Jason Manolopoulos.
Greece's 'Odious' Debt: The Looting of the Hellenic Republic by the Euro, the Political Elite and the Investment Community.
London: Anthem Press, 2011.
Book information: Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.
Book Notices and Reviews:
Buttonwood, "Be aware of Greeks bearing books," The Economist, 08 June 2011.
Hamish McRae, "A tragedy, from the nation that invented it," The Independent, 12 June 2011.
Note: The title of this review is a symptom of the western Europeans' confusion of the ancient Greece they idealize from what they learned in school Classics versus the far less illustrious realities of modern Greece. That is, the culture that "invented" tragedy existed 2,500 years ago and has very little to do with modern Greece which has a corrupt underdeveloped third-world economy and whose government during its nearly (and only) 200 years of existence has been chronically indebted to western European powers.
Dereck Conway, "Greece's 'Odious' Debt written by Jason Manolopoulos," Epilogue, PressTV, 29 August 2011 (with guests Rodney Shakespeare and Marco Pietropoli).
"The book explores the historical legacy and psychological biases that have shaped an on-going drama. While leaders of the European Union criticize 'the markets' for destabilizing the single currency, Manolopoulos interrogates the shared beliefs of the EU and the investment banking community - and how they colluded for a decade in the illusion that lending huge sums to peripheral Euro zone countries was safe."
A very good introduction to the topics of this book.
Other Links:
Jason Manolopoulos, "You can blame the Greeks – but they have been betrayed by their leaders: Shocking examples of kleptocracy by the political elite explain the ferocity of the reaction. And it is this which has repercussions for the rest of Europe," The Independent, 18 June 2011.
"Odious debt," Wikipedia.
"European sovereign debt crisis," Wikipedia.
"2000s European sovereign debt crisis timeline," Wikipedia.
"Greek government debt crisis," Wikipedia.
"Argentine economic crisis (1999-2002)," Wikipedia.
"Optimum currency area," Wikipedia.
Yanis Varoufakis, the blog of a Greek economist who frequently discusses Eurozone issues.
Antonis Kamaras, "The Origins of the Greek Financial Crisis: Letter from Thessaloniki," Foreign Affairs, 13 December 2011.
Zero Hedge, has frequent reports on the Eurozone.
ekathimerini.com, news of Greece in English.
See also my recent post of links to Kyle Bass's letters to investors: link.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Saturday, December 03, 2011
Kyle Bass and the World Economic Outlook: conversations and interview
A conversation with Kyle Bass, AmeriCatalyst, November 2010:
[via Zero Hedge]
Kyle Bass, BBC HARDtalk, November 2011:
[via Zero Hedge]
Note: The hostile and condescending questioning by the interviewer doesn't allow him to explain his answers in any detail, but does provoke him into letting off a few memorable quotes. See the friendlier AmeriCatalyst conversations for explanations of his economic outlook.
Kyle Bass redux, AmeriCatalyst, November 2011:
[via Zero Hedge]
Links from the November 2011 AmeriCatalyst conversation:
An article recommended by Bass:
Nassim Nicholas Taleb & Mark Blyth, "The Black Swan of Cairo: How Suppressing Volatility Makes the World Less Predictable and More Dangerous," Foreign Affairs, May/June 2011.
At one time you could get a PDF of the article here.
The books recommended by Bass are:
Bethany McLean & Joe Nocera. All the Devils Are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis. New York: Portfolio / Penguin Group (USA), Inc., 2010.
[Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com; Wikipedia: McLean; Wikipedia: Nocera.]
Carmen M. Reinhart & Kenneth Rogoff. This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly. Princeton University Press, 2009.
[Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com; Wikipedia: Reinhart; Wikipedia: Rogoff.]
Read the latest letter to investors from Kyle Bass, Hayman Capital Management, L.P., 30 November 2011: at Zero Hedge; at Scribd.
Some earlier letters: 14 Feb 2011; 11 May 2010.
Another notable person who has called attention to (and studied) the macroeconomics of (unsustainable) debt is Steve Keen.
Update, 01 Jan 2012: Additional item mentioned by Bass:
"The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2011 to 2021," The Congress of the United States, Congressional Budget Office, January 2011.
"CBO's 2011 Long-Term Budget Outlook," The Congress of the United States, Congressional Budget Office, June 2011.
"The Budget and Economic Outlook: An Update," The Congress of the United States, Congressional Budget Office, August 2011.
For more information see Budget and Economic Information, Congressional Budget Office.
Note that US government budget economists (by law?) base their analyses on unrealistically optimistic (i.e., empirically false) expectations for key economic variables: (1) a plateau (non-increase) in the amount of US government debt as a percent of GDP; (2) a decreasing unemployment rate; (3) increasing tax revenues; (4) decreasing yearly government budget deficits as a percent of GDP.
Update, December 2012:
Kyle Bass at AmeriCatalyst 2012:
[via Zero Hedge]
Kyle Bass, BBC HARDtalk, November 2011:
[via Zero Hedge]
Note: The hostile and condescending questioning by the interviewer doesn't allow him to explain his answers in any detail, but does provoke him into letting off a few memorable quotes. See the friendlier AmeriCatalyst conversations for explanations of his economic outlook.
Kyle Bass redux, AmeriCatalyst, November 2011:
[via Zero Hedge]
Links from the November 2011 AmeriCatalyst conversation:
An article recommended by Bass:
Nassim Nicholas Taleb & Mark Blyth, "The Black Swan of Cairo: How Suppressing Volatility Makes the World Less Predictable and More Dangerous," Foreign Affairs, May/June 2011.
At one time you could get a PDF of the article here.
The books recommended by Bass are:
Bethany McLean & Joe Nocera. All the Devils Are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis. New York: Portfolio / Penguin Group (USA), Inc., 2010.
[Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com; Wikipedia: McLean; Wikipedia: Nocera.]
Carmen M. Reinhart & Kenneth Rogoff. This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly. Princeton University Press, 2009.
[Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com; Wikipedia: Reinhart; Wikipedia: Rogoff.]
Read the latest letter to investors from Kyle Bass, Hayman Capital Management, L.P., 30 November 2011: at Zero Hedge; at Scribd.
Some earlier letters: 14 Feb 2011; 11 May 2010.
Another notable person who has called attention to (and studied) the macroeconomics of (unsustainable) debt is Steve Keen.
Update, 01 Jan 2012: Additional item mentioned by Bass:
"The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2011 to 2021," The Congress of the United States, Congressional Budget Office, January 2011.
"CBO's 2011 Long-Term Budget Outlook," The Congress of the United States, Congressional Budget Office, June 2011.
"The Budget and Economic Outlook: An Update," The Congress of the United States, Congressional Budget Office, August 2011.
For more information see Budget and Economic Information, Congressional Budget Office.
Note that US government budget economists (by law?) base their analyses on unrealistically optimistic (i.e., empirically false) expectations for key economic variables: (1) a plateau (non-increase) in the amount of US government debt as a percent of GDP; (2) a decreasing unemployment rate; (3) increasing tax revenues; (4) decreasing yearly government budget deficits as a percent of GDP.
Update, December 2012:
Kyle Bass at AmeriCatalyst 2012:
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Filkins, The Forever War (2008)
Dexter Filkins.
The Forever War.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf / Random House, Inc., 2008.
Book information: Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com; Wikipedia on the Book; Wikipedia on the Author.
This is a book for people who choose to ignore various unpleasant facts, such as: U.S. government corruption; the personal corruption and venality of the people installed in leading elective and appointive positions in the U.S. government, and their consequent corrupt policy and actions; the economic motivations for wars; historical context; imperialism; cultural and sociological differences of people in other regions and nations. There are many other books one could read to understand those things in relation to the U.S. government's quest for military and economic dominance in Iraq and other places. Instead Filkins offers personal stories of the "little people" (my words), individuals caught up in events, the passive victims (excluding U.S. government employees and occasional Iraqis) upon whom the winds of war blow.
The Forever War.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf / Random House, Inc., 2008.
Book information: Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com; Wikipedia on the Book; Wikipedia on the Author.
This is a book for people who choose to ignore various unpleasant facts, such as: U.S. government corruption; the personal corruption and venality of the people installed in leading elective and appointive positions in the U.S. government, and their consequent corrupt policy and actions; the economic motivations for wars; historical context; imperialism; cultural and sociological differences of people in other regions and nations. There are many other books one could read to understand those things in relation to the U.S. government's quest for military and economic dominance in Iraq and other places. Instead Filkins offers personal stories of the "little people" (my words), individuals caught up in events, the passive victims (excluding U.S. government employees and occasional Iraqis) upon whom the winds of war blow.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
The U.S. Police State: Occupy Wall Street, Part 10
My previous OWS posts are: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7; Part 8; Part 9.
The USA shows more and more signs of a police state.
Nick Turse, "What Happened When I Tried to Get Some Answers About the Creepy NYPD Watchtower Monitoring OWS," AlterNet, 06 November 2011.
Turse writes:
He seemed confused and ended our conversation abruptly with: “It’s much more than simple words.”
Here's what's "much more than simple words:" authoritarianism. The police internalize their position in the hierarchy and follow orders without question; that's their job; they are selected and trained for that behavior. That is the nature of all hierarchical organizations including, of course, corporations. If you care to understand more about this human behavior you could begin with Bob Altemyer's The Authoritarians (free book!).
Heather Digby Parton, "Militarising the police from Oakland to NYC," Al Jazeera, 14 November 2011.
Glenn Greenwald, "A police raid suffused with symbolism," Salon.com, 15 November 2011.
Chris Hedges, "This Is What Revolution Looks Like," Truthdig.com, 15 November 2011.
Amy Goodman, "The Brave New World of Occupy Wall Street," Truthdig.com, 15 November 2011.
Gregg Levine, "Oakland Mayor Jean Quan Admits Cities Coordinated Crackdown on Occupy Movement," capitoilette, 15 November 2011.
Yves Smith, "Police State: #OWS, Other Crackdowns Part of National, Coordinated Effort; Bloomberg Defies Court Order to Let Protestors Back into Zuccotti Park [Update: Judge Rules in Favor of City]," naked capitalism, 15 November 2011.
Yves Smith, "Video of Police Assaulting #OWS Protestor and Punching Woman in the Face," naked capitalism, 15 November 2011.
Amy Goodman and Nermeen Shaikh, "Police Crackdowns on Occupy Protests from Oakland to New York Herald the 'New Military Urbanism'," Democracy Now!, 16 November 2011.
Amy Goodman and Nermeen Shaikh, "As Occupy Enters Third Month, a Look at How Protesters Are Building a Global Movement," Democracy Now!, 16 November 2011.
A very good general discussion; and includes a notable interview with Daniel Ellsberg.
Kevin Gosztola, "NYPD Press Repression at Occupy Wall Street Eviction," FireDogLake, 16 November 2011.
David Atkins, "A Sanitized Eviction," Hullabaloo, 16 November 2011.
The USA shows more and more signs of a police state.
Nick Turse, "What Happened When I Tried to Get Some Answers About the Creepy NYPD Watchtower Monitoring OWS," AlterNet, 06 November 2011.
Turse writes:
He seemed confused and ended our conversation abruptly with: “It’s much more than simple words.”
Here's what's "much more than simple words:" authoritarianism. The police internalize their position in the hierarchy and follow orders without question; that's their job; they are selected and trained for that behavior. That is the nature of all hierarchical organizations including, of course, corporations. If you care to understand more about this human behavior you could begin with Bob Altemyer's The Authoritarians (free book!).
Heather Digby Parton, "Militarising the police from Oakland to NYC," Al Jazeera, 14 November 2011.
Glenn Greenwald, "A police raid suffused with symbolism," Salon.com, 15 November 2011.
Chris Hedges, "This Is What Revolution Looks Like," Truthdig.com, 15 November 2011.
Amy Goodman, "The Brave New World of Occupy Wall Street," Truthdig.com, 15 November 2011.
Gregg Levine, "Oakland Mayor Jean Quan Admits Cities Coordinated Crackdown on Occupy Movement," capitoilette, 15 November 2011.
