the unbalanced evolution of homo sapiens

globinfo freexchange The Guardian has stepped up its contemptible role as one of the main media conduits for the persecution of Julian Assange, publishing unsubstantiated and sensationalist allegations that the WikiLeaks publisher met with American political lobbyist, Paul Manafort. One of the two authors of the Guardian article was, predictably, Luke Harding. Harding has penned a stream of material aimed at undermining support for Assange and WikiLeaks and attempting to justify the efforts of the US government to prosecute him for espionage or conspiracy. Assange aptly described an error-filled 2014 book written by Harding about whistleblower Edward Snowden and WikiLeaks as a “ hack job in the purest sense of the word. ” The allegation that Assange met with Manafort is another desperate effort to implicate WikiLeaks in the lurid claims of the Democratic Party, US intelligence agencies and much of the media that the Russian government “interfered” in the 2016 US president

globinfo freexchange Donald Trump's response to recent General Motors' decision to close plants and slash jobs, proves that he is completely clueless on what's the real reason behind the mass layoffs epidemic in US big businesses and how to deal with it. The media circulated what Trump thinks to do about it, including threats against GM to impose auto tariffs, or, his most beloved action: penalties on foreign cars. Yet, perhaps the most hilarious part in the whole story, is that one of the key frontline tools of the global neoliberal capital immediately published an 'in your face' article to make Trump realize that he is completely powerless too, against the forces of the markets. Here are some interesting parts: ... market forces are tough to beat, even if you’re president. Trump captured the White House thanks in large part to the story he told -- that he could reverse America’s industrial decline. He promised to bring back m

του Γιώργου Μητραλιά Σάββατο, 24 Νοεμβρίου 2018, η λεωφόρος των Ηλυσίων Πεδίων, που τα γαλλικά ΜΜΕ αρέσκονται να χαρακτηρίζουν “ωραιότερη λεωφόρο του κόσμου”, γεμίζει από τα οδοφράγματα χιλιάδων “Κίτρινων Γιλέκων” που διαδηλώνουν με κύριο σύνθημα το “Μακρόν παραιτήσου”. Ισχυρές δυνάμεις των γαλλικών ΜΑΤ (CRS) που φράζουν το δρόμο προς το παρακείμενο προεδρικό Μέγαρο, προσπαθούν να διαλύσουν τους διαδηλωτές με μπαράζ χημικών και με σφαίρες από καουτσούκ. Οι συγκρούσεις κρατάνε τουλάχιστον 8 ώρες. Για πρώτη φορά στη σύγχρονη γαλλική ιστορία, τα άδυτα των αδύτων της γαλλικής μεγαλοαστικής τάξης και του κράτους της, η λεωφόρος των Ηλυσίων Πεδίων που ενώνει την Αψίδα του Θριάμβου με την Πλατεία Ομονοίας, βλέπει να εισβάλει σε αυτήν και να χτυπιέται με τις δυνάμεις καταστολής η πλέμπα των απόκληρων “από κάτω” που προσπαθούν να φτάσουν στο Προεδρικό Μέγαρο!… Για τα ελληνικά ΜΜΕ όλα τα παραπάνω δεν ήταν παρά μια ασήμαντη είδηση τρίτης κατηγορίας με τον εύγλωττο τίτλο…“Επεισόδια

by Chris Hedges / Mr. Fish Neoliberalism as economic theory was always an absurdity. It had as much validity as past ruling ideologies such as the divine right of kings and fascism’s belief in the Übermensch. None of its vaunted promises were even remotely possible. Concentrating wealth in the hands of a global oligarchic elite—eight families now hold as much wealth as 50 percent of the world’s population—while demolishing government controls and regulations always creates massive income inequality and monopoly power, fuels political extremism and destroys democracy. You do not need to slog through the 577 pages of Thomas Piketty’s “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” to figure this out. But economic rationality was never the point. The point was the restoration of class power. As a ruling ideology, neoliberalism was a brilliant success. Starting in the 1970s, its Keynesian mainstream critics were pushed out of academia, state institutions and financial organizations s

