(Image: Emily Flake) Beyond Corporate Capitalism: Not So Wild a Dream by Gar Alperovitz and Thomas Hanna It’s time to put the taboo subject of public ownership back on the progressive agenda. It is the only way to solve some of the most serious problems facing the nation. We contend that it is possible not only to talk [...]
Photo Credit: Steve Lovegrove via Shutterstock.com Goodbye Fish and Shellfish? Meet the Biggest Threat to Our Oceans As emissions continue to rise, the world’s oceans are becoming corrosive, threatening shellfish, corals and the entire ocean food web. May 23, 2012 | LIKE THIS ARTICLE ? Join our mailing list: Sign up to stay up to date on [...]
Photo Credit: michaeljung via Shutterstock.com How the US Sold Africa to Multinationals Like Monsanto, Cargill, DuPont, PepsiCo and Others The G8 scheme does nothing to address the problems that are at the core of hunger and malnutrition but will serve only to further poverty and inequality. May 23, 2012 | Driving through Ngong Hills, not far [...]
The IMF has no intention of softening the terms of Greece’s austerity package, says Christine Lagarde. Photograph: Emmanuel Fradin for the Guardian It’s payback time: don’t expect sympathy – Lagarde to Greeks Take responsibility and stop trying to avoid taxes, International Monetary Fund chief tells Athens The International Monetary Fund has ratcheted up the pressure [...]
To restore probity in public life, Jeremy Hunt must go Those in British public life need to remember what proper conduct is Editorial guardian.co.uk, Saturday 26 May 2012 20.40 BST Ask even the most pugnacious Labour frontbencher how Leveson is playing on constituency doorsteps and the answer is: it’s not. Ordinary voters care about jobs, prices, our faltering [...]
the Arctic region too fragile to tamper with.Protestor dressed as Grim Reaper outside Shell annual meeting in London. (Photo: rikki (indymedia). Used under Creative Commons license) How Obama Helped Authorize Shell’s Drilling the Arctic by Pratap Chatterjee President Barack Obama personally helped Shell obtain authorization to drill for oil in Alaska, according to a [...]
(Photo: Greenpeace)A frontpage report in today’s New York Times paints the picture of a president eager to open a gateway to arctic drilling that members of his own energy and climate change advisory panel thought was both surprising and “improbable”. Ignoring Protest and Warnings, Obama Ushers in Era of Unprecedented Arctic Drilling The president, who once [...]
Rajoy’s government is grappling with high unemployment amid fears of a looming recession [Reuters] Spain has announced an $11bn bailout for its troubled bank, Bankia, a month after nationalising it. Luis de Guindos, the econmy minister, told a congressional committee that the state would have to put at least $11bn into saving Bankia, which he [...]
Jeremy Hunt: minister for Murdoch If this module of the Leveson inquiry has a smoking gun, it is the memo Jeremy Hunt wrote to the prime minister on 19 November 2010 Editorial guardian.co.uk, Thursday 24 May 2012 21.14 BST If this module of the Leveson inquiry has a smoking gun, it is the [...]
To stay on top of important articles like these, sign up to receive the latest updates from TomDispatch.com here. Conflict and intrigue over valuable energy supplies have been features of the international landscape for a long time. Major wars over oil have been fought every decade or so since World War I, and smaller engagements [...]
Young girl waiting at a cash grant distribution by Oxfam GB in Al Hodeidah governorate, district of Al-Jarrahi, Yemen in March 2012. (photo: Wolfgang Gressmann/Oxfam, March 2012)The aid groups, including Oxfam, Save the Children and CARE, report that 10 million people, 44 percent of the population, don’t have enough to eat and say that the [...]
Concerns Grow Over Stability of Fukushima Fuel Pool 4 Next strong earthquake could cause release of far more radiation than the initial meltdown – Common Dreams staff link http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/05/23-8 Whether the spent fuel pool at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant Unit 4 can withstand another strong earthquake has become a growing concern around the world. Fukushima’s [...]
“The single biggest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history.” http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/05/23-5 ‘Biggest Act of Civil Disobedience in Canadian History’ Marchers defy Bill 78; Neighborhoods fill with sound of banging pots and pans – Common Dreams staff That’s how yesterday’s Montreal protest is being described today. Hundreds of thousands red-shirted demonstrators defied Quebec‘s new “anti-protest” law [...]
Piers Morgan told me how to hack a phone, says Jeremy Paxman Presenter tells Leveson inquiry former Mirror editor teased Ulrika Jonsson about private conversations she had Dan Sabbagh and Lisa O’Carroll guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 23 May 2012 16.15 BST Jeremy Paxman at the Leveson inquiry: Piers Morgan knew how to hack phones. Source: ITN Link [...]
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said the site was going public ‘for our employees and our investors’. Photograph: Kimihiro Hoshino/AFP/Getty Images Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg sees stock tumble amid IPO lawsuits Now they call it Fadebook – shareholders call in lawyers as stock price tumbles and regulators are not far behind Facebook’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg, has gone [...]
