tagged w/ World Economy
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[Editor's note: Ambassador Henry Morgenthau had been the President of the liberal Free Synagogue of New York for over a decade when he split with Rabbi Stephen Wise in 1919 over the issue of Zionism. This is an excerpt from an article he published in the journal World's Work in 1921, as quoted in the New York Times (italics added). Morgenthau was also an officer of the B'nai B'rith Jewish Masonic Lodge, which helps explain his viewpoint and choice of terminology.]
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A Stupendous Fallacy
Zionism is the most stupendous fallacy in Jewish history. I assert that it is wrong in principle and impossible of realization; that it is unsound in its economics, fantastical in its politics, and sterile in its spiritual ideals. Where it is not pathetically visionary, it is a cruel playing with the hopes of a people blindly seeking their way out of age-long miseries. These are bold and sweeping assertions, but I shall undertake to make them good.
The very fervor of my feeling for the oppressed of every race and every land, especially for the Jews, those of my own blood and faith, to whom I am bound by every tender tie, impels me to fight with all the greater force against this scheme, which my intelligence tells me can only lead them deeper into the mire of the past, while it professes to be leading them to the heights.
Zionism is a surrender, not a solution. It is a retrogression into the blackest error, and not progress toward the light. I will go further and say that it is a betrayal; it is an Eastern European proposal, fathered in this country by American Jews, which, if it were to succeed, would cost the Jews of America most [of all] that they have gained of liberty, equality and fraternity...[Editor's note: Ambassador Henry Morgenthau had been the President of the liberal... more
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Government obligations for Social Security and Medicare may soon exceed the combined net worth of every household and nonprofit organization in the country.
Prices dropped last year. But we still need to invest to protect ourselves from inflation. That's why our retirement-plan investing needs an inflation "tilt." You'll understand why in a few paragraphs.
How bad will future inflation be? I don't know. Neither does anyone else. It could be a normal inflation of 3% to 4% a year. It could also be a banana-republic 10% a month.
What we know is that all governments make promises they can't fulfill. Our government certainly has. Under both political parties, it has taken promise making to a high art. This is not hyperbole. The figures can be found in regularly published government reports.Government obligations for Social Security and Medicare may soon exceed the combined... more
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CIA Says Pelosi Was Briefed on Use of 'Enhanced Interrogations' Torture
By Paul Kane
May 07, 2009 "Washington Post" -- Intelligence officials released documents this evening saying that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was briefed in September 2002 about the use of harsh interrogation tactics against al-Qaeda prisoners, seemingly contradicting her repeated statements over the past 18 months that she was never told that these techniques were actually being used.
In a 10-page memo outlining an almost seven-year history of classified briefings, intelligence officials said that Pelosi and then-Rep. Porter Goss (R-Fla.) were the first two members of Congress ever briefed on the interrogation tactics. Then the ranking member and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, respectively, Pelosi and Goss were briefed Sept. 4, 2002, one week before the first anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The memo, issued by the Director of National Intelligence and the Central Intelligence Agency to Capitol Hill, notes the Pelosi-Goss briefing covered "EITs including the use of EITs on Abu Zubaydah." EIT is an acronym for enhanced interrogation technique. Zubaydah was one of the earliest valuable al-Qaeda members captured and the first to have the controversial tactic known as water boarding used against him.
The issue of what Pelosi knew and when she knew it has become a matter of heated debate on Capitol Hill. Republicans have accused her of knowing for many years precisely the techniques CIA agents were using in interrogations, and only protesting the tactics when they became public and liberal antiwar activists protested.
