GPJA #429: Part 2. International news & Analysis – 8/6/12

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

“Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we’re being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I’m liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That’s what’s insane about it.” – John Lennon

“When a well-packaged web of lies has been sold gradually to the masses over generations, the truth will seem utterly preposterous and its speaker a raving lunatic.” – Dresden James

“We must not repeat the pattern of the last decade when a few gathered enormous wealth, while the vast majority of New York families were left behind or saw very modest gains.” John Liu, New York City comptroller, on new data placing the top 1 percent share of local income at 32.5 percent, Times Ledger, May 24, 2012

“Forgive me for noting that conservatives seem to believe that the rich will work harder if we give them more, and the poor will work harder if we give them less.” E. J. Dionne Jr., Can this campaign be constructive? Washington Post, June 4, 2012

STATS OF THE WEEK

How much has speculative trading cost JPMorgan Chase, America’s biggest bank, in this spring’s biggest financial scandal? The estimates now run up to $7 billion. How much has the scandal cost Ina Drew, the JPMorgan Chase exec who ran the errant trading office — and is now taking the fall for JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon? Analysts are putting the ultimate value of Drew’s total severance package at somewhere near $32 million. JPMorgan insiders are now claiming that the bank’s trading troubles started when Drew caught Lyme disease and had to miss long months of work. Fortunately for Drew, JPMorgan has one whale of a sick leave policy. Despite her long absences from work, Drew pulled in compensation worth $15.5 million last year . . .

FEATURES

Capitalism: A Ghost Story by Arundhati Roy http://dawn.com/2012/03/18/capitalism-a-ghost-story-2/

John Pilger: Latest twist in unjust legal saga http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/51181

Set aside an hour to watch this: Tariq Ali: The rotten heart of Europe (video) http://links.org.au/node/2895

LGBTI activists respond to John Pilger: ‘Equal marriage rights and Bradley Manning are both big issues’ http://links.org.au/node/2881

The Arab uprisings, democratic demands and the Saudi payroll http://links.org.au/node/2875

White Slavery: The Irish Slaves That Time Forgot http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31436.htm

CULTURAL DISSENT

Auckland’s new ‘riot folk’ outfit Myth of Democracy is about love and rage – An interview with Matt Billington aka Myth of Democracy, whose album Humans Piss Me Off is out now on Bandcamp. http://socialistaotearoa.blogspot.co.nz/2012/05/aucklands-new-riot-folk-outfit-myth-of.html

Home Brew – The Avondale Dialectic: Home Brew’s self-titled, debut, double album is political and personal in equal measures. In the 21 tracks listeners are treated to a description of the unity of opposites that Marx and Engels called dialectics; the world as, ‘a complex of processes, in which the things apparently stable no less than their mind images in our heads, the concepts, go through an uninterrupted change of coming into being and passing away’. Grappling with dialectics forces us to see the world as a constantly morphing place where everything is slowly turning into something else – its opposite. Happiness is alienation. Wealth is poverty. Love is loss. http://socialistaotearoa.blogspot.co.nz/2012/05/home-brew-avondale-dialectic.html

A Red Robin? Paul Buhle, with illustrations by Chris Hutchinson, Gary Dunn, and Sharon Rudahl, Robin Hood: People’s Outlaw and Forest Hero; A Graphic Guide (Oakland: PM Press, 2011), 106 pages, $15.00, paperback. http://monthlyreview.org/2012/05/01/a-red-robin

WORLD ECONOMIC CRISIS

Meet the Global Financial Elites Controlling $46 Trillion In Wealth http://www.alternet.org/story/151999/meet_the_global_financial_elites_controlling_$46_trillion_in_wealth?page=entire

LAND, LABOUR AND THE ENVIROMENT

As emissions soar, only radical action can stop catastrophic heat rise http://climateandcapitalism.com/2012/05/28/as-emissions-soar-only-radical-action-can-stop-catastrophic-heat-rise/

Harmony and ecological civilisation: Beyond the capitalist alienation of nature by Fred Magdoff http://links.org.au/node/2898

AFGHANISTAN

Amnesty International lauds war and occupation as ‘progress’ for women http://links.org.au/node/2876

AUSTRALIA

David Hicks speaks out for Julian Assange & WikiLeaks http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7QZYTjb-Qps

We need an Abbott-proof fence http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/51217

Qantas cuts 500 more jobs: Qantas said on May 21 it would axe more than 500 engineering jobs from Tullamarine and Avalon in Victoria. Qantas said: “Further changes to Avalon are expected as the business continues to modernise.” Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said the company had to cut maintenance costs to match its competitors, and that newer aircraft “require less maintenance, less often”. The latest cuts bring Qantas’s job losses since August to 2000. The Wall Street Journal said Joyce has “slashed jobs as he attempts to make the business … maintain [Qantas’s] coveted investment-grade credit rating” http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/51129

BOLIVIA

Mallku Khota: A Briefing on South American Silver’s Actions in Bolivia – Prepared by Celia Garces in conjunction with CEDIB, Cochabamba http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/646.php#continue

