Capitalism – Page 2 – on the semi-periphery

Who was the woman that threw confetti at Mario Draghi?

Posted on 2015/04/16 - 2015/04/17 by jd

So it seems that the confetti terrorist that attacked the European Central Bank (ECB) chief Mario Draghi is a one-woman splinter group of Femen.

At last!, Femen does something worthwhile!

‘…She had no need for violence at Wednesday’s ECB protest.“I got in like anybody else – there’s this airport control thing, but I didn’t carry any weapons except for confetti in my bag” [….] “The confetti attack was not a Femen protest – I’m sorry ladies. I consider myself a freelance-activist”, she wrote, accompanied by the hashtag #exfemen, indicating she’s no longer part of the group….’
via Who is the woman that threw confetti on Draghi?.

Europe » The Big Mac, The Royale with Cheese and, today, the Grand Big Mac

Posted on 2015/04/16 by jd

Screen shot 2015-04-16 at 01.46.17

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NS_ROi0iiZw

USA Is ‘World Leader’ in Child Poverty

Posted on 2015/04/16 - 2015/04/16 by jd

‘..America’s wealth grew by 60 percent in the past six years, by over $30 trillion. In approximately the same time, the number of homeless children has also grown by 60 percent.

Financier and CEO Peter Schiff said, "People don’t go hungry in a capitalist economy." The 16 million kids on food stamps know what it’s like to go hungry. Perhaps, some in Congress would say, those children should be working…’

Nearly half of all food stamp recipients are children, and they averaged about $5 a day for their meals before the 2014 farm bill cut $8.6 billion (over the next ten years) from the food stamp program.

In 2007 about 12 of every 100 kids were on food stamps. Today it’s 20 of every 100. For Every 2 Homeless Children in 2006, There Are Now 3
via The Numbers Are Staggering: U.S. Is 'World Leader' in Child Poverty | Alternet.

Mario Draghi Attacked by Protester at ECB Press Conference

Posted on 2015/04/16 - 2015/04/16 by jd

‘April 15 — European Central Bank President Mario Draghi was attacked by a protester yelling “end the ECB dictatorship” during a press conference today. The event resumed a few minutes later.’

UPDATE: Who was the woman that threw confetti at Mario Draghi?
http://redjade.noblogs.org/20150416/990

Hillary vs Bernie, or what a socialist looks like and what a corporate ***** [employee] looks like

Posted on 2015/04/15 - 2015/04/23 by jd

Think of it as $153 billion a year in government subsidies to American Corporations

Posted on 2015/04/14 by jd

‘The majority of American families on public assistance or Medicaid are headed by at least one full-time worker, according to a report released Monday by U.C. Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education.

Researchers who analyzed annual state and federal spending on public assistance programs — including food stamps, Medicaid, Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) — found that more than 56 percent of that funding goes to working families.

In other words, employers, such fast-food restaurants, are paying their employees so little that they must rely on government assistance to make ends meet. In total, these employees seek an estimated $153 billion in public assistance each year, according to the report (PDF)….’

via Most Public Assistance Goes to Working Families | Al Jazeera America.

Obama sells Hellfire to Egypt to bring Hell to Yemen.

Posted on 2015/04/10 by jd

‘WASHINGTON — An Egyptian procurement of 356 AGM-114K/R3 Hellfire II missiles has been cleared by the State Department, the first new procurement since the White House lifted a freeze on weapon sales to that nation.

The sale also comes as Egypt takes part in anti-militant operations in Yemen, which the US is indirectly aiding with logistical support…’

via Egypt Hellfire Buy OK'd Amidst Yemen Strikes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byIsaZ5WYyM

Fortune.com explains how Wall Street is making a killing off ISIL and Yemen

Posted on 2015/04/07 - 2015/04/07 by jd

‘…“The drone builders are going to have a field day,” says Dov Zakheim, who served as Pentagon Comptroller during the George W. Bush administration. That could mean a tidy profit for privately held General Atomics, maker of the Predator drone, the granddaddy in the category and still widely in use, as well as the second-generation Reaper, designed to carry 3,000 pounds worth of bombs. And to help survey vast expanses of desert, the military will rely on the Global Hawk, made by Northrop Grumman NOC 0.49% to hover at altitudes as high as 50,000 feet for up to four days at a time. Those vehicles will likely be making use of the Gorgon Stare. This sensor, developed by privately held Sierra Nevada, is capable of scoping a 4-kilometer diameter by filming with nine cameras.

