CRITICA MUSICAL / MUSICAL CRITIC

2012-01-30T23:55:00.001Z

Pierre Boulez: "Rituel, In memoriam Bruno Maderna" (1974-75). An explanation and analysis of this work by Simon Rattle.

‘Partnership’ in which one partner robs the other

2012-01-30T23:53:00.002Z

Joseph Stiglitz characterizes the Obama administration’s vast transfer of money and pubic debt to the banks as a “privatizing of gains and the socializing of losses. It is a ‘partnership’ in which one partner robs the other.”

Prof. Bill Black describes banks as becoming criminogenic and innovating “control fraud.” globalresearch

Far away from funding industrial growth and development

Banking has moved so far away from funding industrial growth and economic development that it now benefits primarily at the economy’s expense in a predator and extractive way, not by making productive loans. This is now the great problem confronting our time. Banks now lend mainly to other financial institutions, hedge funds, corporate raiders, insurance companies and real estate, and engage in their own speculation in foreign currency, interest-rate arbitrage, and computer-driven trading programs. Industrial firms bypass the banking system by financing new capital investment out of their own retained earnings, and meet their liquidity needs by issuing their own commercial paper directly. Yet to keep the bank casino winning, global bankers now want governments not only to bail them out but to enable them to renew their failed business plan – and to keep the present debts in place so that creditors will not have to take a loss. Michael Hudson

A Travelers Guide to “Bailout Countries”

2012-01-26T23:53:00.001Z

Theo Angelopoulos

2012-01-26T23:40:00.000Z

Theodoros Angelopoulos (Θόδωρος Αγγελόπουλος) (27 April 1935 – 24 January 2012), popularly known as Theo Angelopoulos, was a Greek filmmaker... wikipedia

2012-01-23T17:10:00.001Z

How much longer and how many deaths?

2012-01-23T17:08:00.002Z

Dharamsala (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Chinese security forces have killed at least five Tibetans and injured another 40 on the second day of protests that have erupted in the prefecture of Kardze (Ganzi in Chinese), Sichuan Province. According to Tibetan sources, the police fired on demonstrators in Serthar (Seda, in Chinese), where martial law has been imposed. "The Tibetans - said a source - are confined to their homes and police fire on anyone who ventures into the streets."
...
Lobsang Sangay, Prime Minister of the Tibetan government in exile, has appealed to the international community to "intervene to halt renewed bloodshed." "How much longer - he said - and how many other tragic deaths are needed before the world take a firm moral stance? The silence of the international community sends a clear message to China: that its repressive and violent measures to contain the tensions in Tibetan areas are acceptable. "

So far, the United States has only expressed "serious concerns" about violence in Sichuan. Washington is preparing to receive the visit of Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping in February. asianews

Armenian Genocide

Historians say that 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman empire between 1915 and 1923, during a forced resettlement. "The overwhelming historical evidence demonstrates that what took place in 1915 was genocide," writes Henri Barkey, a Turkey scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington DC, who nevertheless opposes the house resolution as a needless political manoeuvre.

The killings are considered one of the first instances of genocide in the 20th century. guardian

We tend to forget

2012-01-23T14:21:00.000Z

We tend to forget that its origin was in the implosion of a deregulated financial system, filled with murky financial engineering and with no relation to the productive economy.
...
a triumphant model of deregulated neoliberalism that began in the 1980s dominated until the 2008 crash. The same ideology is a majority view today in a Europe that has forgotten the origin of the crisis. guardian

The (very) british way

Tony Blair pays just £315,000 tax on an income of £12 million.
...
The former PM’s huge income derives from a dense corporate web unofficially known as Blair Inc. This complicated network of companies allows the full extent of the former PM’s income to remain hidden. Yahoo! Finance UK – Fri, Jan 20, 2012 20:54 GMT

ACTA - a global treaty

Could allow corporations to censor the Internet. Negotiated in secret by a small number of rich countries and corporate powers, it would set up a shadowy new anti-counterfeiting body to allow private interests to police everything that we do online and impose massive penalties -- even prison sentences -- against people they say have harmed their business.

Europe is deciding right now whether to ratify ACTA -- and without them, this global attack on Internet freedom will collapse. We know they have opposed ACTA before, but some members of Parliament are wavering -- let's give them the push they need to reject the treaty. Sign the petition -- we'll do a spectacular delivery in Brussels when we reach 500,000 signatures! avaaz

Protecting an Open and Innovative Internet

Right now, Congress is debating a few pieces of legislation concerning the very real issue of online piracy, including the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), the PROTECT IP Act and the Online Protection and Digital ENforcement Act (OPEN). We want to take this opportunity to tell you what the Administration will support—and what we will not support. Any effective legislation should reflect a wide range of stakeholders, including everyone from content creators to the engineers that build and maintain the infrastructure of the Internet.

While we believe that online piracy by foreign websites is a serious problem that requires a serious legislative response, we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet.

Any effort to combat online piracy must guard against the risk of online censorship of lawful activity and must not inhibit innovation by our dynamic businesses large and small. Across the globe, the openness of the Internet is increasingly central to innovation in business, government, and society and it must be protected. To minimize this risk, new legislation must be narrowly targeted only at sites beyond the reach of current U.S. law, cover activity clearly prohibited under existing U.S. laws, and be effectively tailored, with strong due process and focused on criminal activity. Any provision covering Internet intermediaries such as online advertising networks, payment processors, or search engines must be transparent and designed to prevent overly broad private rights of action that could encourage unjustified litigation that could discourage startup businesses and innovative firms from growing.

We must avoid creating new cybersecurity risks or disrupting the underlying architecture of the Internet. Proposed laws must not tamper with the technical architecture of the Internet through manipulation of the Domain Name System (DNS), a foundation of Internet security. Our analysis of the DNS filtering provisions in some proposed legislation suggests that they pose a real risk to cybersecurity and yet leave contraband goods and services accessible online. We must avoid legislation that drives users to dangerous, unreliable DNS servers and puts next-generation security policies, such as the deployment of DNSSEC, at risk.

Let us be clear—online piracy is a real problem that harms the American economy, and threatens jobs for significant numbers of middle class workers and hurts some of our nation's most creative and innovative companies and entrepreneurs. It harms everyone from struggling artists to production crews, and from startup social media companies to large movie studios. While we are strongly committed to the vigorous enforcement of intellectual property rights, existing tools are not strong enough to root out the worst online pirates beyond our borders. That is why the Administration calls on all sides to work together to pass sound legislation this year that provides prosecutors and rights holders new legal tools to combat online piracy originating beyond U.S. borders while staying true to the principles outlined above in this response. We should never let criminals hide behind a hollow embrace of legitimate American values.

This is not just a matter for legislation. We expect and encourage all private parties, including both content creators and Internet platform providers working together, to adopt voluntary measures and best practices to reduce online piracy.

So, rather than just look at how legislation can be stopped, ask yourself: Where do we go from here? Don’t limit your opinion to what’s the wrong thing to do, ask yourself what’s right. Already, many of members of Congress are asking for public input around the issue. We are paying close attention to those opportunities, as well as to public input to the Administration. The organizer of this petition and a random sample of the signers will be invited to a conference call to discuss this issue further with Administration officials and soon after that, we will host an online event to get more input and answer your questions. Details on that will follow in the coming days.

Washington needs to hear your best ideas about how to clamp down on rogue websites and other criminals who make money off the creative efforts of American artists and rights holders. We should all be committed to working with all interested constituencies to develop new legal tools to protect global intellectual property rights without jeopardizing the openness of the Internet. Our hope is that you will bring enthusiasm and know-how to this important challenge.

Moving forward, we will continue to work with Congress on a bipartisan basis on legislation that provides new tools needed in the global fight against piracy and counterfeiting, while vigorously defending an open Internet based on the values of free expression, privacy, security and innovation. Again, thank you for taking the time to participate in this important process. We hope you’ll continue to be part of it. By Victoria Espinel, Aneesh Chopra, and Howard Schmidt

G. Leonhardt (May 30, 1928 - January 16, 2012)

2012-01-18T10:41:00.001Z

A. Weissenberg (July 26, 1929 – January 8, 2012)

2012-01-11T19:40:00.000Z

2011-12-31T12:33:00.007Z

2011-12-31T12:13:00.003Z

2011-12-29T20:53:00.013Z

Avaaz’s members tortured

This is hard to report, but Avaaz’s own members are being tortured by Syria’s monstrous regime. Manhal* reports that he was held in a secret prison where they pulled out his fingernails and toenails and electrocuted his body parts. "I have seen death, and I’ve been tortured nearly to death,” he's told us. But if we act now, we can make Manhal's sacrifice the last straw that turns the whole world against the Assad regime.

