Naomi Wolf: Fascist America, in 10 easy steps

Last autumn, there was a military coup in Thailand. The leaders of the coup took a number of steps, rather systematically, as if they had a shopping list. In a sense, they did. Within a matter of days, democracy had been closed down: the coup leaders declared martial law, sent armed soldiers into residential areas, took over radio and TV stations, issued restrictions on the press, tightened some limits on travel, and took certain activists into custody. They were not figuring these things out as they went along. If you look at history, you can see that there is essentially a blueprint for turning an open society into a dictatorship. As difficult as this is to contemplate, it is clear, if you are willing to look, that each of these 10 steps has already been initiated today in the United States by the Bush administration. It is my argument that, beneath our very noses, George Bush and his administration are using time-tested tactics to close down an open society. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Immanuel Wallerstein: 'Capitalism Collapsing, cash-n-grab system cannot survive' There is barely a corner of the globe that has not been touched by the current financial meltdown. But a senior sociology scholar at Yale University thinks the crisis is far wider than the economic crash - it is capitalism itself which is collapsing. Immanuel Wallerstein explained his theory to RT.

BUG BROTHER - Blog LeMonde.fr Librotraficante | Houston, TX 77254-0181 Making the University a Police State This weekend The Chronicle of Higher Education published an opinion piece by Michael Morris arguing that in the name of campus security campuses should start data mining all student internet traffic. Or as the not so subtle, fear mongering, almost fit for Fox News title says, “Mining Student Data Could Save Lives.” Morris’s article to put the matter bluntly is a phenomenally bad idea. Indeed his argument so ill conceived that it is difficult to know where to begin in exposing the problems. I even question The Chronicle’s choice to publish this piece. Let’s start by being clear on what Morris is calling for. In other words Morris is calling not for data mining, as his title suggests, but rather for total surveillance of all student internet activity with an eye towards mining that data. Technologically Morris doesn’t know what he is talking about and ethically he equates himself with some of the world’s most oppressive governments. Morris’s logic goes something like this.

Arrivederci, Water Profiteers: Italians Claim Water as a Common Good Why 96 percent of Italian voters rejected their government’s push for water privatization. posted Jul 22, 2011 An Italian protester in favor of keeping water ownership public. Photo courtesy Daniel Moss “Water—whether we treat it as a public good or as a commodity that can be bought and sold—will in large part determine whether our future is peaceful or perilous,” wrote the scholar Maude Barlow. In Italy last month, an overwhelming number of people (96 percent of the 57 percent of the population that voted) cast their ballots for a peaceful future based on shared ownership of water. The referendum overturned a law passed by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s government, which would have encouraged private companies to buy up public water utilities and guaranteed them a profit on their investment, opening the door to rate hikes. The referendum also stripped Berlusconi government ministers of special court privileges and reaffirmed public opposition to nuclear power. Interested?

Objectif Liberté Pacifica Foundation Hackgate, power elites and the limits of the “corruption” critique Just days before the first revelations of hackgate started to emerge, I remarked to a left-wing friend of mine impatient at the failure of the causes we share to gain any wider traction, that it was nearly always “corruption” scandals involving elites rather than the power of reasoned critique which opened up a window for profound and lasting change. The observation stemmed from the insight of Robert Darnton, and other scholars of revolutionary France, that it was not so much the rational arguments of the Enlightenment philosophes, but the relentless attacks of the libellistes – the French gutter press - on the greed and depravity of Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette, which led to the French populace’s disillusionment with monarchy and ultimately the downfall of the ancien regime. More recently, we saw in Egypt, how the malfeasance of Mubarak’s government, as exposed by Wikileaks and others, played such an important role in spurring on the protesters. We are at a pivotal moment.

demotix Disclaimer Please note: the text contained in "People against water privatization" has not been corrected, edited or verified by Demotix and is the raw text submitted by the photojournalist. All views and opinions expressed are that of the independent photojournalist and do not represent the views of Demotix Ltd. These details have been included in order to provide as much information as possible to the Media buyer. Demotix reserves the right to pursue unauthorised users of this content. Alien Tort Statute Text[edit] The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action by an alien for a tort only, committed in violation of the law of nations or a treaty of the United States.[1] History[edit] The ATS was part of the Judiciary Act of 1789.[2] There is little surviving legislative history regarding the Act, and its original meaning and purpose are uncertain.[3][4] However, scholars have surmised that the Act was intended to assure foreign governments that the U.S. would act to prevent and provide remedies for breaches of customary international law, especially breaches concerning diplomats and merchants.[5] The ATS may have been enacted in response to a number of international incidents caused by the non-availability of remedies for foreign citizens in the United States.[6] For example, the peace treaty ending the American Revolution provided for the satisfaction of debts to British creditors. From 1789 until 1980, only two courts based jurisdiction on the ATS.[7] The U.S.