The War on Savings: the Panama Papers, Bail-Ins, and the Push to Go Cashless

Published on Counterpunch, by ELLEN BROWN, April 12, 2016.

The bombshell publication of the “Panama Papers,” leaked from a Panama law firm specializing in shell companies, has triggered both outrage and skepticism. In an April 3 article titled “Corporate Media Gatekeepers Protect Western 1% From Panama Leak,” UK blogger Craig Murray writes that the whistleblower no doubt had good intentions; but he made the mistake of leaking his 11.5 million documents to the corporate-controlled Western media, which released only those few documents incriminating opponents of Western financial interests. Murray writes: … // Continuer la lecture de « The War on Savings: the Panama Papers, Bail-Ins, and the Push to Go Cashless »

Arrests made as hundreds of elderly Americans protest at 2nd Democracy Spring sit-in

Published on RT, April 12, 2016;

Hundreds of Americans, many of whom are elderly, marched in support of political reform in Washington, DC, taking part in a sit-in and risking arrest as they pushed for fairer elections. RT’s ‘Redacted Tonight’ host Lee Camp was one of those detained.   Continuer la lecture de « Arrests made as hundreds of elderly Americans protest at 2nd Democracy Spring sit-in »

Basic Income And Social Democracy

Published on Social Europe, by Philippe van Parijs, April 11, 2016.

… The idea of an unconditional basic income is in fashion. From Finland to Switzerland, from San Francisco to Seoul, people talk about it as they have never done. Twice before, basic income was the object of a real public debate, albeit briefly and limited to one country at a time. In both episodes, the centre left played a central role … // Continuer la lecture de « Basic Income And Social Democracy »

The Panama Papers Barely Scratches the Surface of UK Complicity in a Global Scandal

Published on Dissident Voice, by Graham Vanbergen, April 7, 2016.

… Since the Conservative government got their knees under the table, George Osborne has systematically gone about creating what is effectively a territorial tax system for companies and organisations thus ensuring that no UK-based multinational pays taxation in the UK on profits arising to it from outside the country. Of course, the organisation itself has to deliberately go about structuring itself to achieve that goal, but once done, they are shielded from the deliberately lethargic tax office (HMRC) … // Continuer la lecture de « The Panama Papers Barely Scratches the Surface of UK Complicity in a Global Scandal »

Saving capitalism or getting rid of it?

Published on Socialist Worker.org, by Robert Reich, April 7, 2016.

What kind of change socialists should be fighting for? Danny Katch, author of Socialism… Seriously: A Brief Guide to Human Liberation, makes some proposals in his review of a book from a different part of the left: Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few, by former Labor Secretary and Bernie Sanders supporter Robert Reich … // Continuer la lecture de « Saving capitalism or getting rid of it? »

Won’t help ordinary Ukrainians, Dutch suspect EU/Kiev deal more for power players than people

Published on RT, April 6, 2016.

Polls have opened on Wednesday in the Netherlands to see if the public wants to back an agreement to bring Ukraine closer to the EU. While many Dutch people support ordinary Ukrainians, a great number believe the proposed deal will not help them … // Continuer la lecture de « Won’t help ordinary Ukrainians, Dutch suspect EU/Kiev deal more for power players than people »

Looking the Basic Income Gift Horse in the Mouth

Published on The Bullet, Socialist Project’s E-Bulletin No. 1241, by John Clarke, April 1, 2016.

… Looking Deeper Into the Gift Horse:

As soon as you start to look into the question of Basic Income or, as it was often called in the past, Guaranteed Annual Income (GAI), you are immediately struck by the ease and enthusiasm with which free market thinkers and warriors of the neoliberal order have embraced the concept. From Milton Friedman to Charles Murray, the idea has found warm support on the political right. There are some clear and obvious reasons why this is so. Firstly, the very idea of a basic level of income is about establishing a floor and right wing proponents are confident they can locate it in the basement. A low and inadequate social minimum seems to them a great way of folding in existing, relatively adequate programs so as to, precisely, drive people into deeper poverty.   Continuer la lecture de « Looking the Basic Income Gift Horse in the Mouth »

Natural Capital: What Is the True Cost of Food?

Published on Spiegel Online International, by Anna Behrend, April 2, 2016.

A kilogram of new potatoes this week costs just €1.29 in some German supermarkets. But is that the whole story? Not by a long shot. Environmental costs are almost always completely ignored. Some, though, are trying to change that … // Continuer la lecture de « Natural Capital: What Is the True Cost of Food? »

The Rebellion Will Not Go Away

Published on Down with Tyranny *, by Gaius Publius, March 29, 2016.

… The Sanders- and Trump-led (for now) political rebellion is not going to go away. There are only two questions going forward:

  • Will it remain a political rebellion, one that expresses itself through the electoral process, or will it abandon the electoral process as useless after 2016?
  • Will it be led by humanitarian populism from the left, or authoritarian populism from the right?

    • Continuer la lecture de « The Rebellion Will Not Go Away »

Brazil, like Russia, under attack by Hybrid War

Published on ZNet (first on RT), by Pepe Escobar, March 30, 2016.

… The ideological matrix and the modus operandi of color revolutions by now are a matter of public domain. Not so much the concept of Unconventional War * (UW).
UW was spelled out by the 2010 Special Forces Unconventional Warfare manual. Here’s the money quote:   Continuer la lecture de « Brazil, like Russia, under attack by Hybrid War »