QUOTES OF THE WEEK
“What remains of democracy is largely the right to choose among commodities. Business leaders have long explained the need to impose on the population a ‘philosophy of futility’ and ‘lack of purpose in life’ to ‘concentrate human attention on the more superficial things that comprise much of fashionable consumption’. Deluged by such propaganda from infancy, people may then accept their meaningless and subordinate lives and forget ridiculous ideas about managing their own affairs. They abandon their fate to corporate managers and the PR industry, and, in the political realm, to the self described ‘intelligent minorities’ who administer power.” – Noam Chomsky
“All that is left of America is banality and self-delusion.”- Noam Chomsky
“People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome.” – George Orwell
STATS OF THE WEEK
– Business Insider is giving the title of world’s most unequal city to Hong Kong, with New York the first runner-up. One metric in the Business Insider analysis: Full-time domestic servants make up 4 percent of Hong Kong residents and only 0.01 percent in New York.
– The American who runs the British banking giant Barclays chose to play offense when he testified last year before a UK parliamentary panel. Barclays CEO Bob Diamond called for an end to banker bashing and pointedly declared that his bank “never took a single penny of taxpayer money anywhere in the world.” But Barclays, we now know, was taking plenty, skimming “off the top” in an interest rate manipulation scheme that helped the bank score billions in phony profits — and helped make Diamond the UK’s highest-paid CEO. Barclays last week agreed to pay $450 million in fines to regulators in Britain and the United States, and Diamond says he won’t take a bonus this year. Back in 1980, the top Barclays executive took home the equivalent of $210,000. Diamond last year walked off with $32.6 million.
FEATURES
John Pilger: US war crimes from Vietnam to Obama http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/51536
Yes, there is an alternative to capitalism: Mondragon shows the way – Why are we told a broken system that creates vast inequality is the only choice? Spain’s amazing co-op is living proof otherwise http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jun/24/alternative-capitalism-mondragon
What is the Higgs boson? – video http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/video/2012/jul/03/what-is-a-higgs-boson-video
Latin America: how the US has allied with the forces of reaction – Honduras three years ago created a new template of the US backing coups to compensate for lost influence on the continent http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jun/29/latin-america-us-allied-forces-reaction
Why Marxism is on the rise again: Capitalism is in crisis across the globe – but what on earth is the alternative? Well, what about the musings of a certain 19th-century German philosopher? Yes, Karl Marx is going mainstream – and goodness knows where it will end http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/04/the-return-of-marxism
Al Jazeera World : Revolution Through Arab Eyes – The Factory – A glimpse into life inside Egypt’s Mahalla textile factory – a place renowned as a cauldron of revolt where striking workers first inspired the Egyptian uprising.
It’s the 21st century – why are we working so much? http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jul/01/why-are-we-working-so-hard
The Spirit Level documentary: bringing the message to millions http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jun/30/the-spirit-level-documentary
An injury to one is an injury to all http://www.labourstartcampaigns.net/show_campaign.cgi?c=1466
The Super-Rich and the Rest of Us – Some Outrageous Facts About Inequality http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/07/02/some-outrageous-facts-about-inequality/
What would Rousseau make of our selfish age? 300 years after Rousseau’s birth, the great Enlightenment philosopher would surely be horrified by modern Europe by Terry Eagleton http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jun/27/rousseau-our-selfish-age-philosopher
Michael Lebowitz: Overture — the conductor and the conducted (new book excerpt) http://links.org.au/node/2941
How The Press Uses Julian Assange’s Private Life To Conceal the Real Triumph of WikiLeaks by Patrick Cockburn http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31747.htm
WORLD ECONOMIC CRISIS
A Manifesto for Economic Sense http://www.manifestoforeconomicsense.org/
The real cost of the Libor Scandal – What Barclays and other banks did will hurt every saver and homeowner, says Alex Andreou. http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/voices/2012/07/real-cost-libor-scandal
