politics for the 99%

Published on The Bullet, Socialist Project’s E-Bulletin No. 1089, by Spyros Lapatsioras, John Milios and Dimitris P. Sotiropoulos, March 11, 2015.

1. Introduction

The transitional “bridge Agreement” of the 20th of February is a truce intended by the Greek government and welcomed by the other side (the European “institutions”). Within the truce period (the next four months), the conditions for negotiating the next agreement will be shaped. This could mean that everything is still open. However, that is not true for two reasons. First, the very transitional agreement changes the balance of power. Second, the “hostilities” will continue in the course of the next four months (i.e. the review of the commitments and the re-interpretation of the terms by each party). Continue Reading…

… We Have Created a Monster – Published on Spiegel Online International, by Julia Amalia Heyer and Christoph Pauly, March 10, 2015 (Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan).

In an interview with SPIEGEL, celebrated French economist Thomas Piketty speaks about Alexis Tsipras’ election victory in Greece, Europe’s inability to fix its financial woes and what EU leaders can learn from the United States.

SPIEGEL: You publicly rejoiced over Alexis Tsipras’ election victory in Greece. What do you think the chances are that the European Union and Athens will agree on a path to resolve the crisis?   Continue Reading…

Published on ZNet (first on Links.org), by Yiannis Bournous, March 9, 2015.

The SYRIZA-led government’s February 24 agreement with the Eurogroup [of European Union finance ministers] is not the end of negotiations. It doesn’t even postpone conflict. On the contrary, it opens up a long new period full of sharp clashes inside and outside our country.   Continue Reading…

Published on Alberni Valley Times, by Kristi Dobson, March 4, 2015.

Two local proponents of a guaranteed income system are hoping to get more supporters to fight back against poverty.

Jen Fisher-Bradley and Daryl Christensen want to see all Canadians receive a basic income to eliminate the gap between the haves and have-nots. More than that, they believe reducing poverty would have a positive spin on health and wellness and alleviate taxpayers’ burden on the health care and justice systems … // Continue Reading…

Alternativ-ökonomisches Denken:

• KenFM im Gespräch mit Franz Hörmann, 101.29 min, von wwwKenFMde am 18. Juni 2014: Das wirklich wertvolle Gut, mit dem Banken handeln, ist das Vertrauen ihrer Kunden;

Continue Reading…

Published on Global Research.ca, by Stephen Lendman, March 7, 2015.

• … Fact: Washington wants Ukraine used as a dagger against Russia’s heartland – with menacing US bases on its borders threatening is sovereign independence … //
• … Fact: US-deposed President Viktor Yanukovych’s police showed remarkable restraint.
• Fact: Washington-supported Nazi thugs bore full responsibility for beatings, sniper killings and other violence.   Continue Reading…

Published on naked capitalism (first on TomDispatch), by Yves Smith, March 6, 2015.

Originally written by Pratap Chatterjee, executive director of CorpWatch. He is the author of Halliburton’s Army: How A Well-Connected Texas Oil Company Revolutionized the Way America Makes War and Iraq, Inc. His next book, Verax, a graphic novel about whistleblowers and mass surveillance co-authored by Khalil Bendib, will be published by Metropolitan Books in 2016 …;   Continue Reading…

Published on TomDispatch, by Tom Engelhardt, March 1, 2015: My War on Terror, Letter to an Unknown American Patriot … //

… In other words, each of the terror organizations we categorize as the unimaginably barbaric Other has a curiously intimate, if generally unexplored, relationship with us. In addition, in these years, it’s been clear (at least to those living in the Greater Middle East) that such groups had no monopoly on barbarity. Washington’s extreme acts were legion in the region, ranging from its CIA torture chambers (although we called them “black sites”) to Abu Ghraib, from global kidnappings to images of a U.S. helicopter gunning down civilians in the streets of Baghdad.   Continue Reading…

• The hidden victims of austerity in Greece, on Socialist Worker.org, by Sarah Levy, March 4, 2015: from Greece on the desperate conditions endured by immigrants – and the struggle to close the immigrant detention centers under a new government;
• UK: The NHS has never been in more danger, on Left Foot Forward, by Kailash Chand, March 4, 2015: Private sector providers want to down-skill medical staff to make them easier to fire, more biddable, and above all, cheaper …;     Continue Reading…

Published on The Telegraph, by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, March 2, 2015: Syriza is not interested in emergency EMU funding if it means kowtowing to Troika demands.

Greece is preparing to tap its final pension reserves at the country’s central bank if needed to avert a devastating default to the International Monetary Fund and keep the government going over the next two weeks. Continue Reading…

Can Germany turn its back on USA? No, it can’t, on englisch.Pravda.ru, Aug 25, 2014.

… However, Germany did not become a free, or rather, a sovereign country, because the other half of the country was still swarming with victorious troops that did not want to follow the example of the USSR … // … Continue Reading…

Published on naked capitalism, by Yves Smith, March 1, 2015.