In a carefully worded statement, Pelosi's office said today that she had never been briefed about the use of waterboarding, only that it had been approved by Bush administration lawyers as a legal technique to use in interrogations.CIA Says Pelosi Was Briefed on Use of 'Enhanced Interrogations' Torture... more
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multiple simultaneous marches bring attention to the affairs of the world bank & international monetary fund. it was al fun and games until somebody put an eye out. includes critical visual analysis of why it turned so ugly so fast.multiple simultaneous marches bring attention to the affairs of the world bank &... more
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Fake Faith And Epic Crimes
By John Pilger
02 April 2009
Johnpilger.com
These are extraordinary times. With the United States and Britain on the verge of bankruptcy and committing to an endless colonial war, pressure is building for their crimes to be prosecuted at a tribunal similar to that which tried the Nazis at Nuremberg. This defined rapacious invasion as “the supreme international crime, differing only from other war crimes [sic] in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole”. International law would be mere farce, said the chief US chief prosecutor at Nuremberg, the Supreme Court justice Robert Jackson, “if, in future, we do not apply its principles to ourselves”.Fake Faith And Epic Crimes
By John Pilger
02 April 2009
Johnpilger.com
These... more
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Russia has ended its decade-long "counter-terrorism operation" against separatist rebels in the southern republic of Chechnya, officials say.Russia has ended its decade-long "counter-terrorism operation" against... more
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eva2
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3 years ago
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WASHINGTON – The 20 largest economic nations in the world are expected to produce a new set of rules for oversight, transparency and conduct for offshore tax havens next week as part of a broader effort to overhaul the regulatory structure of the world economy, White House officials said Saturday.
The new "rules of the road" for Caribbean and other tax havens will be included in a communiqué issued by the Group of 20 nations at a much-anticipated London economic summit on Thursday, said Michael Froman, a deputy White House national-security adviser for international economic affairs.
It would come on top of new goals for global economic stimulus and efforts to coordinate regulatory oversight between the world's largest economies as well as emerging economic powers such as Brazil, India and China.WASHINGTON – The 20 largest economic nations in the world are expected to... more
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Miriam Pemberton: US government spending $100B annually to maintain 1000 foreign military bases. Part 1
Last week President Obama unveiled his record-spending 2010 budget proposal, which included a slight increase in funding for the Pentagon when compared with George Bush's budget of 2009. Though the specific details of the budget won't be released until April, the president has promised to increase troop recruitment while cutting "cold-war" weapons programs that have yet to be identified. But as the White House undergoes a reassessment of military priorities, there is little discussion about the future of the country's vast network of foreign military bases, a network that military expert Miriam Pemberton says includes roughly 1000 bases at a cost of $100 billion per year.
Miriam Pemberton is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies. She heads a group that produces the annual “Unified Security Budget for the United States" and she is a former Director of the National Commission for Economic Conversion and Disarmament. She is co-editor, with William Hartung, of "Lessons from Iraq: Avoiding the Next War".
See Part 2 at:
http://current.com/items/89880751/why_are_us_bases_in_korea.htm
.Miriam Pemberton: US government spending $100B annually to maintain 1000 foreign... more
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Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) works for the health of Palestinians (especially in conditions of occupation, displacement or exile) based on principles of self-determination and social justice
you can donate a small amount of money on link above.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
MAP has launched an Emergency Appeal for Gaza: we desperately need your help. Please give what you can. In this critical time, it is essential that our appeal is seen by as many people as possible. Please pass on our website to all that you can. If you would like to hold a fundraiser for MAP then please contact us.
PLEASE DONATE NOW
Online (click button at top right of this page)
Call: 0207 226 4114
£2,489 - Buys a power generator that can help power a Gazan hospital or clinic. £165 - Covers the cost of comprehensive psychological and social support to a child in Gaza suffering behavioural and psychological problems.£20- Buys a hygiene kit that is desperately needed by displaced Gazan families.Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) works for the health of Palestinians (especially in... more
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Hundreds of thousands of French employees have stopped work and are expected to demonstrate across France this afternoon in the first general strike to hit an industrialised nation since the start of the financial crisis.
Public and private sector workers have joined forces to protest against Nicolas Sarkozy's handling of the crisis, saying too much has been done to help businesses and not enough to protect jobs and boost French workers' low wages.
