US drone pilots are stressed and demoralized – official report

Published on Russia Today RT, April 18, 2014.

The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) has produced a scathing report detailing the Air Force’s mismanagement of its active-duty drone pilots, who are responsible for the most demanding and deadly missions in the entire US military.

US senators asked the GAO to investigate how the Air Force treated its pilots back in 2012, following previous reports of pilot issues, and in view of the massive expansion of America’s secretive drone pilot army. Since President Barack Obama was elected in 2008, the number of drone pilots has tripled, and now stands at over 1,300.   Continuer la lecture de « US drone pilots are stressed and demoralized – official report »

Class Based Economics

Published on Real-World Economics Review Blog, by Peter Radford, April 16, 2014.

Buried somewhere in the pile of stuff I have accumulated as I think about inequality are these statistics:

  • Of all the income generated between 2009 and 2011 in the US 121% went to the top 1% of income earners
  • The top 1% owns just over half of all investment assets including 64.4% of all bonds
  • And, the bottom 90% incurs 72.5% of all debt

Think through the consequences of these numbers.   Continuer la lecture de « Class Based Economics »

Karunesh

G. William Domhoff

Videos:

Three Expensive Milliseconds

Published on NYTimes, by Paul Krugman, April 13, 2014.

Four years ago Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, abruptly canceled America’s biggest and arguably most important infrastructure project, a desperately needed new rail tunnel under the Hudson River. Count me among those who blame his presidential ambitions, and believe that he was trying to curry favor with the government- and public-transit-hating Republican base.   Continuer la lecture de « Three Expensive Milliseconds »

The Global Banking Game Is Rigged, and the FDIC Is Suing

Published on Dissident Voice, by Ellen Hodgson Brown, April 13, 2014.

Taxpayers are paying billions of dollars for a swindle pulled off by the world’s biggest banks, using a form of derivative called interest-rate swaps; and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has now joined a chorus of litigants suing over it … //

… The Largest Cartel in World History:   Continuer la lecture de « The Global Banking Game Is Rigged, and the FDIC Is Suing »

Irresistible: Espionage, Dissent, and NGOs

Published on Dissident Voice, by Binoy Kampmark, April 12, 2014.

Edward Snowden’s revelations on the voracious appetite of spying on all and sundry by the National Security Agency and allied agencies should not give pause for too much comment, other than to affirm a general premise: activists and non-government groups are to be feared. Non-profits are seen as potential threats, though what to is sometimes unclear. Any government worth its salt should be afraid of its citizens – the latter must make the former accountable; the former must hold to the contractual bargain with citizens.   Continuer la lecture de « Irresistible: Espionage, Dissent, and NGOs »

Kenya: Somalis trapped in ‘catch-22’ amid crackdown on refugees

Published on Amnesty International, April 11, 2014;

Somali refugees and asylum-seekers living in Kenya are being trapped in a catch-22 situation by the government’s counter-terrorism crackdown, Amnesty International said as thousands of Somalis continued to be rounded up by security forces in Nairobi.

Registration of Somali refugees in Kenya has been largely halted since December 2011, preventing many who should qualify for refugee status from obtaining papers. Without these they could be returned to Somalia, where they may be at risk of human rights abuses.   Continuer la lecture de « Kenya: Somalis trapped in ‘catch-22’ amid crackdown on refugees »

War and the Demise of the US Dollar?

Is the US or the World Coming to an End? It will be One or the Other – Published on Global Research.ca, by Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, April 10, 2014.

2014 is shaping up as a year of reckoning for the United States.

Two pressures are building on the US dollar. One pressure comes from the Federal Reserve’s declining ability to rig the price of gold as Western gold supplies shrivel and market knowledge of the Fed’s illegal price rigging spreads.   Continuer la lecture de « War and the Demise of the US Dollar? »

Solidarity Economics, a Forgotten Practice of the Black Radical Tradition

Published on truthout, by Laura Flanders, April 9, 2014.

Video on GRITtv: Interview With Jessica Gordon Nembhard, 15.28 min, (also on YouTube, uploaded there by GRITtv, April 8, 2014).

Excerpt of Transcript:

… So, tell us some of the stories. Some of the documents in your book go all the way back to slavery times. Continuer la lecture de « Solidarity Economics, a Forgotten Practice of the Black Radical Tradition »