Economy and Society ? Blog Archive ? Capitalism and we, the others

Published on Pambazuka News, by Horace Campbell, August 4, 2011.

On August 2, a few hours before the deadline for the US government to raise its debt ceiling or face default, President Barack Obama signed into law the Budget Control Act, after Congress passed it by wide margins. This debt ceiling agreement calls for over $2 trillion ($900 billion now and $1.2 trillion by the end of the year) in fiscal spending cuts spread over ten years. These cuts are expected to only reduce GDP growth in 2012 by 0.1% ? //?

? This is a call to non-violent arms. It was the most explicit call from the progressive side. Olbermann?s call for organization was a far cry from those who were looking to Obama for answers or those who called the deal a defeat for progressives. The reality is that progressives have not yet begun to fully organize. They have allowed the conservative forces to dominate the debate about the debt, the dollar and the budget for war and oppression.

POPULIST CONSERVATISM, CLASS POWER, AND THE BUDGET CONTROL ACT:

On August 3, 2011 the editorial of the New York Times commented that this Budget Control Act:

is as contrived as the artificial crisis that spawned it. The bill, like a tired opera production, is full of clumsy staging and failed gimmicks left over from previous decades. It is not only bad policy in its goals of cutting spending too much, but it is bad procedure. It allows members of Congress to avoid responsibility for their actions through a cutout committee, a spending limit and the pretense that this Congress can tell the next one what to do.

This paper did not however explain to the readers the fact that this bad procedure was serving a clear purpose, that of ensuring the dominance of a small 2 per cent of the population. The outrage in the society from all sides had been too great, so this platform for the liberal wing of the ruling class came out with these words. While it is true that the mainstream media has been carrying the talking points and spin of the two dominant parties, there can be no hiding from the fact that millions are now paying attention to the realities of the economic crisis in the United States.

For two and a half years the Tea Party forces had seized the public political space. Loud and aggressive, these Tea Party forces of populist conservatism reproduce the values of white supremacy and militarism. It is now well documents that the financial supporters of the Tea Party are some of the most crude billionaires from the financial services sector ? //

? China has the largest sum held in US Treasury Bills but this rising power will be diversifying the management of its reserve assets. The Japanese central bank has intervened to save the yen, and like Switzerland, is dropping all pretenses of leaving the fate of their economies to the vagaries of the market. Latin American states are looking for ways to protect themselves from the US dollar . As of 2010 the Latin Americans have created a virtual currency ? the Sucre ? to trade among themselves in order to protect the region from the crisis of the dollar. In the Middle East the countries with huge dollar reserves are turning to hoarding gold. The price of gold has skyrocketed. What is Africa doing? Will this unfolding crisis stimulate a faster rate of conclusion for the African single currency? Business as usual where African central banks send their money to be devalued in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York cannot continue.

THE NEED FOR ALTERNATIVES TO CAPITALISM:

From the discussions now raging in the USA there are radical alternatives being proposed to the rank and file as manifest in the call for self-organization and self-mobilization. There is no absence of clarity on the reality that the charade of the debate on the debt was one more dance to conceal the real powers of the masters of the universe on Wall Street. The dominant political parties are controlled by the same forces of finance capital that own and control the regular military and the private military contractors.

It is now up to progressives to join with the popular call for mobilization by using whatever skills and talent at their disposal to point to the reality that the assumptions of the Budget Control Act of 2011 are unsustainable.

In our discussion last week, we drew attention to the fact that the debt ceiling debate was an indication of the intensified class warfare at the national and international levels. The US rulers were sending a message that the US military and the masters of the universe will remain at the top of the international economy by force.

Historically, racism and militarism have been the tools of the US rulers. While the debate was going on about the debt ceiling a new study of U.S. census data revealed that wealth gaps between whites and minorities in the United States grew to their widest levels since the U.S. government began tracking them a quarter-century ago. White Americans now have on average 20 times the net worth of African Americans and 18 times that of Latinos. According to the Pew Research Center, the gaps were compounded during the housing bust and the subsequent recession, and essentially wiped out much of the economic progress made by people of color over the past 20 years. ?This report is pointing to just how much the socioeconomic inequalities have been exacerbated by the recession and poor economy.?

The call by Olbermann is for the mass of poor black, Latino and white to combine. Unlike other progressives who call on the people to seek solutions from Obama, Olbermann called on the people to be their own leaders. The challenge is to stimulate this striving for self organization and self mobilization to cripple the armaments culture in order to start on the road to build the structural alternative to capitalism. (full long text).

Link: Economic crisis 2011: 10 possible triggers, on International Business Times, May 13, 2011.

Source: http://blog.heidi-barathieu-brun.ch/wp-archive/6785

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DirecTV adds fewer subscribers, shares fall (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? DirecTV Group, the largest U.S. satellite TV provider, lost market share in the second quarter to Verizon Communications and AT&T, which cut prices on their pay TV services.

The company, whose shares fell almost 6 percent on Thursday, added 26,000 U.S. subscribers in the quarter. That is less than half the number that analysts had expected.

Phone companies have gained traction with TV services. Last quarter, Verizon added 184,000 FiOS subscribers, while AT&T added 202,000 U-Verse TV customers.

"DirecTV is clearly feeling the pressure of telcos being aggressive," said Brean Murray analyst Todd Mitchell. DirecTV has never added fewer than 100,000 subscribers in a quarter, Mitchell said.

In Latin America, the company's biggest growth region, DirecTV added 472,000 subscribers. In Brazil, the company has been targeting the growing middle class with elaborate marketing campaigns to get more subscriptions.