[….] “The most obvious cases are what I would call the boots, beans, and bullets trade,” says Ronald Epstein, a Bank of America analyst, pointing to “the guys with shorter backlogs.” That is, shipbuilders can’t expect much work from this conflict, but those supplying the ordnance American forces are already churning through should see new orders. Gunzinger notes that “small diameter bombs could be a huge winner, since aircraft can carry more of them in a single sortie—and they have very accurate seekers, so they can strike targets with less potential for collateral damage.” Tally up another advantage for Raytheon’s product line, among others.

American military operations targeting ISIS have cost some $600 million since mid-June, with the U.S. now spending more than $7.5 million a day on the conflict by the Pentagon’s own accounting. Zakheim estimates that this figure could conceivably double as the operations intensify and the theater widens to Syria, with a significant chunk of the expenditures going to munitions.

The total price tag for the open-ended conflict, expected to be measured in years rather than months, is anybody’s guess. In the immediate term, however, the White House is pressing Congress to approve $500 million to fund the training and equipping of pro-Western rebel groups in Syria….’

via The war on ISIS already has a winner: The defense industry – Fortune.

Boots Riley + Rosa Luxemburg

Posted on 2015/03/31 - 2015/03/31 by jd

Boots Riley, lead singer of The Coup (also www) doing spoken word at the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung – New York Office

Obama always was the better Republican

Posted on 2015/03/29 - 2015/03/29 by jd

In September of 2011 Occupy Wall Street lit a match to a movement. Today that movement is known for what it did and didn’t do. Occupy connected income inequality to political corruption and put both issues at the center of our political debate. What it didn’t do, by design, was provide a blueprint for economic reform or build a more institutional movement to secure it.

what we now have, an economy that outperforms nearly all other developed nations and a middle class that underperforms the one in Canada. Some people are better off. Unemployment is down. CEO pay rose 37 percent while workers’ wages shrank by 0.6 percent. Never before have average wages fallen as the economy grew. The number of people living in poverty also rose, another first for an economic expansion.

We’ve fixed little even of what we acknowledged was broken in 2009. Banks we called too big to fail are bigger now; the 10 biggest now control over 50 percent of all our financial assets. JPMorgan Chase deposits have grown 29 percent. Small banks, on the other hand, are an endangered species. In 1995 we had over 12, 000 banks. Today there are fewer than 7,000, the fewest since the Great Depression.

via What would Paul Krugman do: Imagining the plan which defeats the ultra-rich – Salon.com.

Peace with Iran could mean less profits

Posted on 2015/03/20 - 2015/03/20 by jd

‘…The possibility of an Iran nuclear deal depressing weapons sales was raised by Myles Walton, an analyst from Germany’s Deutsche Bank, during a Lockheed earnings call this past January 27th. Walton asked Marillyn Hewson, the chief executive of Lockheed Martin, if an Iran agreement could “impede what you see as progress in foreign military sales.” Financial industry analysts such as Walton use earnings calls as an opportunity to ask publicly-traded corporations like Lockheed about issues that might harm profitability.
Hewson replied that “that really isn’t coming up,” but stressed that “volatility all around the region” should continue to bring in new business. According to Hewson, “A lot of volatility, a lot of instability, a lot of things that are happening” in both the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region means both are “growth areas” for Lockheed Martin…’
via Big Bank’s Analyst Worries That Iran Deal Could Depress Weapons Sales – The Intercept.

in the direction of exclusion

Posted on 2015/03/20 - 2015/03/20 by jd

An interview with Nadav Eya

‘You know, I have a friend in India who’s a journalist. A Hindi nationalist party is now in power in India. Like us, they have a neighboring country, Pakistan, with whom they are locked in a territorial dispute, except that they have nuclear weapons. I asked my friend about the nationality clause in the Indian constitution, and it turns out that there isn’t one. India was founded on the ancient Indian idea of unity in diversity. My friend was very surprised that we are allowing the nation-state legislation to go forward. I asked him what would happen in similar circumstances in India, and he didn’t even want to think about it. Laws like that only weaken us.

