Masters Of War

Come you masters of war You that build all the guns You that build the death planes You that build all the bombs You that hide behind walls You that hide behind desks I just want you to know I can see through your masks. You that never done nothin' But build to destroy You play with my world Like it's your little toy You put a gun in my hand And you hide from my eyes And you turn and run farther When the fast bullets fly. Like Judas of old You lie and deceive A world war can be won You want me to believe But I see through your eyes And I see through your brain Like I see through the water That runs down my drain. You fasten all the triggers For the others to fire Then you set back and watch When the death count gets higher You hide in your mansion' As young people's blood Flows out of their bodies And is buried in the mud. You've thrown the worst fear That can ever be hurled Fear to bring children Into the world For threatening my baby Unborn and unnamed You ain't worth the blood That runs in your veins. How much do I know To talk out of turn You might say that I'm young You might say I'm unlearned But there's one thing I know Though I'm younger than you That even Jesus would never Forgive what you do. Let me ask you one question Is your money that good Will it buy you forgiveness Do you think that it could I think you will find When your death takes its toll All the money you made Will never buy back your soul. And I hope that you die And your death'll come soon I will follow your casket In the pale afternoon And I'll watch while you're lowered Down to your deathbed And I'll stand over your grave 'Til I'm sure that you're dead.------- Bob Dylan 1963

Friday, August 31, 2012

Korean Social Media Erupts After Samsung-Apple Ruling (LinkAsia: 8/31/12)

The Archaeology News Network: 1200 year old Mayan theatre discovered in Mexico

The Archaeology News Network: 1200 year old Mayan theatre discovered in Mexico:
This place was used by the high ranking members of society to make themselves legitimate through political plays before important minority groups in the region [Credit: Luis Alberto Martos/INAH]


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Life after capitalism: alternatives to market tyranny|30Nov11|Socialist Worker

Life after capitalism: alternatives to market tyranny|30Nov11|Socialist Worker:


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The Stream: Global presidency ?

Stuff They Don't Want You to Know - Second Civil War

Top US general: 'I don't want to be complicit' if Israel attacks Iran

The Federal Bailout That Saved Mitt Romney; Government documents prove the candidate's mythology is just that




Mitt Romney likes to say he won't "apologize" for his success in business. But what he never says is "thank you" – to the American people – for the federal bailout of Bain & Company that made so much of his outsize wealth possible.
According to the candidate's mythology, Romney took leave of his duties at the private equity firm Bain Capital in 1990 and rode in on a white horse to lead a swift restructuring of Bain & Company, preventing the collapse of the consulting firm where his career began. When The Boston Globe reported on the rescue at the time of his Senate run against Ted Kennedy, campaign aides spun Romney as the wizard behind a "long-shot miracle," bragging that he had "saved bank depositors all over the country $30 million when he saved Bain & Company."
In fact, government documents on the bailout obtained by Rolling Stone show that the legend crafted by Romney is basically a lie. The federal records, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, reveal that Romney's initial rescue attempt at Bain & Company was actually a disaster – leaving the firm so financially strapped that it had "no value as a going concern." Even worse, the federal bailout ultimately engineered by Romney screwed the FDIC – the bank insurance system backed by taxpayers – out of at least $10 million. And in an added insult, Romney rewarded top executives at Bain with hefty bonuses at the very moment that he was demanding his handout from the feds.


Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-federal-bailout-that-saved-mitt-romney-20120829#ixzz25AQvmNNs



Korea: Wired Could North and South Korea be heading for a spectacular collision in both the real and virtual worlds?

Corn lobby outgrows US farm subsidies - Features - Al Jazeera English

Corn lobby outgrows US farm subsidies - Features - Al Jazeera English:


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Egypt and Iran, new twin pillars By Kaveh L Afrasiabi


