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Written on November 30th, 2014 in Index by heidi
Written on November 30th, 2014 in politics by heidi
Published on The Bullet, Socialist Project’s E-Bulletin No. 1060, November 28, 2014.
The 10th Asia Europe People’s Forum (AEPF), representing citizens, people and social movements from Asia and Europe (which met on 10th to 12th of October 2014 in Milan, Italy), urges the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) and its member Governments to recognize the following issues and priorities and to take forward our recommendations:
1). Socially and Environmentally Just Trade and Investment – (including Calls and/or Key Recommendations): Continue Reading…
Written on November 29th, 2014 in politics by heidi
Published on ZNet, by Cynthia Peters, Nov 27, 2014.
… So, parents, this is how they mess with our minds: Continue Reading…
Written on November 28th, 2014 in politics by heidi
Published on Activist Post, by Tony Cartalucci, November 26, 2014.
When faced on the battlefield with a numerically superior enemy, one must attempt to divide his enemy into smaller, more easily dispatched opponents – or even more ideally, divide them against one another, and have them defeat each other without ever drawing your sword. For Wall Street’s 0.1%, divide and conquer is a way of life … //
… Divide and Conquer: … //
… Ferguson – Playing America Like a Fiddle: … //
… Get Off the Hamster Wheel: Continue Reading…
Written on November 27th, 2014 in politics by heidi
Related Links:
- From the Civil War to Ferguson today – racism, rebellion & class struggle in the US, on Facebok;
- Germany and the European Commission’s €315 Billion Infrastructure “New Deal” is Yet More Smoke and Mirrors, on naked capitalism, by Yves Smith, Nov 26, 2014;
- What is Class Oppression? on ZNet, by Tom Wetzel, Nov 26, 2014;
- Middle class struggles to preserve retirement security, on The Bay State Banner, by Pamela Yip, Nov 26, 2014; Continue Reading…
Written on November 26th, 2014 in comment, politics by heidi
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…
Written on November 25th, 2014 in politics by heidi
Published on Russia Today RT, Nov 23, 2014.
Germany’s FM, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, has said he is against Ukraine joining NATO. In an interview with Der Spiegel, he said he considers “that it is possible for NATO to have a partnership with Ukraine, but not membership.”
He also added that he does not believe it is realistic for Ukraine to join the European Union in the foreseeable future, as the economic and political modernization of Ukraine is a “project for a few generations.”
He also urged Kiev to introduce reforms to fight corruption and mismanagement of the economy, saying they had to start immediately and that there was no time to lose … // Continue Reading…
Written on November 24th, 2014 in politics by heidi
Published on Intrepid Report, by Ellen Brown,Nov 21, 2014.
While 49 state treasuries were submerged in red ink after the 2008 financial crash, one state’s bank outperformed all others and actually launched an economy-shifting new industry. So reports the Wall Street Journal this week, discussing the Bank of North Dakota (BND) and its striking success in the midst of a national financial collapse led by the major banks … //
… Excess deposits do not explain the BND’s record profits: … //
… The real reasons for its stellar success: … //
… The downsides of a boom: Continue Reading…
Written on November 23rd, 2014 in politics by heidi
Published on Spiegel Online International, by Katrin Kuntz, Nov 21, 2014 (Photo Gallery – Translated from the German by Paul Cohen).
A group of Belgium’s leading practitioners of euthanasia recently visited the Auschwitz concentration camp memorial to learn more about death and humanity. The trip proved to be just as controversial for the doctors as it did insightful … //
… Some 70 people gradually gather around Distelmans. The group consists of doctors, psychologists and nurses from Belgium, most of whom work in the area of euthanasia. One of them is Eric Vandevelde, who during the course of his career has killed 20 people at their own request even as he helps women give birth every day. He’s accompanied by his wife Colette, who was instrumental in introducing Belgium’s euthanasia law 12 years ago. Manu Keirse, a psychologist, is also on hand. Continue Reading…
Written on November 22nd, 2014 in politics by heidi
Published on Counterpunch, by WILLIAM BLUM, Nov 20, 2014.
… None of the photos accompanying this New York Times story online showed any of these Russian troops or armored vehicles. … //
… Where are these photographs? And how will we know that these are Russian soldiers? And how will we know that the photos were taken in Ukraine? But most importantly, where are the fucking photographs?
Why am I so cynical? Because the Ukrainian and US governments have been feeding us these scare stories for eight months now, without clear visual or other evidence, often without even common sense … // Continue Reading…
Written on November 21st, 2014 in politics by heidi
Ideological foundations of the mainstream neoclassical economics – Published on Intrepid Report, by Ismael Hossein-zadeh, Nov 20, 2014.
