September 21 - 27, 2008

“What we must fight for is to safeguard the existence of our people, the sustenance of our children and the freedom and independence of the fatherland, so that our people may mature for the fulfillment of the mission allotted it by the creator. The world has no reason for fighting in our defense, and as a matter of principle God does not make cowardly nations free.”
A. Schicklgruber.

Monday, September 22, 2008

About 10,000 demonstrators from all over Europe walk in the center of Malmoe during the fifth European Social Forum, protesting against capitalism and the destruction of the environment. (AFP/Olivier Morin). Published on Sunday, September 21, 2008 by Agence France Presse

Published on Sunday, September 21, 2008 by the Maine Sunday Telegram
Mainer Blooms at Farm Aid
The marathon concert plays up the future of small family farming.
Farm Aid has shifted its focus over the years from saving family farmers to helping those who survived the farm crisis thrive. Since 1999, the organization has issued $29,500 in grants to the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association.
Regionally, Farm Aid has granted more than $418,000 to New England farm groups since 1985.

The Fruit of Hypocrisy
Dishonesty in the finance sector dragged us here, and Washington looks ill-equipped to guide us out
September 22, 2008
By Joseph Stiglitz  Source: The Guardian
America's financial system failed in its two crucial responsibilities: managing risk and allocating capital. The industry as a whole has not been doing what it should be doing - for instance creating products that help Americans manage critical risks, such as staying in their homes when interest rates rise or house prices fall - and it must now face change in its regulatory structures. Regrettably, many of the worst elements of the US financial system - toxic mortgages and the practices that led to them - were exported to the rest of the world.

It was all done in the name of innovation, and any regulatory initiative was fought away with claims that it would suppress that innovation. They were innovating, all right, but not in ways that made the economy stronger. Some of America's best and brightest were devoting their talents to getting around standards and regulations designed to ensure the efficiency of the economy and the safety of the banking system. Unfortunately, they were far too successful, and we are all - homeowners, workers, investors, taxpayers - paying the price.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Fascists bring army to fight us!!!
Army Unit to Deploy in October for Domestic Operations
Beginning in October, the Army plans to station an active unit inside the United States for the first time to serve as an on-call federal response in times of emergency. The 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team has spent thirty-five of the last sixty months in Iraq, but now the unit is training for domestic operations. The unit will soon be under the day-to-day control of US Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command. The Army Times reports this new mission marks the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to Northern Command. The paper says the Army unit may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control. The soldiers are learning to use so-called nonlethal weapons designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals and crowds.http://www.democracynow.org/2008/9/22/headlines#10

Sen. Bernie Sanders, Robert Scheer and Dean Baker on the Proposed $700 Billion Bailout of Wall Street, the Largest Government Bailout of Private Industry in US History
It’s being described as the largest government intervention in private markets since the Great Depression. The Bush administration has asked Congress to swiftly approve a massive $700 billion package to rescue the crippled financial institutions on Wall Street. Some analysts say the final cost to taxpayers could top one trillion dollars. Over the weekend, the size of the proposed bailout grew as the Bush administration said foreign banks, including Barclays and UBS, should be eligible for the bailout.
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/9/22/sen_bernie_sanders_robert_scheer_and

Wednesday, September 24, 2008
No banker left behind.
Published on Sunday, September 21, 2008 by CommonDreams.org
Our Financial 9/11: Can They Save the System?
The Bush Administration’s Rescue Plan Is Not Likely to Work
by Danny Schechter
“...China has already called the crisis a "financial tsunami" and called for a new non-US based currency system.”

