Islamic rights

Published on Al-Ahrm weekly online, by Reem Leila, Sept 4, 2014.

A recent court ruling by the Administrative Court refutes the European Court of Human Rights’ take on the niqab. On 1 July, the Kafr Al-Sheikh Administrative Court (AC), headed by Counselor Mohamed Abdel-Wahab Khafagi, issued a ruling that allows working women who wear the niqab (the face veil prescribed by Wahhabi and Salafi strands of Islam) the right to wear it in public and at their place of work. The ruling cancels an earlier decision by former minister of health Maha Al-Rabbat, who had banned the plaintiff, a nurse named Amal Mohamed Ibrahim, from wearing the niqab during work hours. According to the court ruling, the face veil is a matter of personal freedom provided that the employee otherwise abides by the work uniform.   Continuer la lecture de « Islamic rights »

Real Democracy and the Capture of Institutions

… The Dynamic Reorganization of the Spanish Left – Published on The Bullet, Socialist Project’s e-bulletin no 1031, by Mario Candeias, Sept 3, 2014.

It is no longer enough to win over civil society, occupy public spaces, take to the streets, carry out symbolic actions, prevent evictions, or to win plebiscites. In Spain movements for ‘real democracy’ are setting a course to capture institutions – albeit with the aim to recreate these institutions in a constitutive process in the interests of ‘real democracy’ … //

… Splintering or a Convergence of the Left? 2014: Continuer la lecture de « Real Democracy and the Capture of Institutions »

France and Friends: Merkel Increasingly Isolated on Austerity

Published on Spiegel Online International, by Nikolaus Blome, Ralf Neukirch, Christian Reiermann, Mathieu von Rohr and Christoph Schult, Sept 3, 2014 (Photo Gallery).

The debate over Germany’s insistence on euro-zone austerity has flared anew as an ailing France continues to demand economic stimulus. The European Central Bank may now be siding with Paris, leaving Merkel looking increasingly alone … // Continuer la lecture de « France and Friends: Merkel Increasingly Isolated on Austerity »

Interview with Rosneft President Igor Sechin: Russia Didn't Initiate the Ukraine Crisis, part 1

Published on Spiegel Online International, by Gerald Traufetter and Matthias Schepp, Sept 2, 2014.

Igor Sechin, head of the oil giant Rosneft, is considered by many to be the second most powerful man in Russia. In an interview, he speaks with SPIEGEL about natural gas deliveries to Europe, the Ukraine crisis and the damage caused by economic sanctions … // Continuer la lecture de « Interview with Rosneft President Igor Sechin: Russia Didn't Initiate the Ukraine Crisis, part 1 »

Female fighters of the PKK may be the Islamic State's worst nightmare

Published on Stars and Stripes, Aug 30, 2014.

MAKHMUR, Iraq — It’s an Islamic State fighter’s worst fear: to be killed by a woman. In northern Iraq, where Kurdish forces are rapidly regaining territory held by the Islamic State, that’s becoming real risk for the extremists … // Continuer la lecture de « Female fighters of the PKK may be the Islamic State's worst nightmare »

Organized Labor in America Today

Published on SteveLendmanBlog, by Stephen Lendman, Sept 01, 2014.

Labor Day once had meaning. Workers had reason to celebrate hard won rights. No longer. More on this below. The day is commemorated on the first Monday of September. It’s been so since 1882. In June 1894, it became a federal holiday. It was when workers had few rights. Management controlled things. Labor was systematically exploited. Continuer la lecture de « Organized Labor in America Today »

The U.S. Still Decides the Future of Capitalism, Not the G20, and Not the BRICS Nations

Published on The Bullet, Socialist Project’s e-bulletin no. 1029, by Leo Panitch, Aug 31, 2014.

International attention has been diverted away from this year’s G20 meetings in Australia by the declaration from the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, at their meeting in Fortaleza Brazil this July, that they would launch a new “BRICS bank.”

Created by the U.S. Treasury in the wake of the Asian financial crisis at the end of the 1990s, the G20 was designed to get the major “emerging market” states to take responsibility alongside the G7 for the “new international financial architecture.” This was seen as providing legitimacy for the continuing central role of the U.S. in superintending a greatly expanded but increasingly volatile global capitalism … // Continuer la lecture de « The U.S. Still Decides the Future of Capitalism, Not the G20, and Not the BRICS Nations »

Gabriel Kolko’s Unfinished Revolution

Published on Zmagazine, by Eli Cook, Aug 24, 2014.

