my corner of the sandbox

BBC NEWS | Free market flawed, says survey

2009-11-12T15:48:00.002-04:00

Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a new BBC poll has found widespread dissatisfaction with free-market capitalism.

In the global poll for the BBC World Service, only 11% of those questioned across 27 countries said that it was working well.

BBC NEWS | Special Reports | Free market flawed, says survey

Rock (and U.S. Oil Production) Is Dead

2009-11-12T15:17:00.001-04:00

Rock (and U.S. Oil Production) Is Dead

Posted by: Patrick James
on November 11, 2009 at 12:29 pm

Overthinking It has a thought-provoking chart (view at full size here) that pits the declining quality of rock music against the declining amount of oil production in the lower 48 states. The remarkable similarity between the arcs of U.S. oil production and songs in Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” by year is staggering. Some of their analysis:

Notice that after the birth of rock & roll in the 1950’s, the production of “great songs” peaked in the 60’s, remained strong in the 70’s, but drastically fell in the subsequent decades. It would seem that, like oil, the supply of great musical ideas is finite. By the end of the 70’s, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, the Motown greats, and other genre innovators quickly extracted the best their respective genres** had to offer, leaving little supply for future musicians.

Mere correlation? Dastardly causality? What would this look like if it used best-of data from a magazine that hadn’t ignored the majority of hip hop, electronic music, and the American underground for the last three decades?

Via Gawker.

Slavoj Žižek · Post-Wall

2009-11-12T14:31:00.009-04:00

"...maybe post-Communist disappointment should not be dismissed as a sign of ‘immature’ expectations. When people protested against Communist regimes in Eastern Europe, most of them weren’t asking for capitalism. They wanted solidarity and a rough kind of justice; they wanted the freedom to live their own lives outside state control, to come together and talk as they pleased; they wanted to be liberated from primitive ideological indoctrination and hypocrisy. In effect they aspired to something that could best be described as ‘socialism with a human face’. Perhaps this sentiment deserves a second chance."

LRB · Slavoj Žižek · Post-Wall

2009-11-12T01:04:00.003-04:00

SPIEGEL Interview with Umberto Eco

'We Like Lists Because We Don't Want to Die'

By Susanne Beyer and Lothar Gorris

Italian novelist and semiotician Umberto Eco, who is curating a new exhibition at the Louvre in Paris, talks to SPIEGEL about the place lists hold in the history of culture, the ways we try to avoid thinking about death and why Google is dangerous for young people.

SPIEGEL Interview with Umberto Eco: 'We Like Lists Because We Don't Want to Die' - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

Crunch Time for Planet Earth

2009-11-08T17:15:00.001-04:00

By Amitabh Pal

It’s crunch time for Planet Earth.

The climate change negotiations in the run-up to the Copenhagen summit seem to be deadlocked.

“America indicated yesterday that a legally binding agreement was probably impossible, and acceptance is growing among both rich and poor countries that no binding deal will be reached in Copenhagen next month, and that talks could drag well into 2010 or beyond,” The Guardian reports.

Crunch Time for Planet Earth | The Progressive

Keats-Shelley prize goes to Buddhist poet

2009-11-02T19:24:00.000-04:00

The Small Boy and the Mouse by D H Maitreyabandhu

When he closed his eyes and asked the question,

he saw an egg, a boiled egg, lodged

above his heart. The shell had been broken off,

with a teaspoon he supposed, it was pure curd white

and still warm. Inside – he could see inside –

there was a garden with rows of potatoes,

sweet peas in a tangle, and a few tomatoes, red

and green ones, along with that funny sulphur smell

coming from split sacks. There was an enamel bathtub

in the garden, with chipped edges, a brown puddle

staining around itself, and a few wet leaves.

He could see down the plughole, so the sun must have shone,

and he heard his father digging potatoes,

knocking off the soil, and his mother fetching the washing in

because the sky promised a shower. There was a hole

or rather a pipe under the tub, where the water went,

and down at the bottom was a mouse – its ribs were poking out,

its damp fur clung together. The mouse was holding

a black-and-white photograph of a boy

who might have been three or four years old;

the boy was playing with boxes, or were they saucepans

from the kitchen? – he was leaning forward and slightly blurred.

And what was strange about the picture,

apart from being held by a mouse who sat on his haunches

and gripped it in his forepaws, was that the space

around the boy, the paleness around him, expanded,

got very bright and engulfed the mouse, the bathtub, the garden,

and the egg with its shell cracked off.

After that there was nothing, apart from the dark

inside the boy's head and a kind of quiet

he'd never had before. He opened his eyes. All the furniture

looked strange, as if someone had rearranged it.