The Arab League’s observers have failed to stop the brutal crack down, but pressure on Assad is mounting. Avaaz has just released a terrifying report revealing the scale of Syria’s detention facilities, including what they did to Manhal. If we build a massive global outcry now, we can force key governments to confront the horrors in this report and accelerate the end of Assad.

Sign the petition on the right, and when we reach 500,000 signatures we’ll deliver it along with Avaaz’s report to the Arab League and the United Nations Security Council, demanding they refer Assad to the International Criminal Court to be tried for crimes against humanity. avaaz.org

* “Manhal’s” name has been changed to protect his identity.

Indian girl sacrificed

The body of Lalita Tati was found in October one week after her family reported her missing.

“A seven-year-old girl was sacrificed by two persons superstitiously believing that the act would give a better harvest,” Narayan Das, the police chief of Bijapur district, told AFP by telephone.

The two men was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of killing the girl and offering her liver to the gods in a grisly tribal ceremony. Police said the men had confessed to the crime. dawn

Afghan girl's 'horrifying abuse'

A video given to the BBC shows the extent of the injuries suffered by a 15 year-old Afghan child bride who was locked up and tortured by her husband.

The girl was left starving after being detained by him and his family for several months.

The case came to light this week when police rescued the teenager, Sahar Gul, who had been locked up in the basement of her in-laws' house.

Police say that she had had her nails and clumps of hair pulled out.

In addition they say she had chunks of flesh cut out with pliers. bbc

Ponzi Planet

2011-12-29T20:44:00.039Z

Western economies have not acted much differently than the fraudster Madoff. In 2011, they were virtually inundated with bad news and old sins. Almost everyone -- in Europe and in the United States -- has been living beyond their means, from consumers to politicians to entire countries. Governments have become servants to the markets upon which they have become dependent. spiegel

Eurozone crisis live

The Economist Intelligence Unit isn't convinced by the Greek prime minister's claim that Greece will avoid a return to the drachma.

The mismanagement of this issue is making it more likely that Greece will default in a disorderly way and be forced out of the euro. guardian

UK 'already back in recession'

The UK is likely to already be in recession, according to two highly regarded economic forecasters, as developments in the eurozone paralyse the country's recovery. guardian

Money, avarice and greed

"I used to think that the world was shaped by love. I'm sorry, but that's nonsense. It's shaped by money. Money, avarice and greed -- these are the three main constants."

"There was a promise of better international regulation. But this promise hasn't been kept, at least not until now. I certainly find fault with that."

"And, above all, this regulation must also apply to an area that has been completely unregulated until now: hedge funds."

"We didn't want to touch certain deals, because they were too precarious, in terms of structure and image, even if we stood to make a lot of money with them." (Hilmar Kopper)

Kopper: The United States isn't my role model. If that was ever the case, it was after World War II, when we were slowly emerging from the Stone Age we had fought ourselves into. But I would neither want to live in America nor be a banker there.

SPIEGEL: Fifteen-trillion dollars in debts, a crumbling infrastructure, high unemployment, food stamps for one in five children ...

Kopper: ... and the Americans still want to spend even more money. I'm horrified when I look at the politics there, with all the backstabbing and squabbling in Washington.

SPIEGEL: Europe isn't any better off.

Kopper: I see a dollar crisis, but not a euro crisis. Europe has a debt problem, whereas the United States also has a problem with its balance of payments.

SPIEGEL: Can the euro still be saved?

Kopper: Of course. spiegel

Compare with the pensions of the portuguese bankers *

"I still receive a very small pension from the British government. I was a member of various boards of directors there, which meant I was automatically included in the social security system. It comes to about seven pounds a week." (Hilmar Kopper)

* politicians, public administrators, former members of the BdP (Bank of Portugal) and magistrates, among others...

Portugal - the case study

How a small country whom got billions of the EU would fall on the bankruptcy? Surelly not because the pensions of the portuguese "oligarchy"... Of course they would be unbearable on the long run, but Portugal went to the bankruptcy right now. We should analyse the portuguese public investments since the 90's (§) and must realise that the official pedagogy is completely unfased with the real needs of the country. The Eurozone should look very carefully to Portugal before give the billions to the countries like Romenia ¤, Bulgary, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Czek Republic, Slovakia and Poland. (and look at Greece before to accept new members in the Eurozone)

(§) Firstly we going to realise that governments' members went to the board of private companies that got "very nice deals" wich ruined the financial wealth and the economy of the country. Secondly we going to see the same people first at "local power" or at bord of the public companies then as members of the governments and later as CEO's in the big private companies. This people are profissional politiciens whom got pensions called "gold pensions" (as former politiciens, as local governors, as public companies administrators or as public universities top teachers) and then they'd get huge salaries, bonuses and other little known rewards, at private firms. Also one of the main cancers of the portuguese economy are the big lawyers companies that intermediate all big public busineses. Those lawers big firms have always former, present or futur employees as elected members of the parliament (ironically called "the house of the democracy"...) where they elaborate the laws accordingly to the interests of their clients.

Thirdly: the profissional portuguese politicians transformed simple departments and sections of the ministeries and universities in Public Instituts. The Public Institut has a president, a board of directors, lots of secretaries and "specialists", and they are "independents" from the State! (as the Fondations and some private companies - whom get millions of the public money through special contracts and "concessions"). It was the way to get thousands of "nice jobs" for the "boys" and "girls" of the main portuguese political parties.

Also the portuguese universities professors' system is an aberration: the top professor teach six (sometimes less, sometimes nothing) hours weekly for more than 5000 euros/month salary (very "low" if you compare with the salary of a public portuguese administrator, but the university' teacher has loots of time and can also get a job as an administrator... if start to gets in the politics... or write very well payed "cientific" statements - this later depending on wich area him play). No one control them, there's no evaluation at all, and if there is any, its just a farse. No one ask them how many books wrote and how many articles did publish every year in specialized and recognised editions. It's like the farwest... They own an absolute power because they are considered the top of the knowledge. They may give for their "protegès" jobs like assistant teacher without any public announcement to envite others potential candidats to apply for the position. In Portugal are the tutors of the PhD's candidates whom do invite all the panel of PhD's jurors... And when they did (public announcement to envite others potential candidats - sometimes holding well reconised PhD's and post-PhD's - to apply), they composed the requirements to size the academic and profissional profile of their "boy" or "girl". It happned in almost all public portuguese instituitions. Some of the superior courses in Portugal do exist no because the needs of the country but because they are the safe net of some politicians whom are on/off in the universities and off/on in the political jobs. It's knowed that some important (in Portugal) faculties are dominated by secret societies, like the "franc-maçons" and the "Opus Dei" (right now the "portuguisches" war is between two different branches of the "maçons" each branch in each of the two main political parties...), because jobs in the public universities are in Portugal an excellent position and they want to keep it for their "brothers" and "sisters". The "Opus Dei" prefered to create their own private universities and banks (so, the BCP - the former "Opus Dei"s bank - has had to be bailled by the public money but the fomer two CEOs did get 30 and 10 million euros, respectively, more few hundred thousand euros a year, all their lives long...). Also the justice system is dominated by those "secret societies", so don't be surprised if almost all cases with top politiciens and bankers ended up in nothing (BPP - Portuguese Private Bank - the president of this bank was so weel protected by the "socialist party" that it never went to the court; Cova da Beira; Freeport; Submarins - with the present minister of the foreign affairs, Paulo Portas, embroiled; Portucale - where a former minister of Paulo Portas' party was embroiled - namely - and w'll see whats happend with "Face Oculta", where former prime-minister, José Sócrates, is embroiled, as he's in "Cova da Beira" and "Freeport" cases as well; BPN's case - a bank created by a member of the 90's government of today's Republic President, then prime-minister: the total "deal" w'd be about 9 thousand million euros - nine thousand million euros - of the public money "discharged into the air" to save the "rotten thing" - it's hard to understand why Mr. José Sócrates decided to save it when everybody knowed that BPN is a case for the Police not to the government, as the BPP's - at least... So, another bank, wich CEO is also a former minister of the 90's from the present government's party got the BPN - just to shutdown the brand and to get all the facilities - per 40 million euros, a bit more if it generate a pre-determined amount of profits during the next 5 years... To understanding the aberration of the "portuguese something system" you must to compare for exemple the average of the price for housing in Portugal with the so-called "minimum wage" - 480 euros/month - and you'll realise that Portugal is neither an European nor an "eurozone" country - despite it is! - but a country where the "boys & girls" of the "system" managing the place and the public money as if it was their farm and their own money. Now, with the "crisis", it's getting worst, I mind -> as usual in Portugal it still going very nice for the "boys and girls" of the "system" but a bloody hell for the "normal" people and regular tax payers.

Basically we can tell that Portugal has an "something system", but we cannot tell that Portugal has a democratic system. And now - thanks to all that people in the portuguese "top jobs" - the "something portuguese system" (or The Paradise of the Corrupts) went bankrupt (but the "boys and girls" of the "system" still getting the public money as usual they do).

