Sunday 19 February 2012
Delusions of the Corporate State
Evaggelos Vallianatos, Truthout: "The citizens of America must push the
servants of oligarchy out of office, the very people who made a killing
with their 2008 financial disaster. Americans must return to the
Greek-inspired path of Thomas Jefferson: reinvigorate democracy while
bringing the military-industrial complex under control."
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Mortgage-Backed Securities Make a Comeback, Despite Similar Risks
Azam Ahmed, The New York Times News Service: "Some Wall Street investors
made money as the mortgage market boomed; others profited when it fell
apart.... Mr. Lippmann is joined by other big-money investors — mutual
funds like Fidelity as well as hedge funds — in riding a wave of
interest in the same complex loan pools that nearly washed away the
financial system."
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Industry Plan to Save Us From Global Warming a Nightmare, Not a Dream
Peter Montague, AlterNet: "By ignoring global warming, the U.S. is
painting itself (and the world) into a corner. But now the fossil fuel
industry has prepared an escape for us. You may not have heard of it,
but the escape is called 'carbon capture and storage' or CCS for short.
It has never been tried on anything like the scale needed to limit
global warming, so it's a colossal experiment with the future of
civilization at stake."
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Frustrated Protesters Fill the Streets in Syria's Capital
Neil MacFarquhar, The New York Times News Service: "Hundreds and
hundreds of antigovernment protesters braved scattered gunfire from
Syrian soldiers to march through a middle-class neighborhood in Damascus
on Saturday, the biggest demonstration witnessed close to the heart of
the capital since the country's uprising started 11 months ago."
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Disaster Capitalism: Profiting From Crisis in Post-Earthquake Haiti
Deepa Panchang, Beverly Bell and Tory Field, Other Worlds Are Possible:
"Below are a few examples of post-earthquake contracts and grants,
selected to show just some of the problems at play. They offer a small
glimpse into a much larger, secretive world of disaster deals. We're
grateful to our investigative journalist colleagues who, alongside us,
have kept heavy on the scent of these corporations and brought buried
information to light."
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Perfect Storm Threatens Long-Term Unemployed
Greg Kaufmann, The Nation: "In December, there were more than 13 million
unemployed workers and about four people looking for work for every
available job. According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), 5.5
million people have been unemployed for more than half a year, up from
1.2 million in 2007, and the average duration for an unemployed person
is over nine months.... So it's particularly alarming to see Congress
playing games with an extension of unemployment benefits that are set to
expire at the end of the month."
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How the Ohio GOP's Attempts to Game Voting Rules Backfired
Jennifer Brunner, AlterNet: "In Ohio, the GOP-controlled legislature -
without a fight from my predecessor, the Republican secretary of state,
Ken Blackwell - began a systematic effort to tinker with Ohio's voting
rules, from requiring people to take a training session before they
could register voters, to requiring naturalized citizens to show their
papers at the polling place (all of which were struck down by federal
courts in 2005 and 2006).... Nearly every time the GOP in Ohio has
succeeded in implementing an unfair 'reform,' it has backfired on them."
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Andrew Bacevich | Uncle Sam, Global Gangster
Andrew Bacevich, TomDispatch: "With the United States now well into the
second decade of what the Pentagon has styled an 'era of persistent
conflict,' the war formerly known as the global war on terrorism
(unofficial acronym WFKATGWOT) appears increasingly fragmented and
diffuse. Without achieving victory, yet unwilling to acknowledge
failure, the United States military has withdrawn from Iraq. It is
trying to leave Afghanistan, where events seem equally unlikely to yield
a happy outcome."
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Human Safaris: When Does Tourism Become Unethical?
Joanna Eede, Survival International: "In principle, there is little harm
in tourists visiting tribal peoples who have been in routine contact
with outsiders for some time. But as natural social sensitivity and
respect would dictate, this only applies to tribal peoples who are happy
to receive visitors, have proper control over where the tourists go and
what they do in their communities, and receive a fair share of the
profits."
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It's Up to Us to Protect the First Amendment
Josh Stearns, Save the News: "What happens when a journalist is
arrested? How do we account for the stories that don't get told, or the
issues that don't get covered because the press was restricted or behind
bars? How do we measure the intimidation journalists feel, and the
chill that police intervention places on freedom of the press? One gauge
might be the U.S.'s recent drop in global press freedom rankings, down
to number 47 worldwide."
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Subsidize This: US Eyes Tariffs on Chinese Solar Panels, But What Gets Protected?
Gregg Levine, Capitoilette: "While trade is often a bone of contention
between the United States and China, this week's visit by Chinese Vice
President Xi Jinping threw the spotlight on one subset of that battle
that could have far-reaching effects well in excess of the raw dollar
amounts at stake. At issue is a complaint filed by a solar industry
trade group, the Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing, or CASM,
asking that the US government impose tariffs on Chinese solar panels.
CASM wants the duties for what it claims are unfair subsidies by China
that make Chinese solar products substantially cheaper than those
offered by many US competitors."
Read the Article
Click here for more Truthout articles
The BuzzFlash commentary for Truthout will return Monday.
Lieberman Edges US to War With Iran
Read the Article at Consortium News
Supreme Court Sanctioned Sale of US Government to Highest
Bidders Likely to Continue as Court Puts Hold on Montana State Limit on
Political Contributions
Read the Article at Bloomberg
How Rick Santorum Ripped Off American Military Veterans
Read the Article at Mother Jones
Suicide Attack on Iraq Police Academy Kills 19
Read the Article at Reuters
Hague Warns Israel Over Military Action in Iran
Read the Article at Yahoo! News
Fracking Debate Divides New York Landowners as the State Prepares to Lift a Moratorium on Fracking
Read the Article at The LA Times
Iran Stops Exporting Crude Oil to Britsh and French Companies
Read the Article at Bloomberg
Click here for more BuzzFlash headlines
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