Link: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30304.htm

Virtually all of the social upheaval, inequality, and environmental problems of today in some way ensue from capitalism, including overpopulation and armed aggression. Capitalism requires continuous economic expansion and a burgeoning market for consumers. This is simply not possible on a finite planet.Through lifelong indoctrination, Americans are persuaded that self-interested greed is in their best interest.The illusion of democracy, including voting in the absence of meaningful choice, is a poor substitute for direct action and anarchy. Democracy cannot flourish in the sterile soil that capitalism leaves in its wake. Either we have democracy or we have capitalism, or we create something entirely different.

Link: http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/the-global-elite-are-hiding-18-trillion-dollars-in-offshore-banks

In recent days, the fact that Mitt Romney has millions of dollars parked down in the Cayman Islands has made headlines all over the world. But when it comes to offshore banking, what Mitt Romney is doing is small potatoes. The truth is that the global elite are hiding an almost unbelievable amount of money in offshore banks. According to shocking research done by the IMF, the global elite are holding a total of 18 trillion dollars in offshore banks.

Link: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/20/polish-lawmaker-smokes-marijuana-in-parliament/

In April, Polish lawmakers voted to soften their country’s strict anti-drug laws by giving prosecutors the option not to charge people detained with small quantities of illegal narcotics. But complaining the measures give prosecutors too much discretion, Palikot is seeking the full legalisation of marijuana.

Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/sun-shoots-a-fastball-at-earth-but-minimal-impact-expected-on-satellites-power-grid/2012/01/20/gIQA5KiBEQ_story.html

A huge sunspot unleashed a blob of charged plasma Thursday that space weather watchers predict will blast past the Earth on Sunday. Satellite operators and power companies are keeping a close eye on the incoming cloud, which could distort the Earth’s magnetic field and disrupt radio communications, especially at higher latitudes.

Link: http://www.gilad.co.uk/upcoming-events-latest-new/2012/1/20/the-music-of-charlie-parker-brought-to-you-by-gilad-atzmon-w.html

Ronnie Scott’s is privileged to welcome Israeli-born Gilad Atzmon performing the music of arguably the greatest alto sax player in jazz history, Charlie Parker. On the night, Gilad will be accompanied by a full string section adding depth to bird's classic compositions. This is a must-see show that has been earning rave reviews around the country!

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/01/20-2

We’ve known for some time that the pattern, extent and impact of political advertising would be transformed and supercharged by the Supreme Court’s January 2010 Citizens United ruling. But the changes, even at this early stage of the 2012 campaign, have proven to be more dramatic and unsettling than all but the most fretful analysts had imagined.

Link: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106503

Alexander, a 24-year-old law student dines almost exclusively on the food that other Germans – grocery stores, restaurants and supermarkets – throw away. supermarkets and grocery stores 'sort out' potatoes that are too large, cucumbers that are "too bent" for dumping The stores’ management eliminate foodstuffs considered ‘unattractive’, even if they are still edible. As a result, thousands of tonnes of apples, bananas, milk, coffee, yoghurt, sugar and cheese rot in enourmous garbage containers .In response to what the food retail industry has dubbed ‘looting’, supermarkets and grocery stores are now locking up their garbage containers. Many companies have even hired security personnel to keep away the looters from containers all over the country , a bakery chain used to toss up to 12 tons of bread every month. "Now, we burn the old bread as (fuel) for our backing ovens.

Link: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30306.htm

Is such a war in America’s interests? Consider.

While U.S. air and naval power would prevail, Iranian civilians would die, as some of their nuclear facilities are in populated areas. . . And a bloodied and beaten Iran would then go all-out for a bomb.All U.S. ships, including carriers in the Persian Gulf, would be at risk from shore-based anti-ship missiles and the hundreds of missile boats in Iran’s navy. Any sea battle would send oil prices to $200 and $300 a barrel. There goes the eurozone.Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Iranian agents in Afghanistan and Iraq could set the region aflame. . And we lack the ground troops to invade and occupy a country three times the size of Iraq.

Link: http://socialistworker.org/2012/01/20/is-the-ruling-class-too-strong-to-defeat

THOSE WHO rule will not give up their power peacefully. Imagine what they might do in a revolution--if millions of workers attempted to seize control of the factories, mines, hospitals and schools and run them democratically.A mass movement that is confident in itself can fight for the hearts and minds of soldiers, thereby splitting the military and winning soldiers over to the side of the revolution. The "all-powerful" state then becomes temporarily paralyzed--and overrun by millions of ordinary people who months before never dreamed they had any power to change society. Many a dictator has been toppled in this way--from Russia's Tsar in 1917 to the Ceausescu regime in Romania in 1989.Repression can only work if soldiers are disciplined to carry out their orders. But in circumstances of deep social upheaval, this isn't a foregone conclusion--for the simple reason that many soldiers are themselves workers.Leon Trotsky, "The direct intervention of the masses in historic events...The forcible entrance of the masses into the realm of rulership over their own destiny."