Nation-wide rally demands an 'alternative to austerity and to policies that only benefit those at the top'

Published on Saturday, June 20, 2015 by Common Dreams by Sarah Lazare, staff writer

From across the United Kingdom, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of London Saturday to demand an end to brutal—and deadly—austerity measures.

The mass march, still ongoing at the time of publication, comes just over a month after the Conservative (Tory) Party's election wins.

The independent anti-austerity forum, the People's Assembly, declared ahead of the march that protesters aim to send a "clear message to the Tory government; we demand an alternative to austerity and to policies that only benefit those at the top."

"We'll be assembling the demonstration in the heart of the City of London right on the doorstep of the very people who created the crisis in the first place, and marching to the doorstep of Parliament," said the assembly.

Massive turnout is latest sign the Vermont senator is gaining on Hillary Clinton

Published on Sunday, June 21, 2015 by Common Dreams by Sarah Lazare, staff writer

At least 5,500 Coloradans crammed into a Denver gymnasium, an adjacent atrium, and lacrosse field Saturday night to hear presidential candidate and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders speak, in what is being reported as one of the biggest political rallies so far in the 2016 election cycle.

Addressing the crowd at the University of Denver, Sanders said: "What we are doing tonight is we are sending a message to the billionaire class and that is: You can't have it all!"

"This campaign is not about me," he continued. "It is not about Hillary Clinton or any other candidate. This campaign is about you, your kids and your parents. It is about creating a political movement of millions of people who stand up and loudly proclaim that this nation belongs to all of us and not just a handful of billionaires."

Published on June 17, 2015 in Common Dreams byJon Queally, staff writer

Several polls now show Sen. Bernie Sanders closing the gap between himself and frontrunner Hillary Clinton

Several new polls from the early battleground state of New Hampshire indicate that the progressive message of Sen. Bernie Sanders—who has been busy talking about the troubling supremacy of Wall Street banks, vast economic inequality, the crisis of money in politics, and the imperative to address the climate crisis—is resonating with prospective voters in the early battleground state as he rapidly closes the gap with Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

According to a Suffolk University poll released Tuesday, Sanders garnered the support of 31 percent of likely Democratic primary voters compared to Clinton who received 41 percent. With just ten points now separating the candidates, Sanders' increase in popularity is happening much faster than many political observers say they expected.

In late May, a University of New Hampshire pollshowed that only 13 percent of likely New Hampshire voters would vote for Sanders.

An anti-austerity protest in Athens on February 11, 2015 (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis)

Published in Global Research, June 16, 2015 By Dr. Paul Craig Roberts

Syriza, the new Greek government that intended to rescue Greece from austerity, has come a cropper. The government relied on the good will of its EU “partners,” only to find that its “partners” had no good will.  The Greek government did not understand that the only concern was the bottom line, or profits, of those who held the Greek debt.

The Greek people are as out to lunch as their government. The majority of Greeks want to remain in the EU even though it means that their pensions, their wages, their social services, and their employment opportunities will be reduced.  Apparently for Greeks, being a part of Europe is worth being driven into the ground.

New report shows that 2016 contenders relying on Super PACS "like never before." (Photo: Frank Franklin III/ AP)

Published on Saturday, June 13, 2015 in Common Dreams by Lauren McCauley, staff writer

Despite her own relationship with big-money donors, Clinton says she will work to undo Citizens United "if necessary"

While Democratic candidates are lining up to denounce the huge influence that dark money is having on politics in the U.S., a new report says that 2016 presidential candidates are relying on such secret contributions "like never before."

Published on Friday, June 12, 2015 in Common Dreams byDeirdre Fulton, staff writer

But groups warn citizens to 'remain vigilant to ensure that future efforts to pass Fast Track and climate-destroying trade agreements are defeated'

Though it wasn't the resounding rejection progressives had hoped for, the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday dealt a serious blow to President Barack Obama's corporate-backed trade agenda, while erecting a major stumbling block for proponents of Fast Track, or trade promotion authority.

After a tense showdown and multiple votes in the chamber, a final decision on Fast Track was ultimately deferred, affording a delay that critics say could further scuttle the trade authority.

"Today’s votes to stall Fast Track and TPP are a major win for anyone who cares about climate change," said350.org executive director May Boeve. "This disastrous deal would extend the world's dependence on fracked gas, forbid our negotiators from ever using trade agreements in the fight against global warming, and make it easier for big polluters to burn carbon while suing anyone who gets in the way."

“Regenerative agriculture provides answers to the soil crisis, the food crisis, the health crisis, the climate crisis and the crisis of democracy,” says Vandana Shiva

Seeking to elevate sustainable forms of agriculture such as agroecology, holistic grazing, cover cropping, permaculture, and agroforestry over industrial practices that degrade soil, introduce toxins to the food supply—and exacerbate climate change—a group of farmers, scientists, and activists are convening for the Regenerative International Conference in Costa Rica this week.

The conference, the first of a planned series of similar gatherings around the world, will focus on uniting movements, developing campaigns, and creating a global media plan to communicate specifically how restoring soil health can reverse damage to ecosystems around the world.

"This is new science that’s connecting the food issues with the climate issue, making it more and more clear that by fixing the soil, and fixing the way we produce food, we can fix the climate as well," said Ronnie Cummins, international director of the Organic Consumers Association, in a press release on Monday.

Published on June 6th, BasicIncome.org by Andre Coelho

Local Finnish authorities at Åland, a Swedish speaking archipelago between Finland and Sweden mainland, are considering, within their territory, the creation of a special fiscal zone where basic income-like social experiments could be performed. The Åland Office of the Social Insurance Institution of Finland presently manages conditional basic income benefits for locals, but could be on the brink of taking the next bold step of turning these benefit schemes entirely unconditional.

The recently elected Center Party, which is presently the most represented party in the Finnish Parliament and supporter of Basic Income, is willing to regionally experiment its implementation. That is why Sonja Nordenswan, activist in basic income support group BINK – basinkomst Åland (Åland basic income), is confident about the possibilities of this government actually moving forward with this projet.