Eurozone leaders Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande talk ahead of the latest Brussels summit. Photograph: Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images Eurozone crisis: Germany and France clash over eurobonds at summit French president François Hollande marks his Brussels debut by challenging chancellor Angela Merkel over bailout Ian Traynor in Brussels and Patrick Wintour guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 23 May 2012 20.37 BST European [...]
Why Even Failed Activism Succeeds By David Swanson http://warisacrime.org/content/why-even-failed-activism-succeeds I enjoy reading histories of past activism, including memoirs by long-time activists, such as Lawrence Wittner’s new book, Working for Peace and Justice. Almost every such account includes belated discoveries of the extent to which a government was been spying on [...]
Sectarian war back in Lebanon 21 May 2012 Lebanon is currently going through an unprecedented level of sectarian tension which has not been seen since the signing of the Taef Agreement in 1989 that ended 16 years of bloody conflicts of the Lebanese civil war. Shortly after the deadly clashes [...]
To get their searing point across, a new educational and fundraising campaign by the UK-basedFreedom From Torture, which gives medical care to survivors of torture, features help-wanted“ads” in mainstream papers. “The government of a Middle Eastern state is recruiting a senior torturer to work in a well-equipped prison. Our ideal candidate would be prepared to inflict extreme pain [...]
You may be finding it interesting to read the ‘solutions’ being pushed to the economic ills of various ountries. Austerity once all the rage seems to be getting replaced by a rapid expansion in money supply an alleged parallel increase in jobs and credit and the stage is set for [...]
Invoices seen by the Guardian purport to show how a private investigation firm made payments in return for confidential information. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA link http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/may/22/metropolitan-police-anti-corruption-allegations Scotland Yard is investigating allegations that detectives working for its anti-corruption unit have been paid thousands of pounds by a firm of private investigators. A parliamentary inquiry was told today that [...]
Occupy Wall Street protesters on the Brooklyn Bridge on October 1, 2011. (Photo: JSsocal) The Occupy Movement and the Politics of Educated Hope Friday, 18 May 2012 14:46By Henry A. Giroux, Truthout | Op-Ed “To be truly radical is to make hope possible rather than despair inevitable.” -Raymond Williams American society has lost its claim on democracy. One indication of [...]
Julian Assange Interviews President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa Ecuador’s Fight Against Its Media Vultures link to article and video http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31397.htm Video Posted May 22, 2012 In 2010 Correa was taken hostage in an attempted coup d’etat. After the attempt he launched a controversial counter-offensive Ecuador’s media, which he blames for the coup [...]
Islamophobia: A New Form of Colonialism By Ismail Salami In an organized act of brutality, a number of US soldiers went on a house-to-house shooting spree in Zangabad village, Kandahar in March and massacred 16 people including nine children while they were sleeping and all Washington had to say were a [...]
Inside Tania Head’s Terrible 9/11 Lie: ‘The Woman Who Wasn’t There’ Apr 6, 2012 3:50 PM EDT Her husband died in the attacks. She barely escaped from the south tower. But a new book chronicles the (literally) unbelievable story of 9/11’s most famous ‘survivor.’ By Robin Fisher and Angelo Guglielmo. Tania Head [...]
Recovery or Collapse? Bet on Collapse By Paul Craig Roberts May 21, 2012 “Information Clearing House” — The US financial system and, probably, the financial system of Europe, like the police, no longer serves a useful social purpose. In the US the police have proven themselves to be a [...]
Sri Lanka releases former army chief Sarath Fonseka walks free after pardon by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, his former main political rival. Sarath Fonseka, Sri Lanka’s former army chief, has has been released from prison after President Mahinda Rajapaksa granted him a pardon to coincide with the third anniversary of the [...]
I have had problems with the page program. After a large number of emails they seem to be fixed now. George Ikners ikners.com
Greece heading out of euro, say UK voters ICM poll reveals 74% believe Greece will leave single currency while David Cameron‘s personal rating hits all-time low Voters are convinced the euro is heading for the rocks, but divided on whom they will blame if the double-dip recession deepens, according to a new Guardian/ICM poll. By a crushing [...]
Federal Court Enjoins NDAA An Obama-appointed judge rules its indefinite detention provisions likely violate the 1st and 5th Amendments By Glenn Greenwald May 17, 2012 “Salon‘ — A federal district judge today, the newly-appointed Katherine Forrest of the Southern District of New York, issued an amazing ruling: one which preliminarily enjoins enforcement of the highly controversial [...]
The G8 talks will be an opportunity for Barack Obama to vent US frustration at Europe’s failure to find a solution to the debt crisis. Photograph: Carolyn Kaster/AP link http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/may/17/barack-obama-eu-growth-crisis Barack Obama is to put pressure on Germany to ease the pain of austerity with policies to boost growth, as he uses two days of talks with the G8 industrial nations [...]
After some complimentary and well deserved comments for Davies from Leveson at the Leveson Inquiry it may be time to look a bit more at Nick Davies. He is the author of a book called Flat Earth News that examines quite closely the role of the media and propaganda in the fabric of political [...]
