Archiv: Kapital / Kapitalismus / capital / capitalismus


17.11.2025 - 18:18 [ Drop Site ]

Jeffrey Epstein and the Mossad: How The Sex-Trafficker Helped Israel Build a Backchannel to Russia Amid Syrian Civil War

(October 30, 2025)

Barak felt enormous urgency to secure a face-to-face meeting with Putin as soon as possible, before the conflict escalated further. Besides Epstein, he also requested comments from Ron Dermer, close confidante to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was preparing to become Israel’s next ambassador to the U.S. Barak wrote to Dermer, “i don’t care how you’ve corrected it. yours will be always better in clarity and conciseness than mine. try earlier. i don’t want events to overwhelm us.” Dermer swiftly returned a refined copy with more fluent English.

As was typical of Epstein’s style, he sent back a rough cut riddled with spelling and grammatical errors. Unlike Dermer’s narrower cut, Epstein significantly revised Barak’s piece, and added a new title: “Wait Until It’s Too Late.”

17.11.2025 - 17:50 [ Democracy Now ]

Epstein & Israel: Drop Site News Investigates Jeffrey Epstein’s Ties to Israeli Intelligence

(November 12, 2025)

As the House of Representatives moves closer to forcing the release of the Epstein files by the Department feel Justice, we turn now to look at a new series by Drop Site News looking at Epstein’s ties to Israeli intelligence and how he secretly brokered numerous deals for Israeli intelligence.

On Tuesday, Drop Site revealed an Israeli spy stayed for weeks at a time with Epstein in Manhattan. Drop Site has also looked at Epstein’s role brokering a security agreement between Israel and Mongolia and Epstein’s role in setting up a backchannel between Israel and Russia on Syria.

07.11.2025 - 23:02 [ NNA-Leb.gov ]

President Joseph Aoun receives World Bank delegation, affirms Lebanon‘s commitment to ceasefire agreement

During the meeting, emphasis was made on „the depth of the partnership between Lebanon and the World Bank for nearly seventy years and the pivotal role the WB has played in supporting Lebanon throughout various difficult stages, from wars to economic and social crises.“

The President of the Republic thanked the delegation for „the continuous support that the World Bank provides to Lebanon,“ and presented the progress achieved so far in terms of the ongoing reforms, particularly with regard to strengthening governance and cooperation with the International Monetary Fund to rebuild confidence in the country’s financial sector and attract investments.

07.11.2025 - 21:42 [ NPR.org ]

Wall Street reckons with life under Zohran Mamdani

New York City‘s CEOs and other billionaire business leaders spent more than $40 million trying to stop Mamdani from becoming the city‘s next mayor. Now they have to live with him — and their reactions range from threatening to leave the city to pragmatic acceptance.

„I think it‘s the stages of grief,“ says Kathryn Wylde, who runs the Partnership for New York City, an influential business group that represents more than 300 large employers.

01.11.2025 - 15:39 [ Independent.co.uk ]

300 of America’s wealthiest citizens ask Congress not to carry out tax breaks for them. Here’s why

(March 26, 2025)

The letter was organized by the Responsible Wealth Project in coordination with Americans for Tax Fairness and Voices for Progress, according to reports.

The group sent out a similar letter to Congress in 2022. A group of wealthy Americans also sent a letter to presidential candidates in 2020 urging them to tax the ultra-wealthy more for the benefit of most Americans.

01.11.2025 - 15:18 [ Bloomberg.com ]

American ‘Oligarchy’ Decried by Biden Gained $1.5 Trillion in His Term

(January 16, 2025)

The very richest Americans are among the biggest winners from President Joe Biden’s time in office, despite his farewell address warning of an “oligarchy” and a “tech industrial complex” that threaten US democracy.

The 100 wealthiest Americans got more than $1.5 trillion richer over the last four years, with tech tycoons including Elon Musk, Larry Ellison and Mark Zuckerberg leading the way, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The top 0.1% gained more than $6 trillion, Federal Reserve estimates through September show.

01.11.2025 - 15:04 [ Barrons.com ]

U.S. Net Wealth Is Over $135 Trillion. Here’s Where That Money Resides.

