"Modern societies cannot function without a welfare state" (tags)
Modern societies cannot really function well without a general social security system. That's why we need a security system for the whole of society that everyone pays into. In addition, growing social inequality is also a major economic risk.
Housing is a human right (tags)
To guarantee the human right to housing, a fundamental change in policy would be required at all levels. At all levels - federal, state and local - the social housing provision should be enforced against private profit interests. The non-profit status of housing must be revived. Housing must not be a commodity, it must not be the object of speculation and profit interests.
China's further development has priority (tags)
The focus of Chinese policy remains the economic and social development of the country... Despite the enormous successes in economic and social development, there is still a long way to go before China catches up and can also keep up with the rich industrialized countries
Blow up the banking system: A free account for all is possible (tags)
Harsh austerity policies for the vast majority of people and state socialism for bankers, both practiced at the same time in Europe and the U.S. after 2008 - this had two consequences for financialized capitalism of the past 14 years. First, this course poisoned the West's money.
IMF Forecasts Lowest Growth in Decades as World Leaders Descend on Washington for Meetings (tags)
Debt Roundtable Meetings Attempt to Break Impasse on Debt Relief From China and Private Sector
Financial crisis and The time of change (tags)
A utopian society will have learned to decentralize power, to keep it manageable and controllable, instead of creating supranational institutions and conglomerates. Look at the EU & Brussels, an estimated 25,000 lobbyists besiege and work the deputies and commissioners.
Demoncide. The killing of members of a country's civilian population as a result of its g (tags)
Many of the reasons why the necessary change to rebuild America is only in the hands of We the People. Much of this information is concerning California and the city of San Francisco and the Sn Francisco Bay Area
The right to water and 7 challenges to the welfare state (tags)
Visions need concrete, tangible measures that provide security in times of uncertainty and reliably carry all people through the huge changes...The indispensable ecological transformation must also become a social one.
Rethinking the State and Rent Madness (tags)
The right to housing for everyone must be understood as a public challenge and presupposes the de-commodification of the housing supply, a democratization of urban policy, and breach with the real estate exploitation coalition.
Defense Against the Dark Arts (tags)
A Guide to Security Culture, Privacy & Underground Tradecraft
Social division in the schools and 7 challenges to the welfare state (tags)
The most difficult task will be to redefine prosperity not only in philosophical concepts, but also in concrete tangible and experiential terms detached from consumption. Many are already working on this. The United Nations adopted a strategy for a blueprint for peace and prosperity
Energy crisis: market intervention by policymakers is necessary (tags)
We are in the middle of a multiple energy crisis. The supply of energy is in danger, and prices will continue to rise. This is not only a problem for private households and companies. There is a danger that persistently high inflation will become entrenched. Then severe economic depression
Hysterical Populism and the Appetite of Leviathan (tags)
The relationship between economy and social order has been turned upside down: economy is no longer a function of an overarching culture, but conversely, "human society has sunk to being an accessory of the economic system" (Karl Polanyi). RK was founder of Exit & Krisis blogs.
The true costs of capitalist wealth (tags)
What drives the capitalist mode of production is the endless compulsion to increase abstract wealth, or, put more simply, the compulsion to turn money into more money... Society is richer than it knows, because it does not take all kinds of wealth factors into account in GDP.
Is China in danger of collapse? and Anti-economics and anti-politics (tags)
In the process of modernization, the relationship between market and state can be boiled down to the formula of a general law: the more market, the more state... The bloated market and the bloated state can only live or die together.
Justice, Impoverishment and Fear (tags)
The defense of the welfare state is the defense of democracy...Democracy is as strong as it is fragile. It is strong when it is defended. It is strong when we do not allow ourselves to be fobbed off with answers that do not tolerate questions. But it disappears when we become indifferent to it.
The United States Intelligence Community (tags)
The Washington Post reported in 2010 that there were 1,271 government organizations and 1,931 private companies in 10,000 locations in the United States that were working on counterterrorism, homeland security, and intelligence, and that the intelligence community as a whole would include 854,000 people holding top-secret clearances.[4] According to a 2008 study by the ODNI, private contractors make up 29% of the workforce in the U.S. intelligence community and account for 49% of their personnel budgets.[5]
Post-democratic Capitalism (tags)
The fact that money can buy political influence is a central problem for democracy. All citizens are equal in terms of their voting rights, but not in terms of their wealth - this is one of the great unsolved challenges of liberal systems of government.
Journalism reeks of betrayal of democracy (tags)
A "new normality" has taken root in our society. A climate of fear and severe, permanent encroachments on fundamental rights are shaping politics and social life. From the beginning of the pandemic, the media and politics have created a reality that almost treats the principles of democracy with contempt.
The four walls are not what we think they are (tags)
For Arendt, modernity in general is characterized by the loss of the world. The private home cannot compensate for all that is lost. The private home must be a part of the "world." By being imprisoned, we have lost our freedom and the world itself.
Selling off. The Price of Privatization in France (tags)
Liberalization and privatization have ultimately only confused consumers, but have whetted the appetite of the industry bosses and their puppets even more. The takeover of the state by the private sector is no longer about the realization of an ideological project.
The finance-dominated regime of accumulation and the crisis in Europe (tags)
Prof. Demirovic gives us charts on profits, private indebtedness and wages that show profits explode and wages and investments stagnate in 40 years of neoliberalism.
Chaos.Thbe New Age of Revolutions (tags)
The End of the Megamachine brings to light the roots of the destructive forces threatening the future of humankind today. Dismantling Western progress mythologies, Scheidler shows how the logics of endless capital accumulation have devastated both human societies & ecosystems
Good Housing for All and Rent Madness (tags)
Apartment rents have increased faster thant he incomes of wage earners. Real estate decays to an object of speculation. Capital seeks lucrative investments. Hectic activity and bustle replaces inactivity and idleness since the protests of renters cannot be ignored any more.
LI KA SHING MUST BE ARRESTED !!! (tags)
li ka shing misuses private data on a massive scale and sells them for profit
The Cure is the Sickness: Washington Consensus (tags)
Reality could replace the elite economic myths!
State Debts - The Primal German Fear (tags)
Unlike a private homebuilder, the state can be indebted and never expect the entire debt to be repaid. For most, taxes are a book with seven seals. A tax-cutting lobby exploits our unease over taxes for their purposes. Social cohesion declines and milieu egoism increases.
Finance Capitalism and the Digital Economy (tags)
The financialization of the economy and the rise of the commercial Internet are directly connected... At the beginning of the digital economy, as Marianna Mazzucato and others showed, was an investing state that took over the installment financing for digitalization.
Is the Financial Crash 2.0 Coming? (tags)
Market ideology has been on the advance since the 1980s. Only a few voices warned of the risks and instability of the liberalized financial markets. After they profited from the generous bailout packages, the banks began to speculate against the most indebted countries.
UN Forum Wrestles with Economic Policies 10 Years After Financial Crisis Islands Call for (tags)
Officials from governments, the IMF, World Bank, the private sector and NGOs meet this week at the United Nations for the Financing for Development (FFD) Forum.
Housing is not just another commodity (tags)
Like food, clothing, health, and education, housing is an elementary need. On'e apartment is a place of retreat of the private person, a protective- and creative space of inviolable identity, Long-term low-interest housing tax credits & SROs, are alternatives to indifference.
Liberalization of Public Service: A Democratic Achievement is Subjected to Competition (tags)
Public service guarantees and influences the living conditions of our society and has a proven tradition in Germany for over 100 years. Privatizations have mainly led to private oligopolies. Corporations evade their responsibilities and expect intact infrastructure.
The power of ideology is so great it easily creates a distorted perception of facts. Where money is spent is crucial, not the size of the public sector. The Internet, the touch screen, semi-conductors and the GPS were developed with state risk capital. Tax havens cause revenue shortfalls.
Private Enterprise Committed to Social Interests (tags)
Social needs like energy- and water-supply, the waste industry, education, senior pensions and health care can be solved better publically than privately.
President Trump - We are Witnesses of a Turn of an Era (tags)
Trump manageed to stage himself as a candidate who waged a crusade against the political establishment. Does politics only give more to the top 1% and lose sight of the remaining 99%. Insulting voters is not competence.
Public Risks, Private Profits and Prosperity (tags)
All personal and corporate achievements are based on state investments in roads, schools, hospitals, community centers, airwaves, food safety, and water quality. The Apples and Googles of this world are businesses that developed the results of state-financed basic research...
Myth: The Public Service Sector is Inefficient and Much Too Expensive (tags)
Privatizations do not usually lead to lower prices. Privatizations often entail hidden costs. if a business saves by investing less in training, the state has to invest more. Privatizations mostly mean staff reductions, lower wage, and increasing work pressure.
Manipulation of Public Opinion (tags)
Timocracy-rule of the propertied-threatens to replace democracy. The large majority is blocked from political participation and from forming their social future-unlike what was intended in the model of the majority principle in democracy.
What Would Trump Fascism Look Like? (tags)
What Would Trump Fascism Look Like?
This society and fbi indicted (tags)
The following report presents a sampling of evidence against the fbi and all who support fbi crimes.
Austerity Against Democracy, 40 pp (tags)
How much state does the social market economy need? What lessons should be drawn from the 2008 financial meltdown? What happens to trust when financiers are above the law?
Free trade agreements serve geo-political goals. They are the "weapons," so to speak, in the global economic war. Critical persons see through this and rebel against "corporate rule" and against the dissolution of the primacy of politics by the primacy of the economy.
28 Reasons To Defeat Jeb Bush's Presidential Ambitions (tags)
Jeb Bush: 11 of 28 reasons to vote against yet another Bush 1. cocreator of 2 wars and promoter of 3 current wars 2. wants Guantanamo kept open 3. thief of the 2000 presidential election through acts of treason 4. executioner of 21 5. advocate of fracking, offshore drilling, the Keystone Pipeline 6. has offshore private equity firm 7. advocate of waterboarding 8. George Bush's presidential advisers are now Jeb's 9. supporter of eminent domain to seize private land for oil 10.supporter of the Patriot Act and NSA mass surveillance 11.a history of privatization
The Coded World: Loss of Democracy and Abandonment of Knowledge (tags)
Neoliberalism is the enemy of knowledge. Specialized knowledge and the experience of skilled workers are sought less and less in a world ruled by simple numbers and algorithms. Through economization, powerful private enterprises manipulate or withhold information.
With slogans like "Less State, More Private," the state was run down for years. Neoliberal ideology managed to present it as a bureaucratic monster. Banks were bailed out. In the emergency, the most wicked neoliberal becomes the state fan. The history of innovations shows the state takes risks
Differing Views on China (tags)
China
Gaza in Ruins a Year After Israeli Aggression (tags)
Israel
Close Confidant's Emails to Hillary Bash Britain's Cameron (tags)
Hillary
TTIP - Why the World Should Beware, 61 pp (tags)
Radical free trade policies did not begin with the birth of NAFTA, nor with the founding of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995 – both had been in place in over 90 developing and transitional economies for over a decade through structural adjustment programes imposed by the World Bank and the IMF. (Walden Bello)
Summer 2015 National Immigrant Solidarity Network Monthly News Alert! (tags)
Life and Death in the Border, Mass Detention: Another U.S. violation of Human Rights
Politics Faded Out the Constitutional Offensiveness of Trade Agreements (tags)
The arbitration jurisdiction with the ISDS mechanism is the most controversial point of the two trade agreements. US corporations could file lawsuits against the German prohibition of gas production through fracking. Public interest laws could be stylized as "indirect expropriation."
