Pages: << 1 ... 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 ... 1276 >>
The Pernicious Myth of Perpetual Economic Growth Nothing grows forever. The myth the economy can is destroying the biosphere.
Dr. Glen Barry
Economic growth is destroying the biosphere The present human condition is predicated on one of the biggest lies ever – that the economy can grow indefinitely. In a self-serving logical contortion, economists in service to the oligarchy measure the well-being of a society by how fast the economy grows, with little regard to the state of natural capital, human inequity, the welfare of ecosystems and other species, or the extent to which people and society are happy. Natural capital is defined as Earth’s stocks of natural assets including ecosystem services which make all life possible, which is unmeasured and thus undervalued by indices of economic growth. Measures such as Gross Domestic Product utterly fail to tie increases in economic output to human and natural well-being. Spending on militaristic drone attacks and the rich’s conspicuous over-consumption are equated with social expenditures to meet basic human needs.
Clearcutting old-growth forests for toilet paper is of equal worth as providing homes and food for the poor. Ravaging Earth’s last natural ecosystems for every last drop of oil is deemed economically beneficial (despite being terribly inefficient as externalities remain unpriced), while we are told restoring natural ecosystems is unprofitable because of large discounting of future benefits.
How Obama Aims to Conquer Crimea
Eric Zuesse
When U.S. President Barack Obama perpetrated his coup d’etat in Ukraine in February 2014, and even had his agent Victoria Nuland select the person who was to rule Ukraine after the coup, it was with the expectation that the new government would renegotiate, and soon end, the Russian lease of the naval base at Sebastopol in Crimea, which wasn’t due to expire until 2042. (Up until 1954, that base had been in Russian territory because Crimea was part of Russia; but, after the Soviet dictator Khrushchev in 1954 arbitrarily transferred Crimea to Ukraine, and then the Soviet Union itself broke up in 1991, Russia was keeping its navy there by paying a lease on it from Ukraine.)
Nordic Vassal States Pledge Support for America’s Imperial Project
Stephen Lendman
Leaders from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden arrived in Washington to kiss Obama’s ring.
In a joint statement with their host, they recited the deplorable script handed them, pledging support for US-dominated NATO’s killing machine, its endless wars of aggression, its provocations against Russia and China risking direct confrontation.
They stressed the importance of upholding international law, breaching it in partnership with America. They condemned nonexistent Russian “aggression” and attempts to destabilize Ukraine - ignoring Moscow’s leading peacemaking role.
They shamelessly called Crimeans’ self-determination right to rejoin Russia an “illegal occupation and attempted annexation.”They reaffirmed support for Ukraine’s US-installed, Nazi-infested putschist regime. They back maintaining illegal sanctions on Russia, blaming it irresponsibly for US/Ukrainian efforts to undermine Minsk conflict resolution principles.
Reactions to Brazil’s Coup
Stephen Lendman
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, himself threatened by Washington wanting him ousted, denounced what he called a “made in the USA” coup, part of Obama’s deplorable legacy. He withdrew his ambassador in protest.
In Havana on Cuban state television, a newscaster read the following statement:
“The revolutionary government of the Republic of Cuba has denounced the judicial-parliamentary coup d’etat, disguised with legality that has been underway for months in Brazil.”
Sanders’ W. VA Win Slows Clinton’s Near-Certain Nomination
Stephen Lendman
Sanders’ Tuesday win more reflects anti-Clinton hostility in one of America’s poorest states than support for him.
Polls show most voters hold negative views about both candidates expected to win their party nominations in July, as well as disdain for America’s political system, ignoring their interests and welfare entirely.
In November, voting Republican or Democrat comes down to choosing the perceived lesser of two evils.No meaningful choice for change exists. Widely despised continuity has no opposition. Sanders persists in enjoying his prolonged 15 minutes of fame going nowhere.
Trump is the presumptive GOP nominee, Clinton virtually certain to be the Democrat standard bearer.
Pressure Continues on 28 Pages; Obama Blamed for FBI Attack on Sen. Graham
Executive Intelligence Review
May 9, 2016 (EIRNS)--Rep. Brad Sherman, a senior ranking Democrat from California, gave a hard-hitting interview to {The Hill} newspaper, published today, May 9. Sherman accuses the Obama administration of using the FBI to try to ``strong-arm'' former US Sen. Bob Graham (D-FL) by detaining and interrogating him and his daughter, Gwen Graham -- a member of Congress -- and delivering the message to stop trying to declassify the documents, says {HIll} reporter Molly K. Hooper, in a video that has Sherman speaking live in the interview.
