politics for the 99%

Development economics for the global north – Published on Dissident Voice, by New Unionism, March 29, 2014.

This week sees yet another make or break conference for the interminable Doha Round of World Trade Organization talks, writes network member Conor Cradden. This time it’s in Bali, and on the agenda (yet again) is breaking the deadlock about multilateral trade regulation (for a quick guide to what’s going on see this piece on the Guardian website).   Continue Reading…

Published on Spiegel Online International, by Susanne Koelbl, March 27, 2014 (Photo Gallery - Translated from the German by Charles Hawley).

Zalmai Rassoul has long been a close political ally of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Now, he is campaigning to succeed his mentor. With Karzai backing Rassoul, many believe the outgoing leader is seeking to retain his influence … //

… Security Questions:   Continue Reading…

Published on Testosterone Pit, by Wolf Richter, March 27, 2014.

… Russian President Vladimir Putin might have had a field day listening to the speech. But he was busy. He was at his official residence in Novo-Ogaryovo near Moscow, meeting with German industry tycoons, including Joe Kaeser, CEO of multinational engineering conglomerate Siemens. It wasn’t an emergency response to the current sanctions spiral but had been planned during their last meeting in October. Continue Reading…

Published on Global Research.ca, by Prof Michel Chossudovsky, March 24, 2014.

Interim Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk meets President Obama at White House, March 2014 (White House photo).

In the days following the Ukraine coup d’Etat of February 23, leading to the ousting of a duly elected president, Wall Street and the IMF–in liaison with the US Treasury and the European Commission in Brussels– had already set the stage for the outright takeover of Ukraine’s monetary system. The EuroMaidan protests leading up to “regime change” and the formation of an interim government were followed by purges within key ministries and government bodies.   Continue Reading…

• John Perkins: Let’s make money (excerpt), uploaded by Mark Aurel 123, June 24, 2009: Part 1, 2.17 min; Part 2, 3.47 min. John Perkins calls himself a former “economic hit man” and describes US politics in developing countries based on economic interests;
• in german language: Hermann Scheer, SPD: Let’s make money, uploaded by Mark Aurel 123: Teil 1, 0.52 min; Teil 2 a, 3.00 min; Teil 2 b, 1.02 min;
• Hermann Scheer on the Big mistake in the Energy Debate (with Democracy Now), uploaded by AER (aerobique): October 2010: Part 1/3, 14.09 min; Part 2/3, 14.21 min; Part 3/3, 14.17 min;

Links:  Continue Reading…

Published on truthout.org (first on Consortium News/News Analysis), by Lorraine Barlett, March 22, 2014.

Oh, how we Americans love to have someone to spar with, and to hate on, especially when it brings a renewed opportunity for us to engage in our favorite sport. So ramp up the rhetoric and ready the rockets, gang, it’s time for some war games. So, Risk, anyone? Oh wait … that’s just kids’ play. We all know that REAL men prefer Russian roulette … or do they simply march to Tehran?  Continue Reading…

Published on Dissident Voice, by James Petras, March 22, 2014.

Captain Jose Guillen Araque, of the Venezuelan National Guard, recently gave President Maduro a book on the rise of Nazism, warning that “fascism has to be defeated before it’s too late”! In retaliation for his prophetic warning, the patriotic young captain was shot by a US-backed assassin on the streets of Marcay in the state of Aragua on March 16, 2014.   Continue Reading…

Novo Rossia: The Eastern and Southeastern Mainland Provinces of Ukraine – Published on Global Research.ca, by Israel Shamir, March 21, 2014.

Nobody expected events to move on with such a breath-taking speed. The Russians took their time; they sat on the fence and watched while the Brown storm-troopers conquered Kiev, and they watched while Mrs Victoria Nuland of the State Department and her pal Yatsenyuk (“Yats”) slapped each other’s backs and congratulated themselves on their quick victory.      Continue Reading…

Published on Spiegel Online Inernational, by Beate Lakotta, March 20, 2014 (Photo Gallery).

Werner Christukat, 89, has been indicted for participating in the 1944 massacre perpetrated by the SS in Oradour-sur-Glane. He says he wasn’t directly involved. Seventy years after the fact, there are more questions than answers, and proof is elusive. Continue Reading…

Published on Global Research.ca (fiest on RT Op-Edge), by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya, March 19, 2014.