In the United States, DirecTV has been trying to attract subscribers with a plan that lets new customers who sign up for two years receive a free subscription to its NFL Sunday Ticket package. The exclusive DirecTV-NFL deal allows viewers to watch football games outside their local markets on Sundays.

The goal of the program is to get subscribers to renew their subscription for the full price in the second year of the contract, finance chief Pat Doyle told analysts on the conference call.

"We're quite pleased with the results so far through July but the real test is when we do renewals next year," he said.

The football promotion is at the center of a lawsuit brought against DirecTV by Comcast Corp on Thursday.

Besides Sunday Ticket, the company is also looking to gain subscribers by boosting its online offerings.

Asked whether Hulu, the online TV website that is up for sale, could become part of DirecTV's long-term strategy, Chief Executive Michael White said "it is an interesting idea and we're looking at it."

He said the company had not made a final judgment on Hulu and added that it's not "something we have to have."

Yahoo Inc and Google Inc are reported to be among a dozen potential buyers of Hulu.

"Hulu software has some nice aspects to it but you also have to kind of form a judgment about its business model and what you think that business model can generate," White said.

DirecTV's net income rose to $701 million, or 91 cents per share, up from $543 million, or 42 cents per share, a year earlier. This beat Wall Street's average estimates of 85 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Its revenue rose to $6.6 billion, which beat the average analyst estimate of $6.5 billion.

DirecTV shares fell as low as $43.23, before ending $2.84 lower at $46.63 on Nasdaq.

(Additional reporting by Sinead Carew; Editing by Dave Zimmerman, Derek Caney, Robert MacMillan and Richard Chang)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110804/media_nm/us_directv

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Today's must-see viral videos

Today's must-see viral videos

Miles Fisher and the cast of "Final Destination 5" on a nostalgia trip.

1. "Saved by the Bell" horror show: Miles Fisher might be best known for his music video of the Talking Heads' "Na?ve Melody," in which he re-created shots from "American Psycho" with such realism that you'd almost believe the actor/singer was Christian Bale's younger brother.

Now starring in "Final Destination 5," Warner Bros. has released an original song of Fisher's called "New Romance." It's a gruesome take on "Saved by the Bell."

2. Roseanne Barr is running for president: Gods be good, she's not kidding. And of course she announced it on Leno.

3. An accidental proposal: Some might say this was one of those Improv Everywhere/viral marketing stunts, but it looks genuine enough to me. After all, what better time to propose to your girlfriend than after she returns from a trip?

I'm more suspicious about what this newscaster was reporting on outside an airport. Should we be concerned?

4. Coldplay's tribute to Amy Winehouse: Unsurprisingly touching. I'm not going to lie, I got a little teary-eyed when the band's cover of "Rehab" blended seamlessly into their own bittersweet hit "Fix You."

5. Coppola's "Twixt" to be live-edited: Like a Choose Your Own Adventure Story, Francis Ford Coppola's latest cinematic experience offers several different narrative directions, chosen in real-time by audience reactions. Sounds kind of gimmicky, but the trailer looks amazing. Plus, it's narrated by Tom Waits.

Source: http://www.salon.com/ent/tv/feature/2011/08/05/viral_videos/index.html

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Three Misguided Beliefs Related To Ballroom Dance Training

Here are a few fallacies that men and women could have concerning ball room dancing classes.

1. You either have natural talent or you don't

Misconception number 1 is that you simply will need to be conceived with outstanding 100 % natural ability to dance. If you fail to quickly understand it, you're perpetually hopeless. Truth be told, the only real things that really make a difference are regular effort and resolve. Studying techniques to dance is really not as uncertain as folks think. During your ball room dance lessons, your trainer will definitely separate the different dance basics particularly feet positions, timing of music and various routines.

One assured means to systematically progress is through intense effort and dedication. Thus, just forget about just how talented you might be or are not and really focus on training.

2. Mass tuition are enough

Myth number two is you can be really great by merely getting combined courses. As a proficient dance coach, I am here to inform you that collective classes itself will never take you success in dancing. The reason being is you do not get the right amount of personalized recognition as well as analysis. Individual consideration is valuable through the ball room dancing mastering process intended for creating the appropriate routines and also losing unwanted ones. Your mass classes could possibly be grade specific, the instruction might possibly be very insightful and also comprehensive, but still your progress is negligible.

Keeping you together with lots of other learners inside of the same course, it decreases the time period the trainer can set aside to fix any mistakes that you will find. The majority of the class time is actually spent on normal knowledge with the entire class with a few moments with regard to personal improvements. In the event you really need to dance properly, i suggest you passionately contemplate undertaking private ball room dancing instruction that will complement all of your mass lessons to achieve regular progress.

3. All I absolutely need is 30 days

Can you understand methods to play a musical instrument in 30 days? Or simply be able to communicate a new dialect in a month? Definitely not! Dancing works likewise. Other than dance guidelines and patterns, there are a lot practical essentials to find out - including: posture, footwork, lead and pursue skills, music timings, individuality plus much more. Because of all data, it may take time for the human body to generate muscle memory.

A couple of weeks will likely be adequate to show a person to a number of simple dancing steps as well as theories but it is not enough to render you a fair dancer. Individuals who have a designated period of time when it comes to trying to learn techniques to dance are really naive and don't know the training system. To start by, I like to recommend A couple of private instruction per week for no less than 3 months.

Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Three-Misguided-Beliefs-Related-To-Ballroom-Dance-Training/2769499

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10 Most Amazing Snakes (PHOTOS)

www.oddee.com:

Indiana Jones hates snakes, but that doesn't mean you should.

All the members of the species are incredible, but these 10 really crawl away with the top prizes.

Read the whole story: www.oddee.com

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/03/10-most-amazing-snakes-ph_n_916812.html

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