(Sept 13, 2023(

At the Private and Public Sector Entity Levels. (In trillions of U.S. dollars)

PRIVATE SECTOR:
Households 121.9
Nonprofits 8.6
Noncorporate businesses 17.2
Total U.S. Private Sector 147.7

PUBLIC SECTOR:
Federal government – 21.3
State and local government 11.5
Total U.S. Public Sector – 9.8
Instrument discrepancies – 1.1

TOTAL U.S. WEALTH 136.8

13.10.2025 - 22:23 [ NewArab.com ]

UK quietly hosts talks on Gaza reconstruction

The Palestinian Authority was represented along with officials from countries such as Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Germany and Italy, the UK prime minister‘s office said.

Officials from the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development were also attending to support what Falconer called an Arab Reconstruction Plan.

01.10.2025 - 21:26 [ NPR.org ]

Supreme Court says Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can stay — for now

The Supreme Court has temporarily blocked President Trump‘s attempt to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, maintaining a critical firewall for now around the central bank‘s ability to make decisions without political interference from the White House.

01.10.2025 - 16:40 [ Caitlin Johnstone ]

The Trumpanyahu “Peace” Plan, And Other Notes

The onus is on the party committing genocide to stop committing genocide. The onus is not on the victims of the genocide to sign agreements in the hope of saving themselves from the genocide. This is obvious to anyone who isn’t a psychopath.

(…)

I didn’t come to where I’m at ideologically from reading Lenin or talking to Marxists, I got here because I did a lot of inner work and had some transformative experiences and came out the other side with a deep love for this beautiful planet and for the strange naked ape mutants who people it, and with a yearning to help create a healthy world. I just kinda felt my way through the human experience as the barefoot hippie earth mama that I am, and it carried me to a clear intuitive understanding that the western empire must end and that capitalism cannot carry our species into the future.

27.09.2025 - 21:27 [ Jacobin ]

Kamala Harris Thinks Trump Is a “Communist.” That’s Insane.

The contrast between this and the “Fighting Oligarchy” message could hardly be starker. Where Sanders and AOC have been crisscrossing the country promoting the message that Trump should be rejected because he’s a servant of wealthy and powerful “titans of industry,” Harris wants to appeal to the oligarchs themselves to save us from the “communist” Trump.

California governor Gavin Newsom recently took a similar line. In his appearance on the Pivot podcast, Newsom responded to host Kara Swisher’s question about Mamdani by bringing up Trump’s deal with Intel, whereby the government agreed to buy almost 10 percent of the company’s stock.

Mamdani and Trump, the governor suggested, weren’t so different. Newsom said it “sounds like Trump’s been paying a lot of attention to” Mamdani, given Trump’s “desire to socialize great American companies.” Just like Mamdani wants to start a few municipally owned grocery stores in New York, Trump wants to do something similar, Newsom contended, through public ownership of a slice of Intel. According to Newsom, it’s “just perverse” that someone like Mamdani could be “shaping the Democratic Party in the context of the socialist brand” when Democrats should be pointing out every day that Trump “is the leading nationalist and socialist of our time.”

04.09.2025 - 21:39 [ Politico.eu ]

EU Commission’s Ribera says Israel’s war on Gaza is genocide

Teresa Ribera, the European Commission’s executive vice president, also said Europe was too divided to do anything about the starvation, displacement and killing of Palestinians.

“The genocide in Gaza exposes Europe’s failure to act and speak with one voice, even as protests spread across European cities and 14 U.N. Security Council members call for an immediate ceasefire,” Ribera told students at Sciences Po in a speech Thursday morning.

03.09.2025 - 18:56 [ theGuardian.com ]

Pedro Sánchez: Europe’s response to war in Gaza has been a failure

“What we’re now witnessing in Gaza is perhaps one of the darkest episodes of international relations in the 21st century, and in this regard what I have to say is that Spain has been very vocal within the EU and also within the international community,” he said. “Within the EU, what we have done so far is advocate to suspend the strategic partnership that the EU has with Israel.”

