Politspective

philphys: “The essence of the liberal outlook lies not in what...

Thu, 31 May 2012 08:24:05 +0200

“The essence of the liberal outlook lies not in what opinions are held but in how they are held: instead of being held dogmatically, they are held tentatively, and with a consciousness that new evidence may at any moment lead to their abandonment. This is the way opinions are held in science, as opposed to the way in which they are held in theology.”

-Bertrand Russell, Unpopular Essays

Die Grünen finden Atomforschung "Hochrisikotechnologie". Ehem...

Thu, 24 May 2012 22:22:32 +0200

Die Grünen finden Atomforschung "Hochrisikotechnologie". Ehem...

"Pamuja Tutashinda!"

Tue, 22 May 2012 11:09:00 +0200

““Pamuja Tutashinda!””

- Together we will win - Suaheli

PROTEST IN VIENNA: Patrick Bongola aka TOPOKE was imprisoned today, Monday, 8 am. He participated on january 19th in a demonstration against a chartered deportation and ended up inside the encirclement of the police.

Tue, 15 May 2012 09:12:02 +0200

PROTEST IN VIENNA: Patrick Bongola aka TOPOKE was imprisoned today, Monday, 8 am. He participated on january 19th in a demonstration against a chartered deportation and ended up inside the encirclement of the police.

think-progress: From North Carolina’s Charlotte Observer. The...

Wed, 09 May 2012 22:29:06 +0200

think-progress:

From North Carolina’s Charlotte Observer. The last time North Carolina amended its constitution on marriage, it was to ban interracial marriage.

think-progress: Thank President Obama for embracing marriage...

Wed, 09 May 2012 22:20:32 +0200

think-progress:

Thank President Obama for embracing marriage equality!

If you don’t know who Maurice Sendak is (was) and why he...

Tue, 08 May 2012 19:00:00 +0200

If you don’t know who Maurice Sendak is (was) and why he is (still is) so cool. Then you really have to watch this video!

Stephen Cobert interviews Maurice Sendak

"When more than 90 percent of ever-married women in Egypt -- including my mother and all but one of her six sisters -- have had their genitals cut in the name of modesty, then surely we must all blaspheme. When Egyptian women are subjected to humiliating "virginity tests" merely for speaking out, it's no time for silence. When an article in the Egyptian criminal code says that if a woman has been beaten by her husband "with good intentions" no punitive damages can be obtained, then to hell with political correctness.""Even after these "revolutions," all is more or less considered well with the world as long as women are covered up, anchored to the home, denied the simple mobility of getting into their own cars, forced to get permission from men to travel, and unable to marry without a male guardian's blessing -- or divorce either."

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:21:04 +0200

"When more than 90 percent of ever-married women in Egypt -- including my mother and all but one of her six sisters -- have had their genitals cut in the name of modesty, then surely we must all blaspheme. When Egyptian women are subjected to humiliating "virginity tests" merely for speaking out, it's no time for silence. When an article in the Egyptian criminal code says that if a woman has been beaten by her husband "with good intentions" no punitive damages can be obtained, then to hell with political correctness.""Even after these "revolutions," all is more or less considered well with the world as long as women are covered up, anchored to the home, denied the simple mobility of getting into their own cars, forced to get permission from men to travel, and unable to marry without a male guardian's blessing -- or divorce either."

Akrap Finest Coffee is a Vienna-based coffee company, roasting...

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 09:44:11 +0200

Akrap Finest Coffee is a Vienna-based coffee company, roasting in Milan.

We are on Facebook too: http://www.facebook.com/akrapcoffee

philphys: “That’s the whole point of good propaganda. You want...

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 10:19:07 +0200

philphys:

“That’s the whole point of good propaganda. You want to create a slogan that nobody’s going to be against, and everybody’s going to be for. Nobody knows what it means, because it doesn’t mean anything.”

-Noam Chomsky

faniarecords: Classic T Fania Records is in Tumblr, started...

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 01:31:49 +0200

faniarecords:

Classic T

Fania Records is in Tumblr, started following us, we are following them and we think you should too. They are great!!

Polizisten an Bakary J.:”Du Motherfucker, wir haben den Befehl dich umzubringen”

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:43:53 +0200

Polizisten an Bakary J.:”Du Motherfucker, wir haben den Befehl dich umzubringen”

NEWS: Verurteilter Sicherheitsreferent Mitarbeiter von Gudenus wegen Körperverletzung vorbestraft.

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:31:34 +0200

NEWS: Verurteilter Sicherheitsreferent Mitarbeiter von Gudenus wegen Körperverletzung vorbestraft.:

Soviel zur FPÖ Sicherheitspolitik. Der Notruf zum ANHÖREN!

(Das Bild ist verpixelt, hier geht es klarer: http://www.fpoe-wien.at/index.php?id=1200&maID=2000&cHash=4efbfa09420ca9475176b85a63f7a641)

"[The Catholic Church] barely protested when the last president authorized torture, but the Catholic..."

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 12:06:12 +0200

“[The Catholic Church] barely protested when the last president authorized torture, but the Catholic hierarchy is now determined to use what’s left of its authority to organize protests this summer against their right to deny insured contraception to Catholic and non-Catholic employees in schools and hospitals. This will be their cause - not saving universal healthcare from repeal, not bringing illegal immigrants out of the shadows, not protecting the poor, but affirming that religious liberty is at stake if they cannot keep the pill from their female employees’ insurance, 98 percent of whom use it at some point in their lives anyway.”

