Corporations // Current TV

Photo Journal: Occupy Wall Street, September 2011

A great collection of photos from Cryptome on documenting the Occupy Wall Street... more

maasanova
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8 months ago
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International corporations eager to steal oil from the Libyan people

The "rebels" have already trucked away Libya's gold which was not part of an international central bank, and now the heads of corporations are rubbing their greedy hands and fighting like vultures over how they will steal the rest of Libya's most precious resources: light sweet crude and pristine, non-chlorinated, unpolluted water.

Meanwhile, the fake humanitarian crisis/pretext for war has turned into a real humanitarian crisis as "rebels" slaugher black African migrant workers whom they declare to be pro-Gaddafi fighters.

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Global demand for light, sweet crude is growing -- especially in emerging markets, where it is used for transportation fuel and as an alternative source for power generation. The return of Libyan crude to oil markets should ease oil prices, particularly for Brent crude.

The rebel movement, the National Transitional Council, has captured Tripoli and is preparing to establish a new government. Oil revenues will be crucial for the NTC, so the leadership will try to get wells flowing as soon as possible.

Getting Libyan crude oil back to market will not be easy, however. Security, law and order, and political stability must be ensured before international companies return. The NTC has largely pacified Tripoli, but there is continued resistance in Muammar al-Qaddafi's hometown of Sirte and in areas bordering Tunisia. Although Libya's tribes and factions came together to rise up against Qaddafi, they could fracture after the fighting is over, leading to renewed bloodshed. Indeed, there are already tensions. In July, Abdel Fatah Younes, a rebel commander, was assassinated, supposedly by another rebel faction.

Although many details remain unresolved, the NTC has already declared that Libya will honor its existing oil production contracts with international companies. For their part, the international oil companies have made encouraging noises about how quickly they could resume production. Eni, which produced some 270,000 barrels of oil per day total in Libya before the fighting, has suggested that it could restart operations quickly at its offshore facilities in the Pelagian Shelf basin and that it could reopen its onshore facilities in a matter of months, depending on damage assessments.The "rebels" have already trucked away Libya's gold which was not part... more

maasanova
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9 months ago
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7 comments

ALEC- the secret corporate organization buying policy in your government

ALEC is not a lobby; it is not a front group. It is much more powerful than that.... more

JanforGore
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9 months ago
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35 comments

Article: Wikileaks reveals US hopes for environmental activism in China

no more secrets not when it comes to China, lots and lots of them

frankpatton
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9 months ago
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The tax break that didn’t create jobs, and now corporations want another one

Imagine corporations telling you they want to create American jobs in exchange for a... more

hoosierdaddy
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9 months ago
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Corporations have Hijacked Copyright Law, too !

http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/the_history_and_meaning_of_copyright_20110831/... more

figgdimension
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9 months ago
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4 comments

Corporations Refuse to Say How Many Jobs They Ship Overseas

Nation of Change Travis Waldron Think Progress / News Analysis Published: Monday... more

Buckeye_Bill
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9 months ago
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13 comments

You Decide Response: 10 Companies that HATE TEH GAYS

With the economy ever tanking, now is as good a time as any to take stock of where... more

LOrion
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9 months ago
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2 comments

Ron Paul Breaks With Mitt Romney: ‘People Are Individuals…Not Companies’

ThinkProgress filed this report from the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, IA. Late... more

Dagum
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10 months ago
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98 comments

Concern over missing uncontacted Amazon tribe after armed drug traffickers storm their forest

Concern is rising for the welfare of uncontacted natives in the Brazilian Amazon after armed marauders stormed the area where they were last documented. Last week men with rifles and machine guns, believed to be drug traffickers from Peru, overran a remote government guard post run by FUNAI (Brazil's Indigenous Affairs Department) on the Envira River, near the uncontacted indigenous people's location on the border of Brazil and Peru. The uncontacted indigenous people in question made headlines worldwide earlier this year after photos and film of them were released from flyovers.

"There is no knowing how many tribal peoples the drugs trade has wiped out in the past, but all possible measures should be taken to stop it happening again. The world’s attention should be on these uncontacted Indians, just as it was at the beginning of this year when they were first captured on film," Stephen Corry, the head of indigenous rights group Survival International, said in a press release.

Brazilian officials found a broken arrow in one of the drug traffickers backpack, which added to fears that the armed men had run into the uncontacted tribe.

"Arrows are like the identity card of uncontacted Indians. We think the Peruvians made the Indians flee. Now we have good proof. We are more worried than ever," Carlos Travassos, the head of Brazil's isolated Indians department, explained, before adding that, "This situation could be one of the biggest blows we have ever seen in the protection of uncontacted Indians in recent decades. It’s a catastrophe."

