January 2012 - P2P-Foundation - lists.ourproject.org

Global Warming Moves Doomsday Clock One Minute Closer To Midnight...
by robert searle 11 Jan '12

11 Jan '12

The following maybe of interest from the anti-climate change website..... http://junkscience.com/2012/01/10/global-warming-helps-moves-doomsday-clock…

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Article : Have the Super-Rich Seceded?
by Dante-Gabryell Monson 11 Jan '12

11 Jan '12

Similar tendency in european countries ? ( found via J. Medaille fb wall ) http://www.truth-out.org/have-super-rich-seceded-united-states/1326127151 Have the Super-Rich Seceded From the United States? Tuesday 10 January 2012 by: Mike Lofgren, Truthout | News Analysis *excerpts :* *"financial sharks typically take their compensation in the form of capital gains rather than salaries, thus knocking down their income tax rate from 35 percent to 15 percent. "* "But that's not the only way Mr. Skin-in-the-Game benefits: the 6.2-percent Social Security tax and the 1.45-percent Medicare tax apply only to wages and salaries, not capital gains distributions. " "The real joke is on the rest of us. " "In 1950, payroll and other federal retirement contributions constituted<http://www.gpoaccess.gov/eop/tables10.html> 10.9 percent of all federal revenues; by 2007, the last "normal" economic year before federal revenues began falling, they made up 33.9 percent. By contrast, corporate income taxes were 26.4 percent of federal revenues in 1950; by 2007, they had fallen to 14.4 percent." + "To the extent public education "reform" is popular among billionaires and their tax-exempt foundations, one suspects it is as a lever to divert the more than one-half trillion dollars in federal, state and local education dollars into private hands" "ii. This stratagem follows the template of Halliburton's privatized military logistics activities as well as George Bush's proposed Social Security "reform": funneling public dollars into corporate hands." "A century ago, at least we got some attractive public libraries out of Andrew Carnegie. *Noblesse oblige* like Carnegie's is presently lacking among our seceding plutocracy." "I am unaware of a well-developed theory from that time about how the super-rich and the corporations they run would secede from the nation state. I do not mean secession in terms of physical withdrawal from the territory of the state, although that happens occasionally.(i)<http://www.truth-out.org/have-super-rich-seceded-united-states/1326127151#i.>It means a withdrawal into enclaves, a sort of internal immigration, whereby the rich disconnect themselves from the civic life of the nation and from any concern about its well-being except as a place to extract loot. Our plutocracy now lives like the British in colonial India: in the place and ruling it, but not of it. If one can afford private security, public safety is of no concern; if one owns a Gulfstream jet, crumbling bridges cause less apprehension - and viable public transportation doesn't even show up on the radar screen. With private doctors on call, who cares about Medicare?" "The super-rich have seceded from America even as their grip on its control mechanisms has tightened." *A version of this story originally appeared at Counterpunch<http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/01/05/have-the-super-rich-seceded-from-the…> .*

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Fwd: [fcf_discussion] Notice & Action: EU Commission Must Put Freedom of Expression First
by Dante-Gabryell Monson 11 Jan '12

