politics for the 99%

Published on ZNet (first on teleSTR english), by Jack Rasmus, April 2, 2016.

As U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has gained momentum in the presidential primaries, the attacks on his proposed economic programs have grown proportionally … // Continue Reading…

Published on The Bullet, Socialist Project’s E-Bulletin No. 1241, by John Clarke, April 1, 2016.

… Looking Deeper Into the Gift Horse:

As soon as you start to look into the question of Basic Income or, as it was often called in the past, Guaranteed Annual Income (GAI), you are immediately struck by the ease and enthusiasm with which free market thinkers and warriors of the neoliberal order have embraced the concept. From Milton Friedman to Charles Murray, the idea has found warm support on the political right. There are some clear and obvious reasons why this is so. Firstly, the very idea of a basic level of income is about establishing a floor and right wing proponents are confident they can locate it in the basement. A low and inadequate social minimum seems to them a great way of folding in existing, relatively adequate programs so as to, precisely, drive people into deeper poverty.   Continue Reading…

Published on Spiegel Online International, by Anna Behrend, April 2, 2016.

A kilogram of new potatoes this week costs just €1.29 in some German supermarkets. But is that the whole story? Not by a long shot. Environmental costs are almost always completely ignored. Some, though, are trying to change that … // Continue Reading…

Published on Down with Tyranny *, by Gaius Publius, March 29, 2016.

… The Sanders- and Trump-led (for now) political rebellion is not going to go away. There are only two questions going forward:

• Will it remain a political rebellion, one that expresses itself through the electoral process, or will it abandon the electoral process as useless after 2016?
• Will it be led by humanitarian populism from the left, or authoritarian populism from the right?

Continue Reading…

Published on ZNet (first on RT), by Pepe Escobar, March 30, 2016.

… The ideological matrix and the modus operandi of color revolutions by now are a matter of public domain. Not so much the concept of Unconventional War * (UW).
UW was spelled out by the 2010 Special Forces Unconventional Warfare manual. Here’s the money quote:   Continue Reading…

2016-03-01: Refugee Crisis Disunity, a De Facto Solution takes Shape in the Balkans;
2016-03-02: Domestic Violence – Violence Conjugale – Häusliche Gewalt;
2016-03-02: Super Tuesday;
2016-03-03: Hillary’s lobbyist super delegates vs. Bernie’s political revolution;
2016-03-04: It’s the Geopolitics, Stupid;
2016-03-05: Is South America’s ‘Progressive Cycle’ at an End?
2016-03-06: It Begins: Palace Revolt against ECB’s NIRP;
2016-03-07: Critical Analysis: Europe’s Slow Motion Debacle;
2016-03-08: A GOOD JOB: Hard Graft, Made in Germany;
2016-03-08: neuliche Diskussionen, Argumente;
2016-03-09: about wikileaks;
2016-03-10: George Lakoff’s texts and videos;
2016-03-11: Refugees Caught in Tide of European History;
2016-03-12: The Unraveling of Turkey’s Democracy;
2016-03-13: Criticism of capitalism;
2016-03-14: Kurds should have a say on Syria’s future at Geneva talks – UN envoy;
2016-03-15: The Story Behind the Immigrant Workers in Bernie Sanders’ Stirring New Ad;
2016-03-16: Syrian civil war: West failed to factor in Bashar al-Assad’s Iranian backers as the conflict developed;
2016-03-17: Kurds want lands they control in Syria to become federation under Damascus;
2016-03-18: Russia and Victory;
2016-03-19: Humanity’s Last Call for a Culture of Sharing and Cooperation;
2016-03-20: Collapse of the European Union? A Skeptical View;
2016-03-21: The European Union has abandoned those who are defending freedom in Turkey;
2016-03-21: Est-ce que l’argent nous appartient … ou nous à l’argent?
2016-03-22: money of dept vs. positive money = what is vs. what should be;
2016-03-23: Fury and the AfD: Inside the Revolt against Angela Merkel;
2016-03-24: Brazil: Overthrowing Dilma Rousseff;
2016-03-25: New Zealand: The case for a universal basic income;
2016-03-26: Ex-US Army Iraqi interpreter seeks refuge in Greece after US rejected entry – report;
2016-03-27: US: You Say You Want a (Political) Revolution?
2016-03-28: Finalising Cruelty: The EU-Turkey Agreement on Refugees;
2016-03-29: Flint Water Oversight: Sacred Cows & Sacrificial Lambs;
2016-03-30: US: The Managerial/ Professional Class Is Burning Out;
2016-03-31: Turkey ‘demands’ takedown of Erdogan-mocking video;
2016-03-31: Basic Income BIG – Revenu de Base – Bedingungsloses Grundeinkommen BGE, MARCH 1-31, 2016: related articles published during March 2015;
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See also this page: All articles sorted chronologically.

