Damning Report Shreds Another War Monger
by Felicity Arbuthnot / September 18th, 2016
Former UK Prime Minister David Cameron is consistent in just one thing – jumping ship when the going gets tough. He announced his resignation in the immediate wake of the 23rd July referendum in which Britain marginally voted to leave the EU, a referendum which he had fecklessly called to appease right wing “little Englanders”, instead of facing them down.
He lost. The result is looming financial catastrophe and the prospect of unraveling forty-three years of legislations (Britain joined the then European Economic Community on 1st January 1973.) No structure was put in place for a government department to address the …
by Binoy Kampmark / September 18th, 2016
Island mentalities do not travel well. When their sellers hawk the agenda before world forums, these start looking ludicrous. Coming close to this ludicrous display is Australian prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, who has done what other Australian prime ministers have in previous years: sell the great discovery, the great hit of life on how best to protect borders in the face of threats.
No greater hits in the Australian record of cruelty and mania come close than the approach of outsourcing refugee obligations and the conjectures of global terrorism. The former stance assumes that refugees are disposable on arrival, repellent jumpers …
Open Letter to My Progressive Pal Who Votes for the Lesser-of-Two-Evils
by Roger D. Harris / September 17th, 2016
I asked you who is the lesser evil when even the Washington Post posits Hillary Clinton to the “political right” of Trump on international issues?
And you responded: “So I guess I should vote for Trump?”
Gimme Shelter: Fleeing Trump to the Democrat’s Big Tent
You are right that there are differences between the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates. No one recognizes that better than the ruling elites who are tripping over each other to join the Clinton bandwagon.
Mainstream Republicans, such as Romney and the Bush bunch, are gravitating in droves to the better Republican who happens to be a nominal Democrat. …
by John R. Hall / September 17th, 2016
They say that home is where the heart is. If this is so, my heart must be of the restless variety, for I’ve changed the location of home some forty plus times during my adult life. Apparently I’m not finished yet.
It’s September, and Mohave Desert heat is still intense here in Laughlin, Nevada. But lately, in the glow of predawn, I detect the faint howl of the north wind. Much like Vianne Rocher, the enigmatic chocolatier in the 2000 movie Chocolat, I’m feeling the irresistible urge to move on once more. Like Vianne, I’m an athiest, a free spirit, and …
by Ellen Brown / September 17th, 2016
Several central banks, including the Bank of England, the People’s Bank of China, the Bank of Canada and the Federal Reserve, are exploring the concept of issuing their own digital currencies, using the blockchain technology developed for Bitcoin. Skeptical commentators suspect that their primary goal is to eliminate cash, setting us up for negative interest rates (we pay the bank to hold our deposits rather than the reverse).
But Ben Broadbent, Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, puts a more positive spin on it. He says Central Bank Digital Currencies could supplant the money now created by private banks …
by Yves Engler / September 17th, 2016
A Metro should never be wrapped in car ads.
On Monday the whole front of Montréal’s Metro paper promoted Kia. All of page two and the back of a paper targeted at the city’s transit riders also promoted an unhealthy, lethal, inefficient and utterly unsustainable mode of transportation.
Incredibly, public transit systems regularly glorify the private automobile. Car ads are not uncommon on buses or in metros. During a trip to Philadelphia a few years ago, the great hall at the city’s beautiful old train station was covered with a 50 ft x 30 ft car ad. It seemed more than a …
by subMedia / September 16th, 2016
In a world ruled by ceaseless capitalist competition, where people are pitted to work against each other, anarchists offer a different vision: Mutual Aid.
by Binoy Kampmark / September 15th, 2016
Australian values and way of life are also at risk from insidious institutions such as the unelected swill that is the United Nations.
— Senator Roberts, One Nation Party, September 14, 2016.
It all begins with a promise. A promise, less for a better future than a reclaimed past. Reclamation of the familiar, in fact, being the fundamental idea. “As a servant to the people of Queensland and Australia, I’m here to discuss with the chamber and the Australian people how we will rebuild our great nation.” These words from the inaugural speech of One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts set the trend in …
Jacques Pauwels: The Great Class War 1914 - 1918
by T.P. Wilkinson / September 15th, 2016
In 2014 I reviewed what was promoted as a significant revision in the interpretation of what in Britain and continental Europe is called “The Great War” and since 1945 has been popularly called the “First World War”. The revisionary aspect was the author’s contention — expressed in his title The Sleepwalkers — that the cause of the great slaughter between 1914 and 1918 was far less the intentions of the belligerents than their general incapacity to grasp the full consequences of their actions. The argument is …
by Andre Vltchek / September 15th, 2016
Yesterday I watched Ms. Clinton on the television screen, stumbling towards her van, after attending a ceremony at the WTC in New York City. She had to be grabbed by both arms by her aids, and then literally pulled into the vehicle.
Embarrassing? Not really. People get exhausted; they get sick and sometimes they can even hardly remain standing on their feet. When they stumble, when they fall, their close ones should offer them support and help, immediately.
Several days earlier I met my German translator in Heidelberg, and he showed me an introduction to a book he was working on, a …
by Denis Rancourt / September 15th, 2016
Primordial religions have always been about avoiding the calamities of climate: drought, fire, disease, war… But religion has also always been more that an individual alleviation of insecurity and guilt. It has been a stabilizing force of society’s dominance hierarchies.
