Naomi Klein: Olympics Are Coming out Party for "McCommunism"

JAY: The fireworks have been bursting at the most expensive opening to an Olympic ceremonies in history. Just what is being celebrated? You've called what's happening in China the communism. What do you mean?

KLEIN: The communism, Stalinism, market Stalinism, authoritarian capitalism, I think this is an incredibly efficient, actually, a scarily efficient way of organizing society that's actually being celebrated here, which is a hybrid of some of the worst elements of authoritarian communism—mass surveillance of the population, total lack of civil liberties, lack of a free press, lack of democratic rights, authoritarian central planning, all harnessed not to advance the goals of social justice, even in name, although there may be some lip service still paid to that, but to advance the goals of global capitalism. So it is Stalinism meets global capitalism. And it works. China is the most successful capitalist economy in the world: 11 percent growth, year after year after year. It is the most successful economy in the world. And that efficiency, that success, is intimately tied, I would argue, to the suppression of democratic rights. It's not successful despite the fact that it's not a democracy, despite the fact that you don't have independent trade unions; it is successful in large part because of that, because workers can't organize independent unions, [coughing] because Beijing, if they want to build a new export processing zone or a new shopping mall or a new Olympic stadium, can just raise whatever they want to raise and build whatever they want to build and displace as many people as they want to displace.

The Real News

China's "communisme" lijkt verdacht veel op de "successen" van de neoliberale globalisering...maar dan nóg ongeremder. Hoe meer economisch succes, hoe minder democratie.

Klinkt als de race to the bottom die ook met Europa in gang is gezet...

Norman Finkelstein gedeporteerd door Israël

Israeli authorities imprison, deport and ban Jewish professor from Israel

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Harassment of 9/11 Truth Activists

The people harassing 9/11 activists also appear to be those promoting the theories that (1) directed energy weapons brought down the Twin Towers and/or (2) the videos of Boeings crashing into the Twin Towers were fake.

Many of us have emails and phone messages of threats of physical violence (direct or implied), harassment and intimidation against us. We are not whiners. In fact, we have largely held our tongues on the threats and intimidation we have received, because we did not want to make a mountain out of a molehill or distract the 9/11 movement.

But videos are now appearing on the web impliedly advocating violence or harassment against certain 9/11 activists, and listing their home addresses and phone numbers. Who made the videos? Folks promoting the theories that (1) directed energy weapons brought down the Twin Towers and/or (2) the videos of Boeings crashing into the Twin Towers were fake.

Full article: George Washington Blog

Police could not find any fingerprints on Dr Kelly's 'suicide' knife

Fresh doubts were raised over the suicide of Dr David Kelly after it emerged that no fingerprints were found on the knife he supposedly used to kill himself.

The Hutton Inquiry into the death of the Ministry of Defence weapons expert ruled that he slashed one of his wrists with a blunt garden knife and took an overdose of pills.

But the campaigning Liberal Democrat MP Norman Baker has carried out his own investigation after forensic experts questioned the official version of events.

Full story Daily Mail

Related:

I'll probably be found dead in the woods

Twijfels over zelfmoord Kelly

Do We Have the Courage to Stop War with Iran?

By Ray McGovern-Former CIA Analyst

Why do I feel like the proverbial skunk at a Labor Day picnic? Sorry; but I thought you might want to know that this time next year there will probably be more skunks than we can handle. I fear our country is likely to be at war with Iran-and with the thousands of real terrorists Iran can field around the globe.

It is going to happen, folks, unless we put our lawn chairs away on Tuesday, take part in some serious grass-roots organizing, and take action to prevent a wider war-while we still can.

President George W. Bush's speech Tuesday lays out the Bush/Cheney plan to attack Iran and how the intelligence is being "fixed around the policy," as was the case before the attack on Iraq.

Full article on Counterpunch

Ook Nederlands protest tegen arrestatie Sison

Nederlandse sympathisanten van de dinsdag gearresteerde Filippijnse communistenleider Jose Maria Sison protesteren donderdag op de Dam in Amsterdam. Vrijdag voeren zij actie bij de rechtbank in Den Haag, waar wordt besloten of Sison wordt aangeklaagd. Dat zegt Ruth de Leon, woordvoerder van het Committee to Defend Democratic Rights, dat zich inzet voor de communistenleider.

Sison werd dinsdag in zijn woonplaats Utrecht aangehouden voor het beramen van moorden op voormalige medestrijders in de Filippijnen. Hij wordt hiervoor in Nederland berecht.

Het Openbaar Ministerie laat weten dat het onderzoek naar Sison doorgaat, ongeacht of diens voorarrest wordt verlengd. Justitie wilde niet ingaan op de aard van het bewijs tegen de Filippijn. Wel zei een woordvoerder dat dit uit zowel Nederland als de Filippijnen komt. Een team onderzoekers heeft getuigen gehoord op de eilandengroep. Sisons advocaat Jan Fermon zei woensdag dat hij niet weet welk bewijs de aanklagers vrijdag presenteren.

Full story on De Pers