What the California wildfires should teach us. WHAT SHOULD we know about the wildfires that grabbed the media's attention in mid-May? AS DISASTERS become more frequent across the country, it's clear that the ones that affect celebrities and wealthier people take the foreground, and push the others into the margins. But the situation with the most recent Southern California fires was extraordinary--you had 23 Marine helicopters, dozens of other firefighting aircraft, fire departments from all over the state, federal fire agencies. The message being sent to the people who live in their McMansions in the midst of the chaparral or the housing developments recently inserted into the back country is: Don't worry, you can count on us. The wildfires in Southern California are some of the most destructive in the state's history--particularly the ones in San Diego County in the last decade, where several thousand homes were destroyed.
This is not only paradoxical, it verges on insanity. This illustrates two things. “Bloodiest thing the world has seen”: David Cay Johnston on inequality’s looming disaster. Long before anyone knew the name Thomas Piketty, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Cay Johnston was plumbing the hidden depths of the American tax code, revealing the myriad ways it privileges the interests of corporations and the wealthy ahead of those of the 99 percent. Indeed, while it may sometimes feel as if economic inequality is the new trend, Johnston’s career reminds us that the great gulf that separates the rich from the rest in the contemporary United States didn’t happen overnight, but over a course of decades.
Despite coming out during the same year as “Capital in the Twenty-First Century,” and “The Divide,” Johnston’s newest release, “Divided: The Perils of Our Growing Inequality,” is a different kind of inequality book. Earlier this week, Salon reached Johnston via telephone to discuss “Divided,” whether American democracy can survive such great economic disparities, and how returning to a more equal society is literally a matter of life and death. Oh, yes. Yes. Interview with China’s ’21st Century Business Herld’ Just interviewed by Chinese business daily 21st Century Business Herald (21世纪经济报道|). Here is the Q&A, in English of course… 1. May I take the liberty to ask why you moved from Greece to the United States?
Momentous decisions never have a single cause. It was a combination of factors spanning different realms that led me to leave Greece. First, everything I had worked for at the University of Athens has imploded because of (a) the dearth of funds, (b) a new legislative framework that dismantled our Political Economy Division (pushing us into the poisonous embrace of some third rate business school), (c) the usual process that sets in during a period of financial cutbacks (which give an impetus to the commercialisation and commodification of academic life, thus demeaning it and empowering the lesser academics who are ready and willing to ‘sell out’). 2. Greece has its own special problems and malignancies. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Yes, both sectors are in private hands. 8. Like this: Like Loading... Mapping a New Economy. By Scott Carlson David Harvey would implore you to imagine life without capitalism—that is, if you can.
Chances are, even if you’re puzzled by the manipulation of phantom money on Wall Street, troubled by society’s growing inequality, or disgusted with the platinum parachutes of corporate executives, you probably still conceive the world in terms of profits, private property, and free markets, the invisible hand always on the tiller. To Harvey, a professor of anthropology and geography at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, that world is coming to an end. In Seventeen Contradictions and the End of Capitalism (Oxford University Press), Harvey examines what he sees as the untenable elements of capital, and he analyzes how they can produce an unequal, destructive, crisis-prone system.
"I was tired of hearing Marx quoted in ways that struck me as completely wrong," Harvey says in his office at CUNY, around the corner from the Empire State Building. Inside The Fast Food Workers' Strike In Georgia. By Rebecca Leber "Inside The Fast Food Workers’ Strike In Georgia" Outside an Atlanta Burger King on May 15. CREDIT: Rebecca Leber ATLANTA, GEORGIA — “We can’t survive on $7.25!” Surrounded by fast food chains Long John Silver’s, McDonald’s, and Wendy’s in Atlanta, Georgia, a couple dozen workers chanted that message on Thursday morning, drawing the attention — and a lot of honking — from passing car and truck drivers.
The fast food strikes that first began in New York City in 2012 have spread across the country and worldwide. Even though the day began for some at 5:30 a.m., energy was high and the workers optimistic by the time they lined up outside of a Burger King, the final stop of the day. By comparison, Antwon Brown is a seasoned striker. Another participant, Angela Clark, has been working for the same Burger King franchise for three years and for the company on and off since 1999.
