Paul Craig Roberts: The Social Cost of (Predatory) Capitalism — What Prostituted Economists Will Not Address

The Social Cost of (Predatory) Capitalism When I was a graduate student in economics, the social cost of capitalism was a big issue in economic theory. Since those decades ago, the social costs of capitalism have exploded, but the issue seems no longer to trouble the economics profession. Social costs are costs of production that …

NIGHTWATCH: Pakistan, Taliban, Drones — One Drone Strike, Four Levels of Analysis

Pakistan: Press reports indicate a US drone attack killed a senior Pakistani Taliban leader and, variously, from four to seven comrades today. The Pakistani Taliban denied that Wali ur Rehman Mehsud was killed. Comment: Reaction to this drone attack has been mixed, but the timing relative to political developments in Pakistan is unfortunate. The new …

Berto Jongman: Tom Engelhardt on Terracide by Terraists — Legalized Crime Destroying Earth & Humanity — Beyond Genocide, Beyond Ecocide

Terracide and the Terrarists  Destroying the Planet for Record Profits  By Tom Engelhardt We have a word for the conscious slaughter of a racial or ethnic group: genocide.  And one for the conscious destruction of aspects of the environment: ecocide.  But we don’t have a word for the conscious act of destroying the planet we live …

Berto Jongman: NATO Gladio B, Ayman al-Zawahiri as Asset, Destabilizing Russian Border Countries….NSA Barred from Monitoring Azerbaijan, Turkey, Belgium, and UK + GLADIO/False Flag Meta-RECAP

A great deal of information.  Being read in Europe. Special Report | Why was a Sunday Times report on US government ties to al-Qaeda chief spiked? FBI whistle-blower Sibel Edmonds was described as “the most gagged person in the history of the United States” by the American Civil Liberties Union. Was the Sunday Times pressured …

Chuck Spinney: Hezbollah’s Moment — Historical Force?

The popular perception of Hezbollah as simply an Islamic terrorist organization has been colored by American-Israeli propaganda (particularly wrt to relations with Iran and Syria), sloppy reporting, and a growing sense of Islamophobia in American culture. Rami Khouri is a prolific Lebanese intellectual who writes widely on the Middle East.  His austere, direct form of …

Berto Jongman: US Special Operations Command Goal — Prevent Wars, Bottom Up Community Based Resilience — Never Mind Strategic-Level Blunders, Ideology, & Predatory Policies, Drones, Dictators…1.1

Socom’s goal: Pre-empt wars Tampa is headquarters for the commandos who are gaining a bigger role in military operations around the globe. Military writer Howard Altman travels with them this month in Afghanistan. By Howard Altman | Tribune Staff Tampa Tribune,  May 19, 2013 They make small footprints at the edges of the Earth. Sometimes …

David Isenberg: What Rules, If Any, Should Govern Death by Drone? (Never mind the 98% collateral damage….)

What Rules Should Govern US Drone Attacks? April 4, 2013 Kenneth Roth Larry Towell/Magnum Photos Drone aircraft at a US base, Afghanistan, 2011 As bits and pieces of the Obama administration’s legal justifications for its drone attacks trickle out, what is most striking is their deliberate ambiguity. The recent Justice Department “White Paper,” for example, …