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

… German authors add subtitles instead – Published on RT, March 30, 2016 [with VIDEO]: the satirical piece about “The big boss from Bosporus,” who is “ripe for his great Ottoman Empire,” starts off with criticizing Erdogan crackdown on freedom of speech. Erdogan is also criticized for the alleged shuffling of the electorate votes and cracking down on women …;

Ankara reportedly pressurized Berlin into removing a satirical clip aired by NDR earlier this month. However, the show’s producers decided to amplify the message and released English and Turkish subtitled versions of the video criticizing the Turkish President. Continue Reading…

Published on Washington’s Blog, by Charles Hugh Smith, March 28, 2016.

If you work for Corporate America in a managerial or professional capacity, you know all about burnout, because you see it all around you or are experiencing it yourself. Readers describe what they are seeing in the top ranks of S&P 500 corporations, and the stories (anonymous because everyone knows the truth will get them fired/blacklisted) are all about the high personal costs of earning big paychecks by making the numbers–not just revenue but the all-important profits that power the multi-trillion-dollar valuations of U.S. corporations and the stock market that glories in their magnificent and ever-growing profits. Continue Reading…

Published on ZNet, by Marsha Coleman-Adebayo and Kevin Berends, March 24, 2016.

Five days earlier they had loaded their suitcases, laptops, snacks, kids and water—there has been no escaping the extra heft of potable water—even as they took a brief respite from the foul and cursed realities of living in Flint. At that point even a 17 hour drive with kids so wired it was like they were experiencing Parkinson-like tremors was a welcome lull from the storm. The mothers looked for little things…gestures…small hands engrossed with a book. A mischievous glance from young eyes. Anything familiar and thus reassuring that their son, their daughter was riding with them into the future they had always believed. The future they have worked so hard to provide and protect.   Continue Reading…

UPDATE GRèCE – Cinq projections-débats en Suisse: le 28/03 à LAUSANNE, le 29/03 à VEVEY et le 30/03 à NEUCHÂTEL, by YANNIS YOULOUNTAS

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… Finalising Cruelty: The EU-Turkey Agreement on Refugees, published on Dissident Voice, by Binoy Kampmark, March 26, 2016.

It seemed a foregone conclusion, but here it was, a ghastly cuddling show between Turkish officials and Donald Tusk, President of the European Council. Both political forces had united behind a refugee containment system that is compromised from start to finish, one designed to frustrate and ultimately terminate the desire to flee lands in conflict.   Continue Reading…

Published on Dissident Voice, by Bruce Lerro, March 25, 2016.

Is there political life outside of electoral politics?

Is it possible to be “political” in the United States and not get involved in electoral politics? For most of human history there have been “high politics” of kings and aristocrats and “low politics” of peasants, artisans and proletarians. Yet before roughly the 20th century, staging elections was not part of the political process. The root meaning of politics is “policy” which means setting a course or direction. Continue Reading…

Published on RT, March 25, 2016 (see also this video: Abandoned Afghan interpreter refused UK asylum shot by Taliban, 2.53 min, on RT, April 13, 2015 (my comment: I guess these guys knew too much, elites have no trouble to sacrify a peasant – Heidi).

A former Iraqi US Army interpreter is languishing in a troubled refugee hotspot of Idomeni after numerous failed attempts to obtain an American visa. To get it, he required – but reportedly never received – a mere acknowledgement of working for the US troops. Continue Reading…

Video, 4.15 min, on NewsHub, Auckland, by Dan Satherley, March 23, 2016;

Up until now, the relentless forward march of technology has arguably created as many jobs as it has destroyed – if not more.

But there are growing concerns this balance is about to end. Researchers have suggested in the next two decades, nearly half of all existing jobs will be lost to automation. Continue Reading…

Published on The Bullet, Socialist Project’s E-Bulletin No. 1237, by Alfredo Saad Filho, March 23, 2016.