By Kaveh L Afrasiabi
Egypt and Iran this week took a giant step toward overcoming their diplomatic estrangement, brought together by the exigencies of a global movement and, even more so, a complex regional calculus that has a long history of being shaped by foreign powers.
In a sign of changing times, the Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi used the opportunity of his participation in the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Tehran to put on full display of the delicate yet significant nuances of a "new Egypt" that has unshackled itself from foreign domination and moves according to its own incandescent atmosphere.
At the landmark summit's opening day, the speeches by Morsi and his Iranian hosts such as by Supreme Leader Ayatollah
Khamenei and Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, reflected a symbiosis that explains why the NAM torch was passed from Morsi's hands to Ahmadinejad, in light of the common themes of decrying unjust global structures, support for Palestinians, a Middle East nuclear weapons-free zone, etc.
Simultaneously, this was punctuated, yet by no means punctured, by visible disagreements over Syria, as Morsi used the occasion to declare his solidarity with the "Syrian people" against the "oppressive" regime, thus warranting a walk out by the Syrian foreign minister, who likely hoped to see a greater emphasis by Morsi on mediation .
But, not all hope is lost and in the same speech Morsi referred to that plan, which he unveiled at a recent meeting of Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Mecca, even though so far only Tehran has officially endorsed it; regarding Turkey, a last minute decision to send a special envoy may have saved Turkey from a major self-inflicted wound (see Turkey peculiarly absent at summit, Asia Times Online, August 28, 2012).
Judging by their warm brotherly hugs at the summit and their bilateral talks on the summit's side-line, Morsi and Ahmadinejad clearly have a good chemistry between them and it would only make sense to see Ahmadinejad in Cairo before his presidency's termination next June.
Although some top Cairo officials have denied that a full restoration of diplomatic relations with Tehran is imminent, after this summit they will be hard pressed to justify their opposition - after all, Iran and Saudi Arabia have their own fair share of issues and yet have managed to keep the diplomatic ship afloat, so why not Egypt?
By all indications, we are now witnessing a subtle "turn to the east" by Egypt that is reflected in Morsi's China trip prior to his Iran visit, despite an invitation by the White House. Rebuffing Washington's and Tel Aviv's pressure not to attend the summit, Morsi like UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon showed independent judgment, just as both men used the summit's podium to raise issues that irritate Iran, such as the nuclear issue, Israel, human rights and Morsi's support for the opposition in Syria. READ MORE

Cannibalistic Capitalism and Green Resistance


In the first installment of this two-part article, we examined the notion that any future without globalization must be an improvement. But globalization and growth only constitute capitalism's expansionist phase, powered by abundant fossil fuels. As energy becomes scarce, boom turns to bust. But profit-hungry capitalism doesn't die; it morphs into its zombie-like, undead phase. Growth-less capitalism turns catabolic. The word catabolism is used in biology to refer to the condition whereby a living thing feeds on itself. Thus, catabolic capitalism is a self-cannibalizing system whose insatiable hunger for profit can only be fed by consuming the society that sustains it.[1] As it rampages down the road to ruin, this system gorges itself on one self-inflicted disaster after another. Unless we forestall it, catabolic capitalism will leave its survivors rummaging through the toxic rubble left behind.
Capitalism is adept at exploiting human weaknesses, especially greed and fear. During the period of rapid expansion, greed propels the most lucrative money-making opportunities, while fear comes in second. People are encouraged to take risks, go into debt and spend beyond their means. Speculative bubbles grow rapidly as people try to make it rich on the next big deal. But when boom turns to bust, fear replaces greed as the easiest sentiment on which to play to make a killing. In these troubled times, the most profitable ventures capitalize on scarcity, insecurity and desperation. READ MORE

The Pacific free trade deal that's anything but free BY Dean Baker



................There are many other provisions in this pact that are likely to be similarly controversial. The rules it creates would override domestic laws on the environment, workplace safety, and investment. Of course, it's not really possible to talk about the details because there are no publicly available drafts.
In principle, the TPP is exactly the sort of issue that should feature prominently in the fall elections. Voters should have a chance to decide if they want to vote for candidates who support raising the price of drugs for people in the United States and the rest of the world, or making us all into unpaid copyright cops. But there is no text and no discussion in the campaigns – and that is exactly how the corporations who stand to gain want it.
There is one way to spoil their fun. Just Foreign Policy is offering a reward, now up to $21,100, to WikiLeaks if it publishes a draft copy of the pact. People could add to the reward fund, or if in a position to do so, make a copy of the draft agreement available to the world.
Our political leaders will say that they are worried about the TPP text getting in the hands of terrorists, but we know the truth: they are afraid of a public debate. So if the free market works, we will get to see the draft of the agreement. READ MORE

Dempsey Backs Away from Obama’s Threat to Intervene in Syria -- News from Antiwar.com

Dempsey Backs Away from Obama’s Threat to Intervene in Syria -- News from Antiwar.com:


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How long before US global military madness provokes another 9/11?