02.09.2025 - 20:28 [ Reuters ]

Israel moves EU approval for diaspora bond to Luxembourg from Ireland amid Gaza protests

In a letter to a lawmaker published by the central bank, Governor Gabriel Makhlouf said the approval for Israel‘s programme would be transferred to Luxembourg upon the expiry of the prior year‘s prospectus on Monday.
The new prospectus published on the website of Israel Bonds, the country‘s borrowing vehicle for diaspora bonds, said its programme for the next year had been approved by Luxembourg.

02.09.2025 - 20:25 [ Irish Times ]

Central Bank of Ireland confirms it will no longer approve sale of Israeli ‘war bonds’

“The Central Bank’s approval of the 2024 prospectus will expire today, 1 September 2025. Accordingly, from 2 September 2025, it will not be possible for the state of Israel to offer bonds under the 2024 prospectus,” he said, referring to an Israeli bond prospectus issued on in September 2024

“In accordance with the provisions of the prospectus regulation concerning home member states and the transfer of approval (Article 20(8)), the competent authority of Luxembourg approved a new prospectus for the state of Israel today, 1 September 2025 (the 2025 prospectus).

06.08.2025 - 09:21 [ Freitag.de ]

Psychopathische Eliten: Warum sich die Menschheit höchstwahrscheinlich selbst zerstört

(Aubust 5, 2025)

Kemp sieht in diesen „Agenten des Untergangs“ die Ursache für den gegenwärtigen Kurs in Richtung gesellschaftlichen Zusammenbruch. „Das sind die großen, psychopathischen Unternehmen und Konzerne, die globale Katastrophen riskieren“, sagt er. „Atomwaffen, Klimawandel und künstliche Intelligenz werden nur von einer sehr kleinen Zahl verschwiegener, sehr wohlhabender und mächtiger Gruppen wie dem militärisch-industriellen Komplex, Big Tech und der Industrie für fossile Brennstoffe produziert.“

„Der springende Punkt ist, dass es nicht um die gesamte Menschheit geht, die diese Bedrohungen schafft. Es geht nicht um die menschliche Natur. Es geht um kleine Gruppen, die das Schlimmste in uns hervorbringen, die um Profit und Macht konkurrieren und alle [Risiken] vertuschen.“

11.07.2025 - 22:37 [ Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) / Büro des Hohen Kommissars für Menschenrechte ]

From economy of occupation to economy of genocide – Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Francesca Albanese

(June 30, 2025)

In the present report, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 investigates the corporate machinery sustaining the Israeli settler-colonial project of displacement and replacement of the Palestinians in the occupied territory. While political leaders and Governments shirk their obligations, far too many corporate entities have profited from the Israeli economy of illegal occupation, apartheid and now genocide. The complicity exposed by the report is just the tip of the iceberg; ending it will not happen without holding the private sector accountable, including# its executives. International law recognizes varying degrees of responsibility – each requiring scrutiny and accountability, particularly in this case, where a people’s self-determination and very existence are at stake. This is a necessary step to end the genocide and dismantle the global system that has allowed it.

02.07.2025 - 03:26 [ Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) / Büro des Hohen Kommissars für Menschenrechte ]

From economy of occupation to economy of genocide – Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Francesca Albanese

In the present report, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 investigates the corporate machinery sustaining the Israeli settler-colonial project of displacement and replacement of the Palestinians in the occupied territory. While political leaders and Governments shirk their obligations, far too many corporate entities have profited from the Israeli economy of illegal occupation, apartheid and now genocide. The complicity exposed by the report is just the tip of the iceberg; ending it will not happen without holding the private sector accountable, including# its executives. International law recognizes varying degrees of responsibility – each requiring scrutiny and accountability, particularly in this case, where a people’s self-determination and very existence are at stake. This is a necessary step to end the genocide and dismantle the global system that has allowed it.

02.07.2025 - 03:14 [ Al Jazeera ]

UN report lists companies complicit in Israel’s ‘genocide’: Who are they?

Are private companies liable under international law?

According to Albanese’s report, yes. Corporate entities are under an obligation to avoid violating human rights through direct action or in their business partnerships.

