For the Record

German efficiency

Unemployment rate in Germany at 6.6%. Apparently this is because 

Germany deployed a number of instruments to keep people in their jobs even during the most trying days of the financial crisis

OK, so 'democratic' government is supposed to be in the business of advancing the (medium-term, presumably) interests of 'the people' -- in the sense of, if not the 51%, then at least the 97%. Presumably, 'keeping people in their jobs' is in the interests of 'the people' in this sense. Perhaps making the 97% feel as if the state has no interest in keeping them in their jobs is in the interest of (allowing for some borderline feelings of suspended indecision in the 98th %ile) the top 1% -- shock doctrine, give up on organizing, willingly subject themselves to the market and all that. So -- we do not wish to repeat ourselves, and yet we must -- the relatively pathetic efforts toward keeping people in their jobs in the Anglophone world are evidence that government here is not 'democratic'.

Germany did not get the jump on Anglophonia because they knew something we didn't. Their strategy involved:

the government program known as “Kurzarbeit,” which allowed employers to significantly reduce workers’ hours, with the state stepping in to make up most of the shortfall in pay. Another was the so-called work-time accounts, whereby unions and companies agreed to let workers build up a bank of overtime that they could then use to take paid leave when there was a downturn in business

Clever, but not really very clever. And academics and technocrats share ideas globally. Our current predicament is not inevitable but is the product of state activity -- and not state activity directed in any significant way on behalf of 'the people'.

We are so sorry

We (well, we Canadians) screwed up.

Go Cheeseheads!

Over one million signatures served to force recall of union-busting Scott Walker.  Yippee!

Post WWII-US wars: 6 million dead

But who's counting?

Palestinian flag flown at Paris UNESCO headquarters

An important gesture.

Bush and Blair guilty of war crimes by standards of Nuremburg tribunal

For their aggressive, illegal, and mass-murderous invasion of Iraq:

A tribunal in Malaysia, spearheaded by that nation’s former Prime Minister, yesterday found George Bush and Tony Blair guilty of “crimes against peace” and other war crimes for their 2003 aggressive attack on Iraq, as well as fabricating pretexts used to justify the attack. [...]

The tribunal ruled that Bush and Blair’s name should be entered in a register of war criminals, urged that they be recognized as such under the Rome Statute, and will also petition the International Criminal Court to proceed with binding charges. Such efforts are likely to be futile, but one Malaysian lawyer explained the motives of the tribunal to The Associated Press: “For these people who have been immune from prosecution, we want to put them on trial in this forum to prove that they committed war crimes.” In other words, because their own nations refuse to hold them accountable and can use their power to prevent international bodies from doing so, the tribunal wanted at least formal legal recognition of these war crimes to be recorded and the evidence of their guilt assembled. That’s the same reason a separate panel of this tribunal will hold hearings later this year on charges of torture against Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and others.

Here’s what I find striking about this. Virtually every Serious political and media elite in America, by definition, would scoff at this tribunal; few things are considered more fringe or ludicrous than the notion that George Bush and Tony Blair should be punished as war criminals just because they aggressively attacked another nation and caused the deaths of at least 150,000 innocent people and the displacement of millions more. But the only thing this Malaysian tribunal is doing is applying the clear principles of the Nuremberg Tribunal as enunciated by lead prosecutor and former U.S. Attorney General Robert Jackson in his Opening and Closing Statements at Nuremberg [..].

Silent shaming

Chancellor Katahi walks past hundreds of silent protestors.

Occupation of abandoned corporate buildings must be met...

with deadly force, of course.  Isn't it the capitalist way?  How lucky the landlords are to have people on the public payroll, so ready to defend their earthly rights.

Goodbye, Mr. Ick

Berlusconi finally resigns.

I <3 Elizabeth Warren

She is so the awesome.

(Sorry for the bad grammer, PHLB99-ers. :) .)

One cop for every protester...

More precisely: 4K cops deployed to harass handle 10K Londoners protesting the tripling (!) of education fees.

The fate of the translators

The ultimate bait and switch.

We are the 99%

Real stories from real people... my brother and sister in the U.S. have been experiencing such a decimated way of life for years now.

The descent into market barbarism continues...

with the latest absurdist 'White Paper' in the U.K, according to which universities are to be ranked by job prospects and salaries of graduates.  Some pushback here; summary here.

Abbas bids for U.N. recognition of Palestinian statehood

An historic and overdue move.

Finally, repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell'

On the one hand, the welcome end of another vestige of a pre-enlightened age.  On the other hand, we're supposed to be happy that non-hets can now happily sign up to be cannon fodder?

Mutilation and murder of 13-year-old Hamza al-Khateeb

The tender age of this poor soul only underscores what so many of all ages have been subjected to, now more than technologically efficient ever.  It is so hard and horrible to believe that in this day and age, entire countries are still ruled by force, fear, and torture.  May the socio-political world quickly evolve for everyone on earth.

In the meantime, I share with anyone who happens to be reading this a thought about suffering, relevant, perhaps to the problem of evil.  I am inclined to believe, for reasons that are hard to articulate but that I nonetheless find compelling, that we are not here only for the moment.  Roughly, I am inclined to think that the life that any of us are currently experiencing is just one small part of a much larger journey.  The experience of pain is one aspect of that journey.  Those who experience great pain, I comfort myself in thinking, are probably further along that particular road... in seeing or somehow knowing, in particular, that we are not our pain.  I hope and, though I would not characterize my sentiment as religious per se, pray that Hamza is now experiencing a delightful and appreciative existence, wherever he may be.

International panel points out futility of "war on drugs"; urges decriminalization of pot and focusing efforts on organized crime, not users

A welcome statement of the obvious.

Largest U.S. corporations made 170 billion and paid -1.5% taxes

Yes, you've heard it before and it's still going on.  The institutionally rich get massively richer and yet, remarkably, pay no taxes.  No wonder there's no money available for health care or schools or other social services.  Ah, remember the good old days, when corporations were limited franchises, granted (at least ostensibly) in the public interest, and dissolved in a couple of years.  How times, and the metaphysics of persons, have changed.

Worth viewing: a short interview with Matt Taibi...

... talking about U.S. politics.  Not too much to be optimistic about, but hearing the truth laid bare in Taibi's mellow way is satisfying, in a Chomsky-esque kind of way.