Posted by seumasach on February 11, 2009
Arsaell Valfells
Forbes
9th February, 2009
Iceland has won a “full house,” with political crisis piling up on a debt, banking and currency crisis. As Icelanders are now for the first time in 60 years protesting in the streets, the full impact of the collapse is being felt. In short, the economy has hit a wall. The labor market has, in a year, changed from importing workers from Poland to 10% unemployment. The worst is yet to come.
Posted in Revolution in Iceland | Tagged: bankrupt iceland, financial collapse, financial fraud, iceland and IMF, Revolution in Iceland | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on February 11, 2009
Jordan Shilton
11th February, 2009
Iceland’s new coalition government between the Social Democratic Alliance and the Left-Green Party was formed February 1 after negotiations with the Progressive Party over its parliamentary support. Although the new administration came to power promising significant changes to government and the financial sector, the direction of the SDA-led government will be a continuation of previous policies.
Posted in Revolution in Iceland | Tagged: financial collapse, financial fraud, Revolution in Iceland | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on February 11, 2009
Paul Craig Roberts
2nd February, 2009
Is there intelligent life in Washington, DC? Not a speck of it.
The US economy is imploding, and Obama is being led by his government of neconservatives and Israeli agents into a quagmire in Afghanistan that will bring the US into confrontation with Russia, and possibly China, American’s largest creditor.
The January payroll job figures reveal that last month 20,000 Americans lost their jobs every day.
In addition, December’s job losses were revised up by 53,000 jobs from 524,000 to 577,000. The revision brings the two-month job loss to 1,175,000. If this keeps up, Obama’s promised three million new jobs will be wiped out by job losses. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Financial crisis | Tagged: Afghanistan, dollar collapse, End of empire, financial collapse, Iran, iraq withdrawal, Obama agenda | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on February 9, 2009
Rebecca Solnit
9th February, 2009
In December, reports surfaced that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson pushed his Wall Street bailout package by suggesting that, without it, civil unrest in the United States might grow so dangerous that martial law would have to be declared. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), warned of the same risk of riots, wherever the global economy was hurting. What really worried them wasn’t, I suspect, the possibility of a lot of people thronging the streets with demands for social and political change, but that some of those demands might actually be achieved. Take the example of Iceland, the first — but surely not the last — country to go bankrupt in the current global crash.
Posted in Revolution in Iceland | Tagged: bankrupt iceland, financial collapse, Revolution in Europe, Revolution in Iceland | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on February 9, 2009
This is an absolutely indispensable guide to the present crisis. Mr Engdahl, echews the narrowness of the standard expert or academic point of view and instead shows his overall grasp of these great events in their totality, linking politics, geopolitics and economics within their historical context.
Posted in Financial crisis | Tagged: Afghanistan, crisis in anglosphere, End of empire, financial collapse, Obama agenda, william engdahl | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on February 9, 2009
8th February, 2009
Yesterday I got all bundled up and headed down to the weekly Saturday demonstration, in the freezing cold. Yes, the demonstrations are still being held, although the number of people in attendance have dropped substantially. Yesterday there were 500-1,000 people there, including a group of four Germans who came to Iceland expressly to find out what Kaupthing has done with their savings.
Posted in Revolution in Iceland | Tagged: bankrupt iceland, financial collapse, financial fraud, Revolution in Iceland | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on February 6, 2009
5th February, 2009
Mercury News is reporting Counties threaten tax revolt against California budget
California counties are throwing another wrinkle into the state’s cash crisis as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders try to agree on a way to erase a $42 billion budget deficit.
Posted in Financial crisis | Tagged: california goes bankrupt, financial collapse, the states go bankrupt | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on February 5, 2009
4th February, 2009
Our third in a series of interviews featues Icelandic singer/songwriter and activist Hördur Torfason. He is the man behind Raddir fólksins [Voices of the People], a grassroots organization that has planned Saturday demonstrations in downtown Reykjavík since last October. It is largely due to his tireless work and perseverence over the past few weeks that the Icelandic people were able to force, through protests, the recent change in government.
