Skip to main content

Home/ Vers un monde nouveau/ Group items tagged Day

Rss Feed Group items tagged

Filter: All | Bookmarks | Topics Simple Middle
Jon Snow

The moral decay of our society is as bad at the top as the bottom - Telegraph Blogs - 0 views

blogs.telegraph.co.uk/...s-bad-at-the-top-as-the-bottom

Angleterre critique élite journalisme Telegraph Peter Oborne déclin éthique moral renouveau

shared by Jon Snow on 13 Aug 11 - No Cached
Jon Snow liked it
  • But there was also something very phony and hypocritical about all the shock and outrage expressed in parliament. MPs spoke about the week’s dreadful events as if they were nothing to do with them. I cannot accept that this is the case. Indeed, I believe that the criminality in our streets cannot be dissociated from the moral disintegration in the highest ranks of modern British society. The last two decades have seen a terrifying decline in standards among the British governing elite. It has become acceptable for our politicians to lie and to cheat. An almost universal culture of selfishness and greed has grown up.
  • Most of the people in this very expensive street were every bit as deracinated and cut off from the rest of Britain as the young, unemployed men and women who have caused such terrible damage over the last few days. For them, the repellent Financial Times magazine How to Spend It is a bible. I’d guess that few of them bother to pay British tax if they can avoid it, and that fewer still feel the sense of obligation to society that only a few decades ago came naturally to the wealthy and better off.
  • Our politicians – standing sanctimoniously on their hind legs in the Commons yesterday – are just as bad. They have shown themselves prepared to ignore common decency and, in some cases, to break the law. David Cameron is happy to have some of the worst offenders in his Cabinet. Take the example of Francis Maude, who is charged with tackling public sector waste – which trade unions say is a euphemism for waging war on low‑paid workers. Yet Mr Maude made tens of thousands of pounds by breaching the spirit, though not the law, surrounding MPs’ allowances.
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • A great deal has been made over the past few days of the greed of the rioters for consumer goods, not least by Rotherham MP Denis MacShane who accurately remarked, “What the looters wanted was for a few minutes to enter the world of Sloane Street consumption.” This from a man who notoriously claimed £5,900 for eight laptops. Of course, as an MP he obtained these laptops legally through his expenses.
  • Or take the Salford MP Hazel Blears, who has been loudly calling for draconian action against the looters. I find it very hard to make any kind of ethical distinction between Blears’s expense cheating and tax avoidance, and the straight robbery carried out by the looters.
  • The Prime Minister showed no sign that he understood that something stank about yesterday’s Commons debate. He spoke of morality, but only as something which applies to the very poor: “We will restore a stronger sense of morality and responsibility – in every town, in every street and in every estate.” He appeared not to grasp that this should apply to the rich and powerful as well.
  • The Prime Minister excused his wretched judgment by proclaiming that “everybody deserves a second chance”. It was very telling yesterday that he did not talk of second chances as he pledged exemplary punishment for the rioters and looters.
  • But there are those who do not. Certainly, the so-called feral youth seem oblivious to decency and morality. But so are the venal rich and powerful – too many of our bankers, footballers, wealthy businessmen and politicians.
  • Let’s bear in mind that many of the youths in our inner cities have never been trained in decent values. All they have ever known is barbarism. Our politicians and bankers, in sharp contrast, tend to have been to good schools and universities and to have been given every opportunity in life. Something has gone horribly wrong in Britain. If we are ever to confront the problems which have been exposed in the past week, it is essential to bear in mind that they do not only exist in inner-city housing estates. The culture of greed and impunity we are witnessing on our TV screens stretches right up into corporate boardrooms and the Cabinet. It embraces the police and large parts of our media. It is not just its damaged youth, but Britain itself that needs a moral reformation.
  • Jon Snow on 13 Aug 11
     
    "Let's bear in mind that many of the youths in our inner cities have never been trained in decent values. All they have ever known is barbarism. Our politicians and bankers, in sharp contrast, tend to have been to good schools and universities and to have been given every opportunity in life. Something has gone horribly wrong in Britain. If we are ever to confront the problems which have been exposed in the past week, it is essential to bear in mind that they do not only exist in inner-city housing estates. The culture of greed and impunity we are witnessing on our TV screens stretches right up into corporate boardrooms and the Cabinet. It embraces the police and large parts of our media. It is not just its damaged youth, but Britain itself that needs a moral reformation." On remplacera Britain par France, USA, etc. Papier simple mais Ô combien rafraîchissant en ces heures d'hypocrisie. Tout est à refonder! Magnifique, non! edit: A relier à cet article de Cabanel sur Agoravox: Le cas français. On a la presse qu'on mérite. Oborne c'est l'édito d'un des plus grands journaux anglais. Et nous, un simple site tenu par des individus lambdas. La valeur reste cependant la même. http://www.agoravox.fr/actualites/citoyennete/article/une-ripoublique-irreprochable-98682
Jon Snow