Keats-Shelley prize goes to Buddhist poet | Books | guardian.co.uk

Illegal Downloaders Spend More on Music

2009-11-02T17:13:00.000-04:00

Illegal Downloaders Spend More on Music

According to a poll conducted in the UK, people who admit to illegally downloading music also spend more money on music every year than those who don't. None of this changes the legality of downloading copyrighted content, of course, but if the same is true for most file sharers across the globe, it seems like something the music industry and the RIAA might want to consider in their crusades against file sharing. [The Independent]"

An Imperial Strategy for a New World Order: The Origins of World War III

2009-11-02T17:01:00.000-04:00

by Andrew Gavin Marshall

In the face of total global economic collapse, the prospects of a massive international war are increasing. Historically, periods of imperial decline and economic crisis are marked by increased international violence and war. The decline of the great European empires was marked by World War I and World War II, with the Great Depression taking place in the intermediary period.

Currently, the world is witnessing the decline of the American empire, itself a product born out of World War II. As the post-war imperial hegemon, America ran the international monetary system and reigned as champion and arbitrator of the global political economy.

To manage the global political economy, the US has created the single largest and most powerful military force in world history. Constant control over the global economy requires constant military presence and action.

Now that both the American empire and global political economy are in decline and collapse, the prospect of a violent end to the American imperial age is drastically increasing.

This essay is broken into three separate parts. The first part covers US-NATO geopolitical strategy since the end of the Cold War, at the beginning of the New World Order, outlining the western imperial strategy that led to the war in Yugoslavia and the “War on Terror.” Part 2 analyzes the nature of “soft revolutions” or “colour revolutions” in US imperial strategy, focusing on establishing hegemony over Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Part 3 analyzes the nature of the imperial strategy to construct a New World Order, focusing on the increasing conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Latin America, Eastern Europe and Africa; and the potential these conflicts have for starting a new world war with China and Russia.

An Imperial Strategy for a New World Order: The Origins of World War III

Bolivia summit adopts new currency

2009-10-17T11:15:00.001-03:00

Morales, left, and Chavez, were among the Alba leaders who praised the new currency [AFP]

Leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean have agreed during a summit in Bolivia on creation of a regional currency aimed at reducing the use of the US dollar.

Al Jazeera English - Americas - Bolivia summit adopts new currency

War Is Peace. Ignorance Is Strength. by John Pilger -- Antiwar.com

2009-10-16T13:52:00.000-03:00

A reality check by great documentary film maker, John Pilger.

Barack Obama, winner of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, is planning another war to add to his impressive record. In Afghanistan, his agents routinely extinguish wedding parties, farmers and construction workers with weapons such as the innovative Hellfire missile, which sucks the air out of your lungs. According to the UN, 338,000 Afghan infants are dying under the Obama-led alliance, which permits only $29 per head annually to be spent on medical care.

War Is Peace. Ignorance Is Strength. by John Pilger -- Antiwar.com

Finland First to Make Broadband a Legal Right - Tom's Hardware

2009-10-14T18:19:00.000-03:00

Finland has become the first country to make broadband a legal right.

Zoom

That's right, you heard me. YLE reports that starting next July, every person in Finland will have the right to a one-megabit broadband connection. What's that? Do I hear some scoffing at the idea of a one-megabit connection? Well how about this, YLE goes on to say that the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications are guaranteeing that by 2015, this will be upped to a 100-megabit connection.

With a population of 5.5 million, Finland is the first but definitely won't be the last. Other European countries are expected to follow suit soon, including the United Kingdom.

Imagine being legally entitled to 100-megabit internet … Man, now would that be awesome or what? Now stop imagining, this is America, not Finland.

Source : Tom's Hardware US

Finland First to Make Broadband a Legal Right - Tom's Hardware

Hive Electricity: The Coming Energy Revolution

2009-10-14T17:16:00.002-03:00

Electric cars, intelligent washing machines, mini power plants in your basement: Germany is on the verge of an energy revolution. SPIEGEL ONLINE looks at the latest developments in the smart grid and how it will change the relationship between consumers and energy suppliers.

Hive Electricity: The Coming Energy Revolution - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

Osama Bin Laden: Dead or Alive?

2009-10-10T13:59:00.002-03:00

by David Ray Griffin

Is Osama bin Laden still alive? I have dealt with this question in a recent little book entitled Osama bin Laden: Dead or Alive? The present essay summarizes the main points of this book.

Since the transference of power from the Bush administration to that of Barack Obama administration, the question of whether bin Laden is dead or alive has become more important.

