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Και με την τελευταία πνοή… προπαγάνδα για το ευρώ

του Άρη Χατζηστεφάνου Στην ταινία Δαμάζοντας τα Κύματα, μια κοπέλα με ψυχικές διαταραχές αρχίζει να εκπορνεύεται, χωρίς οικονομικό αντάλλαγμα, για να ικανοποιεί τις φαντασιώσεις του παράλυτου συντρόφου της, ο οποίος σιγοσβήνει από τη ζωή ύστερα από ένα εργατικό ατύχημα. Αυτό μου θύμισε το εξώφυλλο των Νέων. Μια εφημερίδα που αδυνατεί (ή κάνει ότι αδυνατεί) να αφουγκραστεί τις σκέψεις της ελληνικής κοινωνίας μένει πιστή μέχρι το τέλος σε ένα σύντροφο, την ευρωζώνη, που ζει τις τελευταίες ημέρες σε κατάσταση παραλυσίας. Όταν ακόμη και η Καθημερινή κατανόησε ότι εκτός από την οργή του κόσμου το ευρώ προκαλεί ανησυχία και σε ένα τμήμα της οικονομικής ελίτ, φρόντισε να ανοίξει ένα παραθυράκι διαλόγου για τη θέση της χώρας στη νομισματική ένωση. Το κάνει προφανώς για τους δικούς της λόγους, που μας αφήνουν αδιάφορους. Γιατί η έξοδος από την ευρωζώνη θα πρέπει να γίνει με μονομερείς κινήσεις της Ελλάδας και απόφαση των από κάτω και όχι των από πάνω. Τουλάχιστον ό

Trump has inherited an FBI with vast hidden powers

In the wake of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the FBI assumes an importance and influence it has not wielded since J. Edgar Hoover’s death in 1972. That is what makes today’s batch of stories from The Intercept, The FBI’s Secret Rules, based on a trove of long-sought confidential FBI documents, so critical: It shines a bright light on the vast powers of this law enforcement agency, particularly when it comes to its ability to monitor dissent and carry out a domestic war on terror, at the beginning of an era highly likely to be marked by vociferous protest and reactionary state repression. In order to understand how the FBI makes decisions about matters such as infiltrating religious or political organizations, civil liberties advocates have sued the government for access to crucial FBI manuals — but thanks to a federal judiciary highly subservient to government interests, those attempts have been largely unsuccessful. Because their disclosure is squarely in

From maverick to lapdog: Trump is already serving the agenda of America’s oligarchs

He campaigned on promises to ‘drain the swamp’ and radically alter the United States’ course in the world, but not even a week has passed and President Donald Trump has already made it clear that he’ll be following a very familiar agenda. by Whitney Webb Part 4 - ‘Inevitable’ war with Iran & North Korea Trump, who on the campaign trail painted himself as an anti-interventionist, has recently emerged as strongly hostile toward Iran, continuing the decades-long U.S. policy of isolating the Islamic Republic. Just minutes after his inauguration, the Trump administration announced that it would be developing a state-of-the-art missile defense system to protect Americans from Iran and North Korea. Leaders of the Gulf monarchies are also “optimistic” that Trump will confront Iran, with some even going as far as to hail Trump as “another Ronald Reagan.” During his first weekend as president, Netanyahu spoke with Trump, focusing mainly on Iran — likely to gauge Trum

Israel’s shadowy role in Guatemala’s dirty war

Part 4 - Belligerence at the border The Israeli military-security complex casts a long, intercontinental shadow over Guatemalans who are still fleeing the consequences of the dirty war. In some areas along the US-Mexico border, such as in Texas, the numbers of migrants hailing today from Central America (but only from the countries combusted by US intervention – Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras) – has begun to outpace the number coming from Mexico. According to information provided to this author by the Pima County Medical Examiner’s office in Arizona, many Guatemalans who have perished while crossing these desert borderlands originated from among the indigenous Mayan areas hit hardest by the 1980s genocide: El Quiché, Huehuetenango, Chimaltenango. Southern Arizona has also seen a spike in undocumented Guatemalan migration. US firms and institutions have been collaborating with Israeli security companies to up-armor Southern Arizona’s border zone.

Tanzanian farmers are facing heavy prison sentences if they continue their traditional seed exchange!

In order to receive development assistance, Tanzania has to give Western agribusiness full freedom and give enclosed protection for patented seeds. “Eighty percent of the seeds are being shared and sold in an informal system between neighbors, friends and family. The new law criminalizes the practice in Tanzania,” says Michael Farrelly of TOAM, an organic farming movement in Tanzania. Brutal corporate onslaught against third world - Part 6 - Agro-ecological alternative Many farmer organizations and FAO have more faith in ecological methods. Particularly the smaller-scale farmers would benefit from it, because they usually cannot afford the expensive inputs for conventional agriculture. Janet Maro, on the other hand, works in challenging rural areas. Together with SAT, she trains small-scale farmers in agro-ecological farming methods. SAT teaches farmers to do farming with what is available in their surroundings. “ Our training center is located in the dry areas of