Al Gore, GIEC, Prix Nobel et... "Bullshit!" : La Science au XXI Siècle - 0 views

science21.blogs.courrierinternational.com/...ec-prix-nobel-et-bullshit.html

GIEC gore science débat climat économie société

shared by Jon Snow on 03 Sep 11 - No Cached
  • les changements climatiques deviendront-ils un bouc émissaire fantomatique pour masquer la crise économique et sociale d'une société minée par les délocalisations industrielles et financières, la spéculation, les inégalités... ? Même en présence d'ouragans et de sécheresses, quelle est la véritable source des pires problèmes, si ce n'est la situation sociale qui fait payer les conséquences par les couches les moins « favorisées » de la population ?
  • Certes, si la justesse des actuels modèles climatiques est actuellement mise en cause, cela ne signifie pas pour autant que des conclusions opposées à l'actuelle théorie de l'influence humaine sur le climat finiront nécessairement par s'imposer. Tout simplement, des questions essentielles en la matière restent ouvertes et le travail de recherche doit se poursuivre.
  • Mais pourquoi un Prix Nobel aussi « rapide » que celui accordé en 2007 à Al Gore et au GIEC ? De notre modeste point de vue, l'interrogation persiste après examen détaillé de la page de la Fondation Nobel consacrée à ce prix : http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/20..., et des différents communiqués, motivations et interventions auxquels elle renvoie. Et si quatre ans plus tard, Al Gore débite des discours à base de « pseudo-science » et de « Bullshit ! » à l'adresse des avis discordants, que convient-il d'en penser ? Voici la prose litigieuse de l'ancien Vice-Président des Etats-Unis : « They pay pseudo-scientists to pretend to be scientists to put out the message : "This climate thing, it’s nonsense. Man-made CO2 doesn’t trap heat. It may be volcanoes." Bullshit! "It may be sun spots." Bullshit! "It’s not getting warmer." Bullshit ! ».
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • Ce n'était pas fini. Cette semaine, les médias anglophones font état d'une nouvelle « charge » particulièrement violente d'Al Gore contre les « climatosceptiques » vendredi dernier. Mail Online écrit le 30 août : « Climate change deniers will be despised just like racists one day, says Al Gore » ; The Telegraph, « Al Gore likens climate change sceptics to racists » ; etc... Al Gore oublie, ou ne sait pas, que précisément des théories ouvertement racistes avaient dominé l'anthropologie « majoritaire » européenne au XIX siècle et pendant une partie du XXème. Voir à ce sujet notre article « Wikipédia et neutralité (II) ».
  • Jon Snow on 03 Sep 11
     
    Ce débat n'en finit pas de prendre de la hauteur... , ou plutôt de descendre au ras du caniveau.
Jon Snow

Impermanence Film - Episode 1! - 2 views

www.impermanencefilm.org/...national-permaculture-day.html

alternative changement politique économie mode de vie agriculture permaculture

shared by Jon Snow on 06 May 12 - No Cached
  • Jon Snow on 06 May 12
     
    Premier épisode d'une longue série de films sur les actions alternatives en cours dans le monde et ... à côté de chez nous!
Jon Snow

Op-Ed Contributor - Health Care's Generation Gap - NYTimes.com - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...17dooling.html

shared by Jon Snow on 23 Aug 09 - Cached
  • Families spent their entire savings so Grandma could make yet another trip to the surgical suite on the slim-to-none chance that bypass surgery, a thoracotomy, an endoscopy or kidney dialysis might get her off the ventilator and out of the hospital in time for her 88th birthday.
  • I and other health care workers solemnly agreed that the spending spree could not continue. Taxpayers and insurance companies would eventually revolt and refuse to pay for such end-of-life care
  • Somebody would surely expose the ruse for what it was: an enormous transfer of wealth based on the pretense that getting old and dying is a medical emergency requiring high-tech intensive-care intervention and armies of specialists, which could cost $10,000 or more per day.
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • But we were wrong. Health care spending has since doubled, to around 16 percent of our gross domestic product, and in the next 25 years or so is projected to reach 31 percent of G.D.P
  • and more follow-up scans and procedures (in stand-alone clinics owned by the same doctors prescribing the tests, scans and procedures).
  • A cynic would argue that this can’t happen because children can’t vote (even if their parents can),
  • We’ll be forced to implement quick-and-dirty rules based on something simple, sensible and easily verifiable. Like age. As in: No federal funds to be spent on intensive-care medicine for anyone over 85.
  • I am not, of course, talking about euthanasia.
  • Perhaps the second duty should be to administer an ounce of prevention instead of a pound of cure.
Jon Snow

