Ahram Online.
Review – The Landgrabbers: The New Fight Over Who Owns the Earth
Neureiter comments on a recently published book by Fred Pearce who "examines the dynamics behind large-scale land acquisitions and their social, environmental and developmental effects" around the world.
In the book, the reader is taken on a whirlwind tour around the globe to witness, through Pearce’s eyes, a new kind of colonialism driven not by countries, but by powerful private capitalists. We encounter figures such as George Soros and Richard Branson; we learn about the effects of the conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Liberia; we find out why President Robert Mugabe's land seizures in Zimbabwe were not so bad after all for small-scale farmers; and we see how the global financial crisis and the intricate mechanisms of stock market speculations in commodities exacerbate the problem.
How U.S. Taxpayers Are Paying the Pentagon to Occupy the Planet
Click here to access article by David Vine from TomDispatch. (Note: should you wish to skip the introduction, you will need to scroll down to the article.)
The author makes a valiant attempt to unravel the mysteries of all the costs that burden American taxpayers in order to construct, maintain, and staff over 1000 foreign military bases (and growing). I assert a "valiant attempt" because the Pentagon uses all sorts of accounting and other gimmicks to hide these costs from the American people. It should also be made clear that he is only focusing on one sector of military spending, not on all the weapons production that supports the military-industrial complex and kills people in foreign lands.
The author makes a valiant attempt to unravel the mysteries of all the costs that burden American taxpayers in order to construct, maintain, and staff over 1000 foreign military bases (and growing). I assert a "valiant attempt" because the Pentagon uses all sorts of accounting and other gimmicks to hide these costs from the American people. It should also be made clear that he is only focusing on one sector of military spending, not on all the weapons production that supports the military-industrial complex and kills people in foreign lands.
How much does the United States spend each year occupying the planet with its bases and troops? How much does it spend on its global presence? Forced by congress to account for its spending overseas, the Pentagon has put that figure at US$22.1 billion a year. It turns out that even a conservative estimate of the true costs of garrisoning the globe comes to an annual total of about $170 billion. In fact, it may be considerably higher. Since the onset of "the Global War on Terror" in 2001, the total cost for our garrisoning policies, for our presence abroad, has probably reached $1.8 trillion to $2.1 trillion.To support all these costs, it's clear why our masters in the ruling One Percent need to cut back on spending for sustaining retired people at a subsistence level, providing medical care to its indigent citizens, food stamps and income benefits to the unemployed, bigger classroom sizes, fewer teachers, fewer library hours, etc.
The Time has Come to Reform the International Climate Change Negotiation Model
Click here to access article by Glenn Ashton from The South African Civil Society Information Service.
...vested interests cynically undermine public opinion while lobbying political interests. Exxon, the world’s largest oil company was warned by the Royal Society of London to stop funding climate change misinformation campaigns. The richest men in the world, the Koch brothers, have spent hundreds of millions of dollars lobbying, funding and undermining democratic institutions to weaken emission regulations. They and others are linked to dozens of front groups around the world subverting scientific consensus on climate change.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
The ECB and the Fed at the service of the major private banks
Click here to access article by Eric Toussaint from Committee for the Abolition of Third World Debt.
There was more detail here than I wanted to know, but the main point (for me) was well developed:
There was more detail here than I wanted to know, but the main point (for me) was well developed:
“Is it normal in a crisis for the private banks, who are usually financed at 1% by the Central Banks, to benefit from a rate of 0.01%, when in times of crisis certain States are obliged to pay rates 600 or 800 times higher?”Given that the "central banks" are privately owned by the reigning One Percents, these differential interest rates and the resulting debts (owed to the One Percents) being piled onto nations' citizens is a prime illustration of the current class war in the West. What is so sad, even tragic, about this is that most people are unaware of its nature, particularly here in the US. This situation also illustrates the brilliant success of the One Percents' indoctrination programs and their management of media coverage.