Yves Smith, "Police State: #OWS, Other Crackdowns Part of National, Coordinated Effort; Bloomberg Defies Court Order to Let Protestors Back into Zuccotti Park [Update: Judge Rules in Favor of City]," naked capitalism, 15 November 2011.
Yves Smith, "Video of Police Assaulting #OWS Protestor and Punching Woman in the Face," naked capitalism, 15 November 2011.
Amy Goodman and Nermeen Shaikh, "Police Crackdowns on Occupy Protests from Oakland to New York Herald the 'New Military Urbanism'," Democracy Now!, 16 November 2011.
Amy Goodman and Nermeen Shaikh, "As Occupy Enters Third Month, a Look at How Protesters Are Building a Global Movement," Democracy Now!, 16 November 2011.
A very good general discussion; and includes a notable interview with Daniel Ellsberg.
Kevin Gosztola, "NYPD Press Repression at Occupy Wall Street Eviction," FireDogLake, 16 November 2011.
David Atkins, "A Sanitized Eviction," Hullabaloo, 16 November 2011.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Video and Radio: Occupy Wall Street, Part 9
My previous OWS posts are: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7; Part 8.
Annie Leonard, "The Story of Broke: Why There's Still Plenty of Money to Build a Better Future," The Story of Stuff Project.
Chris Hedges, "Chris Hedges speaking at Occupy Wall Street, Part 1," 09 October 2011.
Chris Hedges, "Chris Hedges speaking at Occupy Wall Street, Part 2, Q & A," 09 October 2011.
Liam Tate, "A Beginners Guide to 'Occupy'," Vimeo, 02 November 2011.
A collection of voices from Occupy Bristol (UK).
Stand Up! Chicago, "Gov. Scott Walker gets checked, Mic Checked!," Stand Up! Chicago, 03 November 2011.
Keith Olbermann, "Occupy Oakland: Scott Campbell describes being shot with a rubber bullet by Oakland police in an unprovoked attack," Countdown, Current, 07 November 2011.
Michael Hudson, "Now We’re Talking: Alan Minsky of KPFK Interviews Michael Hudson," Michael-Hudson.com, 04 November 2011.
C.S. Soong, "Anarchism in Thought, and in the Streets," Against the Grain, 07 November 2011.
Sasha Lilley, "Wall Street, Populism, and the Left," Against the Grain, 08 November 2011.
A conversation with Doug Henwood.
Michael Hudson, "Occupy Systemic Change: Lauren Lyster of RT Interviews Michael Hudson," Michael-Hudson.com, 08 November 2011.
"VIDEO: Meet Occupy Denver’s newest leader: A dog," The (Toronto) Star, 09 November 2011.
PolarityMovie, "Occupy Denver Elects Its Leader Shelby, Part 2," YouTube, 08 November 2011.
Media-PR Committee, "Occupy Denver Elects Leader," Occupy Denver, 08 November 2011.
This move by Occupy Denver is an attack on the idea of corporate personhood. This may have to be explained to people every time it is mentioned; however, I expect the corporate media will not do that.
Jim Newell, "Insane Congressman Joe Walsh Screams at His Constituents," gawker.com, 09 November 2011.
Picture of an authoritarian defender of the "too big to fail" banking corporations and the "free market." Note: the "free market" is a fantasy of ideologues and propagandists.
"Occupy Everywhere: On the New Politics and Possibilities of the Movement Against Corporate Power." Sponsored by The Nation and The New School for Public Engagement, 10 November 2011.
A panel discussion with Michael Moore, Patrick Bruner, Rinku Sen, William Greider, and Naomi Klein; moderated by Richard Kim.
Dave Zirin, "Penn State and Berkeley: A Tale of Two Protests," The Nation Blog, 10 November 2011.
Update, 16 Nov 2011: Additional links follow.
Michael Brissenden, "Wall Street occupied," 7.30 - ABC, 11 October 2011.
An Australian news report.
"Slavoj Zizek: Capitalism with Asian values," Talk to Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera English, 29 October 2011.
This video was initially posted by Al Jazeera with the title "Slavoj Zizek: 'Now the field is open.'"
Eric Cantor Mic Checked at Rice University, 10 November 2011.
Via Daily Kos.
Agence France-Presse, "Hawaiian singer surprises Obama summit with ‘Occupy’ song," The Raw Story, 13 November 2011.
PeteB2, "AWESOME: Artist Performs 99%-er Song in Front of Obama & World Leaders at APEC Conf (W/Video)," Daily Kos, 13 November 2011.
Links from the Daily Kos diary: Makana, "We Are The Many;" www.yeslab.org/APEC.
"Blue Cross CEO Discusses Health Care Business," C-SPAN, 14 November 2011.
Mic check begins around 3:30. Via naked capitalism Links, 15 Nov 2011.
#occupybaltimore Mic Checks Karl Rove, YouTube, 15 Nov 2011.
Karl Rove vs. OWS Mic Check round 2, YouTube, 15 Nov 2011.
Annie Leonard, "The Story of Broke: Why There's Still Plenty of Money to Build a Better Future," The Story of Stuff Project.
Chris Hedges, "Chris Hedges speaking at Occupy Wall Street, Part 1," 09 October 2011.
Chris Hedges, "Chris Hedges speaking at Occupy Wall Street, Part 2, Q & A," 09 October 2011.
Liam Tate, "A Beginners Guide to 'Occupy'," Vimeo, 02 November 2011.
A collection of voices from Occupy Bristol (UK).
Stand Up! Chicago, "Gov. Scott Walker gets checked, Mic Checked!," Stand Up! Chicago, 03 November 2011.
Keith Olbermann, "Occupy Oakland: Scott Campbell describes being shot with a rubber bullet by Oakland police in an unprovoked attack," Countdown, Current, 07 November 2011.
Michael Hudson, "Now We’re Talking: Alan Minsky of KPFK Interviews Michael Hudson," Michael-Hudson.com, 04 November 2011.
C.S. Soong, "Anarchism in Thought, and in the Streets," Against the Grain, 07 November 2011.
Sasha Lilley, "Wall Street, Populism, and the Left," Against the Grain, 08 November 2011.
A conversation with Doug Henwood.
Michael Hudson, "Occupy Systemic Change: Lauren Lyster of RT Interviews Michael Hudson," Michael-Hudson.com, 08 November 2011.
"VIDEO: Meet Occupy Denver’s newest leader: A dog," The (Toronto) Star, 09 November 2011.
PolarityMovie, "Occupy Denver Elects Its Leader Shelby, Part 2," YouTube, 08 November 2011.
Media-PR Committee, "Occupy Denver Elects Leader," Occupy Denver, 08 November 2011.
This move by Occupy Denver is an attack on the idea of corporate personhood. This may have to be explained to people every time it is mentioned; however, I expect the corporate media will not do that.
Jim Newell, "Insane Congressman Joe Walsh Screams at His Constituents," gawker.com, 09 November 2011.
Picture of an authoritarian defender of the "too big to fail" banking corporations and the "free market." Note: the "free market" is a fantasy of ideologues and propagandists.
"Occupy Everywhere: On the New Politics and Possibilities of the Movement Against Corporate Power." Sponsored by The Nation and The New School for Public Engagement, 10 November 2011.
A panel discussion with Michael Moore, Patrick Bruner, Rinku Sen, William Greider, and Naomi Klein; moderated by Richard Kim.
Dave Zirin, "Penn State and Berkeley: A Tale of Two Protests," The Nation Blog, 10 November 2011.
Update, 16 Nov 2011: Additional links follow.
Michael Brissenden, "Wall Street occupied," 7.30 - ABC, 11 October 2011.
An Australian news report.
"Slavoj Zizek: Capitalism with Asian values," Talk to Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera English, 29 October 2011.
This video was initially posted by Al Jazeera with the title "Slavoj Zizek: 'Now the field is open.'"
Eric Cantor Mic Checked at Rice University, 10 November 2011.
Via Daily Kos.
Agence France-Presse, "Hawaiian singer surprises Obama summit with ‘Occupy’ song," The Raw Story, 13 November 2011.
PeteB2, "AWESOME: Artist Performs 99%-er Song in Front of Obama & World Leaders at APEC Conf (W/Video)," Daily Kos, 13 November 2011.
Links from the Daily Kos diary: Makana, "We Are The Many;" www.yeslab.org/APEC.
"Blue Cross CEO Discusses Health Care Business," C-SPAN, 14 November 2011.
Mic check begins around 3:30. Via naked capitalism Links, 15 Nov 2011.
#occupybaltimore Mic Checks Karl Rove, YouTube, 15 Nov 2011.
Karl Rove vs. OWS Mic Check round 2, YouTube, 15 Nov 2011.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Occupy Music: Occupy Wall Street, Part 8
"The People United Will Never be Defeated," Ursula Oppens, pianist; Frederic Rzewski, composer.
Frederic Rzewski, Wikipedia.
"Blood Money" by Brandon Carter.
Lyrics at OccupyWallStreetMusic.com.
"Finally Here" by The Roaring featuring Ari Herstand.
Lyrics at The Roaring.
"Hope, Struggle and Change" by Roy Zimmerman.
Roy Zimmerman: RoyZimmerman's Channel - YouTube; RoyZimmerman.com.
Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzales, "Legendary Folk Duo Crosby & Nash on Soundtracking Movements from the 1960s to Occupy Wall Street," Democracy Now!, 10 November 2011.
Occupy Music: Sounds of the 99%.
The cover art is from "Faces of Occupied Wall Street #1" by Molly Crabapple.
A compilation album by a range of musicians. Released 15 October 2011. Much better than you might expect!
Protest Music, Daily Kos.
A Daily Kos group; lots of diaries under this heading.
Occupy Music, a Facebook Community.
Frederic Rzewski, Wikipedia.
"Blood Money" by Brandon Carter.
Lyrics at OccupyWallStreetMusic.com.
"Finally Here" by The Roaring featuring Ari Herstand.
Lyrics at The Roaring.
"Hope, Struggle and Change" by Roy Zimmerman.
Roy Zimmerman: RoyZimmerman's Channel - YouTube; RoyZimmerman.com.
Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzales, "Legendary Folk Duo Crosby & Nash on Soundtracking Movements from the 1960s to Occupy Wall Street," Democracy Now!, 10 November 2011.
Occupy Music: Sounds of the 99%.
The cover art is from "Faces of Occupied Wall Street #1" by Molly Crabapple.
A compilation album by a range of musicians. Released 15 October 2011. Much better than you might expect!
Protest Music, Daily Kos.
A Daily Kos group; lots of diaries under this heading.
Occupy Music, a Facebook Community.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Occupy Los Angeles Teach In: Occupy Wall Street, Part 7
Occupy Los Angeles held a Teach In on November 5th and 6th, 2011. Schedules were posted for Day 1 and Day 2.
Videos from Day 1:
Robert Reich:
Robert Scheer:
William K. Black:
Bill Black's talk also posted at New Economic Perspectives.
Joel Rogers:
Ellen Brown:
Video from Day 2:
David DeGraw:
Videos from Day 1:
Robert Reich:
Robert Scheer:
William K. Black:
Bill Black's talk also posted at New Economic Perspectives.
Joel Rogers:
Ellen Brown:
Video from Day 2:
David DeGraw:
Wednesday, November 09, 2011
Occupy the Hood: Occupy Wall Street, Part 6
My previous posts on this topic are: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5.
Links for Occupy the Hood Organizations:
Facebook: OccupyTheHood.
Twitter: @OccupyTheHood.
Twitter: search #OccupyTheHood.
Tumblr: tagged occupy the hood.
General Information and News Articles Related to Occupy the Hood:
People of Color Organize!.
Black Agenda Report.
Black Agenda Report: category Occupy the Hood.
Blackstonian: category Occupy The Hood and links for Occupy The Hood Boston.
Boston.com, "Dispatches from Dewey Square: What is Occupy the Hood?," 04 Nov 2011.
Time, "Is Occupy Wall Street Too White?," 20 Oct 2011.
WAMU DCentric, "‘Occupy the Hood’ and How to Boost Protest Diversity," 13 Oct 2011.
