Mois : juin 2014

Published on Orion, by Scott Gast, May/June & July/August 2014.

IN THE MID-1960s, when author, historian, and political economist Gar Alperovitz was working as legislative director for Senator Gaylord Nelson, change was in the air. Ink had dried on an early version of the Clean Air Act, the civil rights movement had won major victories, and the first Earth Day was in the works. The U.S. still faced plenty of serious challenges, but many Americans felt their country was capable of dealing with them successfully … // Continuer la lecture de « A conversation with GAR ALPEROVITZ about the Cooperative Economy »

Published on Intrepid Report, by Bev Conover, June 27, 2914.

How would you feel if you went to buy some beer or wine for a party and encountered a group of strangers blocking the entrance to a liquor store and shouting about the evils of alcohol and when you tried to walk around or through them, they kept blocking your way, telling you that beer and wine are the work of the devil and they are trying to save you from his clutches? More than likely, you would be inclined to call the police, as risky as that can be these days.   Continuer la lecture de « United States Supreme Court gives anti-abortionists license to harass women outside clinics »

Banking in Switzerland on en.wikipedia is regulated by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) / (the Swiss government body responsible for financial regulation), (and) which derives its authority from a series of federal statutes. The country’s tradition of bank secrecy, which dates to the Middle Ages, was first codified in the Federal Act on Banks and Savings Banks, colloquially known as the Banking Law of 1934.[1] The regime of bank secrecy that Swiss banks are famous for came under pressure in the wake of the UBS tax evasion scandal, and the 1934 banking law was amended in 2009 to limit tax evasion by non-Swiss bank clients …;   Continuer la lecture de « Banking in Switzerland … and some of it's actual problems – 1 »

Published on Russia Today RT, June 26, 2014.

China is moving forward with a plan to create its own version of the World Bank, which will rival institutions that are under the sway of the US and the West. The bank will start with $100 billion in capital.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will extend China’s financial reach and compete not only with the World Bank, but also with the Asian Development Bank, which is heavily dominated by Japan. The $100 billion in capital is double that originally proposed, the Financial Times (FT) reported. Continuer la lecture de « China plans investment bank to break World Bank dominance »

Published on Intrepid Report, by Paul Craig Roberts, June 26, 2014.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is trying to save the world from war. We should all help him.

Tuesday, Putin’s presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov reported that President Putin has asked the Russian legislature to repeal the authorization to use force that was granted in order to protect residents of former Russian territories that are currently part of Ukraine from the rabid Russophobic violence that characterizes Washington’s stooge government in Kiev. Continuer la lecture de « Can Putin’s diplomacy prevail over Washington’s coercion? »

Published on Global Research.ca, by Prof. James Petras, June 24, 2014.

… In terms of cost to the United States, hundreds of thousands of soldiers who had served in the war zones have sustained severe physical and mental injuries, while thousands have died directly or indirectly through an epidemic of soldier suicides. The invasion and occupation of Iraq has cost the United States trillions of dollars and counting. Despite the immense costs to the American people, the military-industrial complex and the pro-Israel power configuration continue to keep the US government on a wartime economy – undermining the domestic social safety net and standard of living of many millions.   Continuer la lecture de « The Soaring Profits of the Military-Industrial Complex, The Soaring Costs of Military Casualties »

Published on Russia Today RT, June 23, 2014.

Ukraine nationalists have clashed with police outside the citadel of the Orthodox Church in Kiev, the Pechersk Lavra, as the churchgoers and monks were about to hold a peace service praying for an end to violence in Ukraine.   Continuer la lecture de « Kiev nationalists clash with police outside Orthodox monastery »

Published on Intrepid Report, by Frank Scott, June 23, 2014.

The destruction of Iraq, which began under the conservatively emotional Bush regime, continues under the liberally placid Obama administration. There are differences in style when an intelligent landscaper replaces a slack jawed gardener but the plantation they serve differs only in the cosmetic facade it sells the public, not the diseased crop it produces … // Continuer la lecture de « The warfare state of capital »

Published on World Socialist Web Site WSWS, by Johannes Stern, 21 June 2014.

The German bourgeoisie is responding to the debacle of US imperialism in Iraq by intensifying its campaign for militarism and war.

On Tuesday, during her first official visit to the US, German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen spoke out in favour of a strong Bundeswehr (German armed forces) participation in an international military intervention. Germany had “key positions and capabilities, which other countries do not”, she said. The UN had asked her “that Germany one day also lead a United Nations military peace mission”, and the defence ministry was considering how the Bundeswehr could be more heavily involved.   Continuer la lecture de « German militarism and the US debacle in Iraq »

Published on Dissident Voice, by Ellen Hodgson Brown, June 20, 2014.

… When the US Federal Reserve bought an 80% stake in American International Group (AIG) in September 2008, the unprecedented $85 billion outlay was justified as necessary to bail out the world’s largest insurance company. Today, however, central banks are on a global corporate buying spree not to bail out bankrupt corporations but simply as an investment, to compensate for the loss of bond income due to record-low interest rates. Indeed, central banks have become some of the world’s largest stock investors.   Continuer la lecture de « Buying up the Planet »