politics for the 99%

Published on The Bullet, Socialist Project’s E-Bulletin No. 1267, by Richard Greeman, June 13, 2016.

“We’ve had enough” is the phrase on everyone’s lips as – against all expectations – the wave of strikes, blockades, disruptions and mass demonstrations begun on May 17th continues to develop throughout France. Indeed, in the past couple of days, two new strategic groups of workers have joined the protest. Continue Reading…

Published on Business Insider UK, by Will Martin, June 9, 2016.

… Earlier this week, the UK’s Labour party even said that it is closely looking at UBI as an idea, with shadow chancellor John McDonnell saying it might be an idea whose time has come.   Continue Reading…

Published on truthout.org, by Gareth Porter, June 10, 2016.

In yet another a dangerous US political-diplomatic move in Syria, the Obama administration is going out of its way to protect the interests of al-Qaeda’s closest and most powerful ally in Syria, Ahrar al-Sham.   Continue Reading…

Published on Dissident Voice, by Gary Leupp, June 9, 2016.

As the wizard Gandalf declared during the darkest hour: “There never was much hope… Just a fool’s hope.”

The narrow thread of hope now rests on the Justice Department investigation into Hillary Clinton’s illegal concealment of her emails from the State Department she headed from 2009 to 2012. If she’s hit by a true scandal between now and the Philadelphia convention in July, all bets could be off. Continue Reading…

… and Other Tales From Tuesday Night – Published on truthout, by William Rivers Pitt, June 8, 2016.

Thanks to The Associated Press, I was awake well past midnight on Wednesday morning watching a series of non-events come to a grateful conclusion. I wanted to see the speeches, especially Bernie’s, which came after 1:00 am; they were the one thing the “news” media couldn’t screw up. How did Tuesday’s primaries become non-events? Because The Associated Press on Monday night, straight out of the blue, declared Secretary Clinton to be the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. Continue Reading…

Published on DAWN, Pakistan, by Tahir Mehdi, June 7, 2016.

TWO things happened in Islamabad on the same day recently, one pertaining to the Council of Islamic Ideology CII (it’s website) - and the other to Pemra, the electronic media regulator. CII sanctioned ‘lightly beating’ of wives and Pemra banned (and then partially withdrew) advertisements of contraceptives.   Continue Reading…

my comment: … how witless must be a political elite to be overwhelmed by a Trump – how insipid must be their arguments to be outdated by a blustering outsider – how dumb must appear the Washington establishment to its people no more to be heard … and as Hillary is part of this nasty crowd we may imagine easily Trump as next President.

Continue Reading…

Published on Share the World Resources STWR, by Rajesh Makwana, June 3, 2016.

In light of the overwhelming moral imperative to share planetary resources more equitably and protect the lives of those facing humanitarian emergencies, the World Humanitarian Summit is yet another reminder of the huge gulf between government priorities and the desperate reality of the world situation … // Continue Reading…

Result: the Unconditional Basic Income UBI – on SWI swissinfo.ch, June 5, 2016 – 17:18: rejected with 76.9% NO, only 23.1% can imagine in these times such a realization.

Related Links:

Basic Income BIG – Revenu de Base Universel RBU – Bedingungsloses Grundeinkommen BGE, special posts during 2015-2016 on this blog:   Continue Reading…

• Rihanna – Love On The Brain, 3.58 min, uploaded by RihannaVEVO, May 24, 2016 … and many more in autoplay;
• Tom Odell - Somehow, 6.51 min, uploaded by TomOdellVEVO, May 6, 2016 … and many more in autoplay;
• Francesco Geminiani – Prelude, 3.13 min, uploaded by The Gravicembalo, Nov 7, 2015 … and many more in autoplay;   Continue Reading…

Published on Dissident Voice, by Gary Brumback, June 2, 2016.

I was prompted to write this article when a twitter contact of mine wondered whether some of my writings about the corpocracy amounted to a conspiracy theory. Having been a behavioral scientist most of my adult life I know a thing or two about what’s theory and what’s not. I don’t know how anyone, scientist or lay person, could mistake the corpocracy for a theory. Continue Reading…

Published on The Guardian, by Patrick Collison, June 1, 2016.

Attempts to convince the public they will be worse off if Britain leaves the EU are falling on deaf ears, according to an Ipsos Mori poll that shows two-thirds of the electorate don’t foresee any negative impact on their personal finances from Brexit.   Continue Reading…

Published on truthout, by Dahr Jamail, May 31, 2016.

It’s not news that anthropogenic climate disruption (ACD) is accelerating at unprecedented rates, according to climate scientists. Fifteen of the 16 hottest years ever recorded have occurred since 2000, and this year is on track to be the hottest year ever recorded — by far … // Continue Reading…

Published on The Bullet, Socialist Project’s E-Bulletin No. 1262, by Patrick Bond, May 31, 2016.