Al-Jazeera English, "'Occupy the Hood': Including all of the 99%," 10 Oct 2011.
Black Enterprise Next, "Should You Care about Occupy The Hood?," 10 Oct 2011.
Village Voice, "Occupy the Hood Aims to Bring More Minorities Into the Occupy Wall Street Fold," 07 Oct 2011.
Longer Essays, Video:
Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin, "Why I Support Occupy The Hood," BreaktheChains.info, 10 October 2011.
Joy Moses and Jasmin Jones, "Occupying Wall Street Together: People of Color Matter in the Movement," Center for American Progress, 20 October 2011.
Glen Ford, "Occupy All the Harlems, to Save Ourselves from the Dictatorship of Wall Street," Black Agenda Report, 02 November 2011.
Bruce A. Dixon, "Occupy Where? What's In It For Black and Brown People?," Black Agenda Report, 02 November 2011.
MontanaMaven, "On Bruce Dixon's 'Occupy Where?'," Corrente, 04 November 2011.
The Black Institute, "Occupy Black America," The Black Institute Blog, 04 November 2011.
Denise Oliver Velez, "Occupy the Hood: Communities of color and the Occupy movement," DailyKos, 06 November 2011.
Bryan K. Bullock, "Occupy the Hood," People of Color Organize!, 07 November 2011.
Taryn Hart, "Occupied Media: Interview With NEDAP's Josh Zinner," Plutocracy Files, 09 November 2011.
A discussion of predatory finance and no consequences for economic criminals.
Links for Occupy the Hood Organizations:
Facebook: OccupyTheHood.
Twitter: @OccupyTheHood.
Twitter: search #OccupyTheHood.
Tumblr: tagged occupy the hood.
General Information and News Articles Related to Occupy the Hood:
People of Color Organize!.
Black Agenda Report.
Black Agenda Report: category Occupy the Hood.
Blackstonian: category Occupy The Hood and links for Occupy The Hood Boston.
Boston.com, "Dispatches from Dewey Square: What is Occupy the Hood?," 04 Nov 2011.
Time, "Is Occupy Wall Street Too White?," 20 Oct 2011.
WAMU DCentric, "‘Occupy the Hood’ and How to Boost Protest Diversity," 13 Oct 2011.
Al-Jazeera English, "'Occupy the Hood': Including all of the 99%," 10 Oct 2011.
Black Enterprise Next, "Should You Care about Occupy The Hood?," 10 Oct 2011.
Village Voice, "Occupy the Hood Aims to Bring More Minorities Into the Occupy Wall Street Fold," 07 Oct 2011.
Longer Essays, Video:
Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin, "Why I Support Occupy The Hood," BreaktheChains.info, 10 October 2011.
Joy Moses and Jasmin Jones, "Occupying Wall Street Together: People of Color Matter in the Movement," Center for American Progress, 20 October 2011.
Glen Ford, "Occupy All the Harlems, to Save Ourselves from the Dictatorship of Wall Street," Black Agenda Report, 02 November 2011.
Bruce A. Dixon, "Occupy Where? What's In It For Black and Brown People?," Black Agenda Report, 02 November 2011.
MontanaMaven, "On Bruce Dixon's 'Occupy Where?'," Corrente, 04 November 2011.
The Black Institute, "Occupy Black America," The Black Institute Blog, 04 November 2011.
Denise Oliver Velez, "Occupy the Hood: Communities of color and the Occupy movement," DailyKos, 06 November 2011.
Bryan K. Bullock, "Occupy the Hood," People of Color Organize!, 07 November 2011.
Taryn Hart, "Occupied Media: Interview With NEDAP's Josh Zinner," Plutocracy Files, 09 November 2011.
A discussion of predatory finance and no consequences for economic criminals.
Monday, November 07, 2011
More Links: Occupy Wall Street, Part 5
My previous posts on this topic are: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4.
Occupied Newspapers:
The Occupied Washington Post, Number 1, 01 November 2011.
Occupied Oakland Tribune, 02 November 2011.
Websites with substantial Occupy Wall Street movement coverage:
Occupied Media: non-technical video interviews and discussions, mostly on economics.
Special Coverage: OCCUPY WALL STREET | AlterNet.
Plutocracy Files by Taryn Hart.
The Majority Report with Sam Seder.
Articles and Videos:
Empty Ballet, "The Politics of Experience," YouTube.
Refers to the book: R. D. Laing. The Politics of Experience. Pantheon, 1983.
[Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com; Wikipedia on R. D. Laing.]
Joseph E. Stiglitz, "Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%," Vanity Fair, May 2011.
See also the following link, in which Stiglitz discusses his essay.
Amy Goodman, "Nobel Economist Joseph Stiglitz: Assault on Social Spending, Pro-Rich Tax Cuts Turning U.S. into Nation 'Of the 1 Percent, by the 1 Percent, for the 1 Percent'," Democracy Now!, 07 April 2011.
Yves Smith, "Your Humble Blogger Asked Larry Summers a Question He Did Not Like," naked capitalism, 24 April 2011.
"This Powerful Clip Is Exactly Why We Support #OccupyWallStreet," MoveOn.org, 05 October 2011.
"Chris Hedges on the Tea Party and difference between Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street protesters," RT, 06 October 2011.
James Kwak, "Straight Out of Antiquity," The Baseline Scenario, 10 October 2011.
John Nichols, "The 99 Percent Rise Up," The Nation, website: 12 October 2011; print edition: 31 October 2011.
"Journalistic Standards Collapse over Occupy Wall Street," Global Research TV, 19 October 2011.
This is a CBC interview of Chris Hedges in which one correspondent verbally abuses and belittles Hedges.
David Intrator, "A Businessman Occupies Wall Street," Truthdig, 22 October 2011.
David Suzuki, "David Suzuki at Occupy Vancouver - Part 1 of 3," Occupy Vancouver Media, 22 October 2011.
David Suzuki, "David Suzuki at Occupy Vancouver - Part 2 of 3," Occupy Vancouver Media, 22 October 2011.
David Suzuki, "David Suzuki at Occupy Vancouver - Part 3 of 3," Occupy Vancouver Media, 22 October 2011.
Frank Rich, "The Class War Has Begun," New York, 23 October 2011.
Chris Hedges, "Occupiers Have to Convince the Other 99 Percent," Truthdig, 24 October 2011.
Charlie Rose, "A discussion about Occupy Wall Street," Charlie Rose, 24 October 2011.
A discussion with Amy Goodman and Chris Hedges.
For a laugh see this excerpt from FOX News: "The Star of the Show is Rather Sternly Prim Lefty by the Name of Amy Goodman."
I recommend Amy Goodman's show Democracy Now!.
Christopher Ketcham, "The Reign of the One Percenters," Orion Magazine, November/December 2011.
Ketcham discusses this essay with Sam Seder on The Majority Report, 25 October 2011.
Matt Taibbi, "Wall Street Isn't Winning – It's Cheating," Taibblog at Rolling Stone, 25 October 2011.
Corey Robin, "Fear, American Style: What the Anarchist and Libertarian Don’t Understand about the US," CoreyRobin.com, 25 October 2011.
"While people on the left and the right often focus on state repression—coercion and intimidation that comes from and is wielded by the government (politically driven prosecution and punishment, police violence, and the like)—the fact is that a great deal of political repression happens in civil society, outside the state. More specifically, in the workplace."
Corey Robin is author of the recently published book: The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Sarah Palin. Oxford University Press USA, 2011.
[Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
And as noted in his article above, Professor Robin is also the author of the book: Fear: The History of a Political Idea. Oxford University Press USA, 2004.
[Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
Danny Schechter, "The MSM’s Fear of OWS," Consortiumnews.com, 26 October 2011.
"US cops tried to erase online evidence of brutality," RT, 26 October 2011.
Video report is lower down on above-referenced webpage. Also posted at Global Research TV.
Gordon Lafer, "Why Occupy Wall Street Has Left Washington Behind," The Nation, website: 26 October 2011; print edition: 14 November 2011.
Dahlia Lithwick, "Occupy the No-Spin Zone," Slate, 26 October 2011.
"One of the best things about Occupy Wall Street is the way it confuses and ignores the shrill pundit class."
Lithwick discusses her article with Sam Seder on The Majority Report, 27 October 2011.
David Harvey, "Rebels on the Street: The Party of Wall Street Meets its Nemesis," Verso Books Blog, 28 October 2011.
Also posted at DavidHarvey.org.
Glenn Greenwald, "The importance of protests," Salon.com, 30 October 2011.
Stephen Colbert, "Colbert Super PAC - Stephen Colbert Occupies Occupy Wall Street, Part 1," The Colbert Report, 31 October 2011.
Stephen Colbert, "Colbert Super PAC - Stephen Colbert Occupies Occupy Wall Street, Part 2," The Colbert Report, 01 November 2011.
Noam Chomsky, "Occupy the Future," Truthout, 01 November 2011.
Robert Scheer and Chris Hedges, "Robert Scheer and Chris Hedges on Class Struggle," Truthdig Radio / 90.7 KPFK Los Angeles, 01 November 2011.
The title doesn't adequately describe this wide ranging discussion.
Rinaldo Brutoco, "Business Leader: 'I'm So Grateful to Occupy Wall Street'," Truthout, 02 November 2011.
Bill Moyers, "How Wall Street Occupied America," The Nation, website: 02 November 2011; print edition: 21 November 2011.
Note that in his essay Bill Moyers refers to the Powell Memo and discusses how it helped catalyze and direct the businessmen's contingent of the right-wing movement after the memo was distributed in 1971, and which has resulted in the corporation dominated society and government that we see today. (Watch this blog for a future post of links on the Powell Memo.)
Moyers recommends the book:
Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson. Winner-Take-All Politics: How Washington Made the Rich Richer and Turned Its Back on the Middle Class. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010.
[Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
Robert Parry, "End of the Reagan Narrative?," Consortiumnews.com, 02 November 2011.
Naomi Wolf, "We May Be Witnessing the First Large Global Conflict Where People Are Aligned by Consciousness and Not Nation State or Religion," AlterNet, 01 November 2011.
Concerned Students of Economics 10, "An Open Letter to Greg Mankiw," MR Zine, 02 November 2011.
This letter was also noted and discussed at naked capitalism:
Steve Keen, "Steve Keen: Harvard Starts its Own PAECON Against Mankiw," naked capitalism, 03 November 2011.
MR Zine has many additional articles related to Occupy Wall Street.
Paul Krugman, "Oligarchy, American Style," The New York Times, 03 November 2011.
Paul Jay, "Bill Black: Jobs Now, Stop the Foreclosures, Jail the Banksters," The Real News Network, 03 November 2011.
Bill Black offers an answer to people who demand specific policy recommendations from Occupy Wall Street.
Edward Harrison, "Joseph Stiglitz on Iceland's Crisis and Recovery," Credit Writedowns, 03 November 2011.
Fritz Tucker, "American Autumn Pt. 3: A Chill Descends on Occupy Wall Street," Fritz Tucker's Blog, 04 November 2011.
Also posted at GlobalResearch.ca.
In political theory the phenomena Fritz Tucker experienced and describes is known as the Iron law of oligarchy (Wikipedia link).
Sara Robinson, "Occupy’s Asshole Problem: Flashbacks from An Old Hippie," radio or not, 04 November 2011.
Charles Hugh Smith, "The Collapse of Our Corrupt, Predatory, Pathological Financial System Is Necessary and Positive," Of Two Minds, 05 November 2011.
(Acknowledgment: Some links obtained from Plutocracy Files by Taryn Hart and Rortybomb by Mike Konczal.)
Occupied Newspapers:
The Occupied Washington Post, Number 1, 01 November 2011.
Occupied Oakland Tribune, 02 November 2011.
Websites with substantial Occupy Wall Street movement coverage:
Occupied Media: non-technical video interviews and discussions, mostly on economics.
Special Coverage: OCCUPY WALL STREET | AlterNet.
Plutocracy Files by Taryn Hart.
The Majority Report with Sam Seder.
Articles and Videos:
Empty Ballet, "The Politics of Experience," YouTube.
Refers to the book: R. D. Laing. The Politics of Experience. Pantheon, 1983.
[Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com; Wikipedia on R. D. Laing.]
Joseph E. Stiglitz, "Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%," Vanity Fair, May 2011.
See also the following link, in which Stiglitz discusses his essay.
Amy Goodman, "Nobel Economist Joseph Stiglitz: Assault on Social Spending, Pro-Rich Tax Cuts Turning U.S. into Nation 'Of the 1 Percent, by the 1 Percent, for the 1 Percent'," Democracy Now!, 07 April 2011.
Yves Smith, "Your Humble Blogger Asked Larry Summers a Question He Did Not Like," naked capitalism, 24 April 2011.
"This Powerful Clip Is Exactly Why We Support #OccupyWallStreet," MoveOn.org, 05 October 2011.
"Chris Hedges on the Tea Party and difference between Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street protesters," RT, 06 October 2011.
James Kwak, "Straight Out of Antiquity," The Baseline Scenario, 10 October 2011.
John Nichols, "The 99 Percent Rise Up," The Nation, website: 12 October 2011; print edition: 31 October 2011.
"Journalistic Standards Collapse over Occupy Wall Street," Global Research TV, 19 October 2011.
This is a CBC interview of Chris Hedges in which one correspondent verbally abuses and belittles Hedges.
David Intrator, "A Businessman Occupies Wall Street," Truthdig, 22 October 2011.
David Suzuki, "David Suzuki at Occupy Vancouver - Part 1 of 3," Occupy Vancouver Media, 22 October 2011.
David Suzuki, "David Suzuki at Occupy Vancouver - Part 2 of 3," Occupy Vancouver Media, 22 October 2011.
David Suzuki, "David Suzuki at Occupy Vancouver - Part 3 of 3," Occupy Vancouver Media, 22 October 2011.
Frank Rich, "The Class War Has Begun," New York, 23 October 2011.
Chris Hedges, "Occupiers Have to Convince the Other 99 Percent," Truthdig, 24 October 2011.
Charlie Rose, "A discussion about Occupy Wall Street," Charlie Rose, 24 October 2011.
A discussion with Amy Goodman and Chris Hedges.
For a laugh see this excerpt from FOX News: "The Star of the Show is Rather Sternly Prim Lefty by the Name of Amy Goodman."
I recommend Amy Goodman's show Democracy Now!.
Christopher Ketcham, "The Reign of the One Percenters," Orion Magazine, November/December 2011.
Ketcham discusses this essay with Sam Seder on The Majority Report, 25 October 2011.
Matt Taibbi, "Wall Street Isn't Winning – It's Cheating," Taibblog at Rolling Stone, 25 October 2011.
Corey Robin, "Fear, American Style: What the Anarchist and Libertarian Don’t Understand about the US," CoreyRobin.com, 25 October 2011.
"While people on the left and the right often focus on state repression—coercion and intimidation that comes from and is wielded by the government (politically driven prosecution and punishment, police violence, and the like)—the fact is that a great deal of political repression happens in civil society, outside the state. More specifically, in the workplace."
Corey Robin is author of the recently published book: The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Sarah Palin. Oxford University Press USA, 2011.
[Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
And as noted in his article above, Professor Robin is also the author of the book: Fear: The History of a Political Idea. Oxford University Press USA, 2004.
[Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
Danny Schechter, "The MSM’s Fear of OWS," Consortiumnews.com, 26 October 2011.
"US cops tried to erase online evidence of brutality," RT, 26 October 2011.
Video report is lower down on above-referenced webpage. Also posted at Global Research TV.
Gordon Lafer, "Why Occupy Wall Street Has Left Washington Behind," The Nation, website: 26 October 2011; print edition: 14 November 2011.
Dahlia Lithwick, "Occupy the No-Spin Zone," Slate, 26 October 2011.
"One of the best things about Occupy Wall Street is the way it confuses and ignores the shrill pundit class."
Lithwick discusses her article with Sam Seder on The Majority Report, 27 October 2011.
David Harvey, "Rebels on the Street: The Party of Wall Street Meets its Nemesis," Verso Books Blog, 28 October 2011.
Also posted at DavidHarvey.org.
Glenn Greenwald, "The importance of protests," Salon.com, 30 October 2011.
Stephen Colbert, "Colbert Super PAC - Stephen Colbert Occupies Occupy Wall Street, Part 1," The Colbert Report, 31 October 2011.
Stephen Colbert, "Colbert Super PAC - Stephen Colbert Occupies Occupy Wall Street, Part 2," The Colbert Report, 01 November 2011.
Noam Chomsky, "Occupy the Future," Truthout, 01 November 2011.
Robert Scheer and Chris Hedges, "Robert Scheer and Chris Hedges on Class Struggle," Truthdig Radio / 90.7 KPFK Los Angeles, 01 November 2011.
The title doesn't adequately describe this wide ranging discussion.
Rinaldo Brutoco, "Business Leader: 'I'm So Grateful to Occupy Wall Street'," Truthout, 02 November 2011.
Bill Moyers, "How Wall Street Occupied America," The Nation, website: 02 November 2011; print edition: 21 November 2011.
Note that in his essay Bill Moyers refers to the Powell Memo and discusses how it helped catalyze and direct the businessmen's contingent of the right-wing movement after the memo was distributed in 1971, and which has resulted in the corporation dominated society and government that we see today. (Watch this blog for a future post of links on the Powell Memo.)
Moyers recommends the book:
Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson. Winner-Take-All Politics: How Washington Made the Rich Richer and Turned Its Back on the Middle Class. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010.
[Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
Robert Parry, "End of the Reagan Narrative?," Consortiumnews.com, 02 November 2011.
Naomi Wolf, "We May Be Witnessing the First Large Global Conflict Where People Are Aligned by Consciousness and Not Nation State or Religion," AlterNet, 01 November 2011.
Concerned Students of Economics 10, "An Open Letter to Greg Mankiw," MR Zine, 02 November 2011.
This letter was also noted and discussed at naked capitalism:
Steve Keen, "Steve Keen: Harvard Starts its Own PAECON Against Mankiw," naked capitalism, 03 November 2011.
MR Zine has many additional articles related to Occupy Wall Street.
Paul Krugman, "Oligarchy, American Style," The New York Times, 03 November 2011.
Paul Jay, "Bill Black: Jobs Now, Stop the Foreclosures, Jail the Banksters," The Real News Network, 03 November 2011.
Bill Black offers an answer to people who demand specific policy recommendations from Occupy Wall Street.
Edward Harrison, "Joseph Stiglitz on Iceland's Crisis and Recovery," Credit Writedowns, 03 November 2011.
Fritz Tucker, "American Autumn Pt. 3: A Chill Descends on Occupy Wall Street," Fritz Tucker's Blog, 04 November 2011.
Also posted at GlobalResearch.ca.
In political theory the phenomena Fritz Tucker experienced and describes is known as the Iron law of oligarchy (Wikipedia link).
Sara Robinson, "Occupy’s Asshole Problem: Flashbacks from An Old Hippie," radio or not, 04 November 2011.
Charles Hugh Smith, "The Collapse of Our Corrupt, Predatory, Pathological Financial System Is Necessary and Positive," Of Two Minds, 05 November 2011.
(Acknowledgment: Some links obtained from Plutocracy Files by Taryn Hart and Rortybomb by Mike Konczal.)
Friday, November 04, 2011
On the Social Consequences of Economic Austerity: Policies of Economic Cruelty
Politicians and policy makers KNOW what the social consequences of economic austerity policies will be, but they so act anyway. Why?! An increase in the suicide rate (observed in many societies and across time) is merely one, perhaps the most spectacular, consequence. Here is a small collection of articles and books on this topic, a paltry introduction to a broad and deep problem that politicians and the corporate media seem to prefer that you would overlook.
Yves Smith, "Hidden Cost of Greece, Euro Crisis: Suicides," Naked Capitalism, 20 September 2011.
Jonathan Schell, "Cruel America," The Nation, web edition 28 September 2011; print edition 17 October 2011.
"Budget decisions do not involve the death penalty, yet for many they are matters of life and death."
Christopher Humphrys, "Greece is slipping into the abyss," The Telegraph, 01 October 2011
"Joe Biden: There Will Be A Huge Increase In Murders And Rapes If The Federal Government Doesn't Spend More Money To Help The Economy," The Economic Collapse, 12 October 2011.
The Economic Collapse blog has many articles on the subject of the social consequences of economic decline.
James Gilligan. Why Some Politicians Are More Dangerous Than Others. Polity, 2011.
Book information: Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.
William Davies, "The Political Economy of Unhappiness," New Left Review, No. 71, September-October 2011.
Christopher Torchia, "Greece: crisis takes toll on health," Associated Press, 09 October 2011.
For The Lancet article itself, see the next item:
Alexander Kentikelenis, et al., "Health effects of financial crisis: omens of a Greek tragedy," The Lancet, Early Online Publication, 10 October 2011.
Kentikelenis's (Cambridge Univ) other work includes:
Alexander E. Kentikelenis, "Assessing the Link between Financial Liberalization and Saving," ESDS International Case Study, January-March 2009.
Chloe Hadjimatheou, "Confronting suicide as Greek social problems mount," BBC World Service, 17 October 2011.
Mario Queiroz, "Portugal: Crisis Pushes Women into Prostitution," IPSNews, 19 October 2011.
I think people need to understand their society as it actually exists, rather than indulging in the comfortable fantasies that politicians and propagandists promote. (Note: the main venues and disseminators of those fantasies are corporate news media and entertainment.) The following book may help some people acquaint themselves with real data.
Sasha Lilley, "Snapshot of America," Against the Grain, KPFA, 27 July 2011.
A fifty minute discussion with Cynthia Enloe (Wikipedia; Clark Univ) and Joni Seager (Bentley Univ). Enloe and Seager are authors of:
The Real State of America Atlas: Mapping the Myths and Truths of the United States. Penguin, 2011. [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
Yves Smith, "Hidden Cost of Greece, Euro Crisis: Suicides," Naked Capitalism, 20 September 2011.
Jonathan Schell, "Cruel America," The Nation, web edition 28 September 2011; print edition 17 October 2011.
"Budget decisions do not involve the death penalty, yet for many they are matters of life and death."
Christopher Humphrys, "Greece is slipping into the abyss," The Telegraph, 01 October 2011
"Joe Biden: There Will Be A Huge Increase In Murders And Rapes If The Federal Government Doesn't Spend More Money To Help The Economy," The Economic Collapse, 12 October 2011.
The Economic Collapse blog has many articles on the subject of the social consequences of economic decline.
James Gilligan. Why Some Politicians Are More Dangerous Than Others. Polity, 2011.
Book information: Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.
William Davies, "The Political Economy of Unhappiness," New Left Review, No. 71, September-October 2011.
Christopher Torchia, "Greece: crisis takes toll on health," Associated Press, 09 October 2011.
For The Lancet article itself, see the next item:
Alexander Kentikelenis, et al., "Health effects of financial crisis: omens of a Greek tragedy," The Lancet, Early Online Publication, 10 October 2011.
Kentikelenis's (Cambridge Univ) other work includes:
Alexander E. Kentikelenis, "Assessing the Link between Financial Liberalization and Saving," ESDS International Case Study, January-March 2009.
Chloe Hadjimatheou, "Confronting suicide as Greek social problems mount," BBC World Service, 17 October 2011.
Mario Queiroz, "Portugal: Crisis Pushes Women into Prostitution," IPSNews, 19 October 2011.
I think people need to understand their society as it actually exists, rather than indulging in the comfortable fantasies that politicians and propagandists promote. (Note: the main venues and disseminators of those fantasies are corporate news media and entertainment.) The following book may help some people acquaint themselves with real data.
Sasha Lilley, "Snapshot of America," Against the Grain, KPFA, 27 July 2011.
A fifty minute discussion with Cynthia Enloe (Wikipedia; Clark Univ) and Joni Seager (Bentley Univ). Enloe and Seager are authors of:
The Real State of America Atlas: Mapping the Myths and Truths of the United States. Penguin, 2011. [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
Tuesday, November 01, 2011
Eugene Jarecki, Move Your Money (2009)
Move Your Money (2009) is a short film by Eugene Jarecki and the Move Your Money project.