In the video, Sherman says the FBI ``took a former senator, a former governor, grabbed him in an airport, hustled him into a room with armed force to try to intimidate him into taking different positions on issues of public policy and important national policy, and the fact that he wasn't intimidated because he was calm doesn't show that they weren't trying to intimidate him.'' http://thehill.com/video/in-the-news/279214-dem-fbi-strong-armed-former-senator-on-9-11-pages
Sherman also says that he didn't know about this until Rep. Gwen Graham talked to him about it on the House floor. On May 3, Sherman issued a press release demanding that the 28 pages be released. Reporter Hooper also says that legislation [JASTA] in Congress would remove the Saudi's sovereign immunity.
“Print the Money”: Trump’s “Reckless” Proposal Echoes Franklin and Lincoln
Ellen Brown
Print the money” has been called crazy talk, but it may be the only sane solution to a $19 trillion federal debt that has doubled in the last 10 years. The solution of Abraham Lincoln and the American colonists can still work today.
“Reckless,” “alarming,” “disastrous,” “swashbuckling,” “playing with fire,” “crazy talk,” “lost in a forest of nonsense”: these are a few of the labels applied by media commentators to Donald Trump’s latest proposal for dealing with the federal debt. On Monday, May 9th, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate said on CNN, “You print the money.”
The remark was in response to a firestorm created the previous week, when Trump was asked if the US should pay its debt in full or possibly negotiate partial repayment. He replied, “I would borrow, knowing that if the economy crashed, you could make a deal.” Commentators took this to mean a default. On May 9, Trump countered that he was misquoted:
People said I want to go and buy debt and default on debt – these people are crazy. This is the United States government. First of all, you never have to default because you print the money, I hate to tell you, okay? So there’s never a default
.That remark wasn’t exactly crazy. It echoed one by former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who said in 2011:
HumanRights] Trains and madness
Mazin Qumsiyeh
12-year old Dima Al-Wawi was just released
When we watch the way the world currently works, we can get extremely depressed. Just the last few days we saw Israelis in their thousands celebrate the release of a murdering occupation soldier who was videotaped executing a wounded Palestinian.. While 12-year old Dima Al-Wawi was just released from 3 months of Israeli gulags, hundreds of Palestinian children are still imprisoned unjustly by an occupation that has gone on far too long. We noted the vote rigging and rigged “election process” that will ensure Americans have a choice between apartheid-supporting,war-mongering and corporate-backed liar (Hillary Clinton) and an apartheid-supporting, war-mongering, women-bashing, racist cheater (Donald Trump). Both of those very wealthy individuals would tighten the noose on Americans and Palestinians as they lick the boots of the Israel lobby.
Why Sanders Continues Campaigning
Eric Zuesse
There are two realistic scenarios for Bernie Sanders to win the U.S. Presidency.
One depends upon his receiving the Democratic Party’s nomination. The other doesn’t, but both are realistic.
HE STILL MIGHT WIN THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION
He still can win the Democratic Party’s nomination, under not just one but two possible scenarios:
(1): Clinton could be indicted for her having privatized her State Department emails.
Turkey Launches US-Approved Border Aggression on Syria
Stephen Lendman
On the phony pretext of combating ISIS Ankara actively supports, Turkish forces aggressively crossed into northern Syrian territory over the weekend.
Russia has evidence of their illegal operations. Sergey Lavrov called it Erdogan’s “creeping expansion.”
Interviewed on Russia’s REN TV on Sunday, he said “(a)ccording to our information, they are digging in a few hundred meters from the border inside Syria,” operating illegally, positioning heavy weapons.“While demanding that Kurdish positions are not reinforced in Syria, Turkey has started to declare it has a sovereign right to create safety zones on Syrian territory” - with full US-led NATO support and encouragement.
Earlier reports showed Erdogan wants control over border areas inside Syria nearly 100 km long and eight km deep, a flagrant violation of its sovereignty.
<< 1 ... 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 ... 1276 >>
