politics for the 99%

Published on The Bullet, Socialist Project’s E-Bulletin No. 1094, by John Clarke, March 24, 2015.

The Mayor’s Office in Toronto is today occupied by a much slicker operation than it was during the years of dysfunctional, bigoted buffoonery that unfolded under Rob Ford. Mayor John Tory has resumed the drive toward a fully fledged neoliberal city but has the basic political skills to frame his twin agendas of austerity and upscale redevelopment in the language of inclusiveness. He has been sufficiently proficient at this to rapidly create what Michael Laxer has termed an austerity consensus supported by the overwhelming majority of the Council, including its left wing … // Continue Reading…

Published on Russia Today RT, March 22, 2015;

A convoy of US military vehicles, mostly IAV Stryker APCs, is touring through Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, the Czech Republic to Germany in a symbolic show of force and solidarity with Eastern European allies “that live closest to the Bear” … //

… (7 VIDEOS and text) … // Continue Reading…

… im deutschen Ersten Fernsehen vom 11. März 2015 – Griechenlands Schulden   Continue Reading…

already posted on two others of my blogs, but receiving each a fake virus-warning by an Antivirus Programm (there is no virus, only someone not liking this text), here I publish it again: Continue Reading…

Published on The Bullet, Socialist Project’s E-Bulletin No. 1089, by Spyros Lapatsioras, John Milios and Dimitris P. Sotiropoulos, March 11, 2015.

1. Introduction

The transitional “bridge Agreement” of the 20th of February is a truce intended by the Greek government and welcomed by the other side (the European “institutions”). Within the truce period (the next four months), the conditions for negotiating the next agreement will be shaped. This could mean that everything is still open. However, that is not true for two reasons. First, the very transitional agreement changes the balance of power. Second, the “hostilities” will continue in the course of the next four months (i.e. the review of the commitments and the re-interpretation of the terms by each party). Continue Reading…

… We Have Created a Monster – Published on Spiegel Online International, by Julia Amalia Heyer and Christoph Pauly, March 10, 2015 (Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan).

In an interview with SPIEGEL, celebrated French economist Thomas Piketty speaks about Alexis Tsipras’ election victory in Greece, Europe’s inability to fix its financial woes and what EU leaders can learn from the United States.

SPIEGEL: You publicly rejoiced over Alexis Tsipras’ election victory in Greece. What do you think the chances are that the European Union and Athens will agree on a path to resolve the crisis?   Continue Reading…

Published on Spiegel Online International, by staff, Nov 24, 2014 (Photo Gallery):

One year ago, negotations over a Ukraine association agreement with the European Union collapsed. The result has been a standoff with Russia and war in the Donbass. It was an historical failure, and one that German Chancellor Angela Merkel contributed to … (a chronology from Feb. 25, 2010 to Nov. 28, 2013).

Only six meters separated German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych as they sat across from each other in the festively adorned knight’s hall of the former Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania. In truth, though, they were worlds apart.   Continue Reading…

Published on AlJazeera, by Molly McCluskey, Oct 11, 2014:

Country’s youth apprenticeship programme is credited with one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe. While nearly half of young people in some European countries cannot find work, a unique training programme in Switzerland has ensured jobs for nearly all who want one. More than 24 million people in the European Union are unemployed, and nearly 5.2 million of them are aged between 15-24 … // Continue Reading…

Published on Spiegel Online International, a commentary by Christiane Hoffmann, Oct 8, 2014.

• Although there is always reason to celebrate the toppling of an autocrat, the outcome of the Iraq war and the rise of Islamic State have demonstrated in horrific terms that the alternative can be even worse.
• In mid-April 2003, German author Hans Magnus Enzensberger published a piece in the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in which he celebrated the fall of Saddam Hussein. He wrote of his “deep,” even “triumphant” joy upon learning of the end of Iraq’s brutal dictatorship. The article was also full of derision and mockery for the skeptics who warned against the wisdom of US President George W. Bush’s invasion.   Continue Reading…

EUROPE: Civilians die in latest Ukraine offensive, on Al Jazeera, August 3, 2014.

At least ten dead as government forces continue to close in on Donetsk, forcing rebel groups out of surrounding towns. At least ten civilians have been killed in new fighting between government forces and pro-Russian separatists around the cities of Luhansk and Donetsk in east Ukraine, local officials say.

Six people were killed in shelling and gunfire on the outskirts of Donetsk, Deputy Mayor Kostantyn Savinov said on Sunday, while city officials said three others were killed in shelling of Luhansk over the previous 24 hours. Officials in the frontline rebel base of Gorlivka reported one dead and 16 hurt in clashes there.   Continue Reading…

Published on ZNet, by David Harvey, April 7, 2014.

This is an excerpt — the last two chapters — from Seventeen Contradictions and the End of Capitalism by David Harvey, out now from Profile Books. David Harvey the Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Geography at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and Guggenheim Fellowship recipient. He has authored such books as The Condition of Postmodernity (1989), A Brief History of Neoliberalism (2005), and A Companion to Marx’s Capital (2010). An interview with Harvey was featured on our website in 2012.

Prospects for a Happy but Contested Future: The Promise of Revolutionary Humanism:    Continue Reading…