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Corporations gone wild (as Jefferson warned us)
Mary Shaw
Today we live in historic times, and I don't mean that in a good way.
First of all, we are suffering the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. And why? Because the financial industry was permitted to run amok.
Under the relaxed regulations of the Reagan and Clinton administrations, the banks did not prove themselves trustworthy to do the right thing for the economy and for the customers they served. They only cared about profits. Alan Greenspan himself admitted that he had "put too much faith in the self-correcting power of free markets and had failed to anticipate the self-destructive power of wanton [i.e., unregulated] mortgage lending."
Nevertheless, the wealthy ruling class of Wall Street, largely unpunished, is doing just fine with its multi-million-dollar bonuses. But middle-class and working-class Americans continue to suffer through home foreclosures and long-term unemployment. And small businesses can't get loans to stay afloat.
Who's The Boss?
Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich
Katie Couric's interview on CBS News on July 7 leaves little doubt that she considers Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's Prime Minister as the boss and that President Obama is irrelevant. Couric, descendant of Jewish immigrants from Germany, anchor and chief managing editor of CBS news, makes it clear that it is more important for Netanyahu to "trust" Obama and his decisions than for the the American people to trust the judgment of their elected Commander-In-Chief. What are the implications of CBS's message?
Couric, eager to learn if Netanyahu was somehow "disappointed with Obama", asked if Netanyahu would advocate on Obama's behalf and make the American president popular among the Israelis. Clearly, Couric believes that Obama's popularity among Israelis takes precedent over the continuing violation of international laws, the assault on a NATO member by Israel, and the demeaning attitude towards President Obama's selected officials including his Vice President -- Joe Biden. Couric, the managing editor of an American news channel appears to place the opinion of Israelis above the Americans.
Talking with Joshua Frank on the U.S., Israel and Middle East
Kourosh Ziabari
Joshua Frank is an American progressive journalist and noted anti-war columnist. His articles and commentaries have appeared on CounterPunch, Z Magazine, AntiWar.com, Truthout and Alternet. He is author of "Left Out! How Liberals Helped Reelect George W. Bush" and co-editor with Jeffrey St. Clair of Red State Rebels: Tales of Grassroots Resistance in the Heartland.
Joshua took part in an interview with me to discuss the latest developments in the Middle East region, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the prospect of Israel-U.S. relations, the recent controversy over the Freedom Flotilla attack and the media propaganda against Iran. Here is the complete text of our interview.
Let Them Eat the "Higher Pie"
by Len Hart, The Existentialist Cowboy, Doug Drenkow, Communications Specialist
The U.S. right wing consistently mistakes bigger slices of a smaller pies for growth! In fact, wealth is the product of labor. Therefore, real growth creates larger pies, larger slices. Real growth is, by definition, egalitarian or not at all! America's ruling elite amounts to just one percent of the total population and they own more than the rest of us combined. When I am charitable, I suspect that their perspective is myopic in the extreme. More realistically, I suspect that they just don't care.
Since 1900 the U.S. has 'experimented' with 'robber baron economics', 'supply-side economics', 'trickle down theory' and assorted 'stimuli' that also put the fat cats and so-called 'investor' class at the top of the pecking order with often tragic results --the Panic of the late 1800s, Hoover's Great Depression, Ike's 'Recession', Reagan's 'Tent City' Depression of over 2 years! Anyone not seeing the pattern is just not paying attention.
India's "Hearts of Darkness"
by Stephen Lendman
An earlier article about the National Labor Committee's (NLC) work explained what's repeated below, relevant to this article.
NLC puts "a human face on the global economy," saying in its mission statement that:
"Transnational corporations (TNCs) now roam the world to find the cheapest and most vulnerable workers." They're mostly young women in poor countries like China, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Haiti, and many others working up to 14 or more hours a day for sub-poverty wages under horrific conditions.
