commondreams

Webバージョン  |  アップデート設定  |  登録解除 いいね ツイート 転送 http://endofsecrets.blogspot.com Dust-Covered Dreams in Iraq Shattered by War Posted by jon on 12 November, 2012 Cathy Breen NAJAF, Iraq—I returned from Baghdad last night. Over coffee this morning, I filled the father of my host family in on my trip. I told him it was wonderful to see everyone, but I only heard sad stories. Blast walls that continue to isolate neighborhoods in Baghdad are a constant reminder of the devastated conditions left behind following the US invasion and subsequent occupation. (Photo: vcnv.org) read more The Israeli Documentary Putting Military Rule in Palestine on Trial Posted by jon on 12 November, 2012 Rachel Shabi The Law In These Parts, an Israeli documentary awarded this year's Sundance World Cinema Grand Jury prize, examines how the country created a military-legal system to control the Palestinians in the lands Israel occupied in 1967. And at some point during the film, it becomes clear that it's the judges who are on trial. read more Why Occupy's Plan to Cancel Consumer Debts is Money Well Spent Posted by jon on 12 November, 2012 Charles Eisenstein A new initiative is re-energising the Occupy movement. Called the Rolling Jubilee, it is a plan to use money from donations to buy distressed consumer debt from lenders at a marked down price, just as debt collection agencies normally would. But instead of hounding debtors for payments, it will simply cancel the debts. read more Occupy Wall Street Activists Buy Up Debt to Abolish It Posted by jon on 12 November, 2012 Allison Kilkenny Strike Debt, a movement formed by a coalition of Occupy Wall Street groups looking to build a popular resistance to debt, plans to hold a telethon and variety show November 15 in support of the Rolling Jubilee, a system to buy debt for pennies on the dollar, and abolish it. The telethon, which has already sold out, will feature artists including Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel, Lee Renaldo of Sonic Youth, Guy Picciotto of Fugazi, Tunde Adebimpe of TV on the Radio, plus other surprise guests. read more Washington’s Fiscal Cliff Notes Posted by jon on 12 November, 2012 Mattea Kramer Chris Hellman They don’t call it the "cliff” for nothing.  It’s the fiscal spot where a nation’s representatives can gather and cry doom.  It’s the place -- if Washington is to be believed -- where, with a single leap into the Abyss of Sequestration, those representatives can end it all for the rest of us.  read more Once Again—Death of the Liberal Class Posted by jon on 12 November, 2012 Chris Hedges The presidential election exposed the liberal class as a corpse. It fights for nothing. It stands for nothing. It is a useless appendage to the corporate state. It exists not to make possible incremental or piecemeal reform, as it originally did in a functional capitalist democracy; instead it has devolved into an instrument of personal vanity, burnishing the hollow morality of its adherents. read more Don't Drive Off the Fiscal Cliff Posted by jon on 12 November, 2012 Heidi Garrett-Peltier The U.S. economy is set to go off the so-called “fiscal cliff” at midnight on December 31, 2012. That’s when various tax cuts for people at most income levels will expire. Days later, the federal budget will automatically be cut as the result of an agreement made by both parties last summer, when Congress was in a standoff over the debt ceiling. The deal reached by President Obama and leaders of Congress, called the Budget Control Act of 2011, enabled the federal government to raise its debt ceiling (permitting it to pays its bills) while in turn reducing future budgets. read more The Grand Bargain is a Grand Lie Posted by jon on 12 November, 2012 Cenk Uygur First of all, let's establish that no one in Washington actually cares about balancing the budget. If they did, they would love this so-called Fiscal Cliff. It raises taxes and cuts spending, so it would massively reduce the deficit. Isn't that what all of Washington has been pretending to care about all of this time?(Image: istockphoto.com/Financial Times) read more A Petraeus Puzzle: Were Politics Involved? Posted by jon on 12 November, 2012 Jane Mayer The director of the C.I.A. has resigned over an extra-marital affair two days after a Presidential election in which the Agency’s role in Libya was of burning concern—what is really going on here?General David Petraeus, now the former director of the C.I.A. was evidently involved with his biographer Paula Broadwell. (AP file) read more On Deficit Hawks and Hypocrites Posted by jon on 12 November, 2012 Paul Krugman Back in 2010, self-styled deficit hawks — better described as deficit scolds — took over much of our political discourse. At a time of mass unemployment and record-low borrowing costs, a time when economic theory said we needed more, not less, deficit spending, the scolds convinced most of our political class that deficits rather than jobs should be our top economic priority. read more 登録変更 | 登録解除

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