Posted by seumasach on October 11, 2008
M K Bhadrakumar
11th October, 2008
On Sunday, en route to Astana, Kazakhstan, after a “very nice trip to India”, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters accompanying her, “I just wish I could have stayed longer in India”. New Delhi must be one of a handful of capitals where officials from the George W Bush administration receive an expectant welcome, and the doomsday warnings emitted from New York and Washington do not seem to matter.
Posted in Multipolar world | Tagged: Russian diplomacy | Leave a Comment »
Posted by smeddum on October 11, 2008
PROTEST: Stop the Harassment of Muslims at Glasgow Airport!
In recent weeks, there have been growing complaints from members of Glasgow/Scotland’s muslim community (incl. Scottish-born Pakistanis) about alleged harassment by Special Branch POLICE OFFICERS at Glasgow Airport.
Muslim community members have been singled out for questioning for ‘no apparent reason’ other than being ‘muslim’ (or those befitting the current racist/stereotypical description).
At Glasgow airport, individuals have been questioned for hours at a time and asked questions which bear no relation to immigration issues. Individuals have also complained that they are then ‘asked’ to go to the Special Branch Headquarters for further questioning where they are then asked the same questions repeatedly for 1,2 hours or more. In several cases, individuals were then ‘asked’ to drop into a local Police Station for further questioning, or if they prefer, a café or restaurant!
Some of these (ridiculous) questions include:
· Do you know where Osama Bin Laden is?
· Did you meet Al-Qaeda in Pakistan?
· Have you trained with the Taliban?
· Do you pray? Which Mosque do you go to?
· Are you a member of a terrorist group?
· Are you their operator in Scotland?
JOIN THE PROTEST!!
Oragnised by Scottish Afghan Society
*Supported by SACC (Glasgow)
Tuesday 14 October 2008 – 2pm
Strathclyde Police Headquarters
173 Pitt Street, Glasgow G1
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Posted by smeddum on October 11, 2008
Dealing with Iran’s Not-So-Irrational Leadership Monthly Review 17/09/08
by Kouross Esmaeli and Ramin Karimian
Nothing expresses the widening gap between the mind frames of the Iranian ruling elite and their Western counterparts more than the headlines in their respective newspapers. The American media, above all, have unilaterally resolved the intelligence questions over Iran’s nuclear program. The New York Times leads the pack with articles and even editorials that assume Iran is building a nuclear bomb.1 The American media, once again, are doing damage control for their President — in this case, for the Bush Administration’s embarrassing Iran policy, especially after the December 2007 National Intelligence Estimate’s assessment that Iran abandoned its weapons program in 2003. Western reporting on Iran’s nuclear program is based on the underlying assumption that the Iranians are irrational in their policy-making, therefore Iran is a nation with whom diplomacy is a waste of time. A nuclear Iran has been framed by the Israeli hawks as an “existential threat,” the framing adopted by the American media as well: Iran is a suicide-bombing nation. If allowed to build a nuclear bomb, they will strap it on and destroy Israel even if it means the destruction of their own country and its 70 million inhabitants.2 The logical way to deal with such irrational self-destructive characters is to preempt them by destroying them. This logic looms behind Western news about Iran and remains a possible rationale for a military attack on the country. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Iran | Tagged: Iran | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on October 11, 2008
Cailean Bochanan
11th October, 2008
The confusion that reigns concerning the nature of the British government’s intervention last Wednesday has reached staggering proportions. The study of Alisdair Darling’s statement leaves no doubt that there is a vast gulf between the proposal’s themselves and the way in which they have been presented. Last Sunday David Cameron had invoked the Swedish intervention in 1992 and set the ball rolling for the partial nationalisation thesis. This was very obliging coming from the so-called opposition and set in train an awesome “perception management” operation from the masters of these black arts ever since Walsingham’s Elizabethan police state had the bright idea of using the players, the stage itself, as a vehicle for official ideology. “For there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so” and if people can be made to think that giving away £500 bullion plus to private interests is part nationalisation then all the better. This propaganda onslaught saw many seemingly unlikely figures chiming in at suitable moments to confirm the story-line, and doing so all the more effectively under the guise of attacking it.
Posted in Financial crisis | Tagged: bailout, stop the bailout | 3 Comments »
Posted by smeddum on October 11, 2008
Hoping There’s Hope
by Doug Noland October 09, 2008 prudentbear.com
For the tumultuous week, the Dow (down 36.3% y-t-d) and S&P500 (down 38.8% y-t-d) sank 18.2%. There was no place to hide. The Morgan Stanley Consumer index dropped 14.5% (down 26.2%) and the Utilities were hit for 20.3% (down 39.2%). The Transports declined 9.4% (down 18.1%), and the Morgan Stanley Cyclical index fell 15.4% (down 41.5%). The small cap Russell 2000 declined 15.6% (down 31.8%), and the S&P400 Mid-Caps dropped 16.9% (down 35.9%). The NASDAQ100 fell 13.7% (down 39.1%), the Morgan Stanley High Tech index 15.9% (down 41.6%), and the Semiconductors 13.6% (down 39.7%). The Street.com Internet Index (down 34.8%) and the NASDAQ Telecommunications index (down 38.3%) each fell 14.8%. The Biotechs dropped 15.8% (down 21.4%). The Broker/Dealers collapsed 25.6% (down 57.7%) and the Banks sank 21.7% (down 40.3%). With Bullion down $13.60, the HUI dropped 7.8% (down 39.4%). Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Financial crisis | Tagged: credit crisis | Leave a Comment »
Posted by smeddum on October 11, 2008
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: "War on Terror", bush, homeland security, martial law | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on October 10, 2008
City gang pulls off £500 billion heist.