The societies that are moving in the direction of exclusion are shrinking into religiosity, into ethnicity. They are closed to external influence, rigid and inflexible in their thought, and the end result of that inflexibility is extremism or implosion. We know the examples.

via The lesson SodaStream taught Israel – Features – Israel News | Haaretz. [archived text]

Video: Iceland’s Pirates to rule?

Posted on 2015/03/19 - 2015/03/19 by jd

‘…[Birgitta Jónsdóttir, MP for the Pirate Party] says that she does not want to become Prime Minister and if the Pirates were to receive this number of votes in the next general elections the party would not be likely to form a coalition government with the ruling parties, the Independence Party and the Progressive Party…’
via Pirate captain as Prime Minister? – mbl.is.

Gandhi statue hides the Military-Industrial Complex

Posted on 2015/03/15 by jd

Priyamvada Gopal writes:

‘…the announcement came as coalition ministers George Osborne and William Hague visited India to hustle for lucrative arms contracts, emerging triumphantly with a £250m deal to supply missiles to the Indian air force and hoping to persuade the former jewel in the imperial crown to buy the partly British-made Eurofighter Typhoon jet.

This plainly opportunistic move has elicited accusations of "false worship" from Gandhi’s descendants. Hague’s glutinous praise for Gandhi’s commitment to non-violence as "a legacy that is as relevant today as it was during his life", while selling killing machines to his countrymen, is certainly specious. Yet the hawkish rightwing Indian regime these ministers are cosying up to is, with even greater irony, appropriating Gandhi to sanitise its own sectarian past. In Britain as in India, the canonisation of Gandhi has become the perfect vehicle for sanctimonious official rhetoric that obscures the links between capitalism’s military-industrial complex, social hierarchies and state violence…’

via Does Gandhi really belong in Parliament Square? | Priyamvada Gopal | Comment is free | The Guardian.

Chinese SciFi: The Three-Body Problem

Posted on 2015/03/15 - 2015/03/15 by jd

Liu Cixin's The Three-Body Problem — Liu Cixin’s The Three-Body Problem

Liu Cixin, China’s most popular science-fiction writer. Liu is fifty-one years old and has written thirteen books. Until very recently, he worked as a software engineer at a power plant in Shanxi. In China, he is about as famous as William Gibson in the United States; he’s often compared to Arthur C. Clarke, whom he cites as an influence. His most popular book, “The Three-Body Problem,” has just been translated into English by the American sci-fi writer Ken Liu, and in China it’s being made into a movie, along with its sequels.

[….] American science fiction draws heavily on American culture, of course—the war for independence, the Wild West, film noir, sixties psychedelia—and so humanity’s imagined future often looks a lot like America’s past. For an American reader, one of the pleasures of reading Liu is that his stories draw on entirely different resources. Much of “The Three-Body Problem” is set during the Cultural Revolution. In “The Wages of Humanity,” visitors from space demand the redistribution of Earth’s wealth, and explain that runaway capitalism almost destroyed their civilization.

via Liu Cixin Is China’s Answer to Arthur C. Clarke – The New Yorker.

