Catégorie : Politics

… Can SYRIZA Put Forward a Progressive Alternative? – Published on The Bullet, Socialist Project’s E-Bulletin No. 1124, by John Milios, June 1, 2015.

1. The Nexus of Economic Crisis and Austerity

1.1. Austerity as a cost saving capitalist strategy:

• After the outbreak of the 2008 global economic crisis, extreme austerity policies prevailed in many parts of the developed capitalist world, especially in the European Union (EU) and the Euro-area (EA). Austerity has been criticized as an irrational policy, which further deteriorates the economic crisis by creating a vicious cycle of falling effective demand, recession and over-indebtedness. However, these criticisms can hardly explain why this ‘irrational’ or ‘wrong’ policy persists, despite its ‘failures’.[1] Continuer la lecture de « The Class Logic behind Austerity Policies in the Euro-Area »

Bach (ca. 2 h) … then Mozart … Chopin … etc, endless in autoplay, uploaded by HALIDONMUSIC, Oct 16, 2012.

2015-05-01: A Hole in the System;
2015-05-02: Reefs etc;
2015-05-03: BRICS from below: counterpower movements in Brazil, India and South Africa;
2015-05-04: The Message of Anzac: Put Out More Flags, or Shut Up;
2015-05-05: Alexandre Jardin;
2015-05-06: Anugama;
2015-05-08: Money Argent Geld;
2015-05-09: The looming Iraq (economic) disaster;
2015-05-10: Clear-Cutting (in the Valcea region of the Carpathian Mountains) in Romania;
2015-05-11: Driven mad: inside a Libyan detention centre for female migrants;
2015-05-12: Cafe de Mar – YouTube-Mix;
2015-05-13: The White Hats Report – (en & de);
2015-05-14: KITARO;
2015-05-15: The Arab Boat;
2015-05-15: Bemerkungen, Meinungen, Streitereien;
2015-05-16: Five Major Banks to Plead Guilty to Rigging Currency Markets;
2015-05-17: my YouTube Mix …;
2015-05-18: If Too-Big-to-Fail means Too-Big-to-Jail it should mean Too-Big-to-Be;
2015-05-19: Over Reach of the Financial-Military Complex and the New Multi-Polar World Order;
2015-05-20: Winning a Nuclear War?
2015-05-21: The Dysfunctionality of Slavery and Neoliberalism – Michael Perelman;
2015-05-22: The Complete History of Monsanto;
2015-05-23: How UNITE Took on the Fast Food Companies Over Zero Hour Contracts and Won;
2015-05-24: Roger Waters & Pink Floyd and others;
2015-05-25: Deuter and more;
2015-05-26: Battle of humanity, Muslim scholars make desperate call to save Syria’s Palmyra;
2015-05-27: EU dropped pesticide laws due to US pressure over TTIP, documents reveal;
2015-05-28: Polarizing Development, Introducing Alternatives to Neoliberalism and the Crisis;
2015-05-29: Washington’s “Two Track Policy” to Latin America;
2015-05-30: Join the global call for sharing;
2015-05-31: Benefit cap could drop 40,000 children into poverty, leaked memo warns;
2015-05-31: Basic Income BIG – Revenu de Base – Bedingungsloses Grundeinkommen BGE, MAY 1-31, 2015.

related articles published during May 2015: (continuously updated …)   Continuer la lecture de « Basic Income BIG – Revenu de Base – Bedingungsloses Grundeinkommen BGE, MAY 1-31, 2015 »

Pubished on The Guardian, by Patrick Butler and Shiv Malik, May 29, 2015: Internal government assessment seen by the Guardian shows lowering of welfare cap will be disastrous for families if parents are unable to find extra work.

Tens of thousands of children face being plunged into poverty by government plans to lower the household benefit cap, leaked advice to ministers shows.

The reduction in the upper limit of what families will now be able to claim annually from £26,000 to £23,000 was announced in Wednesday’s Queen’s speech.   Continuer la lecture de « Benefit cap could drop 40,000 children into poverty, leaked memo warns »

Published on Share The World’s Resources STWR, petition now running:

Sign the global call for sharing and add your voice to the growing demand for a fairer sharing of wealth, power and resources within and between countries. Download the campaign statement as a PDF.

As explained in the report: Sharing as our common cause, the principle of sharing is already central to diverse calls for social justice, environmental stewardship, global peace and true democracy. The ‘global call for sharing’ campaign aims to build upon this recognition among civil society organisations and the wider public, and promote the role that a call for sharing can play in uniting progressive movements across the world … // Continuer la lecture de « Join the global call for sharing »

… Marines to Central America and Diplomats to Cuba – Published on Global Research.ca, by Prof. James Petras, May 28, 2015.

