Brennan Browne

Incapacitating panic. Perpetual gnawing fear. The hopeless resignation of waking every morning to an existence which continues pushing one so far to the edge of survivability, it's like bricks being systematically stacked on a drowning victim. Each day becomes a little more impossible to keep one's head above water, as psychopathic tormentors sadistically add one more brick, then another, and another. The victim understands the end is near but is incapable of breaking free. This is the economic reality for large swathes of people currently assaulted and sacrificed on the altar of greed, by the brazen tyranny of our politicians.

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By Joel S. Hirschhorn

We would already have had a much needed American revolution in response to the tyranny of the money-fed two-party plutocracy that is destroying the middle class except for one big problem: so much of the American population is just plain stupid.  Too stupid to behave like angry Greeks and rise up in the streets to rebel against the dysfunctional government.

In the never ending fight of Republicans and their cancerous (make that stupid) Tea Party members to gain even more control of the US political system, economy and culture they have fixed on another semantic weapon.  The latest attack on intelligence is the constant use of the term job creators in place of words like the rich or wealthy.  Not just plain Republicans in Congress are doing this, but especially the large crop of Republican presidential candidates.

This bit of cleverness surely was deemed necessary because much of the nation was beginning to appreciate the class warfare going on.  Rising economic inequality, unemployment set in concrete, and merging of the middle class into the poverty stricken lower class were all becoming clearer.

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By MarketWatch

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — It’s not news that Wall Street is doing much better than Main Street, but we didn’t know just how much better until the government updated the economic statistics going back to 2008.

Here’s the grim report that will surprise no one who’s been paying attention the past three years: The fat cats are fatter than we thought, and the incomes of regular folk are worse than we thought.

Profits account for a larger share of GDP than at any time in the past 60 years.

As part of its regular revisions to the national income accounts, the Commerce Department told us Friday that corporate profits in 2008, 2009 and 2010 were actually $343 billion higher than earlier estimated.

And personal incomes of American families were $265 billion lower over those three years than previously estimated.

One more thing: the gross domestic product was also revised lower. Read our story: “GDP grows a slender 1.3% in second quarter.”

According to the latest data, profits of U.S. corporations are at record levels even as the U.S. economy gasps for air. Profits have been totally divorced from the economic fortunes of the American people.

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by Stephen Lendman

Slow-motion fiscal collapse perhaps explains its current state after decades of mismanagement, accelerated under Bush and Obama. The chickens are now coming home to roost big time, hitting ordinary people hardest, suffering under a protracted Main Street Depression. More on that below.

Last April 18, Standard & Poor (S & P) downgraded its rating on America to negative, saying:

S & P "affirmed its 'AAA' long-term and 'A-1+' short-term sovereign credit ratings on the US. (It also) revised its outlook on the long-term rating of the US sovereign to negative from stable....(W)e now believe (US strengths may) not fully offset the credit risks over the next two years at the 'AAA' level...."

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Ellen Brown

It used to be that when the Fed Chairman spoke, the market listened; but the Chairman has lost his mystique. Now when the market speaks, politicians listen. Hopefully they heard what the market just said: government cutbacks are bad for business. The government needs to spend more, not less. Fortunately, there are viable ways to do this while still balancing the budget.

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by Stephen Lendman

Ongoing since mid-July, Israeli street protests are unprecedented in size, scope, and (so far) determination to stay the course for social justice.

Two previous articles discussed them, accessed through the following links:

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2011/08/israel-rogue-state-land-of-inequality.html

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2011/08/israeli-street-protests-suppressed-by.html

What began as a Tel Aviv middle class protest for affordable housing, mushroomed to include all segments of Israeli society (except its super-rich) to include many other social justice issues.

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by Stephen Lendman

What began in January escalated to an uprising in March. Ever since, it's been violent, disruptive and widespread, killing hundreds, and injuring many more.

The stakes are high. The entire region is affected. It's very similar to what began in Libya, pitting imperial powers against ruling governments for destabilization and control.

In Libya, it's by war for regime change, colonization and plunder. In Syria, it's to establish another client state, no matter who heads it. More on that below.

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James Petras

Invited paper to be presented to the “Encuentro Nacional de comunidades Campesinas, Afrodescendientes e Indigenas por la Tierra y la Paz de Colombia”

“El dialogo es la Ruta”

12 al 15 de agosto 2011

Barrancabermeja – Colombia

Introduction:

We live in a time of great destruction and grand economic opportunities and Latin America is no exception. In the global context, the US Empire is engaged in destructive wars (Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Haiti). In contrast China, India, Brazil, Argentina and other “emerging economies” are expanding trade, investments and reducing poverty. The European Union (EU) and the United States (USA) are in deep economic crises. The EU “periphery” (Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain) are totally bankrupt. The US “dependencies” in North America (Mexico), Central America and the Caribbean are virtual narco-states plagued by mass poverty, astronomical crime rates and economic stagnation. The US dependencies are plundered by foreign multi-nationals, local oligarchs and corrupt politicians.

Colombia stands at the crossroads: it can follow in the footsteps of its predecessor, narco-President Alvaro Uribe and remain a military dependency, a lone outpost of the US Empire in South America. Colombia can remain at the margin of the most dynamic world markets and at war with its people or via a new socio-political leadership it can effect a profound reorientation of policy and consummate a transition toward greater integration with the dynamic markets of the world.

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