Pages: << 1 ... 1232 1233 1234 1235 1236 1237 1238 1239 1240 1241 1242 ... 1269 >>
Why Stock Markets are Collapsing
by chycho
The stock market began as a means for companies to raise money and for “shareholders to invest in business ventures and get a share of profits.” At some point, it turned into a casino resembling a Ponzi scheme, which held true until 2008 when the Ponzi scheme collapsed.
The causes for this collapse are diverse. Some of its aspects and repercussions have already been discussed here, and will be discussed further in the future. If you would like to know how far the markets have slipped, then see the following 2 March 2009 Bloomberg report. Let’s, however, go beyond the daily, weekly, monthly, or even yearly fluctuations for now.
Obama puts science back in government
Mary Shaw
Environmental attorney and activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has described George W. Bush as "the worst environmental president we've had in American history." And I don't think that's an exaggeration.
During the eight years of the Bush administration, pollution, climate change, and scientific research all took a back seat to Bush's agenda of a corporate free-for-all. The Bushies even went so far as to censor scientific reports to suit their agenda.
But all that is changing now. We finally have a guy in the White House who respects science and appreciates its benefits to society.
On March 9, President Obama signed an executive order lifting the Bush administration's restrictions on federal funds for embryonic stem cell research.
Strategic negotiation is not appeasement
Mary Shaw
The media are abuzz with the news that President Obama acknowledges that we are not winning the war in Afghanistan and is thinking about reaching out to moderate elements of the Taliban.
And the right-wingers are jumping all over it. To them, it's proof that Obama likes to pal around with terrorists.
By contrast, their hero and dear leader -- George W. Bush -- would always swagger and smirk and talk about how we don't negotiate with terrorists. How macho.
Former Accused Iraqi Agent Susan Lindauer, Secret Charges and The Patriot Act in Action
Former Accused Iraqi Agent
Susan Lindauer, Secret Charges and
The Patriot Act in Action
The Executioner and Justice - John Heartfield
Susan Lindauer Interviewed by Michael Collins
'Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." Herman Goering, Interview at Nuremburg Trials, April 14, 1946
From Lincoln to Limbaugh
Mary Shaw
It seems to be official: Rush Limbaugh is the new unofficial head of the floundering Republican Party.
The media have been all over it in the past few days.
The GOP leadership grovels.
And the dittoheads rejoice, even as they fail to realize that this could be their Waterloo.
Health Care Reform, Obama Style
Stephen Lendman
On February 26, The New York Times headlined: "Obama Offers Broad Plan to Revamp Health Care....a (down payment $634 billion "reserve fund" for the next decade) toward his goal of covering the uninsured, and he would pay for it in part by cutting federal payments to hospitals, insurance companies and drug companies." More on that below.
Details so far are sketchy, but here's what The Times and others reported:
-- $634 billion as a "down payment....additional funding will be needed;"
-- increased prescription drug premiums for higher income Medicare recipients;
The Martyrdom of Mordechai Vanunu
Eileen Fleming
The best understanding of a martyr is one who chooses to suffer, to die rather than renounce their principles. A martyr is also one who has given themselves up as a witness. The essence of Christianity is to bear witness to what Jesus was always on about; forgiveness, love, reconciliation and the intrinsic equality of all people.
Within days of the announcement of a record 205 nominations for 2009’s Nobel Peace Prize, [one of several prizes endowed by Swedish industrialist and dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel] perpetual nominee Mordechai Vanunu declined the honor in a letter to the Nobel Peace Prize Committee in Oslo:
I am asking the committee to remove my name from the nominations…I cannot be part of a list of laureates that includes Simon Peres…Peres established and developed the atomic weapon program in Dimona in Israel…Peres was the man who ordered [my] kidnapping…he continues to oppose my freedom and release…WHAT I WANT IS FREEDOM AND ONLY FREEDOM….FREEDOM AND ONLY FREEDOM I NEED NOW.
They have no shame
Stuart Littlewood
Instead of saying ‘sorry’ Israel’s stooges keep pumping out the poison.
In January, while Israel's military was pulverising Gaza for 22 days and nights and incinerating its women and children with phosphor bombs, the Liberal Democrat Party in the UK published an article by its Friends of Israel wing, entitled 'Israel has no option but to defend itself against Hamas and Iran'.
Guantanamo Under Obama
Stephen Lendman
As The New York Times reported on January 22, Barack Obama signed Executive Orders (EOs) banning torture and "directing the CIA to shut what remains of its network of secret prisons and ordering the closing of the Guantanamo detention camp within a year, government official said."
The closure EO is titled: "Executive Order -- Review and Disposition of Individuals Detained at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and Closure of Detention Facilities."
U.S. women should be grateful for Obama
Mary Shaw
I am writing this on March 8 -- International Women's Day.
And on this day I am thinking about the status of women in these United States of America, and I thank my fellow voters for waking up last November and putting Barack Obama in the White House. The Obama administration will be much kinder and fairer to women than a McCain administration would have. In fact, that's already been proven.
The first piece of legislation that President Obama signed into law was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which removed a ridiculous loophole that allowed employers to pay women less than their male counterparts for equal work and get away with it.
<< 1 ... 1232 1233 1234 1235 1236 1237 1238 1239 1240 1241 1242 ... 1269 >>
