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marmar
marmar's Journal
marmar's Journal
February 25, 2013
Published on Feb 18, 2013
Economist James K. Galbraith, one of the country's leading analysts of the financial crisis, speaks on the link between the growing inequality and economic instability. Galbraith, a professor in the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, will focus on the argument in his new book, Inequality and Instability: A Study of the World Economy Just before the Great Crisis, which demonstrates that increased inequality is a product of the rise of windfall profits in finance and the deregulation of markets.
James K. Galbraith on "Inequality and Instability: What's Ahead for the World Economy"
Published on Feb 18, 2013
Economist James K. Galbraith, one of the country's leading analysts of the financial crisis, speaks on the link between the growing inequality and economic instability. Galbraith, a professor in the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, will focus on the argument in his new book, Inequality and Instability: A Study of the World Economy Just before the Great Crisis, which demonstrates that increased inequality is a product of the rise of windfall profits in finance and the deregulation of markets.
February 25, 2013
from truthdig:
Rebels Stand Alone
Posted on Feb 24, 2013
By Chris Hedges
I was in the Swiss village of Begnins outside Geneva shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. I spent three days there with Axel von dem Bussche, a former Wehrmacht major, holder of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross for extreme battlefield bravery, three times wounded in World War II, and the last surviving member of the inner circle of German army officers who attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler.
I was reminded of my visit with von dem Bussche, whom I was interviewing for The Dallas Morning News, by the 70th anniversary of the execution of five Munich University students and their philosophy professor who were members of the White Rose resistance movement in Nazi Germany. The BBC last week interviewed the 99-year-old Liselotte Furst-Ramdohr, who hid leaflets for the group in her closet and helped make stencils used to paint slogans on walls. The six White Rose members managed to distribute thousands of anti-Nazi leaflets before they were arrested by the Gestapo and guillotined. The text of their sixth and final set of leaflets was smuggled out of Germany by the resistance leader Helmuth James Graf von Moltke, who was arrested in 1944 and hanged by the Nazis in January 1945. Copies of the leaflets’ language were dropped over Germany by Allied planes in July 1943. Furst-Ramdohr, who was widowed during the war when her first husband was killed on the Russian front, also was arrested by the Gestapo. She was imprisoned but eventually released.
The White Rose has been lionized by postwar Germans—one of its members, Alexander Schmorell, was made a saint by the Russian Orthodox Church last year, and squares and schools in Germany are named for the resisters—but in the BBC interview Furst-Ramdohr curtly dismissed the adulation of the group.
“At the time, they’d have had us all executed,” she said in speaking of most Germans’ hatred of resisters during the war. ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_courage_to_resist_20130224/
Chris Hedges: Rebels Stand Alone
from truthdig:
Rebels Stand Alone
Posted on Feb 24, 2013
By Chris Hedges
I was in the Swiss village of Begnins outside Geneva shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. I spent three days there with Axel von dem Bussche, a former Wehrmacht major, holder of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross for extreme battlefield bravery, three times wounded in World War II, and the last surviving member of the inner circle of German army officers who attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler.
I was reminded of my visit with von dem Bussche, whom I was interviewing for The Dallas Morning News, by the 70th anniversary of the execution of five Munich University students and their philosophy professor who were members of the White Rose resistance movement in Nazi Germany. The BBC last week interviewed the 99-year-old Liselotte Furst-Ramdohr, who hid leaflets for the group in her closet and helped make stencils used to paint slogans on walls. The six White Rose members managed to distribute thousands of anti-Nazi leaflets before they were arrested by the Gestapo and guillotined. The text of their sixth and final set of leaflets was smuggled out of Germany by the resistance leader Helmuth James Graf von Moltke, who was arrested in 1944 and hanged by the Nazis in January 1945. Copies of the leaflets’ language were dropped over Germany by Allied planes in July 1943. Furst-Ramdohr, who was widowed during the war when her first husband was killed on the Russian front, also was arrested by the Gestapo. She was imprisoned but eventually released.