Everyone, from political pundits in Washington to the Pope in Rome, including most journalists in the mass media and in the alternative press, have focused on the US moves toward ending the economic blockade of Cuba and gradually opening diplomatic relations. Talk is rife of a ‘major shift’ in US policy toward Latin America with the emphasis on diplomacyand reconciliation. Even most progressive writers and journals have ceased writing about US imperialism.   Continuer la lecture de « Washington’s “Two Track Policy” to Latin America »

Published on The Bullet, Socialist Project’s E-Bulletin No. 1122, by Thomas Marois and Lucia Pradella, May 25, 2015.

Neoliberal economic policies, with their emphasis on market-led development and individual rationality, have been exposed as bankrupt not only by the global economic crisis but also by increasing social opposition and resistance … // Continuer la lecture de « Polarizing Development, Introducing Alternatives to Neoliberalism and the Crisis »

Published on The Guardian, by Arthur Neslen in Brussels, May 22, 2015: US trade officials pushed EU to shelve action on endocrine-disrupting chemicals linked to cancer and male infertility to facilitate TTIP free trade deal … (my comment: America wants that we pay ourselves our destruction – Heidi).

EU moves to regulate hormone-damaging chemicals linked to cancer and male infertility were shelved following pressure from US trade officials over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership TTIP free trade deal, newly released documents show. Continuer la lecture de « EU dropped pesticide laws due to US pressure over TTIP, documents reveal »

Published on Russia Today RT, May 25, 2015.

Before Islamic State hammers have a chance to fall on the ruins of Palmyra, a leading Sunni Muslim body is appealing one last time for people to unite “in a battle of humanity” and save what UNESCO calls a historic city of “outstanding universal value.” Continuer la lecture de « Battle of humanity, Muslim scholars make desperate call to save Syria’s Palmyra »

Gaia Dreaming Herself Awake – Deuter, 7.37 min, uploaded by yachbusim ambiant, Nov 11, 2012 … and many more videos in autoplay.

• In The Flesh LIVE FULL, 152.44 min, uploaded by Floydian Waters, June 16, 2013: Rose Garden Arena, Portland, Oregon – with lyrics/bla-bla (subtitled es) … and many other videos in autoplay …
• as: The Pink Floyd Tribute Show (2011) Full- Live From Liverpool, 139.35 min, uploaded by VladimirPetersburg, Feb 24, 2012 … and many others in autoplay.

Published on The Bullet, Socialist Project’s E-Bulletin No. 1120, by Mike Treen, May 22, 2015.

Workers in the fast food industry in New Zealand scored a spectacular victory over what has been dubbed “zero hour contracts” during a collective agreement bargaining round over the course of March and April this year. The campaign played out over the national media as well as on picket lines. The victory was seen by many observers as the product of a determined fight by a valiant group of workers and their union, Unite. It was a morale boost for all working people after what has seemed like a period of retreat for working-class struggle in recent years.   Continuer la lecture de « How UNITE Took on the Fast Food Companies Over Zero Hour Contracts and Won »

… the World’s Most Evil Corporation – Published on Global Research.ca (first on Waking Times, 2 June 2014), by E Hanzai, May 20, 2015.

… 1920s: Monsanto expands into industrial chemicals and drugs, becoming the world’s largest maker of aspirin, acetylsalicyclic acid, (toxic of course). This is also the time when things began to go horribly wrong for the planet in a hurry with the introduction of their polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) … // Continuer la lecture de « The Complete History of Monsanto »

Published on naked capitalism, by Yves Smith, May 19, 2015.

… Despite the neoliberal obsession with wage suppression, history suggests that such a policy is self-destructive. Periods of high wages are associated with rapid technological change. For example, after the scourge of the Black Death, which eliminated about a third of the population of Europe, the surviving workers were in a better bargaining position in terms of both wages earned and rents paid. Rapid technological change emerged as a means to cope with workers temporary advantage. The historian, Richard C. Allen, makes the case that wars in the late 18th century removed significant portion of the labor force, again creating higher wages. The combination of higher wages and the availability of cheap fossil fueled another burst of rapid technological change, which we now know as the Industrial Revolution.   Continuer la lecture de « The Dysfunctionality of Slavery and Neoliberalism – Michael Perelman »