Osama Bin Laden: Dead or Alive?: "Van Jones"

ClubOrlov: Obama Wins Gorbachev's Peace Prize

2009-10-10T11:37:00.005-03:00

Needless to say, the web was awash with comment about Obama's winning of the peace prize. I can't say that I bothered to read any of it. It was all rather predictable- a scanning of the headlines was enough to get the idea where people were coming from. Then I came across this one which I found interesting...

And while at the site read the author's "closing the collapse gap" where he parallels the decline of the Soviet Union with what he sees happening to the U.S.

I've said it here before: Obama is the new Gorbachev, the smiling face behind the crumbling imperial façade, the personable, non-threatening loser. Gorbachev got his Nobel Consolation Prize in October 1990; a little less than a year later the USSR was no more and he was unemployed.

ClubOrlov: Obama Wins Gorbachev's Peace Prize

PICTURES: Best Micro-Photos of 2009 Announced

2009-10-09T17:14:00.002-03:00

An image of the mustard plant's male reproductive organ, enlarged 20 times under a microscope, took top honors in the 2009 Small World Photomicrography Competition, announced October 8.

PICTURES: Best Micro-Photos of 2009 Announced

One Year On: How Iceland Is Coping With a Broken Economy

2009-10-09T13:52:00.002-03:00

It's been one year since Iceland slid into the financial abyss with the failure of leading banks. The economy still hasn't recovered, but Icelanders appear to have gotten used to life in the crisis. They live more modestly now and seem surprisingly content.

One Year On: How Iceland Is Coping With a Broken Economy - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

Dangerous Minds | You Never Give Me Your Money: Metzger on the Beatles Remasters

2009-10-07T14:42:00.002-03:00

The Beatles remasters have finally hit the street and all across the world, music fans are gorging themselves on the most fabled and revered repertoire in pop music history. This may well prove to be the last hurrah of the CD age and certainly the marketing gurus at Capital have been working overtime to make sure we’ve all very aware of the Beatles as we approach this holiday season. It’s highly likely that the Fab Four will prove to be the best selling artists of this decade,

Dangerous Minds | You Never Give Me Your Money: Metzger on the Beatles Remasters

The demise of the dollar

2009-10-06T13:02:00.003-03:00

The demise of the dollar

By Robert Fisk

In a graphic illustration of the new world order, Arab states have launched secret moves with China, Russia and France to stop using the US currency for oil trading

In the most profound financial change in recent Middle East history, Gulf Arabs are planning – along with China, Russia, Japan and France – to end dollar dealings for oil, moving instead to a basket of currencies including the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a new, unified currency planned for nations in the Gulf Co-operation Council, including Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar.

The demise of the dollar - Business News, Business - The Independent

A Photo Essay: The Secret World of Oil -

2009-10-03T09:51:00.002-03:00

Edward Burtynsky's haunting new photography show at Washington's Corcoran Gallery captures the beauty and devastation of petroleum on our planet. VIEW OUR GALLERY. For the last 30 years, Edward Burtynsky, a renowned Canadian photographer, has made a...

The Secret World of Oil - The Daily Beast

millions spent by lobbyists fighting Obama health reforms | guardian.co.uk

2009-10-01T13:31:00.001-03:00

America's healthcare industry has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to block the introduction of public medical insurance and stall other reforms promised by Barack Obama. The campaign against the president has been waged in part through substantial donations to key politicians.

Supporters of radical reform of healthcare say legislation emerging from the US Senate reflects the financial power of vested interests ‑ principally insurance companies, pharmaceutical firms and hospitals ‑ that have worked to stop far-reaching changes threatening their profits.

Revealed: millions spent by lobbyists fighting Obama health reforms | World news | guardian.co.uk

Michael Moore: America's teacher

2009-09-29T12:32:00.002-03:00

On September 17, in the midst of the publicity blitz for his cinematic takedown of the capitalist order, Moore talked with Nation columnist Naomi Klein by phone about the film, the roots of our economic crisis and the promise and peril of the present political moment.

Michael Moore: America's teacher | rabble.ca

Summit of the South: African and South American leaders meet

2009-09-29T12:30:00.001-03:00

Creating a new Radio of the South, formalizing the Bank of the South, criticizing the make-up of the UN Security Council and supporting Honduran President Manuel Zelaya were among the outcomes at the second Africa-South American Summit (ASA) that was held this weekend on Margarita Island, Venezuela.

Summit of the South: African and South American leaders meet | rabble.ca

2009-09-29T11:01:00.000-03:00

2009-09-29T11:00:00.000-03:00

2009-09-29T10:59:00.000-03:00