How long before US global military madness provokes another 9/11?:


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Marines vs. Zetas: U.S. Hunts Drug Cartels in Guatemala | Danger Room | Wired.com

Marines vs. Zetas: U.S. Hunts Drug Cartels in Guatemala | Danger Room | Wired.com:

A U.S. Marine during a jungle patrol exercise in Guatemala on Sept. 12, 2010. While the Marines have helped train Guatemalan troops to hunt for drug traffickers in the past, the service is now expanding into chasing traffickers directly. Photo: USMC


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Michael Moore: Mitt Romney Will Win In November Get used to the phrase President Romney









Michael Moore: Get Used To Phrase "President Romney"

Iran's Khamenei Calls for 'Nuclear Free Middle East' | Common Dreams

Iran's Khamenei Calls for 'Nuclear Free Middle East' | Common Dreams:


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Obama Gives Shell Green Light to Start Risky Arctic Drilling | Common Dreams

Obama Gives Shell Green Light to Start Risky Arctic Drilling | Common Dreams:


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Election 2012 and the Media: A Vast Rightwing Conspiracy of Stupid | Common Dreams

Election 2012 and the Media: A Vast Rightwing Conspiracy of Stupid | Common Dreams:


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Cut the Pentagon Budget, Not Social Security and Veterans' Benefits, Save 380,000 Jobs | Common Dreams

Cut the Pentagon Budget, Not Social Security and Veterans' Benefits, Save 380,000 Jobs | Common Dreams:


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Glenn Greenwald on the Justice Dept.'s Rejection of CIA Torture Prosecut...

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Melting Sea Ice: Bad For Polar Bears, Good For China - International Business Times

Melting Sea Ice: Bad For Polar Bears, Good For China - International Business Times:



"To our astonishment ... most part of the Northern Sea Route is open," Huigen Yang, the expedition team's leader, told Reuters, adding that China is very interested in the "monumental change" in the Arctic caused by global warming.
The expedition marks China's first successful attempt to reach the Atlantic from the Pacific via the Arctic Ocean, and highlights the country's growing interest in the region, believed to be rich in oil and natural gas reserves. Seasonal shipping lanes through the Arctic provide a shorter route to the Atlantic than the Southern Sea Route through the Indian Ocean and the Suez Canal.

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Could the rise of China fatally de-stabilize capitalism? « Systemic Disorder

Could the rise of China fatally de-stabilize capitalism? « Systemic Disorder:


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Russians Occupied NORAD This Week For A Counterterrorism Drill - Business Insider

Russians Occupied NORAD This Week For A Counterterrorism Drill - Business Insider:
You can't make this stuff up folks.
Where is Tom Clancy when you need him. :-)


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The US Has Sent 200 Marines Into Guatemala To Directly Combat The Drug War - Business Insider

The US Has Sent 200 Marines Into Guatemala To Directly Combat The Drug War - Business Insider:

marines guatemala
Cpl. Daniel Negrete/U.S. Marine Corps
U.S. Marines on a jungle-patrol exercise in Guatemala


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-us-has-sent-200-marines-into-guatemala-to-directly-combat-the-drug-war-2012-8#ixzz254bql2Pf

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Limbaugh Offers "Idea" For Hurricane Isaac: Getting Rid Of Poor Dems In Louisiana By Building Levees Out Of Money | Video | Media Matters for America

Limbaugh Offers "Idea" For Hurricane Isaac: Getting Rid Of Poor Dems In Louisiana By Building Levees Out Of Money | Video | Media Matters for America:
This EFFEN guy is promoting mass murder.
Why is this clown still on the air?
Oh that's right he speaks for the right.
Will any sane republican come out and tell Limb Nuts that he must stand down?


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War mongering Condi Rice barks at Republican's Bizzaroland


The republicans paraded Condi out for their pep rally.  All the talking heads raved about her appearance. Even the dems are putting her on a pedestal. Have they forgotten who she is, what she stands for, what she did, or did not do, how she lied to the American people about 9/11 and Iraq. There is nothing worst than a war mongering chicken hawk. 
This was part of her speech speaking to her fellow travelers at the convention.

"We gather here at a time of significance and challenge. This young century has been a difficult one. I will never forget the bright September day, standing at my desk in the White House, when my young assistant said that a plane had hit the World Trade Center — and then a second one — and a third, the Pentagon. And then the news of a fourth, driven into the ground by brave citizens that died so that many others would live. From that day on our sense of vulnerability and our understanding of security would be altered forever."
Then there is this regarding the Necon run up to the illegal war against Iraq.

"As the Washington Post reported in a front-page story on Rice, "She has ... become enmeshed in the controversy over the administration's use of intelligence about Iraq's weapons in the run-up to the war. She has been made to appear out of the loop by colleagues' claims that she did not read or recall vital pieces of intelligence. And she has made statements about U.S. intelligence on Iraq that have been contradicted by facts that later emerged. Either she missed or overlooked numerous warnings from intelligence agencies seeking to put caveats on claims about Iraq's nuclear weapons program, or she made public claims that she knew to be false.”[17]
And there is this about 9/11.