States have the primary responsibility to ensure that corporate entities respect human rights and must prevent, investigate and punish abuses by private actors. However, corporations must respect human rights even if the state where they operate does not.

A company must therefore assess whether activities or relationships throughout its supply chain risk causing human rights violations or contributing to them, according to the report.

The failure to act in line with international law may result in criminal liability. Individual executives can be held criminally liable, including before international courts.

02.07.2025 - 03:08 [ Al Jazeera ]

‘Israel’s genocide continues because it is lucrative for many’

As we’ve been reporting, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese has named more than 60 companies, including major arms manufacturers and technology firms, in a report alleging their involvement in supporting Israeli settlements and military actions in Gaza, which she called a “genocidal campaign”.

Albanese compiled the report based on more than 200 submissions from states, human rights defenders, companies, and academics.

“While life in Gaza is being obliterated and the West Bank is under escalating assault, this report shows why Israel’s genocide continues: because it is lucrative for many,” Albanese wrote. She accused corporate entities of being “financially bound to Israel’s apartheid and militarism.”

26.06.2025 - 02:19 [ CNBC ]

Zohran Mamdani’s victory in NYC mayoral primary leaves Wall Street ‘alarmed’ and ‘depressed’

In fact, high-profile investors and business leaders in the Big Apple are up in arms about the stunning win by the democratic socialist in the primary to win the Democratic nomination to serve as the next New York City mayor. The three-term Assemblymember’s potential victory in the November general election could bring what the Street hates most — tax hikes and tighter regulation threatening corporate and investment interests.

25.06.2025 - 17:17 [ Common Dreams ]

Zohran Mamdani Delivers Stunning Blow to ‚Billionaire-Backed Status Quo‘ in NYC

Disgraced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who was backed by prominent national Democrats and an unprecedentedly deep-pocketed super PAC funded by billionaires and corporations, conceded defeat after it became clear that Mamdani‘s lead was insurmountable. With 93% of the votes tallied, Mamdani led Cuomo 43.5% to 36.4%.

Mamdani‘s primary win, a stunning upset, is expected to become official after the ranked-choice tally next week. In his victory speech, Mamdani said that his campaign and its supporters „made history.“

„In the words of Nelson Mandela, ‚It always seems impossible until it is done,'“ he added. „My friends, we have done it.“

25.06.2025 - 17:08 [ New Yoirk Times ]

A New Political Star Emerges Out of a Fractured Democratic Party

That Mr. Mamdani had such success while running on a far-left agenda, including positions that once were politically risky in New York — like describing Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide and calling for new taxes on business — may challenge the boundaries of party orthodoxy and unnerve national Democratic leaders.

30.05.2025 - 19:13 [ Caitlin Johnstone ]

This Dystopia Would Never Be Accepted Without Extensive Indoctrination

(May 27, 2025)

It takes a lot of education to make us this stupid. Our minds require a whole lot of training to accept this horrific dystopia as the baseline norm. That’s why the empire we live under has the most sophisticated domestic propaganda machine that has ever existed.

In order to have clarity, we need to learn to look with fresh eyes. Uninitiated eyes. Eyes that have not been educated out of their initial healthy impulse to weep at what we are doing and how we are living here. We need to get in touch with that intuition within us which rejects the sickness of our society as though it was meeting it for the very first time.

12.05.2025 - 15:29 [ CNN ]

Dow set to soar 1,000 points after Trump team and China dramatically lower tariffs

US stocks surged on Monday after President Donald Trump’s top trade officials brokered a surprisingly dramatic de-escalation in trade tensions with China over the weekend, dropping tariffs to much lower levels, which some economists say could stave off a US recession.

Dow futures rose more than 1,000 points, or 2.6%. S&P 500 futures were 3% higher, and Nasdaq futures gained 3.9%.

10.05.2025 - 16:37 [ Movieweb.com ]

Now We Know Why You Will Probably Never Get to See One of the Most Misunderstood Movies Ever Made

One of the biggest benefits of not being beholden to a studio and funding a movie yourself, is that you have the final say in what happens to it.