Hypocritical and Hippocratic Economic Policy in Europe (tags)
The crisis is multilayered-a bank crisis, a crisis of wealth distribution and a misallocation of capital between long-term real investments and virtual financial investments.. The frugal Schwabian housewife is not a suitable model.
The Mendacious Maps of Disappearing Palestine (tags)
Anti-Israel activists often use doctored maps to show Israel’s supposed malfeasance over the past century. Such claims are made by people who, in the best case, have no knowledge of the facts, and in the worst case, have no moral compass.
PHILIPPINES: Rescind the LRT-MRT Fare Hikes (tags)
Metro-Manila: The roughly 100 percent fare increases imposed on users of the Light Rail Transit 1 and 2 and Metro Rail Transit 3 is a great disservice to the riding public.
Congress Authorizes Unlimited Spying on US Citizens (tags)
police state
CT Republican Candidate For Gov Disappears An Island (tags)
Unionbuster Tom Foley, sent by Bush to facilitate Paul Bremer in the rape of Iraq, is a Republican candidate for governor of Connecticut,. He has disappeared an island
Connecticut Governor Race: Dan Malloy Rather Than Foley: Factory Closing Union Buster (tags)
In the Connecticut governor race, voters are being informed of the unionbusting, factory closing profiteering of the Republican candidate Tom Foley, who was a fundraiser and state election coordinator for George Bush.
PACIFICA is shify-ing more (tags)
Pacifca.that small group of PNB board members are voting on changing the bylaws -- rules to go by that all 5 current stations should abide by. Votes on July 17 made a few changes and avoided other ones.
Investment Protection at a Crossroads (tags)
TTIP gives foreign investors the right to sue sovereign governments before ad hoc arbitration courts when lost profits occur as a result of political decisions. These decisions cannot be appealed and undermine social, environmental and labor regulations.
Irresponsible Scoundrel Media China Bashing (tags)
media
Sweden: How the welfare state was stolen (tags)
The entrance of private equity from 2005-6 was a big shift. They created a totally different logic, where short-term extraction of profit was the only goal. In 2011 the shit really hit the fan.
The Neoliberal Model: Profits without Investments (tags)
According to the neoliberal myth, higher profits would lead to more investments and more jobs. In truth, higher profits lead to corporations buying back their stock and currency speculation. In truth, higher investments lead to higher profits.
On the Death of John Kenneth Galbraith (tags)
The great economist John Kenneth Galbrath was shocked at the public squalor alongside private affluence. He devised the horse-sparrow theory, horses must be fed so the sparrows can live. A healthy economy means shrinking the financial sector and expanding the public sector.
US Private Military Contractors in Ukraine? (tags)
Ukraine
100 Years of Financial Terrorism (tags)
Fed
Spiteful Government Puts Hammond in Slammer 10 Years (tags)
Framed and defamed, anarchist hacker was egged on by an FBI snitch, Sabu, to attack foreign targets.
healthcare
NSA Spying on World Leaders (tags)
NSA
The World War against the Poor (tags)
More and more money capital concentrates in the hands of the rich which they let `work for itself.' Every day $1.5 trillion circulates around the globe and changes hands. Only two to three percent of that is needed to handle the business with goods and services. The rest is speculative excess.
Obamacare Compromises Privacy (tags)
health
Capitalism is not the Opposite of the State (tags)
Without the permanent intervention of the state, there would be no functioning capitalism. No economic branch depends on the state like the financial branch The deregulation was based on the trick of slandering state regulation as strait-jackets.that could strangle the economy.
Anti-Obamacare Ads from the Right (tags)
The far-right are targeting college students and young people with ads telling them not to buy insurance, just pay the fine.
Economic Ethics After the Crisis (tags)
Peter Ulrich is an emeritus professor of Economic Ethics at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland and author of Integrative Economic Ethics (2008). The economy should be embedded in society; society should not be embedded in the economy. The invisible hand is a myth to be unmasked.
Obamacare: Unaffordable Coverage (tags)
healthcare
Budget Cuts and Happy Times (tags)
For around three decades, a Troika from Wall Street, the US Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve pushed global (capital) investments with a mixture of tax cuts, cheap credits and overrated securities.
Public Banking: What Better Time Than Now (tags)
public banking
Washington Post Anti-Bolivarian Propaganda (tags)
Chavez
"We need a new economic balance" (tags)
If the US removed the cap on social security taxes, public spirit and generational fairness would return to the states. At present, there is a cap at $106K. If you make $4 million, you only pay social security tax on the first $106K.
Obama’s Shakedown of Medicare (tags)
In a political era of corporate dominance it was inevitable that doublespeak would become the official language of Washington, DC. Now “cuts” to social programs are referred to as “savings,” while the destruction of these programs is “reform.” This is the essence of President Obama’s doublespeakish “Race to the Top” public education “reform,” as well as his yet-to-be-announced deficit plan based on Medicare “savings.”
Single Payer Health Insurance For All (tags)
We need single payer health insurance.
Lets Replace Private Health Insurance With Single Payer Health Insurance (tags)
Single payer health insurance is much better than private health insurance for many good reasons.
Single Payer Health Insurance Will Save Your Health (tags)
If you want to save your health we should get rid of private health insurance and get single payer health insurance.
PHILIPPINES: The ghosts of martial law (tags)
On September 21, forty years ago, President Ferdinand E. Marcos declared martial law. For almost 13-and-a-half years afterwards, the country suffered terribly from a brutal and corrupt dictatorship. Among the victims of the grave violations of human rights under martial law were the following: 3,257 “salvaged” (summarily executed), 35,000 tortured, and 70,000 incarcerated, as documented by historian Alfred McCoy.
Single Payer Health Insurance Will Help All Of Us (tags)
Single payer health insurance is cheaper and better than private health insurance.
Trillions Stashed in Tax Havens (tags)
grand theft
America Needs Single Payer Health Insurance (tags)
Everybody in america has the right for health insurance and health care that is affordable.
Repaired Shoes or New Shoes (tags)
The economy demonstrates-in the Marxist sense-its primacy over politics. Whose interests are realized? New holes opened up after every bailout action in the last four years. Greece is only the tip of the iceberg. The debtor is not to blame for the disaster.
How Is All That In The Interest Of US Taxpayers? (tags)
Our democracy here in America has brought many positive things. It has brought positive things for Americans and for people living abroad. It has inspired others to try and have a more equal and free system of government in their own nations. It has inspired the best and the brightest from other nations to come to our nation seeking a better life for themselves, thus contributing something to their lives and to our nation. Positive things no doubt.
Mexico elects PRI's Enrique Pena Nieto president: What's next for Mexican-US relations? (tags)
With more than 80 percent of the votes counted from Sunday's elections, Mexico's federal election institute put Pena Nieto of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party in the lead, winning 37 percent of the country's votes. Leftist candidate Andres Lopez Obrador gained 32 percent of the votes, and ruling party candidate Josefina Vasquez Mota trailed with 25 percent.
Is CISPA A Government Trojan Horse? (tags)
U.S. Government Can Use CISPA To Control and Forfeit Corporations & Businesses. Government should be prohibited from using so-call (Certified Self Protected Cyber Entities, their Employees) and Elements to circumvent the Fourth Amendment; escape Public Freedom of Information Requests.
Next: Police Drones—Recording Conversations In Your Home & Business To Forfeit Property? (tags)
Any conversation picked up by a drone inside a home or business, police can take out of context to institute arrests; or civil asset forfeiture to confiscate the home/business and other assets.
Presidential Candidate Alexander Defends Public Workforce and the US Postal Service (tags)
The United States Postal Service is looking at turning back services and potentially laying off 80,000 workers due to a manufactured budget shortfall. This manufactured budget shortfall will also result in the closure of 250 mail processing centers and 3,700 post offices, mostly in poor and rural areas. The Socialist Party USA ticket of Stewart Alexander and Alex Mendoza say that this is part of a larger attack upon the working class for the benefit of the wealthiest 1%.
CISPA Legislation Is Disguised—Fascism (tags)
CISPA will open the door for U.S. Government spy agencies such as NSA; the FBI; government asset forfeiture contractors, any private entity (to take out of context) any innocent—hastily written email, fax or phone call to allege a crime or violation was committed to cause a person’s arrest, assess fines and or civilly forfeit a business or property.
Why Manning’s Identity Shall Remain Private (tags)
The San Diego Alliance for Marriage Equality (S.A.M.E.) and Zenger’s Newsmagazine support the struggle of alleged WikiLeaker Private Manning against a U.S. government that held him in solitary confinement for nearly two years under conditions so arduous they constitute torture, and now is putting them on trial in a court-martial even though President Obama has already compromised the process by declaring them guilty. S.A.M.E. and Zenger’s also support Private Manning’s right to choose their own gender identity, and as a result we will not assign them a first name or any gender-specific references.
Greece: The Epicenter of Global Pillage (tags)
class war
A commentary on the San Diego Police Foundation and how its existence and activities demonstrate the extent to which the police have become an expeditionary force for the 1 percent and are able to avoid public accountability.
class war
Oppose The Privatization of Law Enforcement Services in Oakland (tags)
I am deeply concerned that private patrol operators in California may be effectively able to evade the obligations of public sector law enforcement outfits in the service of a government by the people for the people under the Constitution of the State of California and the Constitution of the United States of America. If a private law enforcement company commits a material breach of our state or federal constitutions, their insurance carrier will invariably pay a cash settlement to the victims and the private law enforcement company will be disbanded.
Oppose The Privatization of Law Enforcement Services in Oakland (tags)
I am deeply concerned that private patrol operators in California may be effectively able to evade the obligations of public sector law enforcement outfits in the service of a government by the people for the people under the Constitution of the State of California and the Constitution of the United States of America. If a private law enforcement company commits a material breach of our state or federal constitutions, their insurance carrier will invariably pay a cash settlement to the victims and the private law enforcement company will be disbanded.
Election 2012: Unemployment Drop a Sham According to Socialist Party Ticket (tags)
The Alexander/Mendoza campaign calls for a real jobs program, as well as protecting public sector jobs which have been faltering since the economic crisis began. They say that spending billions of dollars on incentives for businesses doesn’t get the job done – rather they call for the government to create jobs directly.
Urgent Call To Save the Occupation: Stay Up All Night (tags)
Occupiers call for all-night block party and vigil tonight to save the Occupation
Misplaced attack on 'ObamaCare' (tags)
Prior to the latest bi-partisan focus on "constraining" the Federal deficit--in which both D & R political parties now unite to use this heaven-sent battering ram to beat up on the working class even more, the Right Wing had been concentrating its Fire and Fury on the so-called ObamaCare...
Time, Place, and Manner Restrictions on Peaceable Assembly (tags)
Time, Place and Manner Restrictions on First Amendment Right to Peaceable Assembly (protest)
Those who criticize the Occupation Movement see it and everything else as a product but what the OM is is process.
Unify for Occupy Oakland (tags)
To build the 99%, we must find unity across the economic and social strata, or the Occupation movement will be correctly derided as a quasi-elitist middle class project.
class war
The San Diego Mayoral Candidates That Didn't Bark (tags)
When A Better San Diego, a coalition made up largely of labor unions and their affiliates, sponsored a debate among the four leading candidates for Mayor of San Diego in next year's election, only two showed up. The no-shows were City Councilmember Carl DeMaio, whose whole campaign is based on targeting city workers as the source of San Diego's economic woes, and District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, both Republicans. A third Republican, Assemblymember Nathan Fletcher, and Democratic Congressmember Bob Filner attended and differed on city workers' pensions, outsourcing city jobs to private companies and many other issues.