It is the first wide-ranging general strike since Sarkozy took office and a rare show of unity from France's main unions. Train drivers, airport staff, teachers, postal workers and tax inspectors joined private-sector employees including bank clerks, car workers, ski-lift operators, supermarket check-out staff and even employees from the company that operates France's stock exchange.
With lawyers and journalists from state TV and radio also walking out, the various groups are protesting for job protection and better wages and against a raft of Sarkozy's reforms, ranging from justice to hospital and school reforms, and changes to the running of state TV.
Polls have shown that around 70% of the French public think the strikes are justified – the highest approval for such action since Sarkozy took office. France has not experienced the banking woes that Britain and Ireland have faced but, as the country enters its first recession in 16 years, rising unemployment – predicted to top 10% next year – has sparked a mood of fear and anxiety. The latest unemployment figures could not be released today because statisticians are on strike.
About 200 demonstrations and marches around France are planned for this afternoon.Hundreds of thousands of French employees have stopped work and are expected to... more
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Exploring life in a Dominican Batey (a sugarcane town), the
story follows two Haitian men who live there. Their lives
intertwine in Batey 6, revealing the different realities of
what it is like to live and to work in the sugar cane
economy on the island.
Time: 6pm @ 2nd Ave and 2nd Street
Join us for a brief reception after the film.Exploring life in a Dominican Batey (a sugarcane town), the
story follows two... more
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This video is a great summary of one of the root causes in the economic meltdown in the States. Wall Street has gotten better at hiding money so that they need not be taxed, all the while creating complete paranoia amongst themselves so that the lending market freezes. This freeze leads to a number of economic downturns, which in the end affects the public taxpayers.
Spoiler Warning: If you have never seen the end of Reservoir Dogs, you are about to be schooled.This video is a great summary of one of the root causes in the economic meltdown in... more
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WASHINGTON — President Bush on Friday announced $13.4 billion in emergency loans to prevent the collapse of General Motors and Chrysler, and another $4 billion available for the hobbled automakers in February with the entire bailout conditioned on the companies undertaking sweeping reorganizations to show that they can return to profitability.
The loans, as G.M. and Chrysler teeter on the brink of insolvency, essentially throw the companies a lifeline from the taxpayers that will keep them afloat until March 31. At that point, the Obama administration will determine if the automakers are meeting the conditions of the loans and will continue to receive government aid or must repay the loans and face bankruptcy proceedings.WASHINGTON — President Bush on Friday announced $13.4 billion in emergency loans... more
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China has announced a 4tn yuan (£375bn) [US$586 billion] stimulus package to shore up its economy. The size of the injection - which amounts to a sixth of the country's gross domestic product last year, according to official figures - is an indication of the government's alarm at evidence that growth is slowing dramatically in the world's fourth-largest economy.
China is anxious to boost domestic demand to offset a sharp fall in exports and so safeguard social stability.
President Hu Jintao recently described global conditions as "grim", while the country's premier, Wen Jiabao, warned that this year would be "the worst in recent times".
The package, announced by the state council, China's cabinet, yesterday after a meeting on Wednesday, will finance programmes in infrastructure and social welfare over the next two years. Priorities include low-cost housing, environmental projects and rebuilding in Sichuan after May's earthquake. The government will also loosen credit conditions and introduce a value-added tax reform predicted to slash industry costs by 120bn yuan.
The state news agency, Xinhua, did not say how the extra spending would be financed, but the government enjoys a large budget surplus.
Economic growth slowed sharply in the third quarter, to 9%, far below last year's 11.9% and the lowest level in five years. The International Monetary Fund cut its forecast for China's growth next year to 8.5% at the weekend, and several banks are forecasting it will fall below the level of 8% needed to create enough jobs to absorb extra entrants into the workforce.
The IMF welcomed the Chinese package last night, saying that it would go some way towards correcting imbalances in the world economy.
