Mois : novembre 2016

Published on Dissident Voice, by Mohammed Mesbahi, Nov 15, 2016: a spiritual education for the Art of Being (Part One; Part Two).

… The lack of right education in our societies therefore highlights our underlying dilemma, in that the sharing economy is a viable idea, a potentially colossal and planetary idea, if it is accomplished in a wholly inclusive and moral way by firstly concentrating all our attention on the needs of the world’s struggling poor majority. Continuer la lecture de « The True Sharing Economy: Inaugurating an Age of the Heart, Part 3 of 3 »

Published on Countercurrents.org, by Mirza Yawar Baig, Nov 15, 2016.

Dire Straits’ famous song has some very politically incorrect lyrics but the refrain, ‘Money for nothing and the chicks for free’ sums up the situation of black marketeers and owners before the demonetization and the name of the songsters – Dire Straits – sums up their situation in India today. But what are the implications of demonetization? We have seen many theories; conspiracy and otherwise. One of the best articles that I have read is by former Finance and Economic Affairs Secretary, Arvind Mayaram, which is here:   Continuer la lecture de « India: Demonetisation And The Loss Of Faith In Rupee »

… including most kids in Afghanistan – Published on RT, Nov 15, 2016.

.. Thirty-two percent also said their schools were not always safe. The ‘Small Voices, Big Dreams’ survey, conducted by the ChildFund Alliance, interviewed 6,226 children between the ages of 10 and 12 who live in 41 countries – 31 of which are developing nations across Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Of the students surveyed, 3,658 were from developing nations. Continuer la lecture de « One-third of children in developing countries miss school to work – survey »

Published on The Spectator, Brendan O’Neill, Nov 9, 2016.

If you want to know why Trump won, just look at the response to his winning. The lofty contempt for ‘low information’ Americans. The barely concealed disgust for the rednecks and cretins of ‘flyover’ America who are apparently racist and misogynistic and homophobic. The haughty sneering at the vulgar, moneyed American political system and how it has allowed a wealthy candidate to poison the little people’s mushy, malleable minds. Continuer la lecture de « The sneering response to Trump’s victory reveals exacytly why he won »

Published on In The Half Light, by PaulOC, Nov 9, 2016.

The election of Donald Trump as President of the United States, much like the Brexit vote in the UK earlier this year, has been greeted by mainstream commentators with a mixture of vapid incomprehension and shrill, moralistic denouncement. The emptiness of these responses reflect a central problem for liberals, centrists, so-called ‘leftists’ and others in advanced capitalist countries, namely that their gods have failed them. Capitalist development and competition, wedded to (and notionally tempered by) limited, representative democracy and consensus politics have all proven inadequate to the historical tasks before them. Continuer la lecture de « Trump, Mair and The Gods That Failed »

Published on Let’s Try Democracy, by David Swanson, Nov 9, 2016.

Dear Democrats, are you finding yourselves suddenly a bit doubtful of the wisdom of drone wars? Presidential wars without Congress? Massive investment in new, smaller, « more usable » nuclear weapons? The expansion of bases across Africa and Asia? Are you disturbed by the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Yemen? Can total surveillance and the persecution of whistleblowers hit a point where they’ve gone too far? Is the new Cold War with Russia looking less than ideal now? How about the militarization of U.S. police: is it time to consider alternatives to that?   Continuer la lecture de « Now We Can Finally Get to Work »

Published on Dissident Voice (first on New Eastern Outlook) NEO, by Andre Vltchek, Nov 7, 2016.

People all over the world are fed up with capitalism … // Continuer la lecture de « Top Secret: These are actually Socialist Countries »

Published on RT, Nov 6, 2016.

Among the many ways in which the 2016 US presidential election has been out of the ordinary is the invocation of Russia as a looming threat to American democracy, basically putting “Putin on the ballot” in the words of the Washington Post. Continuer la lecture de « 'Red Scare 2', Russia and the 2016 US election »

Published on Informed Comment, by Juan Cole, Nov 4, 2016.

The Turkish government has detained 11 members of parliament from the leftist, feminist and pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP),including the party’s co-chairs. This step is intended to give Erdogan the majority in parliament he needs to make himself president for life, and to give Turkey (currently a parliamentary government) an imperial presidency on the Egyptian model. The pretext was that these MPs declined to testify in a witch-hunt inquiry. I.e., this is precisely McCarthyism.   Continuer la lecture de « Turkish Gov’t arrests 15 Opposition MPs in Further Descent into Dictatorship »

Published on New Statesman, by John McDonnell, Nov 2, 2016.

After four decades, the economic consensus is crumbling, what can politicians do next? Continuer la lecture de « UK: Caught at a crossroads, it's time to build an alternative to neoliberalism »

Published on The Bullet, Socialist Project’s E- Bulletin No 1324, by David Bush, editor at RankandFile.ca., Nov 3, 2016.

There is major disorientation on the left in many Western countries when it comes to Syria and about how antiwar activists should respond to events on the ground in Syria and Iraq. The highly complex nature of the Syrian war involving a multitude of foreign states and non-state actors would, in the best of times, present the left with a real challenge to find political clarity. The fact that this is occurring precisely when the antiwar movement in countries like Canada and the United States are relatively weak only adds to the confusion. Continuer la lecture de « Syria and the Antiwar Tradition »

an Open Letter to Law Enforcement and National Guard in North Dakota – Published on ZNet, by Winona La Duke, Ann Wright and Zoltan Grossman, Nov 2, 2016.

So you joined law enforcement or the National Guard because you wanted to uphold the law, protect innocent civilians against the bad guys, and help your community in times of need. Instead, they’re having you blockade unarmed people who are trying to hold a prayer vigil, chasing them with armored vehicles and ATVs, raiding their tipis and sweat lodges at gunpoint, and shooting them (and their horses) with pepper spray, concussion grenades, tasers, and rubber bullets. You thought you’d be the cop on the beat or the citizen soldier, and they’ve made you into the cavalry riding in with Custer. Continuer la lecture de « Public Servants or Corporate Security? »