Megalopolis was – even if Coppola would not call it one – a personal passion project that would have never been made if the legendary director had not funded it himself.

(—)

With an incredible cast, possibly one of the greatest assembled in the last 20 years, Megalopolis was the vision of Coppola without any outside interference or input.

09.05.2025 - 14:13 [ theNews.com.pk ]

Shares of Rafale maker plunge, China’s defence stocks advance as Pakistan downs IAF jets

Most modern domestically developed Chinese platforms have not yet been battle-tested, said Eric Zhu, a defence analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. “So having the combat record is a plus for their export potential.”

09.05.2025 - 14:09 [ Techi.com ]

Dassault Aviation Stocks Fluctuated After Pakistan Claimed to Shot Down Rafale Jets

While Indian sources have disputed some aspects of these claims, the market response was immediately felt. Dassault Aviation, which had seen a rise in stock value due to strong Rafale sales, witnessed a minor drop. On the other hand, reports of shares of Chengdu Aircraft Corporation, the producer of Pakistan’s J-10C and JF-17 jets, surged.

04.05.2025 - 20:45 [ Bill Astore / Bracing Views / Substack ]

U.S. Elites Learned Much from the Vietnam Defeat

So, what did they learn?

– They learned that wars can indeed last forever, but that Vietnam wasn’t the best “forever war” for the military-industrial complex because it became deeply unpopular and was disrupting cohesion within the military itself. The best forever wars are open-ended “wars” like the global war on terror. And perhaps a “new Cold War” with Russia and/or China. Wars that don’t involve the deployment of over half a million men (unless that “new” Cold War turns hot).

– They learned to control the narrative. No more journalists traveling freely in war zones as in the 1960s in Vietnam. Journalists are now most often embedded in U.S. military units. Embedded reporters, dependent on the military for access and protection, know what they can and can’t say, even as they tend to sympathize with the troops they’re with. ….

20.04.2025 - 01:09 [ Vox.com ]

Will AI become God? That’s the wrong question.

(April 7. 2025)

I really want to emphasize, from a metaphysical point of view, I can’t prove, and neither can anyone else, that a computer is alive or not, or conscious or not, or whatever. All that stuff is always going to be a matter of faith. That’s just the way it is. But what I can say is that this emphasis on trying to make the models seem like they’re freestanding new entities does blind us to some ways we could make them better.

So does all the anxiety, including from serious people in the world of AI, about human extinction feel like religious hysteria to you?

What drives me crazy about this is that this is my world. I talk to the people who believe that stuff all the time, and increasingly, a lot of them believe that it would be good to wipe out people and that the AI future would be a better one, and that we should wear a disposable temporary container for the birth of AI. I hear that opinion quite a lot.

Wait, that’s a real opinion held by real people?

Many, many people. Just the other day I was at a lunch in Palo Alto and there were some young AI scientists there who were saying that they would never have a “bio baby” because as soon as you have a “bio baby,” you get the “mind virus” of the [biological] world.

09.04.2025 - 16:50 [ Norbert Häring ]

Krieg gegen das Bargeld und das Kleingewerbe: Union und SPD wollen alle Gewerbetreibende zwingen Verträge mit Visa und Co. abzuschließen

Bargeldbeseitigung bedeutet nicht nur mehr Transparenz für die Steuerbehörden. Es bedeutet, dass alle Bürger finanziell in jeder Hinsicht gläsern werden, jedenfalls gegenüber Banken und Behörden, die in die Bankkonten schauen können. Das Bankkonto wird zum detaillierten Logbuch des gesamten Lebens.

03.04.2025 - 13:30 [ New York Times ]

‘It’s a Disaster’: Global Markets Slide After Trump Unveils Tariffs

The initial market reaction suggested that the scale of the tariffs had come as a surprise to investors around the world.

03.04.2025 - 13:27 [ CNN ]

Trump’s hefty tariffs send stock markets falling

Stock markets across Asia-Pacific and Europe fell Thursday and US markets were also set to open lower after US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on trading partners around the world, with many Asian countries taking the biggest hits.