Athens Mulls Plans for New Currency
Greece Considers Exit from Euro Zone
By Christian Reiermann
READ MORE HERE---> http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,761201,00.html
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Showing posts with label World. Show all posts
Showing posts with label World. Show all posts
5/06/2011
Greece Dumping the Euro?
Posted by Brian
Athens Mulls Plans for New Currency
Greece Considers Exit from Euro Zone
By Christian Reiermann
Greece's economic problems are massive, with protests against the government being held almost daily. Now Prime Minister George Papandreou apparently feels he has no other option: SPIEGEL ONLINE has obtained information from German government sources knowledgeable of the situation in Athens indicating that Papandreou's government is considering abandoning the euro and reintroducing its own currency.
READ MORE HERE---> http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,761201,00.html
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Athens Mulls Plans for New Currency
Greece Considers Exit from Euro Zone
By Christian Reiermann
READ MORE HERE---> http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,761201,00.html
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2/01/2011
Obama - The President Who Lost Egypt
Posted by Brian
Published 01:55 30.01.11Latest update 01:55 30.01.11
Obama will go down in history as the president who lost Egypt
The street revolts in Tunisia and Egypt show that the United States can do very little to save its friends from the wrath of their citizens.
By Aluf Benn
Jimmy Carter will go down in American history as "the president who lost Iran," which during his term went from being a major strategic ally of the United States to being the revolutionary Islamic Republic. Barack Obama will be remembered as the president who "lost" Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt, and during whose tenure America's alliances in the Middle East crumbled.
The superficial circumstances are similar. In both cases, a United States in financial crisis and after failed wars loses global influence under a leftist president whose good intentions are interpreted abroad as expressions of weakness. The results are reflected in the fall of regimes that were dependent on their relationship with Washington for survival, or in a change in their orientation, as with Ankara.
America's general weakness clearly affects its friends. But unlike Carter, who preached human rights even when it hurt allies, Obama sat on the fence and exercised caution. He neither embraced despised leaders nor evangelized for political freedom, for fear of undermining stability.
READ MORE HERE--->
Published 01:55 30.01.11Latest update 01:55 30.01.11
Obama will go down in history as the president who lost Egypt
By Aluf Benn
Jimmy Carter will go down in American history as "the president who lost Iran," which during his term went from being a major strategic ally of the United States to being the revolutionary Islamic Republic. Barack Obama will be remembered as the president who "lost" Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt, and during whose tenure America's alliances in the Middle East crumbled.
The superficial circumstances are similar. In both cases, a United States in financial crisis and after failed wars loses global influence under a leftist president whose good intentions are interpreted abroad as expressions of weakness. The results are reflected in the fall of regimes that were dependent on their relationship with Washington for survival, or in a change in their orientation, as with Ankara.
America's general weakness clearly affects its friends. But unlike Carter, who preached human rights even when it hurt allies, Obama sat on the fence and exercised caution. He neither embraced despised leaders nor evangelized for political freedom, for fear of undermining stability.
READ MORE HERE--->
1/03/2011
Government Shakedown Of Private Pensions
The Adam Smith Institute Blog
European nations begin seizing private pensions
Hungary, Poland, and three other nations take over citizens' pension money to make up government budget shortfalls.
By Jan Iwanik, Guest blogger / January 2, 2011
People’s retirement savings are a convenient source of revenue for governments that don’t want to reduce spending or make privatizations. As most pension schemes in Europe are organised by the state, European ministers of finance have a facilitated access to the savings accumulated there, and it is only logical that they try to get a hold of this money for their own ends. In recent weeks I have noted five such attempts: Three situations concern private personal savings; two others refer to national funds.
The most striking example is Hungary, where last month the government made the citizens an offer they could not refuse. They could either remit their individual retirement savings to the state, or lose the right to the basic state pension (but still have an obligation to pay contributions for it). In this extortionate way, the government wants to gain control over $14bn of individual retirement savings.
READ MORE HERE--->
Related articles
European nations begin seizing private pensions
Hungary, Poland, and three other nations take over citizens' pension money to make up government budget shortfalls.
By Jan Iwanik, Guest blogger / January 2, 2011
The most striking example is Hungary, where last month the government made the citizens an offer they could not refuse. They could either remit their individual retirement savings to the state, or lose the right to the basic state pension (but still have an obligation to pay contributions for it). In this extortionate way, the government wants to gain control over $14bn of individual retirement savings.
