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Slavoj Žižek: Might our future be Chinese 'capitalist socialism'?

Slavoj Žižek
RT
Sun, 21 Oct 2018 14:58 UTC
Chinese advertising
© Aly Song/Reuters
Despite occasional exceptions, it was once considered almost gospel that democracy and capitalism went hand in hand. China's successful rise knocks the notion on the head.

Official Chinese social theorists paint a picture of today's world which basically remains the same as that of the Cold War. Thus, the worldwide struggle between capitalism and socialism goes on unabated, the fiasco of 1990 was just a temporary setback and, today, the big opponents are no longer the US and USSR but America and China, which remains a Socialist country.

Here, the explosion of capitalism in China is read as a gigantic case of what in the early Soviet Union they called New Economic Policy, so that what we have in China is a new "Socialism with Chinese characteristics" but still Socialism. The Communist party remains in power and tightly controls and direct market forces.

Indeed, Domenico Losurdo, the Italian Marxist who died in June this year, elaborated this point in detail, arguing against the "pure" Marxism which wants to establish a new Communist society directly after the revolution, and for a more "realist" view which advocates a gradual approach with turnarounds and failures.

Comment: The world today seems to be based in 're-definition.' Anything plausible is possible. Whether it works is a different matter.

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Attention

We should be thanking Julian Assange for Wikileaks' service to journalism, not smearing him

Mark Curtis
Middle East Eye
Sun, 21 Oct 2018 22:36 UTC
Assange
© Unknown
Julian Assange
Twelve years ago this month, WikiLeaks began publishing government secrets that the world public might otherwise never have known. What it has revealed about state duplicity, human rights abuses and corruption goes beyond anything published in the world's "mainstream" media.

After over six months of being cut off from outside world, on 14 October Ecuador has partly restored Wikileaks founder Julian Assange's communications with the outside world from its London embassy where the founder has been living for over six years.

The treatment - real and threatened - meted out to Assange by the US and UK governments contrasts sharply with the service Wikileaks has done their publics in revealing the nature of elite power, as shown in the following snapshot of Wikileaks' revelations about British foreign policy in the Middle East.

Comment: Wikileaks has given the public a glimpse into the hidden side of UK's activities.

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Pocket Knife

Knife crime hits record high in England and Wales as violence soars, statistics reveal

Lizzie Dearden
The Independent
Thu, 18 Oct 2018 18:30 UTC
Knife crime has hit a new record in England and Wales as the latest statistics show violence continuing to soar and the number of cases solved falling.

A police officer stands on duty by a police cordon
© AFP
A police officer stands on duty by a police cordon on Eldon Street, following a stabbing incident in the centre of Barnsley
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said police recorded 39,332 knife offences, the highest number on record and an annual increase of 12 per cent in the year to June 2018.

In the same period, overall violence rose by 19 per cent to almost 1.5 million crimes, homicide increased by 14 per cent and robbery by 22 per cent.

Meghan Elkin, head of the ONS Centre for Crime and Justice, said knife crime has been rising for four years.

"There have been some improvements in recording by police but we do think this is a genuine increase," she told The Independent.
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Pirates

Syrian army recovers Roman-era artifacts looted by Daesh terrorists from Palmyra


Sputnik
Mon, 22 Oct 2018 17:14 UTC
Palmyra Syria
© Sputnik / Michael Alaeddin
Daesh* terrorists seized control of the ancient city of Palmyra in central Syria in 2015, systematically destroying parts of the ancient ruins and stealing Roman-era artifacts to sell on the black market to raise funds for their jihadist operations.

Troops of the Syrian Army successfully recovered an unspecified number of artifacts on Monday, stumbling upon them while searching a building in Palmyra, according to reports.

A military source told Al-Masdar News the artifacts were packaged and ready to be smuggled out of the country but were seemingly abandoned as Daesh terrorists fled their positions as the Syrian Army advanced on the area.

Comment: RT discovers Daesh "Dept. of Artifacts" uses Turkey to smuggle stolen antiques

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Chart Bar

What Americans really fear: Corrupt leaders, water pollution, sick loved ones


RT
Mon, 22 Oct 2018 16:53 UTC
halloween
© AFP / Eric Baradat
It's the spookiest time of the year, but a new study shows Americans aren't fearful of ghosts and goblins. In fact, the grim prospect of corrupt leaders, polluted water, and no money is what's really scaring the nation.

An annual survey of 1,190 adults has been run by Chapman University in California since 2014, but this year is the first time the majority of participants said they are afraid of all 10 scenarios in the top 10 list.

Government corruption ranks first among America's biggest concerns, while in second and third places is the pollution of oceans, rivers, lakes, and drinking water. In at third, fourth, and fifth are not having enough money for the future, and loved ones becoming seriously ill or dying.

"It is worth noting that the fears regarding corruption and the environment have increased significantly following the election of President Trump in 2016 and all top 10 fears continue to reflect topics often discussed in the media," said Christopher Bader, professor of sociology.

Comment: That's an interesting link: Americans fear topics focused on by the media. Does the media cause the fear, or does the fear inspire the coverage? Probably a bit of both, but we'd guess the bulk of the influence is from the media to the people. Given the contagious nature of fear, a rise in either will cause a positive feedback loop, furthering the spread of the fear memes. That said, many of these fears are fairly rational. Washington is still a swamp. Water problems are rampant. Medical bills are outrageous...