Dangerous Weapons – How International Investment Rules Undermine Social and Environmental Justice: Nice simple introduction to the perils of investors being able to sue countries through “Investor-State Dispute Settlement” in investment agreements such as proposed as part of TPPA. From Bolivia and Europe. http://tinyurl.com/7vurhxe
Where are you on the global pay scale? Do you earn more or less than the world’s average wage? Type in your monthly salary and we’ll give you the answer. The average wage, calculated by the International Labour Organization, is published here for the first time. It’s a rough figure based on data from 72 countries, omitting some of the world’s poorest nations. All figures are adjusted to reflect variations in the cost of living from one country to another, and as Ruth Alexander of BBC radio’s More or Less programme underlines, it’s all about wage earners, not the self-employed or people on benefits. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17543356
Eurozone crisis…what’s the end game? http://www.thomhartmann.com/bigpicture/eurozone-crisiswhats-end-game
A Diamond standard: “The principal message is simple: Barclays’ actions did not meet the high standards that we set for ourselves.” Bob Diamond. “A bank’s culture is how people behave when no-one is watching.” Bob Diamond http://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2012/06/28/a-diamond-standard/
LIBOR Manipulating Banksters Get a Slap on the Wrist http://moneymorning.com/2012/06/29/libor-manipulating-banksters-get-a-slap-on-the-wrist/
Trans-Pacific Partnership: Under Cover of Darkness, a Corporate Coup Is Underway http://tinyurl.com/7v5c2zj
NAFTA on Steroids by Lori Wallach http://www.thenation.com/article/168627/nafta-steroids
Firms’ ‘disbelief and horror’ over rate swaps scandal: Banks must be “held to proper account” for the “appalling breach of trust” over their mis-selling of interest rate swaps to small companies, business groups have demanded. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/yourbusiness/9365728/Firms-disbelief-and-horror-over-rate-swaps-scandal.html
Why The Yes Men Crashed the TPP Negotiations
LAND, LABOUR AND THE ENVIROMENT
US heatwave: “This is what global warming looks like” http://climateandcapitalism.com/2012/07/03/us-heatwave/
Thirst for power: How coal, nuclear and gas waste our water http://climateandcapitalism.com/2012/06/27/thirst-for-power/
Biofuels and hunger, two sides of the same coin http://climateandcapitalism.com/2012/06/25/biofuels-and-hunger-two-sides-of-the-same-coin/
As long as the rich can speculate on food, the world’s poor go hungry http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/as-long-as-the-rich-can-speculate-on-food-the-worlds-poor-go-hungry-20120630-219ja.html#ixzz1zoF3ViF0
CULTURAL DISSENT
An Iranian Storyteller’s Personal Revolution http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/02/books/the-colonel-by-the-iranian-writer-mahmoud-dowlatabadi.html?pagewanted=all
Forty years of How Europe Underdeveloped Africa By Nigel Westmaas http://climateandcapitalism.com/2012/06/27/forty-years-of-how-europe-underdeveloped-africa/
Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control http://www.counterfire.org/index.php/articles/book-reviews/15872-drone-warfare-killing-by-remote-control
The Pentagon’s grip on Hollywood – A report on the film ‘Act of Valor’ and the growing ties between the film industry and the war industry. http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/listeningpost/2012/07/201271142016284778.html
AFGHANISTAN
Terror of ‘incorruptible’ Afghan who turned his gun on British troops – The killer who struck on Sunday was meant to be from a group the Taliban couldn’t touch http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/terror-of-incorruptible-afghan-who-turned-his-gun-on-british-troops-7904460.html
AUSTRALIA
John Pilger: Murdoch, Fairfax’s non-free ‘free market’ http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/51544
Offshore processing of asylum seekers is not the solution http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/51468
Green reasons to oppose Australia’s carbon price http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/48220
NSW teachers massive strike and rally to save public education
GREEN LEFT TV: NSW teachers strike against education attacks http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/51483
Interview: Australia’s media crisis has never been more serious – Green Left Weekly’s Jay Fletcher spoke to Wendy Bacon, a Walkley award-winning journalist and professor at UTS’s Australian Centre for Investigative Journalism, about the crisis in Australia’s mainstream media http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/51418
Christmas Carol Criminals walk free!