¤ my question on Romenia is: why it should remain in EU as we know very well the level of the endemic corruption and violence on women? (Balkan countries are "a problem" and Greece is just one of them)

Of course if we look at violence on the women, in Portugal (Spain is that better? Perhaps... In Catalunia... In the Basque Country...), we are going to realise that the portuguese are the taliban of the Eurozone. So, the portuguese needs a foreign military occupation -- of course not from Spain -- to stops those portuguese murders and torturers, because the portuguese "justice system" and policial action - shortened by the portuguese criminal laws and its portuguese magistrates' interpretation - simply does not work.

Of course this matter is not that simple... What's' happend with the portuguese? Why they do prefer kill their women instead of their corrupt politicians, magistrates and all the others whom ruined the country? There's some very intrincated staff to be analysed by lacanian thinkers and I wouldn't do it. Anyway, what's happend in Portugal - not only at this level - is something terrible and unacceptable, and definitely does not going to be fixed from inside. It should be fixed by the EU, the Eurozone, or both, or the Eurozone in tandem with the OCDE or other "neutral" international organization.

Here we can see that Chile, for example, is substantially less corrupt than Portugal. The consistently responsibles of the absolutely rotten portuguese situation are the portuguese magistrates, who cleaned up in the court - or before the court - lots of corrupt big businesses, many of them in a "normal" country would configure huge crimes against the State and the "people". (Bulgaria is corrupt as Panama's, Romenia as China's, Greece as Colombia's, Serbia as Jamaica's...)

Here, no suprise, we can realise that portuguese are the unhappiest in the world after the chinese and the hungarian.

2011-12-29T20:41:00.003Z

A Dictator's Dream

2011-12-26T21:43:00.001Z

Azerbaijan will play host to this year's Eurovision Song Contest. In the run-up to Europe's largest television event, the authoritarian regime has launched a campaign to improve its image. German PR experts, lobbyists and politicians across the spectrum are playing a role in those efforts. spiegel.de/international

Unrest is being crushed

Bullets, beatings and Blair's brutal friend in Kazakhstan"This is the Kazakh oil town of Zhanaozen, where clashes between security forces and protesters this month have left 15 people dead." independent.co.uk

Blair Inc's 'baffling' increase in earnings

The accounts reveal that the company received "remuneration of £9,837,000 in connection with management services" from a limited liability partnership ultimately controlled by Blair. In the previous year Windrush Ventures Limited received £5.2m in remuneration for providing management services. Exactly what sort of management services are provided, and how the company derives its income, are impossible to determine as the accounts do not go into detail. Blair is legitimately taking advantage of laws allowing him to limit what his companies and partnerships must disclose. "It is baffling; these accounts make remarkably little sense," said accountancy expert Richard Murphy of Tax Research UK, a firm that scrutinises company finances. "This limited disclosure is not within the spirit of the law. " guardian.co.uk

2011-12-26T21:41:00.007Z

Sakineh could be hanged

According to Sharifi, an investigation has been launched to determine whether it is legally and religiously possible to go ahead with the hanging instead of stoning. "As soon as the result of the investigation is obtained, we will carry out the sentence," he said in quotes carried by the semi-official Isna news agency. guardian

Note: "Seven people have been stoned to death in Iran since 2006 and at least 14 are currently facing death by stoning, according to the NGO Iran Human Rights."

2011-12-26T21:26:00.007Z

Corruption in the arms trade

The arms trade accounts for almost 40 per cent of corruption in all world trade. newint.org

2011-12-26T21:25:00.002Z

Chinese dissident jailed for 10 years

A Chinese court jailed a veteran dissident who organised a pro-democracy activist network for 10 years today for inciting subversion, his wife said.

The stiff sentence come near the end of a year in which the Chinese government has used various means to silence dissent, from lengthy imprisonment to months of disappearances, in a crackdown aimed at preventing Arab Spring-style uprisings. independent

Whose miracle?

It is impossible to say just how many rural peasants have made this move in the past decade but estimates run from between 200 and 300 million people. This latter would be a population greater than that of the entire US. Even by official acknowledgement 20 million a year are leaving the land. It is commonplace to see these young migrants, with their worldly goods about them, crowded into train stations trying to catch a night’s sleep between bus and train connections that will carry them to the ‘promised land’ of Shanghai or the Special Economic Zone of Guangdong (adjacent to Hong Kong).
...
The payment of bribes is chronic. Some of the incidents are gradually seeping into the Chinese press as journalists push the limits of the permissible. They include stories of outright slave labour, such as the case of people kidnapped from the countryside to work in the Shanxi brick kilns. The stories provoked an official investigation that found 53,035 people illegally employed. According to Li Datong, who used to write for the China Youth Daily; ‘The investigation uncovered cases of people being kidnapped, of restriction of personal freedom, of forced labour, of child labour, and abuse and even murder of workers.’ newint.org

Tibet's cry for help

Days ago, Palden Choetso walked out of her nunnery, covered herself in petrol and set herself on fire while pleading for a 'free Tibet'. Minutes later she died. In the past month, nine monks and nuns have self-immolated to protest a growing Chinese crackdown on the peaceful Tibetan people.

These tragic acts are a desperate cry for help. Machine gun-toting Chinese security forces are beating and disappearing monks, laying siege to monasteries, and even killing elderly people defending them -- all in an effort to suppress Tibetan rights. China severely restricts access to the region. But if we can get key governments to send diplomats in and expose this growing brutality, we could save lives.

We have to act fast -- this horrific situation is spiraling out of control behind a censorship curtain. Over and over we have seen that when diplomats themselves bear witness to atrocities, they are motivated to act, and increase political pressure. avaaz.org

My pro-Tibet's blog

2011-12-22T21:14:00.001Z

2011-12-17T20:01:00.009Z

2011-12-17T16:25:00.004Z

Vaclav Havel dies age 75

Vaclav Havel, the dissident playwright who turned to politics to help peacefully bring down communism in Czechoslovakia, has died at the age of 75. independent

2011-12-17T14:25:00.015Z

2011-12-15T17:40:00.004Z

2011-12-15T17:39:00.008Z

Ours british allies *

IMF-EU loan in doubt after Britain refuses to lend £25bn

* (surely?!)

One trillion euros baby

Klaas Knot, head of the Dutch Central Bank and an ECB board member, suggested that it was European leaders who need to make the next move. He said that the debt crisis could be solved if the euro zone would boost its financial rescue fund to €1 trillion.
...
There were, however, at least a couple of bright spots this week. For one, a Spanish bond offering came off much better than expected, with interest rates down over recent weeks. And Russia has indicated a willingness to pay €10 billion into an International Monetary Fund plan to prop up the euro. Weidmann had threatened not to participate if there was no help from outside of the euro zone. spiegel

Divisions in eurozone over ECB bond-buying

In the interview he said: “It is the fundamental arrangement of this currency union that it does not allow the monetary funding of sovereign debt by the ECB. Without these rules, there would be no economic and currency union.”

So far the ECB has bought €210bn (£176bn) of state debt. The controversial move has been supported by the UK, France and the USA, but opposed by Germany. The reasons behind Mr Stark’s resignation go some way to revealing how deep the opposition to monetary intervention runs.
...
However, he added: “It’s the immediate crisis that must be addressed. That means a credible plan for the bond markets on the risks of sovereign insolvency.

“Institutional reform may or may not help for the longer term, but it won’t alleviate the immediate crisis. If not addressed, it has the potential to provoke a crisis of Western capitalism.” telegraph

Note: The End of the History?

2011-12-15T17:37:00.007Z

Rogues and thieves have become billionaires

This handful of attendants and Media continue to convince us that the falsification of the vote in favor of the party of crooks and thieves is a necessary condition for the existence of hot tap water and cheap mortgages. navalny.livejournal.com

Censorship Tendencies

The murders of journalists in Russia, the jailing of bloggers in China, and the crackdown on the media in Iran regularly remind us that freedom of expression is under duress, even in an era of expanding global communications. rferl.org

2011-12-15T17:35:00.005Z

Go to Twentyvoices

2011-12-15T17:18:00.007Z

Wave of self-immolation

Chinese oppression leads Buddhist monks to resort to desperate protest. independent

My pro-Tibet's blog

2011-12-14T12:04:00.012Z

2011-12-14T12:03:00.001Z

Saudi Woman Beheaded for 'Witchcraft'

A Saudi woman was beheaded after being convicted of practicing "witchcraft and sorcery," according to the Saudi Interior Ministry, at least the second such execution for sorcery this year.

The woman, Amina bint Abdulhalim Nassar, was executed in the northern Saudi province of al-Jawf on Monday.

In the meantime...

The £2million heist ($3,099,000) was the royal family's "holiday spending money" set aside for its visit to London on June 24.

