Group items tagged

"Those who make peaceful evolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable."- John F. KennedyThere's one thing for sure: 2008 isn't anything like politics as usual.The corporate media (with their unerring eye for the obvious point) is fixated on the narrative that, for the first time ever, Americans will likely end this year with either a woman or a black man headed for the White House. Bloggers are telling stories from the front lines of primaries and caucuses that look like something from the early 60s - people lining up before dawn to vote in Manoa, Hawaii yesterday; a thousand black college students in Prairie View, Texas marching 10 miles to cast their early votes in the face of a county that tried to disenfranchise them. In recent months, we've also been gobstopped by the sheer passion of the insurgent campaigns of both Barack Obama and Ron Paul, both of whom brought millions of new voters into the conversation - and with them, a sharp critique of the status quo and a new energy that's agitating toward deep structural change.There's something implacable, earnest, and righteously angry in the air. And it raises all kinds of questions for burned-out Boomers and jaded Gen Xers who've been ground down to the stump by the mostly losing battles of the past 30 years. Can it be - at long last - that Americans have, simply, had enough? Are we, finally, stepping out to take back our government - and with it, control of our own future? Is this simply a shifting political season - the kind we get every 20 to 30 years - or is there something deeper going on here? Do we dare to raise our hopes that this time, we're going to finally win a few? Just how ready is this country for big, serious, forward-looking change?Recently, I came across a pocket of sociological research that suggested a tantalizing answer to these questions - and also that America may be far more ready for far more change than anyone really believes is possible at this moment. In fac

Imagine a world in which a man who is repeatedly investigated for a string of serious crimes, but never prosecuted, has his slate wiped clean every time the cops fail to make a case. No more Lifetime channel specials where the murderer is unveiled after police stumble upon past intrigues in some old file - "Hey, chief, didja know this guy had two wives die falling down the stairs?" No more burglary sprees cracked when some sharp cop sees the same name pop up in one too many witness statements. This is a different world, one far friendlier to lawbreakers, where even the suspicion of wrongdoing gets wiped from the record.

Just a few months ago, I wrote a piece for Adbusters that started with a conversation I'd had with an Egyptian activist friend named Dina: All these years," she said, "we've been organizing marches, rallies… And if only 45 people show up, you're depressed, if you get 300, you're happy. Then one day, 200,000 people show up. And you're incredulous: on some level, even though you didn't realize it, you'd given up thinking that you could actually win. As the Occupy Wall Street movement spreads across America, and even the world, I am suddenly beginning to understand a little of how she felt.

Europe will eventually grow tired of bailing out its weaker countries. The Germans will probably pull that plug first. The longer we wait to see fiscal probity established, at the European Central Bank and the European Union, and within each nation, the more debt will be built up, and the more dangerous the situation will get. When the plug is finally pulled, at least one nation will end up in a painful default; unfortunately, the way we are heading, the problems could be even more widespread.

Why this absence of political ambition? What explains the rioters' genuflection at the altar of "crude materialist, market-driven hedonism"? To zone in on the answer, we need to step back and remind ourselves how strikingly unequal distributions of income and wealth impact how we interact with "things." In relatively equal nations, societies where minor differences in income and wealth separate social classes, people typically do not obsess over "things," the baubles of modern life. The reason? If nearly everyone can afford much the same things, things overall tend to lose their significance. People in more equal societies will be more likely to judge you by who you are than what you own. The reverse, obviously, also holds true. "As inequality worsens," as Boston College economist Juliet Schor has explained, "the status game tends to intensify." The wider that gaps in income and wealth go, the greater the differences in the things that different classes can afford. In markedly unequal societies, things take on ever greater significance. They signal who has succeeded and who has not. In London, the developed world's most unequal city, these signals may dominate daily life as ferociously as anywhere else on Earth. Their incessant repetition drowns out the socially cohesive signals that people see and hear and feel in more equal societies, the sense that "we're all in this together." "Let this week be a wake up call," London's Compass think tank observed right after the heaviest rioting. "There is more to clean up than broken shop windows."

"Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can quietly become a power no government can suppress, a power than can transform the world." -The late people's historian Howard Zinn (August 24, 1922 - January 27, 2010)

1500 cash loans scheme is such a kind of loan which offers you the cash up to 1500 dollars when your financial situation is not so much good. These short kinds of loans are available with different terms and rates so that you can select anyone according to your budget. And, you can get cash within a day after being approved for the loan. These loans are short term unsecured loans borrowed to deal with your urgent cash needs. A person may face a situation where his or her personal savings are exhausted and so left with no other option then to go for a loan. In such critical situations, these loans prove to be very helpful.