READ MORE HERE--->
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12/22/2010
Obama Throws Support Behind U.N. Declaration On Rights Of Indigenous People
In one more touchy-feely, I want the world to love me, feel-good gesture, President Obama came out in support of the U.N. Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People. This is a break from past U.S. policy. Though the declaration is non-binding, it opens up a Pandora's Box of reparations, property rights skirmishes, mineral rights, and debates as to who is "qualified" to be labeled indigenous. This is not merely a U.S. problem. There are sure to be skirmishes, both verbal and possibly real, in regards to who is qualified in the Middle East, the Near East, Eastern Europe, and many other places. For President Obama to sign on to this Declaration shows either his naivite', or it exposes his ideological worldview as a redistributionist on a global scale that most of us never saw coming. - Brian
The Rights of Indigenous Peoples
JINSA Reports JINSA Report #: 1,048
December 20, 2010
In one of those form-over-substance moments that produce endless opportunity for mischief, President Obama announced that the United States would affix its signature to the United Nation's Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. "The aspiration it affirms, including respect for the institutions and rich cultures of native peoples, are ones we must always seek to fulfill," he said.
Americans happily adapt and adopt parts of other people's cultures (Chinese food unlike anything served in Beijing, pizza Italians wouldn't recognize, St. Patrick's Day and Cinco de Mayo parties) and respect other parts (forms of dress, holy days and fasting for Ramadan). But there are "native" cultures that simply do not warrant respect including honor killings, female genital mutilation, slavery, stripping trees for cooking fuel, clubbing baby seals and governance by the sword come to mind.
Worse, in Article 26, the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples includes a prescription for endless warfare. READ MORE HERE
The Rights of Indigenous Peoples
JINSA Reports JINSA Report #: 1,048
December 20, 2010
Americans happily adapt and adopt parts of other people's cultures (Chinese food unlike anything served in Beijing, pizza Italians wouldn't recognize, St. Patrick's Day and Cinco de Mayo parties) and respect other parts (forms of dress, holy days and fasting for Ramadan). But there are "native" cultures that simply do not warrant respect including honor killings, female genital mutilation, slavery, stripping trees for cooking fuel, clubbing baby seals and governance by the sword come to mind.
Worse, in Article 26, the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples includes a prescription for endless warfare. READ MORE HERE
12/09/2010
Obama's Cuban Missile Crisis?
Fresh off the non-action of the U.S. to the North Korea missile strike in the Yellow Sea, Ahmadinejad and Chavez, sensing weakness in President Barack Obama are upping the ante. One thing is for sure - the rest of the world will certainly be watching to see how the man-child President responds (or doesn't respond) to a clear provocation by the Iranians and Venezuelans. The world, under this President, has become a much more dangerous place. - Brian
Iran Placing Medium-Range Missiles in Venezuela; Can Reach the U.S.
by Anna Mahjar-Barducci
December 8, 2010 at 5:00 am
Iran is planning to place medium-range missiles on Venezuelan soil, based on western information sources[1], according to an article in the German daily, Die Welt, of November 25, 2010. According to the article, an agreement between the two countries was signed during the last visit o Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to Tehran on October19, 2010. The previously undisclosed contract provides for the establishment of a jointly operated military base in Venezuela, and the joint development of ground-to-ground missiles.
At a moment when NATO members found an agreement, in the recent Lisbon summit (19-20 November 2010), to develop a Missile Defence capability to protect NATO's populations and territories in Europe against ballistic missile attacks from the East (namely, Iran), Iran's counter-move consists in establishing a strategic base in the South American continent - in the United States's soft underbelly.
READ MORE HERE h/t Hudson New York
Iran Placing Medium-Range Missiles in Venezuela; Can Reach the U.S.
by Anna Mahjar-Barducci
December 8, 2010 at 5:00 am
At a moment when NATO members found an agreement, in the recent Lisbon summit (19-20 November 2010), to develop a Missile Defence capability to protect NATO's populations and territories in Europe against ballistic missile attacks from the East (namely, Iran), Iran's counter-move consists in establishing a strategic base in the South American continent - in the United States's soft underbelly.
