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Winner Takes All: The Super-priority Status of Derivatives
by Ellen Brown
Cyprus-style confiscation of depositor funds has been called the “new normal.”
Bail-in policies are appearing in multiple countries directing failing TBTF banks to convert the funds of “unsecured creditors” into capital; and those creditors, it turns out, include ordinary depositors. Even “secured” creditors, including state and local governments, may be at risk.
Derivatives have “super-priority” status in bankruptcy, and Dodd Frank precludes further taxpayer bailouts. In a big derivatives bust, there may be no collateral left for the creditors who are next in line.
Obama's War on Social America
by Stephen Lendman
Obama, Republicans and most democrats are in lockstep. They claim Medicare and Social Security are going broke. They lie saying so. When properly administered, both programs are sound. Modest adjustments only are needed to assure it.
They're federally mandated. They're not entitlements. They're contractual obligations. They're for eligible recipients who qualify. Payroll taxes fund them.
Social Security provides retirement, disability, survivorship, and death benefits. It's America's most effective poverty reduction program. It's worked remarkably well since inception.
It provides secure inflation-adjusted retirement or disability income. Personal savings aren't risked. It's not going bankrupt.
The same holds for Medicare.
It's America's largest health insurance program. Payroll deductions defray costs. Tens of millions rely on it. It covers eligible recipients aged 65 or older, some disabled ones under age 65, and people of all ages with end-stage renal disease.
Thatcherism
by Stephen Lendman
Thatcherism represents Chicago School fundamentalism writ large. She’s gone. She won’t be missed.
She launched a corporatist revolution. She headed Britain down a slippery slope toward unfettered predatory capitalism.
She transferred public wealth to private hands. She privatized British Telecom, British Gas, British Airways, British Steel and other state enterprises.
She force-fed deregulation. She cut social benefits. She enacted corporate-friendly tax cuts. She cracked down hard on non-believers. She waged war on labor.
Israel murdered Jaradat
Khaled Amayreh in Hebron
Palestinians are convinced that Arafat Jaradat was tortured to death, whatever Israel claims.
Thousands during the funeral of Jaradat in the West Bank town of Saeer, near Hebron (photo: AP)
Tension continues to flare all over the occupied Palestinian territories following the untimely death in an Israeli jail of Arafat Jaradat earlier this week.
Jaradat, 30, died ostensibly as a result of intensive physical torture and was laid to rest in his native town of Saeer east of Hebron amid angry and impassioned scenes as the Palestinian Authority (PA) sought to prevent the tension from evolving into an all-out uprising.
More Peace Process Hypocrisy
by Stephen Lendman
On April 6, John Kerry began a multi-nation tour. He'll travel to Europe and East Asia. His first stop is Turkey. He'll meet with Netanyahu and Abbas. He wants peace talks restarted. More on that below.
Peace process deception is policy. It's always been a charade. It is now. Israel wants it that way. So does Washington.
New York Times Supports Targeted Killings
by Stephen Lendman
It doesn't surprise. When America goes to war or plans one, Times editors march in lockstep. They support imperial lawlessness. More on that below.
America's AfPak war is illegal. Tactics include targeted killings. Drones, helicopters and other conventional air strikes are used.
On April 8, Russia Today headlined "Twelve civilians, including 11 children killed in Afghanistan NATO strike," saying:
Civilians were killed in Kunar province's Shigal district. Provincial spokesman Wasifullah Wasifi said:
"Eleven children and a woman were killed when an air strike hit their houses."
What's Really Going on in Korea
Timothy Gatto
The current situation regarding North Korea is playing right into what could be a bonanza for American interests in the Far East. The rhetoric coming from North Korea is laying right into American hands. If North Korea ratchets up the rhetoric, or if a missile test goes awry and heads towards Japan or South Korea, the missile will be destroyed.
We are not intimidated by North Korea by any means. In fact, American military leaders are wringing their hands in anticipation of a ground war on the Korean peninsula. This would entail an artillery barrage of Seoul by the North Koreans that would cause terrible destruction and loss of life. Millions could die if the city in enveloped in a firestorm. This is the scenario of a North Korean attack. It’s not their nuclear weapons, but their conventional weapons that South Koreans fear. They have had decades of preparation. The mountains overlooking Seoul are peppered with howitzers.
Secret FDIC Plan to Loot Bank Accounts
Secret FDIC Plan to Loot Bank Accounts
by Stephen Lendman
It shouldn't surprise. It's already policy. Market analyst Graham Summers explained. Depositor theft is coming. Europe is banker occupied territory. So is America.
Finance is a new form of warfare. It's more powerful than standing armies. Banking giants run things. Money power has final say.
Economies are strip-mined for profit. Communities are laid waste. Ordinary people are impoverished. Even their bank accounts aren't safe.
Exploiting Holocaust Remembrance Day
by Stephen Lendman
Yom HaShoah/Holocaust Remembrance Day is commemorated annually. It runs from sundown April 7 to sunset April 8. This year's theme is "Defiance and Rebellion during the Holocaust: 70 years Since the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising."
Sunday night Warsaw and Jerusalem ceremonies included government officials, dignitaries and holocaust survivors.
At 10AM Monday morning, a two-minute siren echoed across Israel. It marked the beginning of other ceremonies that followed.
The Two Faces of Class Struggle: The Motor Force for Historical Regression or Advance
James Petras
One of the most important and yet most neglected determinants of the outcomes of the economic crisis and resultant deepening of social inequalities and immiseration is the ‘class struggle’. In one of his most pithy metaphors, Karl Marx referred to class struggle as ‘the motor force of history’. In this essay we will analyze the central role of class struggle, its impact and reflection in economic decisions and, most especially, the different methods and forms , according to the particular classes engaged in class struggle.
Having clarified the types and methods of class struggle, we will turn to the specific results of class struggles in different regions and countries: the different policies adopted as a result of class struggle reflect the balance of class power at both the national and regional level.
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