politics for the 99%

Published on Intrepid Report, by Ellen Brown, J.D., Nov 15, 2013;

In Costa Rica, publicly-owned banks have been available for so long and work so well that people take for granted that any country that knows how to run an economy has a public banking option. Costa Ricans are amazed to hear there is only one public depository bank in the United States (the Bank of North Dakota), and few people have private access to it … //

… The dire effects of the IMF’s austerity measures were confirmed in a 1993 book excerpt by Karen Hansen-Kuhn, titled “Structural Adjustment in Costa Rica: Sapping the Economy.” She noted that Costa Rica stood out in Central America because of its near half-century history of stable democracy and well-functioning government, featuring the region’s largest middle class and the absence of both an army and a guerrilla movement.  Continue Reading…

Published on ZNet, by Robin Hahnel, November 13, 2013.

In the aftermath of the collapse of communism, debate about alternatives to capitalism has divided into three camps: advocates of market socialism, proponents of democratic planning, and supporters of community-based economics.[1] Few anti-capitalists—whether they favor market socialism, democratic planning, or community-based economics—deceive themselves that there is more than a tiny minority in any advanced economy who are ready to replace capitalism at this time. Continue Reading…

Video on Veterans Day on Democracy Now News, from 42.20 min – 58.56, min, Full Interview with Ann Jones, by Amy Goodman, November 11, 2013:

U.S. Veterans Face Staggering Epidemic of Unemployment, Trauma & Suicide

(Book: They Were Soldiers: How the Wounded Return from America’s Wars – The Untold Story, by Ann Jones, on Haymarket Books: Ann Jones shines a much-needed light on the dead, wounded, mutilated, brain-damaged, drug-addicted, suicidal, homicidal casualties of our distant wars, taking us on a stunning journey from the devastating moment an American soldier is first wounded in rural Afghanistan to the return home. Beautifully written by an empathetic and critical reporter who knows the price of war).

Today marks Veterans Day, the federal holiday honoring U.S. men and women who have fought in the armed forces. Veterans continue to face extremely high levels of unemployment, traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress and homelessness.  Continue Reading…

• The Secret Life of a Superpower, uploaded by TruthExposed, Oct 13, 2013: Part 1, 59.28 min, Part 2, 59.35 min;
• Australian Government spies on all internet users, 4.10 min, uploaded by NEO2012anonymous, Sept 10, 2013: CHANNEL 7 reveals in “The Morning Show”secret plans by Australian Government to spy on all internet users and searches …;
• NSA Blackmailing Obama? Interview with Whistleblower Russ Tice, 11.48 min, uploaded by breakingtheset, July 9, 2013: Abby Martin talks to Russell Tice about how the recent NSA scandal is only scratching the surface of a massive surveillance apparatus …;
• Wikileaks [Full Doc], 50.54 min, uploaded by NEO2012anonymous, May 29, 2013;
• Wikileaks, The Secret Story, a BBC Doc, 29.09 min, uploaded by Steve Criss, May 20, 2013.

See on Economy and Society: WhistleBlower Head of FBI … tells all from NWO.

… why is an epidemic of thievery sweeping America? – Published on The Economic Collapse, by Michael Snyder, November 3, 2013.

Desperate people do desperate things, and it appears that Americans are rapidly becoming a lot more desperate.  An epidemic of thievery is sweeping across America, and authorities are not quite sure what to make of it.  Down in Texas, cattle thieves can get up to $1,500 per head of cattle, and cattle rustling was up nearly 40 percent last year.  As you will read about below, cargo hijacking is becoming much more sophisticated, and it is being estimated that losses from cargo thefts will total about $216 million this year alone.  And for some reason, Tide laundry detergent has become a very hot commodity among common criminals all across America.  Continue Reading…

with his article on the Aboriginal People of Australia – Published on Axis of Logic, by John Pilger, Nov 7, 2013.