Basically pocket money...

2011-12-10T15:21:00.002Z

2011-12-10T15:20:00.016Z

Britain & EU

The Failure of a Forced Marriage

What would really happen?

Interestingly enough, German bank Deutsche Bank is the single largest employer in the financial services sector in London. If we are no longer part of the EU – with no influence over future financial regulation in the currency bloc – will big banks want to be based in London? uk.finance.yahoo

To defend one of the prime culprits

It is known that Vince Cable, the business secretary, and Chris Huhne, the energy secretary, were less eager to see the UK sacrifice its role in Europe to defend a deregulated City of London, one of the prime culprits for the credit crunch. guardian

The European Union dropped the hypocrisy

The European Union on Thursday night dropped the hypocrisy. No longer is harmony the overriding goal. That, though, means that Great Britain may no longer have a place at the table. spiegel

For your own sake and for ours

Prophecies of doom are mounting as the euro zone hurtles deeper into crisis, and the world pins its hopes on Germany to solve it. The country has been thrust into a leadership role it has avoided for decades, isolating Berlin from its partners, say commentators. Poland's foreign minister has implored the country to save the euro "for your own sake and for ours." spiegel

Note: mainly for ours...

Economic and political union

A monetary union, a currency, needs an economic and political union to walk properly. The markets were targeting that weakness in the euro's construction. But Barroso also delivered a message that went to the emotional core of the European project. Born in the aftermath of war, ruin and destitution, surely the European project could cope with an army of bond traders, however powerful. guardian

Note 1: '"What's the alternative?" asks one senior EU official. "We have seen democracies outstripped by the markets, which have forced decisions on elected governments. So that democratic freedom has been curtailed. How do you respond? Do you let that continue, or do you move towards stronger economic governance? And which is more legitimate, the rule of the markets or economic governance by representative institutions in which governments have a say?"'

Note 2: "People are ready to change when they understand there is no alternative."

Believe it or not *

Believe it or not, but Greece, with a population of 11 million and economy a sixth the size of the United Kingdom, is one of the most important factors for the global economy right now.

It was the source of Europe's sovereign debt crisis after it was revealed more than two years ago that the southern European nation had borrowed more than double what it could afford to pay back.

Combine that with a problematic tax system - reports suggest there are more Porsche Cayennes in Greece than people who declare to the tax authorities earnings over €50,000 - and you can see how its fragile debt dynamics came crashing down. yahoo/forex

* Greece is a failed state because the corruption. And Italy? *

* (and Portugal? Where its despotic and corrupt "elite" - public or private, usually "mix" - take anything and everything from the public domain and from the public treasury!)

2011-11-11T00:02:00.007Z

2011-11-11T00:01:00.030Z

Blair and Andrew's mutual interest

The Duke of York is not alone in his fondness for Kazakhstan, the country whose president’s son-in-law bought his hideous house, Sunninghill, for £3 million above the asking price.

The gold-digger Tony Blair’s globetrotting also took him to the door of Nursultan Nazarbayev, the long-time ruler of Kazakhstan, back in 2008.
...
The U.S. State Department has made the following observations about Kazakhstan: ‘Severe limits on ability to change their government; detainee and prisoner torture and other abuse; unhealthy prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention; lack of an independent judiciary; restrictions on freedom of speech, pervasive corruption, especially in law enforcement and the judicial system; discrimination and violence against women; trafficking in persons.’ dailymail

Underground Great Wall

The Chinese have called it their “Underground Great Wall” — a vast network of tunnels designed to hide their country’s increasingly sophisticated missile and nuclear arsenal. yahoo/WP

Will WW III be between the U.S. and China?

The country imprisons Nobel prizewinners such as the political activist and writer Liu Xiaobo, steals intellectual property and technological know-how from every nation with which it does business and strives to deny its people access to information through internet censorship.

The people of Tibet suffer relentless persecution from their Chinese occupiers, while Western leaders who meet the Dalai Lama are snubbed in consequence.

Other Asian nations are appalled by China’s campaign to dominate the Western Pacific. Japan’s fears of Chinese-North Korean behaviour are becoming so acute that the country might even abandon decades of eschewing nuclear weapons, to create a deterrent. dailymail

My small contribuition to the Tibetan People and Culture

2011-11-07T23:19:00.012Z

2011-11-04T19:01:00.004Z

2011-11-04T18:02:00.006Z

"Chop the head of the snake"

Israel is not alone in talking about military action against Iran. Among the state department documents disclosed by WikiLeaks was one in Saudi Arabia called for action to chop what it called "the head of the snake". guardian

Note: we should look at how the iranian opposition as completely smashed by the regime.

2011-11-04T13:10:00.001Z

2011-11-04T13:04:00.002Z

Offices Of Charlie Hebdo Destroyed

According to a slew of international news wire stories this morning, the Paris offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo were destroyed in the early hours of Wednesday by a petrol bomb. This comes on the day they released their latest issue re-named "Sharia Hebdo" and featuring the Prophet Muhammed on the cover announcing punishment for everyone not laughing. The insides feature an editorial written by Muhammed in much the same vein. In a PR move yesterday, the magazine named the Prophet the magazine's editor-in-chief for that issue. comicsreporter

It’s a fucking outrage!

Letter from a Cairo cell

2011-11-03T12:23:00.000Z

After Egypt's revolution, I never expected to be back in Mubarak's jails.I have been locked up, again on a set of flimsy charges, five years after imprisonment for supporting the judiciary. guardian

2011-11-03T12:16:00.010Z

Crimes against the humanity

"Based on available information, the special advisers consider that the scale and gravity of the violations indicate a serious possibility that crimes against humanity may have been committed and continue to be committed in Syria," the advisers said in a statement. haaretz

Assad's crackdown killed more than 3,500

More than 3,500 people have been killed in Syria's crackdown on protesters, the United Nations said on Tuesday, as the military pressed its campaign to put down resistance against President Bashar Assad's rule in the city of Homs. haaretz

Arab League votes to suspend Syria if doesn't end violence

President Bashar al-Assad given ultimatum to rein in his troops or face economic and political sanctions. guardian

Note: a bit late, isn't?

2011-11-01T15:09:00.006Z

Merkel and Sarkozy are right about a Tobin tax

Some taxes have a large distortionary effect on economic activity — with a financial transactions tax, the worry is that investment activity will be curtailed– and others have a much smaller effect. Some taxes can even make markets work better, e.g. taxes that force firms to internalize pollution costs and other externalities improves the decisions firms make. From society’s point of view, they are more, not less efficient. Thus, in designing a tax system, we should look for taxes that provide the most revenue at the least cost.

So is a financial transactions tax a highly distortionary, costly tax? The answer is no. The tax would discourage short-term speculative activity, but much of this activity provides little social value. It pushes money around among winners and losers, and traders like it for that reason, but if this activity is discouraged through taxation it would have little effect on long-term investment decisions by firms. For example, one thing this would discourage is high frequency computer trading to exploit minute differences in prices. Does it really matter for long-term investment if these differences persist for a few seconds or minutes more?

In fact, there’s even an argument that this tax will improve the efficiency of financial markets. The late economist James Tobin, the originator of the tax, argued that speculative activity causes harmful fluctuations in financial markets. For example, pursuit of speculative gains can cause firms to increase leverage, and if a financial crisis hits it can be very disruptive to the economy when firm are forced to unwind that leverage quickly. That wouldn’t be so much of a problem if the costs fell only on those making the decision to take on so much leverage. But, unfortunately, as we have seen in this crisis, the costs can be very large and spread beyond the firms and individuals making the decision to take on so much risk. Thus, just as with pollution there are externalities — costs that fall on the innocent — and to the extent that a transactions tax forces firms to internalize the costs of their decisions, it improves rather than hinders the efficiency of financial markets.

There is one potential problem however: the ability to avoid the tax by moving activity elsewhere. But I don’t see this as a huge worry. Trading is mostly carried out on centralized exchanges, so keeping track of the transactions and taxing them isn’t that hard (the UK has had a tax on stocks for some time, and that hasn’t driven all activity elsewhere). Nevertheless, if the U.S. were to follow suit, as I think it should — it could raise hundreds of billions a year in revenue with minimal distortions — that would help to prevent evasive activity.

