Saturday 27 August 2011
Bernanke Speech Was Only a Minor Footnote to Enduring Crisis
Richard D. Wolff, Truthout: "If Americans expected some sign of dramatic policy initiatives from Federal Reserve
Chairman Ben Bernanke, they were disappointed in Friday's speech. Instead, Bernanke repeated how confident he was in the
basic strengths of the US economy... This all amounts to more of the same policies we have been seeing... 'Trickle-down'
is indeed the right name for this program: shovel help to the financial top of the economic pyramid and hope it trickles
some of its loot down to the mass of businesses and individuals."
Core of Hurricane Irene Starts Coming Ashore
Brian Stelter, Kim Severson and Campbell Robertson, The New York Times News Service: "The eye wall of Hurricane Irene,
now a Category 1 storm, came ashore just east of Cape Lookout in North Carolina on Saturday morning, the first stop in
the mainland United States for a storm that is expected to scrape up the East Coast and bring flooding rains to a dozen
states... Irene's landfall marked the first time since 2008 that a hurricane made landfall in the continental United
States."
Dr. King's Memorial Is About the Reality, Not the "Dream"
Dr. Wilmer J. Leon III, Truthout: "If one studies Dr. King's speeches and writings and understands the context of their
time, the reality is that Dr. King was not about politics; he was about policy. He was not about elected positions and
presidents; he was about people. Dr. King was not about tax breaks for the wealthiest of us; he was about social
programs for the least of us. He was not about a war in Iraq, Afghanistan, or Libya. He saw '... war as an enemy of the
poor ...' and attacked it as such."
C.I.A. Demands Cuts in Book About 9/11 and Terror Fight
Scott Shane, The New York Times News Service: "In what amounts to a fight over who gets to write the history of the
Sept. 11 attacks and their aftermath, the Central Intelligence Agency is demanding extensive cuts from the memoir of a
former F.B.I. agent who spent years near the center of the battle against Al Qaeda. The agent, Ali H. Soufan, argues in
the book that the C.I.A. missed a chance to derail the 2001 plot by withholding from the F.B.I. information about two
future 9/11 hijackers living in San Diego, according to several people who have read the manuscript."
Rick Perry's Tall Tales of Texas
Michael Winship, Truthout: "A lot of the state's success in job creation looks more like dumb luck than evidence of ole
Pecos Perry's political prowess or expertise in governance... Perry points to deregulation and low taxes... but there
were many factors largely beyond his control, including increased trade between the United States and Mexico and the
high price of gasoline that pumped revenue into the state, accompanied by new technologies for oil and gas extraction."
US Drug Thirst, Gun Sales Must Share Blame for Casino Tragedy, Mexican Official Says
Tim Johnson, McClatchy Newspapers: "His voice cracking with emotion, President Felipe Calderon said Friday that the
United States bore some blame for 'an act of terror' by gangsters who doused a casino with gasoline and set a blaze that
killed at least 52 people. The attack Thursday in Monterrey, an industrial city of 4 million barely a two-hour drive
from Texas, stunned Mexicans and seemed likely to mark a watershed in the country's intensifying war against criminal
syndicates."
"Cooperatives Aren't Charity"
Kanya D'Almeida, Inter Press Service: "As industrial production penetrates all corners of the planet and transnational
capital gains have unfettered access to virtually every country and community, the United Nations has declared 2012 to
be the 'International Year of Cooperatives (IYC)'... While the high-level meeting will no doubt generate enormous
awareness on the necessity of sustainable and alternative economies like cooperatives, many individuals and
organisations have been working quietly for years to bring worker-owned enterprises to fruition."
This Labor Day We Need Protest Marches Rather Than Parades
Robert Reich, Robert Reich's Blog: "Labor Day is traditionally a time for picnics and parades. But this year is no
picnic for American workers, and a protest march would be more appropriate than a parade. Not only are 25 million
unemployed or underemployed, but American companies continue to cut wages and benefits. The median wage is still
dropping, adjusted for inflation. High unemployment has given employers extra bargaining leverage to wring out wage
concessions."
"No Man Is an Island": Reflections From Norway
Richard Daly, Truthout: "There are no more lone madmen causing terror than there are island communities unto themselves.
We are connected, more and more as human history unfolds. Oslo, on July 22, 2011, did not see the actions of a lone
madman, but rather, a complex of actions and actors who are part of the dichotomy of post-World War II Europe... No
matter which island we stand on, anyone's death diminishes us because, whether or not we acknowledge the fact, we are
involved in the safeguarding and cultivating of human kind."
Your Chance to Take a Stand Against Corporate Greed
Dave Johnson, Campaign for America's Future: "Do you think that corporate greed has gotten out of control? Here is your
chance to take a stand against corporate greed in a way that can make a difference. There is a greedy corporation that
right now is trying to take away its workers' benefits and job security. Let's all back up the workers and stop this,
and show people how it's done."
BUZZFLASH DAILY HEADLINES
The BuzzFlash commentary for Truthout will return Monday.
Expect a Third-Party Candidate in 2012
Libyan Rebels Prepare to Attack Sirte After NATO Raid
Earthquakes, Infrastructure, Antiquated Accounting and Jobs
Suicide Attack in Algeria Kill at Least 18
The DC Earthquake Is an Alarming Case Against Keystone XL Pipeline
Why Won't America Embrace the Left?
Report: Qaddafi's Murdered Daughter Actually Alive
ends