politics for the 99%

Published on Dissident Voice, by Harvey Lothian, Feb 21, 2016.

The unwritten but very real and clearly understood social contract under which the citizens and workers of the United States and Canada developed the countries has now been broken by the wealthy classes, the owners of major industries and businesses and the politicians, The contract is now invalid. A new social contract is needed.   Continue Reading…

The Integration Puzzle – part 1/23 (one to twenty three) … with Slim Boutaieb, 47, who teaches immigrants in Munich the basic principles of German culture: What a Million Refugees Mean for Everyday Life.

Published on Spiegel Online International, by staff, Feb 19, 2016: more than a million refugees are now living in Germany. The next task is to integrate them. SPIEGEL spoke with dozens of experts and people working in the field about the everyday challenges the influx means for the country.    Continue Reading…

Published on Counterpunch, by PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS, Feb 19, 2016.

The US economy died when middle class jobs were offshored and when the financial system was deregulated … // Continue Reading…

Published on ZNet, by Vincent Emanuele, Feb 18, 2016.

Chris Hedges latest article, Bernie Sanders’ Phantom Movement has caused quite a stir. Over the last couple of days, several friends have sent me the article and I’ve seen it posted on social media outlets by thousands of people … // Continue Reading…

Published on ZNet, by Paul Street, Feb 18, 2016.

… Global Investor Right Protection in the Guise of Free Trade:   Continue Reading…

Eugen Drewermann:

• auf de.wikipedia (* 20. Juni 1940 in Bergkamen) ist ein deutscher katholischer Theologe, suspendierter Priester, Psychoanalytiker und Schriftsteller. Er ist ein wichtiger Vertreter der tiefenpsychologischen Exegese und als kirchenkritischer Publizist regelmäßig in den Medien präsent …; /Weblinks;
• on en.wikipedia: Eugen Drewermann (born 20 June 1940) is a German church critic, theologian, peace activist and former Roman Catholic priest. His work has been translated into more than a dozen languages …; /External Links;

Continue Reading…

Published on Global Research.ca, by Prof. Tim Anderson, Feb 14, 2016.

… Yet the dangers are very real because the Saudis and Turkey might react unpredictably, faced with the failure of their five year project to carve up Syria. Both countries have threatened to invade Syria, to defend their ‘assets’ from inevitable defeat from the powerful alliance Syria has forged with Russia, Iran, Iraq and the better party of Lebanon.   Continue Reading…

Audio: The Speech That Killed Him, JFK, 6.02 min, uploaded by Global Sovereign Alliance, Dec 9, 2015;

and also:

• Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton and the Money, on truthout.org, by Dean Baker, Feb 15, 2016;   Continue Reading…

Published on ZNet, by Ron Daniels, Feb 15, 2016.

… Bernie Sanders is articulating a bold vision of what should and can be achieved if millions believe and join the “revolution” by educating, mobilizing and marching on ballot boxes to chasten the billionaire class, the oligarchy, to transform the face of this nation. A parasitical billionaire class, Wall Street, must be compelled to pay the price for a more just and humane America. Millions of people are “sick and tired of being sick and tired” of pedestrian politics and business as usual. Vision matters, and it is Bernie Sanders’ vision and the meaning of the message that is motivating millions to join the “revolution and march on ballot boxes to embrace a truly progressive policy agenda.   Continue Reading…

Published on Dissident Voice, by Stansfield Smith, Feb 13, 2016.

The end of January a news article appeared, “Ecuador To Sell A Third Of Its Amazon Rainforest To Chinese Oil Companies,” and has resurfaced again and again on the internet. Posted on progressive websites such as Reader Supported News, Daily Kos, “The PeoplesVoice.org,” “ThinkGlobalGreen.org,” the story often comes with maps of the affected area, and include pictures of indigenous peoples living peaceably with nature or protesting against oil drilling.   Continue Reading…

… 10,000 farmers protest EU-imposed reforms in Athens [3 VIDEOS, PHOTOS] – Published on RT, Feb 13, 2016.

Thousands of Greek farmers set up a protest camp in central Athens to speak out against tax and pension reforms required by the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Earlier, hundreds clashed with police at the Agriculture Ministry.   Continue Reading…

Published on INVERSE, by Ethan Jacobs, Feb 11, 2016.

Swiss citizens will decide whether they should receive over $2,500 a month for being Swiss.

Americans are so intensely and intimately familiar with the virtues and vices of representative democracy, it’s easy for us to forget that democracy has alternative forms. Switzerland is about to give us a valuable reminder. As U.S. presidential candidates regurgitate stump speeches in the lead up to Super Tuesday, the TK citizens of Europe’s famously neutral, famously TK mountain kingdom will put the idea of basic income to a vote. The Swiss are having a referendum on whether they should be paid for being Swiss.   Continue Reading…

Published on ZNet (first on TomDispatch),
by David Rosner and Gerald Markowitz, Feb 11, 2016.

… The price tag for replacing the lead pipes that contaminated its drinking water, thanks to the corrosive toxins found in the Flint River, is now estimated at up to $1.5 billion. No one knows where that money will come from or when it will arrive. In the meantime, the cost to the children of Flint has been and will be incalculable. As little as a few specks of lead in the water children drink or in flakes of paint that come off the walls of old houses and are ingested can change the course of a life. Continue Reading…

… to save EU from ‘disintegration’ [2 VIDEOS] – Published on RT, Feb 9, 2016.