A financial transactions tax raises considerable revenue with minimal distortions to long-run investment activity; there’s even an argument that it improves efficiency by forcing firms to pay the full cost of their speculative activity. In addition, it helps to insulate the economy from the fallout when there is a financial crisis. Mark Thoma in blogs.reuters.com

2011-10-22T15:46:00.001+01:00

Nelson Freire gives an electrifying performance of the Liszt sonata in B minor at the University of Maryland in 1982

Liszt

2011-10-22T00:00:00.001+01:00

Franz Liszt (October 22, 1811 – July 31, 1886) was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned throughout Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age and perhaps the greatest pianist of all time. He was also a well-known composer, piano teacher, and conductor who contributed significantly to the modern development of the art. He was a benefactor to other composers, including Richard Wagner, Hector Berlioz, Camille Saint-Saëns, Edvard Grieg and Alexander Borodin. wikipedia

2011-10-16T00:24:00.012+01:00

Beijing: A Tibetan nun has set herself on fire in western China, the latest in a series of self-immolations among the region's Buddhist clergy, an advocacy group said Tuesday. In a separate incident, security forces shot two Tibetans during a protest outside a police station, London-based Free Tibet reported. The two incidents could not immediately be independently confirmed Tuesday, although tensions have been high across the region since widespread anti-government protests in 2008. Communist government officials gave no comment when contacted.

Free Tibet said the nun, 20-year-old Tenzin Wangmo, died after setting herself on fire Monday outside Dechen Chokorling nunnery in Sichuan province's Aba prefecture where a number of other self-immolations have taken place this year. The group said she chanted slogans as she set herself alight calling for greater religious freedom and the return of Tibet's exiled Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama.

The two men shot Sunday in Sichuan's Garze prefecture, identified as Dawa and Druklo, were taken away by area residents and their conditions were unknown, Free Tibet said. Many Tibetans use just one name. Although there is no tradition of self-immolation as a form of protest in Tibetan society, a total of nine monks and nuns have set themselves on fire since March in what are considered desperate acts to draw attention to repression of Tibetan Buddhism. newsbullet

2011-10-16T00:24:00.011+01:00

Stop Syria's horror hospitals

The Syrian regime has reached a new low -- its death squads are using ambulances and hospitals to lure and kill wounded protesters. But Russia, Syria's key backer and arms supplier, could bring an end to this carnage.

There are two governments that can influence Russia -- Turkey and Germany -- both of them support the Syrian democracy protesters and have strong ties with Russia. If we call on them to act now, they could weigh in behind mounting regional pressure and push Russian President Medvedev to stop propping up this brutal regime and help urgent global action.

Syria's horror hospitals are the latest in a string of unspeakable crimes against peaceful protesters. So far, Russia has faced little condemnation for its complicity in these atrocities, but we can change that. Let's build a massive petition to Merkel and Erdogan now to speak out and work with the Arab League to stop the brutality. Sign now, and share this with everyone -- it will be delivered to their Foreign Ministries this week. avaaz

2011-10-01T16:41:00.007+01:00

24 dead after Coptic church protest

At least 24 people have been killed and more than 200 wounded in the worst violence since Egypt's former President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February. bbc

2011-10-01T16:39:00.006+01:00

IRAN

The constitution states that Islam is the official state religion, and the doctrine followed is that of Ja'afari (Twelver) Shiism. The constitution provides that "other Islamic denominations are to be accorded full respect," while the country's pre-Islamic religious groups -- Zoroastrians, Christians, and Jews -- are recognized as "protected" religious minorities. The fourth article of the constitution states that all laws and regulations must be based on Islamic criteria an official interpretation of Sharia (Islamic Law).
...
Government rhetoric and actions created a threatening atmosphere for nearly all non-Shia religious groups, most notably for Bahais, as well as Sufi Muslims, evangelical Christians, Jews, and Shia groups that do not share the government's official religious views. Reports of government imprisonment, harassment, intimidation, and discrimination based on religious beliefs continued during the reporting period. Bahai religious groups reportedarbitrary arrest and prolonged detention, expulsions from universities, and confiscation of property.

During the reporting period government-controlled broadcast and print media intensified negative campaigns against religious minorities, particularly the Bahais. All non-Shia religious minorities suffered varying degrees of officially sanctioned discrimination, particularly in the areas of employment, education, and housing. scribd

Iranian actress sentenced to 90 lashes

An Iranian actress has been sentenced to 90 lashes and a year in prison for starring in a film that shows artistic repression in the country, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Marzieh Vafamehr was arrested in July and received her sentence at the weekend.

In the 2009 film, ‘My Tehran for Sale’, Vafamehr plays an actress whose work is banned by authorities and is forced to lead a secret life to express herself artistically.

Vafamehr often appears with a shaved head and no headscarf, and there are scenes of drug use in the film, according to Iranian opposition website kalameh.com. yahoo

Court upholds sentence against Jafar Panahi

TEHRAN: A Tehran appeals court has upheld a six-year jail sentence and 20-year filmmaking and travel ban against international award-winning Iranian director Jafar Panahi, his family told AFP on Saturday.

The verdict, handed down around two weeks ago, has not yet been carried out, the family said.

The government-run newspaper Iran confirmed the ruling in its Saturday edition, saying: "The charges he was sentenced for are acting against national security and propaganda against the regime." thenews

2011-10-01T16:17:00.020+01:00

Italy's inconclusive justice

There's barely one iconic crime from the post-war years that has persuaded the country that, yes, justice has been done: the murder of Pier Paolo Pasolini, the Ustica crash, the Bologna railway station bombing, the Piazza Fontana atrocity, the Monster of Florence murders, the murder of Luigi Calabresi, the "caso Cogne" … none has ever been satisfactorily, convincingly resolved. Instead the country seems to split into innocentisti and colpevolisti (those who believe in the innocence or guilt of the accused) and the heated debates continue for decades. guardian

Note: in Portugal my teacher Padre Max was killed (April 2 - 1976) by a sofisticated (for the 70's) bomb engine and no one was found guilty. It was the Right (of course) - because they never accepted a priest of the catholic church to be in an far-left political party - but the Right had very known faces.

2011-10-01T16:11:00.010+01:00

Empathic Dialogue

“It is time for us to greet each other not only as a standard salutation but should be meant as a sincere prayer, recognition and respect of faith, and manifestation of a person’s religious identity. Say assalamu’alaikum (peace be with you) to Muslims. Say shalom (peace) to Christians. Say namo Buddhaya (I pay homage to the Buddha) or namaste (I bow to you) to followers of Buddhism. Say om swastiastu (May We be Under His Protection) to Hindus. And the same goes for the believers of other faiths.” islamlib

2011-10-01T16:11:00.008+01:00

Youcef Nadarkhani Refuses to Recant

Yousef is from Rasht, Gilan. He is pastor for a network of Christian house churches. He is married to Fatemah Pasindedih, and they have two children, ages 8 and 6.

Yousef was first imprisoned in December 2006, on the charges of apostasy from and evangelism to Muslims. He was released two weeks later, without being charged.

In 2009, Yousef discovered a recent change in Iranian educational policy that forced all students, including his children, to read from the Qur'an. After Youcef heard about this change, he went to the school and protested, based on the fact that the Iranian constitution guarantees freedom to practice religion. His protest was reported to the police, who arrested him and placed him before a tribunal on October 12, 2009, on charges of protesting.

The charges were later changed to apostasy and evangelism, the same charges he was initially arrested under in 2006. On September 21–22, 2010, Youcef appeared before the 11th Chamber of The Assize Court of the province of Gilan and sentenced to death for the charge of apostasy. Yousef's lawyer, Nasser Sarbaz, claims there were numerous procedural errors during Yousef's trial.

After conviction Youcef was transferred to a prison for political prisoners, and denied all access to his family and attorney. The delivery of Youcef's written verdict was delayed by Iran's security officials. Christians believe the delay in execution is an attempt by Iran's secret police to force Youcef to recant Christianity. wikipedia

2011-09-16T20:44:00.005+01:00

Crackdown on tax evaders

19.45 Britain and Germany have signed deals with Switzerland to get at funds hidden there by their citizens and extract tax. Now Italy's Senate has urged its government to do the same.

The move would be the latest step in a crackdown on tax evaders in Italy, which saw an advertising campaign launched in August labeling them "parasites on society" that cost €100 billion a year. telegraph

The End of Offshore Banking

The recent actions by the US Justice Department and the IRS against the UBS highlight the increasing pressure on the so called offshore banking model. Private Banks in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Austria, Singapore, and many Caribbean jurisdictions are well known for managing money which has left the home country of his owner without taxation. banking

Greed at the highest levels of Wall Street

NEW YORK (AP) — A former board member of Goldman Sachs and Procter & Gamble surrendered Wednesday after a federal indictment was unsealed accusing him of acting as "the illegal eyes and ears in the boardroom" for a friend who was already convicted in the biggest insider trading case in history.The case, built partially on use of wiretaps for the first time in insider trading, stands to offer unprecedented insight into allegations of greed at the highest levels of Wall Street. yahoo/AP

2011-09-16T20:25:00.020+01:00

Action is needed

Credit markets are gumming up again, business and consumer confidence is falling off a cliff, and there is a growing sense of panic over Europe’s apparent inability to act. The damage caused by a rogue trader at the Swiss banking giant UBS (NYSEArca: DJCI - news) has added to the impression of a wholly dysfunctional, out-of-control financial system. yahoo/telegraph

Divide and Rescue

Chancellor Angela Merkel has always rejected a two-track Europe. But with the euro crisis persisting, Berlin is now considering far-reaching new powers for the Euro Group - to the detriment of the European Commission. spiegel

Note: there's no way with types like grecs and corrupts as the portuguese politicians, the "great" portuguese administrators, a huge slice of the portuguese lawyers & solicitors and some magistrates are. Have to choose between maniacs (like the Germans) or corrupts (like the Portuguese) is the main evidence of how patetic Europe is. Austrians are - perhaps - more maniacs than Germans? Perhaps...