Cailean Bochanan
10th October, 2008
After Wednesday’s dramatic events I dreamt that that was the headline in the Sun newspaper. But it was a dream; just that.
I awoke to the nightmare: The Sun, of course, had joined the rest in the great chorus of approval for Champagne Gordon, toast of the city. And an impressive chorus it was, including some onetime mavericks and black sheep who had returned to the fold just in time and were now singing with even greater gusto than more longstanding stalwarts such as the chairman of the Bank of England or the leader of the Tory party. There, was former scourge of anglo-saxon finance, Will Hutton; there, George Galloway purring with admiration now former colleague Alisdair Darling has finally decided to deliver (or, rather, stand and deliver) even if it was “too little, too late.” There too were the brand new party leaders, like Nick Clegg with his freshly-tamed financial spokesman, Vince Cable. All were there of the great and the good and they were singing off the same hymn sheet that great puritan hymn, “To be a Pilgrim”. These were the words, which in a transport of bitterness I imagined them to intone to that august melody. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Financial crisis | Tagged: bailout, financial collapse, stop the bailout | 2 Comments »
Posted by smeddum on October 10, 2008
Rogers: Global Bankers Have Unleashed Inflationary Holocaust
CNBC hosts unable to grasp basic economic principles
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet
Friday, October 10, 2008
Legendary investor Jim Rogers warned during a CNBC interview this morning that global central banks are creating the environment for an inflationary holocaust by their ceaseless overprinting of currency, a measure that isn’t even successful in stabilizing the stock market. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Financial crisis | Tagged: inflation | Leave a Comment »
Posted by alfied on October 10, 2008
by Jim Willie, CB. Editor, Hat Trick Letter | October 9, 2008
Pardon the jumpy style, not burdened by depth, preferring breadth instead. The events of the last few days continue to be remarkable, alarming, chaotic, surreal, and desperate. The globe is slowly realizing that the United States is careening toward a probable financial death experience. Nothing has worked to date, and nothing will work in the present, not bailouts, not liquidations, not nationalizations, not papered over fraud, and surely rate cuts. The stark reality contains a blur of a massive locomotive derailed, having run over the mountain ledge, heading downward in a freefall, subjected to the force of gravity, and ripping through a gigantic erected paper net designed to halt its crash. CLOWNS IN CHARGE DO NOT REALIZE THE SYSTEM IS FLAWED AND BROKEN, AS EFFORTS TO REDOUBLE THE DEVICES ARE ALL DRAWN FROM THE SAME DEFECTIVE TOOLBAG. MAJOR BANK FAILURES, BANKRUPTCIES OF MAJOR FINANCIAL FIRMS (LIKE INSURANCE), AND INDIVIDUAL MARKET DEFAULTS COME VERY SOON. Incredible events are occurring behind the scenes, the details of which would shock most people, even those who deal with the underworld. Recall Wall Street propaganda this summer? That the US will be first to emerge from the carnage? Such lunatic promotional nonsense should be recalled when it becomes clear that the Untied States cannot emerge from its broken condition. The game is over, and only the enlightened realize it! What lies ahead is the tragedy of distintegration!!! That includes the nation and its very governmental structure. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Financial crisis | Tagged: Gold Default | 1 Comment »
Posted by smeddum on October 10, 2008
“There is general agreement among economists about what needs to be done to stabilize the financial system. The banks have to be recapitalized, all deposits have to be guaranteed (beyond the $100,000 FDIC limit) and additional stimulus has to be provided to increase consumer demand.”
Whitney is another one, along with William Engdahl who seems to have fallen for the British recapitalisation scheme or ,rather, scam. This is a bottomless pit of public money: the banks have to be put through bankruptcy, then nationalised with guarantees to depositors and mortgage lenders. This can only be done within an agreed international framework.
Black Friday Counterpunch October 10 / 12, 2008
By MIKE WHITNEY
Stock markets across the world are in a state of hysteria. The tidal wave of sell-offs, which began when Henry Paulson announced the Bush administration’s $700 billion bailout plan for the sinking banking system, has swelled into a global tsunami racing round the globe. Shares fell sharply across Europe and Asia for the fifth straight day following a 679 drop on the Dow Jones. Nearly $900 billion was wiped off the value of U.S. equities in just one trading day. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, the “fear index”, soared to a record 64. Credit markets remain frozen. Libor, the London interbank offered rate, nudged up slightly on Thursday night, signaling even greater resistance to lending between the banks. Until there is relief in the credit markets, stocks will continue to slide. But trust has vanished. The 50 basis points rate cut that was coordinated with foreign central banks has had no effect. The market is being driven by fear and pessimism. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: Credit default swaps, Financial crisis, market meltdown | Leave a Comment »
Posted by smeddum on October 10, 2008
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: Chomsky, Max Keiser | Leave a Comment »