11 Jan '12

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: La Quadrature du Net <jz(a)laquadrature.net> Date: Wed, Jan 11, 2012 at 1:38 PM Subject: [fcf_discussion] Notice & Action: EU Commission Must Put Freedom of Expression First To: fcforum_discussion(a)list.fcforum.net Themes: EUROPEAN UNION, INTERNET, CENSORSHIP, eCOMMERCE, FREE SPEECH La Quadrature du Net - For immediate release Permanent link: https://www.laquadrature.net/en/notice-action-eu-commission-must-put-freedo… Notice & Action: EU Commission Must Put Freedom of Expression First *** Paris, January 11th, 2012 – Following a consultation held late 2010, the European Commission just announced an action plan on the role of Internet actors in the policing of online content [1]. One key issue is that of “notice and takedown” measures, which are today implemented in total opacity at the expense of users' freedom of communication. As the global war on sharing rages, this announcement underlines the pressing need for citizen involvement in this crucial debate to better protect our freedoms online. *** The 2000 directive on online services (also called e-Commerce directive) sets a legal framework for most online activities [2]. Thanks to the liability exemptions provided to Internet actors such as access providers and service providers such as hosting platforms, the directive created a special legal framework distinct from the one regulating media and interpersonal means of communications, thereby protecting freedom of communications and promoting innovation and growth in the online sector. However, in the last ten years, vested interests, and the entertainment industries in particular, have lobbied lawmakers and brought legal action to force Internet actors to police their networks. Policy-makers, among which the EU Commission, have been quite responsive to such demands and have pushed for greater “cooperation” between online actors, law enforcement and other stake-holders to implement extra-judicial censorship of online content [3]. As a result, many online services now resort to censorship mechanisms and to abusive takedown of content [4] that blatantly violate users' freedom to express themselves online. “The EU Commission's announcement shows the urgency to shed some light on the harmful practices of many Internet actors who have been forced into policing online content. Citizens' rights are often victim of privatised censorship online at the expense of the right to a fair trial. As the EU Parliament has stressed on a number of occasions, any restriction imposed on fundamental rights online must be subject to a prior decision by a judge [5]. But in the face of many policy proposals seeking to increase the role of Internet actors in policing online content, such as ACTA, one can fear that many lobbies will wage an all-out offensive against freedom of communication online. Citizens must closely follow the discussions on this directive and get ready to defend their rights.”, said Jérémie Zimmermann, co-founder and spokesperson of advocacy group La Quadrature du Net. ** La Quadrature's proposals on “notice and action” ** In late 2010, in our response [6] to the EU Commission's questionnaire on the online services directive, we stressed that: * In the absence of court order, providers should be obliged to give their customers a reasonable time to respond (so-called “notice-and-notice” regime). * While waiting for the answer, content should not be be removed. * In case of counter-notice on the part of the customer, the provider should notify the third-party who sent the initial take-down request that the customer is challenging their claim, and propose that the case be referred to a court. * EU law should also provide sanctions for abusive notice and take-down demands as well as for wrongful take-downs on the part of the provider. * Lastly, providers should provide their users with clear information on their notice and take-down procedures. * References * 1. See action 12 in the Commission's communication on the digital single market : http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/e-commerce/communication_2012_en.htm 2. See our webdossier on the online services directive: https://www.laquadrature.net/en/online_services_directive 3. See EDRi's study on self-regulation and censorship: http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number9.2/self-regulation-study-edri 4. This summer, the illegal censorship in Germany of Nina Paley's multi-awarded movie “Sita Sings the Blues” by YouTube showed once again how corporate enforcement of an obsolete copyright regime harms culture and freedom of expression. See https://www.laquadrature.net/en/like-nina-fight-privatized-censorship-of-cu… 5. https://www.laquadrature.net/en/an-evolution-of-amendment-138 6. https://www.laquadrature.net/en/la-quadrature-answers-eu-consultation-on-on… ** About la Quadrature du Net ** La Quadrature du Net is an advocacy group that promotes the rights and freedoms of citizens on the Internet. More specifically, it advocates for the adaptation of French and European legislations to respect the founding principles of the Internet, most notably the free circulation of knowledge. In addition to its advocacy work, the group also aims to foster a better understanding of legislative processes among citizens. Through specific and pertinent information and tools, La Quadrature du Net hopes to encourage citizens' participation in the public debate on rights and freedoms in the digital age. La Quadrature du Net is supported by French, European and international NGOs including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Open Society Institute and Privacy International. List of supporting organisations: https://www.laquadrature.net/en/they-support-la-quadrature-du-net ** Press contact and press room ** Jérémie Zimmermann, jz(a)laquadrature.net, +33 (0)615 940 675 http://www.laquadrature.net/en/press-room ----- +info http://list.fcforum.net/wws/info/fcforum_discussion ----

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Fw: Challenging Financial Journalism. Associate! January 2012
by robert searle 11 Jan '12