By Michael Collins (about the author) Become a Fan (57 fans) — Page 1 of 3 page(s) opednews.com link to article http://www.opednews.com/articles/Rebekah-Brooks-Witness-fo-by-Michael-Collins-120517-238.html Criminal charges against Rupert Murdoch insider and favorite Rebekah Brooks may be a prelude to looming charges arising out of Brooks’ testimony before the Leveson Inquiry last week. Crown Prosecution Services charged Brooks, [...]
Violence and Greeting Cards by Robert C. Koehler “We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies . . .” My thanks to Medea Benjamin for her recent Common Dreams essay putting the spirit of Julia Ward Howe back into Mother’s Day. I’d forgotten about her 1870 proclamation of disarmament and call to the mothers of Planet Earth to [...]
THOUGHTS AFTER INTERVIEWING GILAD ATZMON THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012 AT 3:23PM GILAD ATZMON Thoughts After Interviewing Gilad Atzmon: March 13, 2012, Geneva New York http://www.deliberation.info/ by Pat Carmeli From the wrath expressed by many in the solidarity movement at the mere mention of his name, I was expecting to dislike Gilad Atzmon or at least feel [...]
Will “Onshela” save Europe? History will register his plane struck by lightning on the way to Berlin, no fancy kisses, and asparagus with veal schnitzel on the menu. This is the way the eurozone ends (or begins again); not with a bang, but a … lightning strike. Merkollande — the new European power [...]
breakthrough.‘Hugo Chávez and his co-religionaries have called for 21st-century socialism, not a return to Soviet-style economics.’ (Photograph: Handout/Reuters) Chávez’s Economics Lesson for Europe Hugo Chávez’s rejection of the neoliberal policies dragging Europe down sets a hopeful example to Greece and beyond by Richard Gott Some years ago, travelling on the presidential plane of Hugo Chávez [...]
The Phyllis Bennis site provides for entry to her activities. Please take the time to visit and see if you wish to become part of the service she provides. Link http://www.ips-dc.org/staff/phyllis What follows is an email from her organisation you may find interesting. George Ikners ikners.com Palestinian Hunger Strikers and U.S. Veterans Returning [...]
Accidentally Released – and Incredibly Embarrassing Documents Show How Goldman et al Engaged in ‘Naked Short Selling‘ By Matt Taibbi May 16, 2012 “Rolling Stone” - It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes God smiles on us. Last week, he smiled on investigative reporters everywhere, when the lawyers for Goldman, Sachs slipped [...]
Bashing Japan and Germany Over Nuclear Exit An Audacious Nuclear Hypocrisy by LINDA PENTZ GUNTER With audacious hypocrisy, American pro-nuclear pundits have been indulging in the familiar sport of losers – the relentless bashing of the more successful. With nuclear energy rapidly losing favor around the globe, the [...]
Relax! They’ve Got It Covered Why Jamie Dimon’s $2 Billion Gambling Loss Will NOT Speed Financial Reform by ANDREW COCKBURN Among the more laughable features of commentaries on Jamie Dimon’s recently revealed $2 billion (at least) gambling losses are earnest pronouncements that the debacle will stymie the efforts by [...]
Photo: EPA One afternoon in May, Al Jazeera accompanied police sergeant Joseph Paul on patrol in San Jose, California, a city of just under a million people. As Paul wheeled his cruiser down the highways and streets of his city, he said his daily routine is full of potential dangers. “On patrol you have absolutely no [...]
Texas Grandma Sentenced to Life Without Parole for First-Time Drug Offense By Rebecca McCray May 15, 2012 “Information Clearing House” –Texans can sleep more soundly at night knowing that Elisa Castillo, a grandmother and nonviolent first-time drug offender, is serving a life without parole sentence in Fort Worth. Yes, you read that right — the latest [...]
The Zionist Scenario: Now And In The Future By Lawrence Davidson May 15, 2012 “Information Clearing House” — Over the past month Palestinian leaders have begun to publicly acknowledge that continuing actions by the Israeli government, and corresponding inaction by the “international community,” have destroyed any reasonable hope of a viable and independent Palestinian [...]
“As soon as we abandon our own reason, and are content to rely upon authority, there is no end to our troubles”. - Bertrand Russell
Published on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 by Common Dreams The Palestinian Nakba: The Resolve of Memory by Ramzy Baroud Many Palestinians remember and reference al-Nakba, also known as the Catastrophe, on May 15 every year. The event marks the expulsion of nearly a million Palestinians, while their villages were destroyed. The destruction of Palestine in 1947-48 ushered [...]
At least six people were killed and 100 injured after the Israeli army opened fire at the Lebanese border [EPA] It was meant to be a day of commemoration, albeit amid an atmosphere of festive defiance; hundreds of multi-coloured balloons were floating in the skies, national flags adorning the hill top were fluttering in the [...]
JP Morgan protesters attempt to make their voices heard outside the shareholders’ meeting in Tampa. Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images JP Morgan: justice department opens investigation into $2bn trading losses Chief executive Jamie Dimon sees off attempts by shareholders to strip him of his role as chairman – but pressure is mounting The US justice department [...]