As the US militarily pivots into the Asia-Pacific, the Chinese steadily march westward simply through trade-oriented construction and economic projects.

The Chinese have finished the construction of a major tunnel that is part of a mountain transport corridor from Turpan to Kurla that is linked to Pakistan. The corridor is part of the extension of the Karakoram Highway that is part of a project to re-integrate the westernmost portion of the People’s Republic of China with the areas of Eurasia to its west.  Continue Reading…

sur radio ici et maintenant, mise en ligne sur YouTube par interkeltia: part 1, 9.52 min; part 2, 9.53 min; part 3, 9.14 min; part 4, 9.48 min; part 5, 9.08 min; part 6, 6.53 min.

Published on Socialist Unity, by Andy Newman, March 10, 2014.

In November 2013 a successful appeal was made to the High Court to stop the government from closing down the Independent Living Fund (ILF). The ILF allows around 18,000 disabled people with complex care and support needs the opportunity to more easily interact within the wider community. On March 6th it was announced that following an equality impact assessment the government felt confident to justify their decision to close the scheme. The Trade Union Disability Alliance strongly condemns the government for choosing to take this route.  Continue Reading…

uploaded by CosmicDustParticle:

• Soul Massage, 42.25 min,
• Indian Electro Dub Spiritual Chillout Masaladosa, 41.41 min,
• Anoushka Shankar And Karsh Kale: Breathing Under Water, 62.50 min: We Came With Nothing & We Leave With Nothing ~
• The Secret Universe – Dance For Peace, 19.37 min,
• Anoushka Shankar: Rise, 61.32 min,
• Portal Of Perceptions, 70.48 min: … and 39 other videos in autoplay.

Published on ZNet (Source: ALAI, América Latina en Movimiento), by Simón Andrés Zúñiga, March 15, 2014 (Translated for ALAI by Jordan Bishop).

The internal and international harassment of the Bolivarian and Chavist process has taken the form of a ferocious attack by right-wing economists. The final objective of this campaign is to eliminate from the face of the earth the historical experience of the last fifteen years of an anti-neoliberal and anti-capitalist political process. For the powers of world capitalism, Venezuela is not only a geography to reconquer, for its natural resources, but a threat because of its example of sovereignty, independence and daring to move towards socialism as a promise, for the poor of the Earth, for a life informed by justice.   Continue Reading…

Published on World Socialist Web Site WSWS, by Patrick Martin, March 15, 2014.

White House officials admitted Thursday that the Obama administration is blocking the release of thousands of documents relating to the torture of prisoners at secret CIA prisons during the Bush administration. These documents apparently include the initial presidential authorization for torture and other illegal acts by US military/intelligence agencies.   Continue Reading…

Published on Dissident Voice, by Medea Benjamin, March 13, 2014.

When I boarded the plane to Cairo, Egypt, to make sure everything was in place for the women’s delegation headed to Gaza, I had no reason to think I’d end up in a jail cell at the Cairo airport and then violently deported.

The trip was in response to a call from women in Gaza to CODEPINK and other groups asking us to bring 100 women from around the world to Gaza for March 8, International Women’s Day. They wanted us to see, first-hand, how the seven-year Israeli blockade had made their situation intolerable.  Continue Reading…

Published on The Bullet, Socialist Projtect’s E-Bulletin no 948, by David Mandel, March 12, 2014.

Let’s begin with Prime Minister (Canada) Stephen Harper’s version. One can think what one likes about deposed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, but his election in 2012 was recognized as legitimate by international observers and, after a certain hesitation, by the defeated candidate, Yulia Timoshenko. In fact, relatively honest elections were just about the only positive outcome for ordinary people of the last big mobilization on Maidan Square, the ‘Orange Revolution’ of December 2004 … // Continue Reading…

Published on The People’s Voice.org, by Stephen Lendman, March 11, 2014.

Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland calls him Yats. He’s coming to Washington. He’ll arrive/arrived on Wednesday. He’ll meet/had met his new boss. He’ll do so at the White House. He’ll get marching orders. He’ll learn more about Obama’s plans for Ukraine. More on his visit below. He’s Ukraine’s illegitimate prime minister. He serves its xenophobic, ultranationalist, neo-Nazi, hate-mongering, anti-Semitic, coup d’etat regime. A rogue’s gallery of societal misfits runs it. He’s a natural. He’s super-rich. He’s a former central banker/economy/foreign minister and parliament (Verkhovna Rada) speaker. He betrayed his people. He sold out for greater wealth and power. He’s a Batkivshchya/All-Ukrainian Union (Fatherland) leader. Continue Reading…

Published on english.Xinhuanet, March 11, 2014.

BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) — China is very likely to ease its grip on bank deposit rates within one or two years, central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan said on Tuesday. Zhou made the remarks at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People’s Congress, China’s top legislature. As part of the financial reform, the country has taken incremental steps toward interest rate liberalization, including a move in July to scrap the floor limit for bank lending rates, and a guideline in December for piloting negotiable deposit certificates on the interbank market. Zhou’s comments came after a government work report said last week that the country is to establish a deposit insurance system this year, the last and most important step of interest rate liberalization.  Continue Reading…

Published on Global Research.ca, by James Corbett, Prof Michel Chossudovsky, F. William Engdahl, Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, March 4, 2014.

Watch this video, 12.35 min:

In late 2004, protests erupted after Viktor Yanukovych won the 2004 Ukrainian Presidential election, with protestors claiming that the vote had been rigged. The protests forced a revote, in which Yanukovych’s rival, Viktor Yuschenko, was elected president. This movement, dubbed the Orange Revolution for the orange ribbons and clothing sported by its members, was one of a series of so-called colour revolutions which swept the former Soviet Republics in the last decade … // Continue Reading…

Published on People’s World, by Mark Gruenberg, March 7, 2014.

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (PAI) — When Pilar Molina comes home from work at night, often after toiling for 10-12 hours at the family’s tortilla bakery and store, her elder daughter, 9-year-old Caitlin, frequently has a question for her. “Why isn’t my Daddy home?”

The answer to that question, that Daddy has been in detention since the night he closed the store in Norristown, Pa., on Jan. 27 and was grabbed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, has driven his wife, Pilar, into activism.  Continue Reading…

Publié dans Institut pour la Protection de la Santé Naturelle IPSN.eu, le 18 février 2014.
Le jugement a été (re-)fixé au 7 avril 2014 – la mobilisation continue: écoutez l’audio par Emmanuel Giboulot … Signez ici la petition.

… Emmanuel Giboulot, viticulteur bio dans le département de la Côte-d’Or, exploite depuis plus de quarante ans 10 hectares de vignes en agriculture biologique. Le 24 février 2014, il (passera / avait passé) devant le tribunal correctionnel pour avoir refusé de déverser un dangereux pesticide sur sa vigne. Il encourt jusqu’à 6 mois d’emprisonnement et 30 000 euros d’amende. Par solidarité avec lui, je vous demande de signer la déclaration de soutien dont le lien est située en haut. Continue Reading…

Published on Al-Ahram weekly online, by Faiza Rady, March 6, 2014.

“We came to this labour meeting to talk about what is happening to our jobs and our factory but you won’t listen. Even among our fellow workers we are marginalised. All you want to talk about is the minimum wage but our situation is worse. Since our factory was declared bankrupt we have been paid just 30 per cent of our salaries. Over and above legitimate minimum wage considerations you should listen to us because we are waging a struggle to survive,” said Nabila Abbas Al-Saidi from the Wabriyat textile and garment mill in the Delta town of Samanud.   Continue Reading…

Published on The Bullet, Socialist Project’s E-Bulletin No. 946, by NUMSA, March 6, 2014.

A. The world we live in today and our 20 years of “Democracy”:

It is impossible to deny that the world has seen the most severe crisis of the global capitalist system. And, there is no end in sight, to this crisis.   Continue Reading…

Published on Intrepid Report, by Ellen Brown, J.D., March 6, 2014.

In a nearly $13 billion settlement with the US Justice Department in November 2013, JPMorgan Chase admitted that it, along with every other large US bank, had engaged in mortgage fraud as a routine business practice, sowing the seeds of the mortgage meltdown. JPMorgan and other megabanks have now been caught in over a dozen major frauds, including LIBOR-rigging and bid-rigging; yet no prominent banker has gone to jail. Meanwhile, nearly a quarter of all mortgages nationally remain underwater (meaning the balance owed exceeds the current value of the home), sapping homeowners’ budgets, the housing market and the economy. Since the banks, the courts and the federal government have failed to give adequate relief to homeowners, some cities are taking matters into their own hands.   Continue Reading…