Australia: Basic income is a human right

Published on green left Weekly GLW, by Daniel Elliot, Aug 21, 2015.

Universal Basic Income (UBI) is not a new idea. But it is an idea whose time has come. It is one of the simplest, most obvious pieces of social policy imaginable: every member of a society, with no exceptions, is entitled to enough money to live on.   Continuer la lecture de « Australia: Basic income is a human right »

Puerto Rico: a US debt colony hounded by hedge funds

Published on ZNet (first on Roarmag.org), by Jérôme Roos, Aug 22, 2015.

On August 1, Puerto Rico defaulted on part of its enormous $72 billion debt, paying back only $628,000 on a $58 million loan that was due at the start of the month. The default, which marks the most serious credit event in US state and municipal bond markets since the city of Detroit filed for bankruptcy in 2013, has led many to draw obvious comparisons to Greece – and understandably so.   Continuer la lecture de « Puerto Rico: a US debt colony hounded by hedge funds »

some ideas about what is Socialism – part 2

Related Links:

  • Richard Wolff on Bernie Sanders and Socialism, 25.49 min, uploaded by GRITtv, July 14, 2015 … This week: On Sanders and Socialism. Is socialism still an American taboo? Not so much, says professor Richard Wolff; nor was it in the past, says Nation columnist John Nichols. Richard D. Wolff is Professor of Economics Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, and a Visiting Professor in the Graduate Program in International Affairs at the New School University in New York City. He has authored or co-authored more than a dozen books, including his most recent; Capitalism’s Crisis Deepens: Essays on the Global Economic Meltdown 2010- 2014, and he hosts the weekly Economic Update podcast. John Nichols’ many books include The « S » Word: A Short History of an American Tradition … Socialism, and, most recently, Dollarocracy: How the Money-and-Media-Election Complex is Destroying America. This episode also features an commentary from Laura on renaming capitalism;   Continuer la lecture de « some ideas about what is Socialism – part 2 »

It Starts: Broad Retaliation Against China in Currency War

Published on Wolf Street, by Wolf Richter, Aug 20, 2015.

The biggest global “tail risk” is China’s deteriorating economy and an emerging market debt crisis, according to BofA Merrill Lynch’s monthly poll of fund managers. And 48% of them were expecting the Fed to raise rates, despite languid growth and low inflation expectations. Continuer la lecture de « It Starts: Broad Retaliation Against China in Currency War »

some ideas about what is Socialism – part 1

Related Links:

  • Anarchism Or Socialism – Harpal Brar, chairman of the CPGB-ML, 78.05 min, uploaded by Proletarian TV, July 22, 2015 … What are the beliefs of the Anarchists? How are they different from the socialists and communists? In particular: is capitalism the enemy, or is the state machine the enemy? What do the anarchists think workers should do if they are successful in getting rid of exploitative capitalism? What are the anarchists’ criticisms of communism? What are the basic ideas and beliefs of the communists that make it a useful guide to action, and empower workers to overthrow the old system of exploitation and build a new, peaceful and truly representative society? In what way is socialism more ‘scientific’ and systematic? …;

    • Continuer la lecture de « some ideas about what is Socialism – part 1 »

Ereshkigal, Dis, & Lucifer: Children of Western Civilization & Fundamentalist Christianity

Part 3: Mephistopheles, Child of Christian Civilization – Symbols of Transformation – Published on HUNTER-GATHERER ISSUES, by George S. Svokos, August 14, 2015.

The Self or Anthropos quaternio symbolically represents what we cannot, in fact, see. Carl Jung’s Aion, Volume 9 of his Collected Works brilliantly describes the Self and shadow archetypes as quaternios. Archetypes only become visible through their symbols, not themselves as such. Anthropos is a reflection of the “higher Adam” (Self, or the center of the unconscious) and occupies the upper apex of the diamond-shaped quaternio which is joined at its base by a mirror image of itself. Thus, the diamond appears to be two pyramids attached at their bases with an apex point and a basal point. The basal apex symbolizes “lower Adam,” or the ego. The four vectors leading to the corners symbolize positive and negative axis of male and female energy beings. Continuer la lecture de « Ereshkigal, Dis, & Lucifer: Children of Western Civilization & Fundamentalist Christianity »

The Boundaries and Future of Solution Space – Part 1

Published on The Automatic Earth, by Raúl Ilargi Meijer, Aug 15, 2015.

We’re going to try something a little different. Nicole wrote another very long article and I suggested publishing it in chapters; this time she said yes. So in the next five days we will post five different chapters of the article, one on each day, and then on day six the whole thing. That way, you will have some time left over to spend with your families. Continuer la lecture de « The Boundaries and Future of Solution Space – Part 1 »

Spain Gets Bitter Costly Foretaste of its Beloved Trade Pacts

Published on Wolf Street, by Don Quijones, Aug 13, 2015.

US brokerage firm Schwab Holdings and Malta-based OperaFund Eco-Invest Sicav have lodged a new international complaint against the Spanish State over its recent cuts to renewable energy subsidies. The case will be heard in the International Center for Settlement Investment, a Washington DC-based investment arbitration institution that is a member of the World Bank.   Continuer la lecture de « Spain Gets Bitter Costly Foretaste of its Beloved Trade Pacts »

A Yemen road trip

Published on Al-Ahram weekly online, by Hossam Radman, Aug 13, 2015: about an overland journey from Sanaa to Aden in Yemen through areas held by Houthi and anti-Houthi forces.

… Today, Aden is free. But half its buildings are gone, having been razed to the ground in recent battles. The young men who had crowded the streets to demand secession are nowhere to be seen. They are fighters now, or they are dead. Continuer la lecture de « A Yemen road trip »

Unsettling Encounters – Tourists and Refugees Cross Paths in the Mediterranean

Published on Spiegel Online International, by Özlem Gezer, Frank Hornig, Martin Knobbe, Walter Mayr, Maximilian Popp and Helene Zuber, Aug 7, 2015 (14 Photos in the Gallery – translated from the German by Christopher Sultan).

Two worlds are colliding on the beaches of the Mediterranean this summer: Vacationers looking for relaxation and migrants seeking relief from poverty or warfare. The result is a moral conundrum for Europe.   Continuer la lecture de « Unsettling Encounters – Tourists and Refugees Cross Paths in the Mediterranean »

Are the World's Largest Central Banks Independent?

Video on YouTube, 2.36 min, uploaded by csFinancialist, April 5, 2013 … the world’s largest central banks, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan, are overseeing unprecedented easing programs *. While the European Central Bank, unlike the BoJ or the Fed, has not purchased large amounts of sovereign debt, it could do so in the future by ramping up its Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) program. That program allows the ECB to purchase sovereign government bonds on the secondary market, which would be expected to lower interest rates in the event of renewed turbulence in the euro zone. Continuer la lecture de « Are the World's Largest Central Banks Independent? »