How to find coverage on KPFK
Fighting for the Soul of the American Dream (tags)
class war
Wall Street Runs America (tags)
Wall Street
Is Capitalism Devouring Its Children? (tags)
The state was extorted by the banks. Bailing out the banks was regarded as without alternative..Rating agencies should become public institutions and system-relevant banks dismantled. Growth- and stability funds should be established as the credit-givers of last resort.
Call to Action Against ALEC in Phoenix this November (tags)
ALEC should know there are a million better things to do with their time than plotting mass incarceration. But there?s nowhere we?d rather be than confronting their meeting.
Filling Prison Beds for Profit (tags)
prisons
With PPP, Public Treasuries are Plundered (tags)
According to the neoliberal myth, higher profits lead to increased investments and more jobs. In truth, investments have declined in this decade. Corporations used their profits to speculate on foreign currencies and buy back their own stock. Crises are chances to rethink private and public.
Debts and a New Beginning (tags)
Problems don't disappear when they are ignored. Through deregulation, the law of profit maximization and government failure, the financial sector was expanded and made independent of the real economy. 14 million jobs could be created through the Internet.
Health Care in Cuba and America (tags)
health care
Attack on Democratic Traditions (tags)
The situation of the US public budget is really dramatic. This indebtedness is the result of excessive military spending and the neoliberal policy launched at the beginning of the 1980s. A progressive counter-movement in the form of a broad Obama coalition is emerging.
Public Banking: An Idea Whose Time Has Come (tags)
public banking
Vermont Enacts Conditional Universal Healthcare Coverage (tags)
healthcare
On the Chopping Block: Federal Worker Pensions (tags)
fascism
Republicans Win Without a Shutdown (tags)
The first fight over the federal budget in 2011 is over, and the Republicans have won. For at least the past 30 years Republican ideas — that government is bad, that the private sector is always more efficient than the public sector, that wages and benefits need to be cut to make America's workers "competitive" with the rest of the world, and government spending needs to be cut even if it risks turning the current recession into a full-fledged depression — have ruled. Progressives need to understand the depth of the Republicans’ triumph in order to begin the task of reversing it.
Clean Air, Healthy Communities Citizens Hearing (tags)
Health, science and academic experts and private citizens defend clean air
Are School Privatizers Employing Fabian Núñez and Mercury Plubic Affairs to Champion Charte (tags)
Have local charter-voucher schools brought in even more hired guns to assure more privatization during this round of PSC?
Accused WikiLeaker Bradley Manning claims rough justice (tags)
"At night, if the guards cannot see me clearly because I have a blanket over my head or I am curled up towards the wall, they will will wake me in order to ensure that I am OK."
Waging War on Working Americans (tags)
labor struggles
Hidden Provisions in Wisconsin Bill (tags)
worker struggles
The following is an editorial written for the March 2011 issue of Zenger’s Newsmagazine before the uproar in Wisconsin over the bill introduced by that state’s governor, Scott Walker, which would essentially destroy public-sector unionism in that state and therefore likely be the final nail in the coffin of America’s labor movement as a whole. People — not just union workers directly affected by the proposal but others as well — have turned out in the streets and blockaded the state capitol, while “Tea Party” counter-protesters have been mobilized nationwide by talk radio and Fox News to come and support the governor. The Wisconsin protests have been compared to those that recently brought down Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak — though America’s corporate media have carefully avoided that analogy — but despite the uproar over Walker’s bill, America’s white working class has so far remained largely opposed to the progressive agenda and supportive of radical-Right attempts to destroy what’s left of America’s social safety net.
responsible banking
Permanent Debt Bondage from America's Student Loan Racket (tags)
mega-theft
Blackwater Founder in Deal to Sell Company to LA-Based Investors (tags)
Erik D. Prince, founder of the private security firm formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide, has reached a deal to sell his embattled firm to a small group of investors based in Los Angeles who have close ties to Mr. Prince, according to people briefed on the deal.
Airports Consider Using Private Security Screeners Vs. TSA Transportation Security Officer (tags)
'Don't touch my junk' passenger sparks revolt against airport searches
Class Warfare Jeopardizing American Workers' Security (tags)
waging war against vital social benefits
Green U.S. Senate Candidate: We Need a Single-Payer "Medicare-for-all" Health Care System (tags)
"The so-called 'health care reform' bill signed into law by Democratic President Barack Obama earlier this year was in reality a thinly-disguised scheme to bailout Wall Street billionaires who made huge investments in private health insurance companies that lately had been experiencing a decline in revenues as a result of a rapidly shrinking customer base."
The Struggle for a Workers' Recovery (tags)
Stocks are booming; the Dow Jones soared past 11,000; the very wealthy are bursting from their financial seams. Meanwhile, mass unemployment continues, with 95,000 more jobs -- mostly teachers -- lost in September. As millions of Americans sink into desperation, President Obama continues to preach the good word of optimism, based on the gospel of "private sector job growth."
Wrecking the American Dream (tags)
bipartisan supporting for anti-populism
Net Neutrality Doesn't Go Far Enough (tags)
A latecomer to this "debate" chimes in.
Potential Impact of Health Reform on the (tags)
Potential Impact of Health Reform on the Cost of Private Health Insurance
Growing Homelessness in America (tags)
Washington's indifference to a growing problem
What Real Financial Reform Looks Like (tags)
Washington financial reform assures business as usual
Privatization of Courthouse Security Awarded to G4S Wackenhut Draws Criticism (tags)
Guy James, President of the Federal Contract Guards of America FCGOA said " the privatization of courthouse security awarded to G4S Wackenhut shows how the county can save money, however the need for tougher background checks of all private contract guards needs to be addressed at both the federal, state and county levels to ensure the safety of all who may enter these buildings are protected".
Feds Ask Questions about GEO Group, Formally Known as Wackenhut Prison Deal (tags)
According to our source the feds may be searching to see if Sansom received any kickbacks from the company. GEO Group, formally known as Wackenhut, gave Sansom’s campaign 500 hundred dollars for his 2007 campaign.
Army to hire 3,000 Security Guards Eliminating Private Security Contractors (tags)
Guy James, President of the Federal Contract Guards of America FCGOA, stated the decision to go from private contract security to DOD because of congressional mandates will affect many of these security police officers. Many of these officers presently work for Wackenhut Services Inc. WSI and the majority of them are unionized covered under a collective bargaining agreement. Furthermore there in no guarantee these officers will even be hired because they now have to reapply for their security jobs. Presently these Wackenhut Security police professionals enjoy job security, wage and benefit protection collective bargaining rights and RESPECT. James noted we refer security guards as security police professionals whereas the army refers them as "SECURITY GUARDS".
The "Houdini Recovery" under IMF-Type Austerity (tags)
the recovery is the big lie
Use of Private Federal Contract Security Guards at Gov Buildings Comes Under Scrutiny. (tags)
Federal Contract Guards of America FCGOA disagrees. The problem is not that these contract guards need to be federalized, the problem is better training". "There really are no federal standards for security guards," said James. "These individuals should be trained at the federal level since they are the first line of defense against a terrorist attack, just like federal police officers," he said.
The business sector of the U.S. — particularly the giant corporations that dominate our economy — literally regard themselves as above the law. Not only do they pay millions of dollars in legal bribes to politicians under the guise of “campaign contributions” to gain legislation that makes them BILLIONS in additional profits, they merrily disregard existing laws on issues ranging from labor to the environment to health and safety and paying their taxes. And a U.S. population brainwashed by decades of Right-wing propaganda extolling the private sector and the “free market” as good, efficient and honest — and damning the public sector as ineffective and hopelessly corrupt — has led most Americans to see government, not corporations, as their real enemy.
Finance Capitalism Devalues Labor (tags)
Businesses are capital investments in the hands of shareholders. Consequently managers only serve the interests of shareholders.
"L'HOMME QUI MARCHE I" AND GIVES PROFIT (tags)
The art is of doing the price.
Top Obama Czar Cass Sunstein Proposed Infiltrating all 'Conspiracy Theorists' (tags)
Will Democrats Revisit Rep. Harman's "Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act?" Currently—U.S. Government has already laid the groundwork for the covert infiltration of Americans.
Outsourcing War: The Rise of Private Military Contractors (tags)
privatizing war
Arroyo's Plan to Consolidate Power (tags)
We condemn the US-Arroyo regime's devious declaration to dismantle "private armies" in the country when in truth this only aims to strengthen loyal private armies which it can benefit from and to dismantle those of the opposition's, thus consolidating its hold on power and giving itself greater leverage in the coming national elections. The most notorious of private armies in Mindanao are those which delivered, through terrorism, the much needed votes in the last two national elections, which won Arroyo a six-year term. The biggest of which is that of the Ampatuan warlord.
Dump the Health Insurance Bill (tags)
With the death of the “public option,” the Medicare buy-in and everything else in the proposed health insurance “reform” bill that might actually serve the public good, the bill is now nothing more than a giant, $1 trillion-plus corporate welfare program for the health insurance and pharmaceutical industries. Its meager promises of reform in the way the health insurance industry does business — no total caps on coverage or exclusion of “pre-existing conditions” — are likely to be flouted in practice. The progressive community made a serious mistake by not staging their own protests and disrupting Congressional town-hall meetings to demand single-payer and other progressive reforms — and as a result it will be the Republican Party and the Right in general which will reap the benefit of the putrid piece of corporate welfare the Democrats are trying to palm off on the American people as “health reform.”
Obama Year One: Betrayal and Failure (tags)
Obama's shocking betrayal
The CPLA is in the same sinking boat as the Ampatuan private army (tags)
The Philippine Peasant News (PESANTE NEWS) based in the US learned that the most recent in the long-running series of splits in the Cordillera Peoples Liberation Army (CPLA) has produced a purported new and reformed group but is composed of the same old opportunist elements. This was contained in an internet message posted by the CPDF signed by its spokesperson Filiw Naogsan posted on December 15, 2009. The reported ouster of Mailed Molina and the rise of a new group led by Arsenio Humiding is nothing more than a quarrel over the division of spoils within their dwindling organization. This same thing has repeatedly happened to the CPLA in the past as various factions squabbled over the funds, weapons, and jobs in the AFP that were dangled before them by the reactionary government.
RALLY/VIGIL FOR JUSTICE, NO TO MARTIAL LAW! DEC. 10 in LA (tags)
RALLY/VIGIL FOR JUSTICE, NO TO MARTIAL LAW! DISMANTLE THE WARLORDS AND PRIVATE ARMIES! NO TO US INTERVENTION IN THE PHILIPPINES! OUST THE US- ARROYO REGIME! THURSDAY, AT 6;30 PM ,DECEMBER 10, 2009 Philippine Consulate General, Los Angeles 3600 Wilshire Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90010
RALLY/VIGIL FOR JUSTICE, Dec 10 at Phil Consulate, 3600 Wilshire Blvd. LA (tags)
RALLY/VIGIL FOR JUSTICE, DISMANTLE THE WARLORDS AND PRIVATE ARMIES! NO TO US INTERVENTION IN THE PHILIPPINES! OUST THE US- ARROYO REGIME! THURSDAY, AT 6;30 PM DECEMBER 10, 2009 Philippine Consulate General, Los Angeles 3600 Wilshire Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90010
The Consequences of the Digital Disruption for the Economy (tags)
The greatest social and economic revolution since industrialization opens up unlimited possibilities for people and businesses. Craigslist made a million-dollar business out of a billion-dollar business. A redefinition of unemployment and a discussion of unconditional basic income are inevitable.