Unplanned financial trouble can provide a lot of stress to people having a limited source of income. These individuals find it hard to manage their unforeseen expenses without having proper arrangement of required funds. Loans 1500 are ideal choice of financial assistance to go for that provides optimum cash in your hands to eliminate your cash crisis. Especially designed for salaried individuals these loans are simple to acquire without tiresome paperwork, hectic credit check and collateral. Maximum cash amount of $1500 is convenient to obtain in this loan offer to satisfy your financial demand come in front of you at a time of money shortage. Loan seekers are free to use this loan amount for any sort of purpose. On the other side, you have time duration of 15 days to 30 days to repay the full amount of the loan along with the rate of interest without making any delay. Pay your unpaid grocery bill, medical bill, electricity bill, car damage bill, house rent, child's school fee and other expenses with helping hand of these loans. Before the arrival of your next salary day you will be able to settle down all your outstanding expenses by availing these hassle free loans. Borrow desired sum of money without thinking about your adverse credit position and factors like arrears, CCJs, missed payments, foreclosure, defaults etc. Now, loan lenders do not check your credit profile whether good or bad and process your loan application in a speedy manner. Furthermore, after being approved your loan application in less time you will get amount deposited in your bank account. Apply for loans 1500 without making any effort to leave the comfort of your home but by just filling one online application form free of cost. There is no such requirement to fax documents to loan lenders and to personally meet them in the procedure of these loans. Loan seekers do not have to pledge their personal property loan lenders as security at the time of applying for these financ

1500 Cash Loans are actually very easy to get cash advances during urgent monetary requirements. These loans are paid to the borrower in their urgent hour of need. These loans are mostly meant for some small day to day needs. These needs may arise any time from anywhere without giving any warning. A person should always be prepared for them. These loans are very useful in such cases. The loan help is usually granted for a period of about 3 weeks. This time span is enough to solve all your short term problems. You have to simply fill up an online application form with basic details and submit it. Apply now for this loan without doing any delay.

You are facing any kind of fiscal hurdles and looking for the ultimate way to obtain cash in the choice of loan. If yes, here, you can get the best offer of cash Loans up to $1000 in order to borrow. 1500 Payday Loans are short term cash help for you. These loans are help may be very useful for a person in an hour of emergency. These loans are small easy to get cash advances and it is approved without any hassle. There is no requirement of depositing any valuable asset against the loan money. Anyone can get this loan without difficulty. Apply for this loan today through online application mode and get sufficient funds without any hassle.

Do you need to borrow some urgent fund and avoid the lengthy time consuming paper work? Then, you can make your approach to Get Payday Loans Online that is really comfortable for those people, who have the tight schedule. Online mode is time saving process for the people, who can fill up the loan application form though selection the better one that could also be Loans 1500. These loans are convenient financial help for those people who have the shortage of the fund. Therefore, they could get rid of their entire unwanted fiscal crises. Quickly apply for this loan and get rid of cash crisis.

If the left doesn't come up with a credible and comprehensive alternative to a focus on reducing the deficit, argues FPIF columnist Walden Bello, the far right might eventually fill the policy vacuum.

Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek, akaThe Elvis of cultural theory, is given the floor to show of his polemic style and whirlwind-like performance. The Giant of Ljubljana is bombarded with clips of popular media images and quotes by modern-day thinkers revolving around four major issues: the economical crisis, environment, Afghanistan and the end of democracy. Zizek grabs the opportunity to ruthlessly criticize modern capitalism and to give his view on our common future. We communists are back! is the closing remark of Slavoj Zižeks provocative performance. Our current capitalist system, that everyone believed would be smoothly spread around the globe, is untenable. We find ourselves on the brink of big problems that call for big solutions. Whatever is left of the left, has been hedged in by western liberal democracy and seems to lack the energy to come up with radical solutions. Not Zižek. Interview: Chris Kijne Director: Marije Meerman Production: Mariska Schneider /Pepijn Boonstra Research: Marijntje Denters/Maren Merckx Commissioning editors: Henneke Hagen/Jos de Putter

What's striking about Spain, from an American perspective, is how much its economic story resembles our own. Like America, Spain experienced a huge property bubble, accompanied by a huge rise in private-sector debt. Like America, Spain fell into recession when that bubble burst, and has experienced a surge in unemployment. And like America, Spain has seen its budget deficit balloon thanks to plunging revenues and recession-related costs. But unlike America, Spain is on the edge of a debt crisis. The U.S. government is having no trouble financing its deficit, with interest rates on long-term federal debt under 3 percent. Spain, by contrast, has seen its borrowing cost shoot up in recent weeks, reflecting growing fears of a possible future default. Why is Spain in so much trouble? In a word, it's the euro.

It feels perversely quaint that the national conversation is momentarily focused on the likelihood of insider trading cases dropping on a hive of nefarious and presumably well-connected individuals -- huge cases, we are told via breathless leaks from the federal cops on the beat, cases worth -- are you sitting down? -- tens of millions of dollars. With numbers like these, one can only imagine what's up next -- a crackdown on employees who brazenly pilfered office supplies from their jobs at publicly bailed-out institutions like Bank of America, perhaps?

Knowing a bailout for Athens would be unpopular, Chancellor Angela Merkel wanted to postpone taking action on the Greek crisis until a key state election on May 9. But financial markets don't care about domestic German politics. Her delay could end up costing the country billions.

Spreading problems in Europe's sovereign debt markets pose potential challenges for China, which has been stepping up its investments in European government bonds and relies on Europe as its biggest export market.