… Utopia, a new, epic film on Australia by John Pilger, will be released in cinemas in the UK in November and shown on ITV in December. Tickets are on sale at www.picturehouses.co.uk

In an article for the Guardian, John Pilger describes the suppression of Australia’s bloodied history while veneration for its colonial wars and the rise of militarism excludes the true story of the ‘the greatest expropriation of land in world history’.   Continue Reading…

• Kenyan Women Learn Bio-intensive Farming KHSP, 3.23 min, uploaded by ajwstv, Nov 3, 2011: Kenya—a country of nearly 35 million people—presently produces less than 50% of the food that its population needs to survive. Much of the agricultural land has been depleted by years of chemical-heavy industrial farming, and small-scale growers were long ago forced out of business by cheap subsidized imports from Western nations. Without a strong local agricultural economy, Kenya’s people are at the mercy of international market prices for food, and when prices rise, the poor go hungry …;    Continue Reading…

Published on Russia Today RT, Nov 8, 2013.

The UK is “by far the most important” player on the global financial secrecy market. While only ranked 21 on the Tax Justice Network index, the aggregated web of jurisdictions around the world makes Britain the top router of global financial secrets … //

… Overall Tax Justice Network ranked 82 global financial jurisdictions, 10 of which are directly connected to UK, whose head of state is the British queen. They include places like the fourth-ranked Cayman Islands, fourteenth-ranked Bermuda and the British Virgin Islands ranked 20th.    Continue Reading…

The directors of GCHQ, MI6 and MI5 are to face questions from a parliamentary committee. Here’s what they should be asked – Published on The Guardian, by Nick Hopkins, Nov 6, 2013.

The heads of Britain’s three intelligence agencies – whose identities were once regarded as top secret – will on Thursday give evidence before a parliamentary committee for the first time.

Sir Iain Lobban, the director of Government Communications Headquarters GCHQ, the MI6 (foreign intelligence) chief, Sir John Sawers, and the director general of MI5 (UK’s domestic counter-intelligence), Andrew Parker, will face questions from the intelligence and security committee in a 90-minute session … // Continue Reading…

• Cash Bern: Swiss may grant unconditional income for all, 2.39 min, uploaded by Russia Today RT, Oct 4, 2013: Swiss citizens are demanding a crucial change in the constitution, pushing for the introduction of a guaranteed income for everyone. RT teamed up with RUPTLY video to follow the story.RT’s Peter Oliver is in Bern where supporters of the basic income idea have gathered for a rally;
• unconditional income on YouTube-search;
• Why A Swiss Proposal To Give Every Citizen $2,800 Each Month Is So Radical, on Business Insider, by Adam Taylor, Oct 17, 2013;
• Swiss to vote on 2,500 franc basic income for every adult, on Reuters, Oct 4, 2013;
• unconditional income for all on Google Web-search;   Continue Reading…

Published on War us a Crime.org, by David Swanson, Nov 1, 2013.

President Dwight Eisenhower is often admired for having avoided huge wars, having declared that every dollar wasted on militarism was food taken out of the mouths of children, and having warned — albeit on his way out the door — of the toxic influence of the military industrial complex (albeit in a speech of much more mixed messages than we tend to recall).

But when you oppose war, not because it murders, and not because it assaults the rights of the foreign places attacked, but because it costs too much in U.S. lives and dollars, then your steps tend in the direction of quick and easy warfare — usually deceptively cheap and easy warfare.  Continue Reading…

• Putting a face to domestic violence in Saudi Arabia, 34.17 min, uploaded by AlJazeera English / The Stream, May 6, 2013;
• Women’s rights in the Middle East, 43.24 min, uploaded by AlJazeera English / The Stream, May 2, 2012:
• UNICEF: Girls around the world talk about their lives and their rights, 3.15 min, uploaded by UNICEF,  March 4, 2010;
• Princess Ameerah Al-Taweel on Women’s Rights, Islam & Giving Back, 20.13 min, uploaded by WSJDigitalNetwork, Sept 26, 2012;
• Nairobi: The world’s worst punishment for rape? sign the petition on AVAAZ.org, October 31, 2013;
• Kuwaiti woman arrested in Saudi Arabia for driving sick father to hospital, on Russia Today RT, Nov 3, 2013;
• A discourse on brocialism, on New Statesman, by Laurie Penny, Nov 2, 2013;
• On Brand, iconoclasm, and a woman’s place in the revolution: a dialogue with Richard Seymour on the question of how to reconcile the fact that people need stirring up with the fact that the people doing the stirring so often fall down when it comes to treating women and girls like human beings …;
• Today’s young women live with constant surveillance, It has to stop, on New Statesman, by Laurie Penny, Oct 23, 2013:
• To be a white, middle-class male in this society is to live without a certain sort of scrutiny that people from other demographics grow up expecting. Meanwhile, intimate surveillance creeps into every aspect of young women’s lives …;
• Global Women’s Rights, 6.33 min, uploaded by Jeremiah Smith, Nov 29, 2010: Gender equality is a global issue.

