The Pentagon is out to make an example of Bradley Manning. In the “age of Wikileaks”, the most dangerous threat to American world dominance is our own people, with insider access, deciding to blow the whistle of the abuses they witness. Now being charged with “aiding the enemy”, 23 year old Manning is facing the death penalty for allegedly “knowingly giving intelligence information to the enemy”. For exposing US military murder of innocent civilians, Bradley Manning is now himself facing murder at the same hands. In this supposedly Christian nation, the killers are us. The killing — with our munitions, our aircraft, our hands, our tax dollars — continues:

Thanks to Rudy Perkins for sharing this first-hand account of his weekend trip to Madison

On Saturday, Feb. 26, 2011, I took part in the latest of the large demonstrations at the Madison, Wisconsin State Capitol building against the attempt by Republican Governor Walker to strip collective bargaining rights for many of the public sector unions in the state and to launch sharp cutbacks.  The late afternoon demonstration surrounded the Capitol with large contingents of union members, Wisconsin families, and progressive activists  — maybe 50,000 to 75,000 demonstrators in all, with more still arriving when I left, as dusk and a new dusting of snow began to fall across the city.

It’s quite possible that organizers hit their 100,000 target by day’s end.  Certainly tens of thousands of demonstrators filled the streets, curb to curb, completely surrounding the Capitol on the four long city blocks that surround the state house square.  Several thousand more demonstrators circled on the sidewalk at the base of the Capitol building, or stood on its wide steps or on the snow-covered slope of the Capitol lawn.  Hundreds more continued the occupation inside the Capitol building.

The Post Carbon Institute is posting early release chapters from Richard Heinberg’s book The End of Growth, coming out in July. Read other early chapters here.

Chapter 1, Part 1: Economics for the Hurried

The first economists were ancient Greek and Indian philosophers, among them Aristotle (382-322 BC)-who discussed the “art” of wealth acquisition and questioned whether property should best be owned privately or by government acting on behalf of the people. Little of real substance was added to the discussion during the next two thousand years.

The 18th century brought a virtual explosion of economic thinking. “Classical” economic philosophers such as Adam Smith (1723-1790), Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834), and David Ricardo (1772-1823) introduced basic concepts such as supply and demand, division of labor, and the balance of international trade. As happens in so many disciplines, early practitioners were presented with plenty of uncharted territory and proceeded to formulate general maps of their subject that future experts would labor to refine in ever more trivial ways.

These pioneers set out to discover natural laws in the day-to-day workings of economies. They were striving, that is, to make of economics a science on a par with the emerging disciplines of physics and astronomy.

The other day I called Governor Walker’s appearance on a prank phone call — showing the world the corrupted state of affairs inside the halls of power here in the U.S. — his “Mubarak Moment.”

I think today he’s done it again. Walker’s Mubarak Moment #2 was today’s attempt to close down the Capitol Building, giving protestors a 4pm deadline to leave.

Check out Ben Brandzel’s live feed of what’s happening in the Capitol Building. I think it’s possible that Walker’s curfew might have sparked the defining battle, like that over who controlled Tahrir Square.  Whose House?! OUR HOUSE!