politics for the 99%

• Published on ahram online, by Dina Ezzat, April7, 2014.

Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi will officially become a presidential candidate this week, but speculation is already high regarding who will be among his presidential staff and what his policies will be … //

… Shades of grey: … //

… Human rights versus security:   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…

Published on Global Research.ca (first on Eco-Watch), by Global Research News, April 4, 2014.

Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-KS) will introduce legislation this month backed by the Grocery Manufactures Association—including biotech giant Monsanto and Koch Industries—that would establish a voluntary labeling system for food made withgenetically modified organisms (GMO), according to an industry insider.

The bill includes a “prohibition against mandatory labeling,” according to The Hill, and is designed to head off the many state bills and ballot initiatives that would impose more stringent labeling regulations on GMOs … // Continue Reading…

Radicalise, reform or fragment: these are the options facing the Muslim Brotherhood – on Al-Ahram weekly online, by Dina Ezzat, April 3, 2014.

Most people expect that on 5 June that Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi will be inaugurated as Egypt’s new president. The recently resigned military chief officially announced his candidacy against a backdrop that includes — according to local and international human rights organisations — the detention of more than 20,000 Muslim Brotherhood members who face a raft of charges. Triple that number are thought to be on the run, either in Egypt or abroad.   Continue Reading…

von Kleinkunstpreis 2014 alle im März 2014 auf YouTube hochgeladen:

• HG. Butzko: Die wirklich Mächtigen sind die Banken, 10.01 min;
• Oliver Welke: heute show vom 28.3.2014, 35.54 min;
• Volker Pispers: Demokratie in USA, Ägypten, Ukraine und Russland, 4.40 min,
• Christian Ehring: extra3 vom 26. März 2014, 29.23 min;
• Lars Reichow: Spätschicht, die SWR Comedy Bühne, 21. März 2014, 43.14 min.

Links:   Continue Reading…

Published on Pambazuka News, by Hamza Hamouchene, April 3, 2014.

In the run up to Algeria’s presidential elections on 17 April, a tragic comedy unfolds in which presidential candidates contest against a rigid regime with false stability. The outcome of the election is predetermined; and the people will lose, no matter which candidate wins.

Algeria’s next presidential elections will be held on 17 April 2014 and for the last few months; this important electoral rendezvous showed all the hallmarks of a masquerade, consistent with almost all the elections in the history of the Algerian state since independence in 1962.   Continue Reading…

Published on Real-World Economics Review Blog, by Peter Radford, April 2, 2014.

… If we are to set up an institute to support change, provoke discussion, and otherwise meddle about with the established way of thinking, and thus to earn the moniker of “newness”, we ought not to pack our agendas with a steady stream of establishment figures. That is not the way to revolution. It might, however, be the way to raise esteem and thus get the institution media attention.

Newness in economics is devilishly hard to locate. This is due, possibly, to the continued warring amongst longstanding points of view that have neither been reconciled nor defeated. Indeed, from my perspective, it is practically impossible to kill off an economic idea once it has attached itself to an ideological flag.    Continue Reading…

(two with english transcript … the rest in german):

uploaded on YouTube by ggwporg, March 2014:

• (written transcript in english and german): Leaked phonecall Timoshenko: “I’ll raise the whole world to reduce Russia”, 2.21 min,  am 24. März 2014 hochgeladen: „Ich wäre bereit diesem Mistkerl (Putin) mit einem Maschinengewehr in den Kopf zu schießen.” „Wir müssen Waffen nehmen und diesen „Scheiss-Kazapen” (Russen) abknallen.” „Ich würde den Weg finden wie ich diese Arschlöcher platt machen würde”. (sie meint Krim). „Ich werde all meine Verbindungen nutzen und die ganze Welt gegen Rußland anstifften so dass von diesem Land nicht mal ausgebranntes Feld bleibt”. Auf die Frage was man mit 8 Millionen Russen machen soll die in der Ukraine leben, antwortet Timoschenko: „Wir sollen sie mit Atomwaffen vernichten” – (deutsch + english = for english click on the Transcript Icon):    Continue Reading…

Published on Intrepid Report, by Paul Craig Roberts, April 1, 2014.

… In the Genesis of the World War, Harry Elmer Barnes shows that World War 1 was the product of 4 or 5 people. Three stand out: Raymond Poincaré, president of France; Sergei Sazonov, Russian foreign minister; and Alexander Izvolski, Russian ambassador to France. Poincaré wanted Alsace-Lorraine from Germany, and the Russians wanted Istanbul and the Bosphorus Strait, which connects the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. They realized that their ambitions required a general European war and worked to produce the desired war.   Continue Reading…

Published on Corriere della sera english, by Enrico Marro, Marzo 25, 2014 (English translation by Giles Watson).

Impeccably efficient and well worth a full bonus. Despite the best efforts of the then civil service minister Renato Brunetta, almost all public-sector managers in the top two pay bands managed to obtain assessments of more than 90% and pocket a full bonus. The Renzi government will now have to find a way to link earnings to results in its reform of public administration. But it will have to do more than that.   Continue Reading…

Published on World Socialist Web Site WSWS, by Christoph Dreiere, March 29, 2014.

A day after US President Barack Obama intensified NATO’s confrontation with Russia in Brussels, Germany’s second largest weekly newspaper, Die Zeit, has come out in favour of the reintroduction of compulsory military service.    Continue Reading…

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…

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…