The workers realize they are taking a risk. See more photos of Thursday’s action in Georgia: Noam Chomsky: America is a terrified country. Free Speech Radio News producer Catherine Komp interviews Noam Chomsky. Noam Chomsky is amongst the world’s most cited living scholars. Voted the “world’s top public intellectual” in 2005, he is perhaps best known as a critic of all forms of social control and a relentless advocate for community-centered approaches to democracy and freedom.
Over the last several decades, Chomsky has championed a wide range of dissident actions, organizations and social movements. In this excerpt from the just-released expanded edition of the Zuccotti Park Press book, “Occupy: Class War, Rebellion and Solidarity,” Chomsky speaks with Free Speech Radio News about media control, fear, indoctrination and the importance of solidarity.
Catherine Komp: It’s been twenty-five years since the publication of your and Edward Herman’s acclaimed book “Manufacturing Consent.” Noam Chomsky: Well, ten years ago we had a re-edition and we talked about some of the changes. The United States is a very frightened country. Is Bitcoin the Future of Money. Libertarians and leftists alike predict a world of competing digital currencies. What’s being touted in some circles as the future of money looks hardly more peaceful than its past. Bitcoin, a formerly obscure cyber-currency, is now all over the headlines with reports of bankruptcies, thefts and FBI lockdowns. If our fate is to buy and sell in bitcoins, this instability is troubling. But despite the headlines, the triumph of Bitcoin and related cyber-currencies is a lot less likely than recent commentary would suggest. One cause of all this hype? The number of people who understand what Bitcoin is seems almost immeasurably small—and that probably includes some of its users.
Money, it should be conceded, is not a simple topic. But Bitcoin (capitalized as a concept, lowercased when referring to units of the currency, according to American Banker) is another animal entirely. Trading is done via exchanges, which communicate with other exchanges, but there is no central authority. Marxists Internet Archive. Washington Center for Equitable Growth | Dialogue: Eleven (so Far) Worthwhile Reviews of and Reflections on Thomas Piketty’s “Capital in the Twenty-First Century”: Wednesday Focus: March 26, 2014. The Koch brothers are dead wrong: Half of America is living in or near poverty. This article originally appeared on AlterNet. The Charles Koch Foundation recently released a commercial that ranked a near-poverty-level $34,000 family among the Top 1% of poor people in the world. Bud Konheim, CEO and co-founder of fashion company Nicole Miller, concurred: “The guy that’s making, oh my God, he’s making $35,000 a year, why don’t we try that out in India or some countries we can’t even name.
China, anyplace, the guy is wealthy.” Comments like these are condescending and self-righteous. They display an ignorance of the needs of lower-income and middle-income families in America. The following discussion pertains to the half of America that is in or near poverty, the people rarely seen by Congress. 1. The original poverty measures were (and still are) based largely on the food costs of the 1950s. But many American families near the median are not able to take advantage of safety net programs. 2. 3. The official poverty rate increased by 25 percent between 2000 and 2011. 4. Hope in the Age of Looming Authoritarianism | MCSPI. I can understand pessimism, but I don’t believe in it. It’s not simply a matter of faith, but of historical evidence. Not overwhelming evidence, just enough to give hope, because for hope we don’t need certainty, only possibility.
Howard Zinn In the current historical moment, the line between fate and destiny is difficult to draw. Dominant power works relentlessly through its major cultural apparatuses to hide, mischaracterize or lampoon resistance, dissent and critically engaged social movements. This is done, in part, by sanitizing public memory and erasing critical knowledge and oppositional struggles from newspapers, radio, television, film and all those cultural institutions that engage in systemic forms of education and memory work. Civic engagement appears increasingly weakened, if not impotent, as a malignant form of casino capitalism exercises ruthless power over the commanding institutions of society and everyday existence, breathing new life into old clichés. Why the Justice Department Inspector General Report on Mortgage Fraud Matters.
By David Dayen, a lapsed blogger, now a freelance writer based in Los Angeles, CA. Follow him on Twitter @ddayen Hello, folks! As Yves is off explaining the world to Washington, I’m manning the controls for a couple days. This allows me to ensure that NC has that whole Justice Department IG report on mortgage fraud covered. I know that Yves heaved the written equivalent of a sigh at the news, and she wasn’t wrong.
But because I don’t feel the coverage so far has plumbed the depths of this corruption, and because it’s still happening, it’s not worth going silent just yet. 1. You can clearly see that this focuses on a small corner of the much more widespread fraud that has gone on for over a decade now. I could go on. That’s not true of the various types of bank-driven frauds. That’s an absurd justification. Of course, as we see, DoJ couldn’t even be bothered to get the small spade work done (which could have led them to the top). 2. This is stunning. Begun considering!