"Both Hadley and Rice were subjects of the 9/11 Commission's investigation of the intelligence failures that preceded the attacks. Even though both had seen a counterterrorism report in August 2001 warning that Al Qaeda was planning an attack on the United States, Rice told the commission, "There was no silver bullet that could have prevented the 9/11 attacks. There was nothing demonstrating or showing that something was coming in the United States. If there had been something, we would have acted on it."[15]"
HERE is her BIO

Americans sure seem to have a short and perverted memory span. What a shame that a person with no credibility, soul, or self honor is taking the lime light again.  

Infographic: Palestinian homes demolished Report by an Israeli non-governmental organisation says 2011 was a record year for Palestinian displacement.


http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/interactive/2012/08/2012830754014332.html

Commentary: Pyongyang's Future Is in Beijing | The National Interest

Commentary: Pyongyang's Future Is in Beijing | The National Interest:


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John McCain's Neocon Manifesto | The National Interest Blog

John McCain's Neocon Manifesto | The National Interest Blog:


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Morsi delivers his calling card By Pepe Escobar


By Pepe Escobar
You'd better not mess with Muslim Brother Morsi.
Straight out of "communist" China - where he secured a red carpet welcome from President Hu Jintao and vice-president Xi Jinping - the Egyptian president lands in "evil" Iran as a true Arab world leader. [1]
Imagine conducting a poll in Tampa, Florida, among delegates at the Republican convention anointing the dodgy Mitt Romney-Paul Ryan duo as their presidential ticket. Chances are Morsi would be ranked worse than Hitler (oh no; that was Saddam. Or maybe Osama. Or maybe Ahmadinejad ... )
Tampa-Tehran. Talk about the ultimate snapshot of the current
geopolitical divide. On one side, the 1% crowd yelling for blood - be it from Barack Obama or from assorted Muslims. On the other side, the bulk of the real "international community", practically the whole global South (including observers such as China, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico) refusing to bend over to imperial military/financial diktats. Reaffirming its impeccable journalistic credentials, US corporate media dismisses it all as just "a Third World jamboree".
Anyway, the big news is that Egypt is back. In other news, the Washington-Tel Aviv axis is apoplectic.
Morsi may be walking like the proverbial Egyptian in popular imagination; sideways. In fact he's advancing all the time. By now it's clear that Egypt's new foreign policy if focused on restoring Cairo, historically the intellectual hub of the Arab world, to its leadership position - usurped by the oil-rich barbarians from the House of Saud during those decades when Egypt was a mere lowly servant of Washington's geopolitical designs.
Those were the (long gone) days - over three decades ago - when Tehran broke relations with Cairo over Egypt's signing of the Camp David accords. Morsi's attendance of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Tehran may not yet signal the return of full diplomatic relations, as Morsi spokesman Yasser Ali has been spinning. But it's an earth-shattering diplomatic coup.
Enter the new great game 
A quick recap is in order. Morsi's first crucial foreign trip was to Saudi Arabia, for the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) meeting in Mecca. The House of Saud regards the Muslim Brotherhood with extreme suspicion, to say the least. Right after that Morsi got a personal visit from the Emir of Qatar, and a US$2 billion check with no strings attached; then he immediately sacked the old leadership of the Orwellian Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). READ MORE

Asia Times Online :: Morsi trip marks China's rise in Middle East

Asia Times Online :: Morsi trip marks China's rise in Middle East:


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Beyond the Horse Dance: Viral Vid ‘Gangnam Style’ Critiques Korea’s Extreme Inequality

Open City Mag - An Asian American Writers Workshop joint:


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Gaza to be Unlivable by 2020 -- UN Report

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Tons of methane lurk beneath Antarctic ice | MNN - Mother Nature Network

Tons of methane lurk beneath Antarctic ice | MNN - Mother Nature Network:

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ScienceCasts: Watch Out For The Blue Moon 08/31/12?

Yale Grad Fights the Families Who Rule Korea's Chaebols - Bloomberg

Yale Grad Fights Families Who Rule Samsung to Hyundai - Bloomberg:


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The Accumulation of Capital By Rosa Luxemburg



Section One: The Problem of Reproduction
Section Two: Historical Exposition of the Problem
Section Three: the Historical Conditions of Accumulation

