Three weeks ago over a thousand environmental protesters were arrested outside the White House with barely a squeak from the MSM. Last week some British (so-called) newspapers pulled news of unrest in Rome off their pages, leaving here only the Daily Mirror to report actual news, afaics. This week the corporate media blackout of the Wall Street protests in the USA continues.
Some timely reportage at #occupywallstreet, amongst others.
Paul Harris' Grauniad blog gives some background info on the Wall St protests.
HT: Erich Vieth at Dangerous Intersection.
When offered a choice between A and B, remember there's a whole alphabet out there ...
Thursday, 22 September 2011
Hiding from Reality
Labels:
debt,
deleveraging,
financial crisis,
protest,
unsustainable,
Wall St
Tuesday, 13 September 2011
When Cokie the Clown Played with Louise
So, Chancellor George Osborne a NoFX fan? Could this be?
Guido suggests so.
Whatever else, our George really ought to be up for the coveted "Most Gruesome Website of the Month" award for this one.
Guido suggests so.
Whatever else, our George really ought to be up for the coveted "Most Gruesome Website of the Month" award for this one.
Labels:
Chancellor of the Exchequer,
George Osborne,
NoFX
Monday, 12 September 2011
Just Say Bollox
Abstinence Costs Lives and Money.
“The addiction treatment industry in America is expected to have revenues of $34 billion by 2014, an increase of 55% from 2005. The vast majority of that spending -- nearly 80% -- is underwritten by public funding, and the remaining portion paid for by insurance or private fees. There are are more 11,000 addiction-treatment centers in the United States, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.” DailyFinance.
Yet, “the typical detox/rehab system … has a success rate of less than 15% ... the response to failure is to put people through the same process again and again.”
How many more people have to die like Amy Winehouse before reality is faced up to?
Just like the “War on Drugs” and the ludicrous ideology-driven "just say no" abstinence campaigns that cost millions in taxpayer funds every year, it is the detox / rehab industry that is mad, bad, dangerous and completely counter-productive.
Stop it now!
“The addiction treatment industry in America is expected to have revenues of $34 billion by 2014, an increase of 55% from 2005. The vast majority of that spending -- nearly 80% -- is underwritten by public funding, and the remaining portion paid for by insurance or private fees. There are are more 11,000 addiction-treatment centers in the United States, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.” DailyFinance.
Yet, “the typical detox/rehab system … has a success rate of less than 15% ... the response to failure is to put people through the same process again and again.”
How many more people have to die like Amy Winehouse before reality is faced up to?
Just like the “War on Drugs” and the ludicrous ideology-driven "just say no" abstinence campaigns that cost millions in taxpayer funds every year, it is the detox / rehab industry that is mad, bad, dangerous and completely counter-productive.
Stop it now!
Thursday, 8 September 2011
Fearful Irony
Nothing Like a State-wide Conflagration to Bring Out a Man's True Character.
- Fk the free market gimme the funds to fight the fires, Feds - is what Mad Hatter Republican Governor Rick Perry, who only recently cut funding to the main fire-fighting forces in Texas by 55% seems to be saying.
See the frightened Governor call for Federal Funding, here.
- Fk the free market gimme the funds to fight the fires, Feds - is what Mad Hatter Republican Governor Rick Perry, who only recently cut funding to the main fire-fighting forces in Texas by 55% seems to be saying.
See the frightened Governor call for Federal Funding, here.
Labels:
cuts,
hypocrisy,
public services,
Republicans,
tax,
Tea Party,
Thatcherite,
USA
Tuesday, 6 September 2011
Wanna Get Fracked?
Who is this “we” in Australia's new "We want CoalSeamGas" campaign?
Why, the Coal Seam Gas industry, of course!
Why, the Coal Seam Gas industry, of course!
Labels:
Australia,
climate change,
fracking,
peak oil
Sunday, 4 September 2011
Dangerous Instruments
Aaron Peters writes in OpenDemocracy.net:
"The suspension of 'everyday' legislation is now becoming normal. 'Exceptional' conditions are increasingly viewed as quotidian, something Giorgio Agamben explores in his book 'State of Exception'. We will increasingly see tactics designed to deal with crisis employed during ANY situation of mass public assembly – whether it be a political protest, carnival or sporting event.
As Brett Neilson writes of Agamben's thinking on the matter,
"...this figure of generalized catastrophe under a sky void of transcendental authority...(is) characterized by 'governmental violence that ignores international law externally and produces a permanent state of exception internally, while all the time pretending to uphold the law. In light of Cameron's remarks on the recent London riots and 'silly' European human rights legislation, Agamben's views on executive power replacing legislative power in contemporary ‘liberal democracies’ are especially pertinent ..." [more ...]
"The suspension of 'everyday' legislation is now becoming normal. 'Exceptional' conditions are increasingly viewed as quotidian, something Giorgio Agamben explores in his book 'State of Exception'. We will increasingly see tactics designed to deal with crisis employed during ANY situation of mass public assembly – whether it be a political protest, carnival or sporting event.
As Brett Neilson writes of Agamben's thinking on the matter,
Labels:
democratic deficit,
emergency,
protest,
Section 60
Saturday, 3 September 2011
Over 1000 Arrests Outside White House But Media Still Silent
More than a thousand people have so far been arrested protesting the construction of the Keystone-XL Tarsands pipeline through the Ogalalla Aquifer.
Still not heard anything about this on the radio or other media here.
Why not?
Still not heard anything about this on the radio or other media here.
Why not?
Labels:
climate change,
environmental degradation,
overdevelopment,
peak oil,
protest,
USA
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