Catégorie : Politics

Syriza's Only Choice: A Radical Step Forward

Published on The Bullet, Socialist Project’s E-Bulletin No. 1089, by Spyros Lapatsioras, John Milios and Dimitris P. Sotiropoulos, March 11, 2015.

1. Introduction

The transitional “bridge Agreement” of the 20th of February is a truce intended by the Greek government and welcomed by the other side (the European “institutions”). Within the truce period (the next four months), the conditions for negotiating the next agreement will be shaped. This could mean that everything is still open. However, that is not true for two reasons. First, the very transitional agreement changes the balance of power. Second, the “hostilities” will continue in the course of the next four months (i.e. the review of the commitments and the re-interpretation of the terms by each party). Continuer la lecture de « Syriza's Only Choice: A Radical Step Forward »

Interview with Thomas Piketty on the Euro Zone

… We Have Created a Monster – Published on Spiegel Online International, by Julia Amalia Heyer and Christoph Pauly, March 10, 2015 (Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan).

In an interview with SPIEGEL, celebrated French economist Thomas Piketty speaks about Alexis Tsipras’ election victory in Greece, Europe’s inability to fix its financial woes and what EU leaders can learn from the United States.

SPIEGEL: You publicly rejoiced over Alexis Tsipras’ election victory in Greece. What do you think the chances are that the European Union and Athens will agree on a path to resolve the crisis?   Continuer la lecture de « Interview with Thomas Piketty on the Euro Zone »

SYRIZA’s Responsibilities

Published on ZNet (first on Links.org), by Yiannis Bournous, March 9, 2015.

The SYRIZA-led government’s February 24 agreement with the Eurogroup [of European Union finance ministers] is not the end of negotiations. It doesn’t even postpone conflict. On the contrary, it opens up a long new period full of sharp clashes inside and outside our country.   Continuer la lecture de « SYRIZA’s Responsibilities »

Canada: Basic income could help reduce poverty

Published on Alberni Valley Times, by Kristi Dobson, March 4, 2015.

Two local proponents of a guaranteed income system are hoping to get more supporters to fight back against poverty.

Jen Fisher-Bradley and Daryl Christensen want to see all Canadians receive a basic income to eliminate the gap between the haves and have-nots. More than that, they believe reducing poverty would have a positive spin on health and wellness and alleviate taxpayers’ burden on the health care and justice systems … // Continuer la lecture de « Canada: Basic income could help reduce poverty »

Victoria Nuland Lied to US Congress about Phantom Russian Hoards in Ukraine

Published on Global Research.ca, by Stephen Lendman, March 7, 2015.

Are Pilots Deserting Washington’s Drone War?

Published on naked capitalism (first on TomDispatch), by Yves Smith, March 6, 2015.

Originally written by Pratap Chatterjee, executive director of CorpWatch. He is the author of Halliburton’s Army: How A Well-Connected Texas Oil Company Revolutionized the Way America Makes War and Iraq, Inc. His next book, Verax, a graphic novel about whistleblowers and mass surveillance co-authored by Khalil Bendib, will be published by Metropolitan Books in 2016 …;   Continuer la lecture de « Are Pilots Deserting Washington’s Drone War? »

Tomgram: Engelhardt, the Ten Commandments for a Better American World

Published on TomDispatch, by Tom Engelhardt, March 1, 2015: My War on Terror, Letter to an Unknown American Patriot … //

… In other words, each of the terror organizations we categorize as the unimaginably barbaric Other has a curiously intimate, if generally unexplored, relationship with us. In addition, in these years, it’s been clear (at least to those living in the Greater Middle East) that such groups had no monopoly on barbarity. Washington’s extreme acts were legion in the region, ranging from its CIA torture chambers (although we called them “black sites”) to Abu Ghraib, from global kidnappings to images of a U.S. helicopter gunning down civilians in the streets of Baghdad.   Continuer la lecture de « Tomgram: Engelhardt, the Ten Commandments for a Better American World »

all this happens

Greece eyes last central bank funds to avert IMF default

Published on The Telegraph, by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, March 2, 2015: Syriza is not interested in emergency EMU funding if it means kowtowing to Troika demands.

Greece is preparing to tap its final pension reserves at the country’s central bank if needed to avert a devastating default to the International Monetary Fund and keep the government going over the next two weeks. Continuer la lecture de « Greece eyes last central bank funds to avert IMF default »

die KANZLERAKTE / the german CHANCELLOR'S ACT

Can Germany turn its back on USA? No, it can’t, on englisch.Pravda.ru, Aug 25, 2014.

… However, Germany did not become a free, or rather, a sovereign country, because the other half of the country was still swarming with victorious troops that did not want to follow the example of the USSR … // … Continuer la lecture de « die KANZLERAKTE / the german CHANCELLOR'S ACT »

Austerity Kills: Economic Distress Seen as Culprit in Sharp Rise in Suicide Rate Among Middle Aged

Published on naked capitalism, by Yves Smith, March 1, 2015.

I’m surprised, but perhaps I shouldn’t be, that a recent study hasn’t gotten the attention it warrants. It points to a direct connection between the impact of the crisis and a marked increase in suicide rates among the middle aged. This link seems entirely logical, given how many citizens found themselves whacked by a one-two punch of job loss or hours cutbacks combined with the sudden plunge in home prices. Normally, a last ditch course of action for most middle and upper middle class income members in the pre-crisis days, when things got desperate, was to sell you house and cut costs radically by moving into a much more modest rental. But that option vanished in all but the most stable markets (as in some flyover states that the subprime merchants ignored) due to home price declines trashing equity for all but those with small or no mortgages.   Continuer la lecture de « Austerity Kills: Economic Distress Seen as Culprit in Sharp Rise in Suicide Rate Among Middle Aged »

equally related concerns

The chance of an American being killed by terrorists is close to zero

… the risk is calculated to be 1 in 20 million – Published on Intrepid Report, by John Chuckman, Feb 27, 2015.

… Let’s get a rough total estimate of what has happened to Americans from these causes in the time since 9/11. Just using the low number in each case for fourteen years, 7,000 Americans were killed by their own police, 420,000 were killed by something parked in their garage, 210,000 were murdered by fellow citizens, 1,400,000 were killed by friendly family doctors, and there were 560,000 who just decided to pack it in for one reason or another. The total of these various causes of death rounds to 2,600,000 deaths, nearly 867 times the number of Americans killed in 9/11, 867 collapsed sets of twin towers, nearly 62 collapsed sets of towers per year.   Continuer la lecture de « The chance of an American being killed by terrorists is close to zero »