But the question is: why the UE gave so many money for that "mediterranean" and "balcanic" countries, without a tight control? In fact it was a bit perverse because the UE knowed that even if the money w'd go trought the corrupt channels it w'd finish in european cars and european goods, wich did increase the German and French (the British in some way) industries. So German and France (England in some way) are responsibles for the "mediterranean" and "balcanic" caos, corruption and bankruptcy and should fix it.

(Even if the British are not europeans. They are... "liberals"... But still accountables.)

(Romanians, and some others, are corrupts, mafious and violents. Wich criteria has had the European Comission, and Mr. Barroso, to lead them inside the EU?)

2011-09-14T18:33:00.006+01:00

2011-09-14T18:31:00.002+01:00

Evicted from home

DETROIT (AP) — A 101-year-old woman was evicted from the southwest Detroit home where she lived for nearly six decades after her 65-year-old son failed to pay the mortgage. yahoo/AP

2011-09-14T15:40:00.003+01:00

2011-09-14T15:24:00.002+01:00

Richard William Hamilton

24 February 1922 – 13 September 2011

Was a British painter and collage artist. His 1956 collage, Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing?, produced for the This Is Tomorrow exhibition of the Independent Group in London, is considered by critics and historians to be one of the early works of pop art. wikipedia

2011-09-12T00:45:00.005+01:00

Opposition activists brutally treated

The BN (National Front) government, dominated by UMNO (United Malay National Organisation), is going all out, including by using repression and intimidation, to strengthen its position in the next general election expected soon - either this year or early next year. It was alarmed by the unprecedented victories in the 2008 general election of the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (People’s Coalition) which denied them their two-thirds majority after almost four decades in power. In that election, the Pakatan Rakyat capitalised on the momentum created by the rallies organised by BERSIH (Coalition for Fair and Clean Elections), which demanded clean and fair elections, and by HINDRAF (Hindu Rights Action Force) which demanded rights for the Indian minority in November 2007, to weaken BN support. Now, to suppress similar attempts, BN is going all out to stop a repeat of the same process, in order to continuously sustain its more than 50 years in power since independence from British rule in 1957. chinaworker

Note: very, very interesting. How about human rights and freedom of speech in China?

Fear of false accusations and blackmail

In China, an elderly man falls, bleeds from the head, but no one stops to help him. The case becomes a cause celebre. Online surveys indicate that most people would not help for fear of false accusations and blackmail. asianews

2011-09-08T23:58:00.005+01:00

2011-09-06T23:44:00.009+01:00

Asia Bibi

In June 2009, Asia Noreen, a farm hand from the village of Ittan Wali in Sheikhupura District, was asked to fetch water; she complied, but some of her Muslim fellow workers refused to drink the water as they considered Christians to be "unclean". Apparently some arguments ensued. There had already been a running feud between Noreen and a neighbour about some property damage. Later some coworkers complained to a cleric that Noreen made derogatory comments about Prophet Muhammad. A mob came to her house, beating her and members of her family before she was rescued by the police. However, the police initiated an investigation about her remarks, resulting in her arrest and prosecution under Section 295 C of the Pakistan Penal Code. She spent more than a year in jail. In November 2010 Muhammed Naveed Iqbal, judge at the court of Sheikhupura, Punjab, sentenced her to death by hanging. Additionally, a fine of an equivalent of $1,100 was imposed. wikipedia

Note: that people dosn't deserve any help. That people should be let to their "karma".

Muslims oppose 'religion-neutral flag' proposal

Ivica Petrusic, vice president of immigrant association Secondos Plus suggests dropping the cross from the Swiss flag and adopting a different flag instead. "The Swiss cross no longer suits today's multicultural Switzerland," says Petrusic. Instead, Petrusic suggests using the green, red and yellow flag of the short-lived Helvetic Republic (1799)

Petrusic says he himself is Christian, but he does not think a Christian symbol should be used in a country with so many atheists and people who profess other religions. He says the cross does not represent the religious and cultural diversity in Switzerland today.

His proposal met with broad opposition. Hisham Maizar, head of Federation of Islamic Organisations in Switzerland said the proposal for a religion-neutral flag was counter-productive. "We don't have any demands to upend the ancient traditions of other countries." islamineurope

Note: this is probably a (funny) joke. Since then the immigrants can change the flag of the countries did accept them?

2011-09-05T12:47:00.004+01:00

2011-09-05T11:41:00.000+01:00

Al-Qaeda links

Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi, the Libyan rebel leader, has said jihadists who fought against allied troops in Iraq are on the front lines of the battle against Muammar Gaddafi's regime. telegraph

2011-09-04T17:48:00.002+01:00

Islam and democracy

“OF COURSE they say nice things these days,” says a Lebanese woman, a sophisticated Sunni Muslim in her 50s, gliding between English, French and Arabic. “They know who they’re talking to. But you cannot trust them—absolutely not.” economist

Dreaming of a caliphate

The Koran mandates flogging for unlawful sex, and a strongly held tradition ascribes to Muhammad the view that adulterers should be stoned to death. Over inheritance, the Koran is also specific—a daughter is entitled to have half as much as a son—and the various legal schools of Islam are even more so, setting out with absolute precision the entitlement of each distant relative. economist

2011-09-03T16:19:00.001+01:00

2011-09-03T16:10:00.003+01:00

Are Political Suicides Needed?

The situation can only get worse, since nobody's interests align. The Greeks want more time to meet their budget targets without having to make more cuts that would cause more public angst. The Germans, whose opinions arguably matter the most since they have the financial ammo, are already in a huff with German Chancellor Angela Merkel about expanding the eurozone's bailout fund. More pushback from Greece about meeting its current austerity measures only fuels the fire. The ECB, meanwhile, is struggling to salvage its cherished reputation after vacuuming up billions of dollars in dodgy European sovereign debt, so more slack from its camp is also a tall order. And dinky Finland is making a fuss by demanding collateral for any more cash it forks over to Greece. curiouscapitalist

2011-08-31T21:51:00.002+01:00

Germany Acts Alone

The euro has failed, though more politically than economically, according to an article in the September edition of US magazine Vanity Fair. "Conceived as a tool for integrating Germany into Europe, and preventing Germans from dominating others, it has become the opposite," financial journalist and author Michael Lewis writes. "For better or for worse, the Germans now own Europe." spiegel

2011-08-30T18:53:00.002+01:00

Ai Weiwei attacks injustices in China

Ai Weiwei, the Chinese artist held by the authorities for almost three months earlier this year, has attacked injustice in China in a passionate article fuelled by his own experiences of detention.

He accused officials of "deny[ing] us basic rights" and compared migrant workers to slaves, describing Beijing as "a city of violence" and "a constant nightmare". guardian

2011-08-28T13:05:00.000+01:00

2011-08-27T21:52:00.001+01:00

Time to Get Angry

One only need imagine an EU in which passport controls are reintroduced at borders, there are no longer reliable food safety regulations everywhere, freedom of speech and of the press no longer exist under today's standards (which Hungary is already violating, thereby exposing itself to strict scrutiny), and Europeans traveling to Budapest, Copenhagen or Prague, or even Paris, Madrid and Rome, are forced to exchange money and keep track of exchange rates.

The notion of Europe as our home has become second nature to us. Perhaps this explains why we are prepared to jeopardize its existence so carelessly. spiegel

2011-08-25T19:42:00.003+01:00

The real thing

Berlin may have stayed out of the fight for Libya, but German companies hope to profit from its reconstruction. Several economic leaders have already visited the war-torn country to investigate business opportunities. But competition is fierce. spiegel

Note: whats about Syria? Ha,,, there's fewer oil than Libya...

2011-08-24T16:37:00.001+01:00

The exact opposite of solidarity

Mr. Franz struck a more conciliatory note vis-a-vis Greece, and said he was "horrified" by the Finnish government's request for collateral against its next tranche of aid, saying that this could cause the whole deal to unravel.

