How rage becomes a virus - Chris Hedges on the Israeli genocide in Gaza
Labels: atrocities, Chris Hedges, Gaza siege, genocide, Israel, United States
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Labels: atrocities, Chris Hedges, Gaza siege, genocide, Israel, United States
Submit To PropellerIsrael rejects UN call for international inquiry into flotilla raids
Ambassador to US dismisses Ban Ki-moon's suggestion but says Israel is willing to work with Washington
Labels: Ban Ki-moon, Gaza siege, genocide, Israel, Michael Oren, Palestine, United Nations, Washington
Submit To PropellerReports accuse WHO of exaggerating H1N1 threat, possible ties to drug makers
European criticism of the World Health Organization's handling of the H1N1 pandemic intensified Friday with the release of two reports that accused the agency of exaggerating the threat posed by the virus and failing to disclose possible influence by the pharmaceutical industry on its recommendations for how countries should respond.
The WHO's response caused widespread, unnecessary fear and prompted countries around the world to waste millions of dollars, according to one report. At the same time, the Geneva-based arm of the United Nations relied on advice from experts with ties to drug makers in developing the guidelines it used to encourage countries to stockpile millions of doses of antiviral medications, according to the second report.
Labels: big pharma, H1N1, pandemic, swine flu, United Nations, WHO
Submit To PropellerThe brokerage firm that's faced the most scrutiny from regulators in the past year over the shorting of mortgage related securities seems to have had good timing when it came to something else: the stock of British oil giant BP.
According to regulatory filings, RawStory.com has found that Goldman Sachs sold 4,680,822 shares of BP in the first quarter of 2010. Goldman's sales were the largest of any firm during that time. Goldman would have pocketed slightly more than $266 million if their holdings were sold at the average price of BP's stock during the quarter.
If Goldman had sold these shares today, their investment would have lost 36 percent its value, or $96 million. The share sales represented 44 percent of Goldman's holdings -- meaning that Goldman's remaining holdings have still lost tens of millions in value.
Tony Hayward cashed in about a third of his holding in the company one month before a well on the Deepwater Horizon rig burst, causing an environmental disaster.
Mr Hayward, whose pay package is £4 million a year, then paid off the mortgage on his family’s mansion in Kent, which is estimated to be valued at more than £1.2 million.
had prior knowledge that the company was to face the biggest setback in its history.
His decision, however, means he avoided losing more than £423,000 when BP’s share price plunged after the oil spill began six weeks ago.
Since he disposed of 223,288 shares on March 17, the company’s share price has fallen by 30 per cent. About £40 billion has been wiped off its total value. The fall has caused pain not just for BP shareholders, but also for millions of company pension funds and small investors who have money held in tracker funds.
Labels: BP, Deepwater Horizon, environmental damage, Goldman Sachs, insider trading, oil, Tony Hayward
Submit To PropellerU.S. Adds Jobs in May, but Private Hiring Disappoints
A shadow fell across America’s economic recovery on Friday, as the Labor Department’s monthly report showed that private sector job growth was considerably weaker than expected.
The headline numbers suggested a reason to be optimistic — employers added 431,000 jobs and the jobless rate fell to 9.7 percent from 9.9 percent in April.
But the underlying numbers showed that almost all of the job growth came from the 411,000 workers hired by the federal government to help with the Census. Most of those jobs will disappear in a few months.
By contrast, the private sector created 41,000, far short of expectations of 150,000 to 180,000 jobs. And the number of long-term unemployed, those who out of work for 27 or more weeks, remained at its highest rate since the Labor Department began collecting such data in the 1940s.
The markets were sent skidding immediately after the opening, after the Labor Department’s report on job growth in May fell short of expectations.
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The Dow Jones industrial average closed below 10,000 for the third time this year, ending at 9,931.22, down 324.06, or 3.2 percent. It was the Dow’s lowest close in almost four months. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index was down 3.4 percent, and the Nasdaq composite declined 3.6 percent.
The euro also continued its decline, dropping to less than $1.20 on concerns about the fiscal troubles in Europe.
While the markets have been bedeviled for weeks by worries mostly over debt problems in Spain, Portugal and Greece, the boundaries of the problem shifted to Hungary after its government sent worrying signals about its finances. Investors fled the country’s assets, and the euro slipped to $1.1992 in afternoon trading in London, its lowest level since March 2006.
Labels: Euros, financial markets, financial meltdown, Greece, Hungary, Portugal, Spain, stocks, unemployment
Submit To PropellerAl Jazeera's Jamal Elshayyal has been released by Israeli authorities following Monday's deadly raid on the Mavi Marmara aid ship that was destined for Gaza.
Our producer, who reported from the ship as Israel launched the raid, was on the top deck when the ship was attacked.
Here, he tells his account of what happened.
Though international criticism has been mounting against Israel's raid on civilian aid ships bound for Gaza, reaction from the United States has been cautious.
Glenn Greenwald, a former constitutional lawyer and civil rights litigator, said this muted response is due to the "huge political price" US politicians must pay for being seen as adversarial to Israel.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Greenwald, a contributing editor for Salon.com, said what is clear is that the Obama administration has given its full support to the Israeli government once again.
Labels: Al Jazeera, Gaza siege, genocide, Glenn Greenwald, Israel, Obama administration, peace
Submit To PropellerLabels: Gaza siege, Glenn Greenwald, hypocrisy, Israel, Obama administration, Palestine, Salon
Submit To PropellerOP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
An Assault, Cloaked in Peace
By MICHAEL B. OREN
Published: June 2, 2010
[...]
Michael B. Oren is Israel’s ambassador to the United States.
Labels: Gaza siege, Israel, Michael Oren, New York Times, peace, propaganda, spin
Submit To PropellerLabels: Caribbean, civilian casualties, ecosystem, Israel, job cuts, oil, optimism, Palestine, predator drones
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