The BP Gulf Oil Gusher Represents: An Historic Failure of Government And Industry, A Tragic Violation Of The Public Trust And Social Contract
Oil Spill Solution
For all of us who live on and near the Gulf Coast of Mexico, we exist in a state that alternates between exasperation and incredulity, between anger and grief, between shock and awe at what this oil spill has come to represent. Where do we start? How do we begin to express our collective disillusionment with so many instances of betrayal and letdown? As well as the relentless falling short of what used to be considered reasonable expectations of government and corporate social responsibility.
Is it unreasonable to expect our governments – federal, state, county – to ensure that industry (Oil & Gas in this case) complies with the laws of our land. Should we be concerned that basic regulatory oversight, put into place to protect people, property and environment, were completely ignored, suspended and not enforced? Do we accept that such disasters occur through a highly unlikely series of human errors, bureaucratic mistakes, equipment malfunctions and technological breakdowns? How can everything go wrong, at the worst possible time, in the perfectly wrong place, unless … … …
KAGAN HEARINGS A FARCE
Allen L Roland
The Kagan hearings are a farce and everyone, including Elena Kagan herself, knows it. It's Kabuki theater at its best ~ an elaborate stylized judicial dance-drama that fools no one except the American public who long ago settled for less than substance in their leaders.
Elena Kagan is Obama's Harriet Miers, with an Ivy league education, but no judicial experience or judicial philosophy for that matter. It was Kagan who once wrote in a 1995 book review "When the Senate ceases to engage nominees in meaningful discussion of legal issues, the confirmation process takes on an air of vacuity and farce, and the Senate becomes incapable of either properly evaluating nominees or appropriately educating the public." But here are some meaningful legal issues that were never asked at her confirmation hearings ~
Holy mackerel! Christians must love and defend Israelis, preaches church mission
Stuart Littlewood
Ever heard of the CMJ (the Church's Ministry among Jewish People)?
Neither had I until I saw a parish magazine recently announcing a talk by the CMJ's Director of Advocacy to a local Church of England study group about "God's purpose for the Jewish people and Great Britain's involvement in the formation of modern Israel".
Apparently the CMJ has a proud 200-year history and is a worldwide ministry sharing with Jewish people its belief that not only is Jesus the Saviour of the world, He is the Jewish Messiah. CMJ is "propelled by devotion to God and the fulfillment of His promises to His people Israel", and it feels a need to provide in-depth teaching on the Jewish roots of the Christian faith.
Obama and Netanyahu Plan Conflict, not Resolution
by Stephen Lendman
On July 6, Bibi and Obama met privately for 79 minutes, Atlanta Journal Constitution writer Jay Bookman calling it "empty theatre, actors going through the motions of pretending to pretend, (when, in fact, there's) no willingness or political ability within Israel to withdraw from settlements (or) create a viable Palestinian state, (nor is there) stomach in Washington" to endorse an equitable agreement. "I can't recall a time when I have been more cynical about peace prospects there, and the prettily staged theatrics in Washington" only harden that view.
Not for New York Times writers Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Mark Lander headlining, "US and Israel Shift Attention to Peace Process," saying:
They "articulated a timetable for peace negotiations (reflecting) a palpable shift in the administration's approach to a relationship that has been rife with tension" since Obama took office. In fact, for decades, Israeli-Washington relations have been rock-solid, including under Obama and the current Congress, the powerful Israeli Lobby assuring it stays that way.
The Glory of White-Wing Politics
By Sheila Samples
"Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress...but then, I repeat myself."~~Mark Twain
Much has been written -- argued heatedly by ideological TV pundits -- over the past several years about the inability of members of Congress to agree on anything. Republicans stomp around like elephants in a china closet, shouting "No! No! Hell No!" no matter what legislation comes before them. Democrats, in a timid effort to reach across the aisle, stumble and fall down, where they just sit, plaintively begging, "Please don't hurt me..."
Both parties are adrift; cut loose from their moorings -- in total disarray. Much of the chaos is a result of the previous administration lighting a myriad of fuses before slinking into the shadows, setting off a string of political and financial explosions designed to blow this republic all to hell. What they failed to consider -- and what the bumbling members of Congress have yet to realize is -- when the ship of state sinks, everybody on board is going down with it.
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