READ MORE HERE h/t Hudson New York
12/06/2010
Global Climate Summit: Fossil Fuels Making Us Fat
Professor Ian Roberts, an admirer of far-left socialist Noam Chomsky, advocates , if one takes his hypothesis to it's natural conclusion, of going back to covered wagons and horseback. At the very least he is advocating bycycles and some form of mass transit, combined with the elimination of personal vehicles. This is obviously done under the guise of "global warming", but the cynic in me thinks that the real goal is to control or limit free movement of indiviuals. I mean, we're talking about socialists. Populations are easier to control if their mobility is restricted.
Also, since he and all the others are so worried about CO2 and greenhouse gasses, why do the have so many of these conferences? People fly in from all over the world on private jets to these exotic locations. The carbon footprint to put on one of these things must be godzilla-like. Have thes people never heard of "GoToMeeting"? - Brian
Cancun summit: cutting carbon emissions will help combat obesity
Cutting carbon emissions will help combat obesity even if global warming is a myth, a senior scientist has said.
By Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent 7:30AM GMT 06 Dec 2010
The world needs to go on a “fossil fuel diet” to stop both climate change and obesity, according to health experts.
Professor Ian Roberts of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said there is a direct correlation between and carbon emissions and expanding waistlines.
He said as soon as countries begin using cars and other energy intensive machines, it not only causes an increase in greenhouse gases but also in the population's average weight, because people exercise less.
READ MORE HERE
Related articles
Also, since he and all the others are so worried about CO2 and greenhouse gasses, why do the have so many of these conferences? People fly in from all over the world on private jets to these exotic locations. The carbon footprint to put on one of these things must be godzilla-like. Have thes people never heard of "GoToMeeting"? - Brian
Cutting carbon emissions will help combat obesity even if global warming is a myth, a senior scientist has said.
By Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent 7:30AM GMT 06 Dec 2010
The world needs to go on a “fossil fuel diet” to stop both climate change and obesity, according to health experts.
Professor Ian Roberts of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said there is a direct correlation between and carbon emissions and expanding waistlines.
He said as soon as countries begin using cars and other energy intensive machines, it not only causes an increase in greenhouse gases but also in the population's average weight, because people exercise less.
READ MORE HERE
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11/19/2010
UN Official: Global Warming is about Wealth Redistribution!!
IPCC Official: “Climate Policy Is Redistributing The World's Wealth”
Thursday, 18 November 2010 13:16 Neue Zürcher Zeitung .
Climate policy has almost nothing to do anymore with environmental protection, says the German economist and IPCC official Ottmar Edenhofer. The next world climate summit in Cancun is actually an economy summit during which the distribution of the world's resources will be negotiated.
Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 14 November 2010
Interview: Bernard Potter
NZZ am Sonntag: Mr. Edenhofer, everybody concerned with climate protection demands emissions reductions. You now speak of "dangerous emissions reduction." What do you mean?
Ottmar Edenhofer: So far economic growth has gone hand in hand with the growth of greenhouse gas emissions. One percent growth means one percent more emissions. The historic memory of mankind remembers: In order to get rich one has to burn coal, oil or gas. And therefore, the emerging economies fear CO2 emission limits.
But everybody should take part in climate protection, otherwise it does not work.
That is so easy to say. But particularly the industrialized countries have a system that relies almost exclusively on fossil fuels. There is no historical precedent and no region in the world that has decoupled its economic growth from emissions. Thus, you cannot expect that India or China will regard CO2 emissions reduction as a great idea. And it gets worse: We are in the midst of a renaissance of coal, because oil and gas (sic) have become more expensive, but coal has not. The emerging markets are building their cities and power plants for the next 70 years, as if there would be permanently no high CO 2 price.
The new thing about your proposal for a Global Deal is the stress on the importance of development policy for climate policy. Until now, many think of aid when they hear development policies.
That will change immediately if global emission rights are distributed. If this happens, on a per capita basis, then Africa will be the big winner, and huge amounts of money will flow there. This will have enormous implications for development policy. And it will raise the question if these countries can deal responsibly with so much money at all.
That does not sound anymore like the climate policy that we know.
Basically it's a big mistake to discuss climate policy separately from the major themes of globalization. The climate summit in Cancun at the end of the month is not a climate conference, but one of the largest economic conferences since the Second World War. Why? Because we have 11,000 gigatons of carbon in the coal reserves in the soil under our feet - and we must emit only 400 gigatons in the atmosphere if we want to keep the 2-degree target. 11 000 to 400 - there is no getting around the fact that most of the fossil reserves must remain in the soil.