Construction workers on the march http://www.sa.org.au/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=7386:construction-workers-on-the-march&Itemid=392
No doubt the US wants to destroy WikiLeaks, Assange http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/51541
Teachers and public servants held a lunchtime protest on July 3, 2012 outside the NSW government offices to protest the O’Farrell Liberal-National government’s attacks on public education and on public sector jobs.
BAHRAIN
Bahrain Protesters Denounce US Support for Dictatorship
BOLIVIA
Solutions to the EU Crisis: Learning from Latin America – Interview with Pablo Solon. Former Bolivian ambassador Pablo Solon speaks of his successes and frustrations in government, what the EU can learn from Latin America in confronting a debt crisis, and warns of the dangers of marketising nature under the guise of a ‘green economy.’ http://www.tni.org/interview/solutions-eu-crisis-learning-latin-america
Bolivian Doctors Fighting For Socialism http://www.zcommunications.org/bolivian-doctors-fighting-for-socialism-by-andre-vltchek
BURMA
Wasted talent: Burma pays price for ‘lost generation’ http://asiancorrespondent.com/85058/wasted-talent-burma-pays-price-for-lost-generation/
CANADA
Afghan detainee report released http://www.ceasefire.ca/?p=11950
Canadian soldiers lead detainees from a residential compound in Kabul after a raid in 2003
Canadians are more progressive today than we ever have been http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Canadians+more+progressive+today+than+ever+have+been/6881893/story.html
BC teachers reach two-year agreement with government, key issues unresolved http://www.rogerannis.com/bc-teachers-reach-two-year-agreement-with-government-key-issues-unresolved/
Quebec government to finance reopening of killer asbestos mining http://www.rogerannis.com/quebec-government-to-finance-reopening-of-killer-asbestos-mining/
Locked out workers at Rio Tinto in Quebec will vote on settlement http://www.rogerannis.com/striking-workers-at-rio-tinto-in-quebec-will-vote-on-strike-settlement/
An antidote to the Canadian government propaganda blitz on the War of 1812 http://www.rogerannis.com/an-antidote-to-the-canadian-government-propaganda-blitz-on-the-war-of-1812/
CHILE
Largest student protest of the year draws 150,000 to march http://www.santiagotimes.cl/national/education/23994-largest-student-protest-of-the-year-draws-150000-to-march
CHINA
Xi Jinping Millionaire Relations Reveal Fortunes Of Elite http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-29/xi-jinping-millionaire-relations-reveal-fortunes-of-elite.html
Hong Kong’s weekend of protest http://www.counterfire.org/index.php/articles/international/15882-hong-kongs-weekend-of-protest
A chance to help build grassroots democracy in China By Han Dongfang http://www.clb.org.hk/en/node/110089
CUBA
The Economist: wishful thinking on “transition” http://cubasocialistrenewal.blogspot.co.nz/2012/07/economist-wishful-thinking-on.html
ECUADOR
First Successful Case Enforcing Rights of Nature in Ecuador http://www.pachamama.org/news/first-successful-case-enforcing-rights-of-nature-in-ecuador
EGYPT
Broad front ensures Morsi’s win in Egypt, but where now? by Alain Gresh Le Monde Diplomatique http://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/2012/07/05/broad-front-ensures-morsis-win-in-egypt-but-where-now/
Morsi, SCAF and the revolutionary left http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/6247/morsi-scaf-and-the-revolutionary-left
Interpreting the Coup http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/658.php#continue
FRANCE
France Pushing for a Maximum Wage; Will Others Follow? http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/07/france-pushing-for-a-maximum-wage-will-others-follow.html
GREECE
Greece interview: New gov’t formed, but voters reject austerity http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/51439
Greek election reveals new political landscape – Sets stage for further struggle http://www.pslweb.org/liberationnews/news/greek-election-reveals-new.html
HAITI