The US Healthcare Sham and the Scandinavian Model (tags)
The reforms that Barack Obama is proposing will not change the US' abysmal healthcare system because those who profit from it have been able to buy protection from the lawmakers.. The Golden Age of the welfare state began after the Second World War.
Abolish the Fed and Return Money Creation Power to Congress (tags)
Only Congress empowered to create money
LOUISIANA DIABETICS TO RECIEVE FREE GLUCOSE METERS FOR DIABETICS 800 306 0990 (tags)
LOUISIANA DIABETICS RECIEVE FREE HELP FOR DIABETIC SUPPLIES AND FREE GLUCOMETERS
PARUSAHAN ANG MGA AMPATUAN: UTAK NG MASAKER SA MAGUINDANAO (tags)
Kung gaano kabilis magpaaresto si GMA sa kanyang mga kalaban, gaanong kabagal naman at kaingat siya sa pagprotekta sa katulad na warlord na si Ampatuan na gumawa ng karumaldumal na masaker sa Magunidanao. Ayon sa tagapagsalita nitong si Melvin Barcenas ng Los Angeles, nakapangngangalit ang pahayag na GMA na “ kaibigan pa rin niya ang mga Ampatuan” kaya ganong kaingat sila sa pagprotekta dito. Ayon sa mga balita umabot na sa 67 ang nahukay na bangkay kabilang ang 22 babae na kanilang ginahsa bago pinatay, 30 mamamahayag at maging mga walang malay na sibilyan na napadaan lamang. Ito rin ang pikamaraming myembro ng media na namatay sa loob ng isang araw sa kaysaysan ng mundo.
Media Disseminated Myths about Obamacare (tags)
lies and deceit about health care reform
GABNET DECRIES "TRADE-OFF" OF REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS FOR HEALTHCARE REFORM (tags)
GABNet condemns the Stupak-Pitts Amendment to House Resolution 3277, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives this past Saturday, November 7th.
Reject Corporate Option for Health Care (tags)
No one, progressive or conservative, would vote for or in any way support Private Insurance Control of the country's health proram if they knew just a bit more about the private insurance industry. Who's in charge here? Not we, the people.
The Bosses Have the Public Sector in Their Sights. (tags)
Years of collaboration and concessions by the heads of organized Labor have paved the way for the aggressive attacks and confidence the employers are displaying now. These concessionary policies have been a catastrophe for workers leading to much unnecessary suffering.
Potential Impact of Health Reform on the (tags)
Potential Impact of Health Reform on the Cost of Private Health
Requião: brazilian safe step forward (tags)
For those people who dream and advocate a more radical solution, I let my suggestion: read "The five trillion that the "debt" have swallowed" and coolly examine the implementation of the budget over the past fifteen years.
Should U.S. Government Use Illegal Wiretaps Against Americans Not Involved In Terrorism? (tags)
Neither Congress nor the courts—determined what NSA electronic surveillance could be used by police or introduced into court by the government to prosecute Citizens.
Facts for Working People (tags)
Facts for Working People on Education * Capitalism Loves Education...to death! * Charter Schools- a move to privitize education * Teachers- Why you shouldn't work "off the clock" * Teaching " to the test" Poor Children Left Behind * Bailout vs Public Education * Detroit Education Strike
Sep 2nd, 2009 9:09 PM Despite the sweeping Democratic victories in the elections of 2006 and 2008, the Republican party in general and the radical Right in particular have reasserted themselves with a vengeance, especially regarding the health insurance reform proposals of the Obama administration and Congress. They’ve been able to tap into the same reflexive anti-government sentiment that has powered American politics at least since Ronald Reagan’s election (and arguably earlier) to block the reform proposals and set the stage for a Republican return to power that will render Obama as irrelevant historically as Carter and Clinton -- and without a mass progressive movement to push Obama and the Democrats back to the Left, the Right will succeed and triumph.
Combat troops to replace support troops in Afghanistan as Obama’s war escalates (tags)
The Los Angeles Times reports on September 2nd that the Pentagon is planning on replacing up to 14,000 U.S. “support” troops in Afghanistan with “combat” troops (see http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/afghanistan/la-fg-afghan-troops2-2009sep02,0,6170770.story). The Times reports the support units will be replaced by "trigger-pullers,” according to Department of Defense (DOD) officials.
The Obstacles to Real Health Reform - Private Insurers and Big PhRMA (tags)
Predatory providers are the real problem
Obama vs Insurance:Pillow fights (tags)
Obama and the health insurance companies are pillow fighting. Ready to concede, the Democrats are already saying the ya-hoo attended townhalls have stopped them from passing through legislation, what about the townhalls against the war(s)? This fight is stopping because it never really was meant to win. Just another pillow fight with big business. The media wants us to believe that there is some sort of mass movement out there that is opposed to any sort of health care that is not run by the private sector.
Congressmember Davis Speaks at Orderly Town-Hall Meeting (tags)
Elsewhere in the country Democratic Congressmembers are being heckled and sometimes driven off the stage when they try to hold town-hall meetings to explain the health-care reform bill the House is currently debating. Not in San Diego August 11, where Congressmember Susan Davis was able to hold a meeting in peace and discuss the issue in a polite, civil manner. This was largely due to the strategy of the sponsoring organization, the Hillcrest Town Council, which admitted their own members and Hillcrest residents first -- thereby assuring Davis a mostly liberal audience that wouldn't try to disrupt her meeting.
The Crisis in the Crisis or How Sick is the System (tags)
Crisis is a synonym for experiences of difference. It changes something. Afterwards nothing will be as in the past. Until recently the "manager" and "business" were models for all areas of life. Do private vices always become public virtues?
The Face of Privatization (tags)
Under the present rule of neoliberal privatization, the all-embracing principle is conquest of the world transformed into rights of private property.. After destruction of the privatization myth, we need real democratization.
John Kenneth Galbraith: Relentless Fighter Against the Powerful (tags)
In the 1960s John Kenneth Galbraith decried the coexistence of private affluence and public squalor and denounced trickle-down economics, feeding the horse so the sparrow can live. System- and structural criticism are vital today as the myth of the self-healing market lies shattered
American Private Health Insurers Are Nothing But a Bunch of Mass Murderers. (tags)
Whether you drop white phosphorus bombs on innocent civilians
From Obsuristan to Absurdistan: Barbarism or Human Future (tags)
Individual security can be emphasized so global vision fades. Half-truths and fish stories carry the day. "Communism is oppression of many by man and capitalism is just the reverse." Our challenge is to reawaken wonder and interdependence, to consider the way of nonviolent resistance.
America lets audit the fed who controls our money (tags)
We're almost there! HR 1207 (to Audit the Fed) has a whopping 207 co-sponsors. Can you believe we've made it this far? Here's the latest, and what you can do to push HR 1207 over the top:
Making Sense of a U.S. Owned General Motors (tags)
Now that the United States owns General Motors, many are asking, “What’s in it for taxpayers?” This is an extremely good question, considering that taxpayers may spend up to $100 billion [!] towards a company that’s currently worth around $450 million. (Wall Street Journal, 6/02/09) This large discrepancy in numbers means, obviously, that taxpayers could lose tremendous amounts of “investment” money if Obama’s “profit first” plan is put into effect. What is this plan? Strip the company to a fraction of its former self, using far fewer workers and making far less money in the hopes that GM will then out-compete the foreign competition on the world market.
Ending Today's Economic Crisis Simply and Easily, in America and Globally (tags)
The solution is simpler than imagined.
Reviewing Ellen Brown's "Web of Debt": Part VI (tags)
Part VI of Federal Reserve Plunder
Water is a Human Right, not a Commodity (tags)
In Bolivia there was a bloody struggle over water. Indigenous persons led the water war in Cochabamba. Water is a human right and must be withdrawn from the logic of profit maximization.
Reviewing Ellen Brown's "Web of Debt:" - Part III (tags)
Federal Reserve plunder Part III
Reviewing Ellen Brown's "Web of Debt:" Part II (tags)
Part II of Brown's superb book.
Reviewing Ellen Brown's "Web of Debt" - Part I (tags)
Federal Reserve debt entrapment 101
Actually, it's the system, President Obama (tags)
"Capitalist cycles recur. Each economic cycle imposes huge, painful social costs. In a parallel ideological cycle, most politicians, mass media and academics swing ridiculously between hyped celebrations of deregulation and (re)regulation as "the solution to our economic problems.."
Albert Einstein was a socialist (tags)
Famous physicist Albert Einstein wrote the essay entitled "Why Socialism?" for the first issue of left-wing magazine "Monthly Review" (May 1949).
The Culture of Mistrust (tags)
"Total mistrust prevails on the financial market. How can the state restore trust when trust in the state was decried for years? When all public affairs are changed into private affairs, citizens only see themselves as private citizens and the state becomes a business.."
The New Killing Fields
GERMANY: Notes on Neoliberalism (tags)
"The neoliberal revolution was the product of an historical development, a reaction to changed circumstances. In its course, many western states in the 1970s and 1980s reordered the relation of state and private power.."
What is Behind the AIG Scandal (tags)
The controversy surrounding the American International Group (AIG) is one for the ages, for it starkly reveals who is really running our economic system and to what end. In an effort to please two irreconcilable groups — the vast majority, average working Americans, versus the few financial elite — Obama has lately resembled a tightrope walker on a tattered rope. The AIG debate has now unsettled this delicate balance; no longer will it be so easy to give billions to Wall Street while fake rage is hurled against this same group. The jig is up.
See it NOW...Save the people = us... all, see this video (tags)
Everyone is sharing this video and it should be seen by all, agreement or disagreement, no matter. PREVENT THE NEW WORLD ORDER from it's already emerging stranglehold on what we thought was a 'free' USA. See it and decide for yourself.
Tues 3/17: Movement to Stop Blackwater Like Training Center in Riverside Grows (tags)
A private company, the Procinctu Group, has received approval for a “Blackwater-like” warfare training facility in Homeland, CA dubbed “The Ranch,” including shooting ranges, driving tracks, and live-fire training. The site is situated next to an established church retreat in a residential agricultural area that the developers say will be perfect for training because it looks “like Afghanistan.”
Where Did Government Put Your NSA-Wiretapped Phone, Fax and Private Email Communications? (tags)
Police too easily can take an innocent person’s hastily written email, fax or phone call out of context to allege a crime or violation was committed to cause an arrest or asset forfeiture.
3/17: Veterans Group Joins Protest to Stop Blackwater -Like Training Center in Riverside (tags)
A private company, the Procinctu Group, has received approval for a “Blackwater-like” warfare training facility in Homeland, CA dubbed “The Ranch,” including shooting ranges, driving tracks, and live-fire training. The site is situated next to an established church retreat in a residential agricultural area that the developers say will be perfect for training because it looks “like Afghanistan.”
Health Care Reform, Obama Style (tags)
health care reform
Overstrained Capitalism (tags)
Neoliberalism has driven the world into the greatest disaster since Hitler and Stalin. With Ronald Reagan, a president entered the White House who constantly proclaimed the state in the end was something bad.