11 Jan '12

----- Forwarded Message ----- From: Associative Economics Bulletin <ame(a)cfae.biz> To: dharao4(a)yahoo.co.uk Sent: Tuesday, 10 January 2012, 15:43 Subject: Challenging Financial Journalism. Associate! January 2012 Is this email not displaying correctly? Click here to view in your browser. 10 Jan, 2012 14:19 Age: 1 hour Challenging Financial Journalism Associate! January 2012 Click file link below to read further From the editorial - Associate! January 2012 Finance refers to the intangible dimension of our economic relationships and arrangements. Objectivity in this realm is not the same as describing physical phenomena because the writer is part of what he reports on. In other words, the narrative chosen by financial journalism does not have its home in sense-perceptible realms. This is why, in the view of some, finance is inextricable from the way it is articulated, its truth shaped by the way it is mediated. In this issue we ask whether financial journalists – insofar as they reiterate the paradigm by which finance is generally explained – do not bear the responsibility of accomplices for the events they report. In the lead piece, Arthur Edwards reports on a recent conference in the City of London that provided an opportunity for leading financial journalists to do public penance for their self-confessed omissions. One outcome of this event was that some felt that journalists should not influence the events which they report, while others felt that, insofar as finance is ‘performative’, journalists need to see themselves as ‘players’ rather than onlookers. Restating Don’t blame us for the crash - we just reported the news by Roy Greenslade, Sign of the Time represents the former view. The feature item on Reflexivity and Representation by Peter Thompson represents the other view. It is an abridged for the lay reader from a much longer tour-de-force technical paper. Comment considers the role of Associate! in these regards. We describe what we hope is a robust position but welcome readers’ comments. The AEX Pages include recent postings on the subject of non-bank internet financing, details of an important book that anlayses the thinking, or lack of it, underlying neo-liberalism, and a report on recent associative economic events in Argentina. Accounting Corner contributes to our theme with a reflection on how accounting also has to consider the way it understands and reports things, in this case profit. Files: A__2012_jan_p1.pdf413 K <- Back to: Stop the Press Click here to unsubscribe or edit your subscriptionA service provided by the Centre for Associative Economics Copyright 2011 Centre for Associative Economics. All rights reserved.

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Fw: Press Release: Martin Luther King, Jr. Economic Justice and Empowerment Summit (1/14/12)
by robert searle 11 Jan '12

