The following is a brilliant, evidence-based lecture on the devastating consequences of socio-economic inequality. The speaker is Richard Wilkinson, an epidemiologist and leading figure in the field of inequality research. The lecture presents a very compelling case for the idea that the level of socio-economic inequality in a society is the key criterion for determining the health of that society. One can also read a brief Truthout interview with Wilkinson on the consequences of inequality here.
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Politics
How ego and ideology are destroying the world’s greatest public university (Mark LeVine)
Irvine, CA – The University of California is home to many of the country’s leading scholars in dozens of fields, and for decades it has been an important laboratory for social change in the United States. It has also been at the forefront of many struggles for political, social, civil and labour rights struggles, as both an incubator of new ideas and practices and as a laboratory in which various attempts to change the balance of power and responsibility between social groups, and between society and government, have played out. So you might not be surprised to learn that as one…
Obama vs Romney on energy and climate change issues
Rebecca Leber of Thinkprogress put together a comprehensive chart outlining the different stands Obama and Romney have on energy and climate change issues. The chart is accompanied by a detailed list of sources and further elaborations.
Iceland’s president explains why the world needs to rethink its addiction to finance
A few days ago, Adam Taylor, journalist for the Business Insider interviewed Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, who has been President of Iceland since 1996, and announced last month he would be running for a fifth term. Keep reading to hear his thoughts on Iceland’s recovery, and how a large financial sector can ruin a nation. Ragnar Grímsson connects the dots in a openly manner that unfortunately proves to be very rare in contemporary politics all around the world. Definitely a must-read. You can find the full transcript on Business Insider. Some noteworthy paragraphs: Whereas in many other countries, until recent months,…
Can You Understand the Republican Brain? (Mark Karlin interviews Chris Mooney)
Scientific American lauds author Chris Mooney “as one if the few journalists in the country who specialize in the now dangerous intersection of science and politics.” Having interviewed Mooney about his first book, the highly praised, “The Republican War on Science,” Truthout/BuzzFlash interviews Mooney about his latest release, “The Republican Brain: The Science of Why They Deny Science – and Reality.” Truthout and BuzzFlash readers can directly obtain “The Republican Brain” and support uncompromised journalism by clicking here. Mark Karlin: Progressives often say of Fox that they create facts to bolster their opinions. Is this true of the Republican mind set in general? Chris Mooney: This…
Canadian Oil Sands
Consider these four facts: Canada quits the Kyoto protocol and threatens the EU with trade war for labeling tar sand produced oil highly polluting. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney calls the Keystone Pipeline a “no-brainer”. Cancer rates downstream of tar sands are staggering. Obama finally and despite earlier hesitation voiced his support for expedited construction of the southern half of the Keystone pipeline. In light of the foregoing, it is worth having a look at what both Canadian and U.S. politicians sell as unique job creation opportunities and heavenly energy security gifts: the oil sands that they have greenwashed and relabeled…
Exposed: NSA Spy Center (interview with James Bamford)
There is an interesting discussion on the March 21st edition of Democracy Now under the title “Exposed: Inside the NSA’s Largest and Most Expansive Secret Domestic Spy Center in Bluffdale, Utah.” The interview discusses a recent WIRED Magazine article by James Bamford entitled “The NSA Is Building the Country’s Biggest Spy Center (Watch What You Say)“. This is the Democracy Now introduction to the discussion. A new exposé in Wired Magazine reveals details about how the National Security Agency is quietly building the largest spy center in the country in Bluffdale, Utah, as part of a secret NSA surveillance program codenamed “Stellar…
The Crisis of Civilization (documentary)
The Crisis of Civilization is a documentary feature film investigating how global crises like ecological disaster, financial meltdown, dwindling oil reserves, terrorism and food shortages are converging symptoms of a single, failed global system. Weaving together archival film footage and animations, film-maker Dean Puckett, animator Lucca Benney and international security analyst Dr. Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, offer a stunning wake-up call proving that ‘another world’ is not merely possible, but on its way. The film consists of seven parts which explore the interconnected dynamic of global crises of Climate Catastrophe; Peak Energy; Peak Food; Economic Instability; International Terrorism; and the Militarization…
A Call Against Arms (Aljazeera report on Jeju naval base)
In a tiny village on a small island off the coast of South Korea an entire community is taking on the might of the South Korean navy and government to contest the construction of one of the region’s largest naval bases. The village of Gangjeong on the island of Jeju has fewer than 2,000 inhabitants but it has become the epicentre of growing discontent over one of the world’s biggest arms races. The South Korean government is adamant that the Gangjeong naval base, which it began constructing in 2007, will strengthen national security. But those opposed to it fear that…