Every so often, the bourgeois political system runs into crisis. The machinery of the state jams; the veils of consent are torn asunder and the tools of power appear disturbingly naked. Brazil is living through one of those moments: it is dreamland for social scientists; a nightmare for everyone else. Continue Reading…

Published on Spiegel Online International, by Melanie Amann, Matthias Bartsch, Sven Becker, Markus Feldenkirchen, Jan Fleischhauer, Ralf Neukirch, René Pfister, Josef Saller and Katja Thimm, March 21, 2016 (Photo Gallery).

The success of the right-wing populist party AfD in recent state elections has shaken Germany. It is the expression of growing hatred of the elite among an expanding share of the population. Much of their anger is directed at Angela Merkel … // Continue Reading…

• The Proposed Bank of England Act, on The Monney Reform Party.org.uk; /News: This is a reform that could prevent a future financial crisis, clear the national debt, and restart the economy;  /Join us;
• Positive Money.org: Is money at the root of today’s big problems? 3.20 min; (also on YouTube);
• How Money is Made / Created (full length), 52.01 min, uploaded by Positive Money;
• another YouTube channel: The basics you need to know about money and banking, with 4 videos;   Continue Reading…

… économiste HEC – ancien secrétaire général du Crédit Sisse

François de Siebenthal explique l’arnaque de la création monétaire dans sa conférence du 12 juillet 2015:

• Version courte, 8.01 min, mise en ligne par Chantal Mino ps.éd.;
• Version longue, mise en ligne par Thomas Wroblevski: part 1, 36.02 min; part 2, 10.52 min;

Continue Reading…

Published on Voltairenet.org, by Can Dündar, March 19, 2016.

The editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet, Can Dündar, who was recently freed from prison, published the op-ed column in Le Monde that we are reproducing here. He reveals the stakes of the agreement negotiated between the European Union and Turkey – not to have to assume the consequences of the deliberate destabilisation of Syria in exchange for 3 billion Euros per year and ignoring the dictatorship which is currently being set up by Ankara. Continue Reading…

Published on Toward Freedom, by Immanuel Wallerstein, March 18, 2016.

One of the many games pundits and politicians are playing these days is to spell out why and how the European Union (EU) is going to collapse, is already collapsing. Anyone who follows the news worldwide knows all the standard explanations: Grexit and Brexit will only lead to other exits; nobody wants more migrants (refugees) in their country; Germany has too much power, or not enough; ultra-rightwing forces/parties are rising almost everywhere; the Schengen Agreement providing visa-less movement is being suspended in most countries that had adopted it; unemployment is unstoppably growing … // Continue Reading…

The Global Refugee Crisis – Published on Global Research.ca (first on Share The World’s Resources STWR), by Rajesh Makwana, March 15, 2016: the real crisis is not the influx of refugees to Europe per se but a toxic combination of destabilising foreign policy agendas, economic austerity and the rise of right-wing nationalism, which is likely to push the world further into social and political chaos in the months ahead.

Continue Reading…

Published on Voltairenet.org, by Thierry Meyssan, March 17, 2016.

The announcement of the partial withdrawal of the Russian Army from Syria has spawned a great number of commentaries which illustrate the preconceived bias of their authors rather than reality. Thierry Meyssan points out that the facts demonstrate not only that the differences between Moscow and Damascus have been resolved, but that Russia – which managed to topple the Western powers into the anti-terrorist camp – intends to allow Syrians to liberate their territory by themselves.   Continue Reading…

… reports – Published on RT, March 16, 2016.

Kurdish-controlled autonomous areas in northern Syria are expected to declare a federal system, local media and RT’s sources on the ground have said. The conference to declare the federation of three Western Kurdistan enclaves will be in Rmelan. Continue Reading…

Published on The Independent.co.uk, by Robert Fisk, March 13, 2016 [ with a VIDEO - and in 72 pictures: the rise of Isis].

Five years ago, we were high on Arab revolutions, and journalists were growing used to ‘liberating’ Arab capitals.

Just before I left Syria last month, a tall and eloquent Franco-Lebanese man walked up to me in a Damascus coffee shop and introduced himself as President Bashar al-Assad’s architect. It was his task, he led me to understand, to design the reconstructed cities of Syria. Continue Reading…

… Lauding Worker Organizing – Published on In These Times, by Michelle Chen, March 9, 2016.

Bernie Sanders’ newest campaign video, which will air tomorrow night on the Spanish-language channel Univision, features the candidate ceding the spotlight to a representative group that doesn’t get a lot of play in most political ads: a migrant mother, speaking entirely in Spanish, who works in Florida’s farm fields. The story behind the workers featured in the ad is one of quiet and passionate organizing far outside the Beltway … // Continue Reading…