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us federal reserve

A rate cut that failed to please

On 31 July, the United States Federal Reserve System (U.S. Fed) announced its decision to cut its benchmark short-term interest rate by one quarter of a percentage point to a target range between 2% and 2.25%. It also announced that it would put an end to its policy of selling chunks of its holdings of […]

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Syria- A new low in nasty propaganda

Syria: A new low in nasty propaganda

It may be a new low in propaganda. National Public Radio (NPR) used the news that Syrian First Lady Asma Assad had overcome breast cancer to mock her and continue the information war against Syria.  They interviewed a Human Rights Watch staffer named Lama Fakih who is an American from Michigan now based in Beirut.

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The Terror of the Unforeseen By Henry A. Giroux Published 07.16.2019 Los Angeles Review of Books 245 Pages

Henry A. Giroux and the culture of neoliberal fascism

HENRY A. GIROUX’s book The Terror of the Unforeseen analyzes the conditions that have enabled and led to Donald Trump’s rule and the consequences of that rule, that have ushered in an authoritarian version of capitalism. Giroux provides a realistic analysis that holds out the hope that, through collective efforts, change is possible and democracy […]

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Amanda : Flickr

Top 1% up $21 Trillion. Bottom 50% down $900 Billion.

The insights of this new data series are many, but for this post here I want to highlight a single eye-popping statistic. Between 1989 and 2018, the top 1 percent increased its total net worth by $21 trillion. The bottom 50 percent actually saw its net worth decrease by $900 billion over the same period.

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Eria Sane Nsubuga, Abeekalakasa temwesembereza mmundu (Avoid Guns when in Public Places), 2014.

Hybrid wars are destroying Democracies

In Brazil recently, I gave an interview to Brasil de Fato, which was born in 2003 as the weekly magazine of the World Social Forum. It is now one of the most important windows into Brazil’s political world. The newsletter this week carries the text of most of the interview.

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Seattle and the Socialist Surge in the U.S.

Seattle and the socialist surge in the U.S.

Seattle’s Socialist City Councilmember, Kshama Sawant, is in the midst of a major fight for re-election. U.S. elections are long and expensive compared to most of the world. Seattle city elections are in two parts: a primary that runs through August 6 and then a run-off between the top two candidates decided on November 5.

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