The White Rose has been lionized by postwar Germans—one of its members, Alexander Schmorell, was made a saint by the Russian Orthodox Church last year, and squares and schools in Germany are named for the resisters—but in the BBC interview Furst-Ramdohr curtly dismissed the adulation of the group.
“At the time, they’d have had us all executed,” she said in speaking of most Germans’ hatred of resisters during the war. ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_courage_to_resist_20130224/
February 25, 2013
from TomDispatch:
“I Begged for Them to Stop”
Waterboarding Americans and the Redefinition of Torture
By Nick Turse
Try to remain calm -- even as you begin to feel your chest tighten and your heart race. Try not to panic as water starts flowing into your nose and mouth, while you attempt to constrict your throat and slow your breathing and keep some air in your lungs and fight that growing feeling of suffocation. Try not to think about dying, because there’s nothing you can do about it, because you’re tied down, because someone is pouring that water over your face, forcing it into you, drowning you slowly and deliberately. You’re helpless. You’re in agony.
In short, you’re a victim of “water torture.” Or the “water cure.” Or the “water rag.” Or the “water treatment.” Or “tormenta de toca.” Or any of the other nicknames given to the particular form of brutality that today goes by the relatively innocuous term “waterboarding.”
The practice only became widely known in the United States after it was disclosed that the CIA had been subjecting suspected terrorists to it in the wake of 9/11. More recently, cinematic depictions of waterboarding in the award-winning film Zero Dark Thirty and questions about it at the Senate confirmation hearing for incoming CIA chief John Brennan have sparked debate. Water torture, however, has a surprisingly long history, dating back to at least the fourteenth century. It has been a U.S. military staple since the beginning of the twentieth century, when it was employed by Americans fighting an independence movement in the Philippines. American troops would continue to use the brutal tactic in the decades to come -- and during the country’s repeated wars in Asia, they would be victims of it, too.
Water Torture in Vietnam
For more than a decade, I’ve investigated atrocities committed during the Vietnam War. In that time, I’ve come to know people who employed water torture and people who were brutalized by it. Americans and their South Vietnamese allies regularly used it on enemy prisoners and civilian detainees in an effort to gain intelligence or simply punish them. A picture of the practice even landed on the front page of the Washington Post on January 21, 1968, but mostly it went on in secret. .............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175653/tomgram%3A_nick_turse%2C_the_hidden_history_of_water_torture/
“I Begged for Them to Stop”: Waterboarding Americans and the Redefinition of Torture
from TomDispatch:
“I Begged for Them to Stop”
Waterboarding Americans and the Redefinition of Torture
By Nick Turse
Try to remain calm -- even as you begin to feel your chest tighten and your heart race. Try not to panic as water starts flowing into your nose and mouth, while you attempt to constrict your throat and slow your breathing and keep some air in your lungs and fight that growing feeling of suffocation. Try not to think about dying, because there’s nothing you can do about it, because you’re tied down, because someone is pouring that water over your face, forcing it into you, drowning you slowly and deliberately. You’re helpless. You’re in agony.
In short, you’re a victim of “water torture.” Or the “water cure.” Or the “water rag.” Or the “water treatment.” Or “tormenta de toca.” Or any of the other nicknames given to the particular form of brutality that today goes by the relatively innocuous term “waterboarding.”
The practice only became widely known in the United States after it was disclosed that the CIA had been subjecting suspected terrorists to it in the wake of 9/11. More recently, cinematic depictions of waterboarding in the award-winning film Zero Dark Thirty and questions about it at the Senate confirmation hearing for incoming CIA chief John Brennan have sparked debate. Water torture, however, has a surprisingly long history, dating back to at least the fourteenth century. It has been a U.S. military staple since the beginning of the twentieth century, when it was employed by Americans fighting an independence movement in the Philippines. American troops would continue to use the brutal tactic in the decades to come -- and during the country’s repeated wars in Asia, they would be victims of it, too.