Wisconsin's 'war on workers' spreads to other states - Americas, World - The Independent - 0 views

www.independent.co.uk/...s-to-other-states-2223941.html

wisconsin syndicalisme droit du travail menace USA

shared by Jon Snow on 24 Feb 11 - No Cached
  • The showdown over union rights that has paralysed politics in Wisconsin is spreading to other American states, threatening to trigger a national "workers war" of a kind not seen since Ronald Reagan fired air traffic controllers en masse 30 years ago. The State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, was overflowing for the 10th day yesterday by protesters infuriated by legislation being pushed by the newly elected Governor Scott Walker which would strip most collective-bargaining rights from state workers, including teachers and librarians. Governor Walker is serving notice he will begin mass layoffs next week unless Democrats who have fled the state to avoid voting on the law return soon.
  • The law in question would end the ability of public workers to negotiate collectively for anything except salaries.
  • Jon Snow on 24 Feb 11
     
    La guerre aux syndicats s'étend à d'autres états américains... la contestation aussi.
Jon Snow

8 Reasons Young Americans Don't Fight Back: How the US Crushed Youth Resistance | | Alt... - 0 views

www.alternet.org/...he_us_crushed_youth_resistance

jeunesse usa passivité résistance éducation école contrôle dette consumérisme authoritarisme

shared by Jon Snow on 26 Aug 11 - No Cached
  • How exactly has American society subdued young Americans?  1. Student-Loan Debt. Large debt—and the fear it creates—is a pacifying force.
    • Jon Snow
      Jon Snow on 26 Aug 11
       
      Endettés à hauteur de dizaines de millers de $ à 20 ans ça calme n'importe qui. En tout cas ça t'occupe car il faut rembourser. Sont tombés dans une belle saloperie.
  • Today in the United States, two-thirds of graduating seniors at four-year colleges have student-loan debt, including over 62 percent of public university graduates. While average undergraduate debt is close to $25,000, I increasingly talk to college graduates with closer to $100,000 in student-loan debt.
    • Jon Snow
      Jon Snow on 26 Aug 11
       
      Wow... chapeau les politics. Ou comment tuer en deux générations sa jeunesse.
  • Today the function of psychiatry, psychology and psychoanalysis threatens to become the tool in the manipulation of man.” Fromm died in 1980, the same year that an increasingly authoritarian America elected Ronald Reagan president, and an increasingly authoritarian American Psychiatric Association added to their diagnostic bible (then the DSM-III) disruptive mental disorders for children and teenagers such as the increasingly popular “oppositional defiant disorder” (ODD). The official symptoms of ODD include “often actively defies or refuses to comply with adult requests or rules,” “often argues with adults,” and “often deliberately does things to annoy other people.”
    • Jon Snow
      Jon Snow on 26 Aug 11
       
      Le refus de soumission à l'autorité = trouble psy = maladie. Les antidepresseurs sont pas loin, ou plutôt les submissives pills.
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • A generation ago, the problem of compulsory schooling as a vehicle for an authoritarian society was widely discussed, but as this problem has gotten worse, it is seldom discussed.
  • Heavily tranquilizing antipsychotic drugs (e.g. Zyprexa and Risperdal) are now the highest grossing class of medication in the United States ($16 billion in 2010); a major reason for this, according to theJournal of the American Medical Association in 2010, is that many children receiving antipsychotic drugs have nonpsychotic diagnoses such as ODD or some other disruptive disorder (this especially true of Medicaid-covered pediatric patients). 
  • Television. In 2009, the Nielsen Company reported that TV viewing in the United States is at an all-time high if one includes the following “three screens”: a television set, a laptop/personal computer, and a cell phone. American children average eight hours a day on TV, video games, movies, the Internet, cell phones, iPods, and other technologies (not including school-related use).
  • The more schooling Americans get, however, the more politically ignorant they are of America’s ongoing class war, and the more incapable they are of challenging the ruling class.
  • Parents routinely check Web sites for their kid’s latest test grades and completed assignments, and just like employers, are monitoring their children’s computers and Facebook pages.
  • . “No Child Left Behind” and “Race to the Top.” The corporatocracy has figured out a way to make our already authoritarian schools even more authoritarian. Democrat-Republican bipartisanship has resulted in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, NAFTA, the PATRIOT Act, the War on Drugs, the Wall Street bailout, and educational policies such as “No Child Left Behind” and “Race to the Top.” These policies are essentially standardized-testing tyranny that creates fear, which is antithetical to education for a democratic society. Fear forces students and teachers to constantly focus on the demands of test creators; it crushes curiosity, critical thinking, questioning authority, and challenging and resisting illegitimate authority. In a more democratic and less authoritarian society, one would evaluate the effectiveness of a teacher not by corporatocracy-sanctioned standardized tests but by asking students, parents, and a community if a teacher is inspiring students to be more curious, to read more, to learn independently, to enjoy thinking critically, to question authorities, and to challenge illegitimate authorities. 
  • Fundamentalist consumerism pacifies young Americans in a variety of ways. Fundamentalist consumerism destroys self-reliance, creating people who feel completely dependent on others and who are thus more likely to turn over decision-making power to authorities, the precise mind-set that the ruling elite loves to see.
1 - 8 of 8
Showing 20▼ items per page