11 Jan '12

----- Forwarded Message ----- From: Norman Kurland <thirdway(a)cesj.org> To: Anastasia Pittman <Anastasia.Pittman(a)okhouse.gov> Sent: Wednesday, 11 January 2012, 2:50 Subject: Press Release: Martin Luther King, Jr. Economic Justice and Empowerment Summit (1/14/12) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 10, 2012 Contact: Russell Williams, Connecticut Coalition for Capital Homesteading at 860-597-2724 Russell Williams, a Hartford activist and former President of the Greater Hartford NAACP who serves as one of the National Field Directors for the Center For Economic and Social Justice, has organized a Martin Luther King Jr. Economic Justice & Empowerment Summit to be held in Hartford on Saturday, January 14, 2012. The event is being hosted by the Connecticut Coalition for Capital Homesteading, the Connecticut State Baptist Convention and Service for Peace at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts on 166 Capital Avenue in the city. The opening speaker is Dr. Norman Kurland, a lawyer-economist, pioneer of employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) and co-founder and president of the Center for Economic and Social Justice, a non-profit thinktank and social action catalyst headquartered in Arlington, VA. He is a leading global advocate for "the Just Third Way," a post-scarcity development model developed by ESOP inventor Louis Kelso that transcends both capitalism and socialism by combining free markets with the democratization of economic power and capital ownership. (See background.) Also featured will be Jerry Peloquin, a member of the national Steering Committee of the newly formed Justice Party, whose presidential candidate is Rocky Anderson, Salt Lake City's former mayor and an internationally recognized human rights lawyer. Peloquin will address the failure of all major parties to target our flawed economic system and offer bold proposals to reform our Federal Reserve, banking, tax, inheritance and other basic laws to make government again more economically dependent on its citizens, rather than the other way around. (See background.) Jimmie Griffin, an activist from Waterbury who was recently appointed as Connecticut Coordinator of the Connecticut Coalition for Capital Homesteading, a co-host of this event, said, "This will be our first big event to introduce our Capital Homesteading concept to the state. We have invited leaders from all sectors to participate in this new venture, Waterbury being one of the first cities to develop a local Center for Economic and Social Justice. We think it would be fitting to hold this in conjunction with the King holiday. We'll call for major system changes to lift unjust institutional barriers to faster rates of growth, new jobs and more equal ownership and economic empowerment opportunities for every man, woman and child in America." According to Russell Williams, "We are hoping for a lively and spirited debate. We will ask participants to join us in round table discussions to learn about the "Just Third Way" and how various movements like Occupy Wall Street, the Tea Party and the new Justice Party could come together to unite all Americans to work together to realize Dr. King's 'Dream'." The event is open to the public on a first-come, first-serve basis, and the doors of the Bushnell will open at 9 AM. The Summit will start at 10 AM and last until 2 PM. There is no admission fee but donations will be accepted. All donations should be made out to CESJ, a tax-exempt, non-profit educational and research organization. For further information, visit www.capitalhomesteading.org or www.mlkchallenge.org and RSVP to Russell Williams at 860-597-2724 or by email at rcwjj(a)aol.com. ***************************************** Background on Dr. Norman G. Kurland In the 1960s, Norman Kurland, became deeply involved as a Federal civil rights investigator in the Mississippi "one-person, one-vote" movement (1962-1964) where he worked closely with Medgar Evers, other key Mississippi activists and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. He met with Dr. King, and strategized with other national civil rights leaders. In 1964 he joined the core group that shaped grassroots economic empowerment initiatives in President Johnson's "War on Poverty." Once he learned of Louis Kelso's "solution" in 1965, Kurland left his position as a Federal official to become the director of planning of the Citizens Crusade Against Poverty. This coalition of liberal and grassroots leaders was chaired by UAW president Walter Reuther and was organized to challenge the top-down poverty programs of the government. He became CCAP's in-house advocate of Kelso's ideas, serving as an economic development consultant to grassroots organizations in Harlem, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Applalachia, and other poverty communities. In 1968 he officially joined Kelso serving both as the director of the Institute for the Study of Economic Systems as well as Kelso's Washington Counsel for what the New York Times described as the ESOP's "one-man lobbying campaign." His work on Capitol Hill led to the passage in 1974 of the first of over 20 laws encouraging ownership for 11 million worker-owners in over 11,000 companies, several wholly owned by workers and purchased on credit repaid with future profits, without reducing takehome pay or savings. In 1985 he was appointed by President Reagan as deputy chairman of the bipartisan Presidential Task Force on Project Economic Justice. Kurland graduated with honors from the University of Connecticut in 1952, and served five years as an Air Force officer. Before coming to Washington, he received a Doctor of Laws degree in 1960 from the University of Chicago, where he studied law and economics and was awarded the Walter Wheeler Cook Prize for legislative drafting. He has authored many articles, including "A New Look at Prices and Money: The Kelsonian Binary Model for Achieving Rapid Growth Without Inflation" published by The Journal of Socio-Economics and co-authored Curing World Poverty: The New Role of Property (1994) and Capital Homesteading for Every Citizen (2004). Background on Jerry Peloquin Jerry Peloquin is a senior executive and an Organizational Psychologist. He has been a member of organizational strategy and operating teams measuring and improving financial and organizational performance. Mr. Peloquin has both private and public sector experience. He served as Technical Training Manager for Honda America Mfg. and as Senior Human Performance Consultant to US. AID (Agency for International Development) His social activism began in the early 60's when he was a founding member of the now fabled rock band, The Jefferson Airplane. In recent years he has been Managing Editor US for The Microfinance Focus Magazine, a Consultant to The Grameen Foundation teaching business process management to micro bankers in the developing world. At present Jerry Peloquin is President of The Family Fish Farms Network, a social business planning to build 400 Urban Aquaponic Farms and creating 10,000 new green jobs. Mr. Peloquin is also Executive Director of The National Capital Jobs Coalition an advocacy group working to assure just decent jobs to the residents of the District of Columbia and advocates for DC Statehood. He also serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Ukimwi Orphans Assistance Organization a non_profit that provides support to care givers of orphans in Tanzania. -- Norman G. Kurland, J.D. President Center for Economic and Social Justice (CESJ) P.O. Box 40711, Washington, DC 20016 (O) 703-243-5155, (F) 703-243-5935 (E) thirdway(a)cesj.org (Web) http://www.cesj.org "Own or be owned."

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Top Ten list of P2P books - The best books of 2011
by Franco Iacomella 10 Jan '12

10 Jan '12

Hi to all, we have just published our selection and reading recommendations of the best books we reviewed and presented in 2011 (but which may have been published in 2010): http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/the-p2p-foundation-book-of-the-year-2011-our-… Happy reading! -- Franco Iacomella

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Fw: Arrest the torturers
by robert searle 10 Jan '12