Water Torture in Vietnam
For more than a decade, I’ve investigated atrocities committed during the Vietnam War. In that time, I’ve come to know people who employed water torture and people who were brutalized by it. Americans and their South Vietnamese allies regularly used it on enemy prisoners and civilian detainees in an effort to gain intelligence or simply punish them. A picture of the practice even landed on the front page of the Washington Post on January 21, 1968, but mostly it went on in secret. .............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175653/tomgram%3A_nick_turse%2C_the_hidden_history_of_water_torture/
February 24, 2013
(CBS/AP) LOS ANGELES- Authorities say a test of a Los Angeles hotel water tank where a Canadian tourist's body was found this week didn't find any live bacteria that would cause illness.
The test was conducted Tuesday after 21-year-old Elisa Lam was found wedged into one of four water cisterns atop the downtown Cecil Hotel.
The county Department of Public Health has, however, issued a do-not-drink order, and only water for toilets is flowing for hotel guests.
County health official Angelo Bellomo says chlorine in the water likely killed any bacteria in the tank where Lam's body was found. ....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57570625-504083/elisa-lam-case-water-in-la-hotel-tank-with-dead-body-wont-cause-illness-police-say/
Water in LA hotel tank with dead body won't cause illness, police say
(CBS/AP) LOS ANGELES- Authorities say a test of a Los Angeles hotel water tank where a Canadian tourist's body was found this week didn't find any live bacteria that would cause illness.
The test was conducted Tuesday after 21-year-old Elisa Lam was found wedged into one of four water cisterns atop the downtown Cecil Hotel.
The county Department of Public Health has, however, issued a do-not-drink order, and only water for toilets is flowing for hotel guests.
County health official Angelo Bellomo says chlorine in the water likely killed any bacteria in the tank where Lam's body was found. ....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57570625-504083/elisa-lam-case-water-in-la-hotel-tank-with-dead-body-wont-cause-illness-police-say/
February 24, 2013
http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/alan_grayson_honors_aaron_swartz_20130222/
Rep. Alan Grayson Honors Aaron Swartz
Posted on Feb 22, 2013
Aaron Swartz, the Internet freedom advocate who committed suicide in mid-January, was an intern in Florida Congressman Alan Grayson’s office after the onset of the economic crisis. Grayson recently paid tribute to Swartz at a memorial service in Washington, D.C.
Grayson compared the loss of Swartz to the suicide of 20th-century mathematician Alan Turing. Turing developed the basis for modern computers and helped Britain and the United States defeat the Nazis during World War II by breaking Nazi communication codes. Afterward he was convicted of homosexuality—a crime in the U.K. at the time—and barred from the government’s cryptography labs and forced to take estrogen injections. He committed suicide two years later.
“[W]ho lost, out of that?” Grayson asked. “Well, Alan Turing lost. But so did all of we. We lost as well. All of us who would have benefited from that first, and second, and the third Nobel Prizes that Alan Turing had in him. And that Aaron Swartz had in him.”
“We’re the ones who lose.”
—Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.
Rep. Alan Grayson Honors Aaron Swartz
http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/alan_grayson_honors_aaron_swartz_20130222/
Rep. Alan Grayson Honors Aaron Swartz
Posted on Feb 22, 2013
Aaron Swartz, the Internet freedom advocate who committed suicide in mid-January, was an intern in Florida Congressman Alan Grayson’s office after the onset of the economic crisis. Grayson recently paid tribute to Swartz at a memorial service in Washington, D.C.
Grayson compared the loss of Swartz to the suicide of 20th-century mathematician Alan Turing. Turing developed the basis for modern computers and helped Britain and the United States defeat the Nazis during World War II by breaking Nazi communication codes. Afterward he was convicted of homosexuality—a crime in the U.K. at the time—and barred from the government’s cryptography labs and forced to take estrogen injections. He committed suicide two years later.
“[W]ho lost, out of that?” Grayson asked. “Well, Alan Turing lost. But so did all of we. We lost as well. All of us who would have benefited from that first, and second, and the third Nobel Prizes that Alan Turing had in him. And that Aaron Swartz had in him.”
“We’re the ones who lose.”
—Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.
February 24, 2013
A North Dakota high school principal says appropriate action is being taken after three students briefly donned Ku Klux Klan-style white robes and hoods Friday night during a state hockey semifinal game.
