Last Straw

RNN interview with Noam Chomsky, who quickly gets to the nub of things as usual, e.g.:
… for example, take … the AIG bonuses that are … causing such anger, rightfully. Dean Baker pointed out that there’s an easy way to deal with it. Since the government pretty much owns AIG anyway (it just doesn’t use [...]

It’s been a long time coming but two people, Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, have finally put the numbers together and conclusively shown that modern social problems are substantially worse in those societies with wider gaps between rich and poor.
Any cursory look at the world tells you this but these are the first people to show it scientifically. [...]

If you read nothing else about politics today read this:
George Monbiot: Just what exactly do you stand for, Hazel Blears – except election?
For some context in the lead up to this piece check out No Right Turn’s links on the matter.

Noam Chomsky discusses the meaning of President-Elect Barack Obama’s victory and the possibilities ahead for real democratic change at a speech last week in Boston.
Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Think again (think Tony Blair):
Tim Baldwin:
I shut my eyes when I listen to [Obama] and it could be Tony. He is doing the same thing that we did in 1997.
Matthew Parris:
Here we have a handsome, dashing and intelligent man, a man with generous instincts and a silver tongue; but a man with no distinctive plan [...]

Blossom Goodchild, the scammer who claimed aliens were coming to town on 14 October, now has her own Wikipedia page (since deleted).
I can see the point of recording it, considering the number of people she hoodwinked, but I wonder how many more book sales she’ll receive as a result of a dedicated webpage on Wikipedia.

Jonathan Cook on Dr. Shlomo Sand’s new book:
Dr. Shlomo Sand argues that the idea of a Jewish nation—whose need for a safe haven was originally used to justify the founding of the state of Israel—is a myth invented little more than a century ago.

In addition, he argues that the Jews were never exiled from the Holy [...]

Michael Collins on Scoop:
Election 2008 – The Difficulty Stealing It This Time

Chomsky speaking at the Social Summit in Venezuela a couple of weeks ago.

Apparently there’s a big event on the horizon. A group of aliens calling themselves the Galactic Federation of Light are coming to earth on the 14th of October, in a prelude to saving us from the shit heads who currently run the place.
The message addresses “all people of earth” but then goes on to say “it shall be [...]