Tag: Capitalism

• Pretty Bubbles Turning Into Grime

  Michael Hudson has a new book out so I thought it was high time I posted some thoughts I’ve been meaning to write up about his last one, The Bubble and Beyond. I’ve posted before about Hudson’s 1973 classic Superimperialism, whose analysis of the economic strategy of American Empire was followed by a terrific 1977 […]

  jhd123

  September 13, 2015

  Anti-Neoliberalism, Book Reviews, Corporate Welfare, Current Events, Debt, Economics, History, Politics

  american empire, Bill Black, Black Agenda Report, Bob Pollin, Book Reviews, Brown University, Cambridge, Capitalism, Cold War, corporate welfare, Counterpunch, Economics, Global Fracture, Harvard University, History, Imperialism, Jedediah Purdy, Joseph Stiglitz, Karl Marx, michael hudson, Mission of Burma, MIT, Nick Drake, Paul Krugman, Paul Volcker, Superimperialism, Syriza, Television Personalities, The Bubble & Beyond, The Fall, The Last Poets, The New York Times, The Real News Network, UMKC, Vijay Prashad, Washington Consensus, Yanis Varoufakis

• Dirty Harry Does Diversity.2: Indicting Invictus

  (Like the original Magnum Force, this post is a sequel to the first Dirty Harry.) Of all of Clint Eastwood’s “Sympathy for the Other” movies, Invictus was the most popular in the Land of the Liberals.  J. Edgar (gays), Million Dollar Baby (women), and Gran Torino (SE Asians) all did well but received more criticism than […]

  jhd123

  March 22, 2015

  Anti-Neoliberalism, Current Events, Dirty Harry Does Diversity, Film, History

  A.O. Scott, Africa, american empire, ANC, Barack Obama, Capitalism, Civil Rights Movement, Clint Eastwood, Economics, Films, IMF, Invictus, Irvin Jim, Left media, Matt Damon, Nelson Mandela, Neoliberalism, NUMSA, Pambazuka News, Patrick Bond, Paul Jay, Politics, profit margins, Race, Selma, The New York Times, The Real News Network, Washington Consensus

• Sunday Paper with the BPF: Ahhh, Mindfulness

  Well, I don’t really read a Sunday newspaper anymore.  Either they’ve been driven out of business by the internet or intellectually eviscerated by corporate centralized ownership.  But I’ve been kicking back and checking out some posts on the Buddhist Peace Fellowship (BPF) website after renewing my membership today.  Among them was a piece with a […]

  jhd123

  June 29, 2014

  Anti-Neoliberalism, Book excerpts, Buddhism, Economics, History, Politics, The Dharma

  Afghanistan, Alfred McCoy, american empire, Buddhism, Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Burma, Capitalism, chalmers johnson, Devo, Doug Henwood, Drug Policy, Economics, Eric Schmidt, Feminism, Google, IMF, Jesse Maceo Vega-Frey, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Karl Marx, KRS-One, Laos, Neoliberalism, NPR, Peter Dale Scott, Professor Elizabeth Stanley, Race, Ronald Purser, Silicon Valley, Thailand, The Dharma, The Stone House, Time magazine, Vipassana Hawaii, Washington Consensus, Whip It, Wired magazine

• World on a Wire

  As I keep track of the unfolding struggle over the FCC’s proposed creation of a corporate “fast lane” on the internet that would regulate non-corporate media to second class status online, I’m reminded of the film World on a Wire by Rainer Fassbinder, which I watched on DVD a couple of months ago.  Despite being […]

  jhd123

  May 24, 2014

  Anti-Neoliberalism, Film, History, Politics, Uncategorized

  Amanda Hess, Astrid Taylor, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Capitalism, Democracy Now, Digital vs. Analog, Feminism, Films, Gravity’s Rainbow, History, Jesse Jackson, Jessica Gonzalez, National Hispanic Media Coalition, Neoliberalism, Politics, Poor Democracy, profit margins, Race, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Rich Media, Robert McChesney, The Real News Network, Thomas Pynchon, World on a Wire