The Coup: Economics is the symphony of hunger and theft

Posted on 2015/03/15 by jd

Strange Arithmetic (lyrics) by The Coup

History has taught me some strange arithmetic
Using swords, prison bars, and pistol grips
English is the art of bombing towns
While assuring that you really only blessed the ground
Science is that honorable, useful study
Where you contort the molecules and then you make that money
In mathematics, dead children don’t get added
But they count the cost of bullets comin out the automatic

Teacher
My hands up
Please, don’t make me a victim
Teachers
Stand up
You need to tell us how to flip this system

Economics is the symphony of hunger and theft
Mortar shells often echo out the cashing of checks
In Geography class, it’s borders, mountains and rivers
But they will never show the line between the takers and givers
Algebra is that unique occasion
In which a school can say that there should be a balanced equation
And then Statistics is the tool of the complicit
To say everybody’s with it and that you’re the only critic

Social Studies, the goliath to tackle
Which turns into a sermon on simplicity of shackles
Physics is to school you on the science of force
‘Cept for how to break the hell out the ghetto, of course
Home Ec can teach you how to make a few sauces
And accept low pay from your Walmart bosses
If your school won’t show you how to fight for what’s needed
Then they’re training you to go through life and get cheated

https://vimeo.com/103299654

Eight Lessons from Greece’s Syriza and Spain’s Podemos

Posted on 2015/03/14 - 2015/03/14 by jd

Lesson 1: Clearly identify the enemy.
Lesson 2: Against the oligarchs and the “totalitarianism of the market” which serves as a cover for their interests, we, the forces of democracy, have to fight back.
Lesson 3. Inequality is objectionable, but more fundamental is people being denied the things that they need.
Lesson 4. Draw a link between what working people need and what society as a whole needs.
Lesson 5. Have a program. Say what you will do—don’t get dragged into debates about how you will do it.
Lesson 6. A program needs spokespeople, and it really helps when those spokespeople are or will be in government.
Lesson 7. Like Greeks, Americans think that their political system is broken—and they want an alternative.
Lesson 8. No mourning for golden days.

via 8 Lessons American Progressives Can Take From Greece’s Syriza and Spain’s Podemos – In These Times.

Ukraine Must Accept Deep Cuts, ‘Reforms’ in $17.5 Billion IMF Loan Deal

Posted on 2015/03/12 - 2015/03/12 by jd

Who could have predicted that price of ‘Western Democracy’ was anti-democratic neo-liberalism?
/snark

‘In other Ukraine news, the International Monetary Fund has agreed to extend a $17.5 billion loan package to Kiev in a bid to help prevent economic collapse. The credit will be provided in return for deep structural reforms and cuts to government spending.’
via Ukraine Accepts Deep Cuts, Reforms in $17.5 Billion IMF Loan Deal | Democracy Now!.

The U.S. threatens Venezuela

Posted on 2015/03/09 - 2015/03/09 by jd

Reminder: Venezuela never actually threatened the the USA.

‘The United States on Monday declared Venezuela a national security threat and ordered sanctions against seven officials in the worst diplomatic dispute with the oil-rich country since socialist President Nicolas Maduro took office in 2013.
President Barack Obama issued and signed the executive order…’
via U.S. declares Venezuela a threat, sanctions top officials | Reuters.

The success of European Capitalist-Feminism

Posted on 2015/03/07 - 2015/03/07 by jd

And notice also that this is being implemented during an economic crises and Capitalism is under no threat of collapse because of this new policy.

Just saying.

‘…Germany on Friday became the latest and perhaps most significant country so far to commit itself to improving the representation of women on corporate boards, passing a law that requires some of Europe’s biggest companies to give 30 percent of supervisory seats to women beginning next year.

[….] In passing the measure, Germany joined a trend in Europe to legislate a much greater role for women in boardrooms. Norway, Spain and France have set their boardroom quotas for women at 40 percent. Belgium, Iceland, Italy and the Netherlands have also set quotas.

[….] Under the new measure, some 100 of Germany’s best-known companies must give 30 percent of their supervisory board seats to women starting next year. A further 3,500 companies have a deadline of Sept. 30 to submit plans to increase the share of women in top positions…’

via German Law Requires More Women on Corporate Boards – NYTimes.com.