"This is a discussion that should be ended as soon as possible," he said. "This is the exact opposite of solidarity." wsj

2011-08-24T02:25:00.010+01:00

Tibetan Monk Sets Self on Fire

Chinese officials worried about Middle East-style protests couldn’t have been pleased when a young Tibetan Buddhist monk set himself on fire on the third anniversary of anti-Chinese protests. Chinese authorities and Tibetan residents are blaming each other for the death of the monk. A government spokesman said the monks forcibly took the burned monk out of the hospital and hid him in the monastery, while Tibetan witnesses say police beat and kicked the monk after extinguishing the flames. His death set off protests around the Kirti monastery in the southwestern province of Sichuan on the third anniversary of a protest, sparked by a similar self-immolation, in which 10 Tibetans were allegedly shot dead by Chinese police. thedailybeast (March 17)

Note: on August 15, tibetan monk Tsongwon Norbu, 29 yo, sets himself in fire to death, protesting against the chinese occupation.

2011-08-23T22:23:00.001+01:00

2011-08-23T22:11:00.009+01:00

Is our support* for that?

The discussion about the caliphate of the Muslim believers comes at a time when the entire Muslim world is simmering, as one dictator falls after another.

Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Bahrain, Yemen, even Iran can become countries where such an ideology could flourish, not to mention Iraq or Afghanistan.
...
Hizb ut-Tahrir wants to bring this tradition back to life, to unite all Muslims under one state, to make sure the Sharia is the law under which all of them live and that the faith of Allah and his Prophet is then carried further into the territories of the unbelievers.

The organization rejects all the Western values, and even democracy, considered by them an invention of the Americans and the Zionists, even though they hold their conferences in democratic countries.
...
“The United States should be governed by Sharia, if they were to enter the Caliphate,” one of the organizers answered when asked the question whether the American Constitution should remain in place when the world was governed by Islam.
...
France is said to have almost 10 percent of the population confessing the religion of the Prophet, while Germany is having its own share of them, mostly from Turkey.

At the present moment, European continent has two states with a Muslim majority: Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the prospect of Turkey being admitted to the EU, which would add to the existing 56 million European Muslims another 70 million, which is more than a quarter of the entire population of Europe. metrolic

* to liberate them from their corrupt despots.

Note: Turkey will not enter the EU.

Final veredict: "Still, the division among the Arab countries, both political and religious, manifested so many times when unity was required in the face of Western actions, guarantees that the Caliphate will not become a reality any time soon, especially since the number of believers who want to live under the strict Sharia grows thinner every day, as many Muslims prefer to turn to justice to the Western-like courts, rather than have their arms cut or hang in trees, or wear traditional clothes."

2011-08-21T16:12:00.006+01:00

The Need for Real Debate

There is no single European public sphere where Europeans can discuss issues with each other. Each country holds its own internal debates, while national politicians think only of the next election, and tell their voters at home what they want to hear.

At least now that things are affecting our pocketbooks, we're waking up a bit. We're paying attention and making an effort to get informed. But are we also fighting for a better Europe, like the authors of "The Federalist Papers" stood up for a united America?

True, everyone may know that euro bonds have nothing to do with 007, but with our money. We're buying gold and complaining about the Italians and their massive debts. But there is no real debate about the future of Europe. (spiegel.de/international)

Europeans Need a Referendum

Europeans need a European referendum. It would ask the question: Should we roll back the European Union, or do we dare to choose more Europe? Do we want a directly elected European president? A real parliament? How about European politicians who are -- at long last -- held accountable when things go wrong? Now is the moment to decide. Such a referendum would finally spark a widespread debate. spiegel

2011-08-17T10:47:00.001+01:00

The Amazon is in serious danger

Brazil is on the verge of gutting its forest protection laws - unless we act now, vast tracts of our planet’s lungs could be opened up to clear - cutting devastation.

This threat to the Amazon has sparked widespread anger and protests across the country and tensions are rising. In an effort to stifle criticism, armed thugs, allegedly hired by loggers, have murdered environmental advocates. But the movement is fighting back -- in four days, brave indigenous people are leading massive marches across Brazil to demand action and inside sources say President Dilma is considering vetoing the changes.

79% of Brazilians support a veto of the forest law changes and this internal pressure is leading some in Dilma's administration to back a veto. But we need a global cry of solidarity with the Brazilian people to really force Dilma's hand. Our global petition will be boldly displayed on banners at the front of the massive marches for Amazon protection. Let's reach one million to SAVE THE AMAZON!

2011-08-15T12:39:00.004+01:00

2011-08-15T12:16:00.002+01:00

2011-08-12T14:08:00.002+01:00

2011-08-12T13:54:00.004+01:00

2011-08-12T13:52:00.004+01:00

2011-08-12T12:46:00.012+01:00

The spawn of a bankrupt ruling elite

THE riots in London and elsewhere in Britain are a backhanded tribute to the long-term intellectual torpor, moral cowardice, incompetence and careerist opportunism of the British political and intellectual class.
...
No sensible employer in a service industry would choose a young Briton if he could have a young Pole; the young Pole is not only likely to have a good work ethic and refined manners, he is likely to be able to add up and -- most humiliating of all -- to speak better English than the Briton, at least if by that we mean the standard variety of the language. He may not be more fluent but his English will be more correct and his accent easier to understand.
...
Of course, none of this reduces the personal responsibility of the rioters. But the riots are a manifestation of a society in full decomposition, of a people with neither leaders nor followers but composed only of egotists. theaustralian

Ed Miliband links riots to scandals

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Miliband admitted Labour's role in laying the foundations for the riots which exploded last weekend.

He lamented the party's failure to cut inequality during its 13 years in power, saying: "I deeply regret that inequality wasn't reduced under the last Labour government. But we did great things to tackle inequality in our society." independent

Germans Ask, 'Could It Happen Here?'

"The statistics also show clear differences: According the OECD, there is no other country in the West in which wealth is distributed as unfairly as in Britain. Nowhere else are the opportunities for children to escape poverty as limited. One certainly can't say that Germany shines when it comes to social mobility, but it does stand in the middle of the rankings. Youth unemployment in Germany is about 9 percent, and only Austria and the Netherlands are in a better position. That rate may be higher in Berlin, but it is nowhere close to British conditions." spiegel

2011-08-12T12:06:00.002+01:00

2011-08-12T12:03:00.002+01:00

2011-08-12T11:57:00.001+01:00

2011-08-09T16:38:00.002+01:00

2011-08-09T15:53:00.002+01:00

GIFTMÜLLDEPONIEN DES KREDITS

Wer noch einen Rest von Erinnerungsvermögen hat, könnte sich fragen, wo eigentlich die riesigen Massen fauler Kredite geblieben sind, für die man nach dem Finanzcrash 2008 eine möglichst unauffällige Ruhestätte suchte. Abbezahlt worden ist da nichts; im Gegenteil sind die imaginären Verbindlichkeiten weiter angeschwollen. Das Spiel, alte Kredite mit neuen scheinbar zu bedienen, und diese wieder mit neuen, ist im Privatsektor längst ausgereizt. Andererseits durften die berüchtigten „toxischen Papiere“ aufgrund ihrer schieren Masse auch nicht in vollem Umfang abgeschrieben werden, von einigen kosmetischen Operationen der Banken abgesehen. Das hätte ja nach eigenen Aussagen der Finanzgurus die berühmte „Kernschmelze“ des globalen Finanzsystems bedeutet.

Bilanztechnisch wurde den Banken erlaubt, ihren Giftmüll auszulagern. Aber auch um die „bad banks“, die mit Hilfe von Staatsgarantien den Zusammenbruch des Schattenbanken-Systems nach dem Platzen der Immobilien-Blase vorläufig auffangen sollten, ist es still geworden.

Offiziell wurde die Hoffnung und Erwartung geschürt, die Staatsgarantien könnten alsbald so viel neues „Vertrauen“ schaffen, dass die längst wertlosen Papiere wieder einen halbwegs anständigen Preis erzielen würden. Voraussetzung dafür wäre gewesen, dass sich der US-Immobiliensektor, von dem ja die Schockwelle ausgegangen war, kräftig erholt. Davon kann keine Rede sein. Die Staatsgarantien wurden aber auch nicht fällig. Das durfte einfach nicht sein, weil sich sonst die „Kernschmelze“ über den Umweg der Staatshaushalte vollzogen hätte. Wo also sind die hochgiftigen Abfälle des Finanzsystems geblieben? Es wurde tatsächlich ein Endlager gefunden, nämlich die Notenbanken. Diese überschwemmen bekanntlich derzeit die Welt mit Dollars, Euros usw., um die eigentlich klinisch tote Weltwirtschaft zu beatmen. Offiziell werfen sie das Geld noch nicht aus dem Hubschrauber ab, sondern geben es den Geschäftsbanken als Kredit; allerdings zu Niedrig- oder sogar Nullzinsen. Wie bei jedem Kredit müssen die Banken dafür „Sicherheiten“ hinterlegen. Und worin bestehen diese inzwischen? In eben jenen Massen von Giftmüll-Papieren, die von den Notenbanken mit Kusshand genommen werden, als handelte es sich um die Kronjuwelen.