Best articles I could find on the Egyptian crisis
Below I am posting the best articles I could find this morning on the ongoing Egyptian political crisis.
It seems to me what we are seeing in this crisis is another example of factional or tribal organizing. In this case the Muslim Brotherhood, who suffered many years of suppression by the Mubarak regime, won a narrow victory in the recent elections. This apparently was due to the fact that they maintained a highly organized structure whereas most of the rest of Egyptian society was unorganized. But, given a narrow sectarian outlook and having attained power, they now wish to impose their views and interests on the rest of Egyptian society. With political power as a self-reinforcing dynamic, they then went for more power by securing the backing of the US Empire and its leading financial weapon, the IMF.
So long as people organize around factional, sectarian, or tribal interests, they will always end up fighting other such interests; and worse, they will be encouraged in this inter-factional conflict by agents of the Empire who love to use the old tried and true method of divide and conquer. Thus, the basic lesson that 99 Percent humanity needs in order to survive and prevent the descent into barbarism is to learn how to organize on a completely inclusive and universal basis.
It seems to me what we are seeing in this crisis is another example of factional or tribal organizing. In this case the Muslim Brotherhood, who suffered many years of suppression by the Mubarak regime, won a narrow victory in the recent elections. This apparently was due to the fact that they maintained a highly organized structure whereas most of the rest of Egyptian society was unorganized. But, given a narrow sectarian outlook and having attained power, they now wish to impose their views and interests on the rest of Egyptian society. With political power as a self-reinforcing dynamic, they then went for more power by securing the backing of the US Empire and its leading financial weapon, the IMF.
So long as people organize around factional, sectarian, or tribal interests, they will always end up fighting other such interests; and worse, they will be encouraged in this inter-factional conflict by agents of the Empire who love to use the old tried and true method of divide and conquer. Thus, the basic lesson that 99 Percent humanity needs in order to survive and prevent the descent into barbarism is to learn how to organize on a completely inclusive and universal basis.
- "The decline and fall of the Muslim Brotherhood" from Ahram Online.
- "On the current crisis" from Al-Ahram Weekly. (I don't get the author's "troika" concept when all three represent the Muslim Brotherhood organization. Freedom and Justice Party is the name of their political party.)
- "In Tahrir, the beginning and end of a Pharaoh" from Reflections on a Revolution.
- "The Battle Over Egypt’s Constitutional Referendum" from Muftah.
Republican and Democratic "Remedies" Ensure More Crises, But Alternatives That Work Are Taboo
Click here to access article by Richard D Wolff from Truthout.
The Fiscal Cliff and all its variations are called "austerity" in most countries. Austerity means raising taxes, burdening people and enterprises already hurt by years of crisis. Austerity likewise means cutting government spending that hurts those losing government jobs and business. Politicians now negotiating about the Fiscal Cliff are, in fact, dickering over the details of austerity for the US.The author's "Plan C" is remarkable coming from a US academic. This plan implies, but does not state, public ownership of the economy. Such a thesis is truly radical and revolutionary, and it is very daring of him to advocate this.
Class War in Michigan
Click here if you wish to access the source and transcript of this 14:58m video in which Paul Jay interviews Frank Hammer who "now organizes with the Auto Worker Caravan, an association of
active and retired auto workers who advocate for workers demands in
Washington."
This discussion was held before today's action by the Michigan legislature which passed anti-union legislation.
This discussion was held before today's action by the Michigan legislature which passed anti-union legislation.
We're having an all-out assault on Michigan's working class. We're having an all-out assault on the urban centers in Michigan. We're having an all-out assault on education. It's a general—if there was ever talk about class warfare, we are seeing class warfare.
Extreme Weather Of The Week (PHOTOS)
Click here to access article from Huffington Post.
I wonder if this is going to be a weekly series from this source--that would be a real indication of entering a new era of climate chaos. The article and photos cover mostly two items that I saw little of in mainstream media: a major typhoon (Asian for "hurricane") related disaster in the Philippines and unusually warm weather in the mid-west of the US.