The Two Souls of Socialism By Hal Draper


Note from The Two Souls of Socialism, International Socialists,
Highland Park, Michigan, revised edition, fourth printing 1970
This is a completely rewritten and expanded version of a study which originally appeared in the socialist student magazine Anvil (Winter 1960) and was subsequently reprinted two or three times elsewhere. The framework, the general content, and some passages remain, but I have taken advantage of this new edition to make a thorough revision of what was a hasty first draft.
The aim is not to give a history of socialist thought in a nutshell, but simply to illustrate a thesis — the thesis being a historical interpretation of the meaning of socialism and of how socialism came to mean what it does today. To this end I have selected for discussion a few of the most important socialist currents up to the early 20th century, since the object of the inquiry is the wellsprings of the modern socialist movement. There are a number of tendencies which would have been difficult to treat briefly, and are therefore not discussed here at all, such as syndicalism, DeLeonism, Bolshevism, the IWW, the collectivist liberals, etc.; but I believe that their study leads to the same conclusions.
The chief difficulty in treating the subject briefly is the heavy encrustation of myth over the written history of socialism. At the end I have listed a very few works which are especially useful for some of the figures discussed here; for others the interested reader simply has to go back to the sources. There is no half-decent history of socialist thought extant today: and there probably will not be one until more socialist scholars do the kind of job that E.P. Thompson did for William Morris, whose image had been almost obliterated by the myths.
Speaking of William Morris, I re-read "A Dream of John Ball," and came once again across the oft-quoted passage about — Well, let us quote it again, as motto for the following pages: "... I pondered all these things, and how men fight and lose the battle, and the thing that they fought for comes about in spite of their defeat, and when it comes turns out not to be what they meant, and other men have to fight for what they meant under another name..."
H.D.
Note on this edition
"The Two Souls of Socialism" appeared in New Politics 5, no. 1 (Winter 1966) pp. 57-84, a pamphlet published by the International Socialists, Highland Park, Michigan, revised edition, fourth printing 1970 and was included in Socialism From Below by Hal Draper, essays selected, edited and with an introduction by E. Haberkern Humanities Press, Atlantic Highlands 1992 pp. 2-33. That edition is now out of print. The "The Two Souls of Socialism" was scanned and digitized into ASCII text and mounted on the Guelph Socialists Homepage (now defunct). The Guelph version was edited to eliminate some divergences from the Socialism From Below text to form the edition below. The paragraph in section "3. WHAT MARX DID" in {curly brackets} appeared in the 1966 pamphlet but not the Socialism From Below edition.
The Two Souls of Socialism

Inside Story - Justice evades Rachel Corrie

Presidential Hopeful Rocky Anderson: Dems, GOP United in Stymying Third-...

Skeletons of Aztec nobility found in Mexico

Poor in India Starve as Politicians Steal $14.5 Billion of Food - Bloomberg

Poor in India Starve as Politicians Steal $14.5 Billion of Food - Bloomberg:


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Carlyle to Cerberus Lead Private Equity Federal-Contracting Push - Businessweek

Carlyle to Cerberus Lead Private Equity Federal-Contracting Push - Businessweek:

The article surprisingly left out the Bush-Bin Laden Carlyle connection HERE.
Oh that's right, we are not suppose to talk about that. Shhhhhhhhhhh. Hush - hush


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Why Americans Must End America’s Self-Generating War


http://skew.dailyskew.com/uploaded_images/iron-man-civil-war-captain-america-shield-753272.jpg
Peter Dale Scott
The most urgent political challenge to the world today is how to prevent the so-called “pax Americana” from progressively degenerating, like the 19th-century so-called “pax Britannica” before it, into major global warfare. I say “so-called,” because each “pax,” in its final stages, became less and less peaceful, less and less orderly, more and more a naked imposition of belligerent competitive power based on inequality.
To define this prevention of war as an achievable goal may sound pretentious. But the necessary steps to be taken are above all achievable here at home in America. And what is needed is not some radical and untested new policy, but a much-needed realistic reassessment and progressive scaling back of two discredited policies that are themselves new, and demonstrably counterproductive.
I am referring above all to America’s so-called War on Terror. American politics, both foreign and domestic, are being increasingly deformed by a war on terrorism that is counter-productive, producing more terrorists every year than eliminates. It is also profoundly dishonest, in that Washington’s policies actually contribute to the funding and arming of the jihadists that it nominally opposes. READ MORE

Out With Human Rights, In With Government-Authored History: The Comfort Women and the Hashimoto Prescription for a ‘New Japan’ :: JapanFocus

Out With Human Rights, In With Government-Authored History: The Comfort Women and the Hashimoto Prescription for a ‘New Japan’ :: JapanFocus:

Korea Liberation Association members take part in an anti-Japan rally outside the Japanese Embassy in Seoul on August 23, 2012. The banner reads: "Demand an apology and compensation for the wartime sex slaves from the Japanese government."