CANADA

Arrested at protest, Quebec political leader says he is ‘Proud to stand with my people’ http://www.rogerannis.com/arrested-at-protest-quebec-political-leader-says-he-is-proud-to-stand-with-my-people/

They created a monster that will haunt them http://socialistworker.org/print/2012/06/04/a-monster-that-will-haunt-them

Thousands march in solidarity with Quebec students as province readies for a summer of protest http://www.rogerannis.com/thousands-march-in-solidarity-with-quebec-students-as-province-readies-for-a-summer-of-protest/

Student-government talks collapse in Quebec; protesters take to the streets http://www.rogerannis.com/student-government-talks-collapse-in-quebec-protesters-take-to-the-streets/

Quebec: Up to 400,000 defy anti-protest law; protests spread http://links.org.au/node/2879

The Threat of Quebec’s Good Example by Peter Hallward, June 1, 2012: The following is the full version of an article that appears on today’s Guardian UK online. The Guardian online version is reduced in length by the editors for reasons of space. http://www.rogerannis.com/the-threat-of-quebecs-good-example/

Canada is seeking a deal with Singapore to establish a military staging post there http://ca.news.yahoo.com/canada-seeks-singapore-hub-support-u-military-asia-191540433.html

Canada’s 1 per cent: How to know if you’re one of them http://www.thestar.com/business/article/1206227–canada-s-1-per-cent-how-to-know-if-you-re-one-of-them

CHINA

In China, Fear at the Top http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/21/opinion/in-china-fear-at-the-top.html?_r=1&smid=fb-share

‘A decade of change: The workers’ movement in China 2000-2010’ http://links.org.au/node/2871

CUBA

2,000 Cuban doctors working in Africa http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/NEWS/2-000-Cuban-doctors-working-in-Africa_11619452

Mariela Castro to Amanpour: “Alan Gross has been granted everything that he’s asked for…” http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/04/mariela-castro-to-amanpour-alan-gross-has-been-granted-everything-that-hes-asked-for/

The Sun, New Oil Of Cuba? Cuba turned resolutely towards alternative energy, solar, wind, hydro, biogas … The country has a factory of solar panels and its own technology. OR http://vimeo.com/33467920

The renovation of Old Havana

DENMARK

Red-Green Alliance congress grapples with increased influence http://links.org.au/node/2889

FRANCE

No Plan B: Hollande, the Left and the movement in France http://tinyurl.com/7bcltty

GERMANY

Germany’s Left Party Survives a Cliffhanger by Victor Grossman http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2012/grossman050612.html

Die Linke’s program in English (adopted October 2011) http://links.org.au/node/2877

GREECE

SYRIZA’s 40-point program http://links.org.au/node/2888

SYRIZA’s Proposals: The Exit From the Crisis Is On the Left http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/645.php

Greece at a Crossroads: Crisis and Radicalization in the Southern European Semi-periphery by Christos Papatheodorou, Spyros Sakellaropoulos, and Paris Yeros http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2012/psy300512.html

HAITI

Haiti, The Call Of The Queen Conch

HONDURAS

US participation in massacre of Moskito people! http://afgj.org/us-participation-in-massacre-of-moskito-people

Honduras: Which Side Is the US On? By Dana Frank http://www.thenation.com/article/167994/honduras-which-side-us?rel=emailNation

MEXICO

“No Matter What the Result, We Will Continue to Resist,” Says Mexican Electrical Workers Union Leader http://truth-out.org/news/item/9534-no-matter-what-the-result-we-will-continue-to-resist-says-mexican-electrical-workers-union-leader

PACIFIC

How mining companies rip off PNG — Antony Loewenstein interview http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/51151

Samoa: 200 Chiefs of Satapuala Call for Land Justice on 50th Independence http://tinyurl.com/8a2d5dr

PALESTINE

The lies about the 1967 war are still more powerful than the truth http://tinyurl.com/794djce

Israel detention ends Gaza soccer player’s dream http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=492507

RUSSIA

Russia since the elections: the calm before the storm? http://links.org.au/node/2887

SOMALIA

Somalia: Pirates and Fishermen http://www.globalpolicy.org/images/pdfs/Security_Council/GPF_Somalia_illegal_fishing.pdf

SPAIN

Spain’s Government and European Authorities Bent on Dismantling Welfare State By Mark Weisbrot http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/may/30/eurozone-crisis-spain-debt

SRI LANKA

Crimes against humanity with the West’s complicity http://links.org.au/node/2882

USA

Far right and Republicans attempt roll back of constitutional equal rights http://links.org.au/node/2883

Assassin-in-Chief in the Oval Office http://www.thenation.com/article/168229/assassin-chief-oval-office

Young, Privileged, and Applying for Food Stamps http://thebillfold.com/2012/05/young-privileged-and-applying-for-food-stamps/

The Bipartisan Assault on Higher Education BY Barry Finger http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/644.php

This is What Plutocracy Looks Like: Wisconsin Lessons http://www.paulstreet.org/?p=726

Letter from the US: Recovery for the rich, depression for the poor http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/51234

VENEZUELA

New labor law empowers workers in Venezuela http://www.workers.org/2012/world/venezuela_0607/