I wonder if this is going to be a weekly series from this source--that would be a real indication of entering a new era of climate chaos. The article and photos cover mostly two items that I saw little of in mainstream media: a major typhoon (Asian for "hurricane") related disaster in the Philippines and unusually warm weather in the mid-west of the US.
In the Philippines, the death toll continued to rise this week. Over 300,000 people lost their homes....
Monday, December 10, 2012
Militarization of America
Thanks to Cyrano's Journal Today for posting these videos produced by Oregon Peace Works.
It's clear that there is nothing radical about this presentation, but it does cut through all the deception and obfuscation that occurs in any mainstream reporting of military expenditures. This presentation is also very timely in view of the current propaganda war going on about the so-called budget crisis widely advertised as the "Fiscal Cliff", the purpose of which is to convince you that cut backs are needed on all social spending--Social Security, Medicare, education, welfare, unemployment compensation, etc. The hidden purpose is to enable our masters in the One Percent ruling class to spend more on war.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
It's clear that there is nothing radical about this presentation, but it does cut through all the deception and obfuscation that occurs in any mainstream reporting of military expenditures. This presentation is also very timely in view of the current propaganda war going on about the so-called budget crisis widely advertised as the "Fiscal Cliff", the purpose of which is to convince you that cut backs are needed on all social spending--Social Security, Medicare, education, welfare, unemployment compensation, etc. The hidden purpose is to enable our masters in the One Percent ruling class to spend more on war.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Doha Climate Summit Ends With No New CO2 Cuts or Funding
Click here to access article by Stephen Leahy from Inter Press Service.
As people of the world look forward to three, four or even five degrees (centigrade) of warming in the next 50-100 years, one observer at the conference noted that...
As people of the world look forward to three, four or even five degrees (centigrade) of warming in the next 50-100 years, one observer at the conference noted that...
Countries are mainly influenced by the corporate sector and civil society has very little interaction or influence there....According to the author this is what mainly occurred at the recent U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change:
Developing countries wanted a new institution and framework to deal with loss and damage, but the U.S. was opposed to any new institution. The compromise is for a “new mechanism” to be created in 2013.
A new second phase of the Kyoto Protocol will run from 2013 to 2020. Getting this second phase or commitment is considered very important by developing countries because it has hard-won legal terms that commit countries to making cuts as well as methods for measuring and verifying emission levels.
However, only the European Union, Australia and a few other countries are involved, representing just 12 percent of global emissions. The U.S. has never participated, while Canada and Japan have opted out of the second phase.
The Day After Hurricane Sandy
Click here to access article by Nicholas Powers from The Indypendent.
The experience of Hurricane Sandy evokes some profound thoughts and insights for this author. Here is only one:
The experience of Hurricane Sandy evokes some profound thoughts and insights for this author. Here is only one:
Our capitalism. It churns like a hurricane across national boundaries. It freezes nature under the sign of commodity. It forces hungry peasants into the city, where it sifts them for the lowest wage for the longest hours. It lifts up a bourgeoisie, who in turn hire the media to unleash a cascade of ideology that saturates the people. But if workers organize and demand higher wages, capitalism spirals up and away to another place with hungrier people. Left in its wake are men and women who sell their bodies, beg on street corners, who dream of what they can’t have, who want things.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Energy Leveraging: An Explanation for China’s Success and the World’s Unemployment
Click here to access article by Gail Tverberg from her blog Our Finite World.
This dedicated specialist in all things energy provides two very disturbing observations: China's success is to a great extent based on their increased use of coal; and evidence all over the place, in spite of mainstream hoopla about new shale fracking sources, that these increasingly expensive and diminishing fossil fuels will place a huge burden on existing economies.
