NYT (6): Foreign Affairs

Seeing writing on well, U.S. cuts Iraq embassy staff in half; Is Russia finally taking active role in Syrian crisis?; As people strike, Greek leaders postpone vote on austerity measures, and wonder if they amount to political suicide; All eyes on poorest 1/5 of Indians as they go to polls; Haitians creating immigration crisis in Brazil; The U.S. embargo against Cuba is 50 years old.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Wednesday, February 8, 2012

NYT (4): Foreign Affairs

Abbas reconciles with Hamas, will lead unity pact; First female prez of Mexico? Could happen; Victory for conservatives in Finland continues rightward trend in Europe; U.S. Constitution is losing influence globally.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Tuesday, February 7, 2012

NYT Op-Eds (3)

"The unemployment report was genuinely good, but there’s a downside: the calls to stop focusing on job creation" (Krugman); "The partisans of an unfettered Internet won the last skirmish in Washington. So is any attempt to police online piracy doomed?" (Keller); "One form of wickedness Charles Dickens decried still haunts us, proud and unrepentant: the lawyer" (Guest Op-Ed)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Monday, February 6, 2012

Smirking Chimp (4)

Is America a police state?; Is Obama a failed president?; "Progressive Democrats"; A drumbeat toward war with Iran?
Posted by Ian Alterman, Sunday, February 5, 2012

Truthdig – Focus on Iran and China Could Hasten American Decline

Posted by Michael Butler, Friday, February 3, 2012

Deja Vu in France – a tale of two Mitterands – FT, Philip Stephens.

Posted by Alexander Harper, Thursday, February 2, 2012

NYT Op-Eds (3)

"Charles Murray’s 'Coming Apart' describes the most important cultural trends today and offers a better understanding of America’s increasingly two-caste society" (Brooks); "Thanks to a gap between discrimination laws and disability laws, it’s possible for a pregnant woman to be forced from her job" (Guest Op-Ed); "With use of drones, the world could get clear, instant evidence of atrocities in Syria" (Guest Op-Ed)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Occupying Hawaii: Paradise Lost and Found

What a sad story, past and present. mb
Posted by Michael Butler, Sunday, January 29, 2012

NYT (6): Foreign Affairs

Will Israel attack Iran?; In wake of growing violence, Arab League suspends monitoring in Syria; DC lobbyists drop Egypt as client; British hacking scandal continues, as 5 more are arrested, including a policeman; A book on two Muslim women "firebrands"; A book on how the Inquisition helped create the modern world.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Sunday, January 29, 2012

Selling the Supply Side Myth

Posted by Michael Butler, Saturday, January 28, 2012

How Power and Influence Helped Big Banks Rewrite the Rules – Moyers

Posted by Michael Butler, Friday, January 27, 2012

Truthdig – Mitch Daniels: Bombast From the Past

Posted by Michael Butler, Friday, January 27, 2012

George Lakey: How Swedes and Norwegians Broke the Power of the ‘1 Percent’

Lakey in Waging Nonviolence ..

While many of us are working to ensure that the Occupy movement will have a lasting impact, it’s worthwhile to consider other countries where masses of people succeeded in nonviolently bringing about a high degree of democracy and economic justice. Sweden and Norway, for example, both experienced a major power shift in the 1930s after prolonged nonviolent struggle. They “fired” the top 1 percent of people who set the direction for society and created the basis for something different. Both countries had a history of horrendous poverty. When the 1 percent was in charge, hundreds of thousands of people emigrated to avoid starvation. Under the leadership of the working class, however, both countries built robust and successful economies that nearly eliminated poverty, expanded free university education, abolished slums, provided excellent health care available to all as a matter of right and created a system of full employment

.. read more
Posted by Mike Blaxill, Friday, January 27, 2012

Up For Debate: German Court Bars “Mein Kampf” Again

The court is "concerned whether modern Germany can cope with the work that sowed the seeds for the Holocaust," because "This week, the government released the results of a two-year-long study showing that one in five Germans still harbored anti-Semitic beliefs." Is the court's decision a legitimate corrective? Or is it "paternalist" overreach and/or a form of censorship?
Posted by Ian Alterman, Thursday, January 26, 2012

Reagan’s Hand in Guatemala’s Genocide

Posted by Michael Butler, Tuesday, January 24, 2012

NYT Editorial, Op-Eds, Letters (11)

