October 29, 2013

The European far-right is growing (by adopting "left" polices).

It is interesting how the European far-right has kept its most disgusting policies - racism, xenophobia, ultra-nationalism - while covering it with a "populist dressing of the left and centre" - pro-choice, gay-friendly, anti-globalism, anti-market, anti-EU. The mainstream liberals are more pro-EU, pro-immigration and pro-trade.

The tea party types in the US are similar in terms of their disgusting policies but different in that they do not support most of the "populist dressing of the left and centre" like the European far-right.

October 13, 2013

"The real analogue to today’s unhinged right wing in America is yesterday’s unhinged right wing in

America."

From the John Birch Society's wiki page:

it is important to realize that the tea party mentality is not a new phenomenon in the US. Neither is it restricted to the US - witness the rise of the "populist" right in Europe.

Excellent find, cali.

October 10, 2013

"... the rise of an ideological wing that is now willing to stand up to business interests.”

“We are looking at ways to counter the rise of an ideological brand of conservatism that, for lack of a better word, is more anti-establishment than it has been in the past,” said David French, the top lobbyist at the National Retail Federation. “We have come to the conclusion that sitting on the sidelines is not good enough.”

Some warned that a default could spur a shift in the relationship between the corporate world and the Republican Party. Long intertwined by mutual self-interest on deregulation and lower taxes, the business lobby and Republicans are diverging not only over the fiscal crisis, but on other major issues like immigration reform, which was favored by business groups and party leaders but stymied in the House by many of the same lawmakers now leading the debt fight.

“We ask them to carry our water all the time,” said one corporate sector lobbyist, who demanded anonymity in order to speak frankly about the relationship with Republicans. “But we don’t necessarily support them 100 percent of the time. And what has happened is the rise of an ideological wing that is now willing to stand up to business interests.”

After the 2010 elections, the Chamber and other business interests funneled millions of dollars into Republican redistricting efforts around the country, helping draw overwhelmingly safe Republican districts whose occupants — many among the most conservative House members — are now far less vulnerable to challenges from more moderate Republicans.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/10/us/business-groups-see-loss-of-sway-over-house-gop.html?hp&_r=1&

The ironies are numerous. The "anti-establishment" types that corporate republicans are worried about are other republicans.

"...the business lobby and Republicans are diverging..."

"... an ideological wing that is now willing to stand up to business interests ..."

And corporate republicans provided the funding for the gerrymandering that took place after the 2010 election and provided safe seats for the tea party folks that now bedevil them.

In one sense, sweet irony. But so bad for the country.

October 8, 2013

If there are strong, enforceable provisions on labor rights and the environment, then yes.

And the tea party anti-globalists and the Chinese will be unhappy. Of course, a treaty with strong labor rights and environmental standards will never get through the republican House.

Still such an agreement would be good for the rest of the countries involved, including Canada, Mexico, Japan and Australia. Like the EU with its high-standards trade rules, TPP countries would have something similar.

They can go on without the US. We will just stick with our WTO/NAFTA standards (low to nonexistent) which China loves. Or we can go "cowboy", stop negotiating with other countries and just tell the world what rules we plan to follow. "We are bigger than you. We are exceptional. We don't negotiate, we tell you what we are going to do.

October 3, 2013

Thanks, melm00se. Nice pie chart. Bookmarked. n/t

September 30, 2013

Of course not. The question is - do we the real protection of strong unions, progressive taxes and

effective corporate regulation or the illusory protection of high tariffs? Just because tariffs hurt "them" (foreigners) does not necessarily mean that they help "us" (Americans). That is why Democrats have historically been the party of low tariffs.

There are no historical or current examples of countries with strong middle classes based on high tariffs without strong unions, progressive taxes and effective regulation. And if a country has the latter, it does not need high tariffs.

There are plenty of historical and current examples of countries with strong middle classes and low tariffs. That is because the "protection" they provide their workers is "real" in the form of strong unions, high/progressive taxes, effective regulation and a viable safety net.

September 29, 2013

People were not making a "livable wage" in the 1930's. FDR lowered tariffs because

he thought it would be good for the economy. With progressive taxes and stronger unions those economic benefits were then spread to the middle class.

The 'wage differential' tariff you describe was done by republicans in 1924. The world was not so different back then. Republicans claimed to be protecting us from low-cost foreign producers.

After raising tariffs in 1921, they increased them again in 1924 and, last but not least, in 1930. FDR campaigned against these tariffs and lowered them once he was in office. Here is a description of the 1924 tariff increase bill.

September 26, 2013

Arms Treaty Now Signed by Majority of U.N. Members

A pioneering United Nations treaty aimed at regulating the global trade in conventional weapons surpassed a symbolically important threshold on Wednesday when 18 countries, most notably the United States, officially signed the document, pushing the total number to more than half of the organization’s member states.

Proponents of the treaty, which was adopted overwhelmingly by the 193-member General Assembly in April, but still required signing and ratification, said the latest signatures would provide new momentum for putting it into effect. But that goal could still be a year away, some say.

The treaty, which took seven years to negotiate, is considered by rights advocates to be a landmark document that would for the first time impose moral standards on the enormous cross-border trade in conventional arms that fuel conflicts around the world. It is devised to thwart sales to users who would break humanitarian law, foment genocide or war crimes, engage in terrorism, or kill women and children.

The treaty covers trade in tanks, armored combat vehicles, large-caliber weapons, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles and launchers, small arms, and light weapons.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/26/world/arms-treaty-now-signed-by-majority-of-un-members.html

September 25, 2013

Mother Jones: "We Made Them Suck Their Own Blood off the Floor:" Assad's Other War Crimes

A sketch of a detainee being hung from the ceiling by his wrists and beaten, a common torture technique in Syria.

A new report from the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Syria illuminates the increasingly brutal tactics that the country's government—and, to a lesser degree, rebels—are deploying against civilians, from electrocution and rape to enlisting medical professionals to help torture hospitalized detainees. Significantly, while the report focuses on the commission's findings from mid-May to mid-July and doesn't cover the August chemical-weapons attack near Damascus, it concludes that both sides are guilty of war crimes and also accuses pro-government forces of crimes against humanity.

The media and human rights groups have documented a raft of brutal torture methods deployed by government forces, including electrocution; beatings with batons, cables, and whips; mock execution; burning detainees with battery acid, and ripping out facial hair. A former Syrian intelligence officer who defected to Turkey described similarly cruel techniques in an interview with CNN last year saying, "We took their fingernails out with pliers and we made them eat them. We made them suck their own blood off the floor."

Disappearances have "risen exponentially" since the Syrian conflict began, a trend that has sewn terror among the civilians, according to the United Nations. What's more, families who try to find missing relatives risk the same fate. Often, a family's only hope of getting information about a disappeared relative is from other recently released detainees. (One man who had been detained by a government intelligence service told investigators that he was rushed by "dozens of women thrusting photographs of their male relatives" upon his release.) The UN report also notes that desperation of these families has made them targets for extortion: "Some families pay bribes to those who—often falsely—claimed they could provide them information."

Contrary to claims from the Assad regime, which has blamed rebels for many of the atrocities, the UN commission found that pro-Assad forces were responsible for at least 8 massacres. Among the bloodiest was the assault on the Damascus suburb of Jdeidat Al-Fadel. In April, government forces shelled the area relentlessly, while snipers stationed along the roads out of town mowed down civilians trying to escape. The following month, the government staged its infamous raid on the Sunni villages of al-Bayda and Baniyas and slaughtered hundreds more civilians. Anti-regime activists captured video of the aftermath, which according to the BBC showed "bloodied and tangled bodies of women and children, some of them mutilated or partly incinerated." In other cases, government forces deliberately shelled hospitals, killing medical staff, along with sick and wounded civilians.

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/09/chemical-weapons-war-crimes-syria-un

September 17, 2013

If you are conceding that government forces committed the "vast majority" of war crimes in the first

two years of the conflict, I will grant that the AI report is 6 months old.

Here's an AI report from August 29, 2013:

Still sounds harsher on the government forces than the rebels.

Here's excerpts from the August 16, 2013 report from the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria

Unlawful killing was perpetrated by government forces as part of widespread attacks directed against the civilian population. The attacks included widespread shelling of villages, the burning of civilian objects, sniper attacks and systematic executions (see annex II). The coordination and active participation of Government institutions indicated the attacks were institutionalized and conducted as a matter of policy. Unlawful killing occurring during such attacks were crimes against humanity. Government forces also committed the war crime of murder, carried out executions without affording due process and arbitrarily deprived the right to life.

​Instances of enforced disappearance have risen exponentially since the conflict began. By placing victims outside the protection of the law, government forces sewed terror among the civilian population. ... Enforced disappearance is used by government and pro-government forces as a strategy of war, to stifle dissent and to spread terror within society. It is committed as part of a widespread attack against a civilian population, with knowledge of the attack, and constitutes a crime against humanity.

Torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment were perpetrated by government forces as part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against a civilian population, pursuant to or in furtherance of an organizational policy. The involvement and active participation of government institutions indicated that torture was institutionalized and employed as a matter of policy. The crime against humanity of torture and cruel treatment was perpetrated with impunity by Syrian intelligence agencies, in particular Military and Air Force Intelligence, as well as the Military Security services. Such conduct is also prosecutable as a war crime.

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session24/Documents/A_HRC_24_46_en.DOC

There is much more at the link to the UN agency's report on Syria.