The photo caused an uproar on Twitter when it was posted by 19-year-old Shane Schuster, who was seated with some friends at Ralph Engelstad Arena when something in the student section across the rink caught his eye.
"I thought, `Are those KKK hoods?' I couldn't believe it," Schuster said. "I was shocked."
Schuster said he focused his camera phone and snapped a photo, later uploading it to Twitter. ..................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20130224/US.Hooded.Hockey.Fans/
North Dakota school investigating fans in KKK-style hoods
A North Dakota high school principal says appropriate action is being taken after three students briefly donned Ku Klux Klan-style white robes and hoods Friday night during a state hockey semifinal game.
The photo caused an uproar on Twitter when it was posted by 19-year-old Shane Schuster, who was seated with some friends at Ralph Engelstad Arena when something in the student section across the rink caught his eye.
"I thought, `Are those KKK hoods?' I couldn't believe it," Schuster said. "I was shocked."
Schuster said he focused his camera phone and snapped a photo, later uploading it to Twitter. ..................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20130224/US.Hooded.Hockey.Fans/
February 24, 2013
A gay man was attacked on a New York City subway on Monday, and onlookers did nothing to try and stop it, according to local reports.
Urena Morel Frankelly, 23, and his partner were riding the 2 train when a woman snapped a photo of them, the New York Daily News reports. Her friend then began to hurl insults at them and use the slur "faggot," the outlet notes. An argument erupted and then the two women, along with four others, reportedly attacked Frankelly.
"They started beating him up," Lucas Cruz, Frankelly's partner, told New York's WABC of the incident, which happened after they boarded the southbound subway at 125th Street. "They started beating him up like crazy, hitting the floor, kicking his face." .........................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/21/gay-man-attacked-new-york-city-subway-hate-crime_n_2733441.html?utm_hp_ref=politics&ir=Politics&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009
Gay Man Attacked On New York City Subway, Onlookers Do Nothing
A gay man was attacked on a New York City subway on Monday, and onlookers did nothing to try and stop it, according to local reports.
Urena Morel Frankelly, 23, and his partner were riding the 2 train when a woman snapped a photo of them, the New York Daily News reports. Her friend then began to hurl insults at them and use the slur "faggot," the outlet notes. An argument erupted and then the two women, along with four others, reportedly attacked Frankelly.
"They started beating him up," Lucas Cruz, Frankelly's partner, told New York's WABC of the incident, which happened after they boarded the southbound subway at 125th Street. "They started beating him up like crazy, hitting the floor, kicking his face." .........................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/21/gay-man-attacked-new-york-city-subway-hate-crime_n_2733441.html?utm_hp_ref=politics&ir=Politics&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009
February 24, 2013
http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/dan_rather_supports_wikileaks_20130223/
Dan Rather Supports WikiLeaks
Posted on Feb 23, 2013
Veteran news anchorman Dan Rather gave a tentative endorsement to WikiLeaks on HuffPost Live on Friday, saying the “controversial” data-dumping group provides the country with “a public service.”
“Overall in the main, I think the WikiLinks (sic) helped with something good because it deals with transparency,” Rather told host Ahmed Shihab-Eldin. “As long as governments—and they will forevermore—try to keep their secrets, that are not national security secrets, then we should be pressing to find out more and not less.”
He also agreed that hackers could play a valuable role in investigative journalism by revealing government secrets that do not need to be hidden.
In another part of the conversation, Rather remarked that President Obama “did promise more transparency,” but “has delivered less transparency on everything from whistle-blower laws, which are very valuable to the public and journalists in helping the public. Far less transparency. He hasn’t met his promises about that, no question about it.”
Dan Rather Supports WikiLeaks
http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/dan_rather_supports_wikileaks_20130223/
Dan Rather Supports WikiLeaks
Posted on Feb 23, 2013
Veteran news anchorman Dan Rather gave a tentative endorsement to WikiLeaks on HuffPost Live on Friday, saying the “controversial” data-dumping group provides the country with “a public service.”
“Overall in the main, I think the WikiLinks (sic) helped with something good because it deals with transparency,” Rather told host Ahmed Shihab-Eldin. “As long as governments—and they will forevermore—try to keep their secrets, that are not national security secrets, then we should be pressing to find out more and not less.”