• Corporate Welfare.8: Twitter Takes

    There’s a new story out today from Julia Wong of In These Times about how Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco “have become a symbol of gentrification and displacement for housing activists and community organizations in the city. ” I asked a friend of mine who had moved from the Bay Area to New York fairly recently […]

  jhd123

  February 22, 2014

  Anti-Neoliberalism, Corporate Welfare, Economics, Politics, Series of posts

  Capitalism, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Economics, Field of Schemes, In These Times, Julia Wong, Left media, MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, profit margins, San Francisco, San Francisco Chronicle, SEIU, Sports, Truthout, Twitter, Unions, Washington Consensus

• Corporate Welfare.6: Pulling a Fast One

  UC Berkeley’s Labor Center has published a new study on the role public subsidies play in the business model of fast food chains like McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s.  Like the other corporations in this series of posts, it turns out that these firms surreptitiously pocket billions in public subsidies while preaching the doctrine of […]

  jhd123

  October 17, 2013

  Anti-Neoliberalism, Corporate Welfare, Economics, Politics

  Burger King, Capitalism, Economics, Fast Food Forward, Food Justice, Labor movement, McDonald’s, Neoliberalism, Politics, profit margins, Strikes, The Real News Network, UC Berkeley Labor Center, Washington Consensus, Wendy’s

• Corporate Welfare.5: Pigskin welfare

  Some corporations, like GE and Bank of America, have to resort to creative accounting to make it look like they lost money to avoid paying federal taxes.  The National Football League is not one of them.  A recent Change.org petition reads as follows: “Despite the fact that it is a $9Billion/Year industry, the National Football […]

  jhd123

  September 22, 2013

  Anti-Neoliberalism, Corporate Welfare, Economics, Politics, Sports

  Capitalism, Economics, Neoliberalism, NFL, profit margins, San Francisco Giants, Sports, strike

• Top 40 Over 40.13: Weird Al’s “Party In the CIA”

  I can think of few more unlikely candidates for creative growth after 40 than Weird Al Yankovic.  Back when I was in grade school, he came on the pop culture radar with “Eat It,” his parody of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It.”  His string of similar Dr. Demento style hits willfully sucked all of the sexual […]

  jhd123

  September 14, 2013

  Anti-Neoliberalism, Economics, Film, History, Music, Politics, Series of posts, Top 40 Over 40, Uncategorized

  Alias, american empire, Angelina Jolie, Argo, Barack Obama, Ben Affleck, Brad Pitt, Capitalism, CIA, Donald S. Lopez, Films, History, Imperialism, Iran, Jennifer Garner, John Limbert, Juan Cole, Lockheed Martin, Michael Moore, Miley Cyrus, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Muhammed Sahimi, Party in the USA, Politics, Prisoners of Shangri La, profit margins, Record Reviews, Richard Gere, Saviors and Survivors, Sudan, TIbet, Top 40 Over 40, Weird Al Yankovic, William Hartung

• Corporate Welfare.4: Avoid Amazon

  Salon.com published a piece today with the provocative title, “Amazon is worse than Walmart.” Their argument centers on the notion that Amazon’s business strategy for years has been to accept near-perennial losses on a quarterly and yearly basis in exchange for achieving a near monopoly size “market share.” Walmart, by contrast, actually makes a profit. […]

  jhd123

  July 30, 2013

  Anti-Neoliberalism, Corporate Welfare, Economics, Politics, Series of posts

  Capitalism, corporate welfare, Dennis Johnson, Free Lunch, Melville House press, Monopoly, Neoliberalism, Politics, profit margins

• Corporate Welfare.3: Welfare Wings

  Today the Real News Network, who I encourage you to support during their current drive to win a matching gift, is reporting that “the Michigan strategic fund has decided to issue $450 million in bonds for a new stadium for the Detroit Red Wings, 44% of which will be financed publicly,” while the city is […]

  jhd123

  July 25, 2013

  Anti-Neoliberalism, Book Reviews, Corporate Welfare, Debt, Economics, History, Politics, Series of posts, Sports

  Battle For Brooklyn, Brooklyn Nets, Capitalism, Dave Zirin, David Cay Johnston, Economics, Food Justice, Free Lunch, Michael Galinsky and Suki Hawley, Neoliberalism, New England Patriots, New York Yankees, Politics, profit margins, Real News Network, Rudy Giuliani, Sports, The Fall, The Nation