There is now a widespread consensus that mainstream/neoclassical economists failed miserably to either predict the coming of the 2008 financial implosion, or provide a reasonable explanation when it actually arrived. Not surprisingly, many critics have argued that neoclassical economics has created more confusion than clarification, more obfuscation than elucidation. Economic “science” has, indeed, become “an ideological construct which serves to camouflage and justify the New World Order” [1]. Continue Reading…
Written on November 20th, 2014 in politics by heidi
Published on The Guardian, by Spencer Ackerman in NY, Nov 19, 2014.
- Senators, mostly Republicans warning of leaving the country exposed to terrorist threat, voted to beat back the USA Freedom Act
- Failure to pass US surveillance reform bill could still curtail NSA powers
- Nearly 18 months after Edward Snowden’s disclosures, the USA Freedom Act has died
… It was the denouement to over a year’s worth of political drama, characterized by shifting alliances and a reduction in ambitions for constraining the NSA, even in a post-Snowden Congress. Continue Reading…
Written on November 19th, 2014 in politics by heidi
Published on VOXeu.org, by Alex Bryson, John Forth, Lucy Stokes, Nov 17, 2014.
It is generally agreed that firms can improve their employees’ wellbeing through improvements in job quality – but is it in their economic interests to do so? This column reports research showing that satisfied employees and higher productivity go together. Analysis of the British Workplace Employment Relations Survey finds that employee job satisfaction is positively associated with workplace financial performance, labour productivity, and the quality of output and service … // Continue Reading…
Written on November 18th, 2014 in politics by heidi
in Texts, on Russia Today RT:
- Putin: Supporting Russophobia in Ukraine will result in catastrophe, on Russia Today RT, Nov 16, 2014 … Transcript of the Interview;
- Putin: Economic blockade of E. Ukraine a big mistake, Nov 16, 2014;
- Ukraine scraps human rights treaty for rebel areas, cuts services, freezes banks, Nov 16, 2014;
- Politics blinded them?’ Putin says sanctions against Russia may backfire on Ukraine, on Nov 15, 2014; Continue Reading…
Written on November 17th, 2014 in politics by heidi
Published on The Guardian, by Daniel Boffey, Nov 15, 2014: study shows gains for wealthier half of population, delivering a blow to George Osborne’s claims on fairness;
A landmark study of the coalition’s tax and welfare policies six months before the general election reveals how money has been transferred from the poorest to the better off, apparently refuting the chancellor of the exchequer’s claims that the country has been “all in it together”.
According to independent research to be published on Monday and seen by the Observer, George Osborne has been engaged in a significant transfer of income from the least well-off half of the population to the more affluent in the past four years. Those with the lowest incomes have been hit hardest. Continue Reading…
Written on November 16th, 2014 in politics by heidi
Published on Global Research.ca (first on War is a Crime), by David Swanson, Nov 13, 2014.
The similarities between mass incarceration and mass murder have been haunting me for a while, and I now find myself inspired by Maya Schenwar’s excellent new book Locked Down, Locked Out: Why Prison Doesn’t Work and How We Can Do Better. This is one of three books everyone should read right away. The others are The New Jim Crow and Burning Down the House, the former with a focus on racism in incarceration, the latter with a focus on the incarceration of youth. Schenwar’s is an overview of incarceration in all its absurd and unfathomable evil — as well as being a spotlight leading away from this brutal institution. Continue Reading…
Written on November 15th, 2014 in politics by heidi
Published on Al-Ahram weekly online, by Doaa El-Bey, Nov 13, 2014: On Egypt’s defence of its record at the UN Periodic Review meeting in Geneva.
While the head of the Egyptian delegation to Geneva insisted Egypt had witnessed a qualitative “leap” in the status of human rights, human rights groups have widely condemned Egypt’s record on basic freedoms over the last four years.
More than 300 recommendations, questions and comments from member states were included in the UN outcome report that followed Egypt’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) last week. Reservations were expressed over laws regulating NGOs, human rights, judicial procedures and the right to protest. Egypt’s Foreign Ministry, however, was keen to point out that amid the criticisms there were positive remarks. “From at least 100 countries,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Badr Abdel-Atti told Al-Ahram Weekly. Continue Reading…
Written on November 14th, 2014 in politics by heidi
Published on farmlandgrab.org, by Chris Arsenault, Nov 12, 2014.
ROME, Nov 12 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Development funds from European governments have helped to rescue a Canadian company that pays workers as little as $1 per day to toil on some of Africa’s largest palm oil plantations in the impoverished Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Government-backed investment funds from Britain, France and Spain, designed to help poor countries develop, stepped in to buy 60 percent of Toronto-listed Feronia Inc for about $35 million in two separate investments in 2012 and 2013. Continue Reading…
Written on November 13th, 2014 in politics by heidi
Written on November 12th, 2014 in politics by heidi
LIVE UPDATES – Go-go-go! Rosetta’s Philae lander descent to comet surface, on Russia Today RT, Nov 12, 2014!