“...Also troubling is the tendency in the media to blame the crisis on "mistakes" by irresponsible lenders and irresponsible borrowers as if their contributions to this crisis balanced each other out and, hence, since everyone was at fault, no one is at fault.
This "logic" compares the Jones family that took a subprime loan after being targeted by fraudulent brokers who assured them it was a great deal and that they couldn't lose, with a powerful industry that knew they couldn't afford to their home but went ahead anyway securitizing the mortgage, slicing and dicing it into financial instruments and then misrepresenting its value to buyers and investors worldwide.
Since when do you equate individuals with institutions?
The buyer was duped; the lender and the multi-million dollar Wall Street market machine behind these unscrupulous brokers were consciously exploiting people who had no idea they were victimized by a well-calculated and criminal ponzi scheme. The FBI is investigating some of these crimes, so far indicting 400 scammers, but our media continues to leave out the criminal cabal behind this crisis. They support the bailouts but have yet to call for a jail out as if they are unaware that Wall Street is not just a financial center but has been a crime scene.”
“...Listen to economist Nouriel Roubini who has been on target in most of his forecasts,
He predicts, according to financial writer Felix Salmon, "Credit losses of $2 trillion, half the US banking system nationalized, municipal defaults, house price declines accelerating, a sudden stop in consumer spending, global contagion, stagflation, you name it."
Roubini concludes:
"At this point the perfect financial storm of the century cannot be contained. The only light at the end of the tunnel is the one of the coming financial and economic train wreck."
If you think you can trust this Administration to solve this crisis when it has created so many others, think again. Unfortunately neither political party seems to have a clear take on what is happening or any plan to solve it.
So strap in, we are in for volatile rollercoaster ride.”

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Where Have All The Protests Gone?
by David Segal
For all the social and political upheaval, for all the 60-point headlines and for all the bipartisan calls for change, there is plenty of unease -- but a very notable lack of unrest.
It's as though the gods of turmoil threw a party and nobody came. When was the last time you saw a street protest? Or a burning effigy? Or a teach-in? Or a boycott? It's kind of odd: We have the sense that this is an emergency, but open the window and give a listen. There aren't any sirens.
How come?
read more: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2008/09/24-0

Friday September 26, 2008

Ralph Nader warns about irreversible fascism and calls present system “casino capitalism”.

AMY GOODMAN: Ralph Nader, who is Henry Paulson? I mean, we know he worked for Nixon, was the aide to John Ehrlichman, the ex-con, the man who went to jail; then went off to Goldman Sachs; he and Alan Greenspan still being considered the economic wise men, even though this all happened under their watch.
RALPH NADER: That’s when you know the system is decayed and corrupt, that the people who brought us this disaster—Robert Rubin, with Bill Clinton pushing through the financial deregulation monster in 1999, which we opposed, which opened the gates for this kind of wild speculation and this casino capitalism, is still an adviser. He’s an adviser to Barack Obama. He’s an adviser to members of Congress. Henry Paulson cashed out at Goldman Sachs in 2006 a half-a-billion dollars. And now he goes to Washington to bail out his buddies.
The public outrage out there is really enormous. The calls coming into C-SPAN yesterday were overwhelmingly against this bailout, this outrageous inequity, this double standard between the guys at the top and the people who are going to have to pay the bills under this bailout, the taxpayers and the consumers.
Mr. Gupta is right in the sense that this is leaderless, but it’s got to be more than just a rally of protests. It’s got to demand something. It’s got to be focused. Otherwise, it will fritter away. We’ve had rallies on Wall Street. It’s a great place to have rallies. You can really congregate a lot of people, and the Wall Street guys look out the window, and they can see the people are coming.
But the first step is to slow down Congress. Once this bill is passed—and it’s a blanket bill. It’s only four pages, Amy, four pages of a $700 billion blank check, transferring congressional authority wholesale, and I think unconstitutionally, to the White House, King George IV at work again. Once it passes, then the chance for comprehensive regulation and all the other changes to make Wall Street accountable, instead of allow Wall Street to create a corporate state or what Franklin Delano Roosevelt called fascism, which is government controlled by private economic power, represented by people like Henry Paulson—once this happens, it’s not going to be reversible.
read more: http://www.democracynow.org:80/2008/9/25/as_bush_admin_pushes_700b_for