10 Jan '12

----- Forwarded Message ----- From: Luis Morago - Avaaz.org <avaaz(a)avaaz.org> To: "dharao4(a)yahoo.co.uk" <dharao4(a)yahoo.co.uk> Sent: Tuesday, 10 January 2012, 14:38 Subject: Arrest the torturers Dear friends, A new Avaaz report reveals that Syria's murderous regime is torturing peaceful demonstrators, pulling out their toenails and fingernails and electrocuting them. We can push the UN to refer Syria's brutal dictator Bashar al-Assad to the International Criminal Court to be tried for crimes against humanity. Let's build a massive global outcry: This is hard to report, but Avaaz’s own members are being tortured by Syria’s monstrous regime. Manhal* reports that he was held in a secret prison where they pulled out his fingernails and toenails and electrocuted his body parts. "I have seen death, and I’ve been tortured nearly to death," he's told us. But if we act now, we can make Manhal's sacrifice the last straw that turns the whole world against the Assad regime.The Arab League’s observers have failed to stop the brutal crackdown, but pressure on Assad is mounting. Avaaz has just released a terrifying report revealing the scale of Syria’s detention facilities, including what they did to Manhal. If we build a massive global outcry now, we can force key governments to confront the horrors in this report and accelerate the end of Assad.Sign the petition right now, and when we reach 500,000 signatures we’ll deliver it along with Avaaz’s report to the Arab League and the United Nations Security Council, demanding they refer Assad to the International Criminal Court to be tried for crimes against humanity:http://www.avaaz.org/en/arrest_syrias_torturers_/?vlThe UN has already stated that there have been crimes against humanity in Syria. Now the regime is being dealt its next critical blow -- a harrowing report compiled by Avaaz’s brave Syrian activists making the final link that those crimes against humanity were committed by high-level members of the Assad regime. No other report has detailed high-level links to regime torture to this extent -- it could be our best chance to get the world to act. We all had hoped that the Arab League’s monitoring mission could stop the violence, but they have been compromised and discredited. Despite witnessing Assad’s snipers first-hand, the monitors have just extended their observation period without a call for urgent action. This is allowing countries like Russia, China and India to stall the United Nations from taking action, while the regime’s pathetic defense for its despicable acts has been that it is fighting a terrorist insurgency, not a peaceful democracy movement. But reports like the one Avaaz is releasing put the lie to this corrupt and atrocious regime. Now we just need the world to witness the horrors it contains.The time could be up for Assad if we raise a deafening wave of public pressure to tip the scales. Let’s unite the world to demand that the UN Security Council refer the brutal Syrian regime to the International Criminal Court to be tried for crimes against humanity. Sign now and tell everyone:http://www.avaaz.org/en/arrest_syrias_torturers_/?vlAcross the Arab world, people power has toppled dictator after dictator, and our amazing Avaaz community has been at the heart of these struggles for democracy, breaking the media blackouts imposed by corrupt leaders, empowering citizen journalists, providing vital emergency relief to communities under siege, and helping protect hundreds of activists and their families from regime thugs. Let’s not let Manhal’s suffering for freedom be in vain. Let’s demand the UN take action now.With hope and determination,Luis, Ian, Maria Paz, Ricken, Emma, Stephanie, Wissam, Heather and the whole Avaaz team* - “Manhal’s” name has been changed to protect his identity.SOURCESAvaaz Detention Facilities Reporthttp://avaazimages.s3.amazonaws.com/DetentionCentresinSyria.pdfUS slams Syria violence, says 'past time' for UN action (AFP)http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i2gQpPoA7F-2VGwtTsr1… Sarkozy says Syrian president must quit after ‘massacres’ committed by his regime (Washington Post)http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/arab-league-calls-emer…. says Syria not living up to Arab League deal (Reuters)http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/03/us-syria-usa-idUSTRE80219… Syria Runs Torture Chambers (Huffington Post)http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/05/syria-torture-chambers_n_1186… Report of the independent international commission of inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic (UN Human Rights Council) http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/specialsession/17/docs/A-HRC… Support the Avaaz Community! We're entirely funded by donations and receive no money from governments or corporations. Our dedicated team ensures even the smallest contributions go a long way. Avaaz.org is a 10-million-person global campaign network that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people shape global decision-making. ("Avaaz" means "voice" or "song" in many languages.) Avaaz members live in every nation of the world; our team is spread across 13 countries on 4 continents and operates in 14 languages. Learn about some of Avaaz's biggest campaigns here, or follow us on Facebook or Twitter. This message was sent to dharao4(a)yahoo.co.uk. To change your email address, language, or other information, contact us via this form. To unsubscribe, send an email to unsubscribe(a)avaaz.org or click here. To contact Avaaz, please do not reply to this email. Instead, write to us at www.avaaz.org/en/contact or call us at +1-888-922-8229 (US).

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Beyond Belief... Mystical Experiences..
by robert searle 10 Jan '12

10 Jan '12

The following maybe of interest... http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0194kl2#synopsis

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Information Overload..
by robert searle 10 Jan '12

10 Jan '12

The following maybe of interest. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b018xy35

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Saving the Amazon Rainforest..
by robert searle 10 Jan '12

10 Jan '12

The following maybe of interest... http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b018xw68

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