The Post-Partisan Emporium

Vladimir's Sweater The Ukraine variant, an ancient primer Michael Meurer Surely the Emperor and his court will want to know what a fine and generous revolution begins tomorrow in one of his remote provinces... From “The Sweater of Vladimir Ussachevsky” by   John Haines Beneath the lurid headlines about the Ukraine war flashing across luminescent screens as daily advertisements for the  New World Order’s  crisis  du jour , deeper historical currents with existential consequences for humanity are coursing. And being ignored. Lewis Lapham has observed  that TV and computer screens are the modern  “Pool of Narcissus.”  In an interconnected global society lost in its own virtual reflection, Lapham asks,  “Who can distinguish between a bloodbath in Afghanistan or a bubble bath in Paris?” The consequences of living ahistorically are profound. Many nuclear policy experts believe the current geopolitical crisis  could easily trigger a nuclear war. ...

PayPal's IndyMedia Wipeout A series of moves against media outlets by PayPal shows the next step in speech control: confiscation. Why won't the company answer questions? Matt Taibbi In the last week or so, the online payment platform PayPal without explanation suspended the accounts of a series of individual journalists and media outlets, including the well-known alt sites  Consortium  and  MintPress.  Each received a variation of the following message: Unlike many on the list,  Consortium  editor Joe Lauria succeeded in reaching a human being at the company in search of details about the frozen or “held” funds referenced in the note. The PayPal rep told him that if the company decided “there was a violation” after a half-year review period, then “it is possible” PayPal would keep the $9,348.14 remaining in Consortium’s account, as “damages.” “A secretive process in which they could award themselves damages, not by a judge or a jury,” Lauria says. “Totally ...