Jarecki discussed the film on Democracy Now!:
Amy Goodman, Move Your Money: Campaign Grows to Divest From "Too Big to Fail" Banks to Local Banks, Credit Unions, Democracy Now!, 01 November 2011.
The November Fifth Bank Transfer Day group says they are not associated with Occupy Wall Street.
Bill Maher on Ending Abusive Relationships - with Your Bank, another Move Your Money short film.
Last but not least, Eugene Jarecki made the film Why We Fight (2006) (Archive.org; Google Video; Wikipedia; film website) which I strongly recommend. (The film takes its title from the World War II film series directed by Frank Capra.)
Jarecki discussed the film on Democracy Now!:
Amy Goodman, Move Your Money: Campaign Grows to Divest From "Too Big to Fail" Banks to Local Banks, Credit Unions, Democracy Now!, 01 November 2011.
The November Fifth Bank Transfer Day group says they are not associated with Occupy Wall Street.
Bill Maher on Ending Abusive Relationships - with Your Bank, another Move Your Money short film.
Last but not least, Eugene Jarecki made the film Why We Fight (2006) (Archive.org; Google Video; Wikipedia; film website) which I strongly recommend. (The film takes its title from the World War II film series directed by Frank Capra.)
Friday, October 21, 2011
Occupy Wall Street, Part 4: More Articles, Some Video
Dylan Ratigan, "Constitutional Moments: The People's Voice," The Huffington Post, 14 October 2011.
Jeffrey Sachs, "Message to Wall Street," The Huffington Post, 17 October 2011.
Glen Greenwald, "What Are Those OWS People So Angry About?," Salon.com, 17 October 2011.
Greenwald is the author of the forthcoming book: With Liberty and Justice For Some.
Anne Applebaum, "Is the Occupy Movement Anti-Democratic?," Slate.com, 17 October 2011.
How can we explain the kind of thinking that's on display in this article? It is well know that devotion to ideology can make people say and do stupid things. But I think it's more than just ideology in this case: if the people were to regain control of their government (from the banks and other corporations that now control it) and began to investigate and prosecute economic crimes, the people's government might also have the power and fortitude to prosecute war crimes, and that is something the neo-conservatives and their puppets must fear. So I'd expect to hear more obfuscatory nonsense from the neocon sympathizers.
For more right-wing ideologists see Pajamas Media.
Carol Smith, "A Victory for #OccupyWallStreet in the Most Unlikely of Places?," naked capitalism, 18 October 2011.
Yves Smith, "Tom Ferguson: Congress is a 'Coin Operated Stalemate Machine'," naked capitalism, 18 October 2011.
One of the sources of the U.S.'s problem is a systemically corrupt political system. Exposing and understanding the mechanics of the corruption is very helpful. Thomas Ferguson shows how the corruption works in the U.S. Congress.
James Rickards, "Jim Rickards’ First Hand Account of Occupy Wall Street Protest: Shine a Light," King World News, 14 October 2011.
Rickards is the author of the forthcoming book: Currency Wars: The Making of the Next Global Crisis.
David Graeber, "On Playing By The Rules – The Strange Success Of #OccupyWallStreet," naked capitalism, 19 October 2011.
Graeber is the author of the recently published book: Debt: The First 5,000 Years.
Russ, "Underlying Ideology of the 99," Volatility, 12 October 2011.
RiverDaughter, "OccupyWallStreet: We have been starving the wrong beast," The Confluence, 17 October 2011.
Bureau of Public Secrets, "The Awakening in America," Bureau of Public Secrets, 15 October 2011.
Chris Hedges, Interview at Times Square NYC, OccupyNYTV, 15 October 2011.
Also posted at MaxKeiser.com, 19 October 2011.
Hedges makes several notable comments in this brief interview, including: on the nature of social movements; on the failures of U.S. establishment leaders.
See also the OccupyNYTV channel at YouTube.
A talk by Chris Hedges last year: "Death of the Liberal Class", 17 October 2010.
Keith Boykin, "Everything the Media Told You About Occupy Wall Street Is Wrong," The Huffington Post, 19 October 2011.
Brandon Smith, "Sausage the Riot Dog Coming to America?," Zero Hedge, 10 October 2011.
Michael Nagler and Stephanie Van Hook, "Corporations are not people: We hold these truths to be self-evident...," Waging Nonviolence, 11 October 2011.
Phil Rockstroh, "Punching a Hole in Bubbles of Denial and Addiction: Late Capitalism and Its Discontents of the American Autumn," CommonDreams.org, 13 October 2011.
Unusually poetic and philosophical expression of the sensibility behind movements like Occupy Wall Street.
"American Autumn," Adbusters #98, Nov/Dec 2011.
Ron Boyer, "'American Autumn' Will Depend on People, Not Parties," Truthout, 26 September 2011.
An interview with Margaret Flowers of October2011.org.
Michel Chossudovsky, "Occupy Wall Street and 'The American Autumn': Is It a 'Colored Revolution'? Part I," Global Research, 13 October 2011.
Amy Goodman, "Former Financial Regulator William Black: Occupy Wall Street a Counter to White-Collar Fraud," Democracy Now!, 19 October 2011.
Andy Kroll, "How Occupy Wall Street Really Got Started," Mother Jones, 17 October 2011.
Charles Hugh Smith, "Semi-Random Notes on the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) Movement," Of Two Minds, 20 October 2011.
A Sampling of Right-Wingers:
Jonah Goldberg, "Sorting Out the ‘Extremists’: The difference between Wall Street protestors and the Tea Party," National Review Online, 07 October 2011.
Mark Steyn, "American Autumn: The zombie youth 'occupying' Wall Street are contemptuous of the world that sustains their comforts," National Review Online, 08 October 2011.
Mark Steyn, "Crisis of Decadence: A society can live on the accumulated capital of a glorious inheritance for only so long," National Review Online, 15 October 2011.
Victor Davis Hanson, "Railing Against Reality: What are the root causes of the multifaceted unrest in the Western world?," National Review Online, 20 October 2011.
My summary: There is a uniform unwillingness or inability among the right-wingers to recognize the variety of issues that mobilize Organize Wall Street but fall outside the right-wing cliches and themes they have used for decades to attack their political opponents. For example, corporate fraud, government corruption, and the active participation of the corrupt two-party political duopoly in enabling corporate fraud are absent from their analysis.
But I do commend Steyn for recognizing the serious problem of student debt. Why would a society impose a huge debt burden on people seeking higher education? Christopher Newfield has addressed some of this problem in Unmaking the Public University: The Forty-Year Assault on the Middle Class (2008; 2011).
Jeffrey Sachs, "Message to Wall Street," The Huffington Post, 17 October 2011.
Glen Greenwald, "What Are Those OWS People So Angry About?," Salon.com, 17 October 2011.
Greenwald is the author of the forthcoming book: With Liberty and Justice For Some.
Anne Applebaum, "Is the Occupy Movement Anti-Democratic?," Slate.com, 17 October 2011.
How can we explain the kind of thinking that's on display in this article? It is well know that devotion to ideology can make people say and do stupid things. But I think it's more than just ideology in this case: if the people were to regain control of their government (from the banks and other corporations that now control it) and began to investigate and prosecute economic crimes, the people's government might also have the power and fortitude to prosecute war crimes, and that is something the neo-conservatives and their puppets must fear. So I'd expect to hear more obfuscatory nonsense from the neocon sympathizers.
For more right-wing ideologists see Pajamas Media.
Carol Smith, "A Victory for #OccupyWallStreet in the Most Unlikely of Places?," naked capitalism, 18 October 2011.
Yves Smith, "Tom Ferguson: Congress is a 'Coin Operated Stalemate Machine'," naked capitalism, 18 October 2011.
One of the sources of the U.S.'s problem is a systemically corrupt political system. Exposing and understanding the mechanics of the corruption is very helpful. Thomas Ferguson shows how the corruption works in the U.S. Congress.
James Rickards, "Jim Rickards’ First Hand Account of Occupy Wall Street Protest: Shine a Light," King World News, 14 October 2011.
Rickards is the author of the forthcoming book: Currency Wars: The Making of the Next Global Crisis.
David Graeber, "On Playing By The Rules – The Strange Success Of #OccupyWallStreet," naked capitalism, 19 October 2011.
Graeber is the author of the recently published book: Debt: The First 5,000 Years.
Russ, "Underlying Ideology of the 99," Volatility, 12 October 2011.
RiverDaughter, "OccupyWallStreet: We have been starving the wrong beast," The Confluence, 17 October 2011.
Bureau of Public Secrets, "The Awakening in America," Bureau of Public Secrets, 15 October 2011.
Chris Hedges, Interview at Times Square NYC, OccupyNYTV, 15 October 2011.
Also posted at MaxKeiser.com, 19 October 2011.
Hedges makes several notable comments in this brief interview, including: on the nature of social movements; on the failures of U.S. establishment leaders.
See also the OccupyNYTV channel at YouTube.
A talk by Chris Hedges last year: "Death of the Liberal Class", 17 October 2010.
Keith Boykin, "Everything the Media Told You About Occupy Wall Street Is Wrong," The Huffington Post, 19 October 2011.
Brandon Smith, "Sausage the Riot Dog Coming to America?," Zero Hedge, 10 October 2011.
Michael Nagler and Stephanie Van Hook, "Corporations are not people: We hold these truths to be self-evident...," Waging Nonviolence, 11 October 2011.
Phil Rockstroh, "Punching a Hole in Bubbles of Denial and Addiction: Late Capitalism and Its Discontents of the American Autumn," CommonDreams.org, 13 October 2011.
Unusually poetic and philosophical expression of the sensibility behind movements like Occupy Wall Street.
"American Autumn," Adbusters #98, Nov/Dec 2011.
Ron Boyer, "'American Autumn' Will Depend on People, Not Parties," Truthout, 26 September 2011.
An interview with Margaret Flowers of October2011.org.
Michel Chossudovsky, "Occupy Wall Street and 'The American Autumn': Is It a 'Colored Revolution'? Part I," Global Research, 13 October 2011.
Amy Goodman, "Former Financial Regulator William Black: Occupy Wall Street a Counter to White-Collar Fraud," Democracy Now!, 19 October 2011.
Andy Kroll, "How Occupy Wall Street Really Got Started," Mother Jones, 17 October 2011.
Charles Hugh Smith, "Semi-Random Notes on the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) Movement," Of Two Minds, 20 October 2011.
A Sampling of Right-Wingers:
Jonah Goldberg, "Sorting Out the ‘Extremists’: The difference between Wall Street protestors and the Tea Party," National Review Online, 07 October 2011.
Mark Steyn, "American Autumn: The zombie youth 'occupying' Wall Street are contemptuous of the world that sustains their comforts," National Review Online, 08 October 2011.
Mark Steyn, "Crisis of Decadence: A society can live on the accumulated capital of a glorious inheritance for only so long," National Review Online, 15 October 2011.
Victor Davis Hanson, "Railing Against Reality: What are the root causes of the multifaceted unrest in the Western world?," National Review Online, 20 October 2011.
My summary: There is a uniform unwillingness or inability among the right-wingers to recognize the variety of issues that mobilize Organize Wall Street but fall outside the right-wing cliches and themes they have used for decades to attack their political opponents. For example, corporate fraud, government corruption, and the active participation of the corrupt two-party political duopoly in enabling corporate fraud are absent from their analysis.
But I do commend Steyn for recognizing the serious problem of student debt. Why would a society impose a huge debt burden on people seeking higher education? Christopher Newfield has addressed some of this problem in Unmaking the Public University: The Forty-Year Assault on the Middle Class (2008; 2011).
Monday, October 17, 2011
Occupy Wall Street, Part 3: Recent Articles and Videos
(My previous posts on this topic are: Part 1; Part 2.)
General Sources:
http://occupywallst.org/.
Occupy Wall Street Media, Kickstarter.
Has links to The Occupied Wall Street Journal.
Wall Street protests, The Progressive.
Occupy Wall Street, The Guardian.