FUNAI officials say the men may have been targeting the uncontacted tribe deliberately in order to make way for illegal logging or drug trafficking from Peru to Brazil. Officials have estimated the uncontacted tribe contained around 200 people. However, following the drug traffickers invasion a rapid survey of the area revealed no one from the tribe.

Earlier this year, when the photos of the uncontacted people were released, Survival International stated that the photos "reveal a thriving, healthy community with baskets full of manioc and papaya fresh from their gardens", but warned that the indigenous community was imperiled by illegal loggers from Peru.

When known about uncontacted indigenous groups are usually monitored from afar, however some governments and corporations simply deny their existence if their presence upsets their plans.Concern is rising for the welfare of uncontacted natives in the Brazilian Amazon after... more

JanforGore
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10 months ago
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The Century of the Self

To many in both business and government, the triumph of the self is the ultimate expression of democracy, where power is truly moved into the hands of the people. Certainly the people may feel they are in charge, but are they really? The Century of the Self by Adam Curtis tells the untold and controversial story of the growth of the mass-consumer society. How is the all-consuming self created, by whom, and in whose interest?

The Freud dynasty is at the heart of this compelling social history. Sigmund Freud, founder of psychoanalysis; Edward Bernays, who invented public relations; Anna Freud, Sigmund's devoted daughter; and present-day PR guru and Sigmund's great grandson, Matthew Freud. Sigmund Freud's work into the bubbling and murky world of the subconscious changed the world. By introducing a technique to probe the unconscious mind, Freud provided useful tools for understanding the secret desires of the masses. Unwittingly, his work served as the precursor to a world full of political spin doctors, marketing moguls, and society's belief that the pursuit of satisfaction and happiness is man's ultimate goal.

Part 1-Happiness Machines:
Part one documents the story of the relationship between Sigmund Freud and his American nephew, Edward Bernays who invented 'Public Relations' in the 1920s, being the first person to take Freud's ideas to manipulate the masses. He showed American corporations how they could make people want things they didn't need by systematically linking mass-produced goods to their unconscious desires.

Part 2-The Engineering of Consent:
Part two explores how those in power in post-war America used Freud's ideas about the unconscious mind to try and control the masses. Politicians and planners came to believe Freud's underlying premise that deep within all human beings were dangerous and irrational desires. They were convinced that it was the unleashing of these instincts that had led to the barbarism of Nazi Germany, and in response to this, they set out to find ways to control the masses so as to manage the 'hidden enemy' within the human mind.

Part 3-There is a Policeman Inside All Our Heads, He Must Be Destroyed:
In the 1960s, a radical group of psychotherapists challenged the influence of Freudian ideas, which lead to the creation of a new political movement that sought to create 'new people', free of the psychological conformity that had been implanted in people's minds by business and politics. This episode shows how this idea rapidly developed in America through "self-help movements", into the irresistible rise of the expressive self: the Me Generation.

Part 4-Eight People Sipping Wine in Kettering:
This episode explains how politicians turned to the same techniques used by business in order to read and manipulate the inner desires of the masses. Both New Labor with Tony Blair and the Democrats led by Bill Clinton, used the focus group which had been invented by psychoanalysts in order to regain power. Both set out to mold their policies to manipulate people's innermost desires and feelings, just as capitalism had learned to do with products.To many in both business and government, the triumph of the self is the ultimate... more

rodstradamus
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10 months ago
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Bad Day for Your 401K, Huh?

Let me see if I can't cheer you up a little by telling you how corporations are... more

ParkyBill
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10 months ago
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1 comment

Article: The New-Economy Movement

... there are other options than the usual clap trap economic speak, other ways of... more

frankpatton
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10 months ago
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Corporations Writing State Laws

ALEC - American Legislative Exchange Council is gathering this week in New Orleans to... more

jsayler
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10 months ago
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Now Corporations & Congress ATTACK Inventor's Rights !!!

Just when you think there's nothing left for Congress & Corporations to steal, Here They Come Again, In For The Kill ! As usual, after Republicans reject the Senate's proposal for patent reform; ( which has served and facilitated the greatest industrial expansion in history and on earth ), the Senate says: "o.k., tell us what you want for Big Corporate and we'll give it to them. Don't worry about the public, they don't understand the issue anyway. They won't be looking. Just make sure you pay me on the way out."

"The Senate will take up the House's version of a bipartisan patent reform bill immediately after its summer recess".

