Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Posted by smeddum on November 16, 2008
November 16, 2008
Downturn Drags More Consumers Into Bankruptcy
NewYorkTimes
By TARA SIEGEL BERNARD and JENNY ANDERSON
The economy’s deep troubles are pushing a growing number of already struggling consumers into bankruptcy, often with far more debt than those who filed in previous downturns.
Plummeting home values, dwindling incomes and the near disappearance of credit have proved a potent mixture. While all the usual reasons that distressed borrowers seek bankruptcy — job loss, medical bills, divorce — play significant roles, new economic forces are changing the calculus of who can ride out the tough times and who cannot. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: Financial crisis | 1 Comment »
Posted by seumasach on November 15, 2008
Cailean Bochanan
15th november, 2008
Ever since 9/11 and the subsequent invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, the world has been suspended between two possible outcomes: on the one hand, a reinforced US hegemony and on the other a sort of counter-globalisation movement at the core of which lay the reassertion of national sovereignty in the face of empire. Even as the coalition got bogged down in both Iraq and Afghanistan, the terrifying possibility remained of an escalation towards global war provoked by an attack on Iran, and at certain points this scenario may have been a lot closer to becoming a reality than the wider world realized. In addition, the collapse of the Anglo-American financial system opened the possibility of a wave of financial chaos spreading out from the imperial heartlands destabilising the world economy and inaugurating a neo-feudal dark age. The aggressive and arrogant stance of Washington and London and doubts about European leadership, in particular, left one fearing what further cards the empire had left to play. That has now been clarified: they have none.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Iran, Uncategorized | Tagged: End of empire, G20 summit, Iran | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on November 13, 2008
Mercopress
13th November,
2008
Mercosur country members are in a more solid position to face the global financial crisis that rich nations, said Brazilian president Lula da Silva who nevertheless called for a stronger trade links among its members.
“Mercosur countries are in a growth and jobs creation cycle”, said Lula da Silva in his broadcast program “Coffee with the President”. “We know the global financial crisis is very serious, but we are in better conditions to address it than the rich nations”.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: financial collapse, G20, Multipolar world | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on November 13, 2008
Spiegel
12th november, 2008
The faucets dripped, the windows couldn’t be opened and rain and snow came in through the roof and dripped down the walls. The Mount Washington Hotel in the small New Hampshire town of Bretton Woods was not in great shape when it served as the site of a conference on a new world economic order for 700 international financial experts shortly before the end of World War II. The 1944 meeting went on for three weeks in what one guest dubbed the “madhouse.” Still, despite the sub-optimal conditions, by the time it had ended, the conference had agreed on the rules and institutions that would shape the international financial system for decades to come.
AFP
Leaders from G-20 nations will meet in the National Building Museum in Washington D.C. this weekend for a summit on the global financial system.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: financial collapse, G20 | 1 Comment »
Posted by alfied on November 12, 2008
MOSCOW, November 12 (RIA Novosti) – The prime ministers of Russia and Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and Yulia Tymoshenko, will meet on Friday in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, a Russian official said on Wednesday. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: Russia Ukraine | Leave a Comment »
Posted by smeddum on November 11, 2008
Jennifer Saunders accuses BBC of dumbing down comedy
Jennifer Saunders has blamed dumbing down at the BBC for prompting her to quit the Corporation together with comedy partner Dawn French.
By Charlotte Bailey
Telegraph 20 Oct 2008
Saunders, 50, said that financial restraints and competition from digital channels has meant that the BBC has been less willing to take on ambitious work, instead focusing on ‘populist’ comedy.
The mother of three, who is married to fellow comic Adrian Edmondson, told a newspaper columnist at The Daily Mail that the Corporation’s attitude to comedy has changed.
She said: “They are not making the kind of comedy we used to do – what they want now is populist programmes because there isn’t the budget to try the more ambitious things we were doing. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: BBC, dumbing down, Jennifer Saunders | Leave a Comment »
Posted by smeddum on November 11, 2008
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: dollar collapse, parody | 2 Comments »
Posted by smeddum on November 11, 2008
Telegraph 11/11/08
It has been widely speculated that the G20 will fail to reach a substantial agreement this weekend. Undoubtedly any major measures such as pegging the dollar to the gold standard will be hampered
by the Bush Admin. Brown has been looking for large funds for the IMF, while Sarkozy has been seeking to reform this institution. The idea of seeking an early warning system is a little too late for some economies including the US and the UK. The meeting will perhaps put more money in the bailout pot but that will at the most only slow down the depression. The G20 will make clearer the direction of the currency issue which is really the key to whether or not the effects of neoliberalism and deregulation are to be tamed for the rest of the world and thus giving it more stability and ability to aid the fast ailing economies of the west.
Gordon Brown, would-be savior of the ailing global economy, has begun ratcheting down expectations for a speedy global response.
The U.K. government said Monday that definitive agreements about how to address the economic crisis weren’t likely to emerge from a leaders’ summit in Washington this weekend. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: Financial crisis, new Bretton Woods | Leave a Comment »
Posted by smeddum on November 11, 2008
China: Protecting domestic economy is top priority
11/11/2008
BEIJING (AP) — China’s government indicated Tuesday it would resist pressure to contribute to a global bailout fund, saying that ensuring the country’s economic stability is the most important step it can take to tackle the financial crisis. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: China, IMF | Leave a Comment »
Posted by smeddum on November 10, 2008
STOP STIRRING IT ALL UP, MR DAVIES
Nov 9 2008 by Our Correspondent, Wales On Sunday
I COULDN’T believe it when I saw Monmouth Tory MP David Davies on television last week pontificating and complaining about the highly-acclaimed and award-winning film Hunger, and worse – it seemed to me – stirring up controversy about the Welsh Assembly Government.
Just in case you don’t know, Hunger has been directed by Turner prize-winning artist Steve McQueen and the film takes an uncompromising look at the last six weeks in the life of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands. Sandra Hebron for Time Out says it’s “a film of outstanding boldness and beauty and a compelling study of people in extreme circumstances resorting to extreme measures. McQueen is to be applauded for a brilliant and uncompromising film”. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: "War on Terror", Bobby Sands, David Davies, The Hunger | Leave a Comment »
In These New Times 