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Good Morning!
Longwood Gardens. April, 2012 by joanneleon
The world is full of willing people, some willing to work, the rest willing to let them.
~ Robert Frost (1874 - 1963)
News
From Occupy to the 99% Opposition
Movements based on nonviolent direct action, like the labor movement in the 1930s and the civil rights and anti-war movements in the 1960s, have often served as the equivalent of an “opposition party” in America. Such a “non-electoral opposition” can play some of the critical roles of a political party, bringing together different constituencies around common interests and presenting a critique of existing policies and institutions—and alternatives—to the broader public.
[ ... ]
King was responding to a political dead end. Efforts to address the impoverishment of Black America like the War on Poverty were collapsing in the face of the Vietnam War. More votes for Johnson (like more votes for Obama today) might have arguably been necessary to forestall the right and protect existing social programs, but provided no exit from an unacceptable status quo. A non-electoral opposition offered another pathway to change—a pathway that was tragically cut off by King’s assassination.
[ ... ]
The idea of a non-electoral opposition tends to surface when the existing political parties collude to preserve the status quo. In the late 1960s when the German Social Democrats and Christian Democrats formed a “grand coalition” that controlled 95 percent of the seats in the Bundestag, the New Left countered by establishing what it called the “extraparliamentary opposition.” An “independent” or “democratic” opposition—contrasting with the sham opposition in the parliament—played a critical role in the upheavals in Poland that led to the rise of Solidarity and the downfall of Communist regimes in Eastern Europe. As Adam Michnik put it in Letters from Prison, the purpose of Poland’s independent, democratic opposition was not to take power but to demonstrate the illegitimacy of the ruling system and help the people empower themselves in all spheres of society. The independent opposition “must be constantly and incessantly visible in public life, must create political facts by organizing mass actions, must formulate alternative programs.”
Nouriel Roubini is issuing apocalyptic predictions again. Last time, nobody listened to him. This time, he gets some more attention.
Roubini Says 2013 `Storm' May Surpass 2008 Crisis
July 7 (Bloomberg) -- New York University Professor Nouriel Roubini discusses "greedy" bankers, the euro-zone crisis and risks facing the global economy in 2013. He speaks in Aix-en-Provence, France, with Bloomberg Television's Caroline Connan. (Source: Bloomberg)
Here is the link to the
video of the Roubini interview from Bloomberg that goes with the article above. (Cannot embed). The same interview is the source for next two articles below.
ROUBINI: Next Year Could Be A Global Perfect Storm—Much Worse Than 2008
In fact, in a new video interview with Bloomberg's Caroline Connan, Professor Roubini has outdone himself, issuing a forecast so apocalyptic that even devout Roubini-ites will be startled by its pessimism.
The fun starts at the 5-minute mark. Here are the highlights, which are delivered in perfect bullet-point format by Roubini, one after another:
[ ... ]
"So, it's the perfect storm! You could have a collapse of the Eurozone, a U.S. double-dip, hard-landing of China, hard-landing of emerging markets, and a war in the Middle East. Next year could be a global perfect storm."
[ ... ]
"So if a freefall of markets and economy does occur, you don't have any more of a safety net of enough policy bullets to try to absorb the shocks, because we've been spending the last 4 years using 95% of those bullets. So we are running out of bullets."
But... but... there's all that campaign money and the post-office gravy train! Note: Diamond is from Barclay, different guy than Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan.
Mainstream Economist: We Might Need to Hang Some Bankers to Stop Criminal Looting
Nobel prize winning economist Joe Stiglitz – and many other experts – have said nothing will change unless dishonest bankers are jailed.
Former trader Max Keiser has been calling for years for crooked bankers to be hanged, to send a message that crime won’t be tolerated.
But Nouriel Roubini is a lot more mainstream than Keiser – or even Stiglitz – being very close to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. See this and this.
Roubini told Bloomberg that nothing has changed since the start of the financial crisis, and we might need to throw bankers in jail – or hang them in the streets – before they’ll change:
Nobody has gone to jail since the financial crisis. The banks, they do things that are illegal and at best they slap on them a fine. If some people end up in jail, maybe that will teach a lesson to somebody. Or somebody hanging in the streets.