In Wake of Scandals and Cholera, Anger Rises Against Minustah http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/relief-and-reconstruction-watch/in-wake-of-scandals-and-cholera-anger-rises-against-minustah
Haiti’s earthquake victims step up demands for housing http://canadahaitiaction.ca/content/haiti%E2%80%99s-earthquake-victims-step-demands-housing
IRAN
Iranian Activists arrested en masse http://www.aawl.org.au/content/iranian-activists-arrested-en-masse
Iran’s food costs soar and unemployment spirals as nuclear sanctions begin to bite http://tinyurl.com/7hsqc5v
IRELAND
Shock, austerity, Sinn Féin and the United Left Alliance http://links.org.au/node/2931
JAPAN
In Tokyo, Thousands Protest the Restarting of a Nuclear Power Plant http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/30/world/asia/thousands-in-tokyo-protest-the-restarting-of-a-nuclear-plant.html?_r=1
Thousands protest Japan nuclear reactors http://www.skynews.com.au/eco/article.aspx?id=766628&vId
Largest Demonstrations in Half a Century Protest the Restart of Japanese Nuclear Power Plants http://japanfocus.org/-Piers-_Williamson/3787
KOREA
Korean truck drivers stage nationwide strike http://www.counterfire.org/index.php/articles/international/15881-korean-truck-drivers-stage-nationwide-strike
LEBANON
Israel suffers defeats in Cold War against Hezbollah http://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/2012/07/05/israel-suffers-defeats-in-cold-war-against-hezbollah/
LIBYA
Militias Become Power Centers in Libya http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/06/30-0
Libya holding landmark poll amid post-uprising tensions http://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/2012/07/04/libya-holding-landmark-poll-amid-post-uprising-tensions/
MEXICO
Online and on the streets, Mexico youth protests grow as election looms http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/27/world/americas/mexico-student-protest-movement/index.html
Mexico’s Election: It’s the Economy Stupid http://www.cepr.net/index.php/op-eds-&-columns/op-eds-&-columns/mexicos-election-its-the-economy-stupid
Mexican truckers on strike last week
PACIFIC
WCC general secretary calls for justice and peace in Tanah Papua http://www.oikoumene.org/en/news/news-management/eng/a/article/1634/wcc-general-secretary-cal-5.html
West Papua: Why the news media silence over oppression in Melanesia? http://pacific.scoop.co.nz/2012/06/west-papua-why-the-news-media-silence-over-oppression-in-melanesia/
PALESTINE
Urgent: 83 Days of Hunger Strike- Take action for Palestinian prisoner Akram Al-Rikhawi! http://samidoun.ca/2012/07/urgent-83-days-of-hunger-strike-take-action-for-palestinian-prisoner-akram-al-rikhawi/
Israeli demolitions: “Number of Palestinians affected has increased by 87%” says Special Rapporteur http://www.unmultimedia.org/radio/english/2012/06/palestinians-affected-by-israeli-demolitions-increased-87/
Rabbi who called for slaughter of a million Palestinians is to supervise Israel’s ‘Red Cross’ http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/rabbi-who-called-slaughter-million-palestinians-supervise-israels-red-cross
‘Resistance is a national duty’: bereaved mother in Gaza http://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/2012/07/02/resistance-is-a-national-duty-bereaved-mother-in-gaza/
Egypt’s new president called upon to open Gaza border http://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/2012/07/02/egypts-new-president-called-upon-to-open-gaza-border/
‘A new style of convoy’: Zaher Birawi, Gaza siege buster http://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/2012/07/03/a-new-style-of-convoy-zaher-birawi-gaza-siege-buster/
‘I am free to write’: Lina Al Sharif, Gaza blogger & poet http://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/2012/07/04/i-am-free-to-write-lina-al-sharif-gaza-blogger-poet/
sraeli refuseniks publicly spurn compulsory army duty http://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/2012/07/04/israeli-refuseniks-publicly-spurn-compulsory-army-duty/
