former title: Politics for the 99% – then under world-citizenship.org – encore en reconstruction
Published on SFgate, by James Temple, Dec 14, 2013.
Silicon Valley staged its take on the Oscars last week, hosting a black-tie affair that felt every bit like the Hollywood variety – except that you’ve probably never heard of any of the winners.
And that was kind of the point. Continuer la lecture de « Silicon Valley's red-carpet night for scientists »
Financial democracy requires bypassing large unaccountable institutions and reconnecting people to the reality of their money — by producing it ourselves – Published on ROARMAG.org, by Brett Scott, December 11, 2013.
In 2012, in celebration of Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee, I suggested that we securitize the Queen, using her as collateral for UK government borrowing. I thought she would support this modest proposal because royalty have long been financial innovators. Indeed, what were the old medieval armies but a blunt financial instrument? Monarchs invested resources into them in order to extract dividends from conquered peoples who did not want to be bludgeoned to death … // Continuer la lecture de « Are we witnessing an open source finance revolution? »
Published on Al-Ahram weekly online, by Mohamed Abdel-Baky, Dec 10, 2013.
During a rally held in Minya governorate, Nour Youssef, a member of the Social Democratic Party, urged his village to vote “yes” on the draft constitution.
The crowds shouted, “viva Egypt, bread, freedom and social justice”, repeating the 25 January 25 Revolution slogan. Continuer la lecture de « Egypt: With it or not »
A push to make America’s banks safer creates new uncertainties – Published on The Economist, Dec 14, 2013.
The 37 words inserted into the 848-page Dodd-Frank law overhauling the regulation of America’s financial institutions seemed innocent enough. Lawmakers wanted regulators to come up with strictures that would prevent banks from gambling with deposits insured by the federal government. The resulting rule, named after a prominent proponent, Paul Volcker, a former head of the Federal Reserve, prohibits banks from “proprietary trading”, meaning transactions conducted purely for their own gain, rather than to serve clients. On December 10th five different regulatory agencies approved the Volcker rule; it will come into force, awkwardly enough, on April 1st. Continuer la lecture de « The Volcker rule: More questions than answers »
Watch this video: The Secret History of How Cuba Helped End Apartheid in South Africa, 50.27 min, on Democracy Now, December 11, 2013.
As the world focuses on Tuesday’s historic handshake between President Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro, we look back at the pivotal role Cuba played in ending apartheid and why Castro was one of only five world leaders invited to speak at Nelson Mandela’s memorial. In the words of Mandela, the Cubans ‘destroyed the myth of the invincibility of the white oppressor … [and] inspired the fighting masses of South Africa.’ Continuer la lecture de « The Secret History of How Cuba Helped End Apartheid in South Africa »