Unfortunately, she like many others, are unwilling or unable to imagine a different way of organizing our societies other than capitalism. The best she can come up with is questioning the current phase of globalized capitalism otherwise known as neoliberalism:
This dedicated specialist in all things energy provides two very disturbing observations: China's success is to a great extent based on their increased use of coal; and evidence all over the place, in spite of mainstream hoopla about new shale fracking sources, that these increasingly expensive and diminishing fossil fuels will place a huge burden on existing economies.
Unfortunately, she like many others, are unwilling or unable to imagine a different way of organizing our societies other than capitalism. The best she can come up with is questioning the current phase of globalized capitalism otherwise known as neoliberalism:
Does it really make sense to continue on the path to increasing globalization? We will need to quit a some point, either because of a choice to move away from fossil fuels, or because oil supply becomes even more constrained, and the ensuing financial problems cause us to cut back.
Policymakers and economists assume that the only path forward is increased globalization, and have not really examined any other path. In a world with limited resources, the path away from globalization is more sustainable one. The big concern is how much population it can support.
On the Death of Certain Dreams
Click here to access article by David Malone from his blog Golem XIV (UK)
By violence I wish to include humiliating treatment of various kinds which assault our sense of dignity on an almost daily basis: the numerous difficulties that prevent us from participating in an economy that can sustain our lives in a reasonable manner and all that this implies: denial of health care and education, treatment as dispensable human beings that are forced to live in tents or locked up in hellish prisons.
This period we are living in is the final stage of capitalism called neo-liberalism, which has divided up the world between those few who "own" our means of existence and the vast majority, many of which are becoming expendable. This has produced a huge chasm between the few who live lives of splendor and the rest of us. It is a nightmarish world we are entering: Orwellian police states, prisons, starvation, and wars. It is very difficult in such a world to go on dreaming, to believe in the usual adult fairly tales which tell us that we really are better than what we have become.
Yet, the end of the story is still to be played out. I am betting on our long suppressed better natures: the deep sense of justice, fair play, and commitments to each other which has sustained human beings over the previous 165,000 years before we took this wrong turn. What I mostly worry about is time--the time remaining before this system of capitalism with it ravenous appetite destroys our planet's ability to sustain our lives.
All nations, all peoples, I think, have dreams of themselves, of their better selves, of the people they imagine they could be. They are not rational and are often not even true. But then again dreams do not have to be true. We just have them. Or perhaps they have us. But those dreams have been dying recently. The dreams of whole nations have been withering and dying. As if some disease of our imagination’s immune system were turning hope against us. And we find ourselves collectively adrift, mourning for the people we thought we could be.Yes, it is necessary to dream when one lives in a society wracked by class rule and injustice, where a few people have every advantage imaginable while other "suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune." You see, modern humans evolved over their 175,000 years of existence by taking care of one another. More recently, say 10,000 years ago, something started to happen in which a few people began to take control over the lives of others through violence, more recently through laws and violence, and now they seem to be returning to using mostly violence or the threat of violence.
By violence I wish to include humiliating treatment of various kinds which assault our sense of dignity on an almost daily basis: the numerous difficulties that prevent us from participating in an economy that can sustain our lives in a reasonable manner and all that this implies: denial of health care and education, treatment as dispensable human beings that are forced to live in tents or locked up in hellish prisons.
This period we are living in is the final stage of capitalism called neo-liberalism, which has divided up the world between those few who "own" our means of existence and the vast majority, many of which are becoming expendable. This has produced a huge chasm between the few who live lives of splendor and the rest of us. It is a nightmarish world we are entering: Orwellian police states, prisons, starvation, and wars. It is very difficult in such a world to go on dreaming, to believe in the usual adult fairly tales which tell us that we really are better than what we have become.
Yet, the end of the story is still to be played out. I am betting on our long suppressed better natures: the deep sense of justice, fair play, and commitments to each other which has sustained human beings over the previous 165,000 years before we took this wrong turn. What I mostly worry about is time--the time remaining before this system of capitalism with it ravenous appetite destroys our planet's ability to sustain our lives.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
The Plutocrats and the Placeholder President
Click here to access article by Rob Urie from CounterPunch.