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Bill Clinton’s $80 Million Payday: Politicians Don’t Care That Much About Reelection


 
“There was a kind of inflection point during the five-year period between 1997 and 2003 — the late Clinton and/or early Bush administration — when all the rules just went away. You went from a period, a regime, where people did have at least some concern about going to jail, to a point where everything is legal, and derivatives couldn’t be regulated at all and nobody went to jail for anything. And looking back I would say that this period definitely started under Clinton. You absolutely cannot blame this on George W. Bush.” – Charles Ferguson of Inside Job
“I never had any money until I got out of the White House, you know, but I’ve done reasonably well since then.” Bill Clinton
On December 21, 2000, President Bill Clinton signed a bill called the Commodities Futures Modernization Act. This law ensured that derivatives could not be regulated, setting the stage for the financial crisis.  Just two months later, on February 5, 2001, Clinton received  $125,000 from Morgan Stanley, in the form of a payment for a speech Clinton gave for the company in New York City.  A few weeks later, Credit Suisse also hired Clinton for a speech, at a $125,000 speaking fee, also in New York.  It turns out, Bill Clinton could make a lot of money, for not very much work.
Today, Clinton is worth something on the order of $80 million (probably much more, but we don’t really know), and these speeches have become a lucrative and consistent revenue stream for his family. Clinton spends his time offering policy advice, writing books, stumping for political candidates, and running a global foundation.  He’s now a vegan. He makes money from books. But the speaking fee money stream keeps coming in, year after year, in larger and larger amounts.
Most activists and political operatives are under a delusion about American politics, which goes as follows.  Politicians will do *anything* to get reelected, and they will pander, beg, borrow, lie, cheat and steal, just to stay in office.  It’s all about their job.
This is 100% wrong.

Read more at http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/05/its-not-about-reelection-bill-clintons-80-million-payday.html#6U4FDDhoG3GJbUMm.99

International Political Economy Zone: Hillary, More White Man's Burdenish Than Kissinger

International Political Economy Zone: Hillary, More White Man's Burdenish Than Kissinger:


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State Dep't Defines Israeli Settler Violence as Terrorism

Vatican to make Tony Blair a saint for bringing democracy to Iraq?

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Traffic Live at Santa Monica Auditorium (1972) Full footage -

Easy Rider - Can't find my way home

Zen Garden

Zen Garden ♫✿

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring Directed by Kim Ki-duk

The Longing (playlist)

Anonymous donors worrying trend in US election attack ads

Poverty stalks US Republican National Convention

Guest Post: The Endless War: Saudi Arabia Goes On The Offensive Against Iran | ZeroHedge

Guest Post: The Endless War: Saudi Arabia Goes On The Offensive Against Iran | ZeroHedge:


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Inflating the China threat | Stephen M. Walt

Inflating the China threat | Stephen M. Walt:


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‘Saudi King Abdullah takes special leave’ - Tehran Times

‘Saudi King Abdullah takes special leave’ - Tehran Times:
Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz (C) during an extraordinary summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in Mecca on August 14, 2012.
Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz (C) during an extraordinary summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in Mecca on August 14, 2012.


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Rachel Corrie's Parents Denounce Israeli Military Exoneration for 2003 K...

Rachel Corrie's death by bulldozer ruled an accident by Israeli court | GlobalPost

Rachel Corrie's death by bulldozer ruled an accident by Israeli court | GlobalPost:


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Behind a mining monopoly: Beneath Canada’s mines in Latin America lies an unregulated industry.

Israeli army cleared in Rachel Corrie "accident she brought upon herself" death

Israeli Court Rejects Responsibility for Death of American Activist - Truthdig

Israeli Court Rejects Responsibility for Death of American Activist - Truthdig:
AP Photo/HO, International Solidarity Movement
Rachel Corrie uses a loudspeaker as she stands between an Israeli buldozer and a Palestinian physician’s house in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah on Sunday, March 16, 2003.


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We Arm the World! US Dominates Global Arms Sales | Common Dreams

We Arm the World! US Dominates Global Arms Sales | Common Dreams:

An “extraordinary increase” over the $21.4 billion in deals for 2010




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Code Pink Protests as Giant Vaginas at RNC: 'Can't Say It, Don't Legislate It!' | Common Dreams

Code Pink Protests as Giant Vaginas at RNC: 'Can't Say It, Don't Legislate It!' | Common Dreams:

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Al-Qaeda's New Homeland - Mali

Obama and the Christians - USA

DON'T WORRY, DRIVE ON: Fossil Fools & Fracking Lies

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Keynes is the problem, not the solution: Economist Harry Shutt argues that Keynes' economic theories have ultimately served to propel capitalism towards corrupt and terminal failure