I’m surprised, but perhaps I shouldn’t be, that a recent study hasn’t gotten the attention it warrants. It points to a direct connection between the impact of the crisis and a marked increase in suicide rates among the middle aged. This link seems entirely logical, given how many citizens found themselves whacked by a one-two punch of job loss or hours cutbacks combined with the sudden plunge in home prices. Normally, a last ditch course of action for most middle and upper middle class income members in the pre-crisis days, when things got desperate, was to sell you house and cut costs radically by moving into a much more modest rental. But that option vanished in all but the most stable markets (as in some flyover states that the subprime merchants ignored) due to home price declines trashing equity for all but those with small or no mortgages.   Continue Reading…

• Sir John Sawers, ex-MI6 chief, warns of Russia ‘danger’, on BBCnews, Feb 28, 2015 - (my comment: sirs or workers, WHITCH SOCIAL CLASS is pushing for war with Russia … look carefully – Heidi);
• US, UK meddling in OSCE’s mandate in Ukraine – Russia’s envoy to UN, on Russia Today RT, Feb 27, 2015;
• Gorbatschow in 1990 zum geeinten Deutschland, 3.17 min, von von Deutschland-Russland am 27. Feb 2015 hochgeladen: geeintes Deutschland kann unmöglich in der NATO sein … und weitere Kurz-Videos in autoplay;
• Putin announces 10% salary cuts in his administration, on Russia Today RT, Feb 27, 2015;   Continue Reading…

2015-02-01: Merkel’s unintended creation, could Tsipras’ Win upset balance of power in Europe?
2015-02-02: Sick or Psychotic? Bradley Cooper in American Sniper;
2015-02-03: US mulls providing Kiev forces with ‘defensive’ weapons – report;
2015-02-04: Richard D. Wolff about Global Capitalism and European’s Austerity Fight;
2015-02-04: Pegida oder nicht? Charlie oder was? … und was noch?
2015-02-05: Class War Furor;
2015-02-05: aus der Rosa-Luxemburg-Konferenz;
2015-02-06: the lessons that can be drawn from the failure of the Greek 2012 restructuring;
2015-02-07: The Last Days of Annie Bus, a Chronicle of Dutch Euthanasia;
2015-02-08: Democracy in the Digital Era;
2015-02-08: Geld – Gold – globale Gesellschaft;
2015-02-09: Save democracy, Stop the attack on, and expand voting rights;
2015-02-10: 40 world leaders “marching with the people” …;
2015-02-10: What is a Conspiracy Theory? What is the Truth?
2015-02-11: The Grand Manipulation;
2015-02-11: Banking Giant HSBC Sheltered Murky Cash Linked to Dictators and Arms Dealers;
2015-02-12: A ‘basic income system’ could be feasible in Spain;
2015-02-13: Leaking Against the Impossible: Whistleblower John Kiriakou, CIA Torture and Leaking;
2015-02-13: 16-hour Minsk marathon: Vodka for journos, Merkel’s cell died, Lavrov smokes;
2015-02-14: The Rojava Revolution and the Liberation of Kobani;
2015-02-15: Putin set to drop “truth bomb” on USA;
2015-02-16: Cuba: Land of Opportunity;
2015-02-17: Beyond the Market-State, Decentralising Power in a Sharing Society;
2015-02-18: Interview with Greek Finance Minister Varoufakis;
2015-02-19: Guantanamo of the East, Ukraine Locks Up Refugees at EU’s Behest;
2015-02-20: Speaking out on religion, salvation or destruction;
2015-02-21: The Coercion of Greece;
2015-02-22: Transnational Capitalist Class TCC and related articles;
2015-02-23: Videos with Yanis Varoufakis;
2015-02-24: Swimming with the Sharks;
2015-02-25: Tsípras: Scared by His Own Courage;
2015-02-26: 25 Facts About the Pharmaceutical Industry, Vaccines and “Anti-Vaxers”;
2015-02-27: BILD says ‘NEIN’ to Greece bailout extension;
2015-02-28: The chance of an American being killed by terrorists is close to zero;
2015-02-28: Basic Income BIG – Revenu de Base – Bedingungsloses Grundeinkommen BGE, FEBRUARY 1-28, 2015.

related articles published during February 2015 … : Continue Reading…

… the risk is calculated to be 1 in 20 million – Published on Intrepid Report, by John Chuckman, Feb 27, 2015.