The author supplies a much needed different take on "entitlements" that is missing from mainstream media.
The author supplies a much needed different take on "entitlements" that is missing from mainstream media.
The ‘too-big-to-fail’ guarantee of the banks, which is the only reason why insolvent, predatory Wall Street remains in business, is an entitlement program for connected bankers—for which they pay nothing. The bloated, murderous, military industry that lobbies the U.S. into unnecessary wars for their own benefit and that of corporate welfare receiving multi-national corporations is an entitlement program.
I Accuse....
Click here to access article by Gabriel Donohoe from Fools Crow's Blog (Ireland).
In the spirit of Ä’mile Zola, I accuse the international banksters of conspiring to wreck the global economy so that they can consolidate power and control. These banksters, though few in number, effectively run the world and are often referred to as "The Power Elite", "The Money Power", "The Illuminati", and various other names. This "Money Power" (a term coined by U.S. President Martin Van Buren) is nothing more than an evil cabal of gangsters. They are mass murderers, warmongers, tyrants, thieves, and inveterate liars and are utterly devoid of any human decency or compassion.
Silent Spring --- 50 Years On
Click here to access article by D. Raghunandan from Newsclick (India).
50 years after Silent Spring, the question posed by the book remains relevant: “How could intelligent beings seek to control a few unwanted species by a method that contaminated the entire environment and brought the threat of disease and death even to their own kind?”Only under capitalism, dear author. And sadly, they who control our economies, and thus our societies, continue this practice.
Fracking Our Food Supply
Click here to access article by Elizabeth Royte from Food & Environment Reporting Network.
The author provides an comprehensive update on fracking in relation to food production on nearby farms. There continues to be a lot of adverse anecdotes, but a paucity of research into the effects of fracking on food produced in these areas.
The author provides an comprehensive update on fracking in relation to food production on nearby farms. There continues to be a lot of adverse anecdotes, but a paucity of research into the effects of fracking on food produced in these areas.
However, some institutions that specialize in risk have started to connect the dots. Nationwide Mutual Insurance, which sells agricultural insurance, recently announced that it would not cover damages related to fracking. Rabobank, the world’s largest agricultural bank, reportedly no longer sells mortgages to farmers with gas leases.
Christmas Shopping for the Elite
by Ron Horn exclusively for this blog.
I thought I should let all you working people know where to shop and what to buy for any relatives you might have among our rich ruling class. You certainly wouldn't want to shop at Walmart! Your rich relatives would be insulted and probably cut you out of their wills. Besides, there is nothing in that store that would distinguish them from us, and that is important to them.
So, peruse these websites for those special people and find the special items that would please them: here, here, and here.
Who knows, they just might invite you to their villa on the CĂ´te d'Azur!
I thought I should let all you working people know where to shop and what to buy for any relatives you might have among our rich ruling class. You certainly wouldn't want to shop at Walmart! Your rich relatives would be insulted and probably cut you out of their wills. Besides, there is nothing in that store that would distinguish them from us, and that is important to them.
So, peruse these websites for those special people and find the special items that would please them: here, here, and here.
Who knows, they just might invite you to their villa on the CĂ´te d'Azur!
Friday, December 7, 2012
Washington’s Iranian Future
Click here to access article by Pepe Escobar from TomDispatch via International Movement for a Just World. (My commentary was amended at 7pm PST.)
This Brazilian investigative journalist and political analyst seems to be everywhere in the world and in media--other than mainstream media. Obviously, this is because his political analyses are widely respected. Operating from strictly a realpolitik framework, he has a very sound grasp of geopolitical issues--except for suggestions that Obama has some significant influence. As I have always argued, based on a lifetime of study, that Presidents since Kennedy have been used largely for public relations purposes. One exception was George Bush Jr. who was installed as president in a highly manipulated fashion in order for secret services to carry out unimpeded the 9/11 project.