Gabriel Kolko, historian and socialist, died last month in his home in Amsterdam. He was 81.

When Kolko’s The Triumph of Conservatism appeared on the scene in 1963, it was not only a book of history but heresy. This was the era in which American liberalism reigned supreme, and social commentators such as Daniel Bell confidently assured the public that the formula for sustained economic prosperity and political freedom had been uncovered in the form of a capitalist system kept in check by a powerful and centralized regulatory government.   Continuer la lecture de « Gabriel Kolko’s Unfinished Revolution »

Ukraine and Russia: War, not Peace

Published on The Economist, Aug 30, 2014 … and more on Google News-search (my comment: … and the whole blackmailed or otherwise dump elite is unable to stop this mess, as money, power and influences are more important than peoples – Heidi).

… All this came after Mr Poroshenko met Vladimir Putin, for the first time since June, in the margins of a summit in Minsk. The meeting began icily and achieved little. Russia’s interests—keeping Ukraine out of NATO—have not changed. Even if many Russians are ready to buy claims of soldiers “accidentally” crossing the border, the rest of the world is not. Yet Mr Putin still maintains that the war is a “domestic matter”, and calls for negotiations to include representatives of eastern regions. The Kremlin will prop up its rebel proxies to ensure they are not defeated, but has no desire for a full-scale invasion. “Military activities are an instrument for strengthening their political position ahead of negotiations,” says Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of Russia in Global Affairs, a journal … // Continuer la lecture de « Ukraine and Russia: War, not Peace »

We-commerce: The sharing economy's uncertain path to changing the world

Published on Tech Republic, by Lyndsey Gilpin, Aug 27, 2014.

Peer-to-peer collaboration is gaining ground and changing the economics of the future, but there are questions to answer and obstacles to overcome … //

… States of sharing:

Dozens of police departments suspended for losing US military-grade weaponry

Published on Russia Today RT, by Lucy Nicholson, Aug 27, 2014.

Close to 200 state and local police departments in the United States have been suspended for losing military-level equipment transferred to them by the Pentagon, a new investigation found …;

According to the media outlet Fusion, its independent investigation into the Pentagon’s “1033 program,” which equips state and local police departments across the US with excess military equipment, turned up an alarming trend: Not only did many law enforcement agencies fail to comply with the program’s guidelines, they routinely lost dangerous weaponry.   Continuer la lecture de « Dozens of police departments suspended for losing US military-grade weaponry »

Monetary policy in the US and EU after quantitative easing

… Monetary policy in the US and EU after quantitative easing, the case for asset based reserve requirements ABRR – Published on Real World Economics Review, issue no 68, by Thomas I. Palley, Aug 21, 2014.

  • Abstract: This paper critiques the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing (QE) exit strategy which aims to deactivate excess liquidity via higher interest rates on reserves. That is equivalent to giving banks a tax cut at the public’s expense. It also risks domestic and international financial market turmoil. The paper proposes an alternative exit strategy based on ABRR which avoids the adverse fiscal and financial market impacts of higher interest rates. ABRR also increase the number of monetary policy instruments which can permanently improve policy. This is especially beneficial for euro zone countries. Furthermore, ABRR yield fiscal benefits via increased seignorage and can shrink a financial sector that is too large. Continuer la lecture de « Monetary policy in the US and EU after quantitative easing »

Bank of America to Pay $16.65 Billion to Settle Mortgage Fraud Charges

Published on CorpWatch, by Pratap Chatterjee, Aug 21, 2014.

Bank of America has agreed to pay the government $9.65 billion to settle charges of misleading investors over mortgage lending in the run up to the 2008 financial crisis. The bank will also pay out an additional $7 billion to help borrowers and communities affected by the loans.

The settlement agreement was hammered out by the U.S. Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the attorney generals of six states – California, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina and Maryland. Similar large multi billion dollar settlements over mortgage related fraud have recently been reached with JP Morgan and Citigroup for$13 billion and $7 billion respectively.   Continuer la lecture de « Bank of America to Pay $16.65 Billion to Settle Mortgage Fraud Charges »