Occupy Wall Street, CommonDreams.org.
Occupy Wall Street, Al Jazeera English.
Articles & Videos:
Reggie Middleton, "Why Occupy Wall Street When You Can Control Wall Street?," BoomBustBlog, 12 October 2011.
Also posted at MaxKeiser.com.
This 24 minute video is both entertaining and contains informative economic statistics (I paused it several times to look at the charts, tables, etc.). In particular, US real estate prices are a long way from bottoming. And there's a great Malcolm X video included.
Also, I endorse Reggie's observation in the notes to the video on BoomBustBlog regarding the non-existence of a middle class. People whose main income source is Wages (see Line 7 of your IRS Form 1040) are working class, however high their wages. The middle class is better understood as the comfortable working class. Splitting the middle class from the working class is part of a divide-and-rule strategy; consider, for example, the anti-union sentiment among the middle class. I think it's necessary to discuss these economic class issues to help people recognize that they should identify with the 99% who have legitimate grievances against exploitative corporations and a corrupt government that serves those corporations instead of the people.
I am less optimistic about the idea of organizing large numbers of small depositors - "Depositor Activism" - to force banks to change their policies. The weakness is not just in the "herding cats" aspect of the idea. Given how the banks now control the corrupt U.S. government, I expect the organizers of such a campaign would face illegal and highly punitive actions by the government; they would be subjected to the kinds of arbitrary "asset forfeiture" confiscations now used in other areas. (You do know what the U.S. government does to people it unilaterally declares are "terrorists" or "unlawful enemy combatants," don't you?)
trashtelevision, "Occupy Wall Street Simplified," YouTube.
This does indeed vastly oversimplify the issues, by focusing only on the bailouts.
Steve Fraser, "Tomgram: Steve Fraser, The Street of Torments; The All-American Occupation: A Century of Our Streets Vs. Wall Street," TomDispatch, 13 October 2011.
Tom Engelhardt's introduction describes a demonstration by the Egyptian Association for Change, USA in support of Occupy Wall Street that took place in Washington Square Park during the weekend of 08-09 October.
John Feffer, "The Age of Activism," Foreign Policy in Focus, 15 March 2011.
John Feffer, "Wall Street (Unlike)," Foreign Policy in Focus, 11 October 2011.
Ariel Dorfman, "Tomgram: Ariel Dorfman, A Warning for Barack Obama; Salvador Allende Has Words for Barack Obama from the Other Side of Death," TomDispatch, 09 October 2011.
Tom Engelhardt's introduction describes a march out of Zuccotti Park with Occupy Wall Street on Wednesday, 05 October.
Ariel Dorfman, "Ariel Dorfman's Message to Youth Who Want Change," The Nation, 22 September 2011.
Paul Krugman, "Losing Their Immunity," The New York Times, 16 October 2011.
Nicholas D. Kristof, "America’s ‘Primal Scream’," The New York Times, 15 October 2011.
October 15th - Global Day Of Action, Occupy Wall Street.
Bernie Sanders, "Six Demands to Make of Wall Street," CommonDreams.org, 12 October 2011.
Peter Dreier, "Will Occupy Wall Street Be Co-opted?," The Huffington Post, 12 October 2011.
Barbara Ehrenreich, "The Guys in the 1% Brought This On," The Progressive, 12 October 2011.
David J. Lynch, "Growing Income Gap May Leave U.S. Vulnerable," Bloomberg.com, 13 October 2011.
Jeff Madrick, "A Zuccotti Park Education," NYRblog at The New York Review of Books, 11 October 2011.
You can watch Stiglitz's & Madrick's afternoon teach-in here.
Immanuel Wallerstein, "The Fantastic Success of Occupy Wall Street," Commentary No. 315, Fernand Braudel Center - SUNY Binghamton, 15 October 2011.
EuroCatalyst, "Kyle Bass @ AmeriCatalyst 2010 | 'Confessions of a Dangerous Mind', 2010.
via: Tyler Durden, "Some Words of Advice from Kyle Bass," Zero Hedge, 16 October 2011.
The charts and interpretation by Kyle Bass explain why the Europeans have been acting so desperately to prevent a sovereign debt default by Greece and the other PIIGS. Zero Hedge also has many articles showing how interlinked the large international banks are in their holdings of various debt instruments. Hence the propping-up of Dexia recently. One big sovereign or bank default and Bass's domino default scenario starts to happen.
Juan Cole, "Mayor Bloomberg and Occupy Wall Street by the Numbers," Informed Comment, 15 October 2011.
Chris Hedges, "A Movement Too Big to Fail," TruthDig, 15 October 2011.
George Washington, "Is Anyone Dumb Enough to Believe that Obama Supports the 99%?," Washington's Blog, 17 October 2011.
Russ Certo, "'A Walk In The Park' - A High Level Banker's Take On #OccupyWallStreet... And Other Musings," Zero Hedge, 17 October 2011.
This is not a satire of banker cluelessness. It's the real thing!
"Map: See Major Events and Arrests From #OWS," Mother Jones, 04 October 2011.
Article also includes informative economic data.
Matt Taibbi, "My Advice to the Occupy Wall Street Protesters: Hit bankers where it hurts," Rolling Stone, 12 October 2011.
Eliot Spitzer, "Occupy Wall Street Has Already Won," Slate.com, 13 October 2011.
Alan Taylor, "Occupy Wall Street Spreads Beyond NYC," The Atlantic, 07 October 2011.
A nice collection of photographs.
Max Keiser rallies the troops in Greece – Syntagma, Athens 16/6/11, MaxKeiser.com, 15 October 2011.
The two videos here show Max Keiser was doing #OccupyWallStreet-type consciousness raising in June 2011 in Greece; he speaks to the Athens Lawyers Association and to a large outdoor crowd.
If you're interested in hearing more I recommend "[KR197] Keiser Report – Pirates & Protesters!," 15 October 2011.
Brian Rogers, "Guest Notes From The Sales Desk - A Few Thoughts On The Occupy Wall Street Movement," Zero Hedge, 14 October 2011.
Adrian Chen, Meet the Guy Who Snitched on Occupy Wall Street to the FBI and NYPD , gawker.com, 15 October 2011.
Adrian Chen, Right-Wing Rabble-Rouser Leaks Thousands of Occupy Wall Street Emails, gawker.com, 15 October 2011.
Another self-appointed agent provocateur and, like last week's, he's a right-wing exhibitionist.
My opinion: among many other reforms, the U.S. needs a new Pecora Commission. This was discussed on Bill Moyers Journal, 24 April 2009.
William K. Black is frequently suggested as the leader of a new Pecora Commission. He is ready and willing: "Enforce the Laws for the 99%", 17 October 2011.
General Sources:
http://occupywallst.org/.
Occupy Wall Street Media, Kickstarter.
Has links to The Occupied Wall Street Journal.
Wall Street protests, The Progressive.
Occupy Wall Street, The Guardian.
Occupy Wall Street, CommonDreams.org.
Occupy Wall Street, Al Jazeera English.
Articles & Videos:
Reggie Middleton, "Why Occupy Wall Street When You Can Control Wall Street?," BoomBustBlog, 12 October 2011.
Also posted at MaxKeiser.com.
This 24 minute video is both entertaining and contains informative economic statistics (I paused it several times to look at the charts, tables, etc.). In particular, US real estate prices are a long way from bottoming. And there's a great Malcolm X video included.
Also, I endorse Reggie's observation in the notes to the video on BoomBustBlog regarding the non-existence of a middle class. People whose main income source is Wages (see Line 7 of your IRS Form 1040) are working class, however high their wages. The middle class is better understood as the comfortable working class. Splitting the middle class from the working class is part of a divide-and-rule strategy; consider, for example, the anti-union sentiment among the middle class. I think it's necessary to discuss these economic class issues to help people recognize that they should identify with the 99% who have legitimate grievances against exploitative corporations and a corrupt government that serves those corporations instead of the people.
I am less optimistic about the idea of organizing large numbers of small depositors - "Depositor Activism" - to force banks to change their policies. The weakness is not just in the "herding cats" aspect of the idea. Given how the banks now control the corrupt U.S. government, I expect the organizers of such a campaign would face illegal and highly punitive actions by the government; they would be subjected to the kinds of arbitrary "asset forfeiture" confiscations now used in other areas. (You do know what the U.S. government does to people it unilaterally declares are "terrorists" or "unlawful enemy combatants," don't you?)
trashtelevision, "Occupy Wall Street Simplified," YouTube.
This does indeed vastly oversimplify the issues, by focusing only on the bailouts.
Steve Fraser, "Tomgram: Steve Fraser, The Street of Torments; The All-American Occupation: A Century of Our Streets Vs. Wall Street," TomDispatch, 13 October 2011.
Tom Engelhardt's introduction describes a demonstration by the Egyptian Association for Change, USA in support of Occupy Wall Street that took place in Washington Square Park during the weekend of 08-09 October.
John Feffer, "The Age of Activism," Foreign Policy in Focus, 15 March 2011.
John Feffer, "Wall Street (Unlike)," Foreign Policy in Focus, 11 October 2011.
Ariel Dorfman, "Tomgram: Ariel Dorfman, A Warning for Barack Obama; Salvador Allende Has Words for Barack Obama from the Other Side of Death," TomDispatch, 09 October 2011.
Tom Engelhardt's introduction describes a march out of Zuccotti Park with Occupy Wall Street on Wednesday, 05 October.
Ariel Dorfman, "Ariel Dorfman's Message to Youth Who Want Change," The Nation, 22 September 2011.
Paul Krugman, "Losing Their Immunity," The New York Times, 16 October 2011.
Nicholas D. Kristof, "America’s ‘Primal Scream’," The New York Times, 15 October 2011.
October 15th - Global Day Of Action, Occupy Wall Street.
Bernie Sanders, "Six Demands to Make of Wall Street," CommonDreams.org, 12 October 2011.
Peter Dreier, "Will Occupy Wall Street Be Co-opted?," The Huffington Post, 12 October 2011.
Barbara Ehrenreich, "The Guys in the 1% Brought This On," The Progressive, 12 October 2011.
David J. Lynch, "Growing Income Gap May Leave U.S. Vulnerable," Bloomberg.com, 13 October 2011.
Jeff Madrick, "A Zuccotti Park Education," NYRblog at The New York Review of Books, 11 October 2011.
You can watch Stiglitz's & Madrick's afternoon teach-in here.
Immanuel Wallerstein, "The Fantastic Success of Occupy Wall Street," Commentary No. 315, Fernand Braudel Center - SUNY Binghamton, 15 October 2011.
EuroCatalyst, "Kyle Bass @ AmeriCatalyst 2010 | 'Confessions of a Dangerous Mind', 2010.
via: Tyler Durden, "Some Words of Advice from Kyle Bass," Zero Hedge, 16 October 2011.
The charts and interpretation by Kyle Bass explain why the Europeans have been acting so desperately to prevent a sovereign debt default by Greece and the other PIIGS. Zero Hedge also has many articles showing how interlinked the large international banks are in their holdings of various debt instruments. Hence the propping-up of Dexia recently. One big sovereign or bank default and Bass's domino default scenario starts to happen.
Juan Cole, "Mayor Bloomberg and Occupy Wall Street by the Numbers," Informed Comment, 15 October 2011.
Chris Hedges, "A Movement Too Big to Fail," TruthDig, 15 October 2011.
George Washington, "Is Anyone Dumb Enough to Believe that Obama Supports the 99%?," Washington's Blog, 17 October 2011.
Russ Certo, "'A Walk In The Park' - A High Level Banker's Take On #OccupyWallStreet... And Other Musings," Zero Hedge, 17 October 2011.
This is not a satire of banker cluelessness. It's the real thing!
"Map: See Major Events and Arrests From #OWS," Mother Jones, 04 October 2011.
Article also includes informative economic data.
Matt Taibbi, "My Advice to the Occupy Wall Street Protesters: Hit bankers where it hurts," Rolling Stone, 12 October 2011.
Eliot Spitzer, "Occupy Wall Street Has Already Won," Slate.com, 13 October 2011.