Progressive movements in the US
The Occupy Movement received a lot of attention in 2011 and it was indeed one of the most promising signs that although the economic and political system is profoundly unjust and has been hijacked and corrupted by corporations that quite literally own the country, the game is not completely over. The people are down but not thoroughly defeated, and we are now witnessing a reawakening of political consciousness. The lesson of the movement is simple and profound: if people unite, they can resist the corporate takeover of their country and instead democratize it. Within and alongside the Occupy Movement are…
Video: Capitalism is the Crisis
This description for Capitalism is the Crisis comes from the website for the film: The 2008 “financial crisis” in the United States was a systemic fraud in which the wealthy finance capitalists stole trillions of public dollars. No one was jailed for this crime, the largest theft of public money in history. Instead, the rich forced working people across the globe to pay for their “crisis” through punitive “austerity” programs that gutted public services and repealed workers’ rights. Austerity was named “Word of the Year” for 2010. This documentary explains the nature of capitalist crisis, visits the protests against austerity measures, and…
Highlights from the Republican debate in Florida
Some selected highlights from the Republican presidential candidate debate, hosted in Florida on the 23.01.2012. Watch Mitt Romney declare that America is the natural leader of the world: http://youtu.be/D4BuTa6rE4I?t=4m5s And Newt Gingrich openly express his opinion that Fidel Castro will undoubtedly go to hell: http://youtu.be/D4BuTa6rE4I?t=40m2s While Rick Sentorum declares Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua to be working together with the Jihadists from Iran: http://youtu.be/D4BuTa6rE4I?t=43m43s Ron Paul then steps in and explains why he thinks, Iran’s actions are quite comprehensible: http://youtu.be/D4BuTa6rE4I?t=48m5s And exactly why has the “electability” of the Republican candidate become so much of an issue? Is it more important to…
The Golden Rule in American politics
The Golden Rule, which is foundational to all virtually ethical thinking, has various formulations but the basic idea is easy enough to understand and is well understood by every human being with the capacity to think. Indeed, it is highly likely that the rule is hardwired into the human brain. The rule is to treat others as you would have them treat you and to not do to others what you would not want them to do to you. Jesus was committed to the rule, as was Confucius, and Hillel. Indeed Hillel described as the whole of the Torah. So…
Ron Paul
Ron Paul is a very interesting figure in American politics. Progressives love his foreign policy but hate his economic plans and his positions on domestic issues such as abortion, same-sex marriage, and health care. Conservatives, on the other hand, love Paul’s domestic agenda of reducing the size of the government, lowering taxes, and abolishing the Federal Reserve, but they seem to hate his non-interventionist foreign policy. So Paul has been received differently by different political groups, but even among liberals and progressives, Paul has generated a significant amount of controversy. Consider Kathy Pollit’s recent essay, which outlines the reasons why…
Israel’s assassins
This article in The Australian claims to provide some of the facts and context surrounding Israel’s latest act of terrorism inside Iran. It reads in part like a crime novel, a murder mystery–except that there is almost no mystery. The act was carried out in broad daylight and everyone seems to know who committed the crime, or at least who is behind it. The authors of this article even seem to know to know precisely who gave the go-ahead orders. The most amazing thing about the story though is how insignificant it has been outside of Iran. The event was noted,…
Keeping the public in the dark about climate change
If enough people were well informed about the reality and likely consequences of climate change the political changes required to bring this problem under control would surely be happening a lot quicker than they are. An important question then is why this problem is still insufficiently appreciated. There are a number of well-known and documented causal factors contributing to public ignorance about climate change. In the first place, according to this recent study by the Daily Climate organization, media coverage of climate change is actually decreasing at the very time (2010, 2011) that it should be increasing. Here is a…
Democracy Now
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Recording everything: digital storage as an enabler of authoritarian governments
The Brookings Institution recently published a paper entitled “Recording Everything: Digital Storage as an Enabler of Authoritarian Governments“. The executive summary reads as follows: Within the next few years an important threshold will be crossed: For the first time ever, it will become technologically and financially feasible for authoritarian governments to record nearly everything that is said or done within their borders—every phone conversation, electronic message, social media interaction, the movements of nearly every person and vehicle, and video from every street corner. Governments with a history of using all of the tools at their disposal to track and monitor their citizens…
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