Step Right Up, Ladies and Gents…

…to the Carnival of the UnCapitalists!

Ever the generous professor, the Dark Wraith waxes rhapsodic about Pumpkins and Futures, giving us an economics lesson to help the rest of we non-economic sorts wrap our heads around futures trading—so we can understand exactly what reports like “Light, sweet crude for September delivery fell 87 cents to $63.07 a barrel...” actually mean.

You are Henry Hineyswilt, and you are planning your traditional Halloween festival. You'll be needing a thousand pounds of pumpkins in about the third week of October. Now, it so happens that you know a guy named Lester Longsteam who will have more than enough pumpkins to fill your order…

As I’ve said none too few times around here, The Dark Wraith provides an invaluable service to those of us whose economic expertise extends not further than remembering the pin number to our cash cards (like me, for instance).

Bionic Octopus breaks down the Bush administration’s latest effort to resist releasing the images of torture at Abu Ghraib, and finds their reasons wanting.

The government's obligation to reveal the Abu Ghraib images is an obligation not particularly to Iraqi insurgents who may indeed use it for 'propaganda' purposes (wouldn't you?), but to its own citizens, to the abuse victims and Iraqi citizens who suffer under the jackboot of this depravedly human-rights-indifferent occupation, and in fact to the entire world, which has every moral right to demand accountability from the hyperpower that claims the quasi-divine prerogative of enforcing global Freeman Moxie at the point of a gun.

Jason Miller at Thomas Paine’s Corner offers a comprehensive answer to the question the president posed to the American people shortly after 9/11: Why do they hate us? Here’s a hint: It’s not because of our freedom.

It is a strong affirmation of the power of propaganda that some Americans still pose this as a serious question, and are legitimately dumb-founded that such antipathy exists toward the United States… Our leaders have virtually assured abhorrence of America, and what’s more, they do not care!

Devo at The Virtriolic Monkey takes on the RIAA in one of his patented humor-infused rants:

"Download Legally. Feed a musician" they say. Excuse me? This line of ridiculous bullshit that claims Napster, Kazaa and LimeWire are causing significant financial hardship to any musician at all is one hundred percent rotten, stinking, putrid pigshit. Britney Spears will STILL be able to afford a mink coat for her precious fucking ratshit, ankle-biting, puntworthy dog of hers both BEFORE and AFTER I decide to download her latest verbal diarrhea about pink hummers and diamonds at the cluuuuub.

(Something tells me that Devo isn’t actually downloading Britney Spears songs, though.)

Agitprop takes a swipe at the recently passed energy bill, which is really just a weight loss plan for fatcats, helping them to burn calories as they shovel vast sums of undeserved cash into offshore accounts.

Life must be spectacular as an oil company executive. Not only does the American public continue to buy your gas guzzling vehicles but the U.S. Congress literally gives you billions of dollars just because you are an oil company executive.

Indeed.

SB Gypsy also has a look at energy, and notes how different today might have been with different priorities.

I just read an article published in President Bush Sr.'s term called Energy Farming In America By Lynn Osburn. It lays out a complete analysis, with the pros, cons, and difficulties of transforming our energy economy from non-renewable over to renewable.

Needless to say, the time frames discussed in the article are from the 1989 perspective, and saw the change-over as possible by the yr 2000. That pretty much tells me that we could have it up and running by 2010 -2015 if we really pushed hard, and fully funded the enterprise.

It’s actually depressing to think about what a different world we’d be living in if we’d given such a plan half a chance.

T. Rex shares a recent personal experience with healthcare, and examines how being uninsured causes multiple disparities.

Our medical care in this country is regressive, hurting poor people the most and benefiting rich people the most. And who do you think gets better care, Bill Gates or the homeless guy?

Not to mention, who has the easier ability to care for oneself in a way that renders regular medical care unnecessary? (On a side note to T. Rex’s post, the homeless would likely not be expected to pay for their medical treatment at all; however, the chance that they have access to medical care, even in the most dire circumstances, is slim to none. Within the homeless population with whom I worked, one of the biggest barriers to getting needed medical care was, tragically, transportation.)

Dubious Profundity takes a look at Florida’s Red Tide problem, including its causes and its heartbreaking effects.

One of the most fragile portions of the Florida marine ecosystem affected by the Red Tide outbreaks are the Loggerhead Turtles. The sea going turtles must be 20 years old before they can begin to breed, and they return to their hatching grounds to lay eggs. Although great effort has been made in the last 20 years to increase their numbers, and protect their breeding grounds, the recent Red Tide bloom threatens to wipe out those gains in population.

Richard Cranium at The All Spin Zone addresses the national catastrophe being risked by the Bush administration by its continued belligerence toward the Chavez government in Venezuela, one of our major oil suppliers.

The U.S. is fucked in this whole situation. As long as Venezuela and Mexico continue to be wildcards in the energy equation of the United States, BushCo is trying to pull to an inside straight. And the oil traders know it.

That's why you're paying $3.00 / gallon right now.

It's got nothing to do with the middle east, and everything to do with Latin America.

Very interesting indeed. Make sure to take a look at the handy chart RC provides care of the US Dept. of Energy.

The Green Lantern crosses the pond to take a look at imposed nationalism in Britain.

This would still be ridiculous if it were voluntary, especially if you were already born in Britain. But the reason it caught my eye is because they say it will be forced.

Compelled to unite around “national symbols” as a means of thwarting terrorism. Interesting concept.

And last but certainly not least, Nathan Newman at the TPMCafe discusses emerging anti-immigration politics across the developed world and finds that unlikely coalitions for global justice are forming in response.

Too often mainstream liberals trade in a stereotype that labor and the left advocate protectionism as a way to protect American workers from global competition. Yet the left position on immigration defies that stereotype and emphasizes that objections to trade deals are about their pro-corporate slant, not some objection to sharing global wealth with workers in developing nations.

If the color line was the issue of the 20th century, the fate of national borders is the issue of the 21st-- with all the issues of the color line carried over into the new multi-ethnic politics of immigration and nationalist disputes…

And that about wraps it up for this week’s carnival! Hope everyone had fun and leaves just a little more unCapitalist than they were when they came through the gates.

Make sure to check in with The UnCapitalist Journal for more commentary and perspective on international economy, trade, corporations, labor, poverty, and social justice.