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Written on July 25th, 2014 in politics by heidi
Published on Intrepid Report, by Gilad Atzmon, July 24, 2014.
In his speech to the nation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged yesterday that the war on Gaza is a battle for the existence of the Jewish State. Netanyahu is correct. And Israel cannot win this battle; it cannot even define what a victory might entail. Surely the battle is not about the tunnels or the militants’ underground operation, the tunnels are just weapons of resistance rather than the resistance itself. The Hamas and Gaza militants lured Israel into a battle zone in which it could never succeed and Hamas set the conditions, chose the ground and has written the terms required to conclude this cycle of violence … // Continue Reading…
Written on July 24th, 2014 in politics by heidi
Linking human rights and education in a revised Constitution has huge implications for those training teachers – Published on Times Higher Education THE, by Audrey Osler, July 17, 2014.
… The festivities are particularly noteworthy this year for another reason: Norway has revised its Constitution. Yet it’s not just the language of the Constitution that’s been updated. Buried in the document is a new clause addressing education, which may have considerable significance for those working in higher education, particularly those engaged in teachers’ professional education … // Continue Reading…
Written on July 23rd, 2014 in politics by heidi
Published on Russia Today RT, by Dr. Roslyn Fuller, July 21, 2014.
… For example, the IMF and World Bank repeatedly loaned to Mobutu Sese Seko, dictator of the Democratic Republic of Congo (then Zaire) in order to keep him – and the enormous natural resources within his country – out of the communist camp during the Cold War. Mobutu blew the cash on whatever struck his fancy and the people of the Congo spent decades trying to pay back the money – in fact, by the late 1980s they had paid billions of dollars just in fees related to the nation’s debt, never mind the debt itself. Such irresponsible and short-sighted lending trapped the citizens of the DRC, and many others like them, in a perpetual debt cycle. Continue Reading…
Written on July 22nd, 2014 in politics by heidi
Published on naked capitalism, by Yves Smith, July 21, 2014.
One way to induce a Pavlovian reflex in mainstream economists is to invoke the expression “free trade”. Conventional wisdom holds that more trade is always better; only Luddites and protectionists are against it. That’s one big reason why the toxic Trans Pacific Partnership TPP and its evil twin, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership TTIP, have gotten virtually no critical scrutiny, save from more free-thinking economists like Dean Baker. They have been sold as “free trade” deals and no Serious Economist wants to besmirch his reputation by appearing to be opposed to more liberalized trade. Continue Reading…
Written on July 21st, 2014 in politics by heidi
Video – The Ascent of Money: A Financial History by Niall Ferguson, Epsd. 1-5 FULL, 240.14 min, uploaded by Spirit of Revelation, Nov 7, 2011 (again a chance for those who have still not got it).
Other Links: Continue Reading…
Written on July 20th, 2014 in politics by heidi
Published on The Bullet, Socialist Project’s E-Bulletin no. 1011, by Dan La Botz, July 17, 2014.
… Electoral Breakthrough?
In November 2013, the statistics seemed to be confirmed by the stunning victory of socialist Kshama Sawant in Seattle that attracted the attention of both the U.S. left and the major news media. The victory of Socialist Alternative candidate Sawant seemed to suggest that something might be changing politically in America. Now, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who openly calls himself socialist but is not a a member of any political party, says that he is considering a run for President of the United States, though he is not clear about whether he will run as an independent or a Democrat. Continue Reading…
Written on July 19th, 2014 in politics by heidi
Published on RiaNovosti.ru, July 16, 2014.
The Stockholm District Court upheld Wednesday an arrest warrant issued for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on charges of rape and sexual molestation. The press statement, announcing the court’s decision, runs counter to what Assange’s team of lawyers aimed for, when they claimed that an arrest warrant issued in late 2010 has no grounds to remain in force. The legal team indicated that their client would appeal the decision, speaking to the press about the ruling … // Continue Reading…
Written on July 18th, 2014 in politics by heidi
Published on PressTV.ir, by RS/HJL, July 17, 2014.
The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) are giving a lead. It should be BRIIICS (the three “I”s are India, Indonesia and Iran). Yet, even that is unfair because many other countries now aspire to the freedom from Western domination and bullying that the BRICS association represents … // Continue Reading…
Written on July 17th, 2014 in politics by heidi
Published on Dissident Voice, by Luke Eastwood, July 15, 2014.
To much trumpeting the IMF have kindly agreed to help out desperate and war torn Ukraine. How wonderful they are we are all meant to think, but the truth couldn’t be more opposite.
The International Monetary Fund was set up in 1945, describing itself as an “organization of 188 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world.” Continue Reading…
Written on July 16th, 2014 in politics by heidi
Interview with Emmanuel Jal – Published on Russia Today RT, July 14, 2014.