- Andrew Sullivan (via letterstomycountry)

"To be female and poor in itself attracts a unique stigma. The 1980s saw the remarkable rise of the..."

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 22:56:28 +0200

“To be female and poor in itself attracts a unique stigma. The 1980s saw the remarkable rise of the ‘welfare queen’ as popular bogey (wo)man of choice in the USA. This was fuelled by Reagan’s ideological crusade against an ‘excessive’ ‘soft’ welfare system and driven by racist and sexist stereotypes of ‘lazy’ African-American women, often single mothers. Indeed, the single mother is a recurring motif in the rhetoric surrounding welfare and benefits across the Western world. The idea that single women ‘churn out’ babies in order to generate more income or obtain free housing is commonplace in the UK and was a core part of the vivid American ‘welfare queen’ stereotype. Attacks on the integrity of single mothers are common; they are portrayed as less capable parents - despite evidence to the contrary - and are improbably blamed for a host of social ills, including, predictably, the riots that took place in the UK in the summer of 2011. The prevalent stigma borne by poor females in many societies is viscerally illustrated by British newspaper columnist James Delingpole who described several of the “great scourges” of contemporary Britain: “aggressive all-female gangs of embittered, hormonal, drunken teenagers; gym-slip mums who choose to get pregnant as a career option; pasty-faced, lard-gutted slappers who’ll drop their knickers in the blink of an eye” (The Times newspaper, April 13, 2006 ). Disturbingly, the stigma of female poverty and single motherhood has become embedded in public policy in many different countries: women are all too often the ‘accidental’ victims of supposedly gender neutral measures, such as budget cuts and welfare reform.”

- The feminisation of poverty and the myth of the ‘welfare queen’ | openDemocracy (via sociolab)

Stephen Fry and his approach to language. I must admit, I agree...

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:06:55 +0200

Stephen Fry and his approach to language. I must admit, I agree very much with him.

A park in Vienna, named after Martin Luther King Jr.

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 00:32:35 +0200

A park in Vienna, named after Martin Luther King Jr.

newsweek: Our first major: speech communication. What’s yours?...

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 22:19:37 +0200

newsweek:

Our first major: speech communication. What’s yours? [via]

Great!

Opinion: Why Latinos should reject class warfare

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 01:28:00 +0200

nbclatino:

(Photo Courtesy 401k)

BY ISRAEL ORTEGA

Just in time for the start of the general election, President Obama is seeking to cast himself as a man of the people by pushing for a millionaire’s tax to promote a more equitable and fair society. It’s a predictable pitch that the president has campaigned on before. As his argument goes, the wealthy must pay their “fair share” in order to fund a seemingly limitless government.

And thanks to a number of Spanish language surrogates and a sympathetic Spanish language media, President Obama is getting virtually a free pass convincing many Latinos that enacting the “Buffett Rule,” will help solve our country’s fiscal problems.

Latinos, as all Americans, should read the fine print

Read More

It is easy to denounce a President for being populist -specially in a Democracy-, but it sure is not that easy trying to argue that claim without being populist oneself. First of all, asking people with different incomes and assets to pay different taxes is not class warfare, it is fairness. But hey, in an election year, when The Heritage Foundation is seeking to see one of their guys in The White House, using anachronistic terms to revive communistic fears is just necessary. It just isn’t populism when it comes from the right.

The text is full of misleading words and expressions chosen to generate fear and hate. Take for example this sentence: “Instead of providing the full picture on the taxes levied on America’s most successful […]”. Just one thing: being rich is not equal to being successful. If trying to sell a policy suggestion as “punishing success” is not populism, then I don’t know what is. If you haven’t heard of successful people who are not necessarily wealthy or of wealthy people who got rich just by chance, then I’m willing to introduce you to some.

Now, yes, the revenues are a small share of the whole National Debt, but I’m sorry, is just more income than no tax revenue at all. Even better, it is way more money, than spending even more on tax cuts for the wealthiest of Americans. And yes, some of the money may not go directly to pay the national debt, but that doesn’t mean that it will be wasted. There are also good things the government can invest in. And Latinos, hear well, because you may be the most benefited.

By the way, even as Latinos represent the biggest and fastest growing minority in the country, they make just a very, very small share of the wealthiest people in the U.S. This huge gap is not because Hispanics are lazy or not so “successful” and it says a lot about how wealth distribution works in the U.S. So don’t worry, Latinos, in fact you should not reject the Buffet Rule, you should embrace it. It very, very probably won’t reach you. And if it does, it well may help to fund education and health for your community and ultimately change the composition of the richest of Americans.

idjleal: Tito Rodriguez_Latin Jewels The cover art is just...

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 23:48:46 +0200

idjleal:

Tito Rodriguez_Latin ~~Jewels~~

The cover art is just gorgeus!

Not to mention the album itself. Most certainly a secret tip to the boleros of the 60’s.

This album wasn’t his major selling success, but here is a potpurri of his best known songs. And if you like it, iTunes has this very album. Experienced level!