Alan Taylor, "Occupy Wall Street Spreads Beyond NYC," The Atlantic, 07 October 2011.
A nice collection of photographs.
Max Keiser rallies the troops in Greece – Syntagma, Athens 16/6/11, MaxKeiser.com, 15 October 2011.
The two videos here show Max Keiser was doing #OccupyWallStreet-type consciousness raising in June 2011 in Greece; he speaks to the Athens Lawyers Association and to a large outdoor crowd.
If you're interested in hearing more I recommend "[KR197] Keiser Report – Pirates & Protesters!," 15 October 2011.
Brian Rogers, "Guest Notes From The Sales Desk - A Few Thoughts On The Occupy Wall Street Movement," Zero Hedge, 14 October 2011.
Adrian Chen, Meet the Guy Who Snitched on Occupy Wall Street to the FBI and NYPD , gawker.com, 15 October 2011.
Adrian Chen, Right-Wing Rabble-Rouser Leaks Thousands of Occupy Wall Street Emails, gawker.com, 15 October 2011.
Another self-appointed agent provocateur and, like last week's, he's a right-wing exhibitionist.
My opinion: among many other reforms, the U.S. needs a new Pecora Commission. This was discussed on Bill Moyers Journal, 24 April 2009.
William K. Black is frequently suggested as the leader of a new Pecora Commission. He is ready and willing: "Enforce the Laws for the 99%", 17 October 2011.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Occupy Wall Street, Part 2: What & Why are they protesting? Some answers.
There is no excuse for any confusion about the concerns / demands / objectives of #OccupyWallStreet, as we have heard so frequently from the propagandists for the status quo. The issues are obvious to the 99%. Further, we recognize the mainstream media protestations that "they have no spokesman" and "they have no list of demands" as feeble excuses to avoid an open discussion of issues that would threaten an insecure and corrupt establishment, a status quo whose illegitimacy increases by avoiding and denying open discussions. Here are some explicit expressions of our concerns.
Alan Grayson explains it to the nihilistic right-winger P.J. O'Rourke:
"Alan Grayson on Occupy Wall Street," Real Time with Bill Maher, 07 October 2011.
Here's a longer excerpt from that episode showing the other panelists wallowing and festering in their snide faux ignorance: link.
Some articles by Digby and from her blog Hullabaloo:
Some video reports:
A website for general education:
Connect the Dots: Civics & Policy Basics for the Busy Majority
The editors of Foreign Affairs get it:
Paul Krugman gets it:
Henry Blodget at The Business Insider gets it; he explains things perhaps more simply, and with lots of charts:
An unfortunate but necessary concern: that #OccupyWallStreet may be co-opted by the status quo:
Alan Grayson explains it to the nihilistic right-winger P.J. O'Rourke:
"Alan Grayson on Occupy Wall Street," Real Time with Bill Maher, 07 October 2011.
Here's a longer excerpt from that episode showing the other panelists wallowing and festering in their snide faux ignorance: link.
Some articles by Digby and from her blog Hullabaloo:
- Heather Digby Parton, "The class warfare the rich don't understand," Al Jazeera English, 10 October 2011.
- Digby, "Dissonance among the peasants," Hullabaloo, 12 October 2011.
- David Atkins, "Poor widdle babies," Hullabaloo, 12 October 2011.
Some video reports:
- Hip-Hop Artist Immortal Technique: No More Free Passes for Our Government, Democracy Now!, 11 October 2011.
This is only a small sampling of Democracy Now!'s excellent reporting on Occupy Wall Street. - Andre Damon and C. W. Rogers, "Youth speak on the Democratic Party and socialism," World Socialist Web Site, 11 October 2011.
Don't fear the S-word. Check out Roy Zimmerman's song "Socialist!"
A website for general education:
Connect the Dots: Civics & Policy Basics for the Busy Majority
The editors of Foreign Affairs get it:
- Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, "The Fight for 'Real Democracy' at the Heart of Occupy Wall Street: The Encampment in Lower Manhattan Speaks to a Failure of Representation," Foreign Affairs, 11 October 2011.
- Sidney Tarrow, "Why Occupy Wall Street is not the Tea Party of the Left," Foreign Affairs, 10 October 2011.
- George Packer, "The Broken Contract," Foreign Affairs, 11 October 2011.
Paul Krugman gets it:
- Paul Krugman, "Confronting the Malefactors," The New York Times, 06 October 2011.
- Paul Krugman, "Panic of the Plutocrats," The New York Times, 09 October 2011.
Henry Blodget at The Business Insider gets it; he explains things perhaps more simply, and with lots of charts:
- Henry Blodget, "CHARTS: Here's What The Wall Street Protesters Are So Angry About...," The Business Insider, 11 October 2011.
- Henry Blodget, "Finally, A Clear Explanation Of What The Wall Street Protesters Are So Angry About," The Business Insider, 09 October 2011.
- Henry Blodget, "KRUGMAN: Hurray For The Wall Street Protests — Finally Americans Are Angry At The Right People," The Business Insider, 07 October 2011.
But this article doesn't mention the massive frauds practiced by people in the mortgage industry, that was instigated and encouraged by the banks.
An unfortunate but necessary concern: that #OccupyWallStreet may be co-opted by the status quo:
- Glen Greenwald, "Can OWS be turned into a Democratic Party movement?," Salon.com, 11 October 2011.
- Rick Klein, "Democrats Seek to Own 'Occupy Wall Street' Movement," ABC News / Yahoo! News, 11 October 2011.
- Eric Lichtblau, "Democrats Try Wary Embrace of the Protests," The New York Times, 10 October 2011.
- Bill Van Auken, "Ex-SDS leader seeks to herd Wall Street protest behind Obama," World Socialist Web Site, 12 October 2011.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Steve Keen: Interview 08 Oct 2011 and Launch Video 09 Oct 2011
Interview
[KR194] Keiser Report: Price Propaganda, The Keiser Report, 08 October 2011.
The interview with Steve Keen begins at 13:04.
Launch Video
Debunking Economics II Launch Video, Steve Keen's Debtwatch, 09 October 2011.
This is a 45 minute talk by Steve Keen followed by a talk by Ann Pettifor.
The organizers of the talk apologize for the flickering screen and provide a link to Keen's slides. Here's a copy of that link for the slides.
Steve Keen's book is: Debunking Economics: The Naked Emperor Dethroned?, Zed Books, 2011.
Book information: Publisher; Book website; Amazon.com.
Steve Keen's website: Steve Keen's Debtwatch.
A summary of Keen's argument: George Monbiot, It's in all our interests to understand how to stop another Great Depression, The Guardian, 10 October 2011.
Bonus link:
Sign Language, Occupy Wall Street, 09 October 2011.
[KR194] Keiser Report: Price Propaganda, The Keiser Report, 08 October 2011.
The interview with Steve Keen begins at 13:04.
Launch Video
Debunking Economics II Launch Video, Steve Keen's Debtwatch, 09 October 2011.
This is a 45 minute talk by Steve Keen followed by a talk by Ann Pettifor.
The organizers of the talk apologize for the flickering screen and provide a link to Keen's slides. Here's a copy of that link for the slides.
Steve Keen's book is: Debunking Economics: The Naked Emperor Dethroned?, Zed Books, 2011.
Book information: Publisher; Book website; Amazon.com.
Steve Keen's website: Steve Keen's Debtwatch.
A summary of Keen's argument: George Monbiot, It's in all our interests to understand how to stop another Great Depression, The Guardian, 10 October 2011.
Bonus link:
Sign Language, Occupy Wall Street, 09 October 2011.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Occupy Wall Street, Part 1: Alternative Media Reactions to an Episode of Corporate Propaganda
"Naomi Klein: Protesters Are Seeking Change in the Streets Because It Won’t Come From the Ballot Box," Democracy Now!, 06 October 2011.
Cenk Uygur, "CNN Anchor Mocks Occupy Wall Street - Cenk Responds," The Young Turks, 06 October 2011.
As this episode illustrates, I think one can only conclude that the corporate media intentionally seeks to mislead its viewers (although of course they would deny that). In seeking to understand why the U.S. population is so ignorant, not only about the world outside U.S. borders, but about their own country, one must identify the source, the instrument, of their ignorance. As in many other cases it's too easy, and wrong, to blame the victims for their ignorance. They are deliberately kept ignorant and there is a reason why that ignorance is sustained, encouraged, promoted.
You can learn some of the history of the great American ignorance machine by watching Adam Curtis's film The Century of the Self (BBC, 2002).
Meanwhile, I encourage you to switch to the alternative media. Some examples:
Links on #OccupyWallStreet and/or the Media:
Cenk Uygur, "CNN Anchor Mocks Occupy Wall Street - Cenk Responds," The Young Turks, 06 October 2011.
As this episode illustrates, I think one can only conclude that the corporate media intentionally seeks to mislead its viewers (although of course they would deny that). In seeking to understand why the U.S. population is so ignorant, not only about the world outside U.S. borders, but about their own country, one must identify the source, the instrument, of their ignorance. As in many other cases it's too easy, and wrong, to blame the victims for their ignorance. They are deliberately kept ignorant and there is a reason why that ignorance is sustained, encouraged, promoted.
You can learn some of the history of the great American ignorance machine by watching Adam Curtis's film The Century of the Self (BBC, 2002).
Meanwhile, I encourage you to switch to the alternative media. Some examples:
- Democracy Now! (Amy Goodman)
- The Young Turks (Cenk Uygur)
- GRITtv (Laura Flanders)
Links on #OccupyWallStreet and/or the Media:
- Occupy Wall Street.
- Occupy Together.
- Occupy Austin.
- We Are The 99 Percent at Tumblr.
- October 2011: Human Needs, Not Corporate Greed (this is the "Stop the Machine" group).
- freeman, "Occupy Wall Street’s Misconceptions According to Obama’s Job Czar," FireDogLake, 10 October 2011.
I have always thought that Jeff Immelt was a very strange choice by Obama for a U.S. "Jobs Czar". And after viewing Leslie Stahl's puff-piece I still think that. - Charlie Grapski, "Anatomy of a Deception: How a Conservative Magazine Attempted to Discredit the Occupy Movement," FireDogLake, 10 October 2011.
Agents provocateur, whether employed by the government or otherwise, will attempt to disrupt and subvert every popular movement. - "Stéphane Hessel on Occupy Wall Street: Find the Time for Outrage When Your Values Are Not Respected," Democracy Now!, 10 October 2011.
Links for Hessel's book Time for Outrage / Indignez-vous!: Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com. - Yves Smith, "On #OccupyWallStreet and the Power of Open Source and Consensual Processes," naked capitalism, 10 October 2011.
- "Today Liberty Plaza had a visit from Slavoj Zizek," OccupyWallSt, 09 October 2011.
I think Slavoj Zizek is one of the more interesting thinkers of our time. - Yves Smith, "#OccupyWallStreet Publishes First Issues of 'The Occupied Wall Street Journal'," naked capitalism, 09 October 2011.
You can read or download copies from this article. Also, BreakingCopy website has copies and links for Issue 1 and Issue 2. - MontanaMaven, "Is This the Start of the Century of 'We'?," Corrente, 08 October 2011.
- Brian Baresch, "Social Movements Expert on Occupy Austin," kut.org, 07 October 2011.
- Alan Maki, "An excellent interview with Michael Parenti about 'Occupy Wall Street'," FireDogLake, 06 October 2011.
I had difficulty playing this audio until I pasted the second link (http://www.kdvs.org/m3u.php?show_date=2011-10-02&show_id=1838&kbps=192&show_name=New%20Day%20Jazz) into the Advanced Open File... menu of VLC. As usual, everyone has to figure things out for themselves. Note that the first hour of this audio file is music and poetry; the Parenti interview is in the second hour (of three) beginning at 1:04:20 and is about a half-hour long. I think of Michael Parenti as in the same league as Noam Chomsky, but he's a much better public speaker than Chomsky. Michael Parenti's website. - ""We Are the 99%": Voices From the Occupy Wall Street March," Democracy Now!, 06 October 2011.