Now this (article below) is the kind of thing that Roubini (and a lot of others) are talking about. Everyone recognizes the enormity of this situation, but what happens to this guy? He is forced to resigh, but on his way out the door, he gives up his huge bonus but still gets a very large bonus. And he get a full year's salary. And these are numbers that might be small in the criminal bankster world but they are numbers that most people in the world could never hope to earn in a year, or a lifetime. But this is considered to be his punishment. Well, for now anyway. These guys might be the designated fall guys. You never know. Remember, this is in the UK where the country i up in arms. It remains to be seen what will happen in the US.
Former Barclays boss forgoes $30m bonus
Former Barclays chief Bob Diamond will still collect $3m after the bank was fined $450m for rate fixing.
Bob Diamond, the former chief executive of Barclays, has given up bonuses worth up to 20m pounds ($30m) following his resignation over an interest rate-rigging scandal, the bank's chairman told a parliamentary inquiry on Tuesday.
Marcus Agius, the man at the top of Barclays when its traders manipulated a global benchmark interest rate, appeared before a hostile panel of lawmakers as part of its investigation into a row that has caused widespread public anger and which threatens to draw in a dozen more global banks.
[ ... ]
Diamond, 60, would however receive a year's pay and a cash payment instead of a pension, together worth $3m, Agius said.
This is hilarious. An "admirable job of saying nothing" ?? JP Morgan could be in a world of trouble on a few different front if they are actually held accountable. And that's before the possibility of involvement in the LIBOR scandal.
Savvy businessman, eh? Note: when they talk about a $39 billion loss, they are talking about market cap (#shares x share price) due to the drop in their share price. The trading loss number itself is in flux. The latest word on the street is that Dimon will announce that it is at $5 billion and that JPM will still show a profit.
Dimon Risk Reputation on Line as JPMorgan Faces Analysts
Jamie Dimon will seek to restore investor confidence this week after a trading loss wiped out $39 billion of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)’s market value and marred his reputation as one of the industry’s best risk managers.
In a departure from his customary earnings-day conference call, Dimon will meet analysts for two hours on July 13 at the bank’s New York headquarters to field questions about the loss and what he’s doing to contain the damage. The firm also is being probed over the possible gaming of U.S. energy markets and was subpoenaed in global investigations of interest-rate fixing.
[ ... ]
Bush said the 56-year-old chief executive officer did an “admirable job of saying nothing” when he appeared before Congress twice last month to testify about the trading loss, which stemmed from bets on credit derivatives at the firm’s chief investment office in London. “But I don’t know if that can go on,” Bush said.
[ Emphasis added. ]
Fail Whale fall girl and guys
Claw Is Out for 'Whale' Officialss
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. plans to reclaim millions of dollars in stock from executives at the center of the trading blunder that shocked Wall Street and tarnished the reputation of Chief Executive James Dimon.
The nation's biggest bank is expected to claw back compensation from individuals including Ina Drew, who ran the company's Chief Investment Office, or CIO, according to people familiar with the bank's plans. Ms. Drew was a top lieutenant of Mr. Dimon's before she resigned this spring following the disclosure of the trading losses.s
[ ... ]
J.P. Morgan's plan is the most prominent instance of a major U.S. bank seeking to recover pay from a high-ranking executive since the financial crisis. Other members of the CIO, including Bruno Iksil, the London-based trader known as the "London whale" for his outsize bets on certain corporate credit indexes, and his bosses Achilles Macris and Javier Martin-Artajo also are expected to face clawbacks, the people said.
[ ... ]
J.P. Morgan has so far sidestepped some of the worst possible repercussions, with no calls for Mr. Dimon's resignation or signs that regulators are preparing a fresh crackdown on big U.S. banks. "Black eyes heal," said Jason Goldberg, a banking analyst with Barclays Capital. "To the extent that they have worked down the majority of the position, we could start to put this issue behind us."
Corporate America has been doing this for years. The hackers were in the department adjacent to us at the company I worked for in the 90's. I guess it worked out okay but what happens when they get bored? The ones I came into contact with seemed to be placated by a good salary and benefits.
US urged to recruit master hackers to wage cyber war on America's foes
Top defence expert says the US should avoid 'ridiculous' prosecutions and use hackers' skills to detect and track enemies
Instead of prosecuting elite computer hackers, the US government should recruit them to launch cyber-attacks against Islamist terrorists and other foes, according to a leading military thinker and government adviser.
The brilliance of hacking experts could be put to use on behalf of the US in the same way as German rocket scientists were enlisted after the second world war, said John Arquilla, a professor of defence analysis at the US Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, in an interview with the Guardian.
