Stiglitz: Austerity is economic suicide

but for our super-rich elites, austerity is boom times...

Austerity Measures Leading Europe To ‘Suicide’, Nobel Economist Says

Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said Europe is in a “dire” situation as a focus on austerity pushes the continent toward “suicide.”

“There has never been any successful austerity program in any large country,” Stiglitz, 69, said in Vienna on Thursday. “The European approach definitely is the least promising. I think Europe is headed to a suicide. ”

Politicians across the 27 European Union members are implementing austerity measures totaling about 450 billion euros ($600 billion) amid a sovereign-debt crisis. At the same time the debt of the euro region rose last year to the highest since the start of the single currency as governments increased borrowing to plug budget deficits and fund bailouts of fellow nations.

If Greece was the only part of Europe that was having austerity, authorities could ignore it, Stiglitz said, “but if you have UK, France, you know all the countries having austerity, it’s like a joint austerity and the economic consequences of that are going to be dire.”

While euro-area leaders “realized that austerity itself won’t work and that we need growth,” no actions have followed and “what they agreed to do last December is a recipe to ensure that it dies,” he said, referring to the euro. “The problem is that with the euro, you’ve separated out the government from the central bank and the printing presses and you’ve created a big problem,” Stiglitz said, adding that “austerity combined with the constraints of the euro are a lethal combination.”

The economist said he sees a core euro area of “one or two countries” made up of Germany and possibly the Netherlands or Finland as the “likely scenario if Europe maintains the austerity approach,” he said. “The austerity approach will lead to high levels of unemployment that will be politically unacceptable and will make deficits get worse.”

Youth unemployment in Spain has been at 50 percent since the crisis in 2008 with “no hope of things getting better anytime soon,” said Stiglitz, who is a professor for economics at Columbia University. “What you are doing is destroying the human capital, you are creating alienated young people.” To push for growth, European leaders could refocus government spending to “fully utilize” institutions like the European Investment Bank, introduce taxes to improve economic performance and use balanced budget multipliers, he said.

what policies of severe austerity do is punish people for the greed pursued by their ruling super-rich elites... and as a result of that punishment, people are forced out of their homes and into menial wage jobs while the ruling class vacuums up ever more money and power... it's win-win for the ruling class and lose-lose for us peasants...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Democracy under attack around the world - "These are very dangerous times"

yes, these are very dangerous times... i can't shake the feeling that we are on the cusp of something very, very big, something that could go either way - continuing down the dark path we're currently on or perhaps something wonderful that will surprise us all... it's a tipping point, for sure...

thom hartmann...

A year ago - if you would have asked the proud people in Italy - if their elected Prime Minister could be replaced by an unelected bankster to impose harsh austerity measures on them without a single vote - they would have called you crazy. Similarly - if you would have asked the Greeks - the cradle of democracy - if their elected Prime Minister could be run out of office for just asking for a national referendum on a bailout - and replaced by a bankster - they too would have called you crazy. Yet - that's exactly what's happened - and is continuing to happen in Europe.

Democracy is under attack around the world - including the United States - where Republican Governor Rick Snyder in Michigan has given himself the power to appoint unelected "financial managers" to take over cities struggling with budget deficits - fire elected city council officials - void union contracts - and sell off large chunks of cities to private corporations. Other Republican governors are thinking this is a good idea.

These are very dangerous times.

there's a lot of stuff piling up against the dam right toward the end of the year... if you're quiet, you can hear the cracks spreading...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Two international views of OWS, one from Germany and the other from IPS

first, ips... pay particular attention to the quote in the last paragraph...

Occupy Times Square by Christian Papesch from IPS Inter Press Service on Vimeo.

More than a month old, OWS feels like a town of its own, one governed intentionally by institutions and actions based on empathetic, egalitarian principles. As a protest, the occupation tactic is successful because of its constant presence and as a base for organising actions.

But at least as important to participants is the opportunity the occupied space provides to organise a microcosm of the society they want to live in. As the movement continues to grow, it is clear that this new society resonates with many people disaffected with the failures of society at large.

"We're dismantling capitalism and building something better right here," said Sheik.

here's a view from germany's spiegel [emphases added]...

Has America Become an Oligarchy?

Inequality in America is greater than it has been in almost a century. Those fortunate enough to belong to the 1 percent, made up of the super-rich, stand on one side of the divide; the remaining 99 percent on the other. Even for a country that has always accepted opposite extremes as part of its identity, the chasm has simply grown too vast.

