Reporting on Israeli Assault on Gaza

Canadian Media reporting on the current conflict seems less than balanced - not that there really is such an animal - favouring an Israeli perspective on the matter and the damage being inflicted on Israeli civilians by Hamas' or Gaza militants' rockets. Little if any coverage of the damage suffered by civilians - many of them, because of demographics, children - by Israeli planes and bombs. To be charitable, the mainstream western press may not have the sort of access Harry Fear has to Gaza, but that would be to be charitable when cynicism seems much more appropriate. It would seem that the Israeli liberal press and Harry are our best sources of information, then, with intermittent internet and electricity in Gaza and Israeli boots on the ground coming - this latter an extremely risky proposition or colossal bluff that Egypt, Iran and Co. wont do something in retaliation. The UN seems increasingly disabled in such matters these days - not the least because of the failure of such western countries as Canada to respect it.

Why Bankers Rule the World: Your Continuing Debt is Their Business

It's the Interest, Stupid! Why Bankers Rule the World
A detailed reminder that debt fuels the economy and that, given the deep neoliberal muddy hole in which we dwell, it must continue on its neverending circular journey else the whole system will collapse: more debt, more interest, more debt, more interest. . . . 40% of GDP revenue is generated by interest - making money on money, not from real productive economic activity.
It's difficult to decide which sector to attack full tilt, the fossil fuel industry or the financial sector, since they're both destroying the world.

Youth Demographic Vital for 2015

118,296,5 502 votes. The 1/5 of the total vote for Obama coming from the youth demographic (18-29) - even if it might have been generated more by antipathy towards Romney than support for Obama - is encouraging. Let us hope a similiar dynamic emerges by 2015 here in Canada at the very least in terms of antipathy towards Harper. There are signs everywhere - such as Power Shift 2012 - but will it be enough to offset the suburban immigrant and rural voter demographics courted aggressively by the Harperites? Moot since first past the post and new seat distrbution favour the Harper Regime. A widespread coordinated effort is required.

America in 2012: Awe, Disgust, Sadness

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q6DNm6rrYY&sns=em

Warning: this video compilation could make you ill. It might also make you weep uncontrollably. I'm serious - I had trouble getting through this I was so emotionally moved by a heady mixture of disgust and sadness. It's also - from various points of view - very frightening to know that there are so many people out there like this.  No more cross-border shopping without wearing a disguise, I guess. Suggestions?

Three depressing conversations I've had recently:

Three depressing conversations I've had recently:

1) With a entrepreneurial neighbour who's about to open a franchise restaurant. Unions are intolerable, crushing people's individualism and stifling business development, and the world's biggest problems is governance. How do "we" govern? He's got an MBA from a prestigious American university.

2) The real estate agent who sold me my house many years ago who's now making over $500,000 a year. She thinks that we should scrap the minimum wage and that people should not receive benefits from any level of government  After all she's never had any.

3) My local pharmacist who thinks we should scrap all welfare programs including unemployment insurance  to give people an incentive to work. Like the other two, she thinks people who "refuse" to work for slave wages are welfare bums. She's a well-educated hardworking landed immigrant.

Sorry, I didn't have the courage to ask any of them for whom they voted in the last federal or provincial election. But then perhaps I didn't have to.

Romneyism | Common Dreams: 10 Principles of Classic Neoliberal Capitalist Dictatorships

Romneyism | Common Dreams

A eloquent summary of ten classic neoliberal principles of a capitalist dictatorship. Each and every one of these principles, you will notice, applies to Harper in spades. Many Americans are fearful of such a dictatorship. We already have one.

U.S. military is the single biggest oil user in the world.

 U.S. military is the single biggest oil user in the world. As both Obama and Romney continue to support this inherent institution of violence, reducing the use of fossil fuel and thus global warming would seem a moot prospect indeed. A focused political push against military spending is obviously required but is not likely to  bear fruit given that the only arena in which the U.S. remains dominant in the world is the military. Americans continue to believe they're "exceptional," let's not forget. Sad.

Oil "security" = "military" security = "US security" = corporate profit for military contractors and Big Oil - a vicious equation. (These terms are under Derridean erasure.)