Del.icio.us links for February 8th through February 14th:
- Wal-Mart Cuts Over 13,000 Of What It Calls Jobs – Although many experts have deemed these layoffs an unfortunate reflection of the economic climate, instead of what they actually are, which is a borderline fucking human rights violation, a number of prominent analysts said current market trends show that Wal-Mart may soon recover from its current woes, as if anyone with an ounce of human decency even gives a shit.
Tags: satire funny corporategreed usa employment - The New Occupation of Haiti: Aristide’s Rise and Fall (2004) – FOR THE third time in the last hundred years, the U.S. has invaded and occupied Haiti. Working behind the scenes, the U.S. conducted a destabilization campaign aimed at toppling the government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. This is a message to the rest of the region: If you don’t obey, the U.S. will impose sanctions, overthrow your government, install a client regime, and support death squads to crush any resistance.
Tags: haiti history imperialism capitalism coups democracy usa unitednations compromise reformism - The speculators attack – A whole spate of southern European economies including Italy, Portual and Spain are coming under scrutiny, and all will be expected to attack working class consumption, suppress wages, slash the public sector and subsidise industry.On one level, this is crazy. Of course there are budget deficits during a recession, especially one as deep as this. This is what you would expect as tax intakes drop. It is quite normal and rational for a government to build up a deficit during a recession, because it is supposed to act in a counter-cyclical fashion. On another level, it is hypocritical.
Tags: capitalism classwar europe recession publicspending finance - Let them claim immunity! – I hope very much that those MPs now facing the prospect of prosecution for the way in which they ‘managed’ their parliamentary expenses do claim immunity because, as MPs, they are ‘privileged’. This is not because I think that any such outrageous claim should succeed but for two other reasons.
Tags: britain democracy parliament electoralreform - Aerial bombardment: The calibration of destruction – “Modified with new technologies, however, the Perseus is increasingly considered legitimate. Mark Hiznay, a bombs-control expert at Human Rights Watch, a humanitarian group based in New York, has gone so far as to say it has become a necessary weapon.” If they had any credibility left it’s pretty much gone now.
Tags: humanrightswatch humanitarianintervention war bombing - 10 Most Incredible Abandoned Mental Asylums – Perhaps it’s the hollow yet the forbidding facades. Probably it’s the neglected and decaying interiors, riddled with gusty corridors and the relics of their former purpose. More likely still there’s something in the fear and stigma attached to mental disorder itself. Abandoned buildings of all descriptions seem haunted by the ghosts of their past – but when the ghosts are the souls of those declared clinically insane and sectioned, the place is likely to hold more bad memories than most; bad memories but also great character, rare solace, and irresistible magnetism for urban explorers.
Tags: photography architecture urbandecay abandoned