Nancy Hanover – Mark Zuckerberg, philanthrocapitalism and parasitism

Last Tuesday Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder of Facebook and the 16th richest man in America, and his wife Priscilla Chan announced they would be donating 99 percent of their Facebook shares, currently valued at $45 billion, to charity during their lifetime. The gift was announced in the form of a letter to their newborn child announcing the formation of the Chan …

Abayomi Azikiwe – China-Africa Cooperation: Economic and Geopolitical Implications

Beijing and African Union states to enhance ‘win-win’ partnerships A recently-held gathering on December 5-6 of African Union (AU) member-states and the People’s Republic of China under the banner of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) has placed strong emphasis on greater collaboration between the two regions based on mutual benefit. This meeting was held in Johannesburg, South Africa under …

Robert M. Christie – COP21, Bill Gates, And Climate Catastrophe

COP21, like the United Nations climate conferences before it, appears to be floundering over international non-binding showcase “commitments” to reduce carbon emissions — and is emitting effusive illusions of progress. Pleas of island nations fall on deaf ears. The negotiators are ignoring the scientific evidence that the reductions they are talking about fall far short of what is necessary to …

Ted Rall – Do Not Be Impressed by Mark Zuckerberg’s Phony Generosity

CEO Mark Zuckerberg promises to give 99% of his Facebook shares to charity — eventually. Exact phrasing: the stock, currently worth $45 billion, will be donated “during [he and his wife’s] lives.” He’s 31 and she’s 30, so actuarial tables being what they are, by approximately the year 2065. If Facebook or the Internet or the earth still exist. Whoop de doo. …

Koos Jansen – “China is playing the gold game very carefully”

On behalf of Matterhorn Asset Management, Lars Schall talked with one of the prime researchers when it comes to the People’s Republic of China gold policy; Dutch analyst Koos Jansen. They discuss the many tricky details that have to be taken into account; since the Chinese gold buying is pretty much a covert operation. Lars Schall: My first question would …

Barbara Ehrenreich – Dead, White, and Blue

The white working class, which usually inspires liberal concern only for its paradoxical, Republican-leaning voting habits, has recently become newsworthy for something else: according to economist Anne Case and Angus Deaton, the winner of the latest Nobel Prize in economics, its members in the 45- to 54-year-old age group are dying at an immoderate rate. While the lifespan of affluent whites continues …

Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya – What Is ISIS?

Ahead of a meeting scheduled between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama and their speeches to the United Nations General Assembly in late September, the Russian President branded Washington’s support for the insurgent forces in Syria as both illegal and ineffective in an interview with Charlie Rose for the U.S. CBS and PBS television networks. Aside from …

Stephen Lendman – A Hillary Clinton Presidency Would be a Disaster, A Nightmare for Americans

Make no mistake. A Clinton presidency would be disastrous – the worst of all possible deplorable choices, none worthy or any public office, all aspirants beholden to wealth, power and privilege exclusively.  Don’t let their duplicitous rhetoric fool you. They’re all cut out of the same cloth. Otherwise, they wouldn’t get public attention. Populist Green Party aspirant Jill Stein gets …

Alternative Visions – Transpacific Partnership Free Trade Analysis – 10.09.15

Jack takes a look at the leaks concerning provisions of the TPP trade agreement signed this past week. Why the TPP will mean loss of jobs with little or no job creation in the US in return. Why it means reduction in wages will continue. The phony statements by Obama and pundits about its effects, and the verbal maneuverings by Clinton and Republicans. Jack explains how China is not the currency manipulator, but Japan and now the other Asian members of TPP. Special focus on the treaty’s effects on pharmaceutical and health, autos, agriculture, manufacturing, Boeing Corp., and other sectors in the US. Negotiation maneuvers between the US, Australia, Japan and others. Why a vote next year, during election cycle, is more likely to pass rather than less likely. Why Congress will talk the talk, but then pass it. How TPP and free trade is really about US corporations’ foreign direct investment and less about goods exchanges between countries. Jack concludes explaining that the global trade recession now beginning will result in currency declines accelerating in the other countries that will more than offset the tariff cuts. The net result will be no gains for the US and big losses as a result of currency manipulation by other members of the treaty.