De facto, this means an expropriation of the countries with natural resources. This leads to a very different development from that which has been triggered by development policy.
First of all, developed countries have basically expropriated the atmosphere of the world community. But one must say clearly that we redistribute de facto the world's wealth by climate policy. Obviously, the owners of coal and oil will not be enthusiastic about this. One has to free oneself from the illusion that international climate policy is environmental policy. This has almost nothing to do with environmental policy anymore, with problems such as deforestation or the ozone hole.
Read More Here:
Thursday, 18 November 2010 13:16 Neue Zürcher Zeitung .
Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 14 November 2010
Interview: Bernard Potter
NZZ am Sonntag: Mr. Edenhofer, everybody concerned with climate protection demands emissions reductions. You now speak of "dangerous emissions reduction." What do you mean?
Ottmar Edenhofer: So far economic growth has gone hand in hand with the growth of greenhouse gas emissions. One percent growth means one percent more emissions. The historic memory of mankind remembers: In order to get rich one has to burn coal, oil or gas. And therefore, the emerging economies fear CO2 emission limits.
But everybody should take part in climate protection, otherwise it does not work.
That is so easy to say. But particularly the industrialized countries have a system that relies almost exclusively on fossil fuels. There is no historical precedent and no region in the world that has decoupled its economic growth from emissions. Thus, you cannot expect that India or China will regard CO2 emissions reduction as a great idea. And it gets worse: We are in the midst of a renaissance of coal, because oil and gas (sic) have become more expensive, but coal has not. The emerging markets are building their cities and power plants for the next 70 years, as if there would be permanently no high CO 2 price.
The new thing about your proposal for a Global Deal is the stress on the importance of development policy for climate policy. Until now, many think of aid when they hear development policies.
That will change immediately if global emission rights are distributed. If this happens, on a per capita basis, then Africa will be the big winner, and huge amounts of money will flow there. This will have enormous implications for development policy. And it will raise the question if these countries can deal responsibly with so much money at all.
That does not sound anymore like the climate policy that we know.
Basically it's a big mistake to discuss climate policy separately from the major themes of globalization. The climate summit in Cancun at the end of the month is not a climate conference, but one of the largest economic conferences since the Second World War. Why? Because we have 11,000 gigatons of carbon in the coal reserves in the soil under our feet - and we must emit only 400 gigatons in the atmosphere if we want to keep the 2-degree target. 11 000 to 400 - there is no getting around the fact that most of the fossil reserves must remain in the soil.
De facto, this means an expropriation of the countries with natural resources. This leads to a very different development from that which has been triggered by development policy.
First of all, developed countries have basically expropriated the atmosphere of the world community. But one must say clearly that we redistribute de facto the world's wealth by climate policy. Obviously, the owners of coal and oil will not be enthusiastic about this. One has to free oneself from the illusion that international climate policy is environmental policy. This has almost nothing to do with environmental policy anymore, with problems such as deforestation or the ozone hole.
Read More Here:
10/14/2010
U.S./ Canada Should Leave Anti-Semitic United Nations
U.N. Thugs Strike Again: Payback for Canada’s Support of Israel
2010 October 14 by Christine Williams
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Canada was denied a seat at the UN security council for the first time in its history. The security council has been hijacked by a coaliton of Islamist thugs and socialist states, and Canada has virtually led the charge in opposing the UN obsession with attacking Israel.
The 2001 Durban I World Conference Against Racism disintegrated into an all out assault against Israel, unjustifiably accusing it of ethnic cleansing, branding it an apartheid state and calling for sanctions and boycotts against it. The anti-Israel onslaught was led by Iran and Yasser Arafat. Yet the conference ignored the unspeakable horror of genocide in Darfur and the black slave trade by Arabs in Mauratania. Canada openly expressed its disapproval.
Then Durban II was boycotted by Canada , Israel, the U.S. , New Zealand, Germany, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, Poland and eventually Australia. But Canada led the charge:
Canada was the first country in the world to announce it would not attend the Durban 2 conference. The Governments of Israel, the United States, and much of the European Union later followed Canada’s lead and boycotted the conference. “Canada’s fears that Durban 2 would, like its predecessor Durban 1, descend into an anti-Semitic hatefest were fully vindicated”
Then in September 2009, Canada walked out at the start of Ahmedinejad’s repugnant anti-Israel speech at the UN General Assembly, followed by others, humiliating the Iranian leader as he continued to address a half empty chamber.
