Scottish author Iain Banks revealed on Wednesday he has late-stage cancer and is unlikely to survive beyond a year. The 59-year-old, who has written more than two dozen science fiction and mainstream novels, said a CT scan at the beginning of March had revealed “the full extent of the grisly…
The Roots of the Cold War
Pt.7 Peter Kuznick (co-author with Oliver Stone of The Untold History of the
United States): Truman breaks Roosevelt’s alliance with the Soviet Union
and pushes the world into a bitter, decades long conflict … Read More
The Bomb Sends a Message to the World – Untold History
Peter Kuznick (co-author with Oliver Stone of The Untold History of the Unites States): The atomic bomb did not end the war with Japan, it was a threat to the Soviet Union that the US would dominate the post-war world … Read More
Geopolitical giants: New China leader in Moscow boosting ties
Xi Jinping is returning the courtesy bestowed last year, whenPresident Vladimir Putin included Beijing into the first foreigntrip of his third presidential term.This exchange of first foreign visits is now seen as the twopowers’ effort to bolster their common clout in the worldarena.The more the US pushes its agenda in certain parts of the world,the closer they push Russia and China together, believes JamesCorbett, political analyst and host of the Corbett Report.“That is the inevitable result of the type of US-Asia Pacificpivot that is threatening China on one side and the NATO-increasingmilitary encirclement of Russia on the other side,” Corbettsaid in an interview with RT.Beijing and Moscow have on many occasions jointly countered USand its allies’ position on gravest issues from Iran to Syria toNorth Korea, standing up against intervention and aggression,making use of their right of veto in the UN SecurityCouncil. “Moscow and Beijing have seen the impact of NATO backedattacks… They don’t want the instability that Washington seeks inthe Middle East… Beijing and Moscow want to do business,”author and journalist Afshin Rattansi believes.And their business ties have been steadily expanding. Bilateraltrade grew 11 per cent last year, reaching a record $88 billion. Itis expected to hit $100 billion in 2015 and $200 billion in2020.Energy is a great binding factor here, as Russia is one of theworld’s biggest energy producers, while China consumes more energythan any other nation. In February, the two countries agreed onRussia supplying 38 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually toChina. That figure can potentially grow as economically boostingBeijing needs more.Within days, the two countries will move beyond strengtheningonly bilateral ties. The BRICS summit on March 26 and 27 will bringthem together with the other emerging economies of the group. Andexperts now see these nations as much more than an acronym coinedby a guy at Goldman Sachs.“They all agree on the fundamentals: ‘We want a multi polarworld, we want to have more say on everything that happensgeopolitically,’” Pepe Escobar, Asia Times correspondent, toldRT. … Read More
IMF & EU Conspired with Insider to Loot Cyprus Banks
http://www.youtube.com/v/k_a5vuo3Lws?version=3&f=videos&app=youtube_gdata This article is from - IMF & EU Conspired with Insider to Loot Cyprus Banks
John Mackey on Whole Foods, Conscious Capitalism, and Life Beyond the Profit Motive
“I think the critics of capitalism have got it in this very
small box – that it’s all about money,” explains John Mackey,
co-founder and co-CEO of
Whole Foods. “And yet, I haven’t found it be that way. I’ve
known hundreds of entrepreneurs and with very few exceptions most
of them did not start their businesses primarily to make
money.”
In
Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of
Business, Mackey and his co-author, Raj Sisodia, make a
case that businesses are at it their best when reaching for a
higher purpose that ranges far beyond any simplistic notions of the
profit motive or self-interest. (For more information on Mackey’s
Conscious Capitalism nonprofit, go here).
Reason’s Nick Gillespie sat down with Mackey to discuss his new
book, the success of Whole Foods, the growing burden of government
on day-to-day life, and how the Austin-based entrepreneur came to
appreciate what he calls “the heroic spirit of business.”
About 45 minutes. ;Shot by Josh Swain, Amanda Winkler,
and Todd Krainin at the 2013 International Students for
Liberty Conference, held February 14-16 in Washington, D.C.
Edited by Meredith Bragg.
Scroll below for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason TV’s YouTube page to
receive automatic notifications when new material goes live. … Read More
Leaked trial evidence suggests NYPD set arrest quotas
The recording, leaked to The Nation magazine, is only a portionof the evidence currently being reviewed as part of a federal classaction lawsuit, Floyd. v. City of New York, brought on by theCenter for Constitutional Rights. The recording appears to capturea union representative at a Bronx precinct meeting, advocating fora quota system.“I spoke to the [commanding officer] for about anhour-and-a-half,” the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Associationdelegate says in the audio recording, “Twenty-and-one.Twenty-and-one is what the union is backing up…. They spoke to the[Union] trustees. And that’s what they want, they wanttwenty-and-one.”An anonymous NYPD officer who spoke with The Nation confirmedthe content of the recording: “Twenty-and-one means twentysummonses and one arrest a month,” ranging from parking andmoving violations to open container laws.Though the quotas might simply pressure officers to be extravigilant, they can also result in bogus stops: “The sergeanttold me to write [up] two minorities for blocking pedestriantraffic,” the anonymous officer said, “but they were notblocking pedestrian traffic.”More troubling is that officers depicted the sort of retaliationthat they can expect if they fail to meet quotas. This could meantransfers to other boroughs, low evaluation scores and being deniedovertime pay.The Floyd v. NYC case, which opened this week in the US DistrictCourt for New York’s Southern District, alleges that the NYPD’semphasis on meeting quotas has resulted in officers carrying outsuspicion-less stops, largely in communities of color.The plaintiffs allege that the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policyresults in unconstitutional stops based on racialprofiling.John Eterno, a former police captain and co-author of TheCrime Numbers Game: Management by Manipulation, says pressureto carry out arrests and summonses has always existed, though it’snow become the “overwhelming management style of thedepartment,” as quoted by The Nation.Adhyl Polanco, the officer responsible for recording the audioevidence in question, has since had charges brought against him bythe department for issuing bogus reports. … Read More