Published on Spiegel Online International, by Martin Hesse, November 1, 2013 (Photo Gallery).

Singapore has become an increasingly popular haven for money laundering and tax evasion. But now it faces calls for reform and a difficult dilemma: Can it be both a home for fortune hunters and a bastion of integrity? … //

… Singapore’s Ambitious Plan: … //

… Sketchy Money:   Continue Reading…

Published on People’s World, by Mark Gruenberg, Nov 1, 2013.

WASHINGTON – Corporate interests, led by the American Legislative Exchange Council ALEC and including the National Association of Manufacturers, the (US) Chamber of Commerce and retailers‘ groups, have undertaken – and continue to undertake – a wide-ranging attack on workers, union and non-union, a new Economic Policy Institute EPI report and a panel discussing it says.   Continue Reading…

Interview published on Theory Talks, with Timothy Mitchell, Theory Talk no. 59, Oct 25, 2013.

The unrest in the Arab world put the region firmly in the spotlights of IR. Where many scholars focus on the conflicts in relation to democratization as a local or regional dynamic, political events there do not stand in isolation from broader international relations or other—for instance economic—concerns. Among the scholars who has insisted on such broader linkages and associations that co-constitute political dynamics in the region, Timothy Mitchell stands out. The work of Mitchell has largely focused on highly specific aspects of politics and development in Egypt and the broader Middle East, such as the relations between the building of the Aswan Dam and redistribution of expertise, and the way in which the differences between coal and oil condition democratic politics.   Continue Reading…

• Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report and Databook 2013, 64 pdf-pages, on Credit Suisse Bank, by leadership from Credit Suisse Research and the world’s foremost experts, October 2013;
  (see also: same report for 2010, 128 pdf-pages, on Credit Suisse Bank, by leadership from Credit Suisse Research and the world’s foremost experts, October 2010);
• Growing wealth disparities: Six businessmen own the equivalent of 4.3 per cent of Egypt’s total wealth, while 25 per cent of their countrymen are living below the poverty line,  on Al-Ahram weekly online, by Noha Moustafa, Oct 30, 2013;
• Remembering E.P. Thompson: The Making of the English Working Class at Fifty, on ZNet, by Cal Winslow, October 27, 2013;
• Global wealth inequality: top 1% own 41%; top 10% own 86%; bottom half own just 1%, on Michael Roberts Blog, by blog owner, October 10, 2013 … with 25 Responses;
• On Manichean Worldviews and Effecting Change, on naked capitalism, by blof owner, Sept 27, 2012;   Continue Reading…

Published on Global Research.ca, by Kavaljit Singh, Oct 29, 2013.

On October 12, Raghuram Rajan, the new Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, announced that the RBI will soon issue new rules allowing a more liberal entry of foreign banks in India. “That is going to be a big opening because one could even contemplate taking over Indian banks, small Indian banks and so on,” he stated in Washington at an event organized by the Institute of International Finance, a global banking lobby group.  Continue Reading…

Published on e-International Relations, by Richard D. Wolff, October 27, 2013.