(more at the link)
Me: "China's impact on the world economy should not be underestimated. The scandals surrounding the quality of Chinese products over the last couple of years have impacted it severely - the US should also be concerned, given that China is one of its main creditors."China has announced a 4tn yuan (£375bn) [US$586 billion] stimulus package to... more
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Both of Russia's main stock markets plummeted more than 13 per cent today, prompting the government to suspend trading on them until Tuesday, the exchanges said.
Trading "will be halted until the end of the next trading day on the orders of the Federal Service for Financial Markets," the RTS exchange said in a statement after its headline index plunged 13.68 per cent to 549.43 points.
Earlier, trading was halted on the MICEX exchange until Tuesday after its benchmark index tumbled 14.24 per cent to 513.62 points.
The drops in Moscow followed massive stock market losses in Asia and Europe sparked by investor panic about a looming global recession and fears that the global financial crisis was taking a heavy toll. Both of Russia's main stock markets plummeted more than 13 per cent today,... more
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Twenty million jobs will disappear by the end of next year as a result of the impact of the financial crisis on the global economy, a United Nations agency said on Monday.
Construction, real estate, financial services, and the auto sector are most likely to be hit, according to the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) estimate, which is based on International Monetary Fund projections for the world economy.
The toll on jobs could be even higher if IMF economic projections are cut, said ILO Director-General Juan Somavia.
The ILO does not yet have a regional breakdown of projected job losses, which Somavia said would take global unemployment to 210 million in late 2009 from 190 million last year, the first time it has topped 200 million.
But countries with large domestic markets that do not depend heavily on exports would be able to weather the crisis better, he said, citing as an example China, where exports make up only 11 percent of the economy.
Somavia said the financial sector's share in the profits of U.S. companies had risen to 41 percent last year from 5 percent in 1980. As a result, banks preferred to invest in financial transactions rather than lending to other productive sectors.
Twenty million jobs will disappear by the end of next year as a result of the impact... more
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Vladimir Putin came to power in 2000 vowing to destroy Russia's oligarchs ``as a class.'' Within two years, he'd driven two into exile and imprisoned another.
Now, he may use the global markets meltdown to finish the job. Vladimir Putin came to power in 2000 vowing to destroy Russia's oligarchs ``as a... more
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ALARMISIM is not to be encouraged, sending mighty palpitations through populations as is its wont. But the opposite, which might be termed the Ostrich Syndrome, might even prove worse. (In folklore, the ostrich, when fearful, is supposed, if sand is thereabouts, to sink its head in it, presumably supposing this renders it invisible! ALARMISIM is not to be encouraged, sending mighty palpitations through populations as... more
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Great Britain's Chancellor Alistair Darling has said he will do "whatever it takes" to stabilize the British and world economy.
But he warned people to expect continued hard times while the global markets weather the financial storm.
Check out the video at the link...Great Britain's Chancellor Alistair Darling has said he will do "whatever it... more
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Every cloud has a silver lining. Ask the cybersquatters. Even as the short-selling vultures began circling Lehman Brothers, HBOS, Merrill Lynch and co, a legion of entrepreneurs began betting on domain names for hastily merged financial institutions. For example, when Barclays and Bank of America began to emerge as buyers for Lehman, names such as barclayslehman.com and bofalehman.com were promptly registered by enterprising hopefuls.
Some of these domains were being offered for sale on eBay last week. For example, www.bankofamericamerrilllynch.com was available at a starting bid of $1,500. 'With a deal between Bank of America and Merrill Lynch NOW ANNOUNCED', burbled the seller, 'this domain name will soon be incredibly popular. This is the only domain name that conveys the full picture, using the name of both firms... This is the most comprehensive and commonsensical domain name available concerning the MERGER OF BANK OF AMERICA CORP AND MERRILL LYNCH & CO.' The last time your columnist checked, however, the auction had attracted no bidders. Still - nothing ventured, nothing gained.Every cloud has a silver lining. Ask the cybersquatters. Even as the short-selling... more
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