nous les 99%

Published on Real-World Economics Review Blog, by Peter Radford, April 16, 2014.

Buried somewhere in the pile of stuff I have accumulated as I think about inequality are these statistics:

• Of all the income generated between 2009 and 2011 in the US 121% went to the top 1% of income earners
• The top 1% owns just over half of all investment assets including 64.4% of all bonds
• And, the bottom 90% incurs 72.5% of all debt

Think through the consequences of these numbers.   Continuer la lecture de « Class Based Economics »

Videos:

• Who Rules America Today? The Triumph of the Corporate Rich, 43.14 min, uploaded on YouTube by G. William Domhoff, April 7, 2014; (also on Zvideo, April 15, 2014);
• Millichamp lecture Jan 23 William Domhoff, uploaded by Mellichamp UCSB, Feb 13, 2014: part 1, 30.16 min; part 2, 28.26 min;
• Why Does Big Business Love Big Government? (Domhoff, Rothbard, and Evers), 51.47 min, uploaded by Libertarianism.org, Nov 20, 2013: G. William Domhoff is a research professor in psychology and sociology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is the author of Who Rules America? (1967), Bohemian Grove and Other Retreats: A Study in Ruling-Class Cohesiveness (1974), and other books;   Continuer la lecture de « G. William Domhoff »

Published on NYTimes, by Paul Krugman, April 13, 2014.

Four years ago Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, abruptly canceled America’s biggest and arguably most important infrastructure project, a desperately needed new rail tunnel under the Hudson River. Count me among those who blame his presidential ambitions, and believe that he was trying to curry favor with the government- and public-transit-hating Republican base.   Continuer la lecture de « Three Expensive Milliseconds »

Published on Dissident Voice, by Ellen Hodgson Brown, April 13, 2014.

Taxpayers are paying billions of dollars for a swindle pulled off by the world’s biggest banks, using a form of derivative called interest-rate swaps; and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has now joined a chorus of litigants suing over it … //

… The Largest Cartel in World History:   Continuer la lecture de « The Global Banking Game Is Rigged, and the FDIC Is Suing »

Published on Dissident Voice, by Binoy Kampmark, April 12, 2014.

Edward Snowden’s revelations on the voracious appetite of spying on all and sundry by the National Security Agency and allied agencies should not give pause for too much comment, other than to affirm a general premise: activists and non-government groups are to be feared. Non-profits are seen as potential threats, though what to is sometimes unclear. Any government worth its salt should be afraid of its citizens – the latter must make the former accountable; the former must hold to the contractual bargain with citizens.   Continuer la lecture de « Irresistible: Espionage, Dissent, and NGOs »

Published on Amnesty International, April 11, 2014;

Somali refugees and asylum-seekers living in Kenya are being trapped in a catch-22 situation by the government’s counter-terrorism crackdown, Amnesty International said as thousands of Somalis continued to be rounded up by security forces in Nairobi.

Registration of Somali refugees in Kenya has been largely halted since December 2011, preventing many who should qualify for refugee status from obtaining papers. Without these they could be returned to Somalia, where they may be at risk of human rights abuses.   Continuer la lecture de « Kenya: Somalis trapped in ‘catch-22’ amid crackdown on refugees »

Is the US or the World Coming to an End? It will be One or the Other – Published on Global Research.ca, by Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, April 10, 2014.

2014 is shaping up as a year of reckoning for the United States.

Two pressures are building on the US dollar. One pressure comes from the Federal Reserve’s declining ability to rig the price of gold as Western gold supplies shrivel and market knowledge of the Fed’s illegal price rigging spreads.   Continuer la lecture de « War and the Demise of the US Dollar? »

Published on truthout, by Laura Flanders, April 9, 2014.

Video on GRITtv: Interview With Jessica Gordon Nembhard, 15.28 min, (also on YouTube, uploaded there by GRITtv, April 8, 2014).

Excerpt of Transcript:

… So, tell us some of the stories. Some of the documents in your book go all the way back to slavery times. Continuer la lecture de « Solidarity Economics, a Forgotten Practice of the Black Radical Tradition »

Published on Washington’s Blog, by blog owner, April 8, 2014.

… This is not the first false flag by NATO members. For example:

• The former Italian Prime Minister, an Italian judge, and the former head of Italian counterintelligence admit that NATO, with the help of the Pentagon and CIA, carried out terror bombings in Italy and other European countries in the 1950s and blamed the communists, in order to rally people’s support for their governments in Europe in their fight against communism. As one participant in this formerly-secret program stated: “You had to attack civilians, people, women, children, innocent people, unknown people far removed from any political game. The reason was quite simple. They were supposed to force these people, the Italian public, to turn to the state to ask for greater security” (and see this)(Italy and other European countries subject to the terror campaign had joined NATO before the bombings occurred). And watch this BBC special,    Continuer la lecture de « NATO Members Conduct False Flag Terror In Attempt to Whip Up War »

• Published on ahram online, by Dina Ezzat, April7, 2014.

Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi will officially become a presidential candidate this week, but speculation is already high regarding who will be among his presidential staff and what his policies will be … //

… Shades of grey: … //

… Human rights versus security:   Continuer la lecture de « Egypt: What vision for the future will El-Sisi bring? »

Published on Global Research.ca (first on Eco-Watch), by Global Research News, April 4, 2014.

Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-KS) will introduce legislation this month backed by the Grocery Manufactures Association—including biotech giant Monsanto and Koch Industries—that would establish a voluntary labeling system for food made withgenetically modified organisms (GMO), according to an industry insider.

The bill includes a “prohibition against mandatory labeling,” according to The Hill, and is designed to head off the many state bills and ballot initiatives that would impose more stringent labeling regulations on GMOs … // Continuer la lecture de « Republicans Introduce Koch-Funded, Monsanto-Backed Bill to Establish Voluntary GMO Food Labeling »

Radicalise, reform or fragment: these are the options facing the Muslim Brotherhood – on Al-Ahram weekly online, by Dina Ezzat, April 3, 2014.

Most people expect that on 5 June that Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi will be inaugurated as Egypt’s new president. The recently resigned military chief officially announced his candidacy against a backdrop that includes — according to local and international human rights organisations — the detention of more than 20,000 Muslim Brotherhood members who face a raft of charges. Triple that number are thought to be on the run, either in Egypt or abroad.   Continuer la lecture de « Egypt: Uncertain futures »