After 200 years of concentrating its centers in western Europe, north America, and Japan, capitalism is moving most of its centers elsewhere and especially to China, India, Brazil and so on. This movement poses immense problems of transition at both poles. The classic problems of early, rapid capitalist industrialization are obvious daily in the new centers. What we learn about early capitalism when we read Charles Dickens, Emile Zola, Maxim Gorky and Jack London, we see now again in the new centers.   Continue Reading…

Published on Monthly Review, by Martin Hart-Landsberg, 2013, Volume 65, Issue 05 (October),

If we are to build support for an alternative to capitalism we need clarity on the causes and consequences of the contemporary capitalist drive for greater liberalization and privatization, as well as the benefits from and limits to state direction of capitalist economic activity. Although a small country, Iceland’s recent experience has much to teach us about capitalist dynamics and strategies of transformation.   Continue Reading…

• Awake and Aware 2013, Panel Discussion, 159.232 min, uploaded by Project Camelot, April 9, 2013;
• Kate Northrup at Wanderlust Festival’s Speakeasy – Whistler 2012, 54.41 min,  uploaded by Wanderlust Festival, May 24, 2013;
• WhistleBlower Head of FBI tells all from NWO, 63.34 min, uploaded by gkossatzgmxde, May 8, 2013;
• INELIA BENZ, the full interview with Bill Ryan from Project Avalon, 103.27 min, uploaded by AlphaZebra, May 20, 2011;
• We are the 99 Percent: From Frustration to Occupation, Institute of Politics, 53.49 min, uploaded by Harvard University, Oct 14, 2011.

Gallup’s just-released poll showing a majority of Americans support the drug’s legalization isn’t quite true … at least not yet – Published on The Guardian, by Harry J. Enten, Oct 23, 2013.

Ever feel like you’re experiencing deja vu? I’m sure it’s happened to those of you who have smoked cannabis – you know, grass, marijuana, or, as the cool kids might say, weed. And while I’m not personally smoking the stuff, I get the same feeling when talking about marijuana polling.

It was big news Tuesday when Gallup released a poll showing that a record high 58% of Americans believe marijuana should be legalized. But the proof that a majority of Americans are in favor of cannabis legalization is, as I wrote earlier this year, simply not there yet. Take the Gallup poll, and the trend in it over the past few years.  Continue Reading…

The Coming Era of Tiny Wars and Micro-Conflicts – Published on ZNet (first on TomDispatch), by Tom Engelhardt, Oct 23, 2013.

In terms of pure projectable power, there’s never been anything like it … //

… Despite this stunning global power equation, for more than a decade we have been given a lesson in what a military, no matter how overwhelming, can and (mostly) can’t do in the twenty-first century, in what a military, no matter how staggeringly advanced, does and (mostly) does not translate into on the current version of planet Earth.   Continue Reading…

Published on World Socialist Web Site WSWS, by Barry Grey, Oct 23, 2013.

A series of reports released over the past several days document the killing of thousands of people, including hundreds of non-combatant civilians, in US drone strikes in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and other countries. The reports, issued by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, 105 pages, on Tuesday and the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions last Friday, expose as lies the claims of President Obama and administration officials that the drone strikes are “surgical” attacks that kill few civilians.  Continue Reading…

Published on truthdig, by Chris Hedges, Oct 20, 2013.

“The rich are different from us,” F. Scott Fitzgerald is said to have remarked to Ernest Hemingway, to which Hemingway allegedly replied, “Yes, they have more money.”

The exchange, although it never actually took place, sums up a wisdom Fitzgerald had that eluded Hemingway. The rich are different. The cocoon of wealth and privilege permits the rich to turn those around them into compliant workers, hangers-on, servants, flatterers and sycophants. Wealth breeds, as Fitzgerald illustrated in “The Great Gatsby” and his short story “The Rich Boy,” a class of people for whom human beings are disposable commodities.   Continue Reading…

Published on VOX.org, by Knut Are Aastveit, Gisle James Natvik, Sergio Sola, October 19, 2013.

Many analysts blame uncertainty for at least part of advance nations’ poor economic performance since the crisis. This column discusses new research showing that the economic impact of monetary policy is dampened when uncertainty is high. This means that high uncertainty forces monetary policymakers into a trade-off between acting decisively and acting correctly as policy must be more aggressive than otherwise in order to stabilise economic activity. The finding is particularly stark when uncertainty measures from financial markets are utilised.   Continue Reading…