*****
Published on The National Security Archive, by Thomas Blanton and Svetlana Savranskaya, Nov 9, 2014.
- Documents show accident and contingency, anxiety in world capitals;
- East German crowds led the way, with help from Communist fumbles, self-fulfilling TV coverage, Hungarian reformers, Czechoslovak pressure, and Gorbachev’s non-violence.
Washington, DC, November 9, 2014 – The iconic fall of the Berlin Wall 25 years ago today shocked international leaders from Washington to Moscow, London to Warsaw, as East German crowds took advantage of Communist Party fumbles to break down the Cold War’s most symbolic barrier, according to formerly secret documents from Soviet, German, U.S., Czechoslovak and Hungarian files posted today by the National Security Archive at George Washington University (The National Security Archive.org). Continue Reading…
Written on November 11th, 2014 in politics by heidi
Published on Russia Today RT, Nov 10, 2014;
New rules are being proposed that will force creditors, not taxpayers, to carry the losses of banks deemed “too big to fail.” The plans come after Western taxpayers were asked to pay trillions of dollars to bail out banks in the 2008 financial crisis. The new global rules will force creditors to bear banks’ losses, ensuring that taxpayers’ money should never be used again to bail out banks. The proposal was unveiled by Mark Carney, chairman of the Switzerland-based Financial Stability Board (FSB) and governor of the Bank of England. The new rules would require big banks to hold much more money against losses, which Carney called a “watershed” moment, adding that the bailout by the taxpayers in 2008 and 2009 was “totally unfair” … // Continue Reading…
Written on November 10th, 2014 in politics by heidi
LIVE UPDATES – Go-go-go! Rosetta’s Philae lander descent to comet surface, on Russia Today RT, Nov 12, 2014!
Published on The Independent.co.uk, by KITTY KNOWLES, Nov 9, 2014.
Dutch astrophysicist Dr Fred Jansen is no stranger to the difficulties of space exploration. He led the team that put an X-ray observatory in orbit in the 1990s, and has since overseen exploration operations to Mars and Venus. But the Rosetta mission manager described his latest challenge as the most difficult yet. Continue Reading…
Written on November 9th, 2014 in politics by heidi
how tiny state rubber-stamped tax avoidance on an industrial scale – Leaked documents show that one of the EU’s smallest states helped multinationals save millions in tax, to the detriment of its neighbours and allies – Published on The Guardian, by Simon Bowers, Nov 5, 2014. (See also: Audio – Irish Times Business Podcast: Lux Leaks, 19.44 min).
An unprecedented international investigation into tax deals struck with Luxembourg has uncovered the multi-billion dollar tax secrets of some of the world’s largest multinational corporations.
A cache of almost 28,000 pages of leaked tax agreements, returns and other sensitive papers relating to over 1,000 businesses paints a damning picture of an EU state which is quietly rubber-stamping tax avoidance on an industrial scale. Continue Reading…
Written on November 8th, 2014 in politics by heidi
Published on The Bullet, Socialist Project’s E-Bulletin no. 1052, by Pedro Marlez, Nov 6, 2014.
… The Spanish political crisis is advancing slowly but inexorably. In the last five or six months we have witnessed a series of events that have exacerbated the process of decomposition: the turbulence produced by the European elections, the succession to the throne, the most serious corruption scandals to surface for generations, and the conflict between the central government and Catalonia. The right-wing government of [Prime Minister] Mariano Rajoy has sought relief in macroeceonomic data, but the optimism expressed is groundless: no figures are available to show a solid recovery, with the exception of the fall in unemployment, which is explicable on the basis of a seasonally favourable situation in the services sector. The period to come will be very difficult for the government, even decisive in different areas of conflict … // Continue Reading…
Written on November 7th, 2014 in politics by heidi
Published on Axis of Logic (first on teleSUR), by Ezequiel Adamovsky, Nov 5, 2014.
Announcements by the World Bank, the IMF; and other neoliberal think tanks, that poverty is decreasing and the middle class increasing is just a fantasy that stems from ideologically biased research programs and conceptions of poverty … //
… All this, of course, is nothing but a fantasy that stems from ideologically biased research programs and conceptions of poverty. In the past decades, international organizations and think tanks have produced a subtle shift in the way we understand poverty and class differences. We used to think of both as relations: there is no poverty in itself, but only in relation to wealth; one can only be of “lower” condition by contrast to the “higher” class. Continue Reading…