Scarecrow's favorite diner

Rosebud Diner, Somerville, MA (photo: Coeli)

“When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor, they call me a communist.” Dom Hélder Pessoa Câmara, Archbishop of Olinda and Recife, also known as the ‘Bishop of Corum’

  • “Angela Merkel quashed hopes yesterday that Germany’s resistance to eurobonds is weakening, even as a leaked analysis from her Finance Ministry suggested a break-up of the single currency would have a devastating effect on Germany’s own economy.”
  • “Risky behaviour by big banks, especially those in Europe, was again threatening the global economy, a global organization of central banks has warned.”
  • “Like many closed societies, the financial industry thrives on jargon and obscure acronyms. Back in 2009, TARP and “Too-Big-To-Fail” (TBTF to insiders) became household concepts, mostly because it was households — the American taxpayer — who had to foot the bailout bill.”
  • Moyers & Co: “Matt Taibbi and Yves Smith on the Follies of Big Banks and Government”
  • “Fernando Lugo, the deposed Paraguayan president, says he is aiming to return to power, rallying allies at home and abroad to force congress to reverse a vote to remove him that he called a break with democracy. Lugo. 61, has created a parallel cabinet, attacking the legitimacy of the government that replaced him, and says he will plead his case on the international stage at this week’s summit of the Mercosur, South America’s biggest trading bloc, in Mendoza, Argentina.”
  • “Iraqi officials today announced the impending closure of 44 media outlets due to ‘organizational’ needs, a move decried by press freedom groups as a step backwards for the country’s young democracy, reported The Associated Press.”
  • “Turkey has sharply raised the stakes in a military standoff with Syria, claiming one of its search and rescue planes was shot at as it tried to find a Turkish jet shot down on Friday by Syrian gunners.”
  • “The U.S. media has been writing an obituary for Occupy, but in fact Occupy is active all over the country and is just being ignored by the corporate media. This weekly installment of Occupy news highlights families occupying schools in Oakland to prevent their closure, Occupiers across the country working to prevent evictions and foreclosures, Occupiers confronting Jamie Dimon about JPMorgan Chase’s foreclosure policies and Occupy SEC asking Dimon some tough questions.”
  • “There is no alternative (“Tina”) to capitalism? Really? We are to believe, with Margaret Thatcher, that an economic system with endlessly repeated cycles, costly bailouts for financiers and now austerity for most people is the best human beings can do? Capitalism’s recurring tendencies toward extreme and deepening inequalities of income, wealth, and political and cultural power require resignation and acceptance – because there is no alternative?”
  • Prof Richard Wolff’s weekly Economic Update: “Updates on end of weak “recovery”, Europe vs US austerity, privatization debate criticized. Interview:Tess Fraad-Wolff, MSW, on economics of pornography. Questions answered show (1) rich have the wealth to pay for mass social welfare and (2) public, democratically allocated funds can finance innovation.”

The truth will set you free but first it will piss you off.