130 years ago Europe carved up Africa

Posted on 2015/03/01 - 2015/03/01 by jd

imperialism

‘…The Berlin Conference led to a period of heightened colonial activity by the European powers. With the exception of Ethiopia and Liberia, all the states that make up present day Africa were parceled out among the colonial powers within a few years after the meeting. Lines of longitude and latitude, rivers and mountain ranges were pressed into service as borders separating the colonies. Or one simply placed a ruler on the map and drew a straight line.
[….] In 2010 – on the 125th anniversary of the Berlin Conference, representatives from many African states in Berlin called for reparations for the colonial era. The arbitrary division of the continent among European powers, which ignored African laws, culture, sovereignty and institutions, was a crime against humanity, they said in a statement. They called for the funding of monuments at historic sites, the return of land and other resources which had been stolen, the restitution of cultural treasures and recognition that colonialism and the crimes committed under it were crimes against humanity.
But nothing has come of all this…’
via 130 years ago: carving up Africa in Berlin | Africa | DW.DE | 25.02.2015.

Hungary’s ‘Buda-Cash’ Brokerage Crisis: Who what Hungary’s Edward Snowden?

Posted on 2015/03/01 by jd

Böröcz, József writes
‘…the regulator–which now says the scheme may have been going on for more than a decade (!)–“fell asleep at the wheel,” [….] the case broke because somebody from the brokerage reported the irregularities to the National Bank–i.e., s/he made it impossible for the regulator “not to notice” them…’

via Global Social Change (book blog): Hungary's Brokerage Crisis: How Far Will It Reach?.

Another TTIP leak

Posted on 2015/02/26 - 2015/02/26 by jd

Notice that, again, the only way the public can know about the truth of these ‘free-trade’ deals is from leakers — from criminal good samaritans that expose secret government negotiations. Manning, Assange, Snowden, who ever did this, etc – we all owe them an apology and a hero’s status in any real democracy.

The European Commission has also previously said TTIP would not affect how NHS services are provided, whether in Scotland or the rest of the UK. But the trade union Unite said “real risks” remained because of the dispute resolution mechanism TTIP is expected to include. The union’s Scottish regional secretary, Pat Rafferty said: “Last week Lord Livingston tried to pull the wool over the eyes of the Scottish people. “Now this leaked document has confirmed Unite’s expert legal advice, that NHS services in Scotland and the rest of the UK do fall within the scope of the TTIP. “This means that American investors in NHS services that are privatised now or in the future will be able to use TTIP to sue the government if it tries to bring them back into public hands”.
via BBC News – TTIP: Transatlantic trade deal text leaked to BBC.

Yes, Syriza did sell out – for up to 4 months

Posted on 2015/02/24 - 2015/02/24 by jd

‘Eurozone finance ministers agreed to consider extending financial assistance to Greece, which is formally known as the Master Financial Assistance Facility Agreement, for up to 4 months….’
via Eurogroup Summery Statement 20/02/2015

and read…

‘…The Greek authorities reiterate their unequivocal commitment to honour their financial obligations to all their creditors fully and timely.
The Greek authorities have also committed to ensure the appropriate primary fiscal surpluses or financing proceeds required to guarantee debt sustainability in line with the November 2012 Eurogroup statement. The institutions will, for the 2015 primary surplus target, take the economic circumstances in 2015 into account.

In light of these commitments, we welcome that in a number of areas the Greek policy priorities can contribute to a strengthening and better implementation of the current arrangement. The Greek authorities commit to refrain from any rollback of measures and unilateral changes to the policies and structural reforms that would negatively impact fiscal targets, economic recovery or financial stability, as assessed by the institutions….’
via Eurogroup statement on Greece – Consilium.

The Syriza backdown

Posted on 2015/02/23 by jd

The always informative euro|topics website offers a synopsis (greek word!) from four different european newspaper of the Syriza back down in the face of the German economic strangulation of Greece…

‘The left-wing Syriza alliance and the right-wing populist Independent Greeks party have forged a coalition in record time. What these unequal partners have in common is their rejection of austerity. Can Prime Minister Tsipras convince the EU to ease the pressure on Greece?…’

via Athens rebels against austerity dictates
— EuroTopics.