alanjjohnstone

Forum Replies Created

Viewing 15 posts - 5,986 through 6,000 (of 12,551 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • in reply to: Our Boy Boris? #188932
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    So Boris the Buffoon has reached No. 10

    What next for us poor workers?

    in reply to: More on Brexit #188925
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    UK might be leaving the EU but it still appeals to its European military allies for assistance against Iran

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/22/uk-to-seek-european-maritime-mission-to-counter-irans-piracy

     

    in reply to: Karl Marx and the Rothschilds #188923
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    deleted

    in reply to: Facebook Money #188912
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    Well, one thing is certain in life, and that is we all die, our life comes to an end. (some are fortunate that their thoughts and ideas continue on after their death)

    So do social systems die also?…Or are they not subject to re-birth in a new reincarnation?

    Aren’t we hoping as socialists that society evolves into a higher stage, and not degenerate to an even lower level?

    But as socialists we do not dismiss the possibility…Socialism or Barbarism… if we are lucky

     

    in reply to: Iran tensions #188910
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    War against Iran is already taking place and Israel openly admits it.

    “Israel is the only country in the world that has been killing Iranians for two years,” Israel’s Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi said on Sunday in an interview with the Israeli radio station Kan Bet. “We strike the Iranians hundreds of times in Syria…”

    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/07/iranians-years-syria-israeli-minister-190721151553949.html

    Netanyahu also spoke along the same lines last week during an interaction with the cadets of the National Security College.
    “At the moment, the only army in the world to fight Iran is the Israeli army,” he said.

    in reply to: Facebook Money #188909
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    Hmmm…In the US we have a booming business of private run prison and detention camps with private guards, a huge private security industry policing public spaces, and of course one of the largest mercenary armies under Erik Prince and what was once called Blackwater who are lobbying for the control of foreign wars such as Afghanistan.

    We are well on our way towards the sci-fi and right libertarian fantasy of a private States, perhaps provided with the communications network based on Facebook and perhaps paid for in Libras.

    We already experienced where transnationals such as United Fruit controlled politically weak “banana republics” backed up by the USMC as described by Gen Butler in his classic book, now we have similar entities in Africa such as the DRC employing armed private security or protected by bribed proxy militias in what is called now “failed states”

    We should not comfortably sit back and think the capitalist nation-state is not evolving and may not transform itself into Corpo-stans.

    But right now I think the potential is a realistic possibility not a full reality.

    in reply to: Facebook Money #188900
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    Is this author too paranoid about the future?

    https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/rise-corporate-nations-190711091620981.html

    “…Imagine, for example, what effect Libra would have on countries with unstable or weak currencies. Would it become a mainstream substitute for the Argentinean peso or the Venezuelan bolivar? What guarantees are there that Facebook executives would not take advantage of the power Libra gives them and use it to economically and politically blackmail a weak government? Given its long track record of problematic practices – including the misuse of personal data – can Facebook be trusted with so much power? The prospect of sovereign power and political decision-making being shifted away from national capitals and to Silicon Valley is indeed real. And it is not only Facebook that is pushing in this direction…”

    Or is he also offering some hope?

    “…The question, ultimately, is whether our outdated national politics can take back control over corporate nations and planetary challenges such as the climate crisis, migration or artificial intelligence. It is time to recognise this common threat, unify, and take action together beyond the borders of our weakening nation-states…”

    in reply to: Iran tensions #188897
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    Another UK tanker taken by Iran.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-49054586

     

    in reply to: Iran tensions #188894
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    In June the U.S. military began moving equipment and hundreds of troops back to a military base in Saudi Arabia that the U.S. deserted more than 15 years ago, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the deployment.

    Over the coming weeks the deployment to Prince Sultan Air Base, intended to counter the threat from Iran, will grow to include fighter jets and Patriot long-range missile defense systems, the officials said. The Patriots have already arrived at the base and should be operational in mid-July, while the aircraft are expected to arrive in August.

    Several hundred U.S. service members are already on site preparing the facility south of Riyadh.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us-military-has-begun-reoccupying-prince-sultan-air-base-in-saudi-arabia/ar-AAEzTWx?ocid=spartandhp

    in reply to: The Elizabeth Warren Thread #188892
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    In the media we hear a lot about the left-wing of the Democrat Party, Sanders, Warren, AOC

    We are told that there are centrists within the Democrats.

    But if there is a left-wing, surely there must also be a right-wing. Stands to reason, eh?

    So why do the media never ever identify them or call them out by name.

    I have never heard of Biden or Pelosi being described as a right-wing member of the Democratic Party.

    The left-wing are depicted as extremists, as radicals, those who are on  right-wing are the moderates.

     

    in reply to: Iran tensions #188891
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-fed-trump/trump-wants-weaker-dollar-but-it-could-be-a-hard-sell-idUKKCN1UD1I6

    “…A weaker dollar could help U.S. businesses compete globally by making exports less expensive, boosting the economy and potentially helping Trump’s bid for re-election in 2020. But a currency intervention could spark pushback from other countries, jeopardize the dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency and touch off market turmoil…”

     

    in reply to: WSP (India) article #188885
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    The WSP (India) have now posted a number of articles on to the Countercurrents website. The latest being

    https://countercurrents.org/2019/07/marxs-alternative

    https://countercurrents.org/2019/07/yes-greta-change-is-necessary-but-radical-change

    Hopefully this will gain them increased name recognition and perhaps open doors to other websites and journals

    in reply to: More on Brexit #188883
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/far-right-uk-brexit-muslims-tommy-robinson-protests-extremism-a9011171.html

    Far-right protests are attracting the largest number of supporters since the 1930s as Brexit fuels anger against the “elite”.  They bemoan the supposed suppression of their rights and freedoms and claim to represent the oppressed “people” versus a corrupt “elite”

    Whatever the outcome of Brexit, the far-right will “use the narrative of betrayal to advance their politics for the next 10 years. If there is a hard Brexit and these communities get hit, they will come up with an excuse and say something went wrong, we didn’t leave strongly enough. If we stay in, it’s been betrayed. The far-right will be using this, regardless of what happens.”

    “When people feel that the system is broken, they look outside of it and step into a political arena where the far right is able to capitalise on these fears, offering simplistic answers to complex problems,” the report said.

    “There’s little doubt that no matter which side of the Brexit debate you fall on, the failure to deal with it competently has fed into disillusionment and anger,” he added. “We’ve seen through polling that people are increasingly disillusioned with all political parties and leaders, but they are still angry and want change. So they’re looking for alternatives, and for some of them that is Tommy Robinson.”

    The far right has adapted its message and adopted a platform that is more palatable to the public, within the confines of acceptability,” it said, detailing how groups were repurposing the notion of free speech to present themselves as human rights activists and freedom fighters.

     

     

    in reply to: labour theory of value questioned #188880
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster
    in reply to: Iran tensions #188876
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster
Viewing 15 posts - 5,986 through 6,000 (of 12,551 total)