Those who succeed in the US are congratulated rather than berated. Resenting other people's wealth is viewed as supporting class struggle, which is something very frowned upon.

Still, statistics indicate that the growing disparity is genuinely overwhelming. In fact, the 400 wealthiest Americans now own more than the "lower" 150 million Americans put together.

Nearly two-thirds of net private assets are concentrated in the hands of 5 percent of Americans. In comparison, the upper 5 percent of Germany hold less than half of net assets. In 2009 alone, at the same time as the US was being convulsed by mass layoffs, the number of millionaires in the country skyrocketed.

Indeed, if you look at the reports it compiles on every country in the world, even the CIA has concluded that wealth disparity is greater in the US than in Tunisia or Egypt.

[...]

At least since the beginning of the millennium, it has no longer been a simple matter of two societal extremes drifting further apart. Instead, the development is also accelerating. In the years of economic growth between 2002 and 2007, 65 percent of the income gains went to the top 1 percent of taxpayers. Likewise, although the productivity of the US economy has increased considerably since the beginning of the millennium, most Americans haven't benefited from it, with average annual incomes falling by more than 10 percent, to $49,909 (€35,184).

[...]

In 1980, American CEOs earned 42 times more than the average employee. Today, that figure has skyrocketed to more than 300 times. Last year, 25 of the country's highest-paid CEOs earned more than their companies paid in taxes.

By way of comparison, top executives at the 30 blue-chip companies making up Germany's DAX stock market index rarely earn over 100 times the salaries of their low-level employees, and that figure is often around 30 or 40 times.

nothing new here but still interesting to see how what's going on here is perceived from outside the country...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

A card-carrying MOTU thinks Europe should follow the U.S. example

what a bunch of hooey...

Roger Altman: America’s blueprint for saving Europe’s banks

The financial crisis struck the US harder and more quickly than it did Europe. The complete freezing of credit markets required an immediate and overwhelming intervention – and the American fiscal and monetary authorities delivered it.

Between the Federal Reserve, Treasury and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, approximately $13,000bn of credit support was arranged for financial institutions in late 2008 and 2009.

There was no alternative to this massive reaction, and it worked. US credit markets are now healthy, and the recapitalised banking system is stable. History will look favorably on the boldness of America’s response. [emphasis added]

so, who is this guy roger altman anyway...?

wikipedia...

Altman holds a B.A. from Georgetown University and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

He was a general partner of Lehman Brothers from 1974 to 1977. From 1977 to 1981 he served as the Assistant Secretary of the United States Department of the Treasury, during which time he helped oversee the then-troubled financial affairs of Chrysler. In 1981, he returned to Lehman Brothers, where he became the co-head of investment banking and served on the board of the company and the management committee. During the 1980s, he was a lecturer and adjunct professor at the Yale School of Management. In 1987, Altman joined the newly-formed Blackstone Group as vice-chairman, head of its mergers and acquisitions advisory business and a member of the investment committee.

Altman served as the Deputy Treasury Secretary, before resigning in 1994 following a record-keeping scandal. In 1996, instead of returning to Blackstone he co-founded Evercore Partners, a boutique advisory and private equity investment firm in New York City, and currently serves as firm's Chairman.

Altman has served as advisor to two presidential candidates: John Kerry in 2004, and Hillary Clinton in 2008.

Altman is founder and chairman of Evercore Partners, which advised on the GM deal. Evercore, after being paid $46 million by GM pre-bankruptcy, asked for a $17.9 million "success fee." A U.S. bankruptcy trustee termed the fees "staggering" and "inordinately large" and said it "clearly exceeds the bounds of reasonableness" given that "Evercore had no success at finding a purchaser or funder for the Debtors."

Altman is listed as a member of the Steering Committee of The Bilderberg Group, a controversial group of influential business and government leaders who meet annually behind closed doors under a media blackout to discuss world issues. In 2009, Altman was on the list of Bilderberg conference attendees in Greece. [emphases added]

yep... altman is the guy the financial times thinks we should all be listening to... i don't think so...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Taking to the streets to protest against helping the poor?

the pathetic irony is that most of those who are making the most noise about socialism and the welfare state are also bible-brandishing, self-proclaimed christians who, imho, have never bothered to read the compassionate, do-unto-others message of jesus in the gospels or, if they have, don't care to take it to heart...

chris floyd...

[T]he news has been filled with stories of mass protests across the United States for months on end, with angry citizens taking to the streets -- and the ballot boxes -- to register their stern displeasure.

And what has displeased them so, what has moved them from the quiet simmering of discontent to explosions of public protest? Is it those trillions spent on pointless wars? Is it the coddling of the super-rich? Is it the degradation of their daily lives, and the darkening of their children's future by endless war and lost opportunities in a system skewed sharply -- and punitively -- toward the needs and greeds of powerful elites? Is it the runaway encroachment of civil liberties? Is it mass unemployment, and the relentless rollback of public services essential to a dignified and civilized life?

No, it is none of these. While the Europeans protest for jobs and dignity, Americans pour out into the streets in angry demonstrations against the very idea of helping the poor and the economically devastated, or putting the slightest restraint on the rapacious super-rich. The Europeans protest actual policies, while our American "dissidents" froth and rant about a fantasy world of "socialist" programs that only benefit shiftless darkies and sneaky, border-crossing 'Messicans -- and, of course, the devil-worshiping Muslims, who are plotting every hour to poison the precious bodily fluids of real Americans and take over the country from within.

once again, i'm stunned at what's happening in my country...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Our handlers seem particularly determined to keep us cowering under our sheets

be afwaid, be vewy afwaid...

The U.S. State Department issued an alert on Sunday urging Americans traveling to Europe to be vigilant about possible terrorist attacks in a statement that specifically cites the potential involvement of Al Qaida. The British government, meanwhile, raised the threat of terrorism to "high" from "general" for Britons in France and Germany.

[...]

The U.S. travel alert urges extra caution and does not discourage Americans from visiting Europe. An American official who confirmed the warning on Saturday, who did not want to be identified speaking about internal government deliberations, said a stronger “travel warning” that might advise Americans not to visit Europe was not under consideration. European officials have been concerned about the impact on tourism and student travel from any official guidance to American travelers.

i'm starting to get that old feeling left over from the bush years that i should constantly be checking under my bed for terrorists...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Kosovo - the country brand

needless to day, there's a lot of mixed opinion here in pristina about the "country" ad below... most kosovars i have spoken to recognize that their new country is a mess, rife with corruption, officials on the take, no road or building construction standards, people paying bribes to get drivers licenses without even taking - much less passing - a driving test, a national economy almost entirely dependent on imports, and a nonexistent work ethic... they also recognize that there's not a hell of a lot that can be done either short or long-term to fix any of it... meanwhile, there's elections for the municipalities coming up tomorrow that absolutely NOBODY has confidence will make the slightest bit of difference...

here one view, not terribly optimistic, but that nevertheless manages to leave out most of the blemishes i mentioned above...

These days, it’s not just companies that are trying to brand themselves — countries are getting in on the game as well. Half the commercials on international television news stations these days seem to be sappy, upbeat videos extolling the virtues of some nation, many of which aren’t exactly on the tourist map. There’s “Breathtaking Montenegro” and “South Africa: Alive with Possibilities” and one about Armenia whose slogan I can’t remember.

But how do you brand a place like Kosovo, whose very status is disputed and whose name is more likely to conjure images of war and ethnic conflict than the kind of pleasant feelings that make you want to go on vacation there?

Well, the international advertising firm Saatchi & Saatchi has now created a slick new television commercial and slogan, “Kosovo: The Young Europeans,” to help burnish Kosovo’s international image and fuel its quest for recognition.

The campaign seizes on Kosovo’s comparative youth in the context of an aging Europe, trying to present it — and its people — as young and dynamic. The average age of people there, according to the campaign, is 25.9.

The promise of Kosovo’s youth is a refrain I’ve heard often from optimistic young people there in recent years. Kosovo lacks great natural beauty or an abundance of memorable architecture (the capital Pristina’s most notable landmark is the boxy and far from charming Grand Hotel) or even really any established modern industry. Instead, young entrepreneurs dream of building a new economic future as a high-tech center by tapping into the Kosovo’s young, well-educated population.

But that will be a difficult task given Kosovo’s still unresolved status — blocked by Serbia, which considers its seccession illegal, it still lacks, for example, its own telephone dialing code or recognition by most international organizations — and the ethnic tensions that continue to divide its population.

Last year, I attended Kosovo’s independence celebrations on a bitterly cold February day, when tens of thousands of jubilant Kosovo Albanians braved the weather to dance on the streets of the Pristina. Kosovo’s Serbs took to the streets too, but in protest, not celebration.

Even then, as Kosovo declared independence from Serbia with American backing, it lacked the basic symbols of a state. On that day, it was the red and black flag of Albania — along with a smattering of American flags — that people waved.

The international community — or at least the part of it that backed the declaration of independence — had made clear to Kosovo’s leaders that their new state had to be a multi-ethnic one, and that any new symbols needed to include Serbs and other minorities. That meant, for example, no black two-headed eagle, like the one on the Albanian flag.

The new branding campaign draws on the new symbols the were developed as part of the independence process, particularly Kosovo’s new flag which has a blue background, the shape of Kosovo in gold and six stars representing its six peoples. It also recalls the independence celebrations, during which giant yellow letters spelling the word “NEWBORN” were erected in the center of Pristina.

The well-produced Saatchi & Saatchi commercial full of beautiful young people is designed to brand Kosovo to the outside world. But it’s not clear yet whether even Kosovo’s majority ethnic Albanian population identifies strongly with the new national symbols it presents. And its clear that at home, there’s still a lot of work to be done building a Kosovo identity that has room for all its people.

here's the ad followed by the rosy verbiage that must have no doubt been written by the ad agency...


The new slogan, which appears as part of the logo, is: Kosovo. The young Europeans.

The slogan is based on the facts that The Republic of Kosovo is one youngest countries in the world, and it's also home to the youngest population in Europe with an average age of 25.9.

This is probably the very first national slogan which turns the spotlight on the people and the human spirit rather than the country, its natural marvels or history.
This is a very strong and confident statement of Kosovos attitude as a country and of its future intentions. It will attract the interest of a range of audiences, from politicians to businessmen, from tourists to donors. All will sense the future potential of this young nation and the positive attitude of its people.

The visual appearance of the logo is very much in keeping with the new generation of national logos in that it has a modern flowing style and an impactful use of colour. Each of the colours featured in the logo was chosen for a specific reason. The green represents the green fields that can be found across Kosovos expansive countryside, the red-terracotta represents the colour of the bricks that are used for the building that is in progress across the land, and the blue symbolizes the sky and water and is taken from the background from Kosovos new flag. The unique design of the letters' font typography is inspired by "the fountain of youth" concept the energy that flow unboundedly throughout Kosovo.

yeah, well, whatever...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Change Bernanke's medication and let him face Pittsburgh's 93,700 jobless

greg palast on the obama's letter to the g20 players that has still not been released by the wall street journal...

If Bernanke and Obama were truly concerned about preserving jobs, they would have required banks loaded with taxpayer bail-out loot to lend these funds to consumers and business. China did so, ordering its banks to increase credit. And boy, did they, expanding credit by an eye-popping 30%, rocketing China's economy out of recession and into double-digit growth.

But the Obama Administration has gone the opposite way. The White House letter to the G-20 calls for slowly increasing bank reserves, and that can only cause a tight credit market to tighten further.

It's not that the White House completely ignores job losses. The US letter suggests, "The G-20 should commit to ... income support for the unemployed." You can imagine the Europeans, who already have generous unemployment benefits--most without time limits--turning purple over that one. America's stingy unemployment compensation extension under the Stimulus Plan is already beginning to expire with no live proposal to continue aid for the jobless victims of this recession.

The Europeans are so cute when they're angry, when they pound their little fists. Obama assumes he can ignore them. The EU, once the big player in the G-7, has seen its members' status diluted into the G-20, where the BRIC powers (Brazil, Russia, India and China) now flex their muscles. But Europeans have a thing or two to teach Americans about the economics of the twilight of empire.

Maybe the differences are cultural, not economic; that Europeans lack America's Manifest Destiny can-do optimism.

So, to give the visitors a taste of the yes-we-can spirit, Obama should invite Pittsburgh's 93,700 jobless to the G-20 meet to celebrate that 35% rise in the stock market.

Or -- my own suggestion -- change Bernanke's medication.

all the euphoria about the recession being over is solely due to the fact that the super-rich elites are once again raking it in... the millions of poor bastards who are out on the street looking for work ain't gettin' nothing but lip service...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Are war crimes charges being readied...? Certainly one of the more interesting headlines of the day...

this would be the answer to one of my most fervent prayers...

from the politico...

Could war crimes charges be Oct. surprise?

It’s early October 2008, and Democratic nominee Barack Obama maintains a steady lead in the presidential race, although Republican standard-bearer John McCain, the most dogged campaigner in American politics, remains within striking range.

Suddenly, something happens overseas that throws the presidential campaigns off the TV screens entirely: Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, on vacation in Italy, is arrested and brought to The Hague to face war crimes charges.

Presidential campaigns try to prepare for these “October surprises,” late-breaking events and crises that can radically alter the race for the White House, such as the attack on the USS Cole in October 2000. But now there’s a new element in the mix, something presidential campaigns have never had to plan for. What if the October surprise is the greatest legal conflict between America and Europe since the creation of the Atlantic alliance?

Don’t think it can’t happen. I think the arrest abroad of an American is only a matter of time and, between now and November, is at least as likely as another terrorist attack on U.S. soil. As a former Marine Corps Commandant, Gen. Paul X. Kelley, reminded the nation in a July 2007 Washington Post op-ed, written with a University of Virginia law professor: “Violations of Common Article 3 are ‘war crimes’ for which everyone involved — potentially up to and including the president of the United States — may be tried in any of the other 193 countries that are parties to the conventions.”

accountability... it's not just for breakfast any more...!

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Millions of children are being raised on prejudice and disinformation

aw, geeeez... more bullshit from foreign policy... check this out...

the title...

Europe’s Philosophy of Failure

now, for the meat...

In France and Germany, students are being forced to undergo a dangerous indoctrination. Taught that economic principles such as capitalism, free markets, and entrepreneurship are savage, unhealthy, and immoral, these children are raised on a diet of prejudice and bias. Rooting it out may determine whether Europe’s economies prosper or continue to be left behind.

Millions of children are being raised on prejudice and disinformation. Educated in schools that teach a skewed ideology, they are exposed to a dogma that runs counter to core beliefs shared by many other Western countries. They study from textbooks filled with a doctrine of dissent, which they learn to recite as they prepare to attend many of the better universities in the world. Extracting these children from the jaws of bias could mean the difference between world prosperity and menacing global rifts. And doing so will not be easy. But not because these children are found in the madrasas of Pakistan or the state-controlled schools of Saudi Arabia. They are not. Rather, they live in two of the world’s great democracies—France and Germany.

oh, my stars and garters... shocking... just SHOCKING...! "savage..." "unhealthy..." "immoral..." they certainly COULDN'T be talking about capitalism, free markets, and entrepreneurship...! oh, but wait...! yes, they ARE...! france and germany are DARING to challenge THE RELIGION OF CAPITALISM... how terribly cheeky of them...

The deep anti-market bias that French and Germans continue to teach challenges the conventional wisdom that it’s just a matter of time, thanks to the pressures of globalization, before much of the world agrees upon a supposedly “Western” model of free-market capitalism. Politicians in democracies cannot long fight the preferences of the majority of their constituents. So this bias will likely continue to circumscribe both European elections and policy outcomes. A likely alternative scenario may be that the changes wrought by globalization will awaken deeply held resentment against capitalism and, in many countries from Europe to Latin America, provide a fertile ground for populists and demagogues, a trend that is already manifesting itself in the sudden rise of many leftist movements today.

well, we CERTAINLY can't tolerate POPULISM, now, can we...?

i don't know about you, but i find this little screed terribly naive... by choosing to completely overlook the ravages caused by globalization, the breathtaking exploitation of people and resources wrought by capitalism, and the global financial chaos we are experiencing right at this moment from free and unregulated financial markets, the author is revealing himself as nothing more than a public relations shill for the global super-rich... like they need another apologist... i say, "bloody good for france and germany for trying to inject a little truth into their school curriculums..." it's a novel idea, but, who knows, it might catch on...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Damn...! We're down the global economic rabbit hole NOW, for sure...!

jumpin' golly gee willikers...

The biggest rogue trader scandal in history hit Societe Generale on Thursday as the French bank accused a junior employee of a fraud costing $7 billion.

France's central bank and government scrambled to shore up confidence in the banking system after "SocGen", France's second-biggest bank, said it had been the victim of massive and "exceptional" fraud.

Its trading losses spiraled to 4.9 billion euros ($7.1 billion) as the bank tried to close out the rogue positions in Monday's sliding market.

The country's top banker dubbed the trader "a genius of fraud". SocGen declined to give a name, but three sources at the bank named him as Jerome Kerviel, 31, a trader on the bank's award-winning equity derivatives desk earning less than 100,000 euros a year. Kerviel could not be reached for comment.

DAMN, sam...!

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Here we go some more

last week on wall street, now asia and europe...

Stock Markets in Europe Plunge 7 Percent

Stocks fell steeply in Europe on Monday after sharp overnight declines in Asia, reacting to fears that an American recession was unavoidable and would crimp global growth. The DAX index in Germany closed off 7.16 percent and the CAC 40 in France lost 6.83 percent. British stocks fared slightly less badly; the FTSE 100 lost 5.48 percent. United States financial markets are closed today; Canadian and Mexican stocks were off sharply at midday.

hang on to the side of the toilet bowl if you can...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

"This thing that has happened to America was planned for a long time."

i remember back last september sharing a post that maccabee had put up on daily kos about a romanian immigrant he had a long conversation with... it was as chilling it its way as this one...

from joey picador at justice for none...

One of our neighbors is moving. I've been in this neighborhood for about six years now, but didn't really know them very well at all - just waves and nods, mostly.

So I heard the moving van pull up this morning. When I got home this evening I happened to spy my neighbor (he's like 85 years old - I don't know exactly, but he's old, talks and moves very slowly) standing on the sidewalk next to the van. I walked over and shook his hand, and we started talking. I asked him where he was moving, and he said, "Back to Germany."

I had been stationed in Germany for two years while in the military, so I lit up, and commented about how beautiful the country was, and inquired if he was going back because he missed it.

"No," he answered me. "I'm going back because I've seen this before." He then commenced to explain that when he was a kid, he watched with his family in fear as Hitler's government committed atrocity after atrocity, and no one was willing to say anything. He said the news refused to question the government, and the ones who did were not in the newspaper business much longer. He said good neighbors, people he had known all his life, turned against his family and other Jews, grabbing on to the hate and superiority "as if they were starved for it" (his words).

He said he was too old to see it happen right in front of his eyes again, and too old to do anything about it, so he was taking his family back to Europe on Thursday where they would be safe from George W. Bush and his neocons. He seemed resolute, but troubled, nonetheless, as if being too young on one end and too old on the other to fight what he saw happening was wearing on him.

I gotta tell you - it was chilling. I let him talk, and the whole time, my gut was churning, like I had mutated butterflies in my stomach. When he was finished, he shook my hand, gripping it really hard, until his knuckles turned white and he was shaking. He looked me in the eyes, hard, and said, "I will pray for your family and your country." He let go of my hand and hobbled away.

it sure reminds me of the bulgarian immigrant...

It starts with fixed elections. First the 2000 election was fixed and then the 2004 election was fixed. It happened in Communist elections just like it happened here. The people who count the votes are all in the government that's in power. And even when it seems like people have had enough, the tyrant will always somehow come out winning just enough to make your conspiracy theories seem ridiculous. Just like in Romania and Bulgaria of the sixties and seventies, the press may even report problems with elections, but Bush knows that Americans are lazy.

[...]

It may take about ten years. But it will be very much like the old Soviet Union. Incompetent government. Walls will appear around you. On the borders. Your internet sites will be scrubbed or monitored or may suddenly disappear. A government will control everything from one branch, businesses too will be in bed with the government. One day you will see your boss have the power to go through your bags. One day your corporation will have more rights than you have. Just like in Romania, we had conspiracy theories. One nuttier than the next. It turned out to be mostly true these things. This thing that has happened to America was planned for a long time.

yep, it's been a long time in the works... a long time... and we either put a halt to it soon or it will no longer be possible...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Zoellick nominated to replace Wolfie

at least robert zoellick has credentials that won't send the bank member nations, particularly the european ones, into a hissy fit, altho' i suspect they're not going to be happy that bush has nominated another administration insider, even if he happens to be a former, slightly disaffected one...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

So, Wolfie's gonna stay and fight (cuz he's not welcome anywhere else either)

and, no doubt, hold out for more money...

ABC News is now reporting that “Paul Wolfowitz will not resign and would rather push the issue of his tenure to a vote by the World Bank board, his lawyer says.”

World Bank officials say the negotiations between the bank's board and a lawyer for World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz stalled today when the two sides could not agree on an "exit strategy" to allow Wolfowitz to "save face" over the issue of his efforts to seek a promotion and pay raise for his girlfriend at the bank.

The officials said the bank's board had hoped to accept Wolfowitz's resignation but also acknowledge that the World Bank's Ethics Committee bears "some responsibility" for giving him bad advice on the issue of his girlfriend.

Wolfowitz canceled a scheduled trip tonight to Europe, and officials said it was unlikely to be rescheduled.

German Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul said yesterday, "He would do the bank and himself a great service if he resigned." The German said Wolfowitz would not be welcome at an Africa forum the bank is holding next week in Berlin should he refuse to resign.

you gotta stop and think about what the rest of the world makes of this, and you know damn well what's going through their minds... they're comparing wolfie's total intransigence to that of his fearless leader, george, and his situation to his fearless leader's other gut-ripping embarrassment, gonzo... ain't it great to be making total and complete fools out of ourselves on the world stage...?

(thanks to think progress...)

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Let's see if the tried-and-true, wait-it-out strategy works for Wolfie too

gee... didn't i just post about this...? oh, wait... that was gonzo...

The United States warned on Thursday that "the whole world is watching" to see that embattled World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz is treated fairly as critics press him to quit over a pay-and-promotion dispute.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, in a measured response stressing the importance of preserving the global lender's standing, told a questioner Wolfowitz deserved fair process as the bank board prepares to consider his fate.

Some European members want Wolfowitz's resignation over a controversial pay and promotion deal he approved in 2005 for his companion, bank Middle East expert Shaha Riza, but the Bush administration has stood by the former Pentagon official.

Paulson said on Bloomberg television that he considered Wolfowitz "a dedicated and committed public servant" who had done valuable work at the World Bank. Wolfowitz has been given until Friday to respond to a bank panel report that found his actions in the pay and promotion deal broke rules.

"It's got to be fair," Paulson said. "A bank with the stature of the World Bank (and) I have the highest regard for the World Bank, the processes they use here are going to be very important, the whole world is watching."

don't you just LOVE the spin? "the whole world is watching..." oh, yes, it surely is... but they're NOT watching to see that wolfie is treated fairly... oh,no... they're watching to see if someone who should never have been appointed in the first goddam place and has demonstrated conclusively WHY he should never have been appointed in the first goddam place is going to be held accountable... THAT'S what they're waiting to see... THAT'S what we've been waiting to see with gonzo too... ya, right...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Wolfie is a spoiled, tantrum-throwing child who should just STFU and LEAVE, already

reading this makes it really hard to keep food down...

wolfie...

• disparaged a bank panel probing his handling of a pay raise for his girlfriend
• accus[ed] investigators of poisoning the atmosphere with leaks
• depriv[ed] him of sufficient time to respond to accusations

his attorney...

• the inability of the committee to control leaks about its draft conclusions is very harmful
• prejudging the outcome of the process
• disrespects both the board and the process
• the response time was too brief
• "This is terribly unfair"
• "We are extremely disheartened."

imho, wolfie takes criticism very poorly... it would be a lot more honest of him to simply lie on the floor, pounding his fists and crying for mommy...

meanwhile, the world community isn't being shy about expressing their thoughts...

• European finance ministers meeting in Brussels called for an end to the leadership crisis
• "We need a president with a good reputation and good integrity"
• "It is impossible to go around the world speaking about good governance without good governance at the World Bank"
• "If it persists, it makes the World Bank an embarrassment"
• The European parliament has called for Wolfowitz to resign

and the white house continues to huff and puff...

• "We believe Wolfowitz should remain at the World Bank"
• [I]f Wolfowitz is forced out at the bank, Europe could lose its rights to name the leader at the [IMF]

meanwhile, nobody gives any background about WHY wolfie was put there in the first place, like maybe to use world bank leverage to secure iraq's oil resources...? hmmmm...?

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Speaking of Wolfie and the World Bank, power-addict Bush turns to threats

as i posted earlier, george and co. put wolfie in the world bank for a reason and they aren't going to give up easily... but, while the white house continues to defend wolfie, the game is still afoot...

Wolfowitz has until late today to respond. His comments are to be forwarded with the report to the bank's executive board, which could begin deliberating as soon as tomorrow. The 24-member board could censure Wolfowitz, urge him to resign, declare a lack of confidence in his leadership or fire him.

i've seen leadership crises play out in many organizations, and of one thing you can be sure... there's hasn't been any real work done at the world bank for many weeks...

Uncertainty is paralyzing the bank, officials said, warning that the longer the leadership crisis continues, the greater the chance it will harm its coffers.

the response from the rest of the world reflects the seriousness with which they're taking the situation and the backlog of resentment they harbor over having wolfie installed as president in the first place...

European officials have suggested that, as long as he remains, they may withhold funds, perhaps funneling more aid through the European Union, which has historically been less focused than the World Bank on helping Africa.

and, needless to say, the u.s. prerogative to select the world bank president is in jeopardy...

Under an agreed-upon arrangement that has lasted since the inception of the bank six decades ago, the U.S. president selects the president of the World Bank while Europe decides who runs the bank's sister institution, the International Monetary Fund.

so, naturally bushco steps in with a veiled threat...

President Bush has said he wants Wolfowitz to stay. If the board overrides his wishes, it will jeopardize Europe's claims on the IMF, said a senior administration official.

which seemed to have the desired effect...

Leading governments of Europe, mounting a new campaign to push Paul D. Wolfowitz from his job as World Bank president, signaled Monday that they were willing to let the United States choose the bank’s next chief, but only if Mr. Wolfowitz stepped down soon, European officials said.

European officials had previously indicated that they wanted to end the tradition of the United States picking the World Bank leader. But now the officials are hoping to enlist American help in persuading Mr. Wolfowitz to resign voluntarily, rather than be rebuked or ousted.

bushco is so addicted to power it's pathetic... my theory is that a principal reason cheney has stuck around so long is because, if he was forced to go cold turkey, he'd be dead within weeks...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Condi tips her hand about where her head is REALLY at

for a united states secretary of state who also happens to be ranked as the most powerful woman in the world by forbes magazine in 2004 and 2005 and number two in 2006 to make such an obvious and damaging gaffe and then to not catch herself, tells me as much as i want to know about condoleezza rice...

"The idea that somehow 10 interceptors and a few radars in Eastern Europe are going to threaten the Soviet strategic deterrent is purely ludicrous and everybody knows it," she told reporters ahead of the Oslo meeting. "The Russians have thousands of warheads. The idea that you can somehow stop the Russian strategic nuclear deterrent with a few interceptors just doesn't make sense."

perhaps she's just pining for the days when her expertise was actually relevant...

From 1989 through March 1991 (the period of the fall of Berlin Wall and the final days of the Soviet Union), she served in President George H.W. Bush's administration as Director, and then Senior Director, of Soviet and East European Affairs in the National Security Council, and a Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. In this position, Rice helped develop Bush's and Secretary of State James Baker's policies in favor of German reunification. She impressed Bush, who later introduced her to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev as the one who "tells me everything I know about the Soviet Union."

or maybe she was distracted thinking about going shopping for some new ferragamos later in the day...



Condoleezza Rice...........Ferragamo shoe

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

As long as we're on the subject of Condi

Condoleezza Rice...........Ferragamo shoe

she's back in europe, lying her ass off...

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday dismissed as "ludicrous" Russian concerns that Washington's plans to deploy anti-missile defenses in Europe would endanger Moscow's nuclear arsenal.

A flurry of high-level talks in recent weeks has failed to soften Russia's public opposition to the U.S. plan to install radar scanners in the Czech Republic and 10 interceptor missiles in Poland.

Washington says the deployment is aimed at protecting Europe and North America from a growing threat of missile strike by North Korea, Iran or others in the Middle East. Moscow says those countries do not pose an immediate threat, and claims the U.S. plan aims to target Russia's strategic missile arsenal.

understandably, putin's pissed...

Putin ... warned that Moscow could halt compliance with the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty, a landmark 1990 agreement between NATO and former Warsaw Pact countries.

"I propose we declare a moratorium on fulfillment by Russia of the CFE treaty," Putin said.

The Russian leader complained that Western powers have failed to ratify the agreement. However, the threat appeared to be linked to growing tensions over security, especially the US military's plan to deploy anti-missile defences in eastern Europe.

let's just imagine that russia wanted to put missiles in cuba... i know that's "ludicrous" and would never, ever happen, but let's just suppose for a moment that it did... what do you think would be the u.s. reaction...

The "Cuban Missile Crisis" was a confrontation during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States in Cuba. The missiles were ostensibly placed to protect Cuba from further planned attacks by the United States after the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion, and were rationalized by the Soviets as equivalent to the U.S. placing deployable nuclear warheads in the United Kingdom, Italy, Greece, and most significantly, Turkey

The crisis began on October 14, 1962 when U.S. reconnaissance imagery revealing Soviet nuclear missile installations on the island were shown to U.S. President John F. Kennedy and ended fourteen days later on October 28, 1962, when Soviet premier Nikita Krushchev announced that the installations would be dismantled. The Crisis is often regarded as the moment when the Cold War came closest to escalating into a nuclear war. Russians refer to the event as the "Caribbean Crisis," while Cubans refer to it as the "October Crisis."

oops... i had an emily litella moment... never mind...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments