June 2011
8 posts
How Bob Crow is saving the economy →
Aditya Chakrabortty:
[Y]ou don’t have to love Bob Crow to see that he is effective at fighting for his members’ interests — not just against Transport for London, but Heathrow Express and a whole bunch of private transport firms. Similarly, if the Westminster classes mean what they say about narrowing the gap between the rich and the rest, MPs have to concede that unions unafraid...
Set Adrift From Economic Progress →
Despite the warnings, in a number of countries, including the UK and the US, what growth there has been since the crash has been used to restore profit levels, financial sector bonuses and personal fortunes. In the US, profits have jumped by $528 billion since recovery began while wages have grown by only $168 billion. In the UK in the last 18 months, profits and personal fortunes have risen...
David Banks: Twitter-tattle about celebrity sex... →
However, from the lofty heights of the Trafigura Twitterstorm we now seem, in recent days, to be plumbing the depths of what social media can be used to expose. After all, in the last 48 hours we have not learned of gagging orders obtained by corporations stifling journalistic endeavour. We have instead been treated to a series of tweets revealing the identity of celebrities said to have sought...
Imperial Delusions and the Killing of Bin Laden →
When Obama refers to “our commitment to stand up for our values abroad, and our sacrifices to make the world a safer place,” we should understand it the same way we would understand Bush saying such things: Our “values” are rhetorical cover for empire; the “sacrifices” are typically imposed upon the vulnerable; and a “safer” world is more dangerous than ever.
Edward Herman: Gilbert Achcar’s Defense of... →
Really takes him to task, particularly this bit:
He doesn’t ask how their concern for Libyan civilians can be genuine when simultaneously they support the crackdown on Bahraini civilians and the invasion of Bahrain by Saudi Arabia. Assuredly he doesn’t refer to Madeleine Albright’s 1996 statement that the U.S. policy-caused death of 500,000 Iraqi children was “worth it” as indicative of U.S....
Berks and wankers, prescriptivists and... →
The berks and wankers are really, of course, also Kingsly’s sly parody of the language pundit. Every language writer thinks that there are mistakes that only idiots make. And every one considers certain rules stuffy or bogus. Where pundits disagree is deciding which language sins make you a berk, and which usage shibboleths make you a wanker.
Noam Chomsky: Understanding Democracy →
We are in a new stage of state-capitalism in which the future just doesn’t matter very much, even the survival of the firm doesn’t matter very much. What matters increasingly is short term profit and if a CEO doesn’t pursue that, he will be replaced with someone who will do it. This is institutional effect, not individual effect, and has extraordinary implications on society. It may, in fact,...
Exclusive: How Blair and BP “Lied” Over Iraqi Oil →
Greg Muttitt:
“Not for nothing was BP known as Blair Petroleum, but Baroness Symons’ attitude sounds more like something from the Nineteenth Century. Didn’t her officials point out that under the Hague and Geneva conventions it’s illegal to fight wars for resources?”