Illustration: Andrzej Krauze
As governments and leaders of opinion all over the world struggle to end continuing economic paralysis in the wake of the global financial crisis (GFC), they are unanimous on only one point: the need to revive economic growth. Up to now there have been two mainstream schools of economic opinion as to how this revival is to be achieved. These are identified as a) the ‘Austerians’, who assert that by returning policy to fiscal orthodoxy (moving towards a balanced budget) governments can restore market confidence to the point where businesses will start to expand their operations again, and b) Keynesian, according to which budget deficits, so far from being cut, should be expanded further (along with public debt) so as to boost demand and stimulate private sector activity. Both schools are seemingly agreed that there is no place in such a climate for any restraint on monetary expansion.
Unsurprisingly the Austerian view has rapidly been discredited for the logical nonsense that it is, most obviously by its tendency to exacerbate deficits in a climate of weak demand and thus have the opposite effect to what its advocates claim it should. This predictable failure has induced a kind of schizophrenia on the part of the Coalition in the UK and most other governments in Europe, as doubts about the political sustainability of continued budgetary austerity intensify – especially as voters have given it an emphatic thumbs down in France and Greece. But while most governments in Europe cling to the wreckage of this failed strategy, economists have largely abandoned it, perhaps fearing professional ridicule if they continue to try to defend the indefensible. Thus for example Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator of the Financial Times, who for decades has been a high-profile defender of the neo-liberal, free-market ideology of the ‘Washington consensus’, has felt compelled by the inescapable realities of the GFC to adopt an openly Keynesian position.
It would be wrong, however, to see this apparent shift of opinion as representing any kind of ideological watershed. For in reality the neo-liberal ‘revolution’ of the 1980s did not amount to a complete rejection of the Keynesian consensus that had dominated policy during the post-World War II era. Markets were indeed liberalised and globalised, giving the corporate sector (and finance in particular) much greater freedom to seek out profit-making opportunities. But what did not change was the official presumption that governments need to intervene in markets so as to support economic growth and financial markets. Indeed it is ironic that the ‘supply-side’ strategy – based on cutting direct taxes – which was the core of Reaganomics applied in the US in the 1980s, was essentially a form of Keynesian-style deficit financing designed to stimulate growth, although few noticed this at the time. What is undeniable is that it signally failed to bring about the sustained revival of growth anticipated by its advocates, although it did result in a doubling of US public debt and helped precipitate a financial and property market bubble and bust by 1990.
But arguably the most pernicious aspect of this global liberalisation and deregulation of markets was that it reinforced rather than reversed the culture of corporate dependence on state support which was the legacy of the post-war Keynesian era, when policy makers everywhere were driven by the idea that market intervention and support of the private sector by the state (of which the Marshall Plan of the 1940s is the classic example) was justified in order to sustain growth and employment. Although by the 1980s this view had been ostensibly abandoned – along with the restriction of cross-border capital transfers and regulation of such matters as employment and environmental standards – few were inclined to demand a corresponding withdrawal of state subsidies and protection for the private sector, least of all those corporate interests which benefited from this public largesse and which largely set the political agenda. Hardly anyone appeared to recognise that by retaining such interventionist practices while adopting a more laissez faire ideology, governments were creating a climate of ‘moral hazard’ - encouraging big corporations to take undue risks in full confidence that they could count on the state to help artificially boost their profitability or bail them out in the event of destabilising failure.
By thus acting to institutionalise this systemic conflict of interest Keynesian ideology can be said to have laid the foundation of the massive misallocation of resources which, progressively since the 1980s, has brought the global market economy to the brink of final collapse. Hence it can be concluded that Keynes' economic theories, so far from saving capitalism – as he himself asserted they would – have ultimately served to propel it towards corrupt and terminal failure.
Yet aside from this moral deficiency, the Keynesian model suffers from a serious practical flaw, which was apparent at the time it was originally discredited following the stagflation of the mid-1970s but which its advocates have persistently refused to confront. This is the assumption that it is actually possible over time to manage demand through fiscal and monetary manipulation so as to assure a high enough utilisation of productive factors (capital as well as labour) to avert significant disruptive imbalances – in other words to abolish the business cycle. In truth there is no proof that the post-war boom up to 1973 was to any significant extent the result of the Keynesian-style stimulus techniques then in vogue, rather than being a largely spontaneous response to the massive pent-up consumer and reconstruction demand after the war, the impact of which had been largely exhausted by the early 1970s. A still more fundamental error – common to virtually all mainstream economists – was their refusal to grasp the impact of accelerating technological change on the demand for both labour and capital, resulting in the rising productivity of both. While this phenomenon is well understood by most people in respect of labour – through the highly visible downsizing of workforces in both manufacturing and service industries such as banking – it is less widely recognised that the capital-intensity of fixed investment is also in long-term decline, thus leading to a lower demand for investible funds (including recycled corporate profits – or ‘surplus value’) needed to generate each extra unit of output (GDP). This tendency has naturally compounded the imbalances created by the unavoidable cyclical downturn in the economy following the boom.