And now it’s payback.
Read More >
2010 October 14 by Christine Williams
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Canada was denied a seat at the UN security council for the first time in its history. The security council has been hijacked by a coaliton of Islamist thugs and socialist states, and Canada has virtually led the charge in opposing the UN obsession with attacking Israel.
The 2001 Durban I World Conference Against Racism disintegrated into an all out assault against Israel, unjustifiably accusing it of ethnic cleansing, branding it an apartheid state and calling for sanctions and boycotts against it. The anti-Israel onslaught was led by Iran and Yasser Arafat. Yet the conference ignored the unspeakable horror of genocide in Darfur and the black slave trade by Arabs in Mauratania. Canada openly expressed its disapproval.
Canada was the first country in the world to announce it would not attend the Durban 2 conference. The Governments of Israel, the United States, and much of the European Union later followed Canada’s lead and boycotted the conference. “Canada’s fears that Durban 2 would, like its predecessor Durban 1, descend into an anti-Semitic hatefest were fully vindicated”
Then in September 2009, Canada walked out at the start of Ahmedinejad’s repugnant anti-Israel speech at the UN General Assembly, followed by others, humiliating the Iranian leader as he continued to address a half empty chamber.
And now it’s payback.
Read More >
10/07/2010
Israel On War Alert
Posted: October 06, 2010
11:55 pm Eastern
By Aaron Klein
© 2010 WorldNetDaily
JERUSALEM – Israel is on heightened alert for possible attacks by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah organization in Lebanon, according to a senior Israeli defense official speaking to WND.
The official said the Jewish state is concerned Hezbollah might try to spark a conflict to deflect attention from an international tribunal investigating the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who died in a car bomb explosion in 2005.
The probe is reportedly set to indict members of Hezbollah for the murder. The indictments may come as soon as the next few weeks, reports have claimed.
Hezbollah is deeply concerned about the political fallout within Lebanon if its members are accused of murdering Hariri, the defense official said.
As such, Hezbollah may try to carry out attacks against Israel similar to those that prompted the 2006 Lebanon War. During that conflict, Hezbollah fired constant rocket barrages into Israel, killing 43 Israelis and wounding more than 4,200.
Hezbollah and Syria have attempted to discredit the U.N. probe. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has delivered television addresses claiming Israel was behind Hariri's killing and that spies working for Israel planted "false evidence" blaming Hezbollah.
Earlier this week, Syria issued arrest warrants against 33 people for allegedly misleading the U.N. investigation. The targets include figures close to Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri – Rafiq Hariri's son – including his media adviser, senior security officers and journalists working in Hariri-owned media outlets.
Hat Tip To WorldNet Daily
9/22/2010
Why did we listen to Ahmadinejads Rant
As you’ve probably seen in the news this week, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took to the world’s stage at the United Nations to threaten a “war without boundaries” against the United States and our allies. He continued to deny the Holocaust, saying it was “a historical event used to create a pretext for war.”
In the past, the U.S. delegation to the U.N. has walked out on the Iranian president, refusing to give an audience to his Hitler-esque anti-Semitism and showing symbolic objection to his country’s despicable human rights record.
Last year, for example, we joined our neighbors to the north in boycotting Ahmadinejad’s remarks before the U.N. General Assembly. This year, Canada walked out, but the U.S. delegation remained seated.
Why the change? I doubt Ahmadinejad — who continues pursuing an Iranian nuclear program despite global objections — has suddenly landed on our good side (although Rush half-jokingly suggests that President Obama doesn’t seem to like capitalism or borders either).
So, what gives?
In the past, the U.S. delegation to the U.N. has walked out on the Iranian president, refusing to give an audience to his Hitler-esque anti-Semitism and showing symbolic objection to his country’s despicable human rights record.
Last year, for example, we joined our neighbors to the north in boycotting Ahmadinejad’s remarks before the U.N. General Assembly. This year, Canada walked out, but the U.S. delegation remained seated.
Why the change? I doubt Ahmadinejad — who continues pursuing an Iranian nuclear program despite global objections — has suddenly landed on our good side (although Rush half-jokingly suggests that President Obama doesn’t seem to like capitalism or borders either).
So, what gives?
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