The world but especially the Western alliance breathed a huge sigh of relief at the collapse of the former Soviet Union in late 1991. Over the following years, nation after nation dialed back their military preparedness, declaring what was then called a peace dividend. Defence budgets fell from about 4%
Continue readingTag: USA
Dead Wild Roses: The Current Gilded Age – Nasty Ending Forthcoming
A regulated economy may not perform at peak performance, but rather to its credit has built in stability and resilience in order to mute and calm the wider variances of the business cycle. The rules and regulations that govern Banking and Finance are there for a reason – to protect
Continue readingThings Are Good: Why Net Neutrality is Important
The current federal administration in the USA is really challenging norms in American society, the most recent attack is on net neutrality. Earlier this year the Trump administration tried to prop-up the profits of a handful corporations at the cost of internet freedom and failed because of actions taken by
Continue readingWe Pivot: The USA Is Disconnecting From Reality
The US government is a deranged, terrorist state. There is a broad epidemic of people throughout America with damaged mental health who are unhinged from reality. That people are trolling Las Vegas shooting victims, calling them frauds, that the shooting … [Read more]
Continue readingTrashy's World: Whether the USA survives as one nation and not two or several…
…is anyone’s guess. I ain’t no psychic. So. Something I’ve been saying since Obama was elected and the right-wing vitriol fallout is that this was the beginning of the end of the United States of America. I hoped I was wrong but am increasingly thinking that I’m dead on. A
Continue readingThings Are Good: American Startup Creates Job Board for People with Criminal Records
Americans like to think of themselves living in the land of the free, ironically the country has the highest incarceration rate on the planet (and the greatest number of people behind bars). The laws in the USA are quite strict with zero tolerance and minimum jail time for offenders, this
Continue readingMichal Rozworski: What do we do when we Fight for $15
On this episode, three guests provide some perspective on the politics and the economics of the Fight for $15. First, I speak with Jonathan Rosenblum, campaign director at the first Fight for $15 at SeaTac Airport, just outside Seattle, Washington. Workers there won an immediate raise to $15 via a municipal ordinance
Continue readingThings Are Good: Tonawanda Provides a Template for Transitioning a Town’s Economy from Coal
Globally, coal is on the way out and in America small towns are suffering because coal demand is dropping. The predictable plight of coal-backed small towns in the USA has some politicians trying to bailout the coal industry in order to protect jobs, which is obviously the wrong approach. Instead,
Continue readingThings Are Good: Even Massive Multinationals Support Net Neutrality
Net neutrality is what allows the internet to be what it is, and without it the internet would be pretty much useless. The Trump administration is presently trying to eliminate net neutrality to protect the profits of a very small group of companies. It’s worth noting that the Obama administration
Continue readingThings Are Good: To Fight Inequality we Need to Fight Poor Perception
Inequality is on the rise throughout the developed world and there’s no better example of this increase than in the USA. The concept of the “American Dream” has led to an pervasive idea that anybody can become wealthy if they work hard, this concept is damaging because it ignores the
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Is this why Trump won?
Here’s one analysis of why Trump won and the Clinton Democrats lost: Why? Because Trump’s brand of populism — and more importantly, that of working-class whites — differs in important ways from the populism of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. While the populism espoused by Sanders and Warren is economic,
Continue readingWe Pivot: Who’s Laughing at America [And Why]
When T$$$p says people are laughing at America, it’s because he thinks he is America. Here are some ways this is wrong, beyond the obvious. Read some of the King Arthur literature, stories of royalty and shit. The king is … [Read more]
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The Middle East – America’s Vietnam?
The United States has placed, and continues to place a great deal of geopolitical importance on the Middle East. The problem is that, as the record shows, everything they touch turns to ash or is reborn as a even greater threat to America and American interests world wide. Recent
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Universal Health Care in the US? – Ralph Nader Opines
I’m wondering when (if) the US will join the rest of the industrialized world in offering Universal Health Care for the American people. It seems like such a basic need, even a human right, depending on who you ask. Not having the stress and anxiety over having to constantly navigate
Continue readingThings Are Good: Get Rewarded for Supporting Civil Disobedience
If your idea to change the world is creative enough then you could get $250,000 from LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman. Technically, it’ll be from MIT Media Lab with money from Hoffman. The Lab and Hoffman teamed up to ensure that creative civil resistance in the USA doesn’t die under the
Continue readingWe Pivot: Community First, Deportations Second?
Residents were upset that the president who promised to deport undocumented immigrants was rounding up undocumented immigrants in order to deport them. “I knew he was Mexican, but he’s been here so long, he’s just one of us,” Debra Johnson, … [Read more]
Continue readingWe Pivot: Countdown to Impeachment
As we pivot to a new world where political lies and corruption get the boot, let’s begin the countdown. T$$$p must go, Trudeau’s lies and family foundation apparent conflict of interest must go, Clark’s electoral finance corruption and just plain … [Read more]
Continue readingThings Are Good: Use Technology to Mobilize Your Community
The current federal leadership in the USA has many people concerned about their rights and freedoms. If you’re one of those people you can use these technological tools to help you stand up and fight back. Newsweek, rather surprisingly, compiled a list of tech tools that can be used to
Continue readingMichal Rozworski: Women on strike in the US and Poland
For International Women’s Day, two interviews on women’s protests and strikes, in the USA and in Poland. My first guest is Barbara Smith. Barbara is an icon of the US women’s movement, particularly it’s Black radical wing. She helped establish Black women’s studies as a discipline, was a founding member
Continue readingWe Pivot: Psst, Wanna Stop Protecting the Environment?
On December 31, 2018, the US government will stop protecting the environment. If the Kill-the-EPA bill passes, the US government will certainly slow down protecting it until they blow out the EPA candle in 22.5 months. How is Congress doing … [Read more]
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