• Democracy or disintegration are the EU’s only options, Greece’s ex-finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, said before the official launch of a pan-European political movement he hopes will help tackle the nationalization of policies in the 28-member union.
• The “spectacular failure of the EU” to implement sound economic and refugee policies has tilted its members towards nationalism, the bike-riding former PM of Greece said on Tuesday, speaking to reporters at the Volksbühne Theater in Berlin.

Continue Reading…

Published on counterpunch, by DANIEL RAVENTÓS and JULIE WARK, Feb 5, 2016

In its 2015 report the World Economic Forum, aka the globe-grabbing business elite, pronounced from its opulent mountain fastness in Davos that, “Inequality is one of the key challenges of our time.” Paying $25,000 to attend this billionaires’ bash, and that’s after shelling out the compulsory $52,000 WEF membership fee, the said elite isn’t pronouncing on inequality out of any empathy for the poor and oppressed. This becomes perfectly clear on page 38 of the Global Risks Report 2016 where the reader is informed that inequality has consequences: … // Continue Reading…

Published on The People’s Voice.org, by Stephen Lendman, Feb 8, 2016.

… Two years after fascists seized power, conditions for ordinary Ukrainians are deplorable. According to Germany’s daily broadsheet Junge Welt, they’re “staggering.”

“Since the end of the Yanukovych era, the average income has decreased by 50%,” it reported – on top of 2015’s 44% inflation, nearly reducing purchasing power by half, making it impossible for most Ukrainians to get by. They’re suffering hugely, deeply impoverished, denied fundamental social services, abolished or greatly reduced en route to eliminating them altogether.   Continue Reading…

Uploaded by Baxylz:

• Music for Running, Weightlifting, Bodybuilding 2016, 31.26 min, Feb 2, 2016;
• Inspirational Music for Studying, Working, 360.13 min, March 7, 2014;

… Submission to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs – Published on The Bullet, Socialist Project’s E-Bulletin No. 1217, Feb 5, 2016.

… A sampling of recent cuts:

• North Bay: 30 – 40 beds closing and 140 staff positions to be cut.
• Brockville: 17 Registered Nurses cut affecting departments across the hospital.   Continue Reading…

Special Event – Wednesday 10 February 2016, New Economics Foundation (NEF), 10 Salamanca Place, London SE1 7HB, 18:00 – 19:30, refreshments provided - Space limited – register.
Website: New Economics Foundation nef.org, economics, as if people and the planet mattered (on en.wikipedia).

Uploaded on YouTube by New Economics Foundation:
Can we measure happiness? 11.43 min, Feb 3, 2016 … NEF’s Saamah Abdallah on Sky News;
GDP release by NEF’s Olivier Vardakoulias, on Sky News, 5.06 min, Jan 28, 2016;   Continue Reading…

Published on Market Express.in, by Deutsche Welle DW, Feb 2, 2016.

Pauper or billionaire: Switzerland prepares for a vote on a basic income for all. Here are the arguments pro and con – and why the referendum is most likely to fail.
To work or not to work for a living – that may no longer be an issue in Switzerland in the near future.
The Swiss go to the polls on June 5 in a referendum on an unconditional basic income (UBI). A guaranteed income for everyone, no questions asked … // Continue Reading…

The Bank Whistleblowers United – Who are We, and Why are We Trying to Help Implement Real Banking Reform? on New Economic Perspectives, by William Black, Jan 31, 2016. At this time (January 29, 2016), we consist of four founding members: Continue Reading…

Zuerst ein paar Fragen: erlauben wir unserem Nachwuchs, sich so aufzuführen? Wenn nicht, warum akzeptieren wir das Benehmen nachfolgender Hitzköpfe, ohne sofort abzuschieben? Diese Leute verstehen nur eine Sprache, die sie in die Schranken weisst. Sind wir noch erziehungsfähig? Sind wir wirklich diese beschimpften Weicheier? Wenn nicht, warum führen wir uns dann so auf? Continue Reading…

Published on Dissident Voice, by Ruth Hurley, Feb 1, 2015.

A people’s history of the U.S. working class starts with the conflict between resistance and repression.

As income inequality widens in the U.S., the narrative that we need to “take back” our country, or return to an America where hardworking people are rewarded for playing by the rules, is everywhere. But is this really the history of the U.S.—or a fairy tale that obscures the U.S.’s path to industrial dominance? … // Continue Reading…

Translation in spanish, and in persian (Farsi) language – Published on ZNet, interview with Yanis Varoufakis (first on his blog), Jan 31, 2016.

Why did you resign the very next day after the ‘no’ victory in the Greek referendum?

• Because the Prime Minister told me, on the night of that magnificent result, that it was time to surrender to the troika. Not what I had entered politics for and certainly not what the mandate that the 62% NO vote we had just received stipulated.   Continue Reading…

Published on RT, Jan 31, 2016.

Human traffickers are taking advantage of Europe’s refugee crisis to find sex and labor slaves, particularly children, Europol says. The EU police’s chief of staff told the Observer that some 10,000 minors have gone missing since crossing into the EU.

Thousands of underage refugees have reportedly disappeared since registering with authorities, Europol’s chief of staff, Brian Donald, told The Observer. Continue Reading…