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 »

Turkey ‘demands’ takedown of Erdogan-mocking video

… German authors add subtitles instead – Published on RT, March 30, 2016 [with VIDEO]: the satirical piece about “The big boss from Bosporus,” who is “ripe for his great Ottoman Empire,” starts off with criticizing Erdogan crackdown on freedom of speech. Erdogan is also criticized for the alleged shuffling of the electorate votes and cracking down on women …;

Ankara reportedly pressurized Berlin into removing a satirical clip aired by NDR earlier this month. However, the show’s producers decided to amplify the message and released English and Turkish subtitled versions of the video criticizing the Turkish President. Continuer la lecture de « Turkey ‘demands’ takedown of Erdogan-mocking video »

The Managerial/ Professional Class Is Burning Out

Published on Washington’s Blog, by Charles Hugh Smith, March 28, 2016.

If you work for Corporate America in a managerial or professional capacity, you know all about burnout, because you see it all around you or are experiencing it yourself. Readers describe what they are seeing in the top ranks of S&P 500 corporations, and the stories (anonymous because everyone knows the truth will get them fired/blacklisted) are all about the high personal costs of earning big paychecks by making the numbers–not just revenue but the all-important profits that power the multi-trillion-dollar valuations of U.S. corporations and the stock market that glories in their magnificent and ever-growing profits. Continuer la lecture de « The Managerial/ Professional Class Is Burning Out »