Child soldiers are the worst – they have no idea about the future and they don’t have children, so they can actually scream as they go forward into battle, Emmanuel Jal, a former child soldier who is now a world-famous rapper, told RT’s Sophie&Co. Jal has lost his mother during the war in South Sudan and became a child soldier, but then his life changed dramatically. Continue Reading…
Written on July 15th, 2014 in politics by heidi
Published on Russia Today RT, July 14, 2014.
The UK’s spy agency has developed a number of crafty tools to monitor and comb the web, planting false information when necessary, Glenn Greenwald said while disclosing a fresh batch of Snowden’s files.
The tools were created by the Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group (JTRIG) within the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), according to the leaked documents havoc can be caused … // Continue Reading…
Written on July 14th, 2014 in politics by heidi
Published on Al-Ahram weekly online, by Ahmed Eleiba, July 10, 2014 (on the effect of the new developments in Iraq on the security situation in Sinai).
Security has been tightened in Sinai, with military operations claiming 18 takfiri militants since the beginning of this month. Additional measures are expected soon, especially in the light of the continuing existence of border tunnels, more of which have been discovered recently. Continue Reading…
Written on July 13th, 2014 in politics by heidi
Published on Real-World Economics Review Blog, by Editor / from June Sekera, July 9, 2014.
… 4. The Three Types of Public Goods:
- Category #1: No effective market. In this category are goods and services that market-based suppliers lack incentive to invest in producing either because:
- a) their benefits are spread so broadly that their value cannot easily be captured in an exchange between an individual buyer and seller so it is impractical or impossible to charge users individually. For such goods and services, collective payment is more practical, or it is the only way they will be produced. Continue Reading…
Written on July 12th, 2014 in politics by heidi
Published on Intrepid Report, by Dennis Rahkonen, July 10, 2014.
Abortions are often necessary, and only each female, in her own unique circumstance, can determine what constitutes a legitimate abortion need. No one has the defensible authority to second-guess or demonize any woman who arrives at that conclusion. The death of even a single already-born, living, breathing, socially functioning female from medical complications, wire hanger/back alley desperation, or suicide—because safe, legal pregnancy termination was unavailable to her—is a far worse travesty than the “holocaust of murdered babies” in which “of” is the sole, not-wildly-inapplicable word. Continue Reading…
Written on July 11th, 2014 in politics by heidi
Published on The Bullet, Socialist Projects’s E-Bulletin no 1006, by Richard Swift, July 9, 2014.
The commons is not just a battlefield between corporate predators and those who resist them – it is also a source of hope for those willing to imagine a world beyond capitalism. It represents a space between the private market and the political state in which humanity can control and democratically root our common wealth. Both the market and the state have proved inadequate for this purpose. In different ways, they have both led to a centralization of power and decision-making. Both private monopolies and state bureaucracies have proved incapable of maintaining the ecological health of the commons or managing the fair and equitable distribution of its benefits … // Continue Reading…
Written on July 10th, 2014 in politics by heidi
… for more than the billions they send home, says Amnesty – Published on Countercurrents, by Amnesty International, July 7, 2014 (download full report in pdf, 83 pages).
The lack of effective regulation of visa brokers and rogue recruiting agents makes Indian migrant workers vulnerable to serious human rights abuses, said Amnesty International India today in a new report focusing on migrants from the Indian state of Kerala working in Saudi Arabia .
The report, Exploited Dreams: Dispatches from Indian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia, highlights cases of migrant workers from Kerala who were deceived about their jobs, wages and working conditions by Indian visa brokers and rogue recruiting agents. Many workers went on to face a range of abuses in Saudi Arabia , which at their worst included forced labor … // Continue Reading…
Written on July 9th, 2014 in politics by heidi
as the FED runs out of bullets, local governments are stepping in – Published on Global Research.ca (first on Web of Dept), by Ellen Brown, July 6, 2014.
… The Fed’s massive quantitative easing program was ostensibly designed to lower mortgage interest rates, stimulating the economy. And rates have indeed been lowered – for banks. But the form of QE the Fed has engaged in – creating money on a computer screen and trading it for assets on bank balance sheets – has not delivered money where it needs to go: into the pockets of consumers, who create the demand that drives productivity. Continue Reading…
Written on July 8th, 2014 in politics by heidi
Published on Zcommentary (first on teleSUR English), by Marina Sitrin, July 6, 2014.
It doesn’t often occur to me to identify as a Jew, and when it does it is usually because of outside circumstances. These past few days have provided those circumstances. Here, in the Kreuzberg neighborhood of Berlin, today’s refugees are yesterday’s Jews.