"The bill has drawn opposition from small inventors, and some provisions are controversial, such as one that would make it easier to challenge business method patents. But the legislation has wide-ranging support from industry, both parties, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the White House."

When industry, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Republicans are sponsoring, championing, and promoting an issue, can there be any doubt that they're about to steal someone's lunch money? After this farcical debt crisis / ceiling debacle, can we really be surprised that the President and Congress are supporting it too? There must be a lot of blood money floating in the waters. What this proposed bill does is to help Big Corporate steal from independent inventors and innovators with impunity. Since it is individuals which create most innovations and new products, this will ultimately stifle job creation instead of growing it. Patent experts have objected and protested what they see as stifling technology development, decreasing job growth, suppressing economic recovery, and saddling us with a international "handicap" which we previously did not have. If our patent system helped grow us into the most powerful nation on the earth, how can it be so bad; except to would be robber barons. It behooves all who is interested in stopping Big Corporate's DEATH MARCH on the PEOPLE of the United States to read the numerous articles linked on Mr. Laudner's page:

"There are many things wrong with our patent system, and many ways in which it might be improved, but this bill does not materially improve it, and would make it much harder for start-ups to obtain and enforce patents. Unlike the Senate bill passed in March, the bill passed by the House (HR1249) in June does not fix the problem of the patent offices's fees being diverted to help cover our federal deficit. The change to First-to-file would be a benefit to those who would like to steal others ideas, and consequently will force entrepreneurs in the USA to have to follow the same advice that exists in Europe: file for your patents BEFORE talking with investors, potential customers or even potential co-founders. This will stifle the open innovation model that has flourished in America. Other changes will make it easier to accidentally lose the ability to obtain a patent (e.g. if you offer your invention for sale or publicly use it), will more easily enable an infringer to defend themselves by showing such actions prior to the plaintiff's application, and will enable infringers to postpone the issuance of other's patents by filing expensive post-grant review procedures...which can also cost a company more than they can afford. The proponents have sold this bill based on superficial talking points that sound plausible, but are deceptions. Every well-known US inventor opposes this, as does Judge Paul Michel, the US's #1 patent judge who resigned early from his lifetime appointment in order to speak out against this."

http://www.lauderpartners.com/PatentReform/Just when you think there's nothing left for Congress & Corporations to... more

COMMONSENSEFORCOMMONGOOD_COM
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10 months ago
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Proposed Constitutional Amendments by ReclaimDemocracy.org

An Amendment to Create a Constitutional Right to Vote An Amendment to Reverse... more

COMMONSENSEFORCOMMONGOOD_COM
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10 months ago
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History Of The "CRIMINAL CONGRESS" ! ! !

If you read the history of how and why the corruption began, you'll realize that we can never count on Congress to correct the ills of this nation or work on the people's behalf. You'll recognize that since the congress is indentured to corporatocracy, and the interests of corporations are diametrically opposed to those of the PEOPLE, Congress, as it is now structured, can only work against the PEOPLE! Therefore, to solve any of our problems as a nation, we have no choice but to take to the streets and seize control with a National Referendum, endinge corporate personhood, and throwing corporations out of government. In fact, since it's well evidenced that corporations are the enemy of the people, we must ban and outlaw any and all corporations in the future. Only then, will this country be safe.

http://reclaimdemocracy.org/corporate_accountability/history_corporations_us.html

"The industrial age forced a nation of farmers to become wage earners, and they became fearful of unemployment--a new fear that corporations quickly learned to exploit. Company towns arose. and blacklists of labor organizers and workers who spoke up for their rights became common. When workers began to organize, industrialists and bankers hired private armies to keep them in line. They bought newspapers to paint businessmen as heroes and shape public opinion. Corporations bought state legislators, then announced legislators were corrupt and said that they used too much of the public's resources to scrutinize every charter application and corporate operation.

Government spending during the Civil War brought these corporations fantastic wealth. Corporate executives paid "borers" to infest Congress and state capitals, bribing elected and appointed officials alike. They pried loose an avalanche of government financial largesse. During this time, legislators were persuaded to give corporations limited liability, decreased citizen authority over them, and extended durations of charters. Attempts were made to keep strong charter laws in place, but with the courts applying legal doctrines that made protection of corporations and corporate property the center of constitutional law, citizen sovereignty was undermined. As corporations grew stronger, government and the courts became easier prey. They freely reinterpreted the U.S. Constitution and transformed common law doctrines."

(http://reclaimdemocracy.org/corporate_accountability/history_corporations_us.html)If you read the history of how and why the corruption began, you'll realize that... more