Glenda Jackson launches tirade against Thatcher in tribute debate
Tag: Politics
The mayfair set
The Mayfair Set is a series of films that study how buccaneer capitalists of hot money were allowed to shape the Thatcher government in Britain during the 1980s. The series focuses on the rise of Colonel David Stirling, Jim Slater, James Goldsmith and Tiny Rowland — all members of The Clermont club in the 1960s, and how their distinct financial roles influenced the Thatcher government…
Power: A New Social Analysis by Bertrand Russell
A common peril is much the easiest way of producing homogeneity.
Quote of the week
“It was however, well known by the time of Herodotus that the oracle could be bribed. ”
– Bertrand Russell
UN calls for overhaul of global financial system to benefit the poor
“Financial sectors have already returned to many of the old practices, even as public finances deteriorate and the recovery stalls,” he said. “Austerity measures are back on the agenda and resistance to financial regulation has begun in earnest.”
Source : The Guardian
Giles Fraser: ‘Economic justice is the number one moral issue in the Bible’
He characterises it as “frustratingly democratic” because when he has said to protesters “take me to your leader”, there has turned out to be no leader. And yet, as he remarks, the advantage of this is obvious: “You have to engage with the issues.”
Source : The guardian
Payroll Tax Cut Raises Worries about Social Security’s Future Funding
The payroll tax cut changes that. Instead being a protected program with its own stream of funding, Social Security, by taking money from general revenue, becomes more akin to other government initiatives such as Pentagon spending or clean-air regulation — programs that rely on income taxes and political jockeying for support.
Source : Common dreams
Why libertarians must deny climate change, in one short take
The Citizens Agenda: A Plan to Make Election Coverage More Useful to People
The alternative to who’s going to win in the game of getting elected? is, we think, a “citizens agenda” approach to campaign coverage. It starts with a question: what do voters want the candidates to be discussing as they compete with each other in 2012? If we can get enough people to answer to that question, we’ll have an alternative to election coverage as usual.
Source : Pressthink
Greenhouse gases rise by record amount
But Reilly and University of Victoria climate scientist Andrew Weaver found something good in recent emissions figures. The developed countries that ratified the 1997 Kyoto Protocol greenhouse gas limiting treaty have reduced their emissions overall since then and have achieved their goals of cutting emissions to about 8% below 1990 levels. The US did not ratify the agreement.
In 1990, developed countries produced about 60% of the world’s greenhouse gases, now it’s probably less than 50%, Reilly said.
“We really need to get the developing world because if we don’t, the problem is going to be running away from us,” Weaver said. “And the problem is pretty close from running away from us.”
Source : The Guardian
Collected Reading 