"Americans spend more than patients in any other country, but with very mixed results" (Editorial); "Drones are blurring the civilian and military roles in war and circumventing the constitutional mandate for authorizing it" (Guest Op-Ed); "If only a presidential candidate would adopt this four-part agenda, he would surely be the winner on election night in November" (Friedman); "'Porgy and Bess' supplies a prism through which African-Americans have viewed their history" (Nocera); "No longer will only men be allowed to sell a bra to a woman clothed head-to-toe in an abaya" (Guest Op-Ed); "Could 2012 be a race between two powerful victims yearning to be lonely at the top?" (Dowd); "In both parties, there is a long tradition of underwhelming nominees" (Douthat); "If liberals care about middle-class salaries, public education and other state-funded services, they need to care about controlling health care costs as much as conservatives do" (Guest Op-Ed); "Lessons from Paula Deen on indulgence and its consequences" (Bruni); "It's 2012, and let's face it, the old way of sizing up candidates on the left-to-right spectrum just will not do" (Guest Op-Ed); "Sunday Dialogue: State Laws on Unions" (Letters)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Sunday, January 22, 2012

NYT (6): National News

Gingrich takes SC by wide margin; SOPA/PIPA fight is clash of media and generations; A new economic divide based on "mobility"; Obama to use SOTU to draw economic "line in the sand"; A book on how "scarcity will remake American politics"; A book on the lead-up to the KSM trial.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Sunday, January 22, 2012

Repeal the Farce of ‘Corporate Personhood’

Posted by Michael Butler, Saturday, January 21, 2012

Corporate Rule Is Not Inevitable by Sarah van Gelder — YES! Magazine

Posted by Michael Butler, Saturday, January 21, 2012

Alan Greenspan’s Ship of Fools

This makes on alternate between sadness and rage. mb
Posted by Michael Butler, Friday, January 20, 2012

The Triggers of Economic Inequality – Bill Moyers

Moyers is back! Great news. PBS Friday nights
Posted by Michael Butler, Thursday, January 19, 2012

NYT Op-Eds (3)

"The phrase 'under God' was not conceived to promote unity, but capitalism and conservatism" (Guest Op-Ed); "To the manner, and manor, born in an American version of Downton Abbey, Mitt and Poppy have a lot in common, warts and all" (Dowd); "Some recent news out of Egypt shows just how tough diplomacy is going to be going forward" (Friedman)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Wednesday, January 18, 2012

NYT Op-Eds (6)

"Martin Luther King would see a nation that judges people by the size of their paychecks" (Krugman); "It's obvious that governing was never the point of the Tea Party" (Egan); "The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an international as well as an American icon. But his legacy was used to serve a range of purposes" (Guest Op-Ed); "An influential critic says banking regulations are too complex, and she offers some solutions" (Nocera); "As Jon Huntsman exits the presidential race, he reverts to familiar partisan hypocrisy" (Bruni); "On a visit to South Carolina just days before the primary, getting a feel for what people on the scene are thinking about the candidates" (Brooks)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Tuesday, January 17, 2012

We’re All Guilty of Dehumanizing the Enemy

Posted by Michael Butler, Sunday, January 15, 2012

NYT (11): Editorials, Op-Eds, Letters

"Mitt Romney and the Republican Party fear talking about income inequality in the campaign" (Editorial); "In a sound ruling, the National Labor Relations Board concluded that employees’ federal right to engage in concerted action trumps any arbitration agreement that bars group claims" (Editorial); "The Tea Party’s influence is diminishing as conservatives seem to be inching toward nominating Mitt Romney" (Guest Op-Ed); "Presidential candidates are just like you. You plus multiple homes and millions" (Bruni); "There has yet to be any discussion over the one quality that has subtly driven Mitt Romney's candidacy: his race" (Guest Op-Ed); "The private equity revolution of Mitt Romney and others helped keep America competitive, but the human costs must be acknowledged, too" (Douthat); "In fashion next fall: enigmatic, elusive, analytical Harvard grads" (Dowd); "For those in the news media who covered the slow-motion collapse of the Soviet Union, this moment feels familiar" (Guest Op-Ed); "As a new government takes shape, Egyptians are finding their voices again and rediscovering their neighbors" (Friedman); "Medieval Europe had barbarian hordes, famine and plague. We have millions of people on Xanax" (Guest Op-Ed); "Sunday Dialogue: Mobility and Inequality in Today’s America" (Letters)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Sunday, January 15, 2012