A Post ‘Arab Spring’ Palestine by Ramzy Baroud http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1207/S00023/a-post-arab-spring-palestine.htm
PARAGUAY
Welcome to ‘Democraship’ By Pepe Escobar – Over 10 days ago a new brand of coup d’etat took place in Paraguay against elected president Fernando Lugo. It was virtually unnoticed by global corporate media. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31764.htm
PHILIPPINES
‘Phl becoming dangerous for foreign missionaries’ http://www.philstar.com/nation/article.aspx?publicationsubcategoryid=63&articleid=823989
RUSSIA
Calls to release female punk band gather momentum http://www.nzherald.co.nz/music/news/article.cfm?c_id=264&objectid=10816695
SOUTH KOREA
South Korean Construction Workers Rally Over Wages http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/international/south-korean-construction-workers-rally-over-wages/527365
Truckers Back to Work After Agreeing on 9.9% Pay Raise http://www.arirang.co.kr/News/News_View.asp?nseq=132602&code=Ne2&category=2
SPAIN
Spanish miners’ march against government cuts http://www.industriall-union.org/spanish-miners-march-against-government-cuts
SUDAN
Uprising spreads with ‘Friday of elbow licking’ http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/51509
SYRIA
Can We Stop a Civil War in Syria? By Phyllis Bennis http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31720.htm#idc-cover
Straight Talking: The Syrian Cauldron By Jeremy Salt – Ankara http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=19392
Syria – ABC News (AU) expose the lies of Reuters, ABC and other Medias
TIMOR
Report of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights http://reliefweb.int/node/502133
TURKEY
71 Trade Unionists Arrested http://www.ituc-csi.org/turkey-71-trade-unionists-arrested.html
UK
Will we see City bankers behind bars? Barclays staff behind interest rate-fixing scandal may face fraud charges as Parliament holds inquiry http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/will-we-see-city-bankers-behind-bars-7904450.html
Police killed Blair Peach – then ensured no officer would ever face justice – InvestigatioBarclaysn into protester’s death in 1979 was stymied by lies, report reveals http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/police-killed-blair-peach-ndash-then-ensured-no-officer-would-ever-face-justice-1956166.html
UKRAINE
No bail-out for Ukrainian orphans: Ten times as many children are in institutional care in Ukraine as in England. In this disturbing investigation, film-maker, Kate Blewett (The Dying Rooms, Bulgaria’s Abandoned Children) finds out what a lifetime in the care of the state really means for Ukraine’s forgotten children. http://truevisiontv.com/films/details/133/ukraines-forgotten-children
USA
Occupy’s National Gathering: Seize the Moment! http://www.zcommunications.org/occupy-s-national-gathering-seize-the-moment-by-ted-morgan
Modern-Day Slavery: Abuse of Low-Wage Workers by US Contractors Goes Unchecked http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m89207&fb=1
Mitt Romney and the New Gilded Age by Robert B. Reich http://www.thenation.com/print/article/168623/mitt-romney-and-new-gilded-age
How the US Rendered, Tortured and Discarded One Innocent Man http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31752.htm
Exclusive Video Shows Aftermath Of US Drone Strike In Pakistan – Victims of secretive US drone strikes gain voice in Pakistani lawyer: Rachel Maddow shares exclusive, never before seen footage of the site of an alleged U.S. drone strike in North Waziristan, and talks with Amna Nawaz, Islamabad bureau chief for NBC News about the plight of a Pakistani lawyer trying to give voice to victims of U.S. drone strikes. Video http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31749.htm
Free The Six By Saul Landau – USAID – not the CIA – set out on its Cuba “regime change” plan. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31732.htm
YEMEN
Yemen masses back on streets after Morsi’s win in Egypt http://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/2012/07/03/yemen-masses-back-on-streets-after-morsis-win-in-egypt/
GPJA 