… Let’s get a rough total estimate of what has happened to Americans from these causes in the time since 9/11. Just using the low number in each case for fourteen years, 7,000 Americans were killed by their own police, 420,000 were killed by something parked in their garage, 210,000 were murdered by fellow citizens, 1,400,000 were killed by friendly family doctors, and there were 560,000 who just decided to pack it in for one reason or another. The total of these various causes of death rounds to 2,600,000 deaths, nearly 867 times the number of Americans killed in 9/11, 867 collapsed sets of twin towers, nearly 62 collapsed sets of towers per year.   Continue Reading…

Published on The Local.de, Feb 26, 2015:

BILD, Europe’s biggest-selling daily newspaper, on Thursday targeted plans for an extension to Greece’s bailout by asking readers to email in selfies with the paper’s “NEIN” headline. NO! No more billions for the greedy Greeks! the paper declared in its print and online editions. It urged readers to snap a selfie while holding it and email it back to the paper as part of a campaign against further subsidies.   Continue Reading…

Published on Global Research.ca, by Julie Lévesque, Feb 25, 2015.

… Why is the media so keen on portraying Big Pharma critics as crazy, uneducated, unscientific and irresponsible people?

Dr Marcia Angell worked for over two decades as editor of The New England Journal of Medicine. She was fired after criticizing the pharmaceutical industry, which had exerted a n overriding and negative influence on the scientific literature. She said: “It is simply no longer possible to believe much of the clinical research that is published.”   Continue Reading…

Published on Dissident Voice, by Wilhelm Langthaler, February 21, 2015.

… Sýriza is prisoners of its own past, its origins in the euro-communist Synaspismós. For them the European Union has been the greatest achievement of the post-war period. Only they would need to make it more socially inclined. They failed to understand that the very raison d’être of the EU is to destroy the welfare states which historically had grown within the nation states.   Continue Reading…

… Goldman Sachs, School Districts, and Capital Appreciation Bonds – Published on Dissident Voice, by Ellen Hodgson Brown, Feb 21, 2015.

… Remember when Goldman Sachs, dubbed by Matt Taibbi “The Vampire Squid”, sold derivatives to Greece so the government could conceal its debt, then bet against that debt, driving it up? It seems that the ubiquitous investment bank has also put the squeeze on California and its school districts. Not that Goldman was alone in this; but the unscrupulous practices of the bank once called the undisputed king of the municipal bond business epitomize the culture of greed that has ensnared students and future generations in unrepayable debt.   Continue Reading…

• The Global Minotaur: America, Europe and the Future of the Global Economy, 57.26 min, uploaded by SkriptaTV, Feb 12, 2015 – his book/same title: on  Zed Books, London, 2013; on amazon; on Google Web-search … followed by other videos in autoplay;
• Yanis Varoufakis on February 5, 2015, 9.58 min, uploaded by Podemos ecoLogicos, Feb 10, 2015;
• All the good stuff that cannot be measured, 19.59 min, uploaded by SkriptaTV, Feb 7, 2015 (first on Democratic Underground);
• Chinese credit speculation, the Greek debt crisis and US earnings woes, 27.46 min, uploaded by Boom Bust, Jan 28, 2015;
• Who is Yanis Varoufakis? 2.10 min, uploaded by CNNMoney, Jan 28, 2015;   Continue Reading…

• A Very Dark Chapter of Globalization, Part 3/3, Flassbeck, 13.07 min, uploaded on YouTube by TheRealNews, Feb 6, 2015
• Why you can not have a Capitalist Democracy – Noam Chomsky, 17.46 min, uploaded by Leigha Cohen, Oct 5, 2014;
• Peter Phillips: Project Censored and the Transnational Corporate Class, 69.00 min, uploaded by freespeechtv, Oct 3, 2014;
• Until the Rulers Obey – Learning from Latin America’s Social Movements, on Covering Activism an Politics in Latin America (Upside Down World.org) by Clifton Ross and Marcy Rein, Sept 24, 2014: An excerpt from the introduction to Until the Rulers Obey: Voices of from Latin American Social Movements, edited by Clifton Ross and Marcy Rein /Oakland: PM Press, 2014;   Continue Reading…

Published on ZNet (first on Counterpunch), by Mark Weisbrot, Feb 20, 2015.

The Economist’s February 6 cover displayed the Venus de Milo statue pointing a revolver, with the headline “Go ahead, Angela, make my day.” In the editors’ upside-down world, Greece is threatening Europe, or at least Germany. Really? Continue Reading…

Published on Intrepid Report, by Dave Alpert, Feb 19, 2015.

I was born a Jew and grew up in The Bronx in New York City. At the age of 13, I was Bar Mitzvad. As I grew older, I became more and more disenchanted with religion as an institution. I became aware of the historical role religion played in the life and destiny of man, a history which demonstrates wars, deaths, and destruction all in the name of God. Continue Reading…

Published on Spiegel Online International, by Maximillian Popp, Feb 17, 2015:  (Photo Gallery).

Brussels is doing all it can to prevent refugees from reaching Fortress Europe, with initiatives like funding the construction of interment centers in Ukraine. Asylum seekers who have spent time there report miserable conditions and abuse.   Continue Reading…