2010 and the Invention of the Zero : The Christmas Episode in the American Political Melodrama

Posted on December 21, 2010 by stephenkmacksd
Here we have the heart wrenching news of the Zero’s and their lack of bonuses, this year, in the New York Banking business. Nelson D. Schwartz and Susanne Craig in the December 19,2010 New York Times  breathlessly recount the awful news, in all it shocking and disheartening detail. The report is alive with disappointment; perhaps a harbinger of the diminution of the dog eat dog vulgarized Social Darwinism, wedded to un-reflective masculine privilege that so dominates American Capitalism? One is reminded of the scene in A Christmas Carol where the ghost of Christmas Future alludes to the death of Tiny Tim. Shocked and horrified a grieving Scrooge resolves to help change the future by compensatory acts of charity, in the present. Could the sacrifice of the Zero’s be such an act of compensation, albeit from the top down? And this being fully congruent with Capitalist Feudalism’s practice.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/20/business/20bonus.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&ref=business
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Fox News?

Posted on December 21, 2010 by stephenkmacksd
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-foxnews-20101217,0,6952663.story#
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Haaretz.Com

Posted on December 20, 2010 by stephenkmacksd

Attaining a permanent settlement with the Palestinians appears to be about as likely as the opening of an Iranian embassy in “united” Jerusalem. Almost no day goes by without some other country recognizing a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders. According to the WikiLeaks documents, even the Germans, Israel’s steadfast supporters in Europe, have lost their faith in the peaceful intentions of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. Even loyal partner Ehud Barak and Nobel Peace laureate Shimon Peres have ceased to praise the “new Bibi.” Continue reading →

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Teleological Suspension of the Ethical

Posted on December 19, 2010 by stephenkmacksd

In 2008 I purchased a copy of A Dictionary of Continental Philosophy from HamiltonBook.com. I am an intellectual grazer ,at times, and this offered an opportunity to indulge my appetite as a dilettante. Continue reading →

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Hero

Posted on December 19, 2010 by stephenkmacksd
Definition : = Russ Feingold is a hero, he is the embodiment of a very specific kind of civic heroism. He has used his  voice to challenge the pernicious cult of self-aggrandizing presidential  power and the self-destructive myth of American Exceptionalism. He stands above all contemporary politicians as exemplifying the ethical as inherent to the very idea of constitutional governance, within the republican setting of tripartite power sharing. I'm quite sure Mr. Feingold would reject this notion of his being a hero but I like many of his fellow citizens, find him one of the outstanding political actors, civic actors of recent times. I hope that he continues to speak after he leaves the Senate. His is a critical voice in defense of the Republic.        
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The Non-Smoking Gun by Jorge G. Castañeda – Project Syndicate

Posted on December 19, 2010 by stephenkmacksd

via project-syndicate.org

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Literary Review – Saul David on ‘A World on Fire’ by Amanda Foreman

Posted on December 19, 2010 by stephenkmacksd

Saul David
LYONS’ SHARE
A World on Fire: An Epic History of Two Nations Divided
By Amanda Foreman (Allen Lane/The Penguin Press 814pp £30)

Continue reading →

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A World on Fire: An Epic History of Two Nations Divided by Amanda Foreman – Telegraph

Posted on December 19, 2010 by stephenkmacksd

via telegraph.co.uk

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AFP: Venezuela grants Chavez power to rule by decree

Posted on December 18, 2010 by stephenkmacksd
Venezuela grants Chavez power to rule by decree

(AFP) – 22 hours ago

CARACAS — Venezuela’s national assembly on Friday granted President Hugo Chavez extraordinary legislative powers to govern the country by decree for the next 18 months. Continue reading →

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Springtime for Hypocrites

Posted on December 18, 2010 by stephenkmacksd

via krugman.blogs.nytimes.com

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