- "Naomi Klein: Protesters Are Seeking Change in the Streets Because It Won’t Come From the Ballot Box," Democracy Now!, 06 October 2011.
- "Naomi Klein: Keystone XL Oil Pipeline Controversy Shows How Wall Street Is Occupying U.S. Gov’t," Democracy Now!, 06 October 2011.
Second part of the interview in the preceding link. - "Naomi Klein on Occupy Wall Street & Chile: Courage to Ask Questions We Don’t Have Answers For," Democracy Now!, 06 October 2011.
Continuation of the interview after the above two links. - John Schmitt, "Occupy Wall Street Gets What the 'Very Serious People' Have Missed for 30 Years," AlterNet, 06 October 2011.
- Naomi Klein, "Occupy Wall Street: The Most Important Thing in the World Now," The Nation, 06 October 2011.
A version of this article appears in Issue 2 of The Occupied Wall Street Journal on page 1. - "Frances Fox Piven at Occupy Wall Street: 'We Desperately Need a Popular Uprising in the US'," Democracy Now!, 04 October 2011.
Insightful observations, and it's a pleasure to listen to someone who the right-wingers target for demonization. - "Joseph Stiglitz rocks Zuccotti Park," Corrente, 04 October 2011.
If you don't know who Joseph Stiglitz is -- he isn't just some grey-bearded old fart -- I recommend you check out his website, read his popular essays (popular meaning non-technical), and watch the trailer for Around the World with Joseph Stiglitz; his best know book may be Globalization and Its Discontents (2002). And Jeff Madrick is no slouch himself, either; his latest book is Age of Greed: The Triumph of Finance and the Decline of America, 1970 to the Present (2011). Yet these are the kinds of people whom the U.S. mainstream media tell you are a bunch of hippies stinking up the place in NYC. - Occupy Wall Street archive at Democracy Now!
- Nathan Schneider, "Occupy Wall Street: FAQ," The Nation, 29 September 2011.
A version of this article appears in Issue 1 of The Occupied Wall Street Journal under the title "Occupation for Dummies" on page 4. - Andrew Orlowski, "Adam Curtis: The TV elite has lost the plot," The Register, 20 November 2007.
- Andrew Orlowski, "Adam Curtis : an audio special," The Register, 23 November 2007.
Adam Curtis "gets it" as expressed especially the first two audio clips here; and I suppose this is why I find his films & blog so watchable & re-watchable.
btw, Curtis mentions Radio Popbitch as an alternative to Pandora. I like the sound of it! - Andrew Orlowski, "Sudden outbreak of democracy baffles US pundits," The Register, 03 October 2008.
Note: This article refers to when the US Congress rejected the first version of the TARP.
Thursday, October 06, 2011
Bacevich, "Tailors to the Emperor"
Andrew Bacevich, "Tailors to the Emperor," New Left Review, Number 69, May/June 2011, pages 101-124.
There was a time when U.S. presidents would explicitly deny that the USA had any interest in offensive military action and that despite the USA's huge arsenal, it was for defensive purposes only. Then, somehow, that policy changed. And that policy was institutionalized with the September 2002 National Security Strategy of the United States, also know as the "Bush Doctrine," a policy of "pre-emptive war" and "preventive war." And now the Obama administration continues that policy with the self-annointed authority to kill anybody anywhere in the world. How did we get to this place in history? In "Tailors to the Emperor" Bacevich explains it as a product the Wohlstetter School of the neo-conservatives.
Some other, related items:
Andrew Bacevich, "An End to Empire: The Cold War and Long War are over—it’s time to return to reality," The American Conservative, 07 September 2011.
Jim Lobe, "How neo-cons influence the Pentagon ...," Asia Times Online, 08 August 2003.
Karen Kwiatkowski, "In Rumsfeld's Shop: A senior Air Force officer watches as the neocons consolidate their Pentagon coup," The American Conservative, 01 December 2003.
Karen Kwiatkowski, "Conscientious Objector: A senior Air Force officer watches civilians craft the war plan," The American Conservative, 15 December 2003.
Karen Kwiatkowski, "Open Door Policy: A strange thing happened on the way to the war," The American Conservative, 19 January 2004.
Karen Kwiatkowski, "The new Pentagon papers," Salon.com, 10 March 2004.
Adam Curtis, The Power of Nightmares: The Rise of the Politics of Fear, BBC, 2004.
Added after this post originally published:
"Saddam Shame" by Roy Zimmerman:
There was a time when U.S. presidents would explicitly deny that the USA had any interest in offensive military action and that despite the USA's huge arsenal, it was for defensive purposes only. Then, somehow, that policy changed. And that policy was institutionalized with the September 2002 National Security Strategy of the United States, also know as the "Bush Doctrine," a policy of "pre-emptive war" and "preventive war." And now the Obama administration continues that policy with the self-annointed authority to kill anybody anywhere in the world. How did we get to this place in history? In "Tailors to the Emperor" Bacevich explains it as a product the Wohlstetter School of the neo-conservatives.
Some other, related items:
Andrew Bacevich, "An End to Empire: The Cold War and Long War are over—it’s time to return to reality," The American Conservative, 07 September 2011.
Jim Lobe, "How neo-cons influence the Pentagon ...," Asia Times Online, 08 August 2003.
Karen Kwiatkowski, "In Rumsfeld's Shop: A senior Air Force officer watches as the neocons consolidate their Pentagon coup," The American Conservative, 01 December 2003.
Karen Kwiatkowski, "Conscientious Objector: A senior Air Force officer watches civilians craft the war plan," The American Conservative, 15 December 2003.
Karen Kwiatkowski, "Open Door Policy: A strange thing happened on the way to the war," The American Conservative, 19 January 2004.
Karen Kwiatkowski, "The new Pentagon papers," Salon.com, 10 March 2004.
Adam Curtis, The Power of Nightmares: The Rise of the Politics of Fear, BBC, 2004.
Added after this post originally published:
"Saddam Shame" by Roy Zimmerman:
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Alex Schaefer, artist (painter)
Alex Schaefer ‘Burns’ The Wrong Bank Again, 28 Sept 2011.
From early September 2011:
The Art of Burning Banks, 05 Sept 2011.
Links for the full episode of The Keiser Report featuring an interview with Alex Schaefer, 07 Sept 2011 (#180 or #181 ?):
From August 2011:
Alex Schaefer’s depiction of a Chase branch going up in flames drew the attention of L.A. police, 28 Aug 2011.
Another brilliant Chase on fire by ALEX SCHAEFER, 28 Aug 2011.
Alex Schaefer's website: http://alexanderschaefer.blogspot.com/.
From early September 2011:
The Art of Burning Banks, 05 Sept 2011.
Links for the full episode of The Keiser Report featuring an interview with Alex Schaefer, 07 Sept 2011 (#180 or #181 ?):
- [KR181] Keiser Report - Fake Assets, 07 Sept 2011.
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce2CD5o_rH8
- http://alexanderschaefer.blogspot.com/2011/09/keiser-report.html
From August 2011:
Alex Schaefer’s depiction of a Chase branch going up in flames drew the attention of L.A. police, 28 Aug 2011.
Another brilliant Chase on fire by ALEX SCHAEFER, 28 Aug 2011.
Alex Schaefer's website: http://alexanderschaefer.blogspot.com/.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Smith, "Why Liberals Are Lame: McCarthyite Identity Politics as Cover for Bankrupt Policies"
Yves Smith, "Why Liberals Are Lame: McCarthyite Identity Politics as Cover for Bankrupt Policies," Naked Capitalism, 28 Sept 2011.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Roy Zimmerman, musician
"Socialist!" by Roy Zimmerman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMLgEnDGkG4
"Vote Republican" by Roy Zimmerman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ege_RBhh37A
... and many more very funny songs at YouTube.
His website: http://www.royzimmerman.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMLgEnDGkG4
"Vote Republican" by Roy Zimmerman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ege_RBhh37A
... and many more very funny songs at YouTube.
His website: http://www.royzimmerman.com/
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Stein, Pivotal Decade: How the United States Traded Factories for Finance in the Seventies (2010)
Judith Stein.
Pivotal Decade: How the United States Traded Factories for Finance in the Seventies.
New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2010.
Book Information: Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.
Author Information:
Another book that covers similar ground as Pivotal Decade but which has far more detail on the economic factors that caused the political changes since the 1970s is:
Thomas Ferguson & Joel Rogers. Right Turn: The Decline of the Democrats and the Future of American Politics. New York: Hill & Wang, 1986.
[Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
My post on Right Turn is here.
Book Reviews:
(mostly in academic journals, not completely readable online for free, require a subscription or access through an institution)
Book cover photo: Line at a gas station, 15 June 1979.
Pivotal Decade: How the United States Traded Factories for Finance in the Seventies.
New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2010.
Book Information: Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.
Author Information:
- Judith Stein, Department of History, The City College of New York.
- Judith Stein (1940–2017), Wikipedia.
- Judith Stein, "Politics and Economics in the 1970s," City University of New York, Lectures in History, C-SPAN, 27 March 2012.
Another book that covers similar ground as Pivotal Decade but which has far more detail on the economic factors that caused the political changes since the 1970s is:
Thomas Ferguson & Joel Rogers. Right Turn: The Decline of the Democrats and the Future of American Politics. New York: Hill & Wang, 1986.
[Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
My post on Right Turn is here.
Book Reviews:
- Joshua C. Hall, Review, EH.net, August 2010.
- Mark Schmitt, "When It All Went Wrong," The American Prospect, 31 August 2010.
A review of Stein's Pivotal Decade: How the United States Traded Factories for Finance in the 1970s, Cowie's Stayin' Alive: The 1970s and the Last Days of the Working Class, and Kalman's Right Star Rising: A New Politics, 1974-1980. - Rick Perlstein, "That Seventies Show," The Nation, 20 October 2010.
Reviews many books on the 1970s. - Joel Suarez, "How We Got Here: Stein, Cowie, and Arrighi on the Post-Industrial Economy," Tropics of Meta, 09 February 2011.
- Steve Fraser, "Thanks to the Tea Party," London Review of Books, 17 March 2011.
A review of Stein's Pivotal Decade: How the United States Traded Factories for Finance in the 1970s and Cowie's Stayin' Alive: The 1970s and the Last Days of the Working Class. - Jennifer Klein, "Apocalypse Then, and Now," Democracy, Issue #19, Winter 2011.
A review of Stein's Pivotal Decade: How the United States Traded Factories for Finance in the 1970s and Cowie's Stayin' Alive: The 1970s and the Last Days of the Working Class. - David Potash, "Decline in the 1970s – A Pivotal Decade," The Digital Quad, 10 January 2013.
- HNN Staff, "It's Rick Perlstein vs. Judith Stein in a Three Round Fight," History News Network, 20 October 2014.
(mostly in academic journals, not completely readable online for free, require a subscription or access through an institution)
- Ruth Milkman, "Commentary on Judith Stein's Pivotal Decade," The Journal of The Historical Society, Volume 11, Issue 3, pages 287–292, September 2011.
- Peter Temin, Review, Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Volume 42, Number 2, Autumn 2011, pp. 315-316.
- Kim Phillips-Fein, "Decisive Decade: Re-evaluating the Seventies," Dissent, Volume 58, Number 1, Winter 2011, pp. 90-94.
A review of Stein's Pivotal Decade: How the United States Traded Factories for Finance in the 1970s, Cowie's Stayin' Alive: The 1970s and the Last Days of the Working Class, and Kalman's Right Star Rising: A New Politics, 1974-1980. - Craig Phelan et al., "Labor History symposium: Judith Stein, Pivotal Decade," Labor History, Volume 52, Issue 3, 2011, pages 323-346.
- Charles L. Ponce de Leon, "How Pivotal Were the Seventies?," Reviews in American History, Volume 40, Number 1, March 2012, pp. 128-138.
A review of Stein's Pivotal Decade: How the United States Traded Factories for Finance in the 1970s and Cowie's Stayin' Alive: The 1970s and the Last Days of the Working Class. - David Farber, Review, American Historical Review, Volume 117, Number 2, April 2012, pp. 563-564.
Book cover photo: Line at a gas station, 15 June 1979.
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