On the Psychology of Neoliberalism (tags)
The claim of non-wage benefits was stylized as social misuse, recipients of high incomes as achievers and unemployment as personal responsibility. According to this ideology, the optimal conditions for gaining profits lead to prosperity for all.
The Union Busting Strategy Behind the Employee Free Choice Act EXPOSED! (tags)
First,Navigators Global changed the "face" of the campaign, making it a fight between union bosses and workers, and branded the private ballot as the symbol of the campaign
Stop private military corp. Procinctu in Riverside! (tags)
Procinctu plans to build a Blackwater-like tactical training center (“The Ranch”) on a 194-acre site in Homeland, CA (on Briggs between Norden & Gunther in Riverside County).
DO YOU WANT THIS IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD?
Instead of borrowing trillions and sticking future generations of taxpayers with the cost of bailing out a corrupt and ineffective financial system, the federal government should use the bailout money and charter a bank of its own,one that could offer loans directly to individuals and businesses and thereby stimulate the economy by providing capital to people who can't get it now from the private banks.
WHY does The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace ( My Private Ballot ) (tags)
and TV Star Johnny Sacks from the Sopranos continue to Spread LIES and misinformation about the Employee Free Choice Act?
A Short History of US Government Handouts (tags)
The American way - socialized costs and privatizing profits
Who is ruining our families, property and business? (tags)
When State is run as a corporation then we must ask 'who are the competitors', 'who are the clients' and most of all 'what services I need to pay for'. Close inspection however reveals this being a communist model aiming to ruin private ownership and western culture. Have a look inside to see some real grounds and examples for this conclusion.
Local Residents to Protest Plans for Paramilitary Training Center in Riverside, CA (tags)
LOCAL RESIDENTS ASK: WHY WAS THIS PRIVATE PARAMILITARY FIRM APPROVED BY THE RIVERSIDE COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS? Protest Planned Against Procinctu Plans to Build Private Military Training Center on Tuesday, January 27 Residents Hopes to Halt Construction of "The Ranch" Inspired by Successful Battle Against Blackwater's Plans in San Diego County WHERE: Outside the Riverside County Administrative Center, at 4080 Lemon Street, Riverside CA WHEN: 8:30 to 9:30 AM, Tuesday January 27, 2009 Protest outside Riverside County Administrative Center 11:00 a.m: Protesters will move inside to express concerns to Riverside County Board of Supervisors general meeting during Oral Communication
Good Paragaph from Socialists re Auto Crisis (tags)
The socialists had one of the most incisive single paragraphs I have read about the auto crisis.
Why Socialism? (by Albert Einstein) (tags)
This essay was originally published in the first issue of Monthly Review (May 1949).
Bail-Out, Economic Democracy and the Socialist Path (tags)
David Schweickart, political philosopher, discusses the financial crisis, what it exposes about capitalism, how it can set the stage for economic democracy, and open the socialist path.
STOP THE PUBLIC BAILOUT OF A.I.G.! TIME FOR REAL CHANGE! (tags)
The U.S. government is poised to bail out AIG with a conservatorship or new bridge loans. It hopes to punish instead the taxpayer public. Stop the public bailout of private wealth! Fight for a real public take-over of AIG! Time for real, socialist change!
As Rome Burns, Nero Safe In His Tower, High Above the Flames, Sings Playing His Lyre (tags)
As Rome Burns To The Ground, Nero, Safe Is His Palace Tower High Above the Flames, Sings Gaely, Playing His Lyre, While Drunk on the Finest Greek Wine.
Venezuela: The nationalisation of Banco de Venezuela (tags)
Bolivarian Revolution
Chavez Nationalizes Bank of Venezuela (tags)
In a television programme broadcasted to the whole of the country on July 31st, President Chávez announced the nationalisation of Banco de Venezuela, the Venezuelan bank owned by the Spanish banking multinational Grupo Santander. "We are going to nationalize Banco de Venezuela. I make an appeal to Grupo Santander to come here so that we can start to negotiate". He added: "Months ago I received the information through intelligence sources that Banco de Venezuela, which had been privatized for years, was being sold by its Spanish owners; that an agreement had been signed between Grupo Santander and a Venezuelan private banker, then the Venezuelan banker needed the permission of the government to buy a bank, this is not a small operation (...) and then I sent a message to the Spanish and the Venezuelan banker, to tell them that the government wanted to buy the bank, we want to recover it. Then the owners said ‘no, we don't want to sell it'. So now I say ‘no, I will buy it, how much is it? We are going to pay for it, and we are going to nationalize Banco de Venezuela'." The President continued: "From this moment the media campaign on the part of the Spanish and international media is going to start. They are going to say that Chávez is an autocrat, that Chávez is a tyrant, I don't care, we are going to nationalize the bank regardless". "Ladran, luego cabalgamos" (the dogs bark, therefore the caravan is moving), he said, quoting from el Quijote.
VINO BRINGS THE HEART OF SPAIN INTO THE VALLEY (tags)
Teaming up with a Spanish chef, Vino introduces lively catering and private party packages
Corruption has become a cancerous disease of US society. No end or even weakening of the lies and deception is in sight. In the politics of the nation, corruption scandals have long reached the center of power.
Mon 6/9 Jeremy Scahill Returns to LA, As So-Cal Continues to Battle Blackwater on Border (tags)
As So-Cal Battles Blackwater Training Facility on Cal-Mex Border, Jeremy Scahill is VISITING LOS ANGELES for talk, discussion, and book signing for the release of the fully updated paperback edition: WHEN: MONDAY, JUNE 9TH AT 7:00 PM WHERE: Immanuel Presbyterian Church, Westminster Chapel 3300 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90010 (@Berendo Street, 2 blocks west of Vermont Ave.)
Limits of Private Property (tags)
If life does not consist in the abundance of things and if time is borrowed from the future, do possessions invalidate community? Is life colonized by instrumental rationality (Habermas) when all life and relations are determined by money?
Israelis jailed for spyware espionage (tags)
London-based Michael Haephrati, who honed his computer skills during three years' military service in the Israeli army, developed the spyware Trojan horse, while his wife, Ruth, marketed it to several private investigation firms who bought the code and installed it onto the computers of its clients' rivals.
Zenger's Newsmagazine Election Endorsements (tags)
Zenger's Newsmagazine endorses in local, state and federal offices in the June 3 primary, including "revolutionary" candidate Eric Bidwell for Mayor and incumbent Mike Aguirre for City Attorney.
Non-Profits, Privatization, and Capitalism (tags)
As soon as we begun organizing our workplace into a union— a drug and alcohol rehab center— the murky non-profit world proved to be an obstacle. When first approached, many of our coworkers asked the same question, “would a union even work at a non-profit”? And to this we normally answered, “why not?” – Although a better answer might have been, “Why do non-profit workers believe they should have less rights or pay than other workers?” And with this question you’ve opened a Pandora’s Box that leads down a series of questions and answers that reveal a lot about how modern society functions, especially the relationship between workers’ standard of living, non-profits, and the present state of the capitalist system itself. To help explain the gargantuan role that non-profits play in modern society, a book of essays about the subject -- cleverly named The Revolution Will Not be Funded-- was released by INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence. In its introduction chapter, the book explains how non-profits have evolved into organizations that divert political movements into dead ends, shape public opinion, and most relevant to this article, perform services previously done by the state.
The Great Plastic Meltdown (tags)
The real estate crisis turned out more serious than the bank's risk divisions estimated. The prices for new homes fell twelve percent in December 2007. The assets of private households shriveled two trillion dollars within a year.
The Legal Criminality of Finance Capitalism (tags)
The market mechanism, the Keynesians say, is not efficient or balanced. Charles Ponzi was one of the greatest swindlers of American history. Instead of the capitalist economy holding the strings of politics, politics could use economic power to create new realities.
A Real Threat to California Home-Schoolers (tags)
I’m not sure how the Free State Project is going in New Hampshire, but the Police State Project appears to be advancing rapidly here in California.
The War, Prisons, and the Economy (tags)
As the wars drag on with no end in sight, new technology is enabling more of our wounded troops to survive, and naturally, survival comes with added cost. From WWII to the present, survival rates rose from 1 dead for every 2.4 wounded to 1 dead to 8.3 wounded at present. In that time, an outfit cost went from $170 to $17,000 now. Future systems are expected to reach $28,000 to $60,000 in this decade. Every life is indeed precious, regardless of the price, but let us look at what makes up the cost of each system. Ever since, President Eisenhower coined the term Military Industrial Complex, most of us are aware of the huge profits war can provide for the weapon makers. How many of you are aware of the Prison Industrial Complex, (PIC)? Do you know the two complexes have now joined together to share in the rich profit bonanza?
Bolivia: Drastic action needed (tags)
In Bolivia, poverty and inequality are on the increase because the government has not been able to implement its National Development Plan. A report drawn up by the Planning Ministry in Bolivia and an arm of the United Nations, the UNFPA, came to the following conclusion: "There is social and economic inequality in the country due to a lack of government policies to bridge the gaps and these inequalities will increase as time passes." The figures say it all. Poverty affects 6 out of 10 Bolivians, while 4 out of 10 live in extreme poverty. The situation is getting worse each year because the annual growth rate of the population is 200,000, but 174,000 of these will live in poverty. While the bourgeoisie plays with hunger strikes to gain so-called Autonomy, some 15,000 children die each year from hunger or hunger related diseases. On the same day that the UN report appeared, it was announced that annual economic growth had fallen from 4.5% in 2006 to 3.8% in 2007. At the same time inflation has risen to 12% mainly due to the rising cost of foodstuffs. Here are two examples. In 6 months a kilo of rice in Santa Cruz had doubled in price from 4 Bolivianos to 8. Gas bottles used for cooking had risen from 25Bs to 50Bs, but it was still hard to find any because most are being exported to Peru where they will sell for up to 125Bs. So business does not worry if Bolivians have no gas to cook with as long as they make a profit.
Forest Service Open Space Strategy (tags)
WASHINGTON - As homes and shopping malls proliferate, the United States loses about 6,000 acres of open space every day - four acres per minute.
Signs of Cultural Declineand Glimmers of Hope (tags)
Trust in the administration of justice disappears - obviously for good reason. The temporary success of a citizen rebellion against selling off the city of Leipzig is a glimmer of hope.
Another CIA sponsored Coup D'Etat? Venezuela’s D-Day (tags)
Apart from the deep involvement of the US, the primary organization of the Venezuelan business elite (FEDECAMARAS), as well as all the major private television, radio and newspaper outlets have been engaged in a vicious fear and intimidation campaign. Food producers, wholesale and retail distributors have created artificial shortages of basic food items and have provoked large scale capital flight to sow chaos in the hopes of reaping a ‘no’ vote.
Venezuela: The economic tug of war between revolution and counter-revolution (tags)
A recent report from Datanalisis (1) [the Venezuelan statistical service] revealed what already many people knew and suffered from. Scarcity of basic foodstuff is becoming intolerable. This study established that milk, beef and sugar have become very difficult to find. Other products like chicken, cooking oil, cheese, sardines and black beans are also very scarce. The analysts who compiled the report interviewed 800 people in some 60 different shops, supermarkets and markets, both in the private sector and the public distribution network, Mercal. 73,3% of the places visited had no milk powder for sale. 51,7% no longer had refined sugar, 40% had no cooking oil, and 26,7% no black beans, a basic staple in Venezuela. Two thirds of the shoppers declared that they experienced food scarcity to one degree or another in the shops where they usually buy. Queues of a few hours, sometimes up to four hours, to buy some milk are no longer the exception. This is reminiscent of the situation in Chile when wholesale economic sabotage was used against the left-wing Popular Unity government of the 1970s. Without giving in to the panic stories and exaggerated reports of the right-wing media, we must understand that this is a serious situation. The bosses have even threatened to extend this situation into the first quarter of 2008, especially because of the uncertainties related to the questions of private property included in the new constitutional reform. They are grabbing the revolution by its throat.