Monarchs have always had symbiotic relations with organized religion, and that is no accident. Rulers gain perceived legitimacy, while the church-maintenance class gains high relative social status and privilege. In recent history, one might even argue that the downfall of the USSR was facilitated by a suppressed church.
Clearly, if a system can combine individual-identity-creating beliefs with the impression that the state …
Saying No to Corporations
by Kim Petersen / September 15th, 2016
We should be able to say ‘no.’ And our ‘no’ should be heard.
— Joe Pierre of the Ktunaxa Nation speaking regarding any development in Qat’muk, Ktunaxa territory
Bullfrog Films has just released Jumbo Wild: “a gripping, hour-long documentary that tells the true story of the decades-long battle” over Qat’muk (as it is called by the Ktunaxa people), aka Jumbo Valley. Qat’muk lies in a rugged wilderness valley among the Purcell Mountains near the headwaters of the N’ch-iwana (Columbia River) and is the home of the Grizzly Bear Spirit. It is located in a province colonially designated “British Columbia”; the nearest …
by Tony Kashani / September 14th, 2016
People know what they do; frequently they know why they do what they do; but what they don’t know is what what they do does.
― Michel Foucault, Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason
After Colin Kaepernick’s courageous national anthem protest caught the attention of the controversy-seeking corporate sports media, an exciting phenomenon has quickly emerged. Sports media is going through a transformation. The pundits and athletes, mostly African Americans, for now, are discussing police brutality against minorities, militarism, and other socio-political issues. They are talking about inequality in America, need for compassion, and calling for …
Interview with China Rising author Jeff Brown
by Kim Petersen / September 14th, 2016
Punto Press, a small press dedicated to progressive titles, has published China Rising: Capitalist Roads, Socialist Destinations by Jeff J. Brown. The book is an effort to educate fellow Westerners about the realities of China and demolish the multiple layers of western disinformation and propaganda that demonize this nation with a 5000-year history.
Brown has gravitas to write such a book. First, he is fluent in Mandarin (as well as learning Portuguese, Arabic, and French). Second, he has lived 13 years in China, currently in Shenzhen. …
by William Hawes / September 14th, 2016
The more powerful the class, the more it claims not to exist.
— Guy Debord, The Society of the Spectacle
It’s almost time for our quadrennial political distraction, masquerading as the US presidential election. As opposed to previous elections, this one feels quite different. Even with Obama/Romney in 2012, important, basic economic issues were discussed, health care reform was questioned, and foreign policy was given its due.
However, this time, the spectacle of the personalities seems to dominate the conversation: Mrs. Clinton is somehow on a feminist crusade, an inspiration for women everywhere. Going unmentioned are her irredeemable backers, such as the genocidal …
by Binoy Kampmark / September 14th, 2016
I do not like the Americans. It’s simply a matter of principle for me.
— Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, September 12, 2016
The frictions excited by the antics of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte have caused even greater heat over the last few days, with calls for the departure of US special forces operating in Mindanao. Having already made it clear to Washington that he intends pursuing “an independent foreign policy,” he has now insisted that the general root of ills in instability lie in the troublesome, headache-causing alliance with the United States.
A continuing problem of that alliance remained US forces in Zamboanga …
by Media Lens / September 13th, 2016
The ‘mainstream’ Western media is, almost by definition, the last place to consult for honest reporting of Western crimes. Consider the appalling case of Yemen which is consumed by war and an ongoing humanitarian catastrophe.
Since March 2015, a ‘coalition’ of Sunni Arab states led by Saudi Arabia, and supported by the US, Britain and France, has been dropping bombs on neighbouring Yemen. The scale of the bombing is indicated in a recent article by Felicity Arbuthnot – in one year, 330,000 homes, 648 mosques, 630 schools and institutes, …
by Yves Engler / September 13th, 2016
Canadian officials have long done as they pleased in Africa, loudly proclaimed this country’s altruism and only faced push back from hard rightists who bemoan sending troops to the “Dark Continent” or “dens of hell”.
With many Canadians normally opposed to war supporting anything called “peacekeeping”, unless troops deployed with an African UN mission are caught using the N-word and torturing a teenager to death (the 1993 Somalia mission) they will be portrayed as an expression of this country’s benevolence. So, what should those of us who want Canada to be a force for good in the world …
by Ramzy Baroud / September 13th, 2016
Thousands of Native Americans resurrected the fighting spirit of their forefathers as they stood in unprecedented unity to contest an oil company’s desecration of their sacred land in North Dakota. Considering its burdened historical context, this has been one of the most moving events in recent memory.
The standoff, involving 5,000-strong Native American protesters, including representatives of 200 tribes and environmental groups, has been largely reduced in news reports as being a matter of technical detail – concerning issues of permits and legal proceedings.
At best, both the tribes and the oil company are treated as if they are equal parties …
by Jonathan Cook / September 13th, 2016
Is Israel on the verge of civil war, as a growing number of Israeli commentators suggest, with its Jewish population deeply riven over the future of the occupation?
On one side is a new peace movement, Decision at 50, stuffed with former political and security leaders. Ehud Barak, a previous prime minister who appears to be seeking a political comeback, may yet emerge as its figurehead.
The group has demanded the government hold a referendum next year – the half-centenary of Israel’s occupation, which began in 1967 – on whether it is time to leave the territories. Its own polling shows a …