The real government is an amorphous group of powerful people located in the big financial centers and on boards of major corporations and elite universities. They have several homes located on various continents in places like The Hamptons on Long Island, Davos (Switzerland), Dubai, London, and Monaco. They think globally, form friendships and marriages with powerful people based in other countries (like the old monarchies and aristocracies), and see themselves largely as specially endowed (elite) global citizens. They hang-out at the secret Bilderberg meetings; probably have served on the Council on Foreign Relations, associated with various think tanks, and have been educated at Harvard, Yale, or elite foreign universities like Oxford. In contrast to most other government offices, in recent decades members of the power elite have usually been appointed as Treasury Secretary allowing them direct access to the national treasury. Thus, this arrangement greatly facilitated the recent bank bailouts. During these early years of the 21st century we have seen our masters adopt NATO's army to enforce their foreign policies. The people who carry out their policies are usually referred to as political operatives. They are mostly located in the Pentagon, the National Security Staff, and secret services like the NSA and CIA.
In this piece he makes an excellent argument that there are very good reasons for a US accommodation with Iran, and that there are realistic ways of doing this. Yet, he doubts this will happen--also for very good reasons which he only hints at.
The Empire's political operatives are infected with the delusion of world power. They have been since WWII, and despite costly wars in Korea, Indochina and the Middle East, they find it very hard to quit this addiction. Without an effective peace movement here in the US, it appears to me that they will bring us to an apocalyptic end or economic collapse or both.
This Brazilian investigative journalist and political analyst seems to be everywhere in the world and in media--other than mainstream media. Obviously, this is because his political analyses are widely respected. Operating from strictly a realpolitik framework, he has a very sound grasp of geopolitical issues--except for suggestions that Obama has some significant influence. As I have always argued, based on a lifetime of study, that Presidents since Kennedy have been used largely for public relations purposes. One exception was George Bush Jr. who was installed as president in a highly manipulated fashion in order for secret services to carry out unimpeded the 9/11 project.
The real government is an amorphous group of powerful people located in the big financial centers and on boards of major corporations and elite universities. They have several homes located on various continents in places like The Hamptons on Long Island, Davos (Switzerland), Dubai, London, and Monaco. They think globally, form friendships and marriages with powerful people based in other countries (like the old monarchies and aristocracies), and see themselves largely as specially endowed (elite) global citizens. They hang-out at the secret Bilderberg meetings; probably have served on the Council on Foreign Relations, associated with various think tanks, and have been educated at Harvard, Yale, or elite foreign universities like Oxford. In contrast to most other government offices, in recent decades members of the power elite have usually been appointed as Treasury Secretary allowing them direct access to the national treasury. Thus, this arrangement greatly facilitated the recent bank bailouts. During these early years of the 21st century we have seen our masters adopt NATO's army to enforce their foreign policies. The people who carry out their policies are usually referred to as political operatives. They are mostly located in the Pentagon, the National Security Staff, and secret services like the NSA and CIA.
In this piece he makes an excellent argument that there are very good reasons for a US accommodation with Iran, and that there are realistic ways of doing this. Yet, he doubts this will happen--also for very good reasons which he only hints at.
The Empire's political operatives are infected with the delusion of world power. They have been since WWII, and despite costly wars in Korea, Indochina and the Middle East, they find it very hard to quit this addiction. Without an effective peace movement here in the US, it appears to me that they will bring us to an apocalyptic end or economic collapse or both.
The ancient Silk Road was humanity’s first globalization highway centered on trade. Now, China in particular is pushing for its own ambitious version of a new Silk Road focused on tapping into energy -- oil and natural gas -- from Myanmar to Iran and Russia. It would, in the end, link no less than 17 countries via more than 8,000 kilometers of high-speed rail (on top of the 8,000 kilometers already built inside China). For Washington, this means one thing: an evolving Tehran-Beijing axis bent on ensuring that the U.S. strategic target of isolating Iran and forcing regime change on that country will be ever just out of reach.
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