Full Spectrum Mercenaries: Blackwater Goes to Mexico (tags)
If and when private security contractor Blackwater USA and its heavily-armed operatives are forced to pull out of Iraq as the result of the September 16th rampage in downtown Baghdad when its employees massacred up to 28 Iraqis, Mexico could be a profitable option for the North Carolina-based company.
Neoliberalism in Crisis (tags)
Liberation theology warns the future of the first world is the third world. Everyday time is replaced by kairos time, the time of decision, when lawlessness masks as lawfulness. The language of proclamation runs crossway to the language of time. Cast your net on the other side!
Blackwater's Run for the Border (tags)
There are signs that Blackwater USA, the private security firm that came under intense scrutiny after its employees killed 17 civilians in Iraq in September, is positioning itself for direct involvement in U.S. border security. The company is poised to construct a major new training facility in California, just eight miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. While contracts for U.S. war efforts overseas may no longer be a growth industry for the company, Blackwater executives have lobbied the U.S. government since at least 2005 to help train and even deploy manpower for patrolling America's borders.
Contracting Out the War in Iraq (tags)
After Blackwater USA’s recent street shoot out in Baghdad, which resulted in as many as 17 civilian deaths, the role of mercenaries in Iraq has received extra attention in the media. Although they have played a key role in the occupation of Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein, these “private security contractors” have for the most part flown under the public radar. For example, the debate over a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq usually centers around the 160,000 military personnel occupying the country. But what about the estimated 182,000 private contractors now deployed in Iraq? During the 1991 Gulf War, the troop-to-private contractor ratio was about 60 to 1. Now they outnumber uniformed troops, more than doubling the actual size of the occupation force. Private contractors in Iraq do everything from cooking food and doing the laundry to driving trucks and building bridges. Using them on such a vast scale is part of the privatization of the war, which is not only politically convenient, but results in massive profits for the companies involved. As of July 2007, there were more than 630 war contracting companies working in Iraq for the U.S. government.
Blackwater USA Faces Congress and Wrath of Tiny CA Town (tags)
As US Congress Committee on Oversight and Government holds hearings on the use of private security contractors in Iraq--including testimony from Blackwater USA Chairman Erik Prince--local opponents of Blackwater USA are planning a major rally, for the first time at the gates of the proposed Blackwater West site, on Saturday, October 6th through Sunday, October, 7th.
Alan Greenspan on Thom Hartmann Monday (tags)
Tune in to the Thom Hartmann show Monday on Air America and hear Thom interview Alan Greenspan, head of the US Federal Reserve for 18 years and engineer of the present mortgage-credit-bubble crisis.
mercenaries without borders (tags)
privatisation of armies and security are a utter defeat of freedom and democracy. Read why.
Real Estate Crisis in the US (tags)
Credit failures in the real estate business threaten the whole payment system between banks, private businesses and households handled through short-term credits..The US real estate crisis affects other economic sectors and countries and cal also lead to a shift in class relations.
Coming To A State Near You: Blackwater Air Force (tags)
As if having them run around Iraq like loose cannons wasn't bad enough, Blackwater is building an Air Force. Via Scholars & Rogues:
The Democratic Candidates on Health Care (tags)
The issue of health care is on the minds of millions of American workers. The crisis of the health care industry is well-documented in Michael Moore’s popular new film “SiCKO”. After two terms under Bush, many are looking to the Democrats as an alternative. Every Democrat running for President has a “health care plan” – but what exactly does this mean? Can any of these “liberal” representatives of the ruling class really offer American workers a way out of the disaster of private health insurance?
Privatization as a Threat (tags)
Privatization undermines the nature of the state, the state's reason to exist, and leads to the loss of identity and sovereignty. The state revenue side is weakened by privatizing profitable state expenses. Siegfried Bross is a judge on the German Constitutional Court.
Pesticides & California Private Day Care Regulations (tags)
Private child day care facilities to comply with new pesticide use recordkeeping and notification requirements.
The Neoliberal Catechism (tags)
Turning away from the state causes old age poverty and endangers life and limb.. The consequences of privatization are faded out in the US and Germany.. Defining freedom as only entrepreneurial freedom and freedom of capital can be easily veiled.
the Iraq War -- a Socialist perspective (tags)
The war in Iraq is at the heart of the instability in the Middle East – and the U.S. It is now the third-longest-running war in U.S. history: longer than the American Civil War, the First and Second World Wars, and the Korean War. Only the Philippine-American and Vietnam Wars have lasted longer. Although control over Iraq’s oil was a major reason for the invasion, it was not the main factor. Overall strategic control over the region and teaching a “lesson” to any country that dares “step out of line” was the main objective. However, none of U.S. imperialism’s political, economic, or military objectives have been achieved. Far from demonstrating its power, U.S. imperialism has demonstrated the limits of its power. The results will be far-reaching both internationally and within the U.S. itself.
Blackwater: The Christian Right and the War on America (tags)
the civil war that england has been after for a long time now you WILL sell out america, and worship lords and kings again, or you will die
750 Private Screeners working at 2 Airports will soon have Union Rights (tags)
750 Private Screeners working at KC Airport and Rochester Airport in NY will soon be voting to have Union Rights.
Local Opposition to Blackwater West Takes Fight Statewide (tags)
Opposition to Blackwater USA's Plans for New Private Military Base Near Potrero a Tiny Rural Town East of San Diego Heats Up... Local Democratic Club Joined by Their Congressman Takes Fight Statewide Announces They Will Submit Resolution to Stop ‘Blackwater West’at California Democratic Party State Convention This Weekend in San Diego Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA), Potrero Residents, Environmentalists, and Peace Activists to Speak Out in Support of Measure Outside SD Convention Center Saturday, April 28th at 8:30AM
US Locomotive Losing Steam (tags)
In 2006 after the crash of the New Economy boom, we are again witnessing irrational excess in the credit system and in the prices of assets and property titles.
Capitalism and Corruption (tags)
Until recently, the bribes paid by German firms abroad were deducted from the corpor-ation tax as operating expenses..The neoliberal dogma doesnt need any religion since it makes capitalism into a religion.. The cult of abstract riches cannot replace morality Mergers and takeovers are central.
Brazil: Paraná State demands respect. (tags)
In the case of BR-376 the situation is still more serious. Because it is intended to give to private exploration a federal highway that was constructed with money of the people of Paraná State.
New Year Destruction at the Hill of Tara, Ireland (tags)
In flagrant contempt of best archaeological and ecological practice, a systematic campaign of tree felling, earth clearance and monument removal has begun at the Hill of Tara. This is even before the Public Private Partnership (PPP) contract for the M3 Motorway, through the Tara / Skryne Valley, has even been signed. Daily protests are taking place, every 7am in the morning at the Hill of Tara car park.
Right to Know in Pre-Schools Beginning January 1st, 2007 (tags)
On January 1, 2007, a new state law (AB 2865, Torrico) will require private child day care facilities to comply with new pesticide use recordkeeping and notification requirements.
FBI taps cell phone mic as eavesdropping tool (tags)
The FBI appears to have begun using a novel form of electronic surveillance in criminal investigations: remotely activating a mobile phone's microphone and using it to eavesdrop on nearby conversations.
Help a government bureaucrat - buy goods made with slave labor (tags)
Buy goods made with slave labor and help government bureaucrats in Maryland live lives of luxury. Remember the inmates are paid 10 to 20 cents an hour but the State of Maryland is charging you market prices which allows them to make a fantastic profit! Ain't slave labor great!
WTO Announces Formalized Slavery Model for Africa (tags)
The initiative will require Western companies doing business in some parts of Africa to own their workers outright. Schmidt recounted how private stewardship has been successfully applied to transport, power, water, traditional knowledge, and even the human genome. The WTO's "full private stewardry" program will extend these successes to (re)privatize humans themselves.
The Dublin Port Tunnel Scam (tags)
The €1 billion euro Dublin Port Project, directed by Halliburton subsidiary KBR, has been plagued with construction problems, and from this viewpoint alone looks like becoming another financial black hole to the benefit of a military contractor. But there is more to the story: back in 1990, when there was a chance to move Dublin Port, thus providing room for much-needed expansion and removing Port traffic from the city streets, the State chose instead to leave the Port where is was and instead build the Port Tunnel. Earlier this year, the Progressive Democrats, partner in the Irish government, revived the plan to move the Port, when the tunnel was almost complete. This article examines why.
The Inquisition then - and now.
Bad Solutions to Health Care Problem (tags)
The topic of just what is Big Insurance is too often left out of Health Care debates.
'Private Police Force' to arrest "illegals." (tags)
LA CRESTA -- Fed up with what it says is a failure on the part of authorities to act on the area's illegal immigrant problem, a group purporting to be residents of the affluent, sprawling and isolated La Cresta, Tenaja and Santa Rosa communities is vowing to take matters into its own hands.
Using American tax dollars to overthrow foreign governments under the guise of "democ (tags)
Foreign governments complain that these democracy-building groups maneuver behind the scenes to help destabilize and topple their governments, including in countries where the official U.S. policy has been to work through diplomatic channels with those same governments.
Supporters of "Everyman's" Beach Club to Rally on Sand Against Neighbor Lawsuit (tags)
Wealthy neigbors have filed a lawsuit to try to stop Santa Monica from opening a public beach club near two exclusive private clubs. Outraged community members have organized a rally on the sand in Santa Monica Environmental, beach access and historic preservation groups have come out in support of the project and the public's right to use the beach and public coastal property.
South Central Farm report back-- (tags)
Hey all, I came down from SF to visit the farm this weekend...This is my brief report back I posted to Indymedia in the Bay Area.
At the Turning Point: The War is Lost (tags)
In private reports to the Pentagon, military commanders in the field admit the war is lost and the American military cannot contain the growing violence in the country.
Cindy Sheehan and Marcy Winograd Rally for Progressive Candidates Against War (tags)
Anti-war Activist Cindy Sheehan and Reverend Lennox Yearwood of Louisiana join 36th District Progressive Candidate Marcy Winograd for an Out of Iraq Rally and Winograd for Congress launch party in Mar Vista Park just east of Venice. QT video total running time 4:06. Video produced by The G Living Network (http://gliving.tv). Music courtesy of Mike Lenert / Lettuce Prey (http://www.ltprey.com).
Delgadillo’s Problems May be Much Bigger Than Deceiving the Public (tags)
LOS ANGELES, June 3, 2006 -- Making multiple false claims to the public about his past and committing perjury in 2001 about his qualification on an application for his present job may just be the tip of a huge iceberg for the LAPD-endorsed Delgadillo.
My opinion on creating as Lincoln said, "a "government of the people, by the people, for the people," beginning with impeachment of Bush and Cheney to major changes throughout all levels of our political system and thereby society to significantly improve our daily lives. From legalization of drugs and prostitution, a constitutional convention, prisoner advocates, and much more...