On May 12, Brazil’s democratic government, led by the Workers’ Party (PT), was the victim of a coup. What will the other BRICS countries (Russia, India, China, and South Africa) do? Will they stand by as the reactionaries who took power in Brasilia pivot closer to Western powers, glad to warm Dilma Rousseff’s seat at the BRICS summit in Goa, India in five months’ time? Or take a stronger line, following the lead of Latin American progressive countries (Venezuela, Cuba, Ecuador, Bolivia, Nicaragua and El Salvador)? … // Continue Reading…

2016-05-01: Former Goldman Sachs president says our economic situation will end in tears;
2016-05-02: Labour Day 2016;
2016-05-03: The slow-learning retired admiral with a Ph.D.;
2016-05-04: incredible nature;
2016-05-05: The Calm Before the Coming Global Storm;
2016-05-06: Nuland Tells Cyprus To Cut Russian Ties;
2016-05-07: Interview With Bernie Sanders;
2016-05-08: nature at its best;
2016-05-09: The TTIP Leaks;
2016-05-10: Hackers vs. banks battle heats up as Anonymous launches global attack;
2016-05-11: Peru: In Defense of Land, Culture and the Female Body;
2016-05-12: quo vadis Europe;
2016-05-13: Thom Hartmann;
2016-05-14: Convictions, not clarified items, visions;
2016-05-14: diverse religiöse Schlüssel zur Vergangenheit – Geschichte;
2016-05-15: live as it goes;
2016-05-16: Organized Misery is Fascism;
2016-05-17: Brazil Coup: The First of Many Blows Against the People;
2016-05-18: Hybrid War Hyenas Tearing Brazil Apart;
2016-05-19: Will the New World Order finally get its own Nuremburg Tribunal?
2016-05-20: Zuma’s Denialism and Betrayal;
2016-05-21: Venezuela – a last warning;
2016-05-22: First Interview With Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff since the Senate’s Impeachment Vote;
2016-05-23: From Bankruptcy to Bankruptocracy;
2016-05-24: Parliamentary Coups: the New Strategy of Latin America’s Right;
2016-05-25: Rousseff impeachment efforts a bid to stop oil corruption probe;
2016-05-26: Price discovery during anomalous market trading;
2016-05-27: The Foreign Policies of Sanders, Trump, and Clinton;
2016-05-28: Disaster in the Makin, the Many Failures of the EU-Turkey Refugee Deal;
2016-05-29: Five reasons why it’s still worth a punt on Brexit;
2016-05-30: The Latest Greek Deal: an Excel Sheet Fantasy;
2016-05-31: Step-by-Step Rapprochement – Germany Considers Easing of Russia Sanctions;
2016-05-31: Basic Income BIG – Revenu de Base – Bedingungsloses Grundeinkommen BGE, May 1-31, 2015.

related articles published during May 2016: (continuously updated …) Continue Reading…

Published on Spiegel Online International, by Matthias Gebauer, Christiane Hoffmann, Peter Müller, Ruben Rehage, Michael Sauga and Christoph Schult, May 30, 2016.

Standing tough on Russia remains official policy, but Germany has begun working on the careful easing of sanctions imposed following Moscow’s aggression in Ukraine. The US is opposed, but many in the EU could support the new approach … //

… Chancellery Changing Course:   Continue Reading…

Published on Social Europe, by Daniel Munevar, May 27, 2016.

A new agreement has been reached between Greece and its creditors regarding its bailout program. Jeroen Dijsselbloem, president of the Eurogroup, has described it as “ambitious” and a “major breakthrough”. However, a look at the details shows that it’s anything but.   Continue Reading…

Published on The Telegraph.co.uk, by PETER FOSTER, EUROPE EDITOR, May 27, 2016.

They think it’s all over…and to judge by the recent spate of pro-Remain polls on the EU Referendum question, it pretty much is now. Continue Reading…

Published on Spiegel Online International, by Riham Alkousaa, Giorgos Christides, Ann-Katrin Müller, Peter Müller, maximillian Popp, Christoph Schult and Wolf Wiedmann-Schmidt, May 26, 2016.

Many viewed it with skepticism from the start and now, the Brussels-Ankara refugee deal is in danger of collapse. Refugees are being locked up in Turkey and it looks as though the best educated Syrians are not being allowed to continue to Europe.   Continue Reading…

… America and the world in 2016 and beyond – Published on New Politics, by Joanne Landy, May 20, 2016 (will appear in the Summer 2016 issue of New Politics).

… BERNIE SANDERS

The Sanders campaign has been a breath of fresh air on the American political scene. Bernie has taken into the political arena the Occupy movement’s outrage at the domination of the United States by the one percent. Whether or not he wins the nomination, his astounding success is a sign of the real potential for a new kind of politics in the country—inspiring whether or not one shares his Democratic Party strategy … // Continue Reading…

… the Lehman Brothers case – Published on VOX EU.org, by Thomas Gehrig, May 25, 2016.

During normal operations, price discovery is an important feature of decentralised market trading. But the process can be distorted when markets are under great stress, such as during the run up to the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. This column uses trading data from the days leading up to and following the collapse to show that price discovery at US stock exchanges remained remarkably efficient, even at the height of the turmoil.   Continue Reading…

… leaked tapes [VIDEO, 5.45 min] – Published on RT, May 23, 2016.

Secret phone recordings between Brazil’s planning minister and the former president of Transperto have revealed that the minister suggested a “change” in the government to “stop the bleeding” caused by an investigation into Petrobras. Continue Reading…

Published on Axis of Logic (first on teleSUR), by Pablo Vivanco, May 20, 2016;

For most, the decades of the 1970’s and 1980’s are regarded as a dark period for Latin America. Like Honduras and Paraguay, Brazil’s elites used the legislature against Dilma Rousseff. Is Venezuela next?   Continue Reading…

• bankruptocracy: Varoufakis on Bankruptocracy, on lvgaldieri, not dated;
• Bankruptcy: Actual Fraud Includes Fraudulent Transfers In Bankruptcy – Sotomayor, on Forbes, by Jay Adkisson, May 21, 2016;
• from Bankruptcy to Bankruptocracy: The Tent City of New Jersey: Desperate victims of the economic slump forced to live in makeshift homes in forest, on Mail Online.co.uk, by Daily Mail Reporters, August 2, 2011;

one quick partial possible solution to global bankruptcy resp. bankruptocray – Unconditional Basic Income:   Continue Reading…