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Pirates

Sputnik interviews ex-White Helmets: "We were used then discarded"


Sputnik
Mon, 22 Oct 2018 16:01 UTC
white helmets
© REUTERS / Alaa al-Faqir
The controversial White Helmets rescue group has been praised in the Western media as heroes, and derided by the Syrian government as 'al-Qaeda's civil defense' network. But is there a middle ground between such polarizing views? A Sputnik correspondent got an unprecedented inside look into the group's operations in southern Syria.

A few months ago, visiting the Al-Omari mosque in Daraa Al Balad in the old section of the city of Daraa would have been impossible. It was here, in 2011, that the first large-scale protests against the Syrian government began, eventually sparking the gruesome, foreign-backed civil conflict which has lasted over seven long years and claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.

Next to the mosque, in a former police building, Syria's national flag flies again. Before the ceasefire, the building served as the headquarters of the White Helmets. This summer, after the Syrian military's offensive to liberate southern Syria wrapped up and Russian military diplomacy helped secure peace, the White Helmets disbanded and handed the building back to the government.

Paying a visit to Daraa Al Balad, Sputnik correspondent Mikhail Alaeddin was able to meet with Hassan Farouk Mohammed, the former chief of the White Helmets in the area, as well as members of his staff, and got an exclusive first-hand look into the group's operations, and who they got their orders from.
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Pills

Huge stash of WADA banned anabolic steroids found in Norwegian hospital


RT
Mon, 22 Oct 2018 13:01 UTC
WADA banned steroids Norway
© REUTERS/Russell Boyce/Illustration
More than 2,000 banned pills and 78 glass bulbs with prohibited substances were found in a local hospital in the Norwegian city of Tromso
A huge stash of anabolic steroids has been found at a local university hospital in Norway, a country which has long been criticized for manipulating the Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUE) process to achieve sporting success.

More than 2,000 banned pills and 78 glass bulbs with prohibited substances were found in a local hospital in the Norwegian city of Tromso, TASS reported citing Norwegian outlet ITromso.

A 43-year-old employee reportedly kept the illicit stash in the hospital's locker room for the purpose of selling the drugs to recipients who have not yet been identified. Anabolic steroids, including testosterone, boldenone, trenbolone, masteron and nandrolone were among those found in the hospital.

Comment:

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Camcorder

NYPD suspends almost 3,000 body cameras for cops after device explodes


RT
Mon, 22 Oct 2018 14:26 UTC
NYPD body camera
© Reuters / Shannon Stapleton
An NYPD officer wearing a body camera.
The New York Police Department has suspended the use of almost 3,000 body cameras after one exploded, leaving some of the city's police force unrecorded for the foreseeable future. According to studies, not much will change.

An NYPD officer noticed smoke rising from his camera on Saturday, and took it off before it exploded. Nobody was injured in the incident, but the department instructed all officers equipped with Vievu LE-5 body cameras to return them to their precincts.

"Nothing is more important than the safety of our officers, and equipping the NYPD with the best equipment is a paramount priority," read a statement from the NYPD. The department believes that a battery malfunction caused the device to explode.

There are 2,990 NYPD officers with LE-5 cameras, and another 12,500 with an older model. Officers with the older model will continue to wear their cameras.
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Ambulance

Scientific fraud: Harvard calls for retraction of dozens of studies by noted cardiac researcher

Gina Kolata
The New York Times
Mon, 15 Oct 2018 00:01 UTC
Harvard Medical School
© Hattanas Kumchai, via Getty Images
Dr. Piero Anversa, affiliated with the Harvard Medical School, above, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, departed in 2015 following questions about his research.

Some 31 studies by Dr. Piero Anversa contain fabricated or falsified data, officials concluded. Dr. Anversa popularized the idea of stem cell treatment for damaged hearts.

A prominent heart researcher formerly at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston fabricated or falsified data in 31 published studies that should be retracted, officials at the institutions have concluded.

The scientist, Dr. Piero Anversa produced research suggesting that damaged heart muscle could be regenerated with stem cells, a type of cell that can transform itself into a variety of other cells.

Although other laboratories could not reproduce his findings, the work led to the formation of start-up companies to develop new treatments for heart attacks and stroke, and inspired a clinical trial funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Comment: See also:

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Light Sabers

MIT professor accuses Bellingcat's Higgins of enabling war criminals to walk free in Syria


RT
Sun, 21 Oct 2018 00:00 UTC
Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins - (R) Professor Theodore Postol
© (L) Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins / Reuters / Simon Dawson; (R) Professor Theodore Postol / MIT
A debate between Bellingcat's Eliot Higgins and MIT Professor Theodore Postol on the alleged chemical weapons attack in Khan Sheikhoun, Syria in April 2017 got heated as the two accused each other of covering up war crimes.

The opponents met on the grounds of the Center for Investigative Journalism's Conspiracy conference in London on Saturday, engaging in a bitter war of words. Not that anyone expected the meeting to be peaceful, given how Higgins earlier refused to meet the Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor and former scientific adviser for the Pentagon, simply calling him "an idiot."

Comment: See also:

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