The rage of the residents of Soweto is directed against the installed meters.. The first mammoth prepaid water project started in 1992 under Margaret hatcher.. The water suppliers cynically described this as "self-disconnect."
Memorandum 2005: Alternative Economic Policy (tags)
In Germany and the US, the corporation is often stylized as the suffering servant. The market is made sacrosanct; all problems are defined as interferencs with the market. Profits soar and investments fall. Corporations pay increasingly less tax.
INTERVIEW : YAHEL CHIRINIAN (tags)
Fashion Gurus names her "the most creative woman in design" and one trendsetter journalist ranks her as "the only female designer that can virtually guarantee originality and vision to a project ".
Trump Seeks Widdow's Home Demolished (tags)
Donald Trump Wants Vera Cooking's Home Demolished To Make Room For Limousines To Turn Around Easily; Atlantic City Wants Him To Get His Way
A Second Lender Stands Up (tags)
Another Lending Institution Stands Up to Developers Seeking To Use Eminent Domain to Sieze Peoples' Homes
Nations Largest Lender Stands Up To Developers (tags)
BB&T refuses to back private developers' who seek to use "eminent domain" to take people's homes & turn them into strip-malls.
Urgent Appeal for Auburn, CA Arrestee (tags)
Fundraising appeal for Zachary Jenson
Letter From A Military "Mom": Domestic Spying & Incident of Intimidation of Mili (tags)
author: Written by: Robin Vaughan
Privatization and the World Trade Organization (tags)
Competence, efficiency and user-friendliness are in no way "natural" domains of private service providers.. Why should private investors be interested in maintaining the long-term infrastructure?
Bolivarian revolution takes steps against capitalism expropiating factories-landed states (tags)
Bolivarian Revolution
From Keynesianism to Thatcherism (tags)
The analysis of whether aggregate economic problems are more on the supply- or demand side and whether they are short-term or long-term precedes all state economic policy.
Comparison: USA v. USSR (tags)
Is life today in the USA like life yesterday in the USSR? The inexorable conflict between the totalitarian government’s need for repression and man’s desire for freedom can only be resolved by revolution.
Blackwater Mercenaries Deploy in New Orleans
"The US economy grows but depends on the rest of the world supplying hundreds of billions of more goods to the US every year than come from the US.. This will not last forever.."
Keep Poseidon Corporation out of our public ocean! (tags)
The Poseidon Corporation, a multi-national water privatization company, wants to build a desal plant in Huntington Beach, but it isn't needed, will add to pollution and will give multi-national corporations a new foothold on the California coast under internatiional treaties.
Say NO to Minutemen in Imperial Valley NOW (tags)
Friends of the Border Patrol using the Imperial Valley Press to seek support for using private residences for FBP.
Stattfor prime suspect in London Bombing (tags)
In the long tradition of news leaks, the latest results of my investigation of the London bombings as I work backwards in time to get a positive ID lock on an exact asshole
Constitutional State without Human Rights (tags)
"A kind of worldwide dictatorship of the national security of the US is to be established..This policy of the worldwide totalization of markets abolishes a large part of human rights.."
SPFPA Fights to Unionize 500 Airport Screeners (tags)
500 KC SCREENERS VOTE TO UNIONIZE WITH SPFPA AFTER 2 YEAR BATTLE
Venezuela, Oil and the struggle for Democratic Socialism in the 21st Century (tags)
The country of Venezuela is a startling paradox of immense suffering and extreme wealth. According to a private Caracas-based polling company, Datanalisis, over 58% of the 25 million people in Venezuela live on less than $253 (Cdn) a month. The level of poverty becomes all the more damning when factoring in that Venezuela is also the world's fourth largest oil exporter. This glaring contradiction remained unchallenged until the election of Hugo Chavez as Venezuelan President.
The Myth of the Fiscal Crisis (tags)
The first step that must be taken if we are to reverse the cuts and prevent the destruction of the New Deal’s gains is to understand in our own minds that there is no fiscal crisis.
Bush ‘means test’ would wreck Social Security (tags)
WASHINGTON — Defenders of Social Security charged this week that a “means test” on Social Security as proposed by President George W. Bush would inflict huge benefit cuts for 70 percent of recipients, clearing the way to destroy the system vital to Americans’ economic security.
Opposing the European Rage of Privatization (tags)
Telecommunications, postal service, gas and transportation were the first public sectors that fell victim to the rage of unbridled liberalization..A drastic structural change of the state has occurred from a producing to a guaranteeing state.
Every search for alternatives must question the "great narratives" of the free market, efficiency, competition and entrepreneurship. Economic laws could be analyzed as social constructions and economic models as social models.
The Social Security Distraction Game (tags)
Left, Right, Center - not the real solution, just a distraction so they can continue pushing their real agenda - imperialism.
BUSH'S 'OWNERSHIP SOCIETY' (tags)
Bush often speaks of an 'ownership society' where all Americans must strive to own our own property, our own homes, cars, educations etc. So why not own our own energy-producing technology?
IRAQ,17 JUNE 2004: U.S.TAD, Ex-Im Bank, PMCs... (tags)
L'Irak, une journée du mois de juin 2004, une approche d'un coup d'Etat clefs en main, les moyens bancaires privés arabes et américains, les Private Military Companies, le développement économique autoritaire... la démocratie?
Kucinich: Proposed Social Security price indexing would slash benefits (tags)
Kucinich added that while much attention has been focused on private accounts, price indexing, once understood by both the media and the American people generally, will create such an uproar that it will jeopardize not only the Administration’s plans, but could create great political risk for members supporting the plans.
Social Security and Modern Society (tags)
Social security is not a mere burden but a benefit of productivity. Countries with comfortable social security systems are internationally very competitive. Social security supports economic growth and employment.
ACLU: Wake Up and Pay Attention (tags)
If the ACLU is to expose COINTELPRO, they need to expand their project to include the Defense Intelligence Agency and military contractors.
ACLU: Wake Up and Pay Attention (tags)
The ACLU needs to expand its investigation. The new CONTELPRO is a military operation.
Remembering Dorothee Soelle by Renate Borger (tags)
The fate of love in the middle-class world is its reduction.. The language of love is often destroyed by institutions like the family and the church.. Love is reduced to a private, helpless and sentimental affair.
COINTELPRO has a new name in the North East. They call it "feuding." Next thing you know, they'll call rape "what she had coming to her."
The President Plays Poker (tags)
The past tax cuts tore holes of billions in the federal Washington budget.. The ambitious reformer GWBush puts all his eggs in one basket, that his society of owners will not soon be mocked as a society of debtors.
RE-MISSIONING OF DHS HOSPITALS (tags)
King/Drew closure contradicting Thomas L. Garthwaite, M.D.Director and Chief Medical Officer recommendation from 2002
Education is not a Commodity for Trade (tags)
"Educational policy can and must bring light into globalization.. The world is no longer as simploe as in biblical times when the traders could be simply chased from the temple. Education must remain master in its own house.. Education is not a commodity.."
"The Young Must Have a Chance" (tags)
"The whole financial regime between the country, territories and communities is out of order. The communes were sacrificed on the altar of tax reform. Enough money is there.. Lengthening working hours in a time of weak growth and high unemployment is absurd.."
The Bush Medicare Nightmare (tags)
Fascist Mercenaries Come to Iraq (tags)
Previously, I posted an article about fascist mass murderers and torturers from Latin America's "dirty wars" being employed by Blackwater. Now, it seems members of South Africa's secret police, who murdered black activists during apartheid, are also mercenaries in Iraq.
Zero-tolerance --- zero-thought (tags)
CORRECTION~BTL:While Federal Contracts to Private Companies Proliferate... (tags)
...Government Oversight is Weak or Nonexistent~Interview with Michael Scherer, Washington correspondent for Mother Jones magazine, conducted by Between the Lines' Scott Harris
BTL:Bush Administration's Military Expenditures and Tax Cuts Lead to... (tags)
...Unprecedented Deficit Spending ~ Interview with Max Sawicki, economist with the Economic Policy Institute, conducted by Between the Lines' Melinda Tuhus
Pfc. England: I was told to smile for psy ops photos (tags)
Ra'Shadd said England was pulled into the situations by intelligence agents who subverted the military chain of command. He said they used England to humiliate the men being photographed so they could show the pictures to more important prisoners and threaten them with the same treatment.
Random thoughts on the passing scene (tags)
40 Reasons to Support Gun Control (tags)
Costly US intel failures continue in Iraq (tags)
Two seperate reports clearly demonstrate that a "process for systematic sharing of intelligence and tactics is badly needed" -- proving that the lessons from 9/11 have not been learned
Who Owns the Sky? Reviving the Commons (tags)
"Not since the Golden Age of the 1890s has so much public wealth been shoveled into private hands with such brazen efficiency. Timber companies, corporate ranchers and foreign mining companies.. are plundering our national patrimony.."
When communism takes over (tags)
Facts on property owning in Finland.
:::NETSTRIKE against NATO's security conference in Munich !!:: (tags)
The NATO Conference on Security Policy is a conference organized by a private person called Horst Teltschik, former advisor of Helmut Kohl, former Manager of BMW and now an employee at Boeing, one of the biggest weapons manufacturers in the world.
There is no private property- only respect. (tags)
motion
Bahrain Protests France's Ban on Muslim Scarves (tags)
Women gathered in protest outside of the French embassy in the Gulf Arab state of Bahrain Thursday, urging an end to Chirac's plans to remove the Hijab from France's state schools.
Schwarzenegger accepts $$ from Wackenhut (tags)
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who boasted during his campaign that he would not be beholden to special interests, has accepted a $53,000 donation from a company operating a private prison in the state slated to be shut down.
Sam Francis Says It Loud: I'm a Paranoid White Racist (tags)
In response to the piece by Sam Francis below, which focuses on how African American critic Shelby Steele takes out of context Howard Dean's ridiculous embrace of the confederate flag to pacify Southern Racists. Mr. Francis, in turn, takes Steele's words out of context.
THE SEVEN VARIETIES OF GUN CONTROL ADVOCATES (tags)
The right of decent private citizens to personally possess, transport, and responsibly use arms without government interference is the ultimate freedom and the main pillar supporting all other liberties. Few cultures have allowed their general population access to weapons, the tools of power, to the same degree as the United States. Instead, most societies have restricted the keeping and bearing of arms to a select few power brokers and their agents, often resulting in oppression on a grand scale.
. In the New York Times (October 14, 2002), Leslie Wayne described how a very old war praxis is revived in the pentagon with the war against terror: the hiring of mercenaries. Today they are called “private military contractors”. Some of these mercenary firms are sub-contractors of corporations from the Fortune 500 list (the 500 largest in assets). “The Pentagon cannot wage war without them… Private military contractors are the new business face of war.” These agencies have their people in Bosnia, Nigeria, Macedonia, Colombia and elsewhere. MPRI, one of the leading military firms, boasts of “more generals per square foot than the Pentagon”. In peace times, they can carry out secret missions with the exclusion of the public. Without any chain of command, they are not accountable to the US Congress, only to their clients, the Pentagon or the State Department.
US to the 3rd World: ''Do as I say, not as I do'' (tags)
Emerging markets like Brazil, India, and Mexico should not strive for a mythical free-market economy (which never existed, nor follow the encomiums of US special interests -- for they preach free markets but rely on the government to advance their aims.