3. 4. 5. Comcast spreads cash wide on Capitol Hill - Tony Romm. There’s little that tends to unite a leading liberal like Dick Durbin and a conservative firebrand like Ted Cruz. But when the two senators join their colleagues for a hearing this month on Comcast’s $45 billion bid for Time Warner Cable, many of them will have something in common — they’ve each collected Comcast cash. Continue Reading The Philadelphia cable giant historically has been a major Beltway player, and it’s sure to strengthen its political offense in order to sell the new, controversial megadeal.
Yet even before announcing its plans for Time Warner Cable, Comcast had donated to almost every member of Congress who has a hand in regulating it. (Earlier on POLITICO: Netflix, Comcast cut deal for smoother service) In fact, money from Comcast’s political action committee has flowed to all but three members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Comcast stresses its donations are a function of its business.
(Also on POLITICO: Full technology policy coverage) American finance grew on the back of slaves. BY Edward E. Baptist and Louis Hyman March 7, 2014 12:32AM Last weekend we watched the Oscars and, like most people, were pleased that “Twelve Years a Slave” won Best Picture. No previous film has so accurately captured the reality of enslaved people’s lives. Yet though Twelve Years shows us the labor of slavery, it omits the financial system — asset securitization — that made slavery possible.
Most people can see how slave labor, like the cotton-picking in “Twelve Years A Slave,” was pure exploitation. Few recognize that a financial system nearly as sophisticated as ours today helped Solomon Northup’s enslavers steal him, buy him, and market the cotton he made. Recently, the assets behind these bonds were houses. Every year or two, somebody discovers that a famous bank on Wall Street profited from slavery. In the 1830s, powerful Southern slaveowners wanted to import capital into their states so they could buy more slaves.
Then the crash of 2008 came. Edward E. Bernanke’s $250,000 fee for speech puts him near top of food chain - Capitol Report. Getty Images Ben Bernanke Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s reported $250,000 for a speech in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday puts him in rarefied air of public speakers, experts said. With one speech, Bernanke exceeded his $199,700 annual salary as Fed chairman in 2013. Former President Bill Clinton is said to receive more for a speech. Hillary Clinton is close, pulling down a reported $200,000 for each appearance. Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, is also said to receive hefty speaking fees. Bernanke’s predecessor Alan Greenspan received a reported $250,000 for his first speech in February 2006 that moved markets. Former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker, who served at the Fed from 1979-1987, still commands $40,000 for a speech.
Bernanke gave a speech in South Africa Wednesday and will speak in Houston on Friday. “Here is a person who left one of the most powerful positions in the world and left in good graces. Bernanke will create electricity for an event. . – Greg Robb. IMF study finds inequality is damaging to economic growth. The International Monetary Fund has backed economists who argue that inequality is a drag on growth in a discussion paper that has also dismissed rightwing theories that efforts to redistribute incomes are self-defeating. The Washington-based organisation, which advises governments on sustainable growth, said countries with high levels of inequality suffered lower growth than nations that distributed incomes more evenly. Backing analysis by the Keynesian economist and Nobel prizewinner Joseph Stiglitz, it warned that inequality can also make growth more volatile and create the unstable conditions for a sudden slowdown in GDP growth.
And in what is likely to be viewed as its most controversial conclusion, the IMF said analysis of various efforts to redistribute incomes showed they had a neutral effect on GDP growth. Anti-poverty charity Oxfam welcomed the report, saying it shows "extreme inequality is damaging not only because it is morally unacceptable, but it's bad economics". Searching for the Union.pdf. The subprime education crisis. The NY Federal Reserve’s Household Debt & Credit Report shows that student debt is rising fast and is now at an all-time high: Household Debt and Credit Developments as of Q4 2013: That’s a good thing, isn’t it?
It shows that lots of young people are signing up for college instead of sitting around at home doing nothing or doing dead-end jobs. But all is not well. Here are the figures on delinquent loans from the same report. 90+ day delinquency rates: So, more than one-tenth of people with student loans are in arrears. The Wall Street Journal says that the rise in student credit has been concentrated most among those with poor credit records (my emphasis): “Of the 12% overall rise in student debt, a third—or four percentage points—came from borrowers with the worst credit history, or those with credit scores of 620 or lower. And the eventual delinquency rate may well be higher: Oh dear. I am not convinced. Source: Citi via Business Insider For once I agree with Zero Hedge. Related reading: Will China shake the world again?