IWR: How are you feeling, now that the protests have produced the desired results?
HT: I feel many things … on the one hand I’m elated that some of our demands have been met, and happy about this major victory that intensive planning and perseverence have brought about. On the other hand I am absolutely exhausted. It’s been a massive comedown in the last few days. I normally sleep six hours a night; I’ve been sleeping 12 a night and I’m still tired.
IWR: When you started, did you imagine that things would turn out this way?
HT: I had nothing specific in mind. The first Saturday of the demonstrations I just stood out on Austurvöllur with an open microphone and invited people to speak. I talked to people, listened to people, wrote things down. I was indignant … I felt that my human rights were being violated, in that a few people could bankrupt my country in this way and put me and my fellow citizens into such massive debt.
The following Saturday we had our first organized demonstration. However, I was uncomfortable with it because it focused on only one individual, making one person responsible for the entire debacle.* To me it was important for the demonstrations to reflect as many opinions and viewpoints as possible, that they truly be the Voices of the People, and not a platform for political or religious organizations. It’s been a constant effort to keep away groups that have wanted to infiltrate the movement. It has become a major draw for them when they see how successful the demonstrations are.
At the beginning of the demonstrations there was a lot of unfocused anger around, as people tried to come to grips with what had happened. Our demands really took shape on the third Saturday, as we began to gain a better focus. They were: RÍKISSTJÓRNINA BURT! [away with the government!], STJÓRN SEÐLABANKANS BURT! [away with the Central Bank’s board!], STJÓRN FJÁRMÁLAEFTIRLITSINS BURT! [away with the board of the Financial Supervisory Authority!], and KOSNINGAR EINS FLJÓTT OG AUÐIÐ ER! [elections asap!]. That is also when Raddir fólksins was formally established.
IWR: With the recent changes, what will happen to the protests? Will the Saturday demonstrations continue?
HT: I think protests will continue because I feel that we need far more radical changes than we have seen thus far. The changes have to be made so we do not fall back into the same old pattern. The forces of corruption must be eliminated. Our entire system is decayed and needs to be completely rebuilt. Besides, one of our demands has not been met – we have seen no significant changes at the Central Bank. But we have this new government now and we need to give them a chance, to see what they will do.
As for the Saturday demonstrations, I’m not sure. We’ve reached a major milestone and that always calls for reflection. At the moment I’m taking a breather, considering my next move.
IWR: We have elections coming up in April … will you or Raddir fólksins stand for election?
HT: No. I am not a political person. I have no political or religious affiliations. I am an artist and it is my job to criticize and to fight for human rights. As far as I know, none of the people who have taken part in this work with me intend to run for office. Raddir fólksins is a group of independent, thinking people who want to facilitate change. But it is not a political movement.
The only thing I dream about now is going back to my daily routine, attending to my home, my songwriting, and to be able to travel and explore the world.
* The first organized demonstration focused solely on the removal of Central Bank Director Davíð Oddsson and was widely criticized. Subsequently the organizers split into two factions; however, the other did not operate for long.
[The image of Hördur Torfason was nicked from Lára Hanna and is used by permission.]
Posted in Revolution in Iceland | Tagged: bankrupt iceland, financial collapse, Iceland, Revolution in Iceland | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on February 4, 2009
4th February, 2009
California has had its credit rating reduced by Standard and Poors.
Posted in Financial crisis | Tagged: bankrupt california, california goes bankrupt, financial collapse | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on February 4, 2009
John Hoefle
Jan. 30—We have said, repeatedly, that the attempts to bail out the global banking system, including the U.S. banks, are not working, will not work, and can not work. Not only will they not restore the banking system to solvency, but they are actually making the economic crisis worse.
Posted in Financial crisis | Tagged: Alexander Hamilton, Bank of United States, financial collapse, financial reform, stop the bailout | 2 Comments »
In These New Times 