Notwithstanding these failures Keynesians stand by their commitment to sustaining the rate of economic (GDP) growth – or preferably raising it to the kind of levels achieved before 1973, the minimum needed to absorb the growing excess capacity. It is the desperate pursuit of this unattainable goal which has generated the present massive distortions and imbalances in the economy, particularly the unprecedented burden of unserviceable debt – private and public – now weighing down the global economy. Even now, amid the total paralysis induced by this debt, Keynesians insist that an essential prerequisite of any recovery strategy must be to increase public borrowing still further, thus digging us into an even deeper hole – a reality underlined by the abject failure of the Obama administration to stimulate any meaningful recovery despite successive trillion-dollar deficits. Their obduracy even extends to giving their blessing to the utterly reckless policy of Quantitative Easing (money printing by any other name) in the US and UK. Despite claims to the contrary the only real purpose of this mechanism is to enable the government to buy up its own increasingly worthless debt and thereby artificially hold down the effective market interest rate closer to 1 per cent than the 6-7 per cent currently being paid by equally bankrupt Eurozone states such as Spain which do not have the luxury of being able to print their own currency. The obvious danger is that this unsustainable strategy will end in currency collapse and hyperinflation.
Cynically, however, most Keynesian economists dismiss the threat of inflation or claim it is a price worth paying for recovery, even though they know it would hit the poorest hardest. If they were truly concerned to advance public welfare they would abandon the doomed struggle to ‘save capitalism’ and demand that the whole financial house of cards be allowed to collapse. Clearly such  a development, which is anyway ultimately inevitable, will be traumatic and fraught with peril. Only once this nettle is grasped, however, will it be possible for a more stable and sustainable economic order to emerge in which the toxic shibboleth of perpetual growth is abandoned and the security and aspirations of the vast majority of ordinary individuals are given priority over the pursuit of profit by a few.
Under such a sustainable new order resources would be allocated in line with more collectively determined priorities, with enterprise (private or public) being allowed to function only within parameters democratically established by the community – whether at national or local level. In order to minimise destructive and wasteful competition some degree of planning would be unavoidable. In place of the futile and damaging pursuit of maximum GDP growth and the increasingly meaningless goal of ‘full employment’ economic welfare would in future be measured in terms of social indicators such as those of public health (physical and mental) and levels of crime. In the absence of significant growth in GDP (value added) income would need to be equitably distributed on the basis of a) a flat rate basic income paid to all citizens as of right (guaranteeing minimum security for all) and b) limiting additional earning opportunities to individuals either through maximum hours / years of work and / or highly progressive taxation. The distribution of a greater share of national income to the masses – which should be seen as their  share of the value generated by the community's ‘capital’ (social, physical and intellectual) accumulated over centuries rather than something to which they can only gain entitlement by doing paid work that is no longer either available or necessary – could be readily financed from the huge share that presently goes in returns to ever more redundant capital.
It is a measure of the backwardness of thinking and debate within the Labour movement that such alternatives can still hardly be discussed in what pass for the progressive media. Perhaps it is significant, therefore, that such an eminent Keynesian economist as Robert Skidelsky has recently concluded that endless growth is not sustainable and that new approaches to achieving equitable income distribution – including a universal basic income – must be considered. If the Left is to chart a way out of our present chaotic misery it must come into the 21st century and start debating such alternatives seriously as a matter of urgency. http://www.redpepper.org.uk/keynes-is-the-problem-not-the-solution/

Yuan tipped to replace U.S. dollar, Euro in southeast Asia - Xinhua | English.news.cn

Yuan tipped to replace U.S. dollar, Euro in southeast Asia - Xinhua | English.news.cn:



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Everyone Should Stop And Think About The NY Times Roster Of The Dead - Business Insider

Everyone Should Stop And Think About The NY Times Roster Of The Dead - Business Insider:
All of these people died for a pack of lies.
Obama still sends them out on a daily basis to kill others, and to be killed.
Why? 
He called Afghanistan a "necessary war".
O is another war of choice president.
He has no borders for his perpetual war for empire. 
Most Americans could not find Afghanistan on a map if their life depended on it. Just as they could not find Nam on a map.
Our Congress critters did not know the difference between a Sunni and a Shia.
Yet these same ignorant war mongers sent our kids to war. 
The suicide rates are off the charts. Why does the media not ask our republocrat president about this?
 Prepare yourselves for more chaos, death, and constructive destruction in central Asia, and Africa. 
Send every Corporate CEO'S  sons and daughters at the age of 18 to do their own killing. 
Roster of the Dead

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