Bibi has turned me into an 'anti-Semite' - OpinionIsrael News - Haaretz Israeli News source. Decolonizing solidarity. Any National "Conversation About Race" Must Include Black Radical Tradition. This Week's Top Picks in Imperial & Global History | H-Net. 513.Soulbook.Soulbook3.Fall.1965.pdf. (99+) Swaziland Solidarity Network Forum. Dr Huey P Newton, Speech at Boston College, 18 November 1970.
Snowden Was Justified. International trade. James Baldwin and Dick Gregory: "Baldwin's Nigger" (1969) The Three Reasons Why Americans AREN'T Rising Up in Open Revolt (Robert Reich) Legalizing Oppression - Chris Hedges. List of school shootings in the United States. State_of_counter_power.pdf. Dark cloud over good works of Gates Foundation. Chief Seattle's Speech of 1854 - Version 1. AAAH. Angela Y Davis - 150 Years Later: Abolition in the 21st Century. Mondragón and the System Problem. Huck and Jim vs. Herzl and Morris: Mark Twain on Zionism and the first aliyah. NSA Hacking Tactics Revealed By Der Spiegel.
David Simon: 'There are now two Americas. My country is a horror show' | World news | The Observer. Growth is being driven by consumer credit and household debt, despite the need for exports and manufacturing. How a Bill Becomes Law - Updated | Ted Rall's Rallblog. Chris Hedges and Robert Scheer Discuss American Fascism. The Village Against the World by Dan Hancox – review. Scorned or Celebrated, ‘Breadwinner Moms’ Are Misrepresented. Who controls the world? More resources for understanding. The Radical Christian Right and the War on Government - Chris Hedges. Dean Baker. There Is No Nobel Prize in Economics. David Simon: 'There are now two Americas. My country is a horror show' | World news | The Observer. Slaves of the Internet, Unite! Which Side of the Barricade Are You On? - Doug Sosnik - POLITICO Magazine. The American Police State - The Chronicle Review. Quinoa should be taking over the world. This is why it isn’t.
No saviour in sight as world credit cycle rolls over. Breaking culture • The overall critique of the education is its... 26 Amazing Facts About Finland's Unorthodox Education System. Making Unions Matter Again. Fast Food Crime Wave. Fast Food Workers Striking in Seattle. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot's prison letters to Slavoj Žižek. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: Infographics Details. Herrin massacre. Secularizing the Tech Debate. Jeremy Scahill. What Does Media Consolidation Look Like? Joachim Jachnow: What’s Become of the German Greens? Rob Johnson on the economists’ collective guilt. Portugal Drug Policy: Decriminalization Works.
Angela Davis Looks Back at the 16th Street Church Bombings 50 Years Ago. Sequester cuts hit Monrovia Head Start program, others soon to follow | Pass / Fail. The Suicide Detective. Slaves of the Internet, Unite! The rise of the reader: journalism in the age of the open web | Katharine Viner. Oregon PERS: Private equity investments pose an unclear future for public pensions. In Conversation with Adam Curtis, Part I. Generation X Hit Hardest By Recession. Robert Scheer: Congress Still Puts Out for Wall Street - Robert Scheer's Columns. Joblessness Shortens Lifespan of Least Educated White Women, Research Says.
Insane Levels of Inequality – Which Hurt the Economy – Are Skyrocketing. Billions In Farm Subsidies Underwrite Junk Food, Study Finds. Profiting from the Poor: Outsourcing Social Services Puts Most Vulnerable at Risk. Billions In Tax Dollars Subsidize The Junk Food Industry. Inequality Rising — All Thanks To Government Policies. The Sequester: Cuts And Consequences. EHpGa.jpg (JPEG Image, 1542 × 2056 pixels) - Scaled (32. The men who set themselves on fire - Opinion. Inside the Investigation of Leading Republican Money Man Sheldon Adelson. Horizontalism and Territory. FUCK THE SYSTEM – Indymedia Roma. Sound, fury, cliché! Lazy pundits “double down” on “game-changing” “narratives” The Network of Global Corporate Control. Why the American Empire Was Destined to Collapse | World. Can you be too leftwing? | Richard Seymour.
Franklin: The American Prison in the Culture Wars. Adam Curtis Blog: DREAM ON.