From David Harvey's A Brief History of Neoliberalism Part 4 - Neoliberalism's second big experiment after Chile: the financial coup by the banking mafia to take over New York One line of response to the double crisis of capital accumulation and class power arose in the trenches of the urban struggles of the 1970s. The New York City fiscal crisis was an iconic case. Capitalist restructuring and deindustrialization had for several years been eroding the economic base of the city, and rapid suburbanization had left much of the central city impoverished. The result was explosive social unrest on the part of marginalized populations during the 1960s, defining what came to be known as ‘the urban crisis’ (similar problems emerged in many US cities). The expansion of public employment and public provision –– facilitated in part by generous federal funding –– was seen as the solution. But, faced with fiscal difficulties, President Nixon simply declared the urban crisis ove

globinfo freexchange In a discussion with Paul Jay of the R ea l News , Daniel Ellsberg revealed that the US discovered - through a top-secret operation -that the USSR had only four(!) ICBMs back in 1961. This meant that the Soviets were very far from becoming a serious threat for the West. However, the false picture of the 'Soviet threat' remained powerful in order to permit the US to justify its frenzy nuclear armament race. Ellsberg explains: The estimate of 40 to 60 [Soviet intercontinental ballistic missiles] - which was pretty much in 1962 at the time of the missile crisis based on a lot of satellite photography - was much lower than was estimated earlier, from ‘58, ‘59, ‘60. The Air Force had a higher estimate. Even the CIA official estimate in 1961 was well over 100. The State Department estimated like 160. The Air Force was much higher than that. And in August of 1961, the then commander of Strategic Air Command, Thomas Power, believed that

Donald Trump’s economic advisers released a bizarre report attacking socialism yesterday. Socialists can only take one lesson from it: we’re winning. by Miles Kampf-Lassin Part 7 - Why They’re Scared With growing support for socialist policies and the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) now counting over fifty thousand members and running candidates in races across the country opposing the Trump administration’s policies on the economy, immigration, housing, health care, and more, it shouldn’t come as a shock that the White House is attempting to tamp down on this swelling movement. Yet while the Council of Economic Advisers expresses concern in droll, wonkish prose about the supposed evils of socialism, conservative activists are much more focused on instilling reactionary narratives and rolling back democratic rights throughout US society. Rather than trying to win over Americans by offering better policies, the Right is instead countering the Le

Only by masking their otherwise unpopular policies in the cloak of Jo Cox’s tragedy, and humanity’s natural empathy for good samaritans and the downtrodden, has this small group of powerful individuals been able to launder disastrous wars and military adventurism as “the right thing to do.” by Vanessa Beeley and Whitney Webb Part 10 - Using Jo Cox to divide the Labour Party A more worrying development that has emerged from the exploitation of the murder of MP Jo Cox is the apparent attempt to divide the already beleaguered Labour Party and to undermine its leadership, in particular Jeremy Corbyn. Cox herself turned against Corbyn shortly before she was killed in 2016 and was forced to apologize after a newsletter had been circulated by one of her aides with the headline “Why I knifed Corbyn.” Two weeks prior, Cox had co-written an article with Neil Coyle in the Guardian, expressing regret over nominating Corbyn and dissatisfaction with his leadership. Shortly aft

The anti-Pelosi insurgency is not a movement. It’s a cabal, orchestrated by the appropriately hashtagged #FiveWhiteGuys, a group of self-self-interested players with big money behind them. These white males resemble nothing so much as the next-generation terminator played by Robert Patrick in “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.” They’re cunning, aggressive, shape-shifting, and so reflective that anyone who looks at them sees only a distorted image of themselves. Here’s something else worth knowing about Democratic power in the House: Its party organizations are still deeply hierarchical, and are built on deeply embedded relationships. If the Moulton/Ryan gang succeeds in unseating Pelosi, the speakership will not go to someone the left supports. Sure, it would be great to see Barbara Lee become Speaker, but that simply isn’t going to happen. Besides, she’s not even running. (Lee is running for the House’s number five position.) The Five Guys (not to be confused with the burger