Things to consider—

Since early 2011, Obama's been waging proxy war on Syria. Imported death squads masquerade as freedom fighters. The scheme's familiar. It repeats. It reflects US imperialism's dark side. In the 1980s, CIA-recruited mujahideen fighters battled Afghanistan's Soviet occupiers. Ronald Reagan called them "the moral equivalent of our founding fathers." He characterized Contra killers the same way. —Stephen LendmanFor over a century now US ambassadors have acted as fifth columns in the nations they are embedded in, their role chiefly to foster corporate and plutocratic power and coordinate machinations against any truly pro-democratic government.•••••"The dead end identity politics of SF Pride, which sells out a peace hero like Bradley Manning to curry favor with the American ruling class, is what I had in mind. The empire loves your tameness, irrelevance and cowardice, SF Pride. You don’t bother the American ruling class — a five foot two, 105 pound soldier does because he has a conscience and because he didn’t make comfort the guiding principle of his life...." —Randy Shields
Apr 112011
 

Far from being dead, socialism is as relevant as it’s ever been – its task being to resist the fascism, mayhem and savagery resulting from the inevitable crises of the inherently unstable and self-destructive system of global capitalism.

By Terry Eagleton

Eagleton

The soothsayer seeks to predict the future in order to control it. He peers into the entrails of a social system so as to decipher the omens, which will assure its rulers that their profits are safe and the system will endure. These days, he is generally an economist or a business executive. The prophet, by contrast, has no interest in foretelling the future, other than to warn that unless people change their ways there’s unlikely to be one. His concern is to rebuke the injustice of the present, not dream of some future perfection; but since you can’t identify injustice without some notion of justice, a kind of future is implicit in the denunciation. Continue reading »

Did you like this? Share it:
 Posted by at 10:15 pm
Apr 112011
 

Lack of empathy is another way of saying that selfishness is the cardinal sin. Capitalism, not accidentally, is built on it.

From casual violence to genocide, acts of cruelty can be traced back to how the perpetrator identifies with other people, argues psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen. Is he right?

By Clint Witchalls | Tuesday, 5 April 2011 |

Independent.co.uk

Lucy Adeniji

Lucy Adeniji – an evangelical Christian and author of two books on childcare – trafficked two girls and a 21-year-old woman from Nigeria to work as slaves in her east London home. She made them toil for 21 hours a day and tortured them if they displeased her. The youngest girl was 11 years old.   Sentencing her to 11-and-a-half years in prison last month, Judge Simon Oliver said: “You are an evil woman. I have no doubt you have ruined these two girls’ lives. They will suffer from the consequences of the behaviour you meted out to them for the rest of their lives.” Continue reading »

Did you like this? Share it:
 Posted by at 9:38 pm
Apr 112011
 

By Charles M. Young | Created 04/10/2011 – 19:59

Donald Trump, snarling. This comes natural to the Donald.

In the past few months, Obama has had time to play golf. He’s had time to fill out his NCAA basketball playoff bracket. He’s had time to go to Chile, a country prone to terrible earthquakes, and sell them new nuclear reactors. He’s had time to go to Florida and tell Jeb Bush what a great job he did on education. He’s had time to be a “bridge” between John Boehner and Harry Reid.

Obama did not have time to go to Wisconsin.

That would be the same Wisconsin whose unions donated money and turned out for him at mass rallies so that Obama could collect Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes in 2008. Continue reading »

Did you like this? Share it:
 Posted by at 9:23 pm
Apr 112011
 

By David Edwards |  April 10, 2011 @ 11:45 am
In Breaking Banner,  Nation |

It may just be wishful thinking.

Enemy of the People Eric Cantor (R). There's no act too foul he will not endorse.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) claimed Sunday that he didn’t expect Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare to be around when he retires.  ”What we [House Republicans] have said is this: We’ll protect today’s seniors and those nearing retirement, but for the rest of us, all of us, who are 54 and younger, I know the programs are not going to be there for me when I retire,” Cantor told Fox News’ Chris Wallace. Continue reading »

Did you like this? Share it:
 Posted by at 9:10 pm
Apr 112011
 

By Shamus Cooke  |  April 11, 2011

The recent shakeup in Wisconsin is likely a preliminary tremor that predicts a larger earthquake. And like all natural disasters, the events in Wisconsin jolted people awake to grapple with their changed circumstances. Labor unions suddenly realized   that their fate was hanging in the balance.  After years of shrinking union power, Republicans seized the opportunity and planned a nationally coordinated attack, aiming at the very heart of labor unions: collective bargaining. Continue reading »

Did you like this? Share it:
 Posted by at 8:34 pm
Apr 112011
 

Boehner: Band leader for the shameless enablers of the plutocracy.

A government shutdown threat at the federal level. Escalating budget cutbacks — at all levels. For average Americans, these ongoing assaults on government programs and services mean added daily aggravation. For America’s wealthiest, by contrast, these assaults mean—next to nothing.

 

Continue reading »

Did you like this? Share it:
 Posted by at 6:15 pm