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Erdogan and the Satirist, part 1: Inside Merkel’s Comedy Conundrum

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Published on Spiegel Online International, by Markus Brauck, Jörg Diehl, Dietmar Hipp, Isabell Hülsen, Hasnain Kazim, Alexander Kühn, Nils Minkmar, Martin U. Müller, Peter Müller, Ann-Katrin Nezik, René Pfister, Fidelius Schmid and Christoph Schult, April 15, 2016  (Photo Gallery).

With his insulting poem about Turkish President Erdogan, Jan Böhmermann has triggered an affair of state. Now, Chancellor Merkel has elected to allow legal proceedings against the German comedian. What, though, was Böhmermann’s intent?   Continue Reading…

The Brussels Business – who runs the EU

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one same report in four videos:

  • 1): spoken in english, subtitled in serb/cro, 85.21 min, uploaded by TBU NEWS, Dec 13, 2015: THE BRUSSELS BUSINESS is a docu-thriller that dives into the grey zone underneath European democracy. An expedition into the world of the 15,000 lobbyists in the EU-capital, of the PR-conglomerates, think tanks and their all embracing networks of power and their close ties to the political elites;   Continue Reading…

The War on Savings: the Panama Papers, Bail-Ins, and the Push to Go Cashless

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Published on Counterpunch, by ELLEN BROWN, April 12, 2016.

The bombshell publication of the “Panama Papers,” leaked from a Panama law firm specializing in shell companies, has triggered both outrage and skepticism. In an April 3 article titled “Corporate Media Gatekeepers Protect Western 1% From Panama Leak,” UK blogger Craig Murray writes that the whistleblower no doubt had good intentions; but he made the mistake of leaking his 11.5 million documents to the corporate-controlled Western media, which released only those few documents incriminating opponents of Western financial interests. Murray writes: … // Continue Reading…

Arrests made as hundreds of elderly Americans protest at 2nd Democracy Spring sit-in

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Published on RT, April 12, 2016;

Hundreds of Americans, many of whom are elderly, marched in support of political reform in Washington, DC, taking part in a sit-in and risking arrest as they pushed for fairer elections. RT’s ‘Redacted Tonight’ host Lee Camp was one of those detained.   Continue Reading…

Basic Income And Social Democracy

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Published on Social Europe, by Philippe van Parijs, April 11, 2016.

… The idea of an unconditional basic income is in fashion. From Finland to Switzerland, from San Francisco to Seoul, people talk about it as they have never done. Twice before, basic income was the object of a real public debate, albeit briefly and limited to one country at a time. In both episodes, the centre left played a central role … // Continue Reading…

Selective Leaks Of The #Panama Papers Create Huge Blackmail Potential: Smear People the U.S. Dislikes

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Published on Global Research.ca (first on Moon of Alabama), April 4, 2016.

Graph: the scale of the leak

Paris is Burning!

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Published on Dissident Voice, by subMedia *, April 9, 2016 [with VIDEO, 20.59 min].

This week we take a look at the multiple converging flashpoints of resistance in France, which have combined into a popular movement that has inspired over a million peeps to take to the streets in a massive expression of collective rage.   Continue Reading…

Q & A with Angela Walker, Socialist Party USA candidate for Vice-President

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Interview published on The New Politics TNP, by Jim Brash, April 7, 2016.

TNS: First question, why were you chosen to be Mimi Soltysik’s running mate?   Continue Reading…

The Panama Papers Barely Scratches the Surface of UK Complicity in a Global Scandal

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Published on Dissident Voice, by Graham Vanbergen, April 7, 2016.

… Since the Conservative government got their knees under the table, George Osborne has systematically gone about creating what is effectively a territorial tax system for companies and organisations thus ensuring that no UK-based multinational pays taxation in the UK on profits arising to it from outside the country. Of course, the organisation itself has to deliberately go about structuring itself to achieve that goal, but once done, they are shielded from the deliberately lethargic tax office (HMRC) … // Continue Reading…

Saving capitalism or getting rid of it?

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Published on Socialist Worker.org, by Robert Reich, April 7, 2016.

What kind of change socialists should be fighting for? Danny Katch, author of Socialism… Seriously: A Brief Guide to Human Liberation, makes some proposals in his review of a book from a different part of the left: Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few, by former Labor Secretary and Bernie Sanders supporter Robert Reich … // Continue Reading…

Won’t help ordinary Ukrainians, Dutch suspect EU/Kiev deal more for power players than people

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Published on RT, April 6, 2016.

Polls have opened on Wednesday in the Netherlands to see if the public wants to back an agreement to bring Ukraine closer to the EU. While many Dutch people support ordinary Ukrainians, a great number believe the proposed deal will not help them … // Continue Reading…

a bunch of created realities

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Relax and just listen on YouTube:

Neoliberal Economists: Against Bernie Sanders and Common Sense

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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…

Looking the Basic Income Gift Horse in the Mouth

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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…

Natural Capital: What Is the True Cost of Food?

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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…

The Rebellion Will Not Go Away

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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…

Brazil, like Russia, under attack by Hybrid War

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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…

Basic Income BIG – Revenu de Base – Bedingungsloses Grundeinkommen BGE, March 1-31, 2016

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

Turkey ‘demands’ takedown of Erdogan-mocking video

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… 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…

The Managerial/ Professional Class Is Burning Out

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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…

Flint Water Oversight: Sacred Cows & Sacrificial Lambs

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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…

Finalising Cruelty: The EU-Turkey Agreement on Refugees

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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

*******

… 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…

US: You Say You Want a (Political) Revolution?

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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…

Ex-US Army Iraqi interpreter seeks refuge in Greece after US rejected entry – report

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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…

New Zealand: The case for a universal basic income

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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…