I currently live in Berlin, in one of the most radical neighborhoods in Germany, and perhaps this part of Europe. There are dozens of buildings that used to be squats that are still collectively run. There is active defense against gentrification and regular occupations of buildings, parks and squares. People fight to maintain public space in a myriad of ways, from protests that take over and keep streets open, to hundreds barbequing in parks when it is declared forbidden. Continue Reading…
Written on July 7th, 2014 in politics by heidi
Published on The Project – a socialist journal, by Don Miligan, July 3, 2014.
… I make no apology for deploying this well-known quotation from the Communist Manifesto because I think that it does no harm to remind ourselves that the working class is the creation of capital, not of its own consciousness, nor of its myriad forms of cultural expression, nor of its transient sociological forms. Whether the working class can be the gravedigger of the relations and forces, which perpetually bring it into existence remains to be seen. What is certain, however, is that defensive attempts to fix or freeze the working class at some specific point, or in a given historical moment, are doomed to failure. Continue Reading…
Written on July 6th, 2014 in politics by heidi
The “Battle for Europe” is Raging: How America Undermines Franco-Russian Relations – US Blackmailed France using the Banque Nationale de Paris as Hostage – Published on Global Research.ca, by Umberto Pascali, July 2, 2014:
On July 1st, during a meeting with all Russian ambassadors and permanent representatives, President Vladimir Putin revealed the details of a blatant blackmail against France. The US Administration used its unilateral (and de facto illegal) sanctions against Cuba, Iran and Sudan to punish France and in particular the Banque Nationale de Paris – Paribas. The Bank was blackmailed in to paying $8.97 billion for not submitting to the malicious diktat of the power-drunk but weakening hegemon, even though the sanctions are not a decision agreed to by France. Continue Reading…
Written on July 5th, 2014 in politics by heidi
Published on Real-World Economics Review Blog, by merijnknibbe, July 4, 2014.
The ECB published a report on the results of the Macro Prudential Research Network. It’s the scientific answer of the ECB to the crisis: what has to change in our view of the economy? … //
… It’s a step away from rational expectations and general equilibrium: good. It tries to model the financial sector using insights of people like Minsky and Kindleberger: good. It does not just pay attention to the flow economy but also to the stock economy (debts, assets like houses): good. It tries to model a financial sector: good. Despite the fact that the monthly monetary statistics of the ECB are totally endogenous by nature and based upon the idea that credit and money are two sides of the same coin (of course they are, as they try to measure the real world), endogenous money still seems to be a bridge too far: bad (but I, or the person who wrote the abstract, might have missed something). Continue Reading…
Written on July 4th, 2014 in politics by heidi
The DWP isn’t just off the rails but careering down the embankment – Published on Left Foot Forward, by Mark Serwotka (general secretary of the PCS union), July 1, 2014.
… The problem is, the auditors note, three years in to the programme it is still underperforming, failing the very people it was set up to help and rewarding some very profitable private companies for these failures. It is worth repeating, it has been three years almost to the day since it was launched – surely it should be working by now. Continue Reading…
Written on July 3rd, 2014 in politics by heidi
Published on naked capitalism, inclusive video, 10.59 min, by Yves Smith, July 1, 2014 (also on YouTube).
This video is a great, accessible discussion by Michael Hudson on the Real News Network about how the widely-touted EU deal with the Ukraine is actually an exercise in looting by kleptocrats. Hudson explains that unlike earlier pacts, the EU is making no investment in Ukraine, nor is it allowing Ukraine, which has an agricultural producing region, to have the benefits of the CAP that French farmers enjoy. Hudson point out that the supposed benefit of Ukraine having access to the EU for exports is a smokescreen, since Ukraine is going to lose its main export market, Russia, and the Europeans don’t want to buy Ukraine’s products. Hudson contends that this deal is a de facto takeover, with kleptocrats to be installed in key governmental positions. He anticipates that the result will be mass unemployment and unrest. Continue Reading…
Written on July 2nd, 2014 in politics by heidi
Published on Dissident Voice, by Ron Ridenour, June 29, 2014.
People before Profit—the slogan for production cooperatives—is an option even in the United States. Within the past decade, three forms of worker-owned and/or managed types of organizing work places are now functioning. The most democratic structure, one that could potentially transform the economy from profiteering greed to meeting everyone’s needs, is the worker-ownership cooperative. Continue Reading…
Written on July 1st, 2014 in politics by heidi
The European Union prepares the ‘solidarity clause’ framework – Published on Global Research.ca (first on 911forum.org.uk).
The use of the “European Gendarmerie Force” (EUROGENDFOR) is made possible by the “solidarity clause” as Heise reported. At the unit, headquartered in Vicenza, Italy, all EU Member States are involved, the Gendarmerien; police forces with military status are to be used.
The founding countries of the EUROGENDFOR include Portugal, Spain, Italy, France and the Netherlands. We provide our services to the police unit of the EU, NATO or the UN. Continue Reading…