Inmates Are Moved After Riot Kills 2 (tags)
SACRAMENTO — More than 130 inmates have been transferred out of a privately run state prison in eastern Riverside County after a weekend riot there left two convicts dead and tensions at the low-security lockup unusually high.
Grocery Strikers Must Win (tags)
The National Defense Myth (tags)
Donald Rumsfeld puts on a good face for the public, but an internal memo revealed by MSNBC shows startling confusion. "We lack metrics to know if we are winning or losing the global war on terror," he writes. "Is our current situation such that 'the harder we work, the behinder we get'?"
THE ANARCHIC REVOLUTION
I am in favor of IndyMedia blocking KOBE members.
Are "anarcho"-capitalists really Anarchists? (tags)
Because "anarcho"-capitalists embrace capitalism and reject socialism, they cannot be considered anarchists or part of the anarchist tradition.
Charities, Libertarianism failed by Human Nature (tags)
Contrary to the Libertarian View, non-profits face the very real prospect of significant, continuing declines in government funding, their second-largest source of revenue. Even worse, a recent study of 238 foundations found that they spent nearly $45 million on trustee fees, mostly to boards of directors, rather than using that money for charity.
Recall of Gov Davis Guaranteed on Oct 7 (tags)
With the California Supreme Court's rejection on 8/7/03 of all the lawsuits attacking the recall election of 10/7/03, the recall of the worst governor in California history, Gray Davis, and the effective demise of one capitalist party in California, the Democrats, is guaranteed.
The Ulterior Motive Behind School Vouchers (tags)
A network of Religious Right groups, Free-Market economists, ultra-Conservative columnists and others "are using vouchers as a vehicle to achieve an ultimate goal of privatizing" the education system.
Wide Awake-Stop the Terrorists! (tags)
Stop the Terrorists
Recall of Gov Davis Officially on Ballot (tags)
We have now witnessed a milestone in history with the recall of Death Penalty Democrat Gov Davis now officially on the ballot, the first time a recall of a California governor has actually made the ballot. The economy is clearly in serious trouble.
Election Frauder Willie Brown Supports Death Penalty Democrat Gov Davis (tags)
Election Frauder "mayor" Willie Brown of San Francisco, who sits in office with 40% of the vote plus election fraud, and is known for being anti-tenant and anti-public power, showed up at a unity rally on July 19, 2003 for his equally reactionary friend, Gov. Gray Davis, who is best known for promoting the death penalty, prisons and private power, all good reasons to recall this worst governor in California history.
The Fictitious Symbor of a Fictitious War: Private Lynch (tags)
The rescue of Jessica Lynch defined the Iraq war - and now defines what it was not, writes Malcolm Knox.
Global Power Elites and the New Wars (tags)
"A representative republic was transformed into a plutocracy. Privatizing public property was a continuous tendency during the whole modern age." The average net worth of the 400 richest Americans rose tenfold by 1999..The Bush administration has martial plans, not a Marshall plan." From the German
1,401,285 for Recall of Gov Davis (tags)
1,401,285 signatures as of 7/12/03 have been collected to recall the worst governor in California's history, Gov. Davis, who has cost the taxpayers millions of dollars to pay for prison-concentration camps, the death penalty and private power.
BTL:Medicare Drug Benefit Legislation not a Cure-All for... (tags)
...Failing Healthcare System. Interview with Dr. Quentin Young, Physicians for a National Health Program, conducted by Between the Lines' Scott Harris
Truth spoils a good war story (tags)
July 11 2003 The heroic tale of Jessica Lynch, the teenage United States Army soldier rescued from Iraqi captivity in a televised commando raid, has been largely debunked by a military investigation.
ACLU: School Vouchers Will Hurt Poor Kids (tags)
The voucher program encourage the violation of students' civil rights because private and religious schools would not have to comply with federal, state or local civil rights laws in order to recieve tax dollars.
Bush Wants To Bankrupt America: There is Method To His Madness (tags)
This plan is so obvious at this point that it is hard to believe because it is happening so fast and the Democrats and even conservative non- neo-con Republicans don't realize what Bush and his neo-con buddies are up to.
Are "anarcho"-capitalists really Anarchists? NO. They are really sham artists who are the lowest form of entrepreneur. They are worse than HONEST anarchists....if there is such a thing.
A bastard's manifesto: A call for corporate perestroika (tags)
Corporations are really all about colonialism, and the hyperinflation of their power through a top-heavy distribution of wealth must eventually tip over if our species is truly humane and democratic.
Does the Pentagon Have Amnesia on Lynch? (tags)
As you can see there is a wide gap between the facts as reported initially and the manner in which they are being reported now. As I understand the Defense Department's position, these recent accounts are "outrageous, patently false and unsupported by the facts."(3) At the same time, Defense Department officials now seem to be qualifying their earlier statements. For example, Bryan Whitman, Department of Defense spokesman, reportedly said "the U.S. military never claimed that the troops came under fire when they burst into the hospital."(4)
Saving Private Lynch- a Hollywood Drama (tags)
Irag War
The best agent for change is... Civility? (tags)
Lewis Feldstein, president of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, cited the environmental movement, women's rights, civil rights and the drive to improve libraries and health systems as examples of private giving in the public good.
The staged rescue of Private Jessica Lynch (tags)
The Correspondent team had gone back to Nasiriyah to interview eyewitnesses on events and found an entirely different story. Doctors insisted that far from being ill treated Lynch had received the best treatment possible. Assigned to the only specialist bed in the hospital, and one of only two nurses on the floor, medical staff had even given blood to help her due to a shortage.
Kerry attacks Bush on 'communitarian' grounds (tags)
The core divide in American politics now is not between liberals and conservatives, or between capitalists and socialists. It is between libertarians and commun-itarians.
'Next rescue: Uncovering the truth about Jessica Lynch' (tags)
The day before the American forces burst into the hospital with guns blazing and helicopters swirling overhead, Kampfner found, the Iraqi military had fled. The hospital was completely unguarded. "We were surprised," said another doctor, Anmar Uday. "Why do this? There was no military, there were no soldiers in the hospital."
The Reflection of Proudhon on the Religions (tags)
The Reflection of Proudhon on the Religions
What on earth might be the reason for the Finns recession? (tags)
When recession strikes, there aren't many to blame. True reason to economical recession is people's acts. The same people keeping and maintaining power are causing deliberate damage to business and citizen, and can't understand what economical consequences their acts have. An other silent silent Iraq is born.
Colorado to implement School Vouchers (tags)
DENVER – Colorado will soon become the first state to initiate public-school vouchers since a U.S. Supreme Court ruling declared such programs constitutional.
Saving Private Lynch' And Other Tales (tags)
It seemed that, every time I flipped between CNN and MSNBC, they were telling and re-telling "Saving Private Lynch," that archetypal, blonde-in-peril, made-for-TV movie coming to a ratings sweeps period near you. (And doesn't Saddam Hussein make the perfect Oil Can Harry, tying the pure-hearted heroine to the railroad tracks?)
We'll tell you what to think.
More anti-american pinkos for peace (tags)
"Military men are dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy." ~ Henry Kissinger ~ January-February 2003 edition of Eagle Newsletter
The Privatization of the World (tags)
"State tax receipts rapidly decline through the globalization of capital. Heavily indebted states, provinces and communes have become economic crisis factors instead of being active as masters of crisis. They sell off cheaply the state table silver."
Don't like the rules? Don't play the game... and you still win.
Embattled union SEIU in ad campaign (tags)
A labor union representing security officers in San Francisco office buildings, engaged in fruitless contract negotiations and competition for workers' loyalties
The Will to Paralysis: The Crisis of Shareholder Capitalism (tags)
Scapegoats or black sheep are used to evade the crisis of the system. Considering matters more exactly would be very appropriate. Are manifestations of corruption and tax evasion normal side-effects of a system fixated on money?
The fight for water. A fight for human rights (tags)
Water. We see it everywhere. (see related story below) Many of us take water for granted. All we have to do is open a faucet and this life-sustaining liquid just pours out into our glass to quench our thirst. But in many places it is not so simple to get that clean glass of water.
Holiday Homelessness Hype (tags)
Gotham’s mendacious homelessness industry is back in force. Mayor Bloomberg needs to set the advocates straight. 3 December 2002
As he drags the world to pointless destruction...
CONTACT YOUR SENATOR ABOUT THE HOMELAND SECURITY AGENCY BILL (tags)
The Senate is poised to vote on the establishment of the Homeland Security Agency. Many versions of the bill have circulated through congress, all containing different provisions. Because of the rapidly approaching Senate vote, it is important to contact your Senator this week, and urge them to vote for specific provisions of a House version of the bill - HR 5005.EH - that include crucial civil liberties protections. Also, urge them to vote against any provision that would authorize the creation of the “Total Information Awareness System” now funded by the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency.
SPFPA America's Union for Security Professionals (tags)
Security Officers Win Major Training Increase to Protect Building Tenants, Public
SPFPA America's Union for Security Professionals (tags)
Security Officers Win Major Training Increase to Protect Building Tenants, Public
The Appetite of Leviathan (tags)
Money replaces the `cosmos' as the unifying social characteristic. Every pack of wolves is more socially organized than free enterprise persons..The little monsters should be tamed by the enormous monster"Leviathan". The state share has increased everywhere.
World Bank and International Monetary Fund strangle economies of Third World (tags)
The World Bank’s origins go back to the Bretton Woods conference of July 1944, when leaders from 43 nations assembled to start building the global economy in the aftermath of World War II. U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, hoping to avoid another worldwide depression, called for creation of institutions that would create “a dynamic world community in which the peoples of every nation will be able to realize their potentialities in peace.”
Why Socialism? By Albert Einstein (tags)
Clarity about the aims and problems of socialism is of greatest significance in our age of transition.
PRIVATE PROPERTY OWNING AGAINST LAW IN FINLAND (tags)
Layer says 'it is not a crime to let someone else access private property, than the owner'.
Bush admin already privatizing newly-federalized airport security workers (tags)
Congress passed laws to make airport security screeners federal employees, but the Bush administration is privatizing most of the work in a "race to the bottom" bidding process that looks rather familiar.
Police Brutality in San Francisco (tags)
Three incredible cases of police brutality in San Francisco, CA
Bush"s budget amendment privatizes Public land (tags)
Permanently privatizes public land
How to enact a liberal agenda in the public and private sector. (tags)
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Your Face Is Not A Bar Code (tags)
Phil Agre criticizes the public use of face recognition, and extends the argument to all forms of active technologically enabled monitoring. These technologies threaten us, because they automatically link our bodies (faces) to databases with our private information, making our personal information available to the companies and individuals that control public and private space (buildings, land, etc.)
These kids are getting rad (tags)
Organized to coincide with the One Year Aniversary or the DNC- Rage/Ozomatli Frenzy of Rubber Bullets, this via dolorosa has youth issues at its heart and Mumia on its mind.
Students on Democracy Now re: Sodexho-Marriott and Private Prisons (tags)
American University and Oberlin students garner press after both universities cancel food contracts with Sodexho-Marriott over ties to private prisons.
American University Severs Food Contract Citing Social Responsibility (tags)
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY SEVERS FOOD CONTRACT WITH SODEXHO-MARRIOTT SERVICES CITING SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND PRIVARE PRISON TIES
The True History of Corporate Control In America (tags)
"The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in essence, is fascism - ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling power. "Among us today a concentration of private power without equal in history is growing." Franklin Delano Roosevelt