He also agreed that hackers could play a valuable role in investigative journalism by revealing government secrets that do not need to be hidden.
In another part of the conversation, Rather remarked that President Obama “did promise more transparency,” but “has delivered less transparency on everything from whistle-blower laws, which are very valuable to the public and journalists in helping the public. Far less transparency. He hasn’t met his promises about that, no question about it.”
February 23, 2013
http://vimeo.com/60234702
Richard Wolff on Fighting for Economic Justice and Fair Wages
February 22, 2013
Economist Richard Wolff joins Bill to shine light on the disaster left behind in capitalism’s wake, and to discuss the fight for economic justice, including a fair minimum wage. A Professor of Economics Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, and currently Visiting Professor in the Graduate Program in International Affairs of the New School, Wolff has written many books on the effects of rampant capitalism, including Capitalism Hits the Fan: The Global Economic Meltdown and What to Do About It.
“We have this disparity getting wider and wider between those for whom capitalism continues to deliver the goods by all means, (and) a growing majority in this society facing harder and harder times,” Wolff tells Bill. “And that’s what provokes some of us to begin to say it’s a systemic problem.”
http://billmoyers.com/segment/richard-wolff-on-fighting-for-economic-justice-and-fair-wages/
Bill Moyers: Fighting for Economic Justice and Fair Wages
http://vimeo.com/60234702
Richard Wolff on Fighting for Economic Justice and Fair Wages
February 22, 2013
Economist Richard Wolff joins Bill to shine light on the disaster left behind in capitalism’s wake, and to discuss the fight for economic justice, including a fair minimum wage. A Professor of Economics Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, and currently Visiting Professor in the Graduate Program in International Affairs of the New School, Wolff has written many books on the effects of rampant capitalism, including Capitalism Hits the Fan: The Global Economic Meltdown and What to Do About It.
“We have this disparity getting wider and wider between those for whom capitalism continues to deliver the goods by all means, (and) a growing majority in this society facing harder and harder times,” Wolff tells Bill. “And that’s what provokes some of us to begin to say it’s a systemic problem.”
http://billmoyers.com/segment/richard-wolff-on-fighting-for-economic-justice-and-fair-wages/
February 23, 2013
http://vimeo.com/60234702
Richard Wolff on Fighting for Economic Justice and Fair Wages
February 22, 2013
Economist Richard Wolff joins Bill to shine light on the disaster left behind in capitalism’s wake, and to discuss the fight for economic justice, including a fair minimum wage. A Professor of Economics Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, and currently Visiting Professor in the Graduate Program in International Affairs of the New School, Wolff has written many books on the effects of rampant capitalism, including Capitalism Hits the Fan: The Global Economic Meltdown and What to Do About It.
“We have this disparity getting wider and wider between those for whom capitalism continues to deliver the goods by all means, (and) a growing majority in this society facing harder and harder times,” Wolff tells Bill. “And that’s what provokes some of us to begin to say it’s a systemic problem.”
http://billmoyers.com/segment/richard-wolff-on-fighting-for-economic-justice-and-fair-wages/
Bill Moyers: Fighting for Economic Justice and Fair Wages
http://vimeo.com/60234702
Richard Wolff on Fighting for Economic Justice and Fair Wages
February 22, 2013
Economist Richard Wolff joins Bill to shine light on the disaster left behind in capitalism’s wake, and to discuss the fight for economic justice, including a fair minimum wage. A Professor of Economics Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, and currently Visiting Professor in the Graduate Program in International Affairs of the New School, Wolff has written many books on the effects of rampant capitalism, including Capitalism Hits the Fan: The Global Economic Meltdown and What to Do About It.
“We have this disparity getting wider and wider between those for whom capitalism continues to deliver the goods by all means, (and) a growing majority in this society facing harder and harder times,” Wolff tells Bill. “And that’s what provokes some of us to begin to say it’s a systemic problem.”
http://billmoyers.com/segment/richard-wolff-on-fighting-for-economic-justice-and-fair-wages/
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