Es sind noch keine drei Jahre seit dem Crash der Finanzmärkte vergangen, und schon geht in immer mehr Ländern auch den Staatsfinanzen die Luft aus, weil sie im Zuge der Antikrisenpolitik überstrapaziert wurden. Im Grunde genommen wiederholt sich bei den Staatspapieren dieselbe Entwicklung wie bei den privaten Finanzpapieren. Ein wachsender Teil der kaum noch bedienbaren Schulden wurde in Schattenhaushalte ausgelagert. Immer mehr Staatsanleihen verwandeln sich in Giftmüll wie zuvor die Immobilien-Hypotheken.

Und dafür werden die Notenbanken ebenfalls dankbare Abnehmer. Die Asiaten kaufen immer weniger US-Papiere? Macht nichts, die US-Notenbank selber fragt sie nach wie Getreide bei einer Hungersnot. Auch die europäische Staatsschuldenkrise hätte sich trotz aller Rettungspakete noch mehr zugespitzt, würde die Europäische Zentralbank nicht längst wertlose Anleihen der Krisenstaaten en gros aufkaufen. Ausgerechnet die Notenbanken, die angeblichen Gralshüter der finanziellen Stabilität, sind zu Giftmülldeponien des globalen Finanzsystems geworden. Das ist deswegen die Endlagerstätte, weil es dahinter keine Instanz mehr gibt, die ihrerseits die Notenbanken von ihrer Last erlösen könnte. Die Fassade der Normalität, die seit 2008 hochgezogen wurde, besteht in der abenteuerlichen Politik einer Geldschöpfung auf der „Sicherheitsbasis“ fauler Kredite. Robert Kurz

2011-08-09T14:39:00.000+01:00

2011-08-09T14:29:00.002+01:00

The Night elBulli Danced

This past weekend, a handful of the world's best chefs, including Rene Redzepi, Joan Roca and Grant Achatz, gathered in the speckled morning sunlight of Spain's Cala Montjoi to commemorate a passing. It should have been a sad occasion. But the man who had brought them all together emphasized that there was no death, only transformation. "My brother Albert said we had to kill the monster," said Ferran Adrià. "But I said, No, we have to tame it."

The monster to which Adrià referred is elBulli, the restaurant that he and his brother — along with, over the past 25 years, roughly 2,000 other chefs, cooks, waiters and captains — have made the most acclaimed and influential of our time. As anyone even mildly interested in food knows by now, elBulli served its last meal as a restaurant on July 30. But for the journalists who came from around the world for that morning's press conference, as well as for the close friends and longtime patrons lucky enough to dine that night, the occasion felt like anything but a wake. Time

2011-08-09T13:53:00.003+01:00

2011-08-07T23:14:00.002+01:00

Eurokrisis

Investors saw the ECB's failure to include Italy and Spain in a relaunch of its bond purchases late last week as a sign of the depth of political divisions over the role of the euro zone currency. German officials want to see stiffer austerity programs in place before the ECB would shoulder more Italian and Spanish debt. The danger is that further pressure on Italian and Spanish bonds could undermine an already damaged European banking system and lock Italy, the world's eighth largest economy, out of the market. yahoo/Reuters

2011-08-06T17:49:00.001+01:00

US downgrade prompts warning from China

In a comment article the official Xinhua news agency said China had "every right now to demand the United States address its structural debt problems and ensure the safety of China's dollar assets. International supervision over the issue of US dollars should be introduced and a new, stable and secured global reserve currency may also be an option to avert a catastrophe caused by any single country." Guardian

Note: Michael Hewson, a market analyst at CMC Markets, warned: "This crisis will run and run, and could make Lehmans look like a Tupperware party."

2011-08-05T10:34:00.002+01:00

STOP SOMALIA'S TRAGEDY

Right now, more than 2000 people are dying every day in Somalia, in a famine that threatens to starve eleven million people to death. Drought has brought this region to its knees, but the food crisis is really fueled by a complete breakdown in governance and international diplomacy, and we can put an end to it.

The famine-hit area is governed by Al-Shabaab, an Islamist regime that is linked to terrorist groups. The isolation and conflict between Al-Shabaab, other local leaders, and the international community has kept out much of the aid and trade that could end the famine. But a few key countries, including the United Arab Emirates, still trade with Al-Shabaab -- they have an opportunity to broker a deal with the regime and break the stalemate that threatens the survival of millions.

2011-07-31T01:58:00.006+01:00

"We don't want to become an Islamic society"

Islamophobic parties in Europe have established a tight network, stretching from Italy to Finland. But recently, they have extended their feelers to Israeli conservatives, enjoying a warm reception from members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition. Some in Israel believe that the populists are Europe's future. spiegel

Note: "I am looking for ways to lessen the Islamic influence in the world," Kara told the Israeli daily Maariv in June. "I believe that is the true Nazism in this world. I am the partner of everyone who believes in the existence of this war."

"For decades, politicians in Europe have ignored demographic developments and we are now in a situation where we have to warn that we are experiencing the Islamification of Europe," Strache says. "We don't want to become an Islamic society."

2011-07-31T01:10:00.004+01:00

Tea Party takes America to the brink

America has raised its debt ceiling 140 times since the war without controversy. Now compromise has become a dirty word. guardian

Note: "The Tea Party rose out of anger over the scale of federal spending, and in particular in bailing out the banks and the car industry.
...
Although much of the blame for the scale of debt rests with George W Bush's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and his tax cuts for the wealthy, Obama gets the blame too for spending billions trying to stimulate the economy."

2011-07-30T13:44:00.002+01:00

Oriana Fallaci

Oriana Fallaci (29 June 1929 – 15 September 2006) was an Italian journalist, author, and political interviewer. A former partisan during World War II, she had a long and successful journalistic career. Fallaci became famous worldwide for her coverage of war and revolution, and her interviews with many world leaders during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

After retirement, she returned to the spotlight after writing a series of articles and books critical of Islam that aroused both support as well as controversy and accusations of racism and intolerance. wikipedia

2011-07-27T19:13:00.002+01:00

One Million Dollars Baby

$1,000,000 - Not as big of a pile as you thought, huh?

Still this is 92 years of work for the average human on earth.

2011-07-27T01:36:00.006+01:00

The makings of human tragedy in the hell on Earth

An estimated 10 million people in the Horn of Africa are believed to be facing a “humanitarian emergency” as the region grapples with its worst drought in 60 years.

Several seasons of failed rains compounded by spiralling global food prices means the drought will affect more than 12 million people across Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya. Somalia though, is set to be the hardest hit.

The UNHCR warned this week that “one of the world's worst humanitarian crises” is being turned into a “human tragedy of unimaginable proportions”.
...
In Somalia and Ethiopia 65% of the population are pastoralists, making their living by raising livestock. The drought has seen scores of animals die of dehydration, cruelly cutting off millions of people from their only source food. If anything, this serves to remind us that the global food system is mired in abject failure. A system that allows 925 million people to go without food daily is flawed by nature.

A system that forces millions of people to leave their homes and walk for days on end to seek sustenance is not working. Emergency aid to East Africa will go a long way to feeding hundreds of thousands in the short-term, but it will not solve the crisis.

People, be they Somali, or North Korean will still go hungry – not because there is not enough food to go around. There is plenty - but there is a spectacular imbalance in the way that food is distributed. We produce far more food than we actually need.
...
Al-Shabaab had banned aid agencies in 2009 believing the groups could host spies or promote an un-Islamic way of life.
...
According to UNHCR, there are more and more tales of children younger than five dying of hunger and exhaustion during their journey to Dadaab. The children who do make it to the complex are in such feeble conditions when they eventually reach Kenya that they die within 24 hours despite the emergency care and therapeutic feeding they immediately receive. thedailymaverick

2011-07-26T16:30:00.000+01:00

Sunday July 24, 2011

The mass detentions campaign launch by Assad officials continues with dozens of arrests reported all over the country … Military and security forces lay siege to several Damascene suburbs, including Al-Qadam, Qaboun, Douma and Barzeh … Assad sacks the Governors of Deir Ezzor and Quneitra … Syrian Revolution Digest

2011-07-26T02:09:00.001+01:00

2011-07-22T20:40:00.001+01:00

Lucian Freud

Born in Berlin, Freud was the son of an Austrian Jewish father, Ernst Ludwig Freud, an architect, and a German Jewish mother, Lucie née Brasch. He was a grandson of Sigmund Freud, elder brother of the late broadcaster, writer and politician Clement Freud (thus uncle of Emma and Matthew Freud) and of Stephan Gabriel Freud. He moved with his family to St John's Wood, London in 1933 to escape the rise of Nazism. He became a British citizen in 1939,having attended Dartington Hall School in Totnes, Devon, and later Bryanston School. wikipedia