He said that the US had fallen behind in the cyber race and needed to set up a "new Bletchley Park" of computer whizzes and codecrackers to detect, track and disrupt enemy networks. "If this was being done, the war on terror would be over," he said.
Egypt court rules against parliament recall
Constitutional court imposes legal obstacle to prevent Islamist-led, president-backed legislature from meeting again.
Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court has frozen the decree issued by President Mohamed Morsi reinstating the Islamist-led parliament.
"The court ruled to halt the president's decision to recall the parliament," Judge Maher el-Beheiry said in court on Tuesday.
[ ... ]
Tuesday's ruling came hours after the 508-seat chamber held a brief session, following the president's request for the legislators to convene.
[ ... ]
News of the verdict was greeted with chants of "batel", or illegitimate, by thousands of Morsi supporters gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square.
Spain unveils massive cuts as protests loom
PM Mariano Rajoy says nation's future at stake as he announces $79bn in tax hikes and spending cuts needed for bailout.
Spain has announced a $79.85bn austerity package that includes tax hikes and spending cuts a day after it won approval from its euro partners for a huge bailout of the country's stricken banks.
Prime minister Mariano Rajoy told parliament on Wednesday the country's future was at stake as Spain grapples with recession, a bloated deficit and investor wariness of its sovereign debt.
[ ... ]
He outlined cuts in unemployment benefit and civil service pay and perks in a parliamentary speech interrupted by jeers and boos from the opposition.
[ ... ]
He also announced new indirect taxes on energy, plans to privatise ports, airports and rail assets, and a reversal of property tax breaks that his party had restored last December.
Taliban commander: we cannot win war and al-Qaida is a 'plague'
Interview: senior Taliban commander admits insurgents must seek settlement with other political forces in Afghanistan
One of the Taliban's most senior commanders has admitted the insurgents cannot win the war in Afghanistan and that capturing Kabul is "a very distant prospect", obliging them to seek a settlement with other political forces in the country.
In a startlingly frank interview in Thursday's New Statesman, the commander – described as a Taliban veteran, a confidant of the leadership, and a former Guantánamo inmate – also uses the strongest language yet from a senior figure to distance the Afghan rebels from al-Qaida.
"At least 70% of the Taliban are angry at al-Qaida. Our people consider al-Qaida to be a plague that was sent down to us by the heavens," the commander says. "To tell the truth, I was relieved at the death of Osama [bin Laden]. Through his policies, he destroyed Afghanistan. If he really believed in jihad he should have gone to Saudi Arabia and done jihad there, rather than wrecking our country."
Worth reading Escobar's take on this complicated and tragic situation. It's nearly impossible to excerpt it and have it make full sense, so you really need to read the whole thing.
Why Turkey won't go to war with Syria
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has yet to understand the new deal struck between Russia and the US.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan never saw it coming.
He knew he was in trouble when the Pentagon leaked that the Turkish Phantom RF-4E shot down last week by Syrian anti-aircraft artillery happened off the Syrian coastline, directly contradicting Erdogan's account, who claimed it happened in international air space.
And it got worse; Moscow, via Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, offered "objective radar data" as proof.
[ ... ]
One thing is certain: nothing happens before the US presidential election in November. This means that for the next five months or so Moscow will be trying to extract some sort of "transitional government" from the bickering Syrian players. Afterwards, all bets are off. A Washington under Mitt Romney may well order NATO to attack in early 2013.
[ ... ]
Yes, because the division of labour will remain intact. Turkey will keep offering the logistical base for mercenaries coming from "liberated" Libya, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Lebanon. The House of Saud will keep coming up with the cash to weaponise them. And Washington, London and Paris will keep fine-tuning the tactics in what remains the long, simmering foreplay for a NATO attack on Damascus.
[ ... ]
Most of all, Erdogan simply cannot afford to antagonise Russia. There are at least 100,000 Russians in Syria - doing everything from building dams to advising on the operation of those defence systems.
And then there's the inescapable Pipelineistan angle. [ ... ] would be essential to diversify Europe's energy supplies away from Russia.
Blog Posts of Interest
FBI Reexamination of Flawed Forensics Should Have Happened Years Ago on dailykos by Jesselyn Radack
The Evening Blues - 7-10-12 (With Travelogue from Joe)
Coming soon... a new cooperative site with content and discussion that focuses on the real issues of the day.
More signal, less noise.
"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen."
~ Winston Churchill
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