Why Bernie Sanders’ Campaign Matters

Published on ZNet, by Ron Daniels, Feb 15, 2016.

… Bernie Sanders is articulating a bold vision of what should and can be achieved if millions believe and join the “revolution” by educating, mobilizing and marching on ballot boxes to chasten the billionaire class, the oligarchy, to transform the face of this nation. A parasitical billionaire class, Wall Street, must be compelled to pay the price for a more just and humane America. Millions of people are “sick and tired of being sick and tired” of pedestrian politics and business as usual. Vision matters, and it is Bernie Sanders’ vision and the meaning of the message that is motivating millions to join the “revolution and march on ballot boxes to embrace a truly progressive policy agenda.   Continuer la lecture de « Why Bernie Sanders’ Campaign Matters »

Propaganda as “News”: Ecuador Sells out Indigenous and the Environment to China

Published on Dissident Voice, by Stansfield Smith, Feb 13, 2016.

The end of January a news article appeared, “Ecuador To Sell A Third Of Its Amazon Rainforest To Chinese Oil Companies,” and has resurfaced again and again on the internet. Posted on progressive websites such as Reader Supported News, Daily Kos, “The PeoplesVoice.org,” “ThinkGlobalGreen.org,” the story often comes with maps of the affected area, and include pictures of indigenous peoples living peaceably with nature or protesting against oil drilling.   Continuer la lecture de « Propaganda as “News”: Ecuador Sells out Indigenous and the Environment to China »

Greeks will have to become migrants [3 VIDEOS, PHOTOS]

… 10,000 farmers protest EU-imposed reforms in Athens [3 VIDEOS, PHOTOS] – Published on RT, Feb 13, 2016.

Thousands of Greek farmers set up a protest camp in central Athens to speak out against tax and pension reforms required by the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Earlier, hundreds clashed with police at the Agriculture Ministry.   Continuer la lecture de « Greeks will have to become migrants [3 VIDEOS, PHOTOS] »

Switzerland's Base Income Vote Turns Finance Reform Into a Democratic Spectacle

Published on INVERSE, by Ethan Jacobs, Feb 11, 2016.

Swiss citizens will decide whether they should receive over $2,500 a month for being Swiss.

Americans are so intensely and intimately familiar with the virtues and vices of representative democracy, it’s easy for us to forget that democracy has alternative forms. Switzerland is about to give us a valuable reminder. As U.S. presidential candidates regurgitate stump speeches in the lead up to Super Tuesday, the TK citizens of Europe’s famously neutral, famously TK mountain kingdom will put the idea of basic income to a vote. The Swiss are having a referendum on whether they should be paid for being Swiss.   Continuer la lecture de « Switzerland's Base Income Vote Turns Finance Reform Into a Democratic Spectacle »

Two, Three … Many Flints

Published on ZNet (first on TomDispatch),
by David Rosner and Gerald Markowitz, Feb 11, 2016.

… The price tag for replacing the lead pipes that contaminated its drinking water, thanks to the corrosive toxins found in the Flint River, is now estimated at up to $1.5 billion. No one knows where that money will come from or when it will arrive. In the meantime, the cost to the children of Flint has been and will be incalculable. As little as a few specks of lead in the water children drink or in flakes of paint that come off the walls of old houses and are ingested can change the course of a life. Continuer la lecture de « Two, Three … Many Flints »

Democratizing Europe: Varoufakis launches new movement

… to save EU from ‘disintegration’ [2 VIDEOS] – Published on RT, Feb 9, 2016.

  • Democracy or disintegration are the EU’s only options, Greece’s ex-finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, said before the official launch of a pan-European political movement he hopes will help tackle the nationalization of policies in the 28-member union.
  • The “spectacular failure of the EU” to implement sound economic and refugee policies has tilted its members towards nationalism, the bike-riding former PM of Greece said on Tuesday, speaking to reporters at the Volksbühne Theater in Berlin.

Continuer la lecture de « Democratizing Europe: Varoufakis launches new movement »

We Can’t Afford These Billionaires

Published on counterpunch, by DANIEL RAVENTÓS and JULIE WARK, Feb 5, 2016

In its 2015 report the World Economic Forum, aka the globe-grabbing business elite, pronounced from its opulent mountain fastness in Davos that, “Inequality is one of the key challenges of our time.” Paying $25,000 to attend this billionaires’ bash, and that’s after shelling out the compulsory $52,000 WEF membership fee, the said elite isn’t pronouncing on inequality out of any empathy for the poor and oppressed. This becomes perfectly clear on page 38 of the Global Risks Report 2016 where the reader is informed that inequality has consequences: … // Continuer la lecture de « We Can’t Afford These Billionaires »

Ukraine – An US-Installed Nazi-Infested Failed State

Published on The People’s Voice.org, by Stephen Lendman, Feb 8, 2016.

… Two years after fascists seized power, conditions for ordinary Ukrainians are deplorable. According to Germany’s daily broadsheet Junge Welt, they’re “staggering.”

“Since the end of the Yanukovych era, the average income has decreased by 50%,” it reported – on top of 2015’s 44% inflation, nearly reducing purchasing power by half, making it impossible for most Ukrainians to get by. They’re suffering hugely, deeply impoverished, denied fundamental social services, abolished or greatly reduced en route to eliminating them altogether.   Continuer la lecture de « Ukraine – An US-Installed Nazi-Infested Failed State »

CANADA: against Privatization, Health Coalition Demands Funding for Hospitals

… Submission to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs – Published on The Bullet, Socialist Project’s E-Bulletin No. 1217, Feb 5, 2016.

… A sampling of recent cuts:

Between debt and the devil, in the eye of a new global financial storm

Special Event – Wednesday 10 February 2016, New Economics Foundation (NEF), 10 Salamanca Place, London SE1 7HB, 18:00 – 19:30, refreshments provided – Space limited – register.
Website: New Economics Foundation nef.org, economics, as if people and the planet mattered (on en.wikipedia).

Uploaded on YouTube by New Economics Foundation:
Can we measure happiness? 11.43 min, Feb 3, 2016 … NEF’s Saamah Abdallah on Sky News;
GDP release by NEF’s Olivier Vardakoulias, on Sky News, 5.06 min, Jan 28, 2016;   Continuer la lecture de « Between debt and the devil, in the eye of a new global financial storm »

Basic income for the Swiss?

Published on Market Express.in, by Deutsche Welle DW, Feb 2, 2016.

Pauper or billionaire: Switzerland prepares for a vote on a basic income for all. Here are the arguments pro and con – and why the referendum is most likely to fail.
To work or not to work for a living – that may no longer be an issue in Switzerland in the near future.
The Swiss go to the polls on June 5 in a referendum on an unconditional basic income (UBI). A guaranteed income for everyone, no questions asked … // Continuer la lecture de « Basic income for the Swiss? »

Migrationsrealität … noch nicht im Griff

Zuerst ein paar Fragen: erlauben wir unserem Nachwuchs, sich so aufzuführen? Wenn nicht, warum akzeptieren wir das Benehmen nachfolgender Hitzköpfe, ohne sofort abzuschieben? Diese Leute verstehen nur eine Sprache, die sie in die Schranken weisst. Sind wir noch erziehungsfähig? Sind wir wirklich diese beschimpften Weicheier? Wenn